138: The holographic gene bank unfolds, and we've obtained the source code for creating gods!

Inside the bio-incubation chamber, that unsettling damp and hot air remained thick.

Dozens of transparent follicles contracted rhythmically in mid-air, nurturing the second batch of "Deep Sea Hunters" within.

The subtle sounds of metal being dissolved by acid and bones growing in amniotic fluid converged into a unique industrial-biological symphony.

Su Qingyu, wearing her silver "Shadow Dancer" light armor, carried a heavy lead-sealed box.

She walked quickly to the deepest part of the incubation chamber.

That was the core parasitic point of the "Metal Mother Plant."

The tumor-like core originally excavated from the Crab King's body had now completely integrated with the walls of the black iron's bottom deck.

Countless thick, silver-gray blood vessels extended outward from it.

They connected to every incubation follicle, resembling a giant, exposed brain.

"What are you planning to do?"

Jiang Ran leaned against the railing by the door, watching as Su Qingyu carefully undid the latch of the lead box.

"Verifying a hypothesis."

Su Qingyu didn't look back; as the lead lid lifted, the eerie red light of the no.06 spark instantly illuminated her focused face.

"Before, we treated this thing like a battery and stuffed it into the reactor.

While it did provide infinite energy, I've always felt... that was just its crudest application."

"It's like using a supercomputer as a brick to hit people; it's hard enough, but it's a total waste."

She put on insulated gloves and took out the scalding red crystal.

At that moment, the "Metal Mother Plant" on the wall, which had been pulsating slowly, suddenly shuddered violently.

Those silver-gray blood vessels seemed to sense some fatal attraction.

They extended and probed frantically toward the crystal in Su Qingyu's hands.

"Careful, don't let it explode."

Jiang Ran reminded her. Last time, this thing had nearly melted through the entire ship.

"It won't explode."

Su Qingyu's voice was exceptionally certain.

She took a deep breath and, holding the spark with both hands, slowly guided it into the opening, mucus-filled fleshy groove of the Mother Plant's core.

“Buzz—”

The moment they touched, the expected energy runaway or high-temperature meltdown didn't happen.

On the contrary, an extremely soft, even pleasant low-frequency hum instantly spread throughout the black iron.

The violent red light on the spark's surface miraculously stabilized the moment it touched biological tissue.

It transformed into a warm, flowing light that seemed to breathe.

Countless tiny tentacles extending from the Mother Plant gently wrapped around the crystal, fitting perfectly without a hint of rejection.

It felt like a key lost for many years had finally been inserted into its original keyhole.

"Just as I thought..."

Su Qingyu watched the scene, her eyes flashing with excitement.

"They are one and the same."

"This spark is the... original instruction set that controls the evolution of these biological metals."

“Sizzle—Buzz!!!”

As the spark perfectly integrated with the Mother Plant, a visible torrent of data suddenly erupted.

This time, what was projected was no longer a cold 2D star map or boring navigational coordinates.

The originally dark, damp incubation chamber in the black iron's hold was transformed in an instant into a brilliant "Life Planetarium."

Countless massive, gold-glimmering double-helix DNA strands.

They appeared out of thin air, slowly rotating, deconstructing, and recombining in mid-air.

They were like a river of light, filling the entire space and enveloping Jiang Ran and Su Qingyu.

"This... what is this?"

Su Qingyu reached out, her fingertips passing through a massive gene chain.

At her touch.

The gene chain instantly collapsed into countless points of light, then condensed in the air into the phantom of a terrifying giant beast.

It was a prehistoric giant fish over ten meters long, its head covered in thick bone armor—a Dunkleosteus.

It swam silently through the void, opening its scissor-sharp bony jaws as if to tear everything before it to shreds.

Then, the scene shifted.

Giant Mosasaurs, deep-sea turtles with heavy carapaces, and even unknown mollusks with glowing tentacles... countless ancient overlords long extinct on Earth, along with more unheard-of bizarre creatures that seemed to come from an alien abyss.

Like a grand parade, they flashed before their eyes like a kaleidoscope.

Some were covered in metal, some could spit strong acid, and some had organs that could generate high-voltage electricity.

"This isn't a navigator."

Su Qingyu's voice trembled slightly from extreme shock as she looked up at this miracle-like scene.

"This is an encyclopedia."

"An encyclopedia recording the gene map library of the strongest organisms that have appeared on this planet over billions of years, as well as those designed to adapt to the 'new environment'."

She hurried to the console, her hands tapping frantically on the virtual keyboard, trying to capture and analyze the fleeting data streams.

On the screen, the previously unrecognizable garbled code was now being rapidly translated into readable biological parameters.

[Sample A-77: Bone Metallization Induction Sequence]

[Sample B-12: High-Voltage Current Cell Alignment Structure]

[Sample C-09: Deep-Sea Pressure-Resistant Muscle Fiber Recombination Plan]

..."I see... I finally understand."

Su Qingyu turned abruptly to Jiang Ran, her eyes flashing with a fervor like someone who had solved a mystery of the century.

"Why do the Ark's biochemical units always look so bizarre?

Why do their modified humans often lose control?

Because they're basically blind men feeling an elephant!"

"The Ark's so-called 'biotechnology' is nothing more than finding a few torn pages of this encyclopedia in some ruins.

Or the surface-level scraps reverse-engineered from the corpses of mutant beasts."

"They're like people trying to put together a puzzle with random pieces; what they build is naturally going to be deformed monsters."

Su Qingyu pointed to the perfect spark core rotating slowly in mid-air.

"But we're different."

"We have the 'source code'."

"In here, there are not only complete gene maps.

There's even an operation manual on how to perfectly integrate these genes into the human body or other organisms!"

Jiang Ran watched the dancing lights and shadows.

He saw the structural diagrams of monsters that had once forced him into bitter battles in the deep sea, now being deconstructed and displayed like toys.

"In other words."

Jiang Ran spoke calmly: "As long as we have enough raw materials, we could even mass-produce 'gods' here?"

"Theoretically, yes."

Su Qingyu took a deep breath to calm her excitement.

"However, making gods is too far off, and the risks are too great."

"But if we use these ready-made perfect templates to correct the fragile genes of us mortals..."

Her gaze fell on the edge of the screen, on the group of basic gene sequences labeled "Deep Sea Adaptability."

"That would be a piece of cake."

"Correct?"

Jiang Ran raised an eyebrow, his gaze unconsciously sweeping over his arm that had been modified with metal.

He knew all too well how painful and dangerous that so-called "evolution" was.

Back when he was injected with that [Type I Genetic Enhancement Serum].

The excruciating pain of every cell in his body being torn apart and recombined still left him with lingering fears.

"You mean like me? Turning Old Chen and the others into... monsters?"

"No, it's completely different."

Su Qingyu shook her head, her fingers flying across the holographic screen to filter data.

"The serum you were injected with was essentially the 'primitive berserk factor' extracted from that Radiation Sea Lizard.

It was a gamble with a success rate of less than 1%.

If it weren't for your ridiculously strong willpower and the energy assistance from the black iron's core, you would have turned into a pile of rotten meat long ago."

"That method cannot be replicated. With Old Chen's old bones, he'd die on the spot if even a drop touched him."

As she spoke, her finger suddenly stopped on a gene helix model emitting a soft blue light.

"However, I found this in the 'spark' database."

Su Qingyu enlarged the model and projected it in front of Jiang Ran.

"Codename: [Deep Sea Adaptor · Basic Sequence]."

"This gene map isn't full of aggression and hostility like those war beasts from before.

Its design intent...

Seems to be solely to allow carbon-based organisms to survive in high-pressure, anaerobic, and high-radiation deep-sea environments."

"It strips away the dominant mutations that cause bone metallization or excessive muscle swelling, retaining only the core survival abilities—"

"Like strengthening alveolar structures to filter trace oxygen from water;"

"Hardening the skin's stratum corneum to resist water pressure and radiation;"

"Adjusting metabolism to adapt to low-temperature environments."

Su Qingyu turned and walked quickly toward a nearby biochemical synthesis station.

Stored there was the half-can of remaining Sea Lizard extract—that dark red liquid filled with violent energy.

"Before, we couldn't use this extract because it was too 'exclusive'; any biological rejection would be fatal."

"But now, with this stable sequence provided by the 'spark' as a neutralizer..."

As Su Qingyu spoke, she operated the Mechanical Arm.

She took a tube of the faint blue "gene stabilizing fluid" just extracted from the spark's energy field.

It was slowly injected into that canister of dark red, violent serum.

"Sizzle—"

Accompanied by a faint bubbling sound, a miracle occurred.

The dark red liquid that had been boiling and striking the walls of the canister immediately quieted down the moment it touched that speck of blue.

It was like a manic beast having its fur smoothed over.

That unsettling bloody red gradually faded, replaced by a clear, deep azure, like the color of deep-sea water.

A few minutes later.

Three auto-injectors filled with this blue medicinal liquid were pushed out to the discharge port.

"It's finished."

Su Qingyu picked up one of the injectors and gently shook it against the light. The liquid inside was as pure as a sapphire, yet it contained the power to change life forms.

"Naming it: [Type-II Deep Sea Adaptation Serum]."

She turned around and looked at Jiang Ran, a weary but satisfied smile appearing at the corners of her mouth:

"This is the antidote for mortals."

"With this, although Old Chen and the others won't become supermen, they will finally be qualified... to not be a burden."

..."Old Chen, come here for a moment."

When Su Qingyu's voice, which was excessively gentle, came through the communicator,

Old Chen, who was currently worrying over a heap of complex pipes in the power bay, instinctively shuddered.

Ten minutes later, in the medical lab.

Old Chen gripped the doorframe tightly, refusing to move another step forward no matter what was said.

His eyes stared in horror at the metal injection gun in Su Qingyu's hand, which was as long as a forearm,

as well as the strange, glowing blue liquid inside the barrel.

"That... Doctor Su, let's talk this out nicely."

Old Chen swallowed hard, the fat on his face trembling. "I've been feeling pretty good lately, eating well and sleeping soundly. There's no need for an injection, right?"

"This stuff looks like toilet cleaner; can it really be injected into a vein?"

"This isn't for curing an illness; it's for saving your life."

Su Qingyu flicked the syringe expressionlessly, squeezing out a drop of the blue liquid.

That drop fell onto a discarded iron tray on the floor.

It actually made an extremely faint corrosive sound, scaring Old Chen into shrinking back even further.

"Old Chen, do you know where we're going next?"

Su Qingyu didn't try to grab him by force. Instead, she brought up a holographic sea chart and pointed at a bottomless trench:

"The core area of the Tokyo Ruins, at a depth of over three thousand meters."

"At this depth, the water pressure is three hundred times that of the surface."

"If the hull of the black iron is pierced by a hole even as small as a fingernail,"

"the high-pressure water column could instantly slice your body in half like cutting tofu."

"Even without a breach, just the pressure changes during deep-sea navigation"

"could make your alveoli pop like balloons, and nitrogen would boil in your veins."

She turned around and raised the injection gun, her tone as calm as if she were stating a law of physics:

"Your current body is just a thin-skinned balloon filled with water. If you go down, you die."

"But this serum is different."

"It can make your skin as tough as leather and double your bone density."

"It allows your lungs to adjust freely under high pressure like a fish's swim bladder."

"After taking this, you will no longer be that fragile middle-aged fat man, but a... Kin of the Abyss capable of adapting to the deep."

"But..."

Old Chen looked at the thick needle, still hesitating. "What if I mutate?"

"What if I grow gills? Will I still be able to go back to shore and find a wife in the future?"

"Enough nonsense."

Jiang Ran, who had been leaning in the shadows, suddenly spoke up.

He walked up behind Old Chen and clamped a hand onto his shoulder like an iron vise, pinning him in place.

"Old Chen, we're out of time."

Jiang Ran's voice was low, carrying an unquestionable pressure:

"This ship doesn't support idlers, and it certainly doesn't support dead men. In the coming battle, I won't have the energy to distract myself by looking after a burden who could explode at any moment."

He pointed toward the cabin door:

"If you don't want the injection, that's fine too."

"I'll give you a life raft and some dry rations. You can choose to stay on the surface or try to swim back to shore."

"I hear the zombies and mutated beasts along the coast have been quite hungry lately; they should be very welcoming."

"Pick one of two: the injection, or get off the ship."

Old Chen looked into Jiang Ran's cold eyes and knew the kid was serious.

He imagined the scene of himself drifting alone in a small boat on a sea full of monsters and immediately shuddered.

"Don't! Please don't!"

With a mournful face, Old Chen closed his eyes as if facing death and rolled up his sleeve, revealing a stretch of pale, flabby arm:

"I'll take it! I'll take it, alright!"

"Be gentle, Sister Su... I'm afraid of pain..."

"Don't worry."

A faint smile tugged at Su Qingyu's lips. "It'll be over soon."

"Puchi—"

The needle pierced in ruthlessly.

As the last of the blue serum was pushed into the vein,

Su Qingyu quickly withdrew the needle and stepped back two paces, her eyes fixed on Old Chen's reaction.

The horrific scene of bursting veins and blood spraying everywhere that Jiang Ran had experienced did not occur.

But Old Chen's reaction was even more bizarre.

"Ugh... Argh..."

Old Chen's eyeballs instantly bulged out. His hands gripped the metal bed frame beneath him, his nails leaving harsh scratches on the surface.

"It itches! It's so itchy! It feels like ants are crawling in my bones!"

He roared, trying to reach out and scratch his skin, but he was held fast by the restraints that had been prepared in advance.

This wasn't pain, but an even more maddening growing pain.

Inside his body, that gentle yet domineering genetic force was rapidly taking over the originally fragile human cells.

The originally porous bones of the middle-aged man were being filled with high-density calcium.

Alveoli were splitting and reorganizing, becoming tougher to adapt to the high-pressure environment.

"Zzz..."

Under the dim light, a hair-raising scene occurred.

A thick, grayish-white oily substance began to seep out from the surface of Old Chen's originally loose, sallow skin.

This substance quickly solidified and hardened, like a layer of natural keratin armor, encasing his entire body.

His skin was no longer soft and warm like a human's.

Instead, it became cold and tough like shark skin, shimmering with a rubber-like luster.

"Crack."

The most startling change happened at his neck.

With a slight snapping sound, the skin behind Old Chen's ears suddenly split into three neat, thin slits.

However, no blood flowed out. The inside of the slits revealed a deep red pleated structure that opened and closed with his breathing.

"Are those... gill slits?"

Su Qingyu looked at the stabilizing vital signs on the data screen and breathed a sigh of relief:

"Although they haven't fully developed into gills, this auxiliary respiratory system is enough for him to filter oxygen directly from seawater."

This violent transformation lasted for a full two hours.

When Old Chen finally stopped struggling and slumped on the bed like a pile of mud, he had completely changed.

Though he mostly retained a human shape, he looked more like an amphibious creature born for the deep sea.

His muscles were tight, his skin smooth and tough, and in his originally cloudy eyes, the pupils had constricted slightly, gaining a nictitating membrane.

They flickered with a faint phosphorescence in the darkness.

"Water... I want water..."

Old Chen groaned weakly.

Jiang Ran stepped forward, unfastened the restraints, and handed him a bottle of unfiltered seawater.

Old Chen didn't hesitate, grabbing the bottle and draining it in one gulp.

That salty, bitter taste actually felt incredibly sweet in his mouth right now.

As the seawater entered his stomach,

he felt a cool power instantly flow through his entire body, and his lungs, which had been burning from dryness, were instantly relieved.

"Hoo—"

Old Chen let out a long breath, which was waste gas expelled through the gill slits in his neck.

He touched his neck in surprise, then pinched the skin on his arm, which had become as tough as a tire, with a look of disbelief:

"I... I'm not cold anymore?"

"And it feels... it feels like this air is too dry. I want to go soak in water."

"That's a normal physiological response."

Su Qingyu put away the recording board, her tone carrying a hint of gratification:

"Congratulations, Old Chen."

"Your pressure resistance has now increased at least fivefold."

"In the deep sea at three thousand meters, even without a diving suit, you can last for over ten minutes without being crushed."

Jiang Ran looked at this newly transformed subordinate and nodded.

He turned around, his gaze sweeping over the pulsating biological pipes on the cabin walls and the pitch-black, deep sea outside the window.

"From today on, there are no 'humans' on this ship."

Jiang Ran's voice was low, echoing in the empty cabin:

"We are monsters raised on radiation, beasts clad in steel armor."

"We are—the Deep Sea Kin."

"Prepare to work."

Jiang Ran walked toward the command console, the blue light in his eyes surging. "A new hunting ground is waiting for us."