28: Only 40% survival rate: Injection of gene-enhanced serum

"Other methods?"

Jiang Ran looked into Su Qingyu's eyes, his voice deep and powerful:

"Dr. Su, don't you understand yet?"

"This rain won't stop.

That 'stone tablet' is just the first one; there are eleven more globally.

If your 'Planetary Reshaping' is true, then the oxygen in the air will become scarcer, and the radiation will grow stronger."

He released Su Qingyu's hand, rolled up the sleeve of his tactical vest, revealing his muscular yet still 'human' forearm:

"Hiding in a metal shell is indeed safe, but that's only temporary.

If I don't evolve, sooner or later, I'll suffocate in my ship because I can't breathe the air of this world."

"In this apocalypse, weakness is the original sin.

And failing to adapt to the environment is the greatest weakness."

Memories of his previous life surged like a tide.

That feeling of powerlessness being chased by giant beasts, that despair of suffocating in the icy sea water.

He had had enough.

Now that he had the system and this ship.

He would never allow himself to stop because of the weakness of his 'mortal body'.

"Say no more, just do it."

Jiang Ran handed the injection gun to Su Qingyu, then sat down grandly on the specially made metal experimental chair.

He casually pulled over a few leather straps used to secure experimental subjects and firmly fastened his limbs.

"If I turn into a monster..."

He looked up, gazing deeply at Su Qingyu, his eyes terrifyingly cold: "Don't hesitate, use that machete to cut off my head.

I will have zero transfer control of this ship to you."

Su Qingyu's hand, holding the injection gun, trembled slightly.

She looked at the madman-like man before her.

The ambition and determination in his eyes were hotter than the vial of virus.

"Alright."

Su Qingyu gritted her teeth, regaining her doctor's composure.

She walked over to Jiang Ran, vigorously wiped his arm's vein with an alcohol swab twice, then raised the injection gun.

"Good luck, Commander."

"Pfft."

The needle pierced the skin.

The dark golden liquid, driven by the plunger, slowly injected into Jiang Ran's bloodstream.

"Ughh—!!!"

Less than three seconds after the needle was withdrawn.

An uncontrollable roar erupted from the depths of Jiang Ran's throat.

It wasn't the gentle sensation of medicine taking effect, but as if scalding molten iron had been poured directly into his veins.

Pain.

Indescribable agony.

Jiang Ran felt every blood vessel in his body expanding and burning.

The dark golden liquid seemed to have a consciousness of its own.

It furiously rushed through his limbs and bones; wherever it went, the existing human cells were ruthlessly torn apart, devoured, and then forcibly reorganized.

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

The vital signs monitor beside them let out a piercing alarm.

"Heart rate 220! Still rising!"

Su Qingyu stared intently at the screen, her face pale: "Body temperature 41.5 degrees... blood pressure is off the charts!

Vessel walls are under extreme pressure!"

On the experimental chair, Jiang Ran's body was arched like a cooked prawn.

The special leather straps used to secure his limbs were stretched taut, emitting a grating 'creak' that set one's teeth on edge.

His muscles twitched violently, as if rats were scurrying beneath his skin.

His skin instantly turned crimson, and countless tiny capillaries burst.

Making him look like a blood-soaked figure pulled from a pool of blood.

"Gene rejection has begun..."

Su Qingyu clenched her fists tightly, her nails digging into her flesh.

At this moment, she could do nothing but watch.

This was a war at the genetic level; any external intervention could lead to complete collapse.

And in Jiang Ran's conscious world, he was enduring a hellish torment.

He felt as if he had fallen into a bottomless black vortex.

All around were countless indescribable roars, the primal bestiality from the 'Iron Bone Black Fish' genes.

"Eat... devour... slaughter..."

A cold, tyrannical consciousness attempted to overwhelm his reason and take over his body.

That was the price of evolution.

To gain the strength of a monster, one must always be prepared to be devoured by a monster's instincts.

"Get... out..."

Jiang Ran bit down, shattering his teeth, his mouth full of blood.

In that chaotic ocean of consciousness, he desperately clung to his last shred of clarity.

I am human.

I am Jiang Ran.

I am the Commander of this ship!

"Crack!"

In reality, a crisp sound of bone breaking rang out.

Jiang Ran's forearm bone fractured, unable to withstand the violent muscle contractions.

But the next second, an even more dominant force surged into the broken bone.

Under the rush of that golden energy.

The fractured bone began to heal and grow at a visible rate, becoming denser and harder.

This was reorganization. Destroying the old, reshaping the new.

"Body temperature 43 degrees... It's at the critical point!"

Su Qingyu's hand was already on the hilt of the machete.

Sweat trickled down her forehead, dripping onto the blade.

If Jiang Ran turned into a zombie or a monster in the next second, she had to act.

Just then.

"Roar..."

A non-human gasp escaped Jiang Ran's throat.

He suddenly lifted his head, eyes wide open, blood even cracking at the corners of his eyes.

His originally pitch-black pupils were undergoing a drastic transformation.

Around the black iris, a faint blue halo was slowly forming, like glowing ghost jellyfish in the deep sea.

The war within his body had reached its decisive moment.

"Kneel... before me!!!"

Jiang Ran erupted in a roar from the depths of his consciousness, fiercely suppressing the bestiality attempting to backlash.

Subsequently, an unprecedented sense of power surged from the depths of his bone marrow.

The burning pain, as if scorched by lava, instantly receded.

It was replaced by a cool, clear, refreshing sensation, as if his entire body was immersed in cool spring water.

"Beep—"

The death curve on the monitor, which had almost straightened, suddenly plummeted.

Then it settled into an extremely slow, yet incredibly powerful rhythm.

Thump... thump... only forty beats per minute.

But this heartbeat was heavy and strong, each beat like a war drum, pumping the enhanced blood throughout his body.

The laboratory fell silent.

Jiang Ran slumped in the chair, soaked in black blood and sweat, like he had just undergone a transformative 'shedding'.

Su Qingyu held her breath, cautiously approached, and tentatively called out:

"Jiang Ran?"

The blood-soaked figure in the chair slowly stirred.

He slowly raised his head; on his blood-stained face, though weary, his eyes were frighteningly clear.

He glanced at Su Qingyu, his lips struggling to form a slight smile, revealing teeth stained red with blood:

"Dr. Su..."

"I feel like... I could punch a cow to death right now."

"Snap!"

With a gentle exertion of force, the already overburdened cowhide restraint strap was torn apart by him as easily as paper... Half an hour later.

The sound of water in the shower room ceased.

Jiang Ran walked out, shirtless, with a towel wrapped around his waist.

In the mirror, his physique hadn't become exaggeratedly bulky like a bodybuilder.

Instead, his muscle lines became more defined and slender, full of explosive power like a leopard.

And on the surface of his skin, if one didn't look closely, one wouldn't even notice any abnormality.

But if illuminated by strong light, one would discover a faint, dark golden web-like pattern subtly visible beneath his skin.

That was the prototype (rudiment) of 'Subdermal Bio-Bone Armor'.

This meant that an ordinary blade might not even draw blood if it cut his skin.

"Evolution successful."

Jiang Ran clenched his fist, feeling the terrifying power emanating from his fingertips.

He walked to the cockpit, where Su Qingyu was staring blankly at his medical report.

"How are the stats?"

Jiang Ran took a glass of water and drank it in one gulp.

Su Qingyu looked up, her eyes as if she was looking at an alien: "Your body... can no longer be considered 'standard human'."

"Bone density has increased by 3 times, muscle fiber strength by 5 times."

"Most importantly, your cells' resistance to radiation has increased by 200 times."

She pointed to the faint blue water outside the window: "Even if you were to jump into that Heavy Water and swim now, your skin would filter oxygen directly from the water, just like fish gills."

"Congratulations, Commander."

Su Qingyu closed the report, her tone complex: "You are now the first 'New Human' on this Earth."

Jiang Ran looked at the water outside the window, a glint flashing in his eyes.

"Since I've become a fish, it's time to get in the water."

"zero, prepare the deep-diving equipment."

"This time, I'm going to personally confront that stone."