Chapter 38: God's Perspective

He was exceptionally gifted, possessing unique insights into biology. Years spent traveling outdoors had left this young man, not yet thirty, with skin tanned as dark as charcoal. Both men were elites in their respective fields, each having made significant contributions. Upon hearing each other's modest remarks and compliments, they couldn't help but burst out laughing together.

Meanwhile, as the two strolled about, in a vast room with an enormous bathtub, Lin Qiu—who had been anesthetized along with the great white shark—slowly began to wake. "Where am I?" Lin Qiu opened his eyes, a trace of confusion flickering within as he gazed at the unfamiliar waters before him. But when he saw the barriers, the confusion vanished. "This is inside the body of a great white shark!"

His spirit jolted; with a flick of his tail, a surge of water swept forward. "Such potent anesthetic!" Lin Qiu felt a lingering numbness in his body, surprise flashing in his eyes. "System, where are we now?" Rather than rushing out recklessly, Lin Qiu opted to ask.

"Host, please take a look!" The system's voice sounded, and the water before him began to swirl. After a moment, the currents parted, forming something like a mirror that displayed a moving scene. "The world of humans?!" Lin Qiu saw the buildings outside, and through the projection's godlike perspective, spotted the great white shark floating belly-up in the bathtub.

His anesthesia had worn off, but the shark's had not. With the system-provided god's eye view, Lin Qiu surveyed the entire Wu Capital Research Institute, catching sight of various creatures imprisoned there. "So, they're about to begin their research!" Seeing this, his expression grew complicated. Only by studying these organisms could humans hope to survive in a world of mutations. Yet surely the premise wasn't to research him, was it?

Lin Qiu was deeply frustrated. He never imagined that one day he would be here, a subject of human study. The thought alone was enough to make him miserable. At that moment, the system's voice came through: "With current human technology, deciphering the genetic code will take at least a hundred years!"

"A hundred years?!" Lin Qiu's eyes widened in shock. A hundred years?

Would there even be anything left for humanity after a century? He hadn't expected human science to lag so far behind. "What should I do?" Lin Qiu's voice was tinged with anxiety. Now he was a fish, but once he'd been a real human! Hearing this news now filled him with panic.

"Host may offer assistance and establish a coexistence pact with humanity." The system's suggestion left Lin Qiu stunned. Sign a coexistence treaty with humans—him? He couldn't help but glance at his small frame. Would these cunning people believe a fish?

Had he been a dolphin, perhaps he could charm them with cuteness, communicate peacefully, but with humans' arrogant nature, would they even care? As his mind wandered, the system began to issue a task.

"Ding, task triggered..."

"Wait!" Lin Qiu was startled, quickly responding, "Why is there another task?"

"Ding, task being issued."

"System task: Host must establish a coexistence pact with humans. Task reward: bloodline awakening."

The system's words shut Lin Qiu up at once. Bloodline awakening—his perpetual worry! All other creatures had awakened, except him, leaving him feeling neglected and unimportant. The system continued: "Task duration, one month."

"Task failure will deduct one level-up point."

"One level-up point!" Lin Qiu's heart skipped a beat.

"System, that's unfair. I'm only at level two, with twenty points!"

"Objections invalid. All interpretation rights belong to the system."

The system remained terse and uncompromising, leaving Lin Qiu without a retort.

The god's eye view shifted, showing Chang Feng and Xu Bancheng entering. Their faces appeared before Lin Qiu.

"What a formidable black-skinned man!" Lin Qiu admired how Chang Feng's white coat stretched over his burly frame and rugged face, unable to suppress a note of admiration. He had always felt a natural affinity for muscular men.

He had tried in the past to become a big guy, but after taking hormone pills, he still ended up a bean sprout.

"Who is this? Handsome indeed, just a bit behind my former self." Lin Qiu gazed at Xu Bancheng, his eyes filled with a hint of awe, though his words were somewhat contradictory.

"Xu Bancheng..."

"Liu Chang Feng..."

As he muttered, the system helpfully brought up a panel displaying their profiles. These features were free, requiring no cost from the host—that is, himself. Reading the profiles, Lin Qiu's eyes grew astonished.

"So that's Xu Bancheng?!"

He didn't know who Liu Chang Feng was; the profile showed he was excellent, but nothing struck a chord. Xu Bancheng, however, was different.

Before Lin Qiu had died and been reborn, he had spent his days in a rented room, daydreaming as he watched Ozawa, while Xu Bancheng—his peer—was conquering one planning project after another.

Xu Bancheng: the diamond bachelor of women's dreams, the ideal partner for females aged fifteen to eighty.

Lin Qiu: the king of losers in women's hearts.

He spent his days holed up eating instant noodles, watching Ozawa, Saito, and stories by Hojo Tsukasa—a certified nobody.

His life's worth was measured by such trivialities. Compared to Xu Bancheng, the eligible bachelor, Lin Qiu was merely a drooling fanboy, the bacteria in his own saliva as he watched Hojo's heroines.

"Never expected that this pretty boy is actually Xu Bancheng!" Lin Qiu's voice brimmed with envy.

But the next moment, he chuckled, "I too have made my comeback. Once a loser, now I possess a system—destined to be the strongest man!"

He lifted his head slightly, a hint of pride gleaming in his eyes.

"Chang Feng, with our current technology, can we decipher this?" Their footsteps halted before the bathtub. The system helpfully captured their conversation and played it for Lin Qiu.

Liu Chang Feng spoke, "Not yet. Not just our Wu Capital Research Institute—even the other eight major institutes, or those abroad, cannot decode this."

"To achieve it would require immense funding for research; perhaps results could be shown in fifty years."

"Fifty years?" Xu Bancheng's voice was not triumphant, but filled with a sigh as he gazed at the great white shark in the tank.

A shadow crossed his expression.

In fifty years, he would be eighty.

But before even discussing results, could humanity withstand fifty years in a world of mutated creatures?