Chapter 600: Biology

In the end, the date Li Mochen and the Goddess of Magic agreed upon was fifteen days later, just within Diana's acceptable limit.

He was indeed not fully prepared, because at this moment, his secondary body and his magical pet 'Dragon Vein' were in the Primordial Dome. They had left seven days ago and had already arrived; it would take another three to five days to completely settle matters there.

The journey that had made Li Mochen feel so difficult ten years ago could now be easily crossed in just a few days. The boundless void and the void storms that had once caused him great harm were no longer obstacles.

However, this separation had taken away a large part of Li Mochen's power, leaving him with only eighty percent of his full strength.

After the meeting, Li Mochen directly opened a door leading to the first experimental base of Xuri Biopharmaceutical Company.

In the sealed laboratory where Li Mochen opened the 'door', Gu Hong and a group of researchers in protective suits were conducting experiments around several 'gene analyzers'.

When Li Mochen arrived, everyone stopped their work and stood up to salute him with solemn expressions, showing a respect that was completely different from before.

Previously, when he inspected, he was just their boss. Now, Li Mochen was not only their employer but also a deity worthy of reverence.

Li Mochen casually waved his hand, signaling everyone to continue as usual, and looked at the row of monitoring displays on the left side of the laboratory. These screens were connected to twelve monitors, all observing the same object from different angles. Beside these monitors, there were also screens for high-tech instruments such as infrared monitors, electromagnetic wave detectors, and magical energy monitors.

What they were observing was a black cylinder, about thirty centimeters in diameter, as thick as a human thigh, and seventy centimeters long. Its outer layer had many golden patterns—anyone familiar with Moshlar technology would know that these were the unique runes of that civilization.

This object was in the room next to the laboratory, locked behind seven layers of alloy walls and force field walls, each three meters thick. There was also a mythic-level magical array to suppress it.

About six years ago, their exploration team found a complete Moshlar base in a primitive jungle in South America.

The thing before Li Mochen was one of the results of that exploration. Of the three mythic-level bio-armors, he obtained two, and Anthony obtained one.

These were likely the only three mythic-level bio-armors in the world. Although Li Mochen later funded dozens of archaeological teams and seven demigod exploration teams, they did not yield much.

The only hope was the 'Heaven' of the former Maya supreme god 'Itzamna'. Itzamna was a god-king from the outer realm, who had no divine kingdom in this world but was called 'Lord of Heaven'. It must be similar to the case of the Lord of Radiance, using other methods to create a plane akin to a 'divine kingdom'.

What fell was only his incarnation projected into this world; Kukulkan, the Feathered Serpent, would not let this powerful god-king die completely, so the 'Heaven' he created likely still exists. Li Mochen was certain that Kukulkan had not obtained Itzamna's legacy.

From current archaeological findings, the Moshlar people seemed to have been defeated. Therefore, most of the spoils the Maya pantheon obtained from the Moshlar people should be hidden in Itzamna's 'Heaven'.

Li Mochen had invested considerable resources in searching for Itzamna's so-called 'Heaven'. He had not yet found any clues and could not locate it through divination.

However, at present, Li Mochen no longer had strong expectations for the relics of Itzamna and the Moshlar people.

This was because the two mythic-level 'bio-armors' in his possession had not yet been unlocked for use. The quantum encryption technology used by the Moshlar people had extremely complex keys. One of the mythic-level bio-armors had an owner, and its key corresponded to the owner's gene chain, making the locks on both armors nearly impossible to crack. Even Einstein and Anthony were at a loss.

As for demigod-level 'bio-armors', Xuri Biopharmaceutical had initially mastered the production method and had trial-produced three sets, which were currently in the testing and verification process. Li Mochen now had as many as twenty-three demigod-level bio-armors, five of which were unused because suitable candidates could not be found.

Therefore, obtaining more Moshlar relics would be of little use. It would be better to invest effort in quickly mastering the genetic structure and composition of these mythic-level bio-armors and then attempt to produce them independently.

After carefully looking at the screens, Li Mochen walked directly in front of a large display screen: "How is the progress, Caesar? I want to see the currently resolved gene map."

He was not asking Gu Hong but the base's main computer, the artificial intelligence 'Caesar' that Anthony had helped him create.

Over the past seven years, Li Mochen had put considerable effort into computer language and virtual intelligence to consolidate the divine duties of data network and gaming. Especially six years ago, when they obtained the complete Moshlar base, they acquired not only three mythic-level bio-armors but also the Moshlar people's complete rune programming and artificial intelligence technology, benefiting both Li Mochen and Anthony.

One of the next divine duties Li Mochen had his eye on was 'programming' or 'program', but he did not yet know how to use divine authority related to 'programs'. So, like Anthony, he adopted a conservative stance.

After all, their 'divinity' was limited, with no room for waste. Li Mochen's consolidation of 'data network' and 'gaming' was already a very willful act, a test move to seize the initiative in the new era, but it was the limit of what he could do.

Therefore, compared to 'program' and 'programming', Li Mochen now favored the belief-based divine duty of 'Patron of Programmers', which targeted a specific group.

Currently, in Atlanta and Silicon Valley, California, the number of computer programmers was increasing exponentially. Li Mochen expected this divine duty to bring a large amount of divine power, and one of the corresponding divine authorities, 'Patronage', he had already fully mastered and reached an intermediate level.

"The actual progress of genome resolution is 64%, an increase of 0.01% since your last visit, Boss. The hypothetical progress has increased to 66%, up by 2.1."

Caesar's emotionless electronic voice sounded in Li Mochen's ear. At the same time, a 3D image appeared on the large screen, showing countless spirals combined into a complex and intricate structure, with many missing parts clearly visible.

In addition, a small portion of the genes appeared 'virtualized', distinguished from the rest of the gene map.

"The researchers you hired are very hardworking, but limited by their abilities, progress is poor. They spent thirteen days identifying only these 3,200 suspected gene sequences."

"That remark is quite harsh. Even these 3,200 suspected gene sequences are the result of our日夜 efforts."

At this point, Gu Hong also came to Li Mochen's side: "You should know the difficulty, Boss. This divine-level bio-armor not only has powerful strength, blocking all our instruments' detection, but its interior also has a puzzle lock, causing its genetic composition to constantly change, preventing us from determining its true core structure. This should be the Moshlar people's core biotechnology, and they put great effort into technical secrecy. So the subsequent gene determination will only become more difficult."

He looked at the gene map on the screen: "In fact, I cannot even be sure of the authenticity of most of these gene structures. At least 42% of the structures are the result of your insistence and arbitrary decisions, Boss."

Li Mochen did not speak, but his brain and soul were operating under a super-heavy load. Meanwhile, the multicolored spiritual light on the 'Divine Sky Spirit Fortune Purple Gold Tower' was being consumed rapidly.

During his time at Stanford University, Li Mochen studied basic mathematics and basic physics under Bethel Einstein. With the latter's guidance, he earned doctoral degrees in both fields in just two years.

However, Li Mochen also took biology as an elective. This was not Einstein's specialty, and Li Mochen's progress in this area was not satisfactory. Nevertheless, two years after leaving Stanford, he obtained a doctorate in 'Biomedical Engineering' from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Now, in terms of knowledge and expertise in biology, medicine, and genetics, Li Mochen believed he was not much inferior to Gu Hong.

In addition, he had the advantages of the 'All-Encompassing Divine Mechanism Axis Lock Star Secret Art', the divine authority of fate, and the 'Divine Sky Spirit Fortune Purple Gold Tower'.

The former had undergone significant improvement. This divination and calculation method, which Li Mochen had synthesized from the strengths of various 'numerology' schools in the Primordial Dome, was now combined with modern mathematics from the Bright World, modern astrology, and Moshlar rune science. Its current deductive ability was at least three times greater than before! Even without using merit power, Li Mochen could perform relatively accurate divination and calculation.

For example, if he wanted to calculate the location of the Goddess of Magic Diana, he could not have done so before. But now, if he was willing to spend about 50,000 strands of merit power, he could accurately know the location of Diana's true body.

This was the confidence Li Mochen had in resolving these two mythic-level 'bio-armors'—using the 'All-Encompassing Divine Mechanism Axis Lock Star Secret Art' and the guidance of fate to determine their DNA structure.

Thus, he could create new mythic-level 'bio-armors' or find ways to crack the keys from within.

Over the next ten minutes, Li Mochen continuously sketched and corrected on the large display.

The suspected gene sequences that were wildly off were directly canceled; those that were correct were retained; those that were not too wrong were corrected by spending a bit of merit.

In the end, only 700 of the 3,200 suspected genes remained.

"Again!"

Gu Hong sighed helplessly: "Your Highness, you must give us a reason for doing this. What evidence? Metaphysics?"

"It is metaphysics! Have you forgotten my divine duty? The Master of Fate—what I believe is correct is usually right."

Li Mochen replied with a smile, then his expression turned serious: "Professor Gu, the situation is not good. We need to speed up the gene determination."

Gu Hong was taken aback, then frowned: "The second laboratory has been built, and various experimental equipment has been assembled. Once operational, it can increase our speed by 1.5 times. But the problem is still personnel. These two mythic-level bio-armors have strong radiation and contamination; without strong mental resistance and physical fitness, one cannot participate in the research. Additionally, top-tier professional ability and intelligence are required; otherwise, they cannot help. Within Xuri Biopharmaceutical, only the 223 people here meet the requirements, and even the first laboratory is not fully staffed. As for external hires, although we have a list of 1,800 people, none have completed the loyalty review."

Li Mochen frowned, then pondered: "I will personally handle the recruitment. However, we can consider relaxing safety requirements for the second laboratory. You can draft a plan to delegate non-core gene determination work there."

The issue of talent at Xuri Biopharmaceutical had always been a problem.

Currently, various forces were closely watching Xuri Biopharmaceutical's bio-armor technology, including major churches and even powerful countries from the Old Continent.

Thus, even with the 'Divine Sky Spirit Fortune Purple Gold Tower', Li Mochen found it difficult to ensure the reliability of these externally hired researchers.

Previously, Xuri Biopharmaceutical had experienced three espionage incidents, involving at least ten individuals whom Li Mochen had personally examined and approved.

They usually had the backing of nations or even deities, allowing them to evade Li Mochen's soul inspection and the divination of the 'All-Encompassing Divine Mechanism Axis Lock Star Secret Art'. Even using merit power, he could not guarantee safety.

Fortunately, he had strong intuition and could sense danger before incidents occurred; otherwise, the core technologies of Xuri Biopharmaceutical would have leaked long ago.

That was why Li Mochen adopted a conservative stance on the 'College of Cardinals' of the Destiny Church. Even though he was now a powerful Master of Fate, he dared not claim that the 'Cardinals', who were equivalent to electors, were completely loyal to him.

"That's no problem."

Gu Hong nodded slightly: "However, the second laboratory will need to strengthen its security. Additionally, beyond the base's main computer program, we need to add another layer of shell and firewall to protect our core secrets."

"You and Abraham can handle this."

Abraham—referring to Abraham Widenstein, a new fifth-level legendary mage and grand alchemist of the Widenstein family, a rare polymath with achievements in both physics and biology. Currently, he was working on two projects: the replication of the 'Sky Scepter' and 'Gene Optimization Potion'.

After saying this, Li Mochen's expression turned serious: "In short, I hope to completely resolve their gene sequences within six months."

"That's somewhat difficult. I can only say I will do my best."

Gu Hong smiled bitterly, looking unconvinced.

"But is the situation already so dire, Boss? If so, I think even if we resolve the gene sequences and structures of these two mythic-level bio-armors, we may not be able to produce many. They only appear to be 'biological', but in fact, every cell and organ is woven from mythic-level materials. The production process will also be very difficult; otherwise, with such technology, the Moshlar would not have lost to the Maya pantheon."

"The current situation is worse than you imagine. As for materials, don't worry. Since three years ago, I have been collecting and preparing materials for producing these mythic armors, and the results are quite fruitful. So do not doubt the prospects of this technology."

Li Mochen said calmly: "Please work hard, Professor Gu. If you can complete this task within six months and stabilize the production of demigod-level mythic armors, I will grant you the status of 'Elect'!"

Gu Hong's body trembled, looking at Li Mochen with disbelief and immense joy.

The latter had already torn open the void again and stepped into it.

Granting Gu Hong the status of 'Elect' was something Li Mochen had long planned. In fact, he even hoped that Gu Hong and Abraham would go further in biotechnology and eventually become his subordinate gods.

Bio-armor was his key technology for future confrontations with the gods and the Church of Radiance.

Thus, Li Mochen had long targeted the divine duty of 'Biology', which had some correlation with life and death, vitality, and to some extent complemented each other.

However, 'biology' had many sub-disciplines, such as biomathematics, biophysics, genetics, cell biology, botany, zoology, microbiology, physiology, systems biology, and his chosen specialty, biomedical engineering. If these could consolidate divine authority, they would not only enhance the combat power of bio-armors but also give them more room for development and possibilities in the future.

The moment Li Mochen returned to the 'Destiny's Hearth' magic tower, his expression tightened. The enhanced perception granted by the magic tower allowed him to sense the state of his secondary body and the dragon vein. They had already arrived at the Primordial Vault Realm, and judging from the information transmitted back, the situation of the Divine Firmament Sect in that realm was indeed as dire as he had anticipated.