Chapter 420: Terrifying Power
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
There was a total of three billion pairs of bases in human DNA. It was impossible to copy all of them even with Luo Yuan’s +15 Intelligence. Even if he were to eliminate 98% of the useless DNA, there were still 60 billion pairs of bases, which was still a great number to work with.
But in reality, it was not as troublesome. The genetic materials of the cell were basically molded after Luo Yuan. The modified gene had been removed to avoid the clone looking exactly like Luo Yuan, but the rest of the genome had remained unchanged.
As compared to Luo Yuan’s DNA, there were only eight groups of gene differences between them. At the same time, there were 1,350 groups of genes that faced a minor change. The least would be two groups of bases and the most were less than a hundred, while the remaining 30,000 groups were exactly the same with his own genes. The change in bases were 60,000, or 56,406 pairs of bases to be exact. Of course, the number was still big, but to Luo Yuan, he could forcefully copy all of them.
Time had passed, while Luo Yuan immersed himself into the chromosomes. He was awake three hours later, and as he opened his eyes, his Will was once again immersed into the cells. He took a look – the copying had progressed well.
He lifted up his head; it was aching. He breathed out slowly.
All was completed and the transformation could be launched anytime now. But since he had been waiting, there was no rush for that. He had to take a good rest to gain all his energy and be in his best form.
He flew in the space-time bubble and left the place.
The inside of the cave was air-tight. Although it was safe, it was not ideal enough for resting.
The three hours he spent in the cave had made the oxygen grow thin. Although Luo Yuan could hold his breath for four hours, his head was hurting and his body was weak when he was awake. Recovery aside, he was fortunate to be able to stand.
...
He flew out of the cave and found a tree hole that he could stay in. After killing the insects with his abilities, he curled his body up and fell asleep in the hole that was filled with stench.
He slept for ten hours – it was dawn when he woke up.
He stretched his body and looked at the time. Exuberantly, he walked out of the hole. The sun had yet to rise; it was still dark. Countless mutated beasts were roaring from afar.
The beasts’ roar did not worry Luo Yuan anymore; it was more of background noise to him now. Apart from some rare level eight creatures, the forest had completely lost its mysterious charm to him. Likewise, the Reconstruction Area was not as dangerous as it was before anymore.
A hungry mutated beast noticed Luo Yuan. Its eyes widened and crawled to him…
Luo Yuan spotted it and grinned – it was like a free bounty to him! Ten minutes later, the mutated beast that weighed 100 kilograms was spit-roasted over a fire pit
He ate a third of it and kept the rest, before going to a creek nearby and drank as much as he could, after removing the parasites. He then used the beast’s skin that he sliced and filled it up with water. There were about 10 kilograms of water.
Genetic modification was the first step of human transformation.
To cells, genes were the base of the formulation. The highest theorem where each and every cell activities were involved in includes metabolism, growth, and death. There was no room for mistakes.
As soon as a gene discovered that the body was out of coordination with the cells, there would be a special mechanism that would trigger splits in cells to kill the parent cell. If the parent cell was conscious, it would probably be an injustice as it was killed due to the modification, even though it did everything by the book.
That being said, as soon as the genetic modification was completed, Luo Yuan would have new cells in his body, where all of his old cells would be eliminated. The time taken would be shorter than expected, as the splitting would be over in a few minutes.
The intense splitting not only drains a massive amount of energy, it also required plenty of materials and water.
He carried the food and water on his back and checked if he had left anything behind. Luo Yuan then started flying in the Space-Time bubble and entered the cave again.
The noise from outside had disappeared – it was complete silence. However, he hesitated. Although he had experimented the genetic modification on his own a few times before and they were all successful, it was scary to do it on his own body.
Genetic modification was nothing trivial, it would change the root of his whole body.
Although it seemed like only a 1/200000 of change, it would bring a tremendous change in the body. A tiny mistake would deform him beyond recognition or even crash his genes.
Till now, he had no confidence to modify his brain.
He thought he had come a long way. He sighed and figured that if he were to give up now, it would mean that all the effort he invested in would be gone to waste. No matter how risky it may seem, he had to take it.
To be safe, Luo Yuan memorized the modification one more time!
He used Will to immerse his body. The very first part to be modified were his soles. But first, he wanted to experiment before the attempt. He then chose a surface cell on his sole. Since he had a +19 Will, he did not have to modify each and every pair of the base.
Considering that the bases were arranged by memory, his Will allowed him to look into them like a microscope, magnifying even the tiniest details.
With just a thought, the modification of cell would be completed.
He checked through the DNA chains on all the chromosomes – they were perfect.
Seeing that everything was going well, Luo Yuan started the large-scale modification. He then expanded his vision; countless cells of the size of the tip of a needle coagulated. Though invisible, his Will spread out and modified up to 100,000 of cells in silence.
Looking at the good progress, Luo Yuan expanded the modification again. Now he was not looking at the cells anymore, but focusing on his skin and the blood vessels covered in his Will. There were more than ten million of them…
In a mere 20 minutes, the modification of his legs was completed.
Then it was his hands, skin, muscles, organs, and backbones. His Will was akin to water in a dam, gushing all over his body thanks to his +19 Will and +17 Sense. If he was in his earlier state, he would be drained by now.
Two hours later, he had modified his neck, face, and scalp.
When it was approaching his brain, he had to stop the modification.
As the Will came from his brain, it was a prohibited zone as it was the most crucial part of his body. He knew this before he even started the modification. He only had two options – one was to leave it alone. As long as the rest of his body was completed, the genetic difference was not an obstacle at all. There would not be any conflict in the cells.
A good example would be an organ transplant, where an organ receiver would live in harmony with somebody else’s organ inside their body.
However, the rejection was a risk that Luo Yuan took into account.
It was natural for the human body to reject something that was foreign, as it would be for the organs. Rejection acts as protection for all creatures; the immune system in the human body was to identify what should go into the body and what should not and releases antibodies for defense.
Of course, a brain was nothing foreign but after the genetic modification, it had become one. In medical terms, there was still suppressive medication for organ transplants for the patients to adapt and live, but it did not apply to his condition. He figured there should not be any medication to suppress his antibody, the only way to live depended on his luck.
On the other hand, the second option was to release his Will without the ability to see what was happening. That would be a black box operation in his brain and the success only depended on luck.
The first option seemed negative. With the risk of rejection aside, it could be a long-term disease which Luo Yuan was not keen to endure. The second option, however, was 100 times more dangerous than the first one. Putting the failure of modification aside, the worrying part was that any mistakes in the genes could be fatal.
No matter what, he had already decided before the modification. Nothing was easy and it was an obstacle that he had to cross over. Since both depended on luck, he would rather take the risk regardless. As long as he had enough time and Will, there was a possibility for his Will to immerse in the chromosomes and complete the modification.
Upon feeling that there was only a third left in his Will, he closed his eyes to recover.
Many hours later, Luo Yuan stood up.
Although his Will had not fully recovered, it was two-thirds completed. The cells in the brain only occupied 0.028% of the 14 billion of cells in his body, hence the amount of Will was sufficient.
He closed his eyes again to avoid any distractions. The place was quiet and enclosed; there was no disturbance in all his senses.
After a long breath, he blanked out his mind and gathered his Will.
Suddenly there was a dim glow that lit up the pitch black cave. It got brighter; he was like a glowing man, shining brightly in the cave.
At the same time, a powerful vibe spread out.
Perhaps he knew that it was a matter of life and death; his Will was purer than ever. It was like liquid flowing through every inch of his skin. They were sparkly and clean. Soon, the glow disappeared, but it still remained on his head. The glow got brighter and more intense… and in seconds, it peaked.
There were DNA chains floating around him – it was a spill of his thought from his Will.
The procedure took an hour. As his Will was used up, the modification ended. He sat on the floor and held his aching head. He had lost his control of thought. Worried that the modification would fail, fear had turned his hands ice-cold. Will was the control of his emotion, but since his Will was drained, his emotions had spiraled out of proportion.
However, his strong body strength allowed him to calm down after ten minutes.
There was an itch on his sole. He took off his shoes, and there was a layer of dead skin detached from his sole. The dead skin was spreading all over his body.
The splitting of cells had begun!
Perhaps that was the message exchanged between the genes in the cells; the splitting went faster than Luo Yuan had imagined. It was like a chain reaction. Five minutes later, the skin of his legs and body started to shed.
Not only on the surface, the insides of his body was transforming too.
At the same time, a powerful and terrifying energy was developing in his body. The intensity of his power and body strength were increasing on the attributes panel.
He let out a groan, as the unimaginable energy in his body shook the cave walls.