416: Chapter 413 Powerful Regenerative Ability.

Ye Ouyang froze for a moment, then scratched his head.

"Right, this is indeed a beginning." He looked down at his hand as if seeing it for the first time. "But even I didn't expect it—I don't even fully understand it myself. This thing can actually repair brain damage?"

Li Mo nodded, his gaze still fixed on the test tubes.

"To be honest," he began, his tone tinged with a hint of hesitation, "I really want to conduct human trials."

Ye Ouyang snapped his head up, looking at him with a face full of horror.

Li Mo met that gaze, blanked for a second, and then burst out laughing.

"Oh, I won't, I'm just talking." He waved his hand. "It's mainly because I'm really anxious. Your cells are so powerful that I really want to know what would happen if we injected them into someone with a brain disease."

Ye Ouyang's expression hadn't fully relaxed yet.

"Wouldn't that be dangerous?" he said. "Let's not do that. Even if it can heal... healing some external injuries is enough. We can be sure about external injuries, but brain damage... the thought of it is a bit terrifying, isn't it?"

Li Mo looked at him and smiled.

"Yeah, I know, I know. Just talking."

He turned back to the Experimental Table and lightly tapped his fingers on the test tubes.

"Anyway, first we need to figure out the principles and the limits. After that, it'll be about replicating these cells of yours."

Ye Ouyang leaned in. "Replicating?"

"Yes." Li Mo nodded. "I need to understand how to create these cells and their underlying principles. Or at least, reach a point where I can produce them myself—or enable your cells to self-reproduce and exist long-term."

He sighed.

"Don't get me started. As soon as these cells leave your body, they commit suicide right at the thirty-minute mark. No matter how much nutrition I provide or energy I supplement, none of it works. Once they've been outside the body for thirty minutes, they all undergo apoptosis simultaneously."

He looked at Ye Ouyang, his eyes filled with a touch of inquiry.

"I don't know if there's something in your body sustaining them, or if... they were designed this way, with thirty minutes being their fixed lifespan. It's just that since you are the original body, the host, you can produce new ones at any time."

"Regardless, I'm going to continue my research."

Li Mo turned around and dove back into the test tubes and microscopes. Ye Ouyang didn't leave either, standing nearby and watching.

He watched for a while.

And a while longer.

He watched for a long time.

Li Mo would add reagents one moment, adjust the microscope the next, scribble furiously in his notebook, or stare blankly at the data. His movements, initially vigorous, gradually became slower and more mechanical.

Ye Ouyang just watched and watched and watched—

After an unknown amount of time, Li Mo finally stopped. He slowly turned around, shuffled step by step to a chair by the wall, and slumped down.

From Ye Ouyang's perspective, Li Mo was leaning against the back of the chair with his eyes half-closed, his face pale, and his hair seemingly devoid of luster—as if all color had been drained from him, leaving only a grayish-white human silhouette.

Ye Ouyang blinked.

Li Mo sat there, his lips slightly parted, letting out a soft sigh that seemed to drift from the depths of his Soul:

"Burned out..."

"Nothing left but snow-white ash..."

Looking at Li Mo's grayish-white state, Ye Ouyang couldn't help but speak up.

"If you're really struggling, why don't we go out for a stroll?"

Li Mo suddenly sprang up from the chair with a speed that didn't resemble the burned-out person he was just a moment ago.

"You're right!" His eyes lit up. "Proper rest helps improve research efficiency! Let's go!"

Ye Ouyang was taken aback by this sudden burst of energy, then followed with a smile.

The two left the base and walked aimlessly. They crossed several streets, passed several residential areas, and finally arrived at a bridge.

The bridge spanned a large river. The water shimmered under the afternoon sun, and the wind carried a slight fishy scent. There were people fishing on the banks, elderly people taking walks, and a few water birds flying in the distance.

Li Mo reached the middle of the bridge and suddenly stopped.

He holding onto the railing, lifted a leg and sat directly on the guardrail—his legs dangling over the edge, with the bridge deck dozens of meters high and the rushing river below.

Ye Ouyang was startled.

"Hey, hey, hey! That's dangerous!"

Li Mo turned his head and looked at him with a relaxed smile.

"Ah, right," he said. "But it's very comfortable like this."

He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, took one out, and lit it. He took a deep drag and exhaled a cloud of white smoke.

"For humans, many comfortable things are bad for the body. Aren't they?"

He took another drag.

"That's why... we want immortality."

Ye Ouyang stood beside him, holding the railing and watching him.

"Didn't you say you're afraid of death?" Ye Ouyang said. "Falling from here, you could easily fall to your death or drown."

Li Mo swung his dangling legs.

"It's fine, I can swim."

Ye Ouyang opened his mouth and then closed it. After a moment, he still couldn't help but say:

"Fine. But I think someone like you who craves immortality should be very afraid of death and would play everything very safe."

Li Mo turned his head to look at him.

"Would I?"

He took a puff of the cigarette, the smoke dispersing in the wind.

"I only crave immortality," he said. "But many things are still different. Fearing death is... different from many things."

He paused, his gaze fixed on the distant river surface.

"Sometimes, letting go of your dreams for a bit is like giving yourself a breather. It's quite nice."

Ye Ouyang didn't speak. The two remained like that, one sitting on the dangerous guardrail and the other standing beside him, both looking out over the river.

Just then—

Splash!

A dull sound of someone hitting the water came from beneath the bridge.

Li Mo whipped his head around, looking toward the source of the sound. In the river not far below the bridge, a figure was splashing in the water.

Without a word, he tossed his cigarette and phone onto the shore, propped himself up on the guardrail, and flipped right over!

"Li Mo!" Ye Ouyang cried out in alarm, rushing to the guardrail to look down.

Li Mo had already hit the water and was swimming toward the figure. It was an older woman, struggling desperately and choking on several mouthfuls of water. Li Mo swam to her side, grabbed her from behind, and began dragging her toward the shore.

But he was a researcher after all, with limited strength. After dragging her a few meters, he was clearly struggling.

Ye Ouyang gritted his teeth, quickly shed his jacket and shoes, threw his phone on the ground, and propped himself up on the guardrail—

Splash!

He jumped in as well.

The river water was colder than he had imagined, but he didn't care. He swam over with all his might, and together with Li Mo, they supported the woman on both sides and swam toward the shore.

People on the shore had already noticed the commotion; some were shouting, others were running. An old man who had been fishing dropped his rod and ran over, reaching out to pull the woman up. Ye Ouyang and Li Mo pushed from the water while the old man pulled from above, finally getting the woman onto the shore.

The woman was soaking wet and pale, sitting on the shore gasping for air, her tears mixing with the river water.

Li Mo and Ye Ouyang also climbed ashore, dripping wet and panting heavily.

A crowd had already gathered around. Someone handed out towels, someone was making a phone call, and a man in a security uniform was maintaining order. The sound of sirens could be heard approaching from the distance.

The woman sat on the ground, suddenly covered her face, and burst into tears.

Li Mo stood nearby, looking down at her without saying a word.

Ye Ouyang wiped the water from his face, looked at the woman, and then at Li Mo.