"Heh!!"
Then the shadow simply laughed, and as the curtain fluttered once more, there was no one left where the shadow had been.
Inside the villa, only Kingpin remained.
From beginning to end, it was as if he had been talking to himself the whole time.
Then, in less than half a day, news about AbbVie Biopharmaceutical recklessly disregarding human life and carrying out unauthorized human experiments spread across all of New York.
Nearly every major media outlet received a large amount of dirt on AbbVie Biopharmaceutical from anonymous submissions.
And after seeing the explosive content inside, every paper made the same decision without exception: they pulled the newspapers that had already been printed and replaced the front page with this scandal.
As for AbbVie Biopharmaceutical?
One of America's top ten pharmaceutical companies?
What was that to them? For the media, a huge story and boosting newspaper sales were what mattered most.
Under the bombardment of dozens of media outlets, in less than half a day, every citizen in New York already knew about it.
And AbbVie Biopharmaceutical's CEO immediately stepped forward to clarify that all medical-related decision-making had been handled by Alfred Gerard.
In front of all the media, he announced that Gerard was stripped of his position as Executive President and would be held responsible.
The speed of that response was practically unheard of.
Many people had only just seen AbbVie Biopharmaceutical's scandal that afternoon, and before they could even begin attacking the company, they had already seen the company's official handling of the issue.
For a moment, people did not even know who they were supposed to be angry at anymore.
Even so, AbbVie Biopharmaceutical's stock price was plummeting at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In America, there might be a shortage of angel investors, but there was never any shortage of vampires.
Countless Wall Street predators who had learned of the news in advance saw this rare opportunity and immediately began pouring huge sums into shorting AbbVie Biopharmaceutical.
All so they could carve out a massive slice of this feast.
...
That evening.
On the other side, after returning to the company and taking care of all the business there,
Killian headed to the laboratory island in Miami.
After passing through layer after layer of security checkpoints, Killian finally made it into the underground laboratory.
And when he opened the laboratory door and saw the busy figure inside, even Killian, who already considered himself someone who had seen a lot, could not help feeling startled.
"You're not about to tell me you've been working nonstop from yesterday until now, are you?"
Looking at Samuel Sterns' hair, which had turned into a complete bird's nest, along with his bloodshot eyes, for a moment Killian even wondered if the guy had eaten the Stairway of the Sun and turned into a zombie. But seeing him still constantly moving around the lab equipment, Killian immediately asked.
"Boss?! You're here?"
"My God, let me tell you, this thing is practically God's treasure vault. It's incredible, do you know that?"
"From it, I've even seen the road leading into the future."
Seeing his boss standing outside and looking at him through the bulletproof glass, Samuel froze for a second, then immediately began excitedly introducing the discoveries he had made over the past day and night.
Following the direction of his finger, Killian looked at the data displayed on the nearby computer.
There, recorded in full, was Samuel's development work on the Stairway of the Sun flower during that period.
"When I was extracting material from this plant yesterday, I accidentally discovered that it possesses an incredibly powerful rapid healing property."
"And that's not even the most important part. After extracting its plant cells, I found that its telomeres also have self-regenerative functions."
"And I also performed different degrees of catalysis on it. I found that every time its cells divide, they are protected by some kind of substance, which prevents any loss to the telomeres of the cells themselves, allowing the previous cells to be copied perfectly."
"You know that humans are limited by lifespan precisely because our cell telomeres suffer loss during replication."
"But this plant has no such limitation. If I can fully study the substance inside this plant's cells that protects it..."
"Immortality!!!"
By the time he said the final word, Samuel Sterns was staring at Killian through the glass with bloodshot eyes, his face full of excitement and madness.
That was immortality!!!
And now he had discovered it inside a plant.
If given time, he believed he would definitely be able to fully understand it.
And when that day came...
All humanity would achieve immortality, and he would be the one leading the age into it!!
At this moment, Samuel could hardly wait to continue his research.
Because of that, he did not even realize that his body was already starving to the point of collapse.
The immense mental stimulation had caused him to instinctively ignore the hunger signals coming from his body.
"Dr. Samuel, although I don't want to dampen your enthusiasm, I still have to say that at most, this thing can only greatly extend lifespan. It's still nowhere near true immortality."
"And experimental research is long-term, continuous work. In your current state, it's hard for me to feel comfortable leaving this project entirely in your hands."
Looking at Samuel Sterns, who had already been nearly driven mad by the plant's properties, Killian frowned and said.
"Sorry, Boss. I got carried away."
"But really... its potential is even greater than what I just said."
"Although I also know it can't possibly grant true immortality. If it could, then the tribe you mentioned before that possessed this plant wouldn't have gone extinct."
"But that unique substance inside its cells, the one that protects telomerase... if we can fully understand it..."
"Then the difference is nothing more than that between a bicycle and a four-wheeled vehicle."
"The road is already visible. All that remains is to walk it step by step."
After hearing Killian's words, Samuel Sterns was stunned for a moment, then clarity gradually returned to his eyes, and he answered.
"Alright, I understand. But you also need to rest."
"Tomorrow, I'll send over another team for you to lead."
"You only need to focus on the broad direction. Let them handle the minor experimental details."
"Don't keep working day and night like this again. At this rate, the project won't even be finished before you collapse first."
"And right now, I'm ordering you to go rest. Immediately."
Looking at Samuel, who was like a complete workaholic, Killian spoke forcefully.
(End of Chapter)
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