Zhou Qing was slightly alarmed.

What brings the master here in the dead of night?

"Greetings, sir." Zhou Qing immediately stepped forward and bowed.

The woman inside heard it too, and she ran out in small steps to stand behind and bow to him.

Qin Che waved his hand: "Director Zhou, won't you invite me in for a seat?"

Zhou Qing looked hesitant, but quickly put on a smile and gestured for him to enter: "Please, sir."

Qin Che nodded and entered with the gerbil.

The burly men obediently stood guard at the door, never leaving it for a moment.

The sofa was big and soft, but no one dared to sit with Qin Che. Zhou Qing and his wife, along with the shrew, all knelt on the ground, respectful and not daring to be presumptuous.

"Nothing much, I just wanted to see Director Zhou's new home. It seems he's doing quite well?"

Zhou Qing smiled and said, "Thanks to the master."

The gerbil said, "Now you are the director of the biochemistry research lab and the head of the pharmaceutical factory. If you encounter any difficulties at work in the future, you can try to mention them to me or the master."

Zhou Qing nodded repeatedly and softly agreed.

Suddenly, the door to the next room opened slightly, and a small head peeked out from around the corner. It was Zhou Yue, who had come out to see what was happening outside out of curiosity.

Qin Che turned to look at her.

Zhou Yue, frightened, hid back inside.

Zhou Qing swallowed hard, cold sweat pouring down his face. He snapped, "Xiao Yue! This is Master Qin! Come over and greet him! What are you hiding for?"

Zhou Yue still refused to come out.

The woman gave an awkward smile, somewhat flustered, and went up to pull her daughter into the living room, pressing her head down and making her kneel before Qin Che.

Qin Che smiled and asked, "How old are you?"

Zhou Qing, sweat beading on his forehead, said, "He's 16."

Have you taught her to read?

"Yes, I teach a little when I have free time, but I'm often very busy," Zhou Qing said honestly.

Qin Che asked a couple of questions, then lost interest and got to the point, saying, "Zhou Qing, I made you and your family of three move to Black Street. You don't resent me, do you?"

Zhou Qing was startled and waved his hands repeatedly, shaking his head and saying, "Absolutely not, I will listen to you, Master. I will do whatever you ask me to do."

Qin Che and the gerbil exchanged a glance and smiled at each other.

He said, "Don't be nervous. I'm different from Jiang Tianshu. You're a useful person, and the kind of talent that Black Street lacks most is someone like you."

Before Zhou Qing could even breathe a sigh of relief...

Qin Che added, "Recently, I discovered something interesting in Zheng Shishu's office: gerbils."

The gerbil nodded and handed Zhou Qing a folded document from his pocket.

The document consisted of only one sheet of paper, thin and clear, on which was written—

A record of an investigation in the biochemistry research lab.

Zhou Qing's face immediately broke out in a sweat, and cold sweat also appeared on his back.

"This... Elder Zheng has actually been investigating the laboratory all along?"

Qin Che said, "Yes, the Conservative Party and the centrist party are nominally cooperating, but in reality, they are both wary of each other..."

As he spoke, Qin Che leaned forward, his gaze becoming much deeper, and said coldly, "Zhou Qing, you have to tell me, what exactly did Jiang Tianshu make you research?"

Buzz!

It was as if a muffled thunderclap had exploded in Zhou Qing's mind.

He looked up in a panic, his gaze fixed on Qin Che, who had a half-smile on his face, as if a great danger was looming over him.

“This record isn’t very clear either, but we can find some clues. You…” The shrew looked at Zhou Qing and saw that his eyes were darting around and that he occasionally looked up at his family behind him, his lips trembling.

"How about we talk privately?"

"well."

Zhou Qing gave the woman a wink, signaling her to lead Zhou Yue into the room.

The living room suddenly became much quieter.

"Director Zhou, can we talk now?"

Zhou Qing was very grateful for the shrew's thoughtfulness. This matter really couldn't be known to his family. He hesitated for a moment, then tried to lower his voice as much as possible and said, "It's...it's Project Zero."

Upon hearing this, Qin Che and the gerbil exchanged a glance and then asked, "What is Project Zero? Tell me in detail."

"yes……"

Zhou Qing nodded, obediently knelt down, supported himself on his thighs with his hands, and said with his head down: "Through human experiments, using gene modification technology, we can enhance the physique and quality of soldiers. This project has been going on for many years. Before me, three scholars had led the research, but... they were all secretly arrested by Elder Jiang for leaking secrets."

"We have always believed that genetic modification technology is a double-edged sword. It is a choice that goes against nature. It will not only widen the gap between societies, but also exacerbate the division of class contradictions. The Conservative Party's intention to reform the military is a prelude to Project Zero. But in fact... Elder Jiang's expansion of the army is also for the sake of Sand Castle. In recent years, our diplomatic relations with the surrounding forces have gradually become cold, especially the Oasis Alliance. They are very envious of Sand Castle's resources. Elder Jiang hopes to have such a powerful army to defend Sand Castle."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Qing heard Qin Che let out a cold laugh.

He didn't dare to look up and quickly continued, "Human DNA is made up of billions of atoms and carries all the necessary information to create a human being. From a life perspective, a gene is a code, an instruction sequence formed by deoxyribonucleic acid. All organisms grow and develop according to this code, each according to its own kind, and grow into its own unique individual."

"We have made many breakthroughs in artificially modifying genes, including editing, cloning, diseases, longevity..."

Qin Che's face showed curiosity. "Go on."

Zhou Qing nodded: "Many groundbreaking studies were not done by me, but by my predecessors. I don't know their names, but they have successfully increased the number of tumor suppressor genes in the human genome from singular to plural, thus effectively curing the onset of various cancers."

"When we mixed the bat genome into the human body, it was rumored that many people died. There was even an outbreak of plague in Elder Jiang's underground research room. But the cleanup was done relatively well. We found a breakthrough from these experiments and successfully transplanted the bat's gene for rapidly repairing damaged DNA and telomeres into the human body."

"We also have facial reconstruction. We successfully transplanted the hyaluronic acid gene from a mole into an elderly person, and successfully restored his youthful appearance. This includes skin color genes, skin texture genes, hairline, double eyelids, ear shape, and nose bridge height. Regardless of race or gender, even hair color and iris color can be controlled."

"We also successfully transplanted the four-color vision gene, increasing the number of colors that the test subjects could distinguish from 1 million to nearly 100 million..."

As Zhou Qing continued to recount his story...

The shock on Qin Che and the gerbil's faces grew even stronger.

A so-called Project Zero provided approximately sixty or seventy successful cases for the Sandcastle genetic modification project.

For Qin Che, this 'ancient time traveler,' hearing this news was like listening to gibberish; it was utterly unbelievable…