novelraw Chapter 1261: Perfect-individual
Chapter 1261: Perfect-individual
Her reaction to Tang Tianlin’s invitation—and especially the mention of the Perfect Man cell—was complete confusion. Her slightly accelerated mind once again combed through the fragments of Nan Xiaonan’s remaining memories, but found nothing useful. All she felt was a sense of urgency—a lingering obsession left behind by Nan Xiaonan.
Of course, confusion was something a Star Creation Saint Guide must never show—otherwise, where would her prestige go?
“Perfect Man cell…” she calculated silently, her palm naturally pressing behind her back, preparing an ability she could use at any moment. She said calmly, “You actually found it?”
Tang Tianlin shook his head. “Not confirmed yet, but we already have clues. I believe we’ll get more concrete information soon. Well? I know that you, your teacher, and even the members of the old lab were all very interested in it… After all, your teacher only managed to map 99.999% of the human genome back then because of the Perfect Man cell.”
She sneered. “Someone who sent people to assassinate me—why should I believe you?”
Tang Tianlin: “If I wanted to harm you, I wouldn’t have come alone, nor withdrawn my people. I’ve already betrayed House. I have no reason to create another enemy for myself.”
“What is your goal?” she asked as she naturally stepped forward, stopping with only a coffee table between them.
“You don’t need to ask that.” Tang Tianlin looked at her earnestly. “But I promise, after everything ends, I’ll tell you everything.”
“Is that so…” She nodded lightly—then the hand behind her swept forward.
Tang Tianlin had no idea what the gesture meant. In an instant, his mind went blank… life drained from his expression.Who’s playing mind-games with you here? Supernatural problems are solved with supernatural methods, mortal.
She stretched lazily, made herself a cup of chocolate cereal, then pulled out her computer chair, crossed her legs, stirred the cup with a spoon, and studied Tang Tianlin. No doubt, she needed to learn more about Nan Xiaonan’s past.
Not Nan Xiaonan the forensic doctor, but the other identity—the one linked to Auston Pharmaceuticals and House. And the man before her was clearly a good source of information.
Talk about a pillow arriving right when you’re sleepy—luck truly came knocking.
Was her bad luck neutralized after staying a few days at Mr. Luo’s house…? She licked her lips. Should she accept Ren Ziling’s invitation?
“You said that lab back then—what was it created for?”
Tang Tianlin was already in a full truth-telling state. For a Star Creation Saint Guide and Arcane Master, this technique was apprentice-level. The “eyewitness” in the dismemberment case had been manufactured this way.
“That lab had two goals.” Tang Tianlin began slowly. “First, to help House obtain immortality by creating replacement bodies for him. But current technology can only clone Doaist Masters, not transfer consciousness.”
She nodded. She’d been there during the experiment a few nights ago. So-called consciousness transfer was a lie… this sub-world’s technology hadn’t reached mental science at all.
“And the second?”
“The second goal was to replicate the Perfect Man—to create the most perfect human, a revolution in human evolution.”
She was clearly more interested in the second goal. Even in her original sub-world, human evolution was an important and extremely difficult field.
“Perfect Man… or rather, the Perfect Man cell—what exactly is it?” she asked.
“Perfect Man—Perfect-individual—refers to the perfect human.” Tang Tianlin’s voice carried a yearning; even under near-hypnosis, he couldn’t hide that feverish longing. “The most perfect genes, the most perfect metabolism, immunity to all disease… the body forever maintained at a state of vigorous equilibrium. A human who does not grow old, does not die.”
“Ageless and immortal?” She was surprised. That concept was far too broad.
How do you even define immortality? Until the end of the world? If the sub-world were destroyed and matter reformed, could immortality endure?
Even if someone lived thousands, tens of thousands, even a hundred thousand years—that would already outlast countless cycles of collective human consciousness. That could count as immortality…
She sought eternity, the Original World, where true eternity might exist… The Perfect Man seemed to offer a clue. Could this sub-world truly contain a grand secret of eternity?
Suddenly, insight struck her. Could Mr. Luo’s reason for remaining in this sub-world be connected to this secret?
It made sense… someone far beyond the King Immortal level—only the secret of eternity could keep such a being in one place. Otherwise, why would such a high-level existence not move on, but choose to remain?
“You really found the Perfect Man? Tell me everything—how it was discovered, when it was discovered.”
She wanted to believe it—but it was hard to imagine a group of mortals accomplishing something that countless explorers across multiple sub-worlds had failed to achieve over countless years.
Tang Tianlin, without reservation, answered, “The first person to discover the Perfect Man was House, during World War II.”
During the war, House was a low-ranking officer in the Allied forces. He wasn’t trying to achieve merit—just wanted the rank to make it easier to smuggle medicines across the war-torn continent. Simply put, a businessman trying to profit from war.
But during one smuggling operation, taking an unfamiliar route, House and his team crossed a swamp and accidentally discovered the Perfect Man.
It was a simple wooden cabin deep within an ancient forest—clearly not suitable for habitation due to the poisonous miasma. Yet inside, House found the corpse of a man.
It was called a corpse because the man had no breath or heartbeat—yet the undisturbed dust suggested he had been lying there for years.
For years, in a damp environment, a body without breath or heartbeat had not decayed.
His skin was elastic like a living person’s. His body still carried warmth—far lower than normal, but not cold like a corpse.
This mysterious man seemed both dead and alive.
House conducted many tests—cutting the body, and watching the wounds heal extremely fast. But no blood came out.
He burned the body until it was charcoal—but beneath the charred surface, the body remained intact.
Members of the smuggling team called the man a demon, a monster. They used explosives and blew the body to pieces, turning it into flesh and gore.
During the bleeding, no blood had leaked before—but after being blown apart, bright red blood appeared—like gel, embedded within muscle and blood vessels.
They burned the remains again… and when the flames died, the body reformed perfectly.
Several members of the smuggling team lost their sanity from terror.
“…Afterward, House suppressed everyone’s objections and took the mysterious man’s body away.” Tang Tianlin continued slowly. “He became completely obsessed with it and started researching it frantically. After the war ended, House amassed huge wealth and entered the field of biotechnology. All these years, he has been studying this Perfect Man’s body.”
“He… never had any consciousness, right?” She caught the key point instantly.
Tang Tianlin nodded. “Yes. Brainwave tests showed that he has no brainwaves at all.”
Her heart trembled. Before seeing this so-called Perfect Man, she couldn’t draw conclusions—but from Tang Tianlin’s description alone, she formed a hypothesis. A body without consciousness, yet indestructible… This resembled beings from certain super-powered civilization's sub-worlds, known for possessing undying physical bodies. She had met explorers from those worlds and heard bits of information.
Could this body… be that of an explorer from a powerful sub-world who accidentally died in this sub-world?
“And afterward? You made no progress at all?”
Tang Tianlin said, “As the disciplines improved, House’s research deepened, but he still found nothing truly useful… Yet he began aging. For the sake of immortality, he never even had children. Everything continued until the arrival of Will Douglas, doctor of the Human Genome Project.”
At that name, she felt a ripple of emotion and said, “My teacher, right?”
“Yes.” Tang Tianlin nodded. “House approached him first and invited him into the Perfect Man research. Later, your teacher became just as obsessed, working day and night. In fact, the lab’s first goal—creating replacement bodies for House—was merely a side result. At the time, our cloning technology could freely adjust the traits of cloned individuals—age, height, even their overall physical capabilities…”
She waved her hand. “I’m not interested in that old man’s immortality dreams. Back to the Perfect Man. Did you try using that man’s cells for biological fusion?”
“We did, but all test subjects died instantly.” Tang Tianlin replied woodenly. “Perfect Man cells cannot fuse with external cells. So we decided to attempt cloning him instead. Our plan was that if we could cultivate a viable embryo, perhaps another Perfect Man would be born—one that had consciousness. We wanted to know: if he gained a mind, would he possess immense intelligence? If so, he might study, research, and eventually help us understand himself better… We theorized he might surpass humans in learning, logic, deduction, everything.”
“Success… or failure?” she asked solemnly.
Mortals could be fragile, but also terrifyingly bold. She had to admit: on the road of pursuit, mortals were no less persistent than the extraordinary.
The difference between mortals and the extraordinary was only capability—not essence. Progress suddenly came to her mind.
“We had finished all preliminary preparations, but the experiment never began.” Tang Tianlin shook his head. “Because right before it started, a mysterious faction broke in. They stole almost all our research. They were terrifying—our guards couldn’t resist at all. House later summoned reinforcements, but they weren’t our people… I don’t know who they were. We were fleeing for our lives. In the end, that mysterious faction took everything—research data and even the Perfect Man himself.”
“And House betrayed us, using us as expendable pawns to stall them. Finally, our teacher risked everything to protect us and bought me enough time to escape. Everything after that… you already know.”
She thought more about the mysterious faction and didn’t notice Tang Tianlin’s use of “teacher,” or the shift in “we.”
“Did that mysterious group ever come after you again?”
“It should have,” Tang Tianlin said, “but their power in China is weak—or they’re not bold enough yet. Or maybe they already took everything, including the Perfect Man, so they no longer cared about us.”
“And the Perfect Man cell you mentioned?”
“House was always paranoid. He always prepared backups. He secretly kept one sample of tissue taken from the Perfect Man and hid it. Only he knew where.”
“So now you’ve found a lead on that sample?”
“Yes.”
She finally finished the cereal milk, licking both the rim of the cup and the spoon clean. Then she smiled. “Good. You’ve succeeded in getting my interest… an undying body.”
As she spoke, she snapped her fingers.
Tang Tianlin blinked suddenly. Seeing her now sitting casually, confusion flickered in his eyes. Something felt… off.
But she didn’t give him time to think. She simply said, “I agree.”
“What?” Tang Tianlin was stunned.
She stood. “Happy cooperation.”
(End of Chapter)