After hanging up the phone, Wang Lan said to Lu Zhao, "Director Lu, although we can choose not to take action, this institute must be brought under control."

"Of course. We will freeze all related personnel before the special envoy takes over." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"Do you need me to do anything?"

"The special envoy will arrive early tomorrow morning. You should go back and rest for now. It’s already good progress that we’ve come this far in two days."

"Alright, then I’ll head back."

Wang Lan wasn’t one for unnecessary talk. Lu Zhao had his difficulties, and Wang Lan couldn’t make things hard for him just because of his own insistence. Wang Lan flew directly into the sky and then returned to the hospital.

Inside the National Defense Hospital, Jiang Xinyu’s cheeks were flushed, and she was looking down like an ostrich. Zeng Xiaomo, sitting beside her, looked out the window at the gradually brightening lights and smiled.

"Xinyu, what’s there to be shy about? Neither you nor Lan are children anymore. What’s wrong with dating at your age? I was dating when I was as old as you are."

"Mrs. Wang, can you please not ask such private questions..."

"How is this private? I just asked whether you two are staying in school dorms or living off-campus. Is that really private?"

"Mrs. Wang, Xinyu has basically spilled the beans. If she were living in a student dorm, would she be blushing like this? When we went to Modu City to hang out, Xinyu took us to Phoenix Plaza several times. She opens Wang Lan’s door so familiarly, as if it were her own home."

Jiang Xinyu suddenly gave Xu Xiangwen a look that made him shut up.

"So, have you two thought about when you might get married? After graduation, or...?"

"Mrs. Wang, isn’t that too fast?" Xu Xiangwen asked in surprise. Star Martial Warriors usually married late; the legal marriage age was twenty-two, and few Star Martial Warriors married before they were thirty.

"Would you die if you just kept quiet?"

"It’s not that early, actually. Ordinary people might date for three, four, or five years before marrying—that’s expected. But Xinyu and Wang Lan are different; they grew up together and know each other through and through. Any personality quirks that needed smoothing out have long since been resolved, so there’s no need for such concerns.

"Besides, you and Lan have matured now. With your current strength, unless the Demon Clan launches a major assault, you won’t generally be in any danger. And if the Demon Clan does attack, who can guarantee they’ll come out unscathed?

"It’s better to marry and have children early so there’s time to nurture them before a great war begins. That way, you’ll have fewer worries. If Jiajia weren’t so young, I’d want her to marry and have kids early too..."

"If Jiajia heard this, she’d be at odds with you for a week." Wang Lan’s voice was suddenly heard. A Nether Butterfly materialized, and Wang Lan himself emerged from the void.

"Wang Lan, you’re back? How did it go?"

"Pressure has been applied from above; the case is on hold for now. Ruoyun will probably come tomorrow to assist us in the investigation. The Tianjian Bureau can no longer intervene."

"From above?" Wang Qi’s gaze flickered, immediately making certain connections. "Is it a factional struggle? It looks like I’ve been made a sacrificial pawn."

"Auntie, don’t think such nonsense. You, a sacrificial pawn? You’re a priceless treasure! No one can treat you as a pawn, nor does anyone have the right to."

"Hmph! It seems my research findings have made some people uneasy. The human race has had peace for less than a hundred years, and the Demon Clan invasion is on the horizon, yet some people are still living in a fool’s paradise. Can such people really be expected to sacrifice themselves for the human race? When the time comes, we’ll be lucky if they don’t turn traitor."

"Wang Lan, what should we do next? Just wait like this?" Jiang Xinyu quickly asked. "Even though Ruoyun is said to be coming tomorrow, I feel like the pressure from above preventing the Tianjian Bureau from investigating is just to muddy the waters. Could they be hoping to downplay the incident?"

"Isn’t that obvious?" Wang Qi snorted coldly. "If I had died, this matter definitely wouldn’t be over. But I’m still alive. If my sister were still around, those people wouldn’t be having an easy night tonight."

"If the Flame Emperor were here, they wouldn’t dare lay a hand on Ms. Wang Qi, would they?" Although Zeng Xiaomo didn’t know the Flame Emperor’s whereabouts, he obviously had to be preoccupied. The fact that the Flame Emperor hadn’t appeared since Wang Qi was attacked was telling.

Even Zeng Xiaomo had noticed this issue, so how could others not? In fact, since the last incident when Wang Lan confronted the Duanmu Family, many people had harbored doubts. Wang Lan was bullied to his face by the Duanmu Family, yet the Flame Emperor did not appear. Was this the style of the legendary Flame Emperor?

Later on, when Wang Lan and Yu Ruoyun were transported to the seventh layer of the Nine-layer Pagoda, the Flame Emperor didn’t appear either. This led many to speculate. The Flame Emperor’s disappearance in recent years might not be as simple as the official announcements suggested. The willingness to strike against Wang Qi this time also carried an element of probing.

The consequences of the Flame Emperor’s appearance would be unbearable for them. However, if their probing revealed that the Flame Emperor truly wasn’t present or couldn’t appear, even bearing those consequences would be acceptable.

"Even though the Tianjian Bureau can’t take any action, they didn’t say we couldn’t investigate privately," Wang Lan said with a smile.

As he spoke, he picked up the notebook he had left in the hospital room during the day. "By the way, Auntie, how’s your injury recovering today?"

"The wound on my chest has started to scab over. As long as I don’t engage in vigorous activity, I basically don’t feel any pain."

"That’s good to hear. Did the doctor say when you can be discharged?"

"The doctor mentioned that, given the current rate of recovery, I could probably be discharged in about three days."

"Don’t you feel like you’re about to awaken?"

"Did you feel something before your awakening?" Wang Qi looked at Wang Lan, puzzled. As everyone knew, whether Star Martial Warriors awakened spontaneously or through Soul Resonance Awakening, there was no premonitory feeling. Typically, the awakening happened suddenly.

Wang Lan pursed his lips. He really wanted to say, Of course I did! It took me a freaking seven or eight years for this awakening; it was so tough...

"Have you found out anything?" Zeng Xiaomo asked as he approached Wang Lan. "If nothing was uncovered, why would the higher-ups suddenly apply pressure? Since the special envoy is only arriving tomorrow, why would they be so impatient as to make you stop overnight?"

"I’ve nearly untangled the threads of the situation," Wang Lan said with a smile. "The matter began two years ago. I surmise that the Capital Life Research Institute achieved a breakthrough then, extracting X gene cells. Thanks to the relentless efforts of five scientists, they even managed to research a telomerase capable of synthesizing telomeres.

"Two years ago also coincides with the time when my aunt shocked the world with the Life Potion. Using gene-coding technology to alter genetic makeup to cultivate entirely new cells had never been done before. Isn’t this precisely the technology that the Life Research Institute has been dreaming of?

"Behind the Life Research Institute, I suspect it’s essentially the Star Martial families, led by the Yu Family. They likely combined these two technological discoveries and formulated an extensive plan.

"Thus, the Capital Life Research Institute was nominally disbanded. In reality, they all relocated to Suzhou City, specifically Wutong District, and established a new entity: the Xuanting Life Research Institute. Chen Youting then approached my aunt, bringing the X gene cells with him.

"Over these two years, while they continued their research, they also sent Chen Youting to learn the techniques for creating Gene Potions. They made their move as soon as my aunt completed the final step.

"Whoever controls the Awakening Potion becomes the overlord of all humankind. A potion that allows ordinary people to awaken can naturally drive them to madness. Given the chance, who wouldn’t want to become a superhero? Besides, consider the Different Dimensional Space—such a vast world, imagine the enormous territories! Yet, due to the limited number of Star Martial Warriors, all that land is simply wasted."

"So the puppet master eliminates Ms. Wang Qi, who isn’t part of their camp, to take control of the Awakening Potion. Then, relying on the Awakening Potion, they can have everything their own way and could even easily restore a monarchy if they wished," Zeng Xiaomo said with a brooding expression.

"Exactly. Since we’ve uncovered this much, how could they not panic? From a rational perspective, the higher-ups freezing our investigation is the right decision," Wang Lan said indifferently. "If I were a leader, I would do the same, because once this issue is exposed, the fallout would be too great for anyone to handle.

"At that point, even if the Star Martial families aren’t already desperate, they would be forced to lash out. The nation isn’t ready for a full-scale war with them. Therefore, the best course of action is indeed to suppress this, to downplay the issue and sweep it under the rug, turning a major problem into a minor one.

"But... I’m not a leader. My own interests dictate my thinking, and I primarily consider the welfare of my own people. Anyone who targets my aunt will have to answer to me. If someone wants to kill my aunt, I’ll send them all to hell."

"So..." Zeng Xiaomo inquired.

"Let’s see what kind of explanation they can offer. If I’m not satisfied with it, I don’t mind stirring up trouble in the heavens."

BEEP BEEP BEEP. On the laptop, the progress bar reached one hundred percent.

"You..." Zeng Xiaomo was instantly startled. He hadn’t realized what Wang Lan had been doing behind the scenes. By the time he noticed, Wang Lan had already finished.

"Director Lu must have given you a secret mission, right? To covertly monitor me and prevent me from causing trouble?" Wang Lan asked with a smile, looking at Zeng Xiaomo.

"You really are more cunning than a wolf," Zeng Xiaomo sighed in defeat. "Forget it. Since you’ve seen through everything, there’s no point in my making a fool of myself. Just tell me what you’ve been up to."

"I’ve hacked into the internal network of Xuanting Life Sciences. I just got back from there; I dropped in a Bionic Spider." Wang Lan opened a classified folder. "Then I wanted to see exactly what research they’re doing, aside from the X gene cells, and if there’s anything else."

"Give it to me, let me take a look too!"

Wang Qi’s burning passion for scientific research flared up once again.

Regarding the research report, even with his reputation as a top student, Wang Lan could only last for three minutes before his brain went into overload and shut down. The research, developed by several of the world’s leading scientists, was packed with jargon and theories not found in any textbook.

If Wang Lan could understand it, that would be truly astonishing. Yet, Wang Qi, on the hospital bed, seemed utterly engrossed.

"Indeed..." After scrolling and typing through the pages for a while, Wang Qi clicked her tongue and exclaimed, "I figured, since they discovered the X cells and conceived the idea of using them to cultivate telomerase for synthesizing telomeres, how could they not attempt to synthesize ordinary cells?"

"Ordinary cell synthesis attempt? What’s the use of that?" Zeng Xiaomo asked curiously.

"Do you know that human cells die?"

"That... of course, I know. When a person is injured and then heals, it’s due to cell loss, followed by cell division and replenishment, which ultimately repairs the damage..."

"The number of times a human cell can divide is limited. This number depends on the cell’s telomeres. With each division, the telomeres shorten until they eventually disappear. When that happens, the cell can no longer divide. Once a cell dies, it’s gone for good, with no new cell to replace it.

"The most obvious sign when cells stop dividing is... aging."