Zhou Lang's head was about to explode, unable to see Gao Xuan at all, though he could barely hear what Gao Xuan was saying.
At the brink of death, all he wanted was to curse Gao Xuan's ancestors for eighteen generations, but he couldn't utter a single word.
Emotionally overwhelmed, Zhou Lang's entire body began to convulse.
"Hey, hey, don't rush to die, say something."
Gao Xuan glanced at Zhou Lang's Thunder Eagle Ring and, without ceremony, yanked it off, "Anyway, you're already dead; better leave the Thunder Eagle Ring to someone who needs it."
Zhou Lang sensed the Thunder Eagle Ring being taken away; in his rage, he couldn't catch his breath and passed on directly.
"Even in death, you're so stingy. Look at your pathetic state."
Gao Xuan drew out his Godslaying Sword and swung it, causing Zhou Lang's hideously dead body to dissolve into a blood light, merging into the Godslaying Sword.
Zhou Lang was worth at least half an Xu Hui; with the Godslaying Sword absorbing him, the flickering blood-colored light became slightly stronger.
Yun Qingshang hesitated and asked, "Is it solved just like that?"
Yun Qingshang found the powerful Zhou Lang's easy death somewhat unrealistic.
"Solved."
Gao Xuan placed the Thunder Shadow Ring onto the ring finger of his left hand, studied it with interest, and waved it at Yun Qingshang: "Thunder Eagle Ring, Black Iron Level Marvel, it can trigger Thunder Light burst speed, with the drawback of occasionally dispersing random currents. It's mine now."
"Mm."
Yun Qingshang didn't care about these; Gao Xuan could take whatever he wanted.
Gao Xuan explained further, "It's not that I'm not sharing with you, but your Crimson Heart conflicts with the Thunder Eagle Ring."
Yun Qingshang remained silent, not feeling the need to speak.
"This handgun is for my defense. I don't have any long-range attacks; you understand, right..."
Gao Xuan weighed the handgun in his hand, "Kun Gunir is a Black Tortoise high-end sniper rifle series, this guy was full of nonsense. This is the Strong Crossbow series, strong penetration power, but can't break through the Crimson Heart."
Yun Qingshang nodded, trusting Gao Xuan. Even if the Crimson Heart couldn't stop bullets, she was willing to sacrifice everything, including her life, for Gao Xuan.
Yun Qingshang was so sensible that Gao Xuan felt a bit embarrassed, so he stood up and said, "Zhou Lang had quite a few good things, we'll split them."
Gao Xuan approached Zhou Lang's desk, skillfully inputting a password on the virtual light screen: a complex curve pattern along with a strange phrase.
Beikun Base's light computer wasn't equipped with AI; Zhou Lang believed personal biological features were easily cracked, so he insisted on using primitive patterns and phrases as passwords.
Gao Xuan had mingled with Zhou Lang for several years previously, becoming one of his close companions. Later, Beikun Base was in an idle state, always under his management. So he was particularly familiar with the situation at Beikun Base.
Including the complex password setup by Zhou Lang, he knew it like the back of his hand.
With a beep, the light computer emitted a mechanical voice: Password authentication passed, opening the vault.
The alloy wall behind Zhou Lang's seat slowly opened, revealing the vast space inside the vault.
The alloy wall was a meter and a half thick, with a complex mechanical lock structure. Without the right tools, it was impossible to forcibly dismantle it.
Gao Xuan motioned to Yun Qingshang, "Come on, let's split the loot."
Yun Qingshang hesitated for a moment before following Gao Xuan into the vault.
The vault was over a hundred square meters, with neat rows of gold bricks being quite dazzling.
Just this heap of gold bricks was worth about two billion credit points.
Gao Xuan inwardly lamented, unable to take all these gold bricks nor having an appropriate channel to deal with them.
The Blood God's Association's influence was too extensive. If a large amount of gold brick surfaced, he and Yun Qingshang would surely be exposed.
Exposing one's identity for a bit of money was not worth it.
Gao Xuan told himself, "These are just dirt, don't mind them." But he couldn't help feeling a bit of pain inside. This was gold, after all, the hardest currency in the Interstellar Era.
Even in trades with alien races, gold could be used for payment.
"We're people who do big things; there are plenty of opportunities to make money..."
Gao Xuan consoled himself before his gaze fell on a glass thermostat nearby.
Inside were over a hundred glass test tubes reserved for Spirit Race Genetic Potion experiments.
Beikun Base was established for conducting genetic potion experiments.
Because of the Spirit Race gene's uniqueness, the experiments required large-scale, long-term data collection.
The project stalled midway because Xu Yan, the project host, encountered problems. Consequently, the project couldn't move forward.
Thus, quite a few Spirit Race genetic potions remained in the vault.
Although humans could traverse interstellar space and form vast human civilization organizations, their understanding of genes and Source Power remained shallow.
"Population is the greatest wealth" — Mr. Zhou.
Entering the Interstellar Era, humanity's upper echelons deeply acknowledged this statement's accuracy.
AI could perform most high-end intellectual tasks. Robots could handle complex technical work.
Under such circumstances, ordinary people seemed to lose their existence value. Yet, in the Interstellar Era, every person's genes were unique.
Human civilization is composed of billions of diverse human individuals, which as isolated units seem insignificant.
Only through the diverse individual genes can a solid foundation be formed, allowing humanity to evolve continuously.
Genetic potions are a necessary tool on humanity's path to evolution.
Due to the complexity and uniqueness of human genes, the effects of genetic potions are always unstable. Each person's path to gene mutation varies slightly.
Injecting the same genetic potion, Gao Xuan became increasingly handsome, while Yun Qingshang took a different path. This highlighted their genetic differences.
In reality, their genes only differed by about 1%.
Gao Xuan knew he was becoming more handsome due to the influence of the Six-winged Celestial Cicada, with his external form and internal spirit naturally evolving toward perfection.
This unusual evolution direction caused his Power level to improve slowly. This was why he consistently ranked at the bottom among all trainees.
Yun Qingshang was simpler, clearly taking the physical evolution route—a path already matured by the Human Alliance.
Gao Xuan studied the thermostat for a while, then selected three green genetic potions from it.
He called Yun Qingshang over, "Qingshang, come quickly; this is for you."
Yun Qingshang was surveying the weapon rack, particularly interested in a heavy sniper rifle atop.
Upon hearing Gao Xuan's call, Yun Qingshang approached, "Are these genetic potions?"
Yun Qingshang was somewhat familiar with these because they had been injected four times since childhood, with each injection causing a batch of trainees to die.
Genetic potion reactions were highly complex; if they clashed with human genes, failing gene mutation and evolution, the genes would collapse, leading to death.
The base's ruthless Gu-growing strategy aimed at squeezing all potential out of the trainees under death pressure.
In this era, population was cheap and expendable.
Gao Xuan said, "All these genetic potions are for the fifth evolution potion. However, due to problems with the host, the fifth injection was halted."
With the fifth genetic potion injection, another third of the remaining few dozen trainees might die, a loss Zhou Lang couldn't accept.
The reasons were complicated, and Gao Xuan didn't explain to Yun Qingshang.
He assured Yun Qingshang, "These three genetic potions can quickly boost you to Level 5."
Gao Xuan added, "Of course, there is a slight risk."
With Yun Qingshang's talent, she could reach Level 5 through cultivation, even without genetic potion injection.
However, without genetic potion to unlock higher genetic sequences, Yun Qingshang wouldn't likely reach Level 6.
In the Star River Era, there were indeed some phenomenally strong individuals who never used genetic potions and relied on Source Power cultivation to become Golden Level elites.
Yet, Yun Qingshang likely didn't have such phenomenal qualifications.
"For ordinary people like us upgrading, it's better to obediently take our medicine..."
Gao Xuan sighed, realizing that though his cultivation skill was top-class, he was far from being the best.
After some contemplation, Yun Qingshang said, "The timing isn't right; there are many unresolved problems at the base."
"I'll handle them."
Gao Xuan forced the genetic potion injection on Yun Qingshang; she didn't resist and let him proceed.
After Yun Qingshang received three genetic potion injections, her body quickly turned bright red, and consciousness began to blur.
"Speaking of which, Zhou Lang's collection is indeed abundant, truly a treasure trove boy!"
Gao Xuan supported Yun Qingshang as she slowly lay on the ground; amused, he went to the weapon rack to pick up a long sniper rifle: "Look, this is the Kun Gunir Sniper Rifle, the real deal, not every boss can have a big drop."
Yun Qingshang felt increasingly hot inside, as though tossed into a furnace, seeming to roast alive!
But with Gao Xuan around babbling, she felt particularly peaceful.
Gao Xuan touched Yun Qingshang's fiery forehead, estimating the temperature reached seventy degrees; a normal person's brain would be thoroughly cooked.
"Hold out; gene mutation is like this..."
Yun Qingshang's consciousness spiraled into darkness, Gao Xuan's voice growing distant and ethereal.
Her mind harbored a single belief: "I can't die; I must endure; I want to stay with 088; I must protect him..."