Chapter 25: Carving the World

“…Professor Qin, for an unprecedented thinker like you, or rather, a genius, your perception of the world must be quite different from ordinary people’s, right?”

“I must admit, I’m quite curious too. How does a genius like Professor Qin view the world and human society?”

Ever since the higher-ups learned about Qin Yu’s ‘Apocalypse Anxiety’,

they arranged for a top expert in psychology at Research Institute 011,

tasked with monitoring Qin Yu’s mental state, providing psychological support, and ensuring his mental well-being.

Occasionally, she also conducted psychological evaluations for other personnel at this highly classified institute.

This expert was a woman in her early sixties named Liao Ming.

Her face was kind and gentle, showing no trace of aggression during conversations, and she never placed unnecessary psychological pressure on those she spoke with.

She was undoubtedly a highly professional professor and expert in the field of psychology.

Of course, after receiving the 2611 Longevity Injection, someone in their sixties could hardly be called elderly anymore.

Her appearance now resembled that of a woman just entering middle age.

Every so often, when Qin Yu had some free time, Professor Liao Ming would chat with him briefly to understand any changes in his mental state.

However, over the past while,

Professor Liao Ming hadn’t found Qin Yu to exhibit what people normally call ‘Apocalypse Anxiety’ or ‘Disaster Phobia’.

It hadn’t negatively impacted his life or research either.

Qin Yu showed none of the typical signs of anxiety.

In fact, Qin Yu struck her as the most calm, even serenely peaceful person she had ever met.

His wisdom and talent seemed to give him such confidence that he remained unshakably composed regardless of who he faced, what he faced, or what circumstances he encountered.

The only issue was perhaps that he felt an excessive sense of responsibility toward the whole of Human Civilization.

But honestly,

this just meant that they, who were somewhat limited compared to Professor Qin Yu, couldn’t fully grasp the mind of this brilliant thinker.

That was all there was to it.

Qin Yu glanced at Professor Liao Ming, then picked up the cup of tea before him and took a sip.

“Sometimes, I feel like I’m holding an axe, carving away at all of Human Civilization, at human society itself. Bit by bit, I attempt to shape it into the form I desire, driven by my own ambition.”

This statement might lead some to form a less favorable opinion of Qin Yu.

But Qin Yu didn’t bother hiding his thoughts and stated it plainly nonetheless.

True to form, after hearing Qin Yu’s reply, Professor Liao Ming paused briefly before continuing the conversation with a smile, as though they were merely chatting casually.

“Professor Qin Yu, purely from a psychological perspective, that mindset of yours carries significant risks.”

“Professor Qin, may I ask… just how do you ultimately wish to carve humanity?”

“More resilient. Possessing ample ability to ensure its long-term survival. Ideally, a civilization lasting all the way until the Heat Death arrives.”

Upon hearing Qin Yu’s answer, Professor Liao Ming smiled again.

“If that’s your goal, then I believe the vast majority of people would likely welcome the changes you bring to Human Civilization and society. Just like they embraced the 2611 Longevity Injection.”

Qin Yu listened and returned the smile, but said nothing more.

To some extent, his current thinking did temporarily align with the collective expectations of Human Civilization.

But could they always remain in such agreement?

Qin Yu himself didn’t know. It might take tens of thousands of years, millions of years, or even longer to provide an answer.

Checking the time, Qin Yu stood up.

He bid farewell to Professor Liao Ming, concluding this routine chat.

After finishing her talk with Qin Yu, Professor Liao Ming returned to her own office,

engulfed in silence for a while.

The core problem with Qin Yu’s stated view of human society and Human Civilization lay in this:

when he answered, he placed himself outside Human Civilization.

Or perhaps, deep down, he treated the existence of Human Civilization like an ornament to be whimsically rearranged,

overlooking the collective will of Human Civilization itself in the matter.

Was this a sickness of genius?

Had altering the world with such ease caused this shift in his mentality?

Professor Liao Ming couldn’t be sure.

Because she was acutely aware of one fact:

One needed genuine contact with Qin Yu to understand –

he probably discerned her every thought as a psychological expert with perfect clarity.

Conversely, she couldn’t see past whatever image Professor Qin Yu chose to present.

The gap in intelligence between an average person and Qin Yu

might be even greater than the gap separating a dog from a human.

Fully grasping Professor Qin Yu’s thinking under these circumstances seemed nearly impossible.

…

The chat with Professor Liao Ming was merely a minor incident.

Qin Yu paid little mind to how Liao Ming, or anyone else who learned about their conversation, might perceive him afterward.

In the following period,

Qin Yu had already decided what needed to be done next and began formally taking steps to make it happen.

After the 2611 Longevity Injection became public knowledge for some time,

apart from the large-scale production lines, additional production was activated to meet the export demand for the injections.

Within Research Institute 011 itself, actual research work had largely remained at a standstill.

In principle, Research Institute 011 was established specifically for the study of the 2611 Longevity Injection and Life Extension Technology.

After the widespread use of the 2611 injection, it seemed logical that work should begin on researching the next generation of longevity injections or more advanced Life Extension Technologies.

However, the problem was this:

the 2611 Longevity Injection itself was essentially Professor Qin Yu’s personal research achievement. The work subsequently carried out at Research Institute 011

largely involved Clinical Trials and repeating the Laboratory synthesis according to Qin Yu’s specifications.

In other words, though Research Institute 011 housed numerous experts in the Field of Life Sciences and other related disciplines,

they fundamentally lacked the capability to conduct further research building upon the technical foundation of the 2611 Longevity Injection.

Apart from Qin Yu himself, the other Professors and Researchers essentially had no idea how Compound 2611 was created. How could research proceed under such circumstances?

To continue research, Qin Yu had two main paths:

Either he personally pursued the study of more advanced Life Extension Technology, with the other Researchers and Professors supporting his requests through experiments, much like his fellow research students did before.

Or, starting from fundamental principles, Qin Yu would deconstruct the underlying workings and research approach behind Compound 2611. After enabling the other Researchers and Professors to comprehend this thoroughly, they could collaborate through division of labor, delving into deeper research to tackle various problems within the project and assist him in developing new Life Extension Technology.

The latter option, however, presented a significant challenge under the current circumstances: technical secrecy.

It was impossible for only Qin Yu to hold the complete synthesis knowledge for the 2611 Longevity Injection forever.

For now, though, this remained the objective situation.

In this situation, until Qin Yu came up with new research ideas and gave the institute a fresh experiment plan,

the research work at Research Institute 011 just remained paused.

The higher-ups hadn’t pressured Qin Yu or Research Institute 011 either,

nor asked much about what new projects Qin Yu or the institute planned next.

For the Huaxia Nation as a whole,

Professor Qin Yu’s contribution to life extension technology was already more than enough.

The institute’s founding purpose—its historic responsibility—was mostly fulfilled.

Even if Research Institute 011 produced nothing more,

if Professor Qin Yu just rested there living out his days,

or even ignored it completely and returned to Lingchuan University,

it wouldn’t be an issue.

The problem was,

all the life sciences researchers and scholars from other fields currently stationed at Research Institute 011 might go to waste.

Due to secrecy reasons,

even with the widespread distribution of the 2611 Longevity Injection,

the researchers and scholars initially transferred here couldn’t be disbanded on-site or sent back to their original institutions.

Although they didn’t know the core secrets of the 2611 Longevity Injection,

their earlier work assisting Qin Yu had exposed them to sensitive information.

And in the wider world,

secrets related to the 2611 injection’s synthesis technology were enough to drive many forces into a frenzy.

Common Era 2027, August.

The head of Research Institute 011,

the overseer of its Doomsday Gene Bank,

the lead of Project 2611,

the Father of Human Life Extension Technology, Professor Qin Yu,

submitted a new project application in his name and the institute’s:

—the Artificial Womb Technology project.

…

As average human lifespans drastically lengthened,

birth rates were bound to fall.

On one hand, this was due to shifting human attitudes after living longer;

on the other, it followed natural law.

Qin Yu’s original goals in studying lifespan mechanisms and creating the 2611 Longevity Injection were largely achieved.

First, increase mankind’s resilience, expanding civilization’s margin of error against a Doomsday Crisis.

Second, reduce the need for frequent identity changes—delaying the farewell to familiar faces from “this lifetime.”

If everyone could live to 180, so could his “public” self.

Now that these problems were handled,

it was time to consider humanity’s continued survival.

If the 2611 injection ensured existence,

Artificial Womb Technology promised propagation.

If 2611 was like a “delicious meal” with side effects,

this artificial womb was its antidote.

If widely used,

even after the steep rise in lifespans,

humans could still deliberately control population growth—

ensuring a steady flow of new blood into society

while maintaining a healthy generational renewal pace.

For Qin Yu,

this technology served another long-term purpose:

enabling future control over total population numbers.

To Qin Yu now, Human Civilization’s existence came first; everything else followed.

Its numbers couldn’t keep ballooning—

ideally, resources per person should stay high and stable.

For those handling Qin Yu’s application,

the project sparked another thought:

an artificial womb plus Qin Yu’s Doomsday Gene Bank meant

even if catastrophe struck Human Civilization one day,

these two could quickly revive the species.

This looked like

another flare-up of their esteemed Professor Qin Yu’s Apocalypse Anxiety.

But how could they not approve such a request?

To exaggerate a bit—

if “Qin Yu” was in the proposer field,

and the project wasn’t outright monstrous,

approval would pass without a second thought.

Moreover,

in this post-2611 era,

Huaxia Nation genuinely needed this technology.

Thus,

the application was submitted,

sent straight up the chain that same day,

and specially approved immediately.

The Senior Leader who’d met and spoken with Qin Yu several times

even placed a dedicated call about the new project:

“Your new project has our fullest support. For any needs, contact me directly, or reach Academician Shen Yaoguo.”

In short:

people, funds, resources—ask, and it’s granted.

The project timeline was incredibly lenient too.

Qin Yu was told to focus purely on research; they’d handle everything else.

Qin Yu only asked for one thing—additional hands.

Artificial Womb Technology spanned beyond life sciences.

Growing a baby outside the human body

required a full device replicating embryonic development.

Qin Yu could study this alone,

but that seemed… excessive.

He preferred requesting experts from related fields elsewhere.

For this project,

he didn’t work entirely solo either.

Instead, he had all relevant 011 Researchers collaborate,

each handling sections of the massive system.

Those transferred to Research Institute 011 earlier were highly capable.

Qin Yu just needed to set the overall path;

others handled minor details themselves.

He didn’t need to micromanage experiments daily.

Mainly,

Qin Yu knew future threats—”natural disasters,” “internal collapse,” “external invasion”—

would demand more massive research projects to prevent a Doomsday Crisis.

If each project demanded the same solo effort

as the 2611 Longevity Injection had…

His “Super Brain” could manage it,

but the exhaustion wouldn’t be worth it.

Was he mankind’s nanny?

His request for additional Researchers

was immediately granted.

Under the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ coordination,

experts for Artificial Womb Technology

were soon at Research Institute 011.

The transfer was smooth and uneventful.

To Qin Yu personally,

this research seemed far simpler than Project 2611—

though it would still take time.

Meanwhile,

outside world still reeled from the effects

of the 2611 Longevity Injection.