The preparation is a long process. After the scent of heather is mixed in, the perfume with rich top notes, intense middle notes and long base notes is finally completed.
Zhuang Li lay on the bed holding a pillow, breathing slightly through his nose. His snow-white skin was soaked with sweat, showing a pink hue. Occasionally, one or two red plum blossoms bloomed above the blue blood vessels, which was dazzlingly beautiful.
Yun Ming hugged him from behind, intermittently kissing the scar on the back of his neck, his voice full of pity: "Does it still hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore." Zhuang Li turned sideways, gently wiping away the sweat on his lover's chest with his slender fingertips. He asked curiously, "If we both had glands, would the sensation be more intense when we make love?"
"You think it's not strong enough?" Yun Ming frowned.
Recalling the thrilling experience before, Zhuang Li bumped his forehead against his lover's chest, his tone very satisfied: "No, it's already very strong. Our bodies are the most compatible."
Noticing that his lover's brows were still furrowed, as if he wasn't very happy, Zhuang Li quickly held his head, kissed his eyes and cheeks, and coaxed him softly, "Baby, I love you so much. Even without glands, you are still the strongest man in the world."
When it comes to sweet talk, no one can rival Zhuang Li. Yun Ming was immediately charmed, his brows relaxed, his eyes brightened, and he felt a surge of joy.
He hugged his fiancé and kissed him back, then indulged himself in the rich scent once again.
That afternoon, the two satisfied people dragged their tired bodies out of bed and sat in the restaurant to replenish their energy.
Their computers simultaneously emitted a rapid beeping sound, a distinct reminder of their deteriorating health. Sex, while pleasurable for others, was a razor-sharp knife to them.
Yun Ming, who was smiling as he cut the steak for Zhuang Li, paused slightly, his heart aching. But he quickly recovered and continued to serve the food as if nothing had happened.
Zhuang Li directly turned off the health monitoring program.
"Don't turn it off." Yun Ming immediately put down the dinner knife, pulled his wrist over, and turned on the health monitoring program again.
After adjusting it, he realized belatedly that his fingerprint could actually open Zhuang Li's intelligent brain.
Zhuang Li explained at the right moment: "The military marriage application form contains your fingerprint, iris, and DNA information. I entered it into the backend and set the highest permissions."
The meaning of this sentence is, I completely regard you as my closest person. There is no difference between us.
Yun Ming's depressed mood immediately lifted up, like falling into an ice cave and finding a hot spring underneath, which brought him a warm surprise.
He also extended his wrist and smiled darkly: "You try to open it too."
Zhuang Li extended his index finger and pressed lightly, and Yun Ming's intelligent brain also turned on.
When they received the military marriage application form, the two people who were thousands of miles apart did the same thing without any agreement. This tacit understanding was hilarious.
So Zhuang Li and Yun Ming held each other's wrists and laughed inexplicably. As they laughed, they stretched their necks at the same time and exchanged a loving kiss across the dining table.
The depressing emotions brought by the warning sound completely melted away in the sweet and warm atmosphere.
After their lips and tongues parted, Zhuang Li projected a light screen with his intelligent brain and said briskly, "Don't worry, I've found a way to heal us."
"What method?" Yun Ming looked at the light screen, but saw a cell picture displayed on it.
"This is a cell sample brought back by humans when they fled Earth. The banker is the empire's leading financial group, with immense capital. He once acquired large quantities of biological specimens from ancient Earth, and this cell was one of them. I originally thought that the company my family had given me was just an unprofitable shell company, but clearly, I was wrong."
"All the ancient Earth biological specimens acquired by Zhuang are stored in this company's cold storage." Zhuang Li sighed as he drank his milk, "My father didn't abandon me. He left me his most precious inheritance."
Biological samples or instrument books from ancient Earth are priceless treasures for the people of the empire in the interstellar age.
A paper book published in the ancient Earth era was once auctioned for a sky-high price of 2 billion star coins.
The company that the banker gave to Zhuang Li actually preserves tens of thousands of seeds from the ancient Earth era, animal specimens, cell samples, DNA information of various organisms, etc. The total value is simply inestimable.
If Zhuang Li couldn't make it, he could just sell anything in the cold storage and immediately be on the rich list.
Therefore, being expelled from the family seems to be just a smokescreen.
Yun Ming's expression softened as he sighed, "Your family is protecting you in their own way."
"Yes, they left me enough room for retreat." Zhuang Li pointed at the cell diagram and brought the subject back to the topic: "Do you know what kind of organism this cell belongs to?"
"These are the cells of ancient humans on Earth." Yun Ming looked at the picture carefully.
"That's right. Then do you know which ancient human on Earth it belonged to?" Zhuang Li continued to ask.
Yun Ming shook his head and said, "Ancient Earth's civilization and history were destroyed in a nuclear explosion. I can't guess. Does it belong to a famous figure in history? Einstein?"
"It's not Einstein." Zhuang Li shook his head and chuckled, then announced the answer: "It's Hela's cells. You've heard the story of the goddess Hela since you were little, right?"
Yun Ming showed a look of astonishment: "Are these cells from the goddess Hela? But the goddess Hela is just a fictional character!"
The immortal goddess Hela is a myth created by the people of the interstellar era empire based on the records of a damaged ancient book. In this ancient book, Hela is described in a single sentence: "She is a woman who will never die."
If humans in the interstellar age, armed with super-high technology, couldn't find a way to achieve immortality, how could humans on ancient Earth possibly achieve it? Therefore, this record was deemed a myth by archaeologists at the time.
But now, Zhuang Li pointed at the cells on the screen and said slowly, "This is not a myth. Hela is immortal. The human cell I'm showing you now belongs to her. After thousands of years of being frozen, this cell is still alive. As long as there is sufficient nutrition and the temperature is suitable, it can continue to divide. It will never die, and so Hela is immortal."
Yun Ming was stunned. He immediately realized how terrifying the meaning of this sentence was.
The limit of cell division for ancient humans on Earth was about 50 times. With each division, their cell telomeres would shorten a little. By the 50th division, the telomeres would completely disappear, and the human body would enter the countdown to death.
Even in the interstellar age, if humans discovered how to lengthen telomeres and thus extend their lifespan, there would still be a limit to how many times a cell can divide. Betas can divide a maximum of 80 times; omegas a maximum of 75 times; and alphas can divide between 100 and 200 times. The stronger the physique, the longer the lifespan.
But HeLa's cells can divide indefinitely, which means she can live forever.
"No, she's dead." Zhuang Li interrupted Yun Ming's fantasy. "Cell division requires energy. Infinitely dividing cells requires an infinite amount of energy. And Hela is just an ordinary person. She couldn't possibly supply such a huge amount of energy to these cells. So she died. She died of cancer."
Zhuang Li pointed at the picture and said, "After her death, these miraculous cells lost their energy supply and finally stopped dividing. They're not dead, they're just dormant. If you take any one of them and give it the right amount of energy, they can reproduce indefinitely."
Yun Ming savored it for a long time before sighing, "Ancient Earth humans are truly amazing! No wonder ancient texts say Hela is immortal."
Zhuang Li nodded and said, "Yes, so don't always assume that impossible things are false. The universe still hides many mysteries, and science is not always correct."
Zhuang Li projected several more cell images and continued, "I cultivated some HeLa cells and used genetic recombination technology to reverse them into stem cells. Then, I used gene editing technology to cultivate these stem cells into endocrine cells."
At this point, Zhuang Li asked again, "Do you know what endocrine cells are?"
"I don't know." Yun Ming shook his head.
This is not his fault. After all, the current interstellar humans no longer have endocrine cells, and the production of glands behind the neck has completely replaced the function of endocrine cells.
Zhuang Li further explained, "Endocrine cells are a type of cell unique to ancient humans. They secrete a variety of hormones to keep the body functioning normally. Ancient humans didn't have glands behind their necks, yet they remained remarkably healthy. This is the secret."
Yun Ming finally understood: "I understand. The endocrine cells you cultivated can replace glands."
Zhuang Li smiled and nodded. "That's right. I will implant these endocrine cells into our bodies and let them aggregate into new glands to secrete the various hormones needed by the human body. So don't worry, even without the glands at the back of the neck, we can still live a long time."
Yun Ming looked at the cells on the screen in disbelief, his eyes gradually lighting up.
"This is a groundbreaking invention. The Zerg like to attack the glands of human soldiers from behind because they know that is our weak spot. Every year, tens of thousands of soldiers die tragically from having their glands bitten through. The cumulative number of soldiers who are forced to retire due to glandular damage and silently await death is in the millions."
Yun Ming held Zhuang Li's hand tightly and said excitedly, "With this invention, we will save countless soldiers' lives."
Faced with such good news, Yun Ming’s first thought was not that he could be saved, but that more soldiers could be given a new life. He was as upright and lovely as ever.
Looking at him like this, Zhuang Li felt his heart filled with warm sunshine. If it weren't for their first encounter, he wouldn't have known how beautiful the world was.
"I want to kiss you." He held his cheek and declared with a little desire.
Excited, Yun Ming immediately lowered his head and kissed his miracle deeply.
---
At the same time, Chen Jingliu, who had just left the prison, suddenly raised his head and gazed towards the empty sky. A dangerous glint flickered in his dark eyes. He felt as if something was approaching him, but when he scanned with his mental power, he found only empty air.
Was he too suspicious? Thinking this way, he withdrew his mental strength and continued to move forward, but he could sense the strange object still circling in the sky.
Once he got into the car and left the prison, the feeling of being spied on completely disappeared. This forced him to concentrate all his energy on dealing with the outside world, and even when he was alone, he didn't dare to take off the mask on his face.
The author has something to say:
HeLa cells are real. Many advanced medical technologies have been invented thanks to the unique properties of HeLa cells, which provide medical professionals with an inexhaustible source of experimental material. There are companies that specialize in selling HeLa cells; those interested can check them out.
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