Chapter 256: Enchanting
Ten minutes later. Chen Chen shook his head when he saw the middle-aged man with his head buried in his work in the study.
If Chen Chen could help it, he would rather not enforce his will on this person.
This was because he had previously gone through this middle-aged man’s background and this was a spectacular, talented individual. Although it would not be right to say he came from nothing, he had displayed exceptional abilities ever since he started working at his father’s company at the ripe age of twenty. In just a year, he had tripled the market value of his father’s company!
Immediately after that, his father promoted him to general manager of the company, granting him a proper stage to put his talents to use. From there on, Adrian had excelled right out the gate, kickstarting his career in an awe-striking manner.
In just twenty years, Adrian had managed to propel his father’s company’s market value from tens of millions to hundreds of billions. He expanded their reach into the mega-corporations across countless industries including finance, electronics, entertainment, services, and other sectors...
Such brilliance in managing a business was far more commendable compared to Wall Street with their decades of wealth acc.u.mulated by their ancestors. It was difficult for Chen Chen to not have a great deal of respect for this man.
It had to be said that behind the path to success of every pioneer, a story comparable to the likes of wondrous fables could be told.
Chen Chen sat across Adrian’s desk where he gave out a short sigh and canceled his invisibility.
“Hm?”
While Adrian was completely immersed in his task of fixing doc.u.ments, he heard the voice of another man inside his otherwise tranquil study. He subconsciously looked up and saw Chen Chen seated across his desk.
Adrian in his state of confusion glanced at the still tightly-shut door of the study and seemed to have understood something so he fixed his gaze on the man in front of him.
From where Adrian sat, this person in front of him appeared to be an average-looking Chinese young man somewhere in his twenties. The man had a common appearance that would not earn him a second glance if Adrian saw someone like him on the street.
However, Adrian’s pupils shrunk into their sh.e.l.ls when he looked into the other person’s eyes.
Such eyes were dark and bottomless like a black hole, absorbing all the light around it. Even in the dimly lit study, those eyes stood out like a sore thumb...
At this current moment, both the young man and Adrian were looking at each other dead in the eye. The corner of the stranger’s lips crooked upward into a subtle smile. The way this man wore his predatory smile made Adrian’s heart flutter ominously.
Even with a common smile, the young man radiated such threatening, bloodthirsty aura...
“Sir Adrian, I’ve come here uninvited because there’s something I need to discuss with you, please do excuse my manners.”
Chen Chen started plainly. However, the tone of his voice hardly suggested the faintest hint of remorse.
“Who are you?”
Adrian took a deep breath and asked solemnly, “Also, how did you get in here, where’s my bodyguard posted outside?”
“He should be coming in here soon unless he went for a toilet break.”
At the end of Chen Chen’s note, the m.u.f.fled sounds of conversation coming from inside the study finally attracted the attention of the bodyguard posted outside. A round of knocking sound came from the door.
Adrian looked visibly comforted by this as things should be easier for him as long as his bodyguard realized his predicament. As it was, even if he did not raise a word of caution and only remained silent, the bodyguard outside should quickly realize something was off and would take appropriate measures.
“Come in.”
To Adrian’s surprise, it was the young man who had broken the silence.
“Click...”
The door of the study was opened. A large, stout man built like none other than Sylvester Stallone himself poked his head in. “Boss, I thought I heard you talking with someone...”
Before he could finish, he saw Chen Chen with his back facing toward him.
“You are...”
The man digested the situation with a split instant, he immediately charged toward Chen Chen with his right hand aimed at Chen Chen’s hair. The speed and explosiveness he had displayed were at the utmost limit of what a common person should be capable of!
However, immediately after taking two steps and readying to take his third step, his brain was torn out of its sh.e.l.l and slid down his neck. His body collapsed in one swift motion onto the rug and began twitching uncontrollably...
Fresh blood pumped to the rhythm of his heartbeat out of his lifeless body like a high-pressure fountain, seeping into the expensive rug. The room was instantly engulfed in a thick, foul mist of blood.
“Creak...”
The door to the study simultaneously shut on its own.
Everything happened in a split instant. Adrian barely had time to react at all. It was only after the matter when he felt his body overtaken by a horrible chill.
What was even more appalling was that the young man in front of him barely moved a muscle. He did not so much as blink at all, but the bodyguard was indeed eliminated almost instantly...
“How did you do that...”
Adrian heard his voice turning hoa.r.s.e as he asked.
“Just a little trick.”
Chen Chen gestured slightly with his hands, an almost completely transparent poker card suddenly appeared in his palms and spun on it as if it had a life of its own. Chen Chen gave an apologetic look. “Sir, I’m sorry if I’ve caused you some shock. I only did so as I’d prefer if n.o.body would interrupt our conversation, I hope you don’t mind.”
Adrian turned pale white. He wanted to return a courteous smile but was otherwise too frightened to do so.
“n.o.body should be able to interrupt us now.”
Chen Chen put away the graphene poker card and got up. He approached a bookshelf and silently observed the rows of books stacked on the bookshelf. “Sir Adrian, I heard your father is exhibiting the early signs of Alzheimer’s?”
“Yes...”
Adrian looked at Chen Chen who was candidly flipping through the books and asked, “Who sent you here?”
“Foolish.”
Chen Chen uttered blankly as he took a random book from the bookshelf. “What makes you think that there’s another party backing me? Is it so ridiculous to a.s.sume that I came here on my own accord?”
“...” Adrian dared not refute him and got silent.
“Sir Adrian, I’ve come here because I want to make a deal with you.”
Chen Chen continued. “I know that you’ve invested in Osmond in hopes of them manufacturing a drug for curing Alzheimer’s disease. Why not try your luck with our Eco Science City?”
“Eco Science City?”
Adrian was instantly made aware of Chen Chen’s ident.i.ty. He shook his head. “I already had experts look into the program in Eco Science City, the technology can only halt the progress of Alzheimer’s at best without actually treating it. Besides, although the patent to these techniques is still held by Eco Science City, many treatment centers in North America have already been secretly circulating them, there’s no need to head to Eco Science City.”
“I understand.”
Chen Chen nodded and turned back to Adrian. He tossed the book back into the bookshelf and returned to his seat. “In that case, please look at your computer.”
“My computer?”
Adrian was first slightly taken aback before he saw his computer booting up on its own. A web page t.i.tled “G.o.d’s Forbidden Zone” was opened without any user interference. After that, the computer selected an article which in an instant, information regarding a certain “Alzheimer’s Disease AD-001 Specialized Drug” was shown.
Reading the pa.s.sages of information and research statistics, Adrian revealed a look of utter shock and disbelief, almost forgetting the predicament that he was currently in.
“How, how is this possible...”
“There’s no such thing as impossible, Sir Adrian.”
Chen Chen smiled. “You should be well aware that before the ‘Age Reversal Treatment’ was publicized, our G.o.d’s Forbidden Zone has restored the youth of plenty of members of various financial groups. In truth, we hold the most advanced medical technology in the entire Federation. We’ve also long since developed a specialized drug for Alzheimer’s Disease, only we haven’t publicize it.”
“Why not publicize it?”
Adrian asked with a hint of doubt, “You as well should be well aware of the sheer impact of publicizing such a drug. Its influence may be even comparable to when you developed the first vaccine for ‘Blacklight virus’.”
“As for this, I’ll have to first start with describing the motive of our G.o.d’s Forbidden Zone.”
Chen Chen smiled faintly. “Our G.o.d’s Forbidden Zone is founded by a group of people committed to prolonging the human lifespan. The goal is to overcome the human Hayflick limit to attain the privilege unique to G.o.ds themselves – Immortality.”
“Immortality?” Adrian turned the question back to Chen Chen. “That’s impossible, everything rots away eventually. Even metal rots away.”
“No such thing as impossible. Death as we know it is merely a common misunderstanding.”
Chen Chen shook his head. “I’m sure you know, sir, that we have a generalized term for the advancement and progress of living things – evolution. In the natural world, there’s no reason to expect that evolution should extend our lifespan in any shape or form. As long as we can survive long enough to reproduce and procure the next generation, and raise them to be self-sufficient on their own, that’s more than enough.
“Therefore, in terms of evolution of life forms, it’s more than enough for humans to reach the age of 30-years-old. Any further genetic mutations serving to prolong lifespan aren’t subject to any adoration by natural selection. As we humans age, all sorts of odd and bizarre genetic diseases will begin to surface.
“What a mindless observation, isn’t it?”
Chen Chen made a gesture and expressed helplessness. “It’s precisely because everyone dies that we claim death is inevitable. We see aging the same way we see the concept of time itself, it only presses onward and there’s nothing we can do to stop it...
“With that said...”
Chen Chen suddenly altered his tone. “This a.s.sumption is invalid. Feynman, the founder of nanoscience had once said that in all of the study of biology, we have yet to find any substantial proof that death is completely inevitable. One day, biologists will be able to pinpoint the exact cause of death and rid us of this horrible ‘disease’. From there on, the human body will cease to be just a temporary instrument...
“In truth, there’s no reason to put aging and time in the same sentence. Time will press on one way or another, but aging isn’t a constant.”
Chen Chen pointed at his head. “Think about this carefully, Sir Adrian. The observation of aging is merely due to the components of the body expiring, just like how cars wear out the longer you drive them, but does this necessarily mean that cars age? If you have mastery of restoration techniques, could you not simply swap out the worn-out parts with new parts, thus making it so that the vehicle can be operated forever?
“The human body is more complex than that, but in its essence, it’s the same as a vehicle.”
Adrian fell silent upon hearing Chen Chen’s remark, appearing to be pondering the legibility of what Chen Chen had told him.
“To attain immortality, we united the financial groups of North America and Europe and launched the ‘Mankind Anti-aging Project’. The goal is to extend the human lifespan.
“Of course, these are just empty words. Without proper evidence, I doubt you’d easily believe what I just told you.”
Chen Chen made an inviting gesture. “But that won’t be an issue. You may revisit any doc.u.ment on this website anytime you’d like, feel free to take a look at what’s in them.”
Adrian nodded and closed the file on the AD-001 drug and proceeded to open another file with details concerning the cancer targeted drug. A mix of surprise and shock appeared on his face. “This is completely different from the anti-cancer drug your group announced, this is a fourth variant of the anti-cancer drug!”
“That’s right.”
Chen Chen nodded. “Although Blacklight only publicly announced three anti-cancer drugs, we have six variants of anti-cancer drugs that can completely cure cancer. There are also over ten such anti-cancer drugs currently under development. The reason we haven’t announced them to the public is that these are currently restricted to the members of G.o.d’s Forbidden Zone only.”
“Members restricted?”
“It means that due to some of the techniques employed being too unconventional, we’ve decided to restrict it to a small group for the time being to avoid inciting a large societal shift.”
Chen Chen further explained, “By small group, I’m referring to the partic.i.p.ating members of G.o.d’s Forbidden Zone. We develop new drugs with the help of the investment of each financial group. After commencing development, they’ll be made available for these members at first notice. This is the methodology of G.o.d’s Forbidden Zone.”
There was finally a mild look of intrigue on Adrian’s face upon hearing Chen Chen’s remark. “So what exactly prompted you to approach me?”
“There are two reasons why I’ve come here.”
Chen Chen narrated, “One. To invite Sir Adrian to join G.o.d’s Forbidden Zone. And two, I’d like to purchase all of the Osmond shares from your hands.”
“If I were to join, will I have access to all of the non-publicly available drugs listed on the website including AD-001?” Adrian’s eyes lit up.
“Yes. Only with your current status, you don’t have the privilege to be a part of the ‘Disciple’s Council’ in G.o.d’s Forbidden Zone, you will soon be though. However, if it pleases you, you may choose to be enlisted as an Alpha member, which is the highest-ranking member next to the Disciple Council. The only difference is that you will not have as much authority as the Disciple Council and don’t have access to free medical treatment.”
“Money won’t be a problem, I just want to get my hands on this AD-001.”
Adrian quickly responded by shaking his head.
“That won’t be a problem,” Chen Chen answered, “as long as you’re willing to transfer the shares of Osmond Biotech to us.”
“Are you worried about the off chance of Osmond developing another variant of a targeted drug for Alzheimer’s disease?” Adrian finally had an epiphany when he heard this. “Which is to say that Osmond’s research trajectory is correct after all!”
“Correct.”
Chen Chen nodded. “So, Sir Adrian, have you come to a decision yet?”
Adrian appeared visibly conflicted at this point. “I’m willing to join G.o.d’s Forbidden Zone but... what if I refuse to give away my shares in Osmond?”
Chen Chen smiled and turned to look at the cold corpse lying on the rug without a word.
Adrian immediately understood what Chen Chen was suggesting with this gesture. He let out a brief sigh and nodded. “I understand, I’ll have to consider this for a while...”
“No problem.” Chen Chen gave him a nod and got up politely. “Please give me an answer as soon as possible.”
With that, Chen Chen opened the door leading out of the study and left the room, disappearing at the end of the long and winding corridor.
Watching Chen Chen’s slowly vanishing figure, there was a look of uncertainty on Adrian’s face, he slowly descended into the crevices of his mind.