That demon-like T-Virus was just lying around without a care in an empty laboratory. All manner of data regarding the virus was thrown all over the place in a huge mess. All of that made the laboratory look like a garbage dump of sorts instead of a place for doing scientific experiments.
At the very center of the laboratory, a young man with sunken eyes whom anyone could tell was in mess from over-exertion was seen just sitting around on the floor, smoking as he muttered to himself.
No one knew that the young man was actually talking with an animated little girl in his head at the moment.
"Hmm… so you're saying that you wanna sell the T-0 Biopharmaceutical like any other product, instead of handing it over to the authorities, then?" Yurianne asked with a rather dumb face inside his head.
"Correct. The previous host chose to work with the government and relegated himself to a supporting role in the whole ordeal, letting the government lord over him. That was the main reason that led to his ultimate downfall," Zhang Heng said casually.
The Dimensional Star selected humans who were capable of serving as spokespersons for humanity, bringing all that high technology to the people and enabling them to gain a way of defending themselves, instead of becoming some kind of messiah who behaved like an archetypical hero. In truth, Zhang Heng also never thought of taking on that curse armed only with his personal power at all. As such, there were two ways he could go with the T-Virus—handing it over to the national authorities, letting the state drive the progress of human civilization, or do so by building his own power base.
Zhang Heng had apparently chosen to take the latter route.
He continued, "Division of authoritative powers led to the division of actual powers. The human mind is more terrifying than any virus. The government that the last guy served remained a mixed bunch of good and awful, even when disaster eventually struck, preventing them from being truly able to become an effective force for taking on the disaster and ultimately led to his failure. In that case, why would I choose to act as he did then?"
His eyes looked heated, as if flames were dancing in his eyes, "I'm not gonna just let myself take the role of some nanny. Nurturing the nations and letting them take the role of defenders of humanity against that disaster? That's definitely not the path I want to take. The countries should just stay out of my way for the most part, and I might let them do something to aid me at times, but…
"I'll never ever hand over the reins of my fate to anyone else."
He was nothing like his usual calm and collected self at that moment; he looked instead like someone with huge ambitions.
What happened to his father had driven home a lesson that he should always be his own master. It was obvious from how he insisted on verifying the results of his experiments himself even when results were already made clear by the Dimensional Star, as well as a few other habits he had, that he was someone who was fiercely independent and would absolutely not let any authority or public opinion sway him. He was insistent on walking his own path to a fault, and was a staunch believer of 'every man for himself'.
However, due to environmental factors, all those thoughts he had were suppressed by mainstream society and he had never been able to find a place where he could truly shine. All that only changed when he came into possession of the Dimensional Star system, and that ambitious side of his personality finally reared its head.
"The course of action that the host decides to take has nothing to do with the Dimensional Star." Yurianne shrugged and winked. "Yurianne is but a support system after all. But, host dude, you're powerless and penniless. How will you ensure that none of the fruits of your painstaking labor will be taken away by others?"
"Taken away by others, eh?" Zhang Heng frowned and began thinking. "I know just how profound the effects of the T-0 Biopharmaceutical would have on society once it gets announced. The Food and Drug Administration part will be quite an obstacle to begin with. T-0 would probably end up being bought by force by the authorities if I don't have important connections… I'm still thinking of ways to solve this part, but the way I see it, the best way is still to build an organization of sufficient power on the surface."
"Build an organization? You mean like building a country, host dude?" Yurianne asked, feeling surprised.
"You really think that I'd only be safe if I were to have my own country?" He shook his head and continued, "I now have technology way ahead of our time in my hands, and funding will never be a problem in the future. And by the way, it's not like building a country is easy. My goal is just to set up a company."
His phone rang as he was yapping away about his thoughts and plans, which surprised him somewhat as he took up the phone. Hardly anyone ever bothered to call him except for his parents, and it wasn't the end of the month yet, the time when his parents usually called.
The number on the phone was unregistered. He picked it up and said, "Hello?"
"Yes, Zhang Heng. I'm Li Yiru, the class representative." A crisp clear female voice was heard over the phone.
"Good day, class rep." Zhang Heng continued in a sleazy tone, "So, what business does our oh-so-beautiful class rep have with a sleazebag like me?"
"…" The voice on the other end ignored the line entirely. "Zhang Heng, we only have one semester to go before we graduate. The New Year's festivities have just concluded and Liang Chao discussed with me for a bit, and we decided to hold a gathering at The Coastal International Hotel at 8pm on Saturday. It's best, after all, for us to get together for a bit and know where each of us will be working now, or in the future, just so that we could have an easier time contacting each other."
"A gathering eh?" He frowned. He was hardly able to keep himself alive at the moment, and the idea of attending a gathering was just ridiculous. An idea came to his mind just as he was about to reject the offer out of hand. Instead, he asked, "Alright, sure, I'd show up. By the way, oh-so-beautiful class rep, how's your grandfather doing?"
"His condition is stable at the moment…" Her tone grew rather sad whenever her grandfather was brought up, but she suppressed her sadness nonetheless.
"Sure, send him my regards," Zhang Heng said with a grin.
"Will do, thanks for asking," Li Yiru acknowledged calmly before hanging up.
"Hehe." Zhang Heng chuckled coldly. He had always been rather smart to begin with, and ever since his cells fused with the T-Virus, his thought patterns worked even better than before. He was already able to make a variety of deductions about how things came about and where they would possibly lead from there.
What was happening at the moment all began with two names—Liang Chao and Li Yiru.
Li Yiru was the only daughter of the Li Pharmaceutical Group, and the company's assets were estimated to be at billions of yuan, given that company was a massive multinational pharmaceutical company based in Haizhou, which mainly specialized in develop medicines for treating cancer, nervous systems, and some others.
One could say that the man who married Li Yiru would gain half of the wealth of the company owned by the Li Clan.
Liang Chao, on the other hand, was the son of Liang Bufan, the vice mayor. The vice mayor might not seem like much, but the position was actually more than meets the eye. The Li Clan wouldn't have batted an eye at being just the vice mayor of some regular city, but, given how Haizhou was the most prosperous administrative divisions in all of Huaxia, the position of vice mayor was a huge deal.
While it was true that marriage alliances were no longer much of a thing in the modern era, that was how it worked with powerful families. When it came to the likes of the Li Pharmaceutical Group—corporations that put business interests before anything else, such feudal concepts still applied. The clan wanted to stabilize their footing in Haizhou, and Liang Chao had long had a desire for Li Yiru. That led to the two families trying their best to go about making the two of them a couple.
However, despite being a daughter from such a prestigious family and having a very privileged upbringing, she nonetheless detested such feudal notions. Furthermore, given that Liang Chao was the typical rich playboy with a terrible reputation, Li Yiru had never taken a liking to him.
Liang Chao had been pursuing Li Yiru throughout their four years in university, sticking on her like flies stick to dung, and he never gave up, even during internships.
One could easily tell that the gathering between classmates was just an excuse in Liang Chao's part to get near Li Yiru.
Zhang Heng's status and connections were in such a low state that most people wouldn't have notified him, to begin with, but Li Yiru was someone who took her responsibilities to heart and, being the class representative, she was compelled to notify every single member of their class out of principle.
Zhang Heng neither liked nor disliked the two of them. He and the two of them were from different worlds anyway. Furthermore, Zhang Heng was never the suave, dashing type that girls would have taken a liking to and flock towards him like how it was in the novels. As such, his connections remained limited throughout the four years in university.
"So, you're gonna join the party then?" Yurianne tilted her head, unable to comprehend his decision for doing so. From what she knew about him, Zhang Heng wasn't the type who liked crowded, rowdy places, and furthermore, the second mission was only just a month away.
"I agreed to go because of Li Yiru's grandpa, the one at the top of the Li Group who is now suffering from stage four cancer." Zhang Heng grinned wryly. "Ironic, isn't it? The founder of a company that specializes in developing cancer meds got cancer himself. I just figured that I would be able to rise quickly, if I were to have backing from the Li Group."
The T-0—a weakened version of the T-Virus—didn't possess the ability to strengthen humans per se, but, fundamentally speaking, the virus nonetheless allowed humans to evolve and gain a boosted immune system. But, if the drug were to be announced publicly, it would be more than enough to overturn the entire fields of medicine and biology, and Zhang Heng's first objective was to make that epoch-making drug known to the world.
With his lowly status, he didn't mind parting with a portion of the potential profits.
He had decided to use the Li Group as a stepping stone to make the announcement regarding the T-0 drug.
But, then again, the T-0's effects were still too frightening even as it was, as it was still something more than half a decade ahead of the cutting edge of modern medicine. Be it for concerns of his own and of the public, there was just no way he could let everyone knew the full extent of T-0's abilities.
Despite being a watered-down version of the T-Virus, he deemed it necessary to water down the T-0 even further, if he were to make it known.
As such, under the guidance from the Research Support System of the Dimensional Star, he took three more days to water down the T-0 Virus even further, and named the new drug T-1, which was only capable of treating cancer, and it needed a greater dose as well. He made it in such a way that the cost for its manufacture was doubled.
But, then again, the new drug would still be more than enough to shock a great many biologists to the core.