Jiang Yan watched Wei Gaocheng on the monitor and nodded approvingly. "This kid's good. Promote him to team-lead; from now on he'll be in charge of recruiting volunteers outside."
"Understood, Mr. Jiang." An Conghao nodded at once; as for the corpses, he'd long since stopped batting an eye.
Once Dong Guangjie confirmed they needed subjects, the lab's Bodyguards sprang into action, cruising in a van and ambushing gangsters on sight.
Under the high-intensity dragnet, more than thirty "volunteers" had been delivered in just a few days.
The progress on his pearl of the abyss had jumped thanks to the operation, and with Ghost Buddha roaming and feeding outside, the count was already past a hundred.
At that moment a young man in a white coat walked in. He bowed to Jiang Yan and said respectfully, "Mr. Jiang, Supervisor Dong has finished brewing the Enhancement Serum. They're about to perform the first animal injection and wanted to know if you have time to observe."
Jiang Yan's eyes lit up. "The serum's ready so soon? Tell him I'm coming right now."
"Yes, sir!" The young man in white answered respectfully and hurried off.
The young man had once been Dong Guangjie's student; now he'd been poached to join the research team.
"Let's go, Boss An. Time to see the results we've worked so hard for." Jiang Yan rose and led An Conghao out.
"Great!" Anticipation flashed in An Conghao's eyes—wasn't transcendence exactly what he'd been chasing all this time?
A white luxury car waited outside; the two climbed in and drove toward the neighboring manor.
Minutes later the car stopped right at the lab entrance.
The injection experiment would take place on sub-level two; they took the elevator straight down.
Ding! The doors slid open, revealing the space beyond.
Up front were operating tables and monitoring equipment; at the far end stood a huge three-metre-diameter Tempered-Glass Cylinder.
Four or five people in white coats milled about—assistants or students Dong Guangjie had recruited.
"Mr. Jiang's here." Someone noticed the elevator opening and called out a quick heads-up as Jiang Yan and An Conghao stepped out.
Dong Guangjie, who'd been examining a Lab Mouse, set his things down and greeted them with a smile. "Mr. Jiang, Boss An, welcome."
Jiang Yan walked up and clapped him on the shoulder. "Excellent work. I knew I had my eye on the right man—results already!"
Dong Guangjie shook his head. "It's not my brilliance; it's that the components extracted from Tyrant's blood are unusually potent."
"There's a special substance in its blood that can grow simply by devouring energy. I've named it the Origin-Eater. After days of trials, and mixing in other ingredients, we've finally synthesised the first Enhancement Serum!" Dong Guangjie explained.
Jiang Yan listened, arms crossed, one hand rubbing his chin. "Origin-Eater… Well, Tyrant does feed on energy ores, so it makes sense something inside it would consume energy too."
"Since you're here, Mr. Jiang, I won't waste time—let's start the experiment right away," Dong Guangjie said, barely able to contain his excitement.
Jiang Yan, equally eager, nodded. "Begin!"
"Understood!" At Jiang Yan's order, Dong Guangjie stepped to the glass cylinder and began the experiment.
Jiang Yan stood beside him. Inside the cylinder, a Lab Mouse was immobilised on a white plastic fixture; next to it, a Robotic Injection Arm was poised.
On the arm sat a small vial of purple, lustrous serum.
Dong Guangjie tapped the console and declared solemnly, "First Mutation Trial—initiating. Begin recording!"
"Recording initiated!" an assistant answered immediately.
At Dong Guangjie's command, the robotic arm injected the purple serum into the mouse.
Squeak! The mouse thrashed wildly, convulsing as though seized by spasms.
With the full dose now inside it, everyone watched tensely and expectantly.
The mouse's body began to swell; its eyes turned bloodshot, fur falling away in clumps.
Bang! The plastic restraints snapped. Pink skin erupted with crimson, scale-like muscle; claws and teeth lengthened and sharpened.
In mere minutes the palm-sized mouse had transformed into a cat-sized monster.
Hiss! The mutated mouse bared its fangs at the people behind the glass.
In the next instant it sprang, a pink blur slamming against the glass.
Boom! A loud crash echoed through the lab, startling An Conghao who'd been watching intently.
An Conghao stared at the Mutated White Mouse that kept ramming the glass and sighed, "Amazing—just one dose can turn a Lab Mouse into something this terrifying. Even a dog might not be able to beat it."
"Hahaha!" Dong Guangjie laughed excitedly at the rat; it proved his path was viable.
Jiang Yan, watching, nodded repeatedly.
Just as everyone thought the first experiment had gone perfectly, the mouse pounding the glass suddenly stopped.
Bang!
Then, in front of everyone, its body exploded, smearing blood and flesh across the glass.
Dong Guangjie's grin froze, but he quickly recovered and mused at the gore, "Something must be off; we'll need more trials."
He turned to Jiang Yan. "Mr. Jiang, failures are normal in the first run. Give me more time to test; once it's stable on animals we can move to human trials."
Jiang Yan didn't rush him—he knew research needed mountains of data. "Fine. Tell Boss An whatever you need; if he can't get it, come to me."
"Great!" Dong Guangjie nodded, excitement still gleaming in his eyes.
A moment later Jiang Yan left the lab with An Conghao.
"Boss An, did you finish compiling that list of people worth over a hundred million?" He glanced at An Conghao.
The experiment was burning money; Jiang Yan had to prepare for the future.
An Conghao answered at once, "Done. In Liuyang City there are forty-six individuals worth over a hundred million, three worth more than ten billion. Excluding mine, their combined assets exceed fifty-three billion blue star coins."
Jiang Yan listened quietly, then said slowly, "Then set it for July fifth—whatever the excuse, they must all gather."
"Understood!" An Conghao's eyes lit up—Mr. Jiang was finally making a move on them.
When Jiang Yan had asked for the list, he'd guessed the plan; after all, Nanfeng Manor's daily expenses were terrifying and he alone couldn't shoulder them much longer.
Jiang Yan suddenly remembered something and looked at him. "By the way, is Li Yong back?"
"He's on the plane—he'll be back in Liuyang City tomorrow." An Conghao replied... The next day, every multimillionaire in Liuyang received An Conghao's banquet invitation.
In a villa district downtown, the Chen Family's villa—leaders of Liuyang's wine trade.
In the back garden, an old man in a Tang suit reclined on an expensive golden-sandalwood chair; a teacup sat on a side table.
Behind him, a pretty maid in a frilly uniform brewed tea.
Tap tap tap!
Footsteps echoed from the villa, followed by a woman's voice: "Grandpa, I heard An Conghou's throwing a banquet in the city and invited every rich family."
A woman in a business suit—willow brows, cherry lips, stern pretty face, curves straining the jacket—entered the garden.
The old man gestured to the maid, who left at once.
She nodded respectfully as she passed: "Eldest Miss."
Chen Xingwen didn't rise, his tone calm. "Your grandfather did receive the invitation. He said An Conghao found a big project and wants us to take a look."
Chen Yeliu frowned. "Since when is An Conghao so generous—sharing profits with us?"
Anyone who could top Liuyang's rich list wasn't some headline philanthropist; he was ruthless, black-hearted, and always had an agenda.
That was Chen Yeliu's impression of An Conghao.
Chen Xingwen smiled. "Xiao Liu, whatever his motive, we'll just go and see. Our Chen Family has its own industries; we already earn enough—no need to meddle further."
"I understand. I'll accompany Grandpa and see what trick An Conghao plans to use to pry money from us."
The same sentiment echoed among the other invited tycoons.
An Conghao's Haoyang Real Estate, the Chen Family's Chunqiu Wine, the Lei Family's investment firm, and the rising Liyuan Property—each a ten-billion-giant in Liuyang and Jiang Yan's prime targets.