Chapter 566: Superpower Combative Police
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
In time, urban legends and myths of superpower users began spreading online.
People shared details of a recent bank robbery where the robber effortlessly shattered the tempered gla.s.s inside the bank merely by a wave of his hand. With that, the robber managed to get away with almost a hundred thousand dollars in tow.
There were also tales of a confrontation on a highway between a drunken redneck and a common office worker. It was said that the office worker managed to fling the redneck into a truck without so much as lifting a finger.
Someone told of their recent encounter where they saw someone leaping off the fifth floor of an apartment and landing on the ground unscathed. Then, the person simply walked away as if nothing extraordinary had happened...
Countless similar tales of otherworldly powers began to circulate online, some incidents backed with video evidence. As usual, there was a fair share of doubters, but even these doubters soon came to be convinced of these occurrences as the evidence supporting these tales began to pile up.
Two months later, while these online discussions were still gaining steady traction, Blacklight Biotechnology made a sudden announcement without any prior lead-up. Their biological department had once again achieved a breakthrough in stem cell induction technology and achieved a technology that people have only dared dream of until that point —
Stem cell organs cultivation!
The reveal of this technology caused a humongous uproar almost instantly.
It was always said that the human body was a mysterious device. The human body was akin to a gift from G.o.d to mankind and even with Blacklight BIotechnology’s sophisticated study on human biotechnology, they had never been able to produce independent human organs.
This was how bionic technology emerged in the first place. Mechanical bionic parts were used to subst.i.tute organic organs and made up for a human’s range of disabilities that stemmed from organ dysfunction.
Despite this marvelous invention, it was widely regarded that bionic technology would never be a complete, perfect subst.i.tute for organic organs.
However, history would be rewritten on this fateful day as Blacklight Biotechnology had once again achieved a never-seen-before breakthrough in the scientific field. They had successfully accomplished the recreation of independent human organs...
From here on, even with the most gruesome injuries that entailed decapitation of the arms or legs, humans would be able to resort to using stem cell technology to generate a new limb and transplant it to the disabled member. This was the same for people who suffered from critical failure of organs such as the heart, liver or lungs. Gone were the days where their life depended on the slimmer of chance where they could find a suitable organ donor since stem cell technology could be used to produce the required organs to save their lives.
This was the power of revolutionary technology. Whether it was a physical disability or a cardiopulmonary disability, this technology could be utilized accordingly to serve as a cure. The only shortcoming at the moment was the cost of these procedures which made it difficult to be directly implemented in the entire medical field.
With that said, the emergence of this technology was more than enough to ignite the burning flames of hope in those who suffered from disabilities and waiting for a lifeline.
Furthermore, it was also announced that Blacklight Biotechnology’s branch of bionic police that was scattered all across the world would be the first group of people ent.i.tled to a free organ restoration program. After their year-long sacrifice fighting for the good of mankind, it was only right that these n.o.ble heroes would be rewarded with another chance at a normal life!
The world celebrated the news delivered by Blacklight Biotechnology, enthused by the exciting future waiting for all of mankind.
...
Meanwhile, Chen Chen stood in front of a giant screen. There were three figures shown on the display.
All three figures were in a comatose state and lying on operation tables. They were surrounded by a large crew of medical staff who were deeply focused on the operation.
At this point, the world could not be any more familiar with the faces of the three men lying on the operation table. They were none other than the members of the world-famous superhero squad – the BHB Bionic Combative Police Force!
Chen Chen nodded up and down contemplatively as he watched over the operation.
In truth, the “stem cell organ cultivation technology” had been developed for quite some time by this point.
It had been finalized as early as four to five years ago in Blacklight Biotechnology’s Spire Experimental Base, inspired by the technology extracted from the other dimensions.
Furthermore, this technology was one of the key components of the “Mankind Anti-aging Project”.
Chen Chen had once put it this way for the other members in G.o.d’s Forbidden Zone, that the growth of mankind as we knew it was limited by a certain “ceiling”. The purpose of the “Mankind Anti-aging Project” was to raise the ceiling, but the problem was that the “floor” of mankind remained unchanged. Even if the human lifespan was increased, it would not have a great effect on accelerating the growth of mankind. The only way to do this was to raise the floor of mankind and by doing so, continue raising the average life expectancy.
To accommodate the “stem-cell age reversal treatment” project, Chen Chen deployed additional cancer and Alzheimer’s disease treatment projects as well as the “cloned organ transplantation”.
At that time, Blacklight Biotechnology had yet to develop independent organ cultivation technology. In that duration, the use of cloned organs was used as a subst.i.tute. This was achieved by using a cloned person as a template to extract the required organs.
The emergence of “stem-cell organ cultivation technology” had effectively rendered the outdated organ cloning technique redundant.
The only reason Chen Chen held off on publicizing this technology four to five years ago was that it just happened to coincide with the peak usage of “Project Xingtian” bionic technology. Announcing this technology ahead of time would result in a significant loss of revenue since it would cause the effective value of the “Project Xingtian” to plummet.
Fast forward several years later, Chen Chen had achieved his original goal with the “Project Xingtian”. Using the BHB bionic police force, he had successfully marketed the XTN robots on an international scale and shaped a stable military industry chain.
Additionally, many disabled people all over the world had gotten their hands on Blacklight Biotechnology’s bionic implementations. This meant that “Project Xingtian” was an unqualified success.
The natural progression from here on was to move on to the “stem-cell organ cultivation technology”.
This progression would act as another cornerstone to the “Mankind Anti-aging Project” and further extend the human lifespan.
The already established bionic combative police force under Blacklight Biotechnology was the perfect advertis.e.m.e.nt for this new technology. News of these combative police members that were household names at this point having their missing limbs restored organically would enhance the image of the new product.
Furthermore, Chen Chen had already incorporated the L compound into his long-term laid-out plans. The bionic police with their limbs and organs restored would soon be the recipients of the L compound and become transformed and upgraded into superpower combative police.
The “stem-cell organ cultivation technology” would be pushed to the general public while the L compound was simultaneously rolled out to the elite circles of the Earth Federation. This way, the existence of superpower users would be revealed in a natural order.
With this plan, Chen Chen could kill three birds with one stone.
...
Lane slowly awoke from his comatose state.
The moment he opened his eyes, his world was invaded by a piercing ray of light that immediately made him wince.
Lane quickly thought of why he was put into a comatose state in the first place. He sat up and was caught off guard by a strange, unfamiliar sensation that crept up to him from his legs.
It was an odd sensation that could almost be described as nostalgic, like sniffing the air from his childhood. Lane felt his heart skip a beat as he quickly lifted off the pale white sheets covering his body. The location where he was used to seeing the sight of an unnatural emptiness below his knees was now replaced by two all-too-familiar limbs.
They were two perfectly functional legs. They looked so natural that it seemed as if he had them attached under his knees his entire life without realizing it somehow...
There were two faint scars around the joints of the legs.
Lane did not know what sort of magical wonder Blackwatch exercised on him this time. All he knew was what was presented as clear as the day in front of him and that was the functional legs attached to the lower half of his body.
“You’re awake.”
Several doctors with medical sheets entered the ward. The leading doctor wearing gold-framed gla.s.ses smiled at Lane and brought the good news. “Congratulations, Lane, your legs have been restored. The nerve conduction has been reconnected to the joints in your legs. You should be able to stand up without any a.s.sistance after a short period of training.”
“Is, is that true?”
Lane’s lips shivered with excitement. He could barely string a sentence together because he was so overwhelmed with joy. His eyes formed pools of tears that drowned out his vision.
After a while, when the doctors had completed their inspection and prepared to give Lane some privacy, he asked them, “Hold on doctor, how long have I been asleep?”
Lane was curious how long it took for them to complete this miraculous operation.
“You’ve only been asleep for three days.”
The doctor with the gold-framed gla.s.ses smiled and said, “We’ve injected a three-day dose of tranquilizer into you to prevent any unantic.i.p.ated damage done by abrupt movements performed shortly after the operation was complete.”
“Is three days all it takes?”
Lane was awed by this revelation.
“It’s not all too surprising, especially considering that you’re an extremely esteemed member of Blackwatch and we want to ensure the highest quality of operation for you.”
Another doctor noticed Lane’s amus.e.m.e.nt and chuckled as he mentioned, “By this point, you of all people should know just what Blackwatch is capable of. By the way, you don’t have to worry about the bill at all.”
“Hahahaha...”
Sensing Lane’s perplexity, the team of doctors shared a merry laugh between themselves.
“Thank you, everyone, help me give my thanks to the great Blackwatch!”
Lane thanked them solemnly.
After the doctors finally left, Lane tried to start by carefully moving his toes. He watched with a childlike delight as the round toes at the end of his feet started wiggling around nimbly.
“It’s a miracle...”
Lane smiled cheerfully. The last time he could remember himself being this happy was before he betrayed his previous comrades. He could still remember all the nightmares that plagued him every night since then. He only managed to find peace of mind after avenging his family and killing Brooke.
“Kraken... Wildfire... Digit...”
Lane silently summoned these familiar names from his lips and recalled their familiar faces in his mind. His eyes glowed with a firm determination. “I’m not like you guys. All you guys ever wanted was to take down Blackwatch, but the only thing I have ever wanted was revenge...”
While the deep remorse in Lane’s mind was slowly drowned out by the bliss of having his legs restored, he heard sounds of footsteps slowly approaching his room. He could tell from the frequency of the footsteps that there were a lot of people approaching.
Shortly after that, he saw his agent, Austin, stepping in through the door, accompanied by the supervisor, Liu Zhijian.
However, Lane also saw several unfamiliar faces this time. Entering the ward with the superiors of the Bionic Combative Police Department were several people dressed in black suits that exuded an intimidating aura.
“Manager Liu, Miss Austin...”
Lane muttered blankly.
Austin looked into Lane’s eyes and blinked several times while discretely pointing a finger behind her. Manager Liu also proceeded to look back as well shortly after entering.
Lane followed Manager Liu’s gaze and saw the men in black forming two rows along both sides of the doorway in one swift motion. Immediately after that, a tall woman with a cold and imposing temperament strode in confidently. The sheer weight of her presence easily overpowered that of all the agents in suits combined.
“It, it’s you!”
Lane exclaimed. There was no way he would ever forget about this woman. It was the B.S.S. agent that came to clean up the scene on the night that he killed Brooke!
“Pedro Lane.”
The fierce B.S.S. agent had very minimal make-up on. She glared icily in Lane’s direction. “I’m here as a representative for Blackwatch to sign a new agreement with you.”
“New agreement?”
Lane immediately darted his eyes at Manager Liu. “Haven’t I already signed an agreement with Manager Liu in the past?”
“Ahem!”
Liu Zhijian coughed shortly. “Lane, I’m sure you realize that now that your disability has been cured, the BHB task force can no longer label themselves as ‘Bionic Combative Police’. In this vein, the past agreement is effectively voided as well.”
“Does this mean I’m not eligible as a member of the BHB Combative Police Force anymore?”
Lane was stunned by this piece of information. This was when he realized how much he adored the attention that came with being a superhero icon. The sudden news of having to quit the BHB Combative Police Force dragged his mood to an unforeseen low.
“Of course not.”
Austin immediately followed up with a quick smile. “Lane, the company would be making a mistake to fire an efficient officer like you. It’s just that there had to be some slight changes in the terms of the agreement.”
“I see...”
Lane took a breath of relief upon hearing of this. “What are the changes then? Will I still be wearing the combative police armor on missions?”
“Well...”
Austin hesitated her reply and glanced at the B.S.S. agent.
“Lane, this new agreement is completely confidential. I’m not even informed of the exact terms.”
Liu Zhijian smiled gently. “Feel free to ask Miss Sarah for further details.”
With that, the manager took Austin with him and they left the ward together.
“Miss, Miss Sarah?”
Lane eyes Miss Sarah nervously. Even with all his lengthy military training and acc.u.mulated field experience, he could still clearly sense Sarah’s heavy aura towering over his own. He had a feeling that even if he got to put on his usual combative police armor, he might still face defeat...
Sarah flicked an eyebrow dismissively and tossed a file on Lane’s lap then informed, “Here’s the agreement, sign it right away if you don’t have any problems with it. Of course, you’re free to refuse to sign it, in which case you’ll be terminated from Blackwatch effectively immediately. Following regular procedures, you’ll be paid a severance fee worth three months of your usual salary.”
Lane picked up the file and carefully went over it.
The terms in the first few pages were as standard as they came, consisting of the usual legal terms and jargon. It was by the fifth page when his eyes started to grow widened and filled with disbelief by what he was reading.
“Superpower combative police force? L compound?”
The terms of the agreement clearly stated that the BHB Combative Police Force would be renamed the Superpower Combative Police Force. The police force would comprise three to seven members, all with superpowers. The general operation was the same as previously. The only distinct difference was that the members would no longer be disabled members aided with bionic installations, but so-called superpower users instead.
Should Lane agree with the terms of this agreement, he as a former member of the now-retired BHB Combative Police Force would gain the privilege of receiving what was known as an L compound injection. This substance would grant him superpowers and become an official superpower user!
However, it was not without its risk. The potential side effects of this injection included brain deterioration and in severe cases, death.
Lane felt like someone was playing an awful prank on him as he read through the agreement. Superpowers? He suspected if this was all a fever dream...