In the apocalypse, I hoarded goods and handed over my storage space to the government.

Su Ran crushed the empty paper cup and casually threw it into the trash can next to her.

"I'll go take a look."

He stood up and pushed the chair back into place.

"Go ahead. Although the experiment has made some progress, the core resistance is still very significant."

Before Su Ran left, Li Guodong gave her one more piece of advice.

"Old Chen has been under a lot of pressure these past few days, and his temper has been a bit short. Please bear with him."

Su Ran nodded, said nothing more, and turned to walk out of the command hall.

The Academy of Sciences is located on the seventh underground floor of the Kunlun base.

Su Ran walked down the passage.

The elevator doors opened, revealing a 100-meter-long, sterile white corridor.

He stepped forward and passed through three access verification gates.

Inside the laboratory, a group of researchers wearing heavy protective suits were moving back and forth hurriedly. Everyone was in a hurry, and even their breathing was tense.

Su Ran looked around but didn't see the leader.

He shook his head slightly, temporarily suppressing his doubts about the leader's whereabouts, and fixed his gaze on a separate experimental table at the very back.

Chen Changhe was holding a dropper and injecting a drop of dark red liquid into the centrifuge.

His hair was whiter than it had been a few months ago, sticking up in a mess, and there were several unidentified stains on the collar of his protective suit.

Su Ran walked over quietly.

Chen Changhe suddenly raised his head.

He looked much thinner than when he last attended the meeting, with sunken eye sockets and bloodshot eyes, but he exuded a kind of morbid excitement.

"Little Su is here."

Chen Changhe put down the dropper, pressed the start button on the centrifuge, and spoke in a carefree tone.

"I just came back from delivering supplies. I heard from Lao Li that you've made significant progress, so I came to check on you."

Su Ran went straight to the point without any pleasantries.

Without wasting any words, Chen Changhe directly pulled a test tube from the incubator next to him and handed it to Su Ran.

The test tube contained a small amount of dark blue liquid, which had a viscous texture under the light.

"This is the first phase of the human enhancement drug."

Chen Changhe pointed to the test tube,

"We extracted the active substances from the crystal core of the second-order mutant beast, added trace amounts of Ω-9 derivatives, and performed targeted synthesis."

Su Ran took the test tube and shook it.

"What are its specific effects?" he asked.

"For ordinary people, the effects of the drug will fully kick in within fifteen minutes after injection."

Chen Changhe pulled up a set of holographic data, pointing to the soaring red curve on it.

"It can forcibly stimulate cell activity, instantly increasing the injector's bone strength, nerve reaction speed, and muscle fiber density to five times that of an average person!"

Su Ran made a mental calculation.

"Five times that of an average person..."

Su Ran looked at the blue liquid in her hand.

"This has completely surpassed the physiological limits of ordinary people and reached the standard of a first-level awakened being."

If this drug were administered to a well-equipped, heavily armored exoskeleton warrior on the front lines, they would be able to lift a heavy machine gun weighing hundreds of kilograms with one hand and withstand the charge of mutated beasts within fifteen minutes!

This is practically a war meat grinder!

"Yes! It's about using drugs to forcibly elevate an ordinary person's physical level to that of a first-tier awakened being!"

Chen Changhe mentioned this, clearly quite proud of this achievement.

"Furthermore, this medicine has an extremely high success rate."

We have conducted 30,000 live animal experiments and 3,000 human clinical simulation experiments, maintaining a success rate of over 90%!

"What will happen if we fail?" Su Ran asked.

"Even if it fails, there won't be a severe rejection reaction."

Chen Changhe said in a relaxed tone,

"The highest fever is 39 degrees Celsius, which will subside on its own after one or two days, but the person will be weak for a period of time afterward."

He swiped the screen a few more times, displaying several clinical reports.

"In addition, we have observed that these drugs only work on a subset of specific gene sequences, estimated to be around 10% of the total human population."

We suspect that this is somehow deeply connected to the probability of the birth of naturally awakened beings.

This can also be used as a screening agent for potential awakened individuals.

Su Ran stared at the data, quickly considering its tactical value.

Five times the physical strength, the Awakened's selection agent.

Looking solely at the increase in physical fitness, if it were widely distributed to frontline troops, even if it only accounted for 10%, it would still be an extremely exaggerated figure.

"How long will the effects of the medicine last?" Suppressing her inner turmoil, she continued to ask.

"Twenty-four hours."

Chen Changhe answered truthfully.

"After 24 hours, the drug's effects wear off. Muscle fibers will tear due to overexertion."

The recipient needs to rest in bed for half a month to fully recover.

"Half a month of bed rest resulted in a day of godlike combat power; the side effects are completely within a controllable range."

Su Ran carefully placed the test tube back into the incubator.

"Is industrial-scale production possible at this stage?"

"That won't do."

Chen Changhe shook his head and said calmly,

"Laboratory synthesis is still a long way from large-scale industrial production."

However, I have already sent the formula and process flow to the engineering institute, and they are working overnight to design a new production line.

Although there is still a big step to take, for humanity, this is already a real step forward on the path of evolution.

However, Su Ran thought about it again and her brows furrowed slightly, and the enthusiasm in her heart dissipated by more than half.

Something seems off here!

"Old Chen."

Su Ran looked over and said in a serious tone,

"The stuff itself is good. But wasn't your research supposed to be an 'Awakening Potion'? How come it's degenerated into a temporary enhancement potion?"

Upon hearing this, the pride on Chen Changhe's face vanished instantly, and he sighed several times.

He pulled up a chair and sat down.

"You think I don't want to just use the awakening potion? Scientific research isn't something you can achieve overnight!"

Chen Changhe said irritably,

"Let me tell you, this is a variant of the awakening potion, which is a phased achievement that can be directly applied at this stage."

In our current experiments, those "true awakening agents" that attempt to directly recombine DNA and stimulate human supernatural potential still exhibit terrifying rejection reactions.

"Omega-9 is too complex and too potent; the lethality rate still can't be reduced."

As Chen Changhe spoke, he painfully clutched his disheveled hair. The continuous failures during this period had severely damaged the old man's mental defenses.

"Even those volunteers who didn't die on the lab table but survived the genetic recombination process were in very strange condition."

Su Ran, who had been leaning against the lab table, suddenly sat up straight.

Are there any successful examples?

It was as if a thunderbolt struck Su Ran's mind.

If there is even one successful living example, it means that the path of artificially creating awakened individuals is feasible!

As for the situation not being right?

As long as the road is open, let's keep him in the right state!

"Old Chen."

Su Ran stood up abruptly, her tone leaving no room for argument.

"I'm not going to waste any more time on this. I'm going to go and see that success story."