Chapter 166 – The Emergence of Genetically Modified Humans
As for Xie Xu’s invitation, she needed to think it over.
Back home, Tu Ran changed her clothes, drank a bottle of nutrient solution, and then took the suspended train to the medical department.
She was starting work the next day and might not have time to visit Xi Chunzhi again, so she took this opportunity in the evening to see her.
Xi Chunzhi showed no signs of waking.
Tu Ran sat in the chair beside her bed, looking at her pale face.
What illness could it be? Why hadn’t the medical department been able to identify the cause after such a long time?
She reached out and held Xi Chunzhi’s wrist, closing her eyes.
She activated [Memory Reading].
She wanted to see what Xi Chunzhi had experienced during her time in the Threshold.
Her vision was met with darkness, with nothing visible.
Tu Ran pulled her hand back abruptly, staring at Xi Chunzhi in disbelief.
Why couldn’t she see anything at all?
Her [Memory Reading] superpower should allow her to see as long as the person was alive.
Could it be amnesia?
Tu Ran grasped Xi Chunzhi’s wrist again.
She closed her eyes, carefully searching for any slight difference in the darkness.
There was nothing, just pure darkness everywhere.
Tu Ran refused to give up. How could there be nothing visible? She continued to search inch by inch through the memory.
At that moment, she heard a faint groan.
It came from the depths of Xi Chunzhi’s memory.
The sound was very faint and trembled violently.
“Pain…”
“Pain…”
“Pain…”
Besides the repeated cries of pain, there was nothing else.
Tu Ran opened her eyes and looked at Xi Chunzhi’s face.
There was no sign of pain on her face.
She lay there peacefully.
But she couldn’t have misheard the sound from the depths of her memory.
She rang the bell by the bed to call the nurse.
Unexpectedly, Xie Xinyu arrived the fastest.
“Has the patient shown any changes?”
“No,” Tu Ran stood up. “She is in pain right now.”
“In pain?” Xie Xinyu moved to the other side of the bed to check the data on the equipment.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything abnormal. How did you determine she is in pain?” Xie Xinyu looked at Tu Ran.
“From what I sensed,” Tu Ran replied firmly.
Xie Xinyu looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“Is she really not in pain? The kind of pain she can feel but the instruments can’t detect.”
Xie Xinyu’s gaze became even more peculiar. “Miss Tu, are you under a lot of stress lately? Maybe you should see a psychologist.”
Tu Ran remained resolute. The voice she heard in Xi Chunzhi’s mind was accurate. “Is it possible that there’s a problem with your equipment?”
“Impossible!” Xie Xinyu raised his voice and patted the equipment beside him. “This equipment is the latest fully automated medical monitoring device from the Pang Group. It cost the medical department a lot of money. Even if you doubt my medical skills, you can’t question this device.”
Tu Ran ignored his further lengthy explanations and sat back in the chair, staring blankly at Xi Chunzhi.
She sat for two hours, trying the [Memory Reading] several times. Each time, she could hear Xi Chunzhi crying out in pain from the depths of her mind.
But when Tu Ran asked her where it hurt, Xi Chunzhi wouldn’t say, as if her brain had a tape recorder that only repeated that one word.
With no other options, Tu Ran left at eleven o’clock.
At this hour, the city was lively; bars and dance halls were opening, and there were still many passengers in the suspended train.
Tu Ran sat in a corner, flipping through the Federation’s news from the past half-month.
[Caught off guard! Radical protesters suddenly riot!]
[Inhumane! Radical protest groups use young boys and girls for live experiments!]
[Genetically modified humans emerge out of nowhere; what crimes should the radical protest groups be charged with?]
[Federal Government issues a wanted notice for the leaders of the radical protest groups!]
[Arrogant! Radical protest groups openly provoke the Federal Government. This is their 32nd public provocation! What will be the outcome this time? Stay tuned!]
[Federal Government rewards 100,000 federal credits for information leading to the capture of the radical protest group leaders! Everyone, get involved!]
[Pioneers deployed! The radical protest group’s end is near!]
From these sensational news headlines, Tu Ran gathered a rough idea of what had been happening in the Federation over the past half-month.
The radical protest groups had rioted again.
In the past, these groups had rioted many times, usually just by parading with signs on the streets, causing traffic jams and inconveniencing other citizens.
The Federal Government often didn’t take them too seriously unless the scale was significant. In such cases, they would dispatch a few squads from the Executive Department to disperse the crowd and arrest a few leaders for a few days of confinement.
But this time, the riot seemed more severe, as the Federation had even deployed the pioneers.
Previously, pioneers dealt primarily with alien species.
Tu Ran’s gaze settled on the term “Genetically Modified Humans.”
She had never heard of it before.
She clicked on the corresponding entry to search for more information.
The term had become the most searched topic in the Federation over the past half-month.
Genetically Modified Humans: Also known as mutants or genetic warriors, these are individuals whose genes have been altered by radical protest groups. This modification causes them to exhibit characteristics that differ from normal humans.
A genetically modified human that appeared in Chizhou on July 16 had grown to twice the size of an average human and had greatly enhanced defensive capabilities, withstanding hundreds of bullet shots.
A video followed the description.
From the outside, it looked like it happened in a flashing, neon-lit bar.
Tu Ran clicked to view it.
The video was shot by a person present at the scene, with the footage shaking wildly, clearly showing the shooter’s fear.
In the video, a once-fat man, about 1.7 meters tall, lay on the ground, pulling at his clothes, rolling around and screaming in pain.
Many people around him watched, but no one dared to help him. Some were calling the police.
Then, a terrifying scene unfolded.
The man’s muscles began to visibly swell, expanding like dough rising. His shirt tore into shreds, and his cries of agony gradually weakened. He got up from the ground, now towering and hitting the ceiling.
He started attacking people indiscriminately. The crowd began to scatter, and those unfortunate enough to be caught by him were lifted overhead and then slammed down heavily.
The bar also had some individuals carrying firearms, who aimed and fired at the mutant. The sound of gunfire echoed throughout the bar, but the bullets hitting the mutant’s body simply fell to the ground, as if striking a solid wall.
Later, security personnel arrived at the bar and used powerful machine guns to subdue the mutant.
The video ended the moment the mutant fell to the ground.
So this is what a genetically modified human is?
Tu Ran’s shock lingered for a long time.
A human body could withstand bullet attacks?
How is this different from the creatures in the Threshold?
And this was just one type of genetically modified human.
