Chapter 88: A Weight Lifted

Chapter 88: A Weight Lifted

Chen Feng was stunned. “What?”

Seeing his shocked expression, Tang Tianxin had already braced herself for this reaction.

Actually, this wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment idea for her; she had been considering it for a while.

Back when Chen Feng participated in the All-Army Competition, she had suspected that the evolutionary stage he represented was already above that of current humans, that he was a “post-human” of the next generation.

Subsequently, the Pangu Institute’s analysis of his training data and comprehensive personal genetic sampling further verified this possibility.

Humans had mastered genetic technology for over a thousand years, attempting and improving it in many ways. Even some unethical, dark research had never stopped.

But up until now, no human had ever possessed genes for physical functions as perfect as Chen Feng’s.

Even when there were occasional cases that came close, none had crossed that line as far as he had in one stride.

Without serum injection, Lin Bu, a combat genius nurtured by the Escape Faction, could withstand instantaneous acceleration of 15G, but not for long.

The current Chen Feng, after serum injection, could withstand at least 25G of acceleration.

Moreover, it seemed that due to his daily, uninterrupted serum injections, his blood and bodily functions had mutated.

Even without injections normally, he could withstand around 15G of acceleration, and the duration he could endure it was far longer than Lin Bu’s.

The Pangu Institute had tried to fuse Chen Feng’s muscle cells with those of ordinary humans at the genetic level, but these mutated cells all died rapidly without exception.

Of course, they had also sent beautiful nurses from the medical team to sample Chen Feng, attempting to cultivate embryo cells, but even with sample numbers as high as hundreds of millions, it had likewise failed.

The scholars at the Pangu Institute didn’t know where the problem lay. They could only infer that “post-human” Chen Feng and ordinary people had gradually begun to develop Reproductive Isolation.

After comprehensive system matching, from all existing people globally and the stored hundreds of billions of genomes, ten genes were ultimately screened out that might not experience Reproductive Isolation with him.

One of them was precisely the genius Commander, Tang Tianxin.

When the higher-ups discussed this matter with Tang Tianxin, far from feeling awkward or embarrassed, she even reported quite openly that her intuition had already given her this answer even before this series of rigorous research and verification was completed.

At the time, she had almost voiced it proactively.

But back then, she hadn’t fully made up her mind yet, as this was ultimately her personal decision.

Later, when Chen Feng and Ding Hu went out on a mission and had an accident, Ding Hu died in battle, and Chen Feng was also in grave danger.

On the surface, it seemed she did nothing. But in reality, the day after she received the complete combat report, she proposed an equipment improvement plan to the military high command, hoping the military would develop a better performing Azure Dragon Armor tailored to Chen Feng’s personal abilities.

But her proposal was rejected.

The high command’s reasons were also quite sufficient.

The proposal’s approval response was just one sentence.

“Making improvements specifically for one individual holds little significance and is not worth investing extensive manpower and resources to tackle. The technology for the current Azure Dragon Armor, from production to use, is already extremely mature and can hardly be modified any further. Time does not permit it, conditions do not permit it.”

This response settled the matter definitively.

That’s why she went to find Ou Qinglan, persuading her to sacrifice her personal time and work extra hours to make targeted improvements to the Azure Dragon Armor.

She also spent her own savings, depleting them, to contact the arms factory in advance to arrange the use of the improved material components.

To accomplish this, she ran around dealing with many steps both up and down the chain.

Now, saying she was negotiating terms with Chen Feng, she had actually already completed all the preparatory work.

“That… General Tang, I don’t really understand your intention.”

After calming down, Chen Feng sized her up.

He had to admit, setting aside factors of status and position, Tang Tianxin was an exceptional beauty.

But Chen Feng wasn’t so inflated as to think she had fallen in love with him.

“No particular intention, just wanting a child like that. As I said earlier, your combat talent is Heaven-sent, and my command ability is top-tier. Therefore, I have reason to believe that a child born from the combination of our genes would give this era a pleasant surprise.”

Chen Feng was at a loss for words first.

So pragmatic?

But your theory might not hold water.

Tang Tianxin still saw through his state of mind and said, “I know the success rate isn’t one hundred percent. Perhaps the union of geniuses still produces mediocre offspring, but it’s always worth a try.”

Chen Feng really couldn’t accept her peculiar, practical future-human view on love. “That… for such matters, shouldn’t there be an emotional foundation first? It’s too sudden.”

Tang Tianxin thought for a moment. “You’re talking about romantic love?”

Chen Feng nodded. “In a sense, yes.”

“Romantic love is a luxury only Subsistence Allowance Recipients are qualified to enjoy! Me, you, all first-class citizens, like us excellent soldiers and other creative, excellent laborers in all walks of life, do not have the qualification for romantic love! I’ve read many ancient romance novels, but that kind of union is too inefficient and not conducive to the genetic evolution of the race. Excellent genes should combine with each other to strive for that infinite possibility. It’s all for humanity.”

Chen Feng swallowed, feeling almost convinced.

“But the war is less than a year away. There isn’t enough time to raise our offspring to adulthood, right?”

Tang Tianxin asked back confidently, “How do you know we will definitely lose? Even if we are defeated, we can at least persist for some years, right? In ancient times, a war lasting several decades was not strange. Since humanity has no retreat this time, we definitely won’t give up easily!”

Chen Feng was shocked by her confident demeanor.

He thought to himself, isn’t this just ignorance making one fearless?

“Sorry, I refuse.”

But in the end, he still shook his head.

Because of Ding Hu, he had already experienced the torment of premature grief once.

He didn’t want to have more entanglements with this era, especially didn’t want to have a relationship with anyone.

Because he knew Tang Tianxin would die, and how she would die.

Although he himself would also die, he could revive, so his mentality was different.

He was afraid of developing genuine feelings.

Compared to Tang Tianxin’s blind confidence, Chen Feng had a blind despair about the future.

“I already knew you would refuse.”

Tang Tianxin smiled. “Then please take a look at this document yourself. What I did earlier was just because I didn’t want to force you, but now it seems that won’t do.”

Chen Feng took the document and looked down at it.

“The Nuwa Proposal – Regarding the Genetic Union of Lieutenant Chen Feng and Major General Tang Tianxin.”

“Lieutenant Chen Feng, please tell me loudly. What is the first rule of the World Army regulations!”

Chen Feng said listlessly, “Subordinates absolutely obey superiors!”

“Louder!”

“Subordinates absolutely obey superiors!”

“So, your decision is?”

Chen Feng shrugged. “Sorry, I don’t buy that. Yes, I’m disobeying orders. Are you going to discharge me?”

Tang Tianxin was taken aback.

She really hadn’t anticipated Chen Feng being so stubborn. She simply couldn’t understand his mindset.

Just then, the communicator on Tang Tianxin’s hand rang.

With a gloomy face, she turned around. A projection of a white-haired woman appeared on the desk.

This woman had a round face, slightly chubby like a baby’s, and the silver hair covering her head was particularly striking.

With dark circles under her eyes, she said wearily, “Sis, I completed your commission. Thanks to the new black alloy extracted from the Escape Faction’s improved armor, I completely redesigned and rebuilt the Azure Dragon Armor. Its performance is doubled compared to the current baseline.”

Tang Tianxin covered her mouth in surprise. “Ou Qinglan, what happened to your hair?”

Ou Qinglan sighed displeasedly. “I was afraid there wasn’t enough time. The arms factory side also needed time. So, over this past month, I took twenty-four doses of stimulant in a row. Now my brain is a mess, and my hair turned like this. No one ever told me before that continuous stimulant injections turn your hair white. Sigh, I need to rest for a while. I’ve sent you a copy of the design blueprints. I’m going to sleep.”

With that, Ou Qinglan ended the communication.

“Chen Feng, you saw, right? To improve the Azure Dragon Armor for you, Ou Qinglan she… Well, even if you refuse to follow orders, no one would be willing to expel you from the military camp. I would still find a way to get the improved version for you. But can you bear to let Ou Qinglan’s efforts be in vain?”

Chen Feng thought for a long time.

“Alright.”

Tang Tianxin was overjoyed.

Seeing her like this, Chen Feng felt speechless inside.

Just consider it for a better Azure Dragon Armor, to survive a few more seconds when the time comes, sacrificing a bit of… physical appearance.

After a long while.

He asked, puzzled, “That… aren’t you going to take off your clothes?”

Tang Tianxin asked back, “Take off what?”

“Your clothes!”

“Oh, no. You just go back to your dorm and play the holographic game. Later, your Gene Fluid will be sent to the lab via a pipeline. The subsequent synthesis steps will all be completed in the lab.”

Chen Feng: “…”

He didn’t know whether to feel a weight lifted off his shoulders, or to feel regret.

Gene Fluid was really something else.