CAT Chapter 9: Sonnet (1)

The man dressed like a commander made a gesture, signaling everyone scattered around to regroup.

He greeted Lin Si and walked toward him, saying, “Dr. Lin.”

Lin Si replied, “Colonel.”

The colonel immediately noticed Ling Yi and recognized him. “You’re awake?”

—The colonel was one of his test subjects, as were nearly everyone else in this training ground.

“Mm,” Lin Si said, “He will train here from now on. Start with a physical fitness test.”

The colonel called out, “Svenya!”

A female officer of Russian descent with sharp features walked over.

“The little angel from Capsule 97!” Her eyes lit up.

The colonel instructed, “Svenya, take him for a fitness level test and create a training program.”

Svenya readily agreed and led Ling Yi away.

Lin Si began speaking with the colonel.

“What’s the current training focus?”

“Our designation is frontline combat personnel,” the colonel shrugged. “Every day, it’s combat training, battle simulations, and weapons proficiency. But since deployment, we haven’t encountered a single enemy. The universe is so vast, and yet there’s no trace of any aliens! Sometimes, I almost wish to join the landing operations team for some action.”

“In a while, Zone 5 and Zone 6 might request your team’s assistance,” Lin Si said as they stood shoulder to shoulder. “We’re finalizing a neural mechanical project.”

“Got it,” the colonel agreed cheerfully and asked, “Are you going to have us test the machines?”

“Mm,” Lin Si replied coolly. “It’s bionic wearable equipment.”

The colonel’s interest was instantly piqued. “Do you have the schematics?”

Lin Si adjusted his wristband, projecting the design.

“The control system connects to the neural network, allowing direct machine operation without complex inputs. However, only the neural reflexes of modified bodies can currently achieve this.”

The colonel’s jaw dropped in astonishment.

“Doctor, this…!” he exclaimed excitedly. “This is mecha!”

Lin Si frowned slightly. “Mecha?”

“Yes!” The colonel rubbed his hands together. “Haven’t you read sci-fi novels? It’s like a giant robot that can fight in space.”

“The prototype could theoretically be equipped with weapons, but it lacks spacefaring capabilities. Achieving that would be highly challenging. You can discuss it further with Zheng Shu.” Lin Si turned off the projection, his expression remaining impassive as he added flatly, “I need your training data.”

The colonel opened his wristband to connect to the main system and began retrieving the data.

“Dr. Lin is still as cold as ever,” Svenya remarked to Ling Yi when she noticed him looking back at Lin Si. “We thought surviving a near-death experience might change him a little.”

She shrugged. “Sweetheart, have you considered settling down here? Lin isn’t a good guardian. Just imagining you being raised by that wizard gives me nightmares of you turning into a cold little demon.”

Ling Yi tilted his head, recalling how Lin Si had treated him over the past few days.

Although… he often jabbed him with needles and occasionally had a bad attitude, still—

Ling Yi didn’t know how to articulate it, so he simply shook his head. “Lin Si is very good.”

Svenya looked at him fondly. This innocent, beautiful little thing could effortlessly stir anyone’s protective instincts.

“Alright,” she said. “Let’s get to work. I’ve reviewed your physical data, now we’ll test more practical aspects.”

—By the time Lin Si finished his business and came to check on Ling Yi’s progress, he could hear Svenya’s voice from afar.

“Darling, you’re just like a little kitten!”

As he approached, Lin Si saw the spacious training room, where staggered black rubber bars rose from the floor to the ceiling.

Ling Yi had one leg hooked around the highest bar, his entire body hanging upside down. Noticing Lin Si’s entrance, he bent backward at an angle impossible for most humans, climbed upward in a fluid motion, transitioned into a half-kneeling position at the top, then lightly leaped down, landing steadily in front of Lin Si and looking up at him.

The sequence of movements was so smooth and swift that it was nearly soundless.

Lin Si reached out to ruffle his hair.

“Incredible,” Svenya approached, asking Lin Si, “Doctor, is this the level of enhancement you’ve achieved with modifications?”

“This is a coincidence, not the result of an experiment,” Lin Si said, taking part of the data from Svenya’s hands.

Cardiopulmonary endurance, flexibility, coordination and balance, agility—these traits can certainly be improved through practice, but they’re ultimately limited by innate joint and soft tissue structures. But Lin Yi was different. His soft tissue morphology had undergone significant changes. Lin Si, already familiar with Lin Yi’s assessment data from Zone 6, wasn’t particularly surprised.

Yet, at this moment, an odd thought struck him. If science ceased to exist and humanity continued to mutate, evolve, and undergo natural selection, perhaps in a million years, humans might achieve such a near-perfect physiological state.

Lin Yi, however, had completed the entire evolutionary process in just a few seconds of exposure to black hole radiation. Through an almost miraculous coincidence, he had achieved the optimal solution among billions of potential mutation paths.

This mutation might never be replicable with current science, but it offered a possibility—a glimpse into human evolution’s potential. Humanity’s progress wasn’t yet at an end. While Zones 1 and 5 focused on safeguarding the species with cutting-edge technology, Zone 6 paid more attention to life itself.

—It was just a pity that “Limitless” couldn’t continue.

And though the data was flawless, Lin Si had noticed an issue with Lin Yi over the past few days.

“Test his muscle strength,” Lin Si instructed Svenya. “When he first woke up, he could easily break my arm, but afterward, he hasn’t displayed any abnormal strength.”

“No abnormalities? That’s unlikely,” Svenya said, shaking her head. “Could it be an issue with his exertion habits? But that doesn’t seem right either.”

She led Lin Yi to a simple grip strength testing device. “Try this first.”

Lin Yi placed his right hand on the cylindrical grip. His hand was elegant and didn’t look particularly strong.

“Squeeze as hard as you can,” Svenya instructed.

His slender fingers slowly tightened. The gauge needle stopped at the center.

“Average for a normal person,” Svenya said, frowning. “Baobei, there’s no way you only have this much strength. The moves you did on the cat tree couldn’t possibly be achieved with this level of force. Try harder. Don’t let muscle memory limit you.”

Lin Yi blinked, his gaze unfocused, as if trying to feel something.

His hand continued to squeeze. The needle wavered, then spun rapidly, making several full rotations!

“Now, that’s more like it,” said Svenya, satisfied. She glanced at Lin Si and playfully winked. “Doctor, you’ve been overthinking it. He’s fine.”

Lin Si frowned slightly.

He was certain Lin Yi hadn’t demonstrated this level of strength in daily life.

He rolled up his sleeve, exposing his pale wrist, and extended it to Lin Yi. “Grip me.”

Lin Yi obediently grabbed his wrist and began squeezing.

Then he looked up at Lin Si.

Lin Si’s expression didn’t change. “…Are you a kitten?” he asked dryly.

“Use the same force as earlier,” Svenya cheered from the side. “Don’t worry, our treatment equipment is robust enough to handle even a fracture.”

Lin Yi earnestly applied more pressure.

Yet Lin Si still felt only a kitten-like grip.

“That’s strange,” Svenya said, rolling up her uniform sleeve. “Come here.”

Lin Yi let go, leaving only a faint red mark on Lin Si’s pale wrist.

“Alright, try harder,” said Svenya, coaxing him like a child.

But she quickly dropped the tone.

“That’s enough, baobei—let go!” she gasped, her expression pained. “I think you’ve fractured my bones!”

Lin Yi released her, looking utterly innocent.

Svenya inhaled sharply and stiffly lowered her arm. “Are you two conspiring to trick me?”

Lin Si looked at Lin Yi. “Were you really using all your strength?”

Lin Yi nodded.

Lin Si recalled a time when he had gone two days without replying to Lin Yi’s messages. He’d tried to hug the dejected little creature afterward, only to be shoved back without so much as a bruise.

But Svenya was clearly injured—despite being a “Limitless” modified being with extraordinary muscle strength.

Lin Si realized this was beyond his expertise.

He summarized the situation and sent it to Seth.

Seth, “I have a bold hypothesis.”

Lin Si, “Let’s hear it.”

Seth, “First, let’s test it with a small experiment.”

Lin Yi was blindfolded.

Lin Si stood among a scattered group of soldiers.

Lin Yi wandered aimlessly at first. But when he was about three to four meters away from Lin Si, he stopped, then headed straight for him, diving into his arms.

Lin Si hugged him back, patted him, and removed the blindfold. “How did you know it was me?”

“I just felt you were there,” Lin Yi replied.

Lin Si updated Seth, “He found me.”

Seth responded, “Doctor, congratulations. You might have unlocked an infinite imprinting phenomenon!”

A moment later, another, more formal message followed, “This has precedence. Several animal species display similar behavior. Juveniles within a certain range of an adult blood relative are influenced by an as-yet-unverified pheromonal signal, rendering them completely non-aggressive. Your little one’s situation seems very similar.”

Lin Si stroked the little creature’s hair.

The little one was calm and obedient.

Lin Si felt content.

This warm, breathing life in his arms had voluntarily formed a connection with him.

For a moment, he, too, didn’t want to let go—though he knew this bond might only exist due to some strange genetic mutation in Lin Yi.