She was halfway through her sentence when Zhen Nantian's deep, dark eyes made her shut right up.
Yang Yang sighed. "Fine then, you'll work solo. If luck's not on our side, you'll just have to lure the enemy away while we steal the formula in the chaos."
Zhen Nantian finally nodded, satisfied.
Jing Shu asked, "So where exactly is this rich guy's place? And how do we get there?" Honestly, she'd rather go alone. After all, if she went solo, she could grab as much loot as she wanted without anyone nagging her.
When they first arrived at Zhuangyan Temple, it was huge and quiet, but she hadn't found anything worth taking into her Rubik's Cube Space. That was disappointing. She couldn't wait to see for herself what kind of luxury "you can't even imagine a rich person's life" meant. At least she didn't fly all the way to America for nothing.
Yang Yang cleared his throat. "Actually, the moment we stepped out of Zhuangyan Temple, we were already inside the rich man's territory. All we have to do now is keep walking."
"Yeah, figures. That's close." Jing Shu clicked her tongue. "Damn, that's massive. Good thing it's the outskirts of New York, not downtown."
They left Monk with Xiao Hei, who took him to rendezvous with their contact. The rest followed Yang Yang straight into the tycoon's domain. Strangely, this rich man didn't seem like the others. There were no armed guards, no patrols, nothing.
"I'm curious," Jing Shu said. "What happens when that cauldron and the formula are combined? How exactly can it extend a person's life? If he already has the materials, why not mass-produce it so everyone can benefit?"
Her teammates were curious too. After all, this was their final mission, supposedly the hardest one of all. But now that they'd cleared the first stage, the second didn't look that bad. It almost felt easier than their previous tasks.
Yang Yang asked, "You know crayfish, right?"
"Huh? Crayfish?" Jing Shu blinked, then nodded. "Of course I do. I raise them myself. I like them best in thirteen-spice flavor, but garlic and spicy ones are great too."
Yang Yang was speechless.
"What? Did I say something wrong?"
He sighed. "Crayfish are actually an invasive species. Besides being used as food, scientists also study them. Research shows that, theoretically, crayfish are biologically immortal."
"Immortal? As in never aging and never dying?" Jing Shu's eyes widened.
Yang Yang nodded. "Their body functions don't decline with age. Humans age because each time our cells divide, the mitochondrial telomeres shorten. Once they shrink too much, the cells stop dividing, our body functions weaken, and we die. A human cell can divide about fifty times before it reaches that limit."
Jing Shu rubbed her chin thoughtfully. Her Spirit Spring once brought the dying Yi Hou back to full vitality. Did that mean it somehow increased her cell division count?
Yang Yang went on, "Crayfish produce a special enzyme that keeps their telomeres long. That means their cells can divide indefinitely, so technically, they never age."
"No wonder the bigger ones taste better! So they're not old at all," Jing Shu said with sudden enlightenment.
Wait… wasn't that missing the point?
She coughed and nodded seriously, pretending she'd understood the important part all along.
"Of course, it's only theoretical," Yang Yang continued. "Every time a crayfish molts, it consumes a massive amount of energy. As they get older, they weaken. About ten percent die of exhaustion during molting, so only a few actually live long enough to reach that so-called immortality."
"Oh, so it's like transcending a heavenly tribulation," Jing Shu said. "If you want to live forever, you've gotta survive one each year, and it just gets tougher and tougher."
It made sense. Even an immortal crayfish had to struggle for it. How could humans hope to fare any better?
The more she learned, the more amazed she was by her Spirit Spring. Twenty drops a day, and its effect was insane.
Her Spirit Spring must increase a creature's cell division count, keeping the healthy even healthier and helping the sick regenerate. When she used it on crops, it probably doubled their cell count too, making them grow faster, stronger, and more nutritious.
"But I doubt my Spirit Spring's that simple," she murmured, lost in thought. "Besides boosting cell division, it must have other properties. Honestly, calling it the Fountain of Life wouldn't be an exaggeration. Even if it doesn't grant supernatural powers like in novels, its effects are ridiculous."
"So," she looked up, "how does all that tie into the cauldron and the formula?"
That was the key.
Yang Yang nodded. "This tycoon spent a fortune on research and managed to isolate an enzyme that allows human cells to divide one extra time, extending life and delaying aging. But humans can't absorb it directly. The enzyme isn't something that can just be digested or injected.
Until they found that cauldron. It contains a unique mineral found nowhere else in the world. When the enzyme is combined with that mineral, it fuses perfectly with human cells. Drinking it extends lifespan by about two years each time. It also flushes out a ton of damaged cells, rejuvenates the body, and even cures terminal illnesses. Of course, the effect depends on the person's cell capacity. The closer someone is to their natural limit, the weaker the result."
Jing Shu stared at the ancient cauldron again, astonished. "That thing's really that magical?"
Yang Yang shook his head. "Unfortunately, neither the tycoon nor his team ever managed to reproduce the mineral's properties. They couldn't even scrape residue from it successfully. Keep in mind, this same medical team once developed the world-famous anti-aging drug that extended lifespan, and it went global."
"Wait, what drug? I've never heard of it," Jing Shu asked, confused.
Ling Ling chimed in, "It's a stem-cell anti-aging treatment, sixty thousand dollars per shot. Each treatment course is three shots, one every six months. It's an upgraded version of stem-cell therapy. The more undifferentiated cells you have, the more vitality and life force you gain. The injections help regenerate tissues and organs, basically forcing extra cell divisions. It works, but it only delays aging.
"What this guy's making, though, increases your total division limit. It doesn't just slow aging, it reverses it."
Jing Shu felt dizzy just listening. So this was the world of the rich?
No wonder ordinary people didn't know about it. The joy of the rich was something the poor could never imagine.
Rich people could literally buy more years to live!
That stem-cell anti-aging thing was real enough. Damn, it must be nice being rich. (●°u°●)」