Chapter 8: I Must Protect My ‘Human Civilization’!
Chapter 8: I Must Protect My ‘Human Civilization’!
Qin Yu said with a smile, “In theory, this egg may last for 21 days. If I want to make it stay good longer, what do you think I should do?”
Qin Yu stood up with a smile and handed two eggs each to one senior brother and senior sister.
What greeted Qin Yu was the silent hesitation of the nine senior brothers and sisters.
Normally, this sounded like a simple common-sense question.
But it was like facing an exam full of super hard problems, when a ridiculously easy one pops up.
Instead of just starting to answer, most people would first doubt themselves.
The group of senior brothers and sisters were in that state right then.
Hearing Qin Yu ask that, they started to wonder if they missed something.
They thought about what Qin Yu really meant with his question.
Then, they thought about whether their answers might mess up Qin Yu’s plans and cause bad effects.
So, in their doubt, the whole lab turned quiet.
Of course, Qin Yu knew what they were thinking, so he didn’t wait for their answers.
He said, “I think, maybe putting it in the refrigerator is a good idea?”
After that, Qin Yu skipped the topic without any more weird comparisons or word games.
He moved straight to the main point.
He said, “Before this, our research had always focused on reaching our goal by changing how the lifespan mechanism works.
“Now, let’s try something different. Since the original lifespan mechanism is hard to change, can we use another body system to alter the outside environment for the lifespan mechanism?
“And keep the lifespan mechanism running as it should, while still reaching our aim to extend life. Like this egg in the refrigerator.”
Qin Yu spoke with a bit of excitement because he thought way ahead of most people.
He saw some hope.
Hearing Qin Yu’s words, the group breathed a sigh of relief.
Guessing Qin Yu’s thoughts wasn’t easy for them.
Now that Qin Yu said it straight out, it was good.
They didn’t care much if using the egg for the research was a good fit.
Still, this research idea Qin Yu brought up wasn’t really new in the past half year of projects.
In some of their tests, they had already tried things like that.
The key was what other body system to use, and how exactly to make it do its job to help the lifespan mechanism.
That was the important bit.
And today, Qin Yu was pretty happy, so he shared his plans in detail with the group.
The group didn’t break in while Qin Yu spoke.
They just tried hard to understand him.
They weren’t fools. If they could get some of Qin Yu’s super-smart thinking or ideas, it would help them a lot in their own work and learning for life.
Learning from Qin Yu was clearly the best thing.
But, just like always, even when they tried hard, feeling their minds were straining, they soon lost Qin Yu’s path of thought.
Even though Qin Yu was kind and open, letting them interrupt and answering their questions,
they still couldn’t keep up.
Later on, they just had to ‘stop thinking.’
After talking for about three hours,
Qin Yu said what the research team should look at next.
Noticing how the nine senior brothers and sisters felt, he didn’t go on.
He didn’t ask them to fully grasp the ‘life extension plan’ ideas he thought up in his head all night long.
When Qin Yu stopped, the nine sighed with relief.
But they also felt sorry about it.
It couldn’t be helped. Even though they were all at least doing doctor-level work and had been ‘worked hard’ under Qin Yu for a year,
fully getting Qin Yu’s thoughts and words was still too much for them.
Senior Brother Xu said, “Qin Yu, see what we should do next—just give us the lab tasks like before.”
Qin Yu replied, “Hmm. Except for Senior Sister Chen and Senior Brother Xu’s ongoing tests, stop all other lab work. Then, follow this lab plan to do new tests.”
He said, “I hope we get lab results fast.”
Senior Sister Chen said, “Okay, Qin Yu, don’t worry. I’ve got ready to sleep in the lab for the next month. I won’t slow things down one bit.”
Another voice said, “Me too…, Qin Yu, rest easy!”
Qin Yu said with a smile, “That won’t be needed.”
He smiled again and passed out the new lab plan he also wrote last night to the nine senior brothers and sisters, matching their roles.
Because of Qin Yu’s earlier words, the group felt excited and got their spirits back up as they took the plan.
The project they worked on with Qin Yu was really about testing his human lifespan mechanism theory in practice—finding out a way to use life extension technology for everyone.
Of course, if this project ever worked out for real, it would mean so much—beyond thought.
Probably, by sticking with Qin Yu, they could all be in history books later.
At that moment, some even felt dizzy, doubting themselves.
Life extension for humans—could it truly be done? Could they really take part in something like this?
Could such a big deal come from their hands? Was that possible?
But remembering Qin Yu’s always amazing actions, the group felt a little more sure.
They didn’t know if they could do it themselves,
but this Qin Yu, in name their junior fellow student, in truth their boss and half-teacher,
There’s no reason this can’t be done!
If even Qin Yu couldn’t achieve it, then truly no one in this era could!
Qin Yu still didn’t personally handle the specific experimental operations,
instead occasionally focusing on the experimental data provided by a particular related experiment and giving out new experimental plans. These were then carried out by one of his senior male or female students.
Within Qin Yu’s exclusive laboratory in the School of Life Sciences,
the crowd of people bustled with intense activity.
…
November, 2026 C.E.
Six months had passed since Qin Yu proposed the new research direction.
That very night,
Qin Yu let the male and female seniors who had finished some of the experimental procedures leave early.
Qin Yu himself completed the final few experimental steps.
When deep night arrived,
Qin Yu ceased all operations.
On the work platform before him sat a measuring cup containing a shallow layer of liquid, barely enough to cover the bottom.
This was the final experimental product,
the result left behind after six months, following some complex experimental procedures.
The liquid at the bottom of the measuring cup was a dark green. As time passed after Qin Yu finished all operations,
this dark green liquid shifted from a turbid state resembling some kind of suspension back to a clear state.
But strangely, no sediment appeared at the bottom of the cup.
It was as if the particles originally suspended in the liquid had completely dissolved into it, yet hadn’t affected the liquid’s transparency at all.
The total volume of liquid was probably less than ten milliliters.
Qin Yu picked up the measuring cup and held it up to the laboratory light for a moment,
then casually placed it back on the work surface.
This thing was important,
but now that it was actually made, it felt less so.
What mattered wasn’t this less-than-ten-milliliter substance, but the method of its synthesis and catalysis.
For Qin Yu, if he could synthesize it once, he could synthesize it countless times.
Although biological experiments were often filled with chance,
and many experimental results recorded in papers within fields like biology and materials science had low replication rates,
this problem simply didn’t exist for Qin Yu.
He had meticulously controlled the entire experimental process, and the outcome and the product had been anticipated long ago.
There weren’t many synthesis steps reliant on luck to pass through,
so naturally, he didn’t need to worry too much about this small sample.
He changed his clothes,
turned off the lab lights, the experimental instruments, and equipment.
Qin Yu left the thing, that many people would have gone mad craving, that could drive them to frenzy, right there on the lab work surface.
At this moment, Qin Yu wasn’t in a rush to contact anyone, nor did he notify anyone immediately.
Even though just moments ago, unknown to the vast majority of the world,
a discovery of global significance had been born within this darkened laboratory.
It was no exaggeration to say it would alter many destinies.
But Qin Yu didn’t feel any particularly huge emotional fluctuations; he just felt like he had simply finished a task.
Before leaving the lab, for some inexplicable and sudden reason, an evil thought took hold of him:
What if he poured out the synthesized, less-than-ten-milliliters of product right now, and just declared the experiment a failure?
Would the course of this world’s history then veer onto another path?
However, he quickly dismissed that notion.
After all, enabling the people of this world to live as long as possible was his own, original choice.
The birth of Life Extension Technology was what truly shifted this world onto a different trajectory.
In a parallel world without him, the emergence of such technology would likely require a very long time.
He just felt…
that he himself had a bit of a… wicked streak.
Activating Intangibility,
Qin Yu ‘floated’ down from the top floor of the lab building to the street.
On this important night, at this crucial moment for the whole world, for all of humanity,
Qin Yu decided… he needed to go get something to eat first.
Even though he wouldn’t starve if he skipped it,
he still appreciated enjoying good food.
…
The school cafeteria was naturally closed at this hour.
Perhaps after this achievement was announced, he could ask the school to open a 24-hour cafeteria for him.
Would Lingchuan University agree, he wondered?
Of course,
for now, Qin Yu was just thinking about it. He didn’t feel inclined to pull the Dean of the School of Life Sciences out of bed with a phone call.
Qin Yu walked out to a street just beyond the university’s back gate.
This street connected a few old and new residential communities near the school.
Even late at night, it was still bustling,
with some shops open and food stalls set up along the way.
The open shops had bright lights and signs illuminated,
while the stalls spilled onto the roadside with folding tables and plastic stools.
Choosing a barbecue stall, Qin Yu sat down at a table placed just outside the shop entrance.
He wasn’t in a hurry to order. Instead, he watched the street with its intermittent flow of people and stared somewhat vacantly at the grill near the shop door that lazily breathed out smoke.
Charcoal embers within the grill flared and dimmed with each wave of the boss’s palm-leaf fan.
Smoke from the grill, mixed with the fragrant spices used for barbecue, drifted across the whole street.
Occasional sounds of chatter rose from tables scattered along the street, where people ate their late-night meals, composing a scene of noisy peace.
“Young man, what would you like to eat? Items are over there, pick whatever you like! There are drinks in the fridge too…”
The female boss, who had just served skewers to a customer sitting inside, stepped out of the shop and warmly greeted Qin Yu as another customer.
Qin Yu lifted his head, looking at the boss holding a metal tray in one hand and a cloth for wiping tables in the other.
Though winter had arrived, beads of sweat dotted her forehead from all the rushing around.
Just then, some noise came from next door—parents scolding a child not to eat barbecue too often.
Having finished speaking with Qin Yu, the boss naturally turned and joined the conversation with a smile.
Qin Yu placed his order.
When the food was ready and served,
he took a bite of a beef skewer, then washed it down with a sip of cold drink.
Suddenly, Qin Yu let out a soft laugh.
This was just another ordinary night on an ordinary street.
But if Human Civilization vanished, streets like this might disappear too.
If Human Civilization ended, Qin Yu might end up drifting into some other civilization.
But if that civilization didn’t even have any food culture? He definitely couldn’t handle that.
What if, out of longing, he muttered something like “I’ll miss these simple things,” and no one could understand him?
That would be truly frustrating.
“Boss! Twenty more beef skewers!”
Qin Yu raised his head and called into the shop.
“Coming right up! We’ll have them grilled for you in no time!”
…
The next day,
Qin Yu, his nine seniors, and his mentor, Professor Chen Anmin, were all unusually present in the Laboratory.
Inside the Lab,
it was unusually still. No one was conducting any experiments.
Everyone gathered around the central workstation,
their eyes glued to what seemed like plain, transparent green liquid inside a Measuring Cup.
The group remained silent, staring intently.
They all knew their eyes weren’t precise scientific instruments.
Staring this fixedly wouldn’t magically reveal answers, no matter how long they looked.
But who could possibly look away?
It was no exaggeration—
though that small amount of transparent green liquid sat perfectly calm inside the Measuring Cup,
they yearned to shield it completely, sealing off every gap around it.
Yet everyone was worried: what if the Measuring Cup suddenly cracked?
Spilling the experimental substance onto the floor? Vanishing it completely?
They feared standing too close: what if a hand suddenly twitched? Knocking the cup over?
Instantly turning that person into a historical curse word?
Or what if someone burst into the Lab and snatched the cup away?
In short, their nerves had them tangled in knots.
Holding it, they feared dropping it; keeping it close, they feared losing it.
“…Junior Brother Qin, what is it?”
This thing was the result of over six months of relentless experimentation.
But so far, they hadn’t analyzed or tested it.
Its nature remained a mystery.
However, considering the project they were working on,
this question came from the youngest older sister present, besides Qin Yu.
Her voice trembled and faltered as she spoke.
Her words seemed lodged in her throat, barely escaping.
Finally, everyone tore their gaze from the substance and looked at Qin Yu’s face,
hoping for an answer.
“Qin Yu…”
Professor Chen Anmin also called his name.
He wanted to ask something but couldn’t find the words.
Even he dared not move now.
Afraid that if he stayed still, it was manageable—but moving might betray his uncontrollable trembling.
“It’s exactly what everyone has in mind.”