533: Chapter 533 Ethics Committee, Human Genome Project

Chapter 533 Ethics Committee, Human Genome Decryption Project

Hearing this name, although Fang Cheng was mentally prepared, he still appropriately displayed a hint of just-right confusion:

"Oh, Utopia?"

Cheng Jiashu's eyes were bright, as if he wanted to see something from Fang Cheng's face, but the other's calm face made him somewhat frustrated.

He hesitated for a moment, then probed and asked:

"Fang Cheng, we are straightforward people, let's not speak in riddles."

"Last night I heard some rumors that an extremely vicious bomb attack occurred in the eastern suburbs. The commotion was huge and it even made the television news... Does this matter have anything to do with you?"

Hearing this, Fang Cheng's brows furrowed slightly, as if recalling his itinerary for the evening.

Then he shook his head and flatly denied:

"Last night I was drinking at the bar. I drank too much, went back, hit the pillow and fell right asleep, and I don't know anything."

"Early this morning I was busy sending friends over to participate in the competition, and I didn't even have time to watch the news."

Cheng Jiashu stared into his eyes for a few seconds, trying to catch even a shred of a guilty conscience.

However, Fang Cheng's gaze was clear and open, completely unlike someone lying.

A moment later, Cheng Jiashu sighed helplessly:

"Fine, it doesn't matter if you don't admit it."

As he spoke, his body leaned lazily backward:

"I just want to advise you, if that matter last night was really done by you, or if you provoked someone... you had better keep a low profile recently and not run into the muzzle at this critical juncture."

"You must know, the waters in Dongdu right now are much muddier than you think."

Fang Cheng raised an eyebrow, hearing the subtext in those words.

So he put down the teacup in his hand and looked straight at Cheng Jiashu:

"Did you receive some intelligence? Between us, there's no need to hide anything, just say it directly."

Cheng Jiashu didn't answer immediately. After adjusting his sitting posture, he asked:

"Have you really not watched the news recently?"

Fang Cheng shook his head:

"You know, being a sparring partner is very busy, and I have no time to care about major national affairs."

Cheng Jiashu smiled, didn't expose him, and just said indifferently:

"Then you might have missed two very important pieces of news."

"First, right before the stock market closed on Friday, the Xiao Family's giant enterprise, 'Taijiang Pharmaceutical Group', officially released an announcement that it will fully acquire Noah Pharmaceuticals' Xia Country branch, which has fallen into a quagmire of scandal."

Hearing this, Fang Cheng's gaze flashed:

"In other words, all of Noah Pharmaceuticals' frozen assets, equipment, and even the research data and personnel of those experimental projects will be legitimately transferred under the name of the Xiao Family?"

"Smart."

Cheng Jiashu snapped his fingers:

"As I said just now, the Xiao Family is originally the actual patron of the Noah Organization in Xia Country. This transaction is essentially the left hand pouring to the right hand, changing the name to completely launder those unsightly bad assets."

"This kind of situation is very normal in business."

Fang Cheng's tone was calm, without appearing very surprised:

"It's just the old routine of capital operation. As long as the procedures are compliant and legal, and the prosecutors don't delve deeply, we really have no way to stop it."

"If it were just money laundering, that would be one thing."

Cheng Jiashu, however, shook his head, his expression gradually becoming solemn:

"The key is the second piece of news."

"Just four days before the acquisition announcement was released, Taijiang Pharmaceutical Group also held a high-profile press conference, announcing that it had reached an in-depth strategic cooperation agreement with the military-backed Life Sciences Ethics Committee, named the 'Human Genome Decryption Project'."

"Human Genome Decryption Project?"

Fang Cheng repeated this tongue-twisting name full of a certain scientific fanaticism:

"Sounds like a pretty incredible project?"

Cheng Jiashu twitched the corner of his mouth, emitting a light sneer:

"Externally, this project claims to be a great cause for conquering cancer and extending human lifespan, dedicated to the genetic evolution of all humanity."

"Although the specific cooperation content is top secret, I inquired through some special channels that there is a core clause among them..."

Speaking of this, a trace of disgust flashed in the depths of Cheng Jiashu's eyes, and his voice lowered by a few degrees:

"Their experimental project requires a large amount of 'active material', and the so-called active material means living people, especially those supernatural beings who have just awakened their abilities."

"For this reason, they have already posted bounties on the black market of Night City to capture newborn ability users who are not on the government census list and have no organizational backing. The task rewards can be described as exceptionally generous."

Fang Cheng's gaze narrowed slightly, and he didn't speak, just quietly listening.

Cheng Jiashu continued, his words exuding a chill:

"The killer organization 'Black Shark', which has always had a cooperative relationship with Noah, undertook the main capture mission this time."

"The several disappearance cases that recently occurred in Xia Country are inseparable from this group of mad dogs."

"Those missing persons are basically lone wanderers, just like they evaporated from the world."

"And the bombing that occurred in the eastern suburbs last night, although the authorities are still blocking the news, I speculate that it is very likely also because the people of Black Shark encountered fierce resistance while executing the capture mission."

Hearing this, Fang Cheng understood instantly in his heart.

He had indeed arranged for Xiaosa and Xu Hao to anonymously spread news about White Owl and Utopia, intending to confuse the public.

But in such a short time, the news obviously wouldn't reach Cheng Jiashu's ears so fast.

Most likely, the commotion of last night's battle was too big, coupled with many witnesses seeing the scene of an explosion in the air, allowing this 'old comrade-in-arms' to sniff out a familiar scent.

He linked himself to the bombing, mistakenly believing it was a wanted warrant issued by the Xiao Family targeting White Owl.

And the Black Shark Organization went to hunt down White Owl for the bounty, which triggered that earth-shattering battle.

He might even feel that, relying on his powerful strength surpassing ordinary S-rank, he had probably provoked Utopia hidden behind the scenes.

Cheng Jiashu guessed half right, but did not know the full picture of the matter.

In fact, this was a counterattack initiated in advance by Fang Cheng, an accurate hunt targeting core members of Utopia.

Of course, Fang Cheng did not intend to confess the truth.

After all, this matter was very sensitive and involved many of his own secrets, so there was no need to explain too much to outsiders.

Pondering for a moment, Fang Cheng raised his head and turned to ask:

"The Life Sciences Ethics Committee you mentioned just now, is it a subordinate departmental organization of the Special Investigation Team?"

"No."

Cheng Jiashu shook his head, the corners of his mouth curling into a sarcastic arc:

"They belong to military forces, or more accurately, a national defense scientific research institution established under the direct instruction of the Presidential Palace."

Hearing this, Fang Cheng couldn't help being somewhat surprised:

"The military would actually choose to cooperate with elite families?"

You must know that previously, whether it was Ma Jianguo or Shi Chengyi, they had both explicitly stated one point.

There was an essential contradiction between the elite plutocrats and the upper echelons of the government. In order to vie for national control, the two sides were inherently in an antagonistic relationship.

Seeing that Fang Cheng didn't seem to understand the inner workings, Cheng Jiashu then patiently explained:

"In recent years, the power of the Special Investigation Team has expanded extremely, gradually breaking away from the scope of a mere law enforcement agency and turning into a huge independent kingdom."

"They not only have independent law enforcement power, but also master a large amount of armed resources, and even the Presidential Palace sometimes has to look at their faces to act."

"This is a political imbalance that those in high positions can absolutely not tolerate."

"Therefore, the Life Sciences Ethics Committee came into being as the times required. It is a sharp knife specially used to keep the Special Investigation Team in check."

"As far as I know, this committee has been planning genetic modification projects years ago, secretly conducting human experiments, attempting to mass-produce controllable super soldiers."

"At present, the military's two most elite special operations forces, 'Shadow Blade' and 'Steel Bone', their members are basically super soldier cyborg projects from this committee. Their strength is extremely formidable, and even the Special Investigation Team is three parts wary of them."

Speaking of this, Cheng Jiashu put away his smile, and his expression became unprecedentedly solemn.

He leaned his body forward slightly, his gaze piercingly straight into Fang Cheng's eyes:

"Fang Cheng, you are a smart person, you should understand what this means."

"The Xiao Family represents plutocrats and the business world, Noah belongs to a civilian underground organization, and the Life Sciences Ethics Committee represents the military and political circles."

"These three forces should have originally kept each other in check and fought openly and covertly."

"But now, they are able to put aside prejudices and disputes, and actually sit at the same table to cooperate hand in hand."

"In this world, only one force possesses such terrifying energy to bring these three together."

Fang Cheng's gaze flickered slightly, softly spitting out three words:

"Utopia?"

"Right."

Cheng Jiashu nodded heavily, a trace of dread flashing in his eyes:

"The penetration of the Utopia organization into the upper echelons of the Xia Country government has long reached a shocking degree."

"The peripheral forces they control are even more intertwined, like lingering bone-gnawing maggots. Strictly speaking, the Noah Organization, Black Shark, and even the Xiao Family are merely chess pieces laid out by them."

Cheng Jiashu took a deep breath, seeming to want to suppress the chill in his heart with this:

"In the eyes of ordinary people, the Xiao Family is lofty and commands the wind and rain."

"But in front of Utopia, even such a wealthy family with three S-rank masters is at best a slightly stronger watchdog, or a wallet responsible for providing funds."

"That organization is like an invisible ghost. Its tentacles are spread all over the globe. No one knows where their headquarters is, and no one knows who their leader is. All people who try to dig up their secrets eventually disappear silently."

Speaking of this, Cheng Jiashu gazed at Fang Cheng, his tone becoming exceptionally sincere:

"That's why I'm reminding you, if you don't have sufficient preparation and absolutely crushing strength, it's best not to provoke Utopia."

"Especially right now when Dongdu's undercurrents are surging, once targeted by such a powerful organization, even S-rank ability users like us might die without a burial place."

The lounge fell into a brief silence.

Only the quartz clock on the wall made "tick, tick" ticking sounds.

Fang Cheng knew very well in his heart.

Cheng Jiashu deliberately kept him today and said so many secrets, which was definitely not just as simple as reminiscing about old times.

Although it was unclear through which channel he obtained this intelligence, his choice to reveal everything to him at least showed that he was harboring good intentions.

Even, Fang Cheng vaguely had a feeling that the other party seemed to be seeking a certain potential ally.

These words were both a tentative test and a warning, as well as a pledge of allegiance.

"Rest assured."

Fang Cheng raised his head, the original contemplative expression instantly dissipating, replaced by a relaxed smile.

"I am the one most afraid of death, and I never do things without certainty. For such a behemoth, I'm too late to hide from it, how could I proactively provoke it?"

"Right now I just want to smoothly enter graduate school, take good care of my family, and live a stable life."

After speaking, Fang Cheng straightened his back and nodded seriously toward Cheng Jiashu:

"However, I still want to thank you for the reminder; this news is very important to me."

Cheng Jiashu stared at Fang Cheng for a long while, and then also revealed a bright smile:

"A wise choice, who wouldn't want a stable life."

Then, as if remembering something, his expression became somewhat strange:

"Actually, before I always wanted to contact you privately and tell you these circumstances."

"But I don't know why, recently when trying to establish a mental connection with you, it always ended in failure. Your mental Secret Realm seems to have undergone huge changes."

Fang Cheng's heart stirred, but on the surface he remained calm:

"Oh? What changes?"

Cheng Jiashu recalled that feeling, his brows slightly furrowed:

"In the past, although your mental barrier was solid, at least it still allowed people to perceive the boundaries."

"But the last few times, as soon as my consciousness got a little closer, I felt an extremely scorching and overbearing force isolating me outside."

"That feeling... is just like staring directly at a scorching sun at noon, dazzling and burning, and it almost even backlashed against my spiritual body, so I could only give up."

Fang Cheng's eyes flickered slightly.

That was the automatic defense mechanism of the Sun Heart Network.

It seemed that as he swallowed the crimson eye and successfully shaped the Inner Scene World, his mental defense strength had far surpassed before, and even S-rank Cheng Jiashu couldn't easily pry.

This turned out to be a good yardstick to measure his own strength.

Fang Cheng then showed an apologetic expression, half-true and half-false explaining a few sentences:

"It might be a problem with Cultivate recently. My mental Secret Realm is doing internal renovation, and it's very messy, so it's temporarily inconvenient to receive outsiders."

"When it stabilizes after a while, I'll invite you in to sit."

"Understood."

Cheng Jiashu smiled and didn't dwell on this issue.

Then he took out a business card from his pocket and pushed it in front of Fang Cheng:

"This has my private number on it, turned on 24 hours a day. If you encounter any trouble, or need help, no matter what it is, you can contact me."

Fang Cheng subconsciously wanted to refuse at first.

But on second thought, facing a behemoth like Utopia, having one more ally is always better than having one more passerby.

So he reached out to accept the business card and nodded:

"Good."

Putting away the business card, Fang Cheng stood up to say goodbye, suddenly remembered something, and asked casually:

"Right, you mentioned before that you've always been searching Xishan for the traces of Jiang Chen's Rebirth, have there been any news recently?"

As soon as the words fell, Cheng Jiashu's body trembled slightly as if he had heard some taboo spell.

Following closely, this idol star who always wore a smile had red eyes, and his handsome face unexpectedly twisted somewhat.

Although he tried his best to control his facial expression, Fang Cheng still clearly saw that the corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.

An obscure and tyrannical aura flashed past and disappeared from his body.

Although it lasted less than half a second, the sense of loss of control in that instant was truly startling.

Fang Cheng's gaze narrowed slightly, and he immediately asked:

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing..."

Hearing Fang Cheng's inquiry, Cheng Jiashu took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, that strange emotion had been forcefully suppressed back by him.

Only a layer of fine cold sweat seeping from his temples exposed the pain he had just endured.

Cheng Jiashu picked up the tea that had long since gone cold and took a sip, his voice somewhat dry:

"An old ailment acted up, it will be fine after a while."

After speaking, he seemed not to want to entangle too much on this topic, and added at a fast pace:

"There are many things recently, and there are no exact discoveries in Xishan yet. That thing is hidden very deeply, but I will increase the search efforts and contact you the first time there is news."

Fang Cheng looked at the pale-faced Cheng Jiashu, deep in thought.

Merely mentioning the name "Jiang Chen" could cause such a huge physiological reaction?

It seemed that on this glamorous big star, the secrets hidden were no less than his own.

"Alright, I'll wait for your news."

Fang Cheng nodded and stood up to say goodbye to him.