CAT Chapter 1 (Sneak Peak)

“Wizard-daren, you’re as amazing as the rumors say.”

“Lin, you couldn’t attend in time due to your heavy schedule, but it’s still important to give a speech to everyone at this grand celebration feast — as an abridgement of all our work over the years.” The blonde French female assistant winked, “Let’s go, dear.” 

She stepped aside and sat down as the image showed a scene from the banquet hall in Zone 1. At the round table, people flocked around a madam dressed as a black scholar, who was eyeing Lin Si positioned across the screen. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Madan Chen.” Lin Si’s voice was cold but not impolite. After a brief greeting, he got straight to the point, “As of yesterday, 96 experimental subjects formally passed the monitoring period and were transferred to the military. The “Limitless” Phase II project was launched five years ago and has now been successfully completed. In the official evaluation conducted four days ago, all the test subjects achieved the foundational modifications of tripling muscle strength and quintupling neural reaction speeds, as well as individualized enhancements based on their unique focus areas, with stable results.”

The people seated had applauded in unison. The original researchers were pleased with the successful outcome of these past five years, while the invited guests were filled with admiration. 

“Lin, I’ve heard your plans don’t end here,” said the woman in the center, referred to as “Madam Chen,” with a smile.

“The structure of the human body cannot sustain modifications beyond triple muscle strength, but there is still room for improvement in reflex speed. In this process, we’ve even glimpsed the possibility of enhancing brain functions.” His tone was cool and calm, with none of the provocative cadence that would incite people. But this almost mechanical monotony only added to his credibility—just as people always trust machine calculations over intuitive predictions.

“The military’s excessive conservatism has led to a bias against human enhancement projects, making the experiments exceedingly difficult to conduct. Unfortunately, Marshal Joyce recently officially rejected the proposal for Phase III. However, I firmly believe that the next phase has ample justification to proceed and can bring us—”

A sudden “zzzz—” of static electricity interrupted him.

The image projected in front of the people distorted several times before it finally broke. The sound came to a screeching halt as the ground shook violently. 

Lin Si grabbed the edge of the console to stabilize himself as a shrill alarm sounded in the halls of Zone 6, followed by the female voice of the system: “Zone 6 is disengaging from the main body, Zone 6 is disengaging from the main body…” 

He swiftly activated the independent operating system for Zone 6. “Lucia, reconnect to the main body.”

“Error, command cannot be executed.”

While quickly adjusting the parameters, he asked, “Error details?”

“Command conflict. Clearance level insufficient to enforce.”

Lin Si’s speech quickened. “Disengagement order details.” 

The reading had finished in a tenth of a second. “Command issued by: District Three United Front Department, Marshal Joyce. Reason for issuance: The spacecraft is entering the event horizon ¹ of a massive Type B-II black hole. To escape requires 12 times the speed of light curvature acceleration², exceeding engine output limits. Zone 6 has been ejected to provide Level Three recoil force.”

With a booming sound, the level of turbulence throughout Zone 6 had rapidly increased. The ear-splitting alarm interspersed with the sound of laboratory equipment racks toppling over and hundreds of glass test tubes falling to the ground. 

Lin Si firmly gripped the console as he shut his eyes hard and quickly opened them, trying to overcome the dizziness caused by the gravity disorder’s turbulence. His voice was as steady as possible so that the system could clearly distinguish his command: “Switch to an independent navigation system, calculate angular momentum.” 

The progress bar lit up once again. 

At the same time, Lin Si had noticed a sharp scorching pain on his body. He quickly pulled open the emergency drawer under the console and deployed his anti-radiation protection equipment—— After detaching from the main body and losing the protection of the Van Graff Field the ship was exposed to the intense black hole radiation. 

Once he had finished, he felt a surge in his bloodstream, an overwhelming nausea, and his vision blurred with chaotic colors. Unable to control his body, he was flung against the hard wall by the centrifugal force from the rapid spinning.

Struggling to breathe, Lin Si tasted blood at the back of his throat. He raised his head, his vision still blurry. Outside the porthole, the scenery shifted rapidly as the massive shadow of the main ship grew smaller and more distant, finally disappearing into a sea of stars. 

——The next moment, the sea of stars also disappeared without a trace, leaving only complete darkness outside the window. 

The turbulence still persisted, as he completely lost consciousness. 

Lin Si was awakened—not gently, but by someone pinching him.

Amid chaotic cries of “Lin! Doctor Lin!”, someone pinched the acupoint below his nose, while another pressed down on his chest.

He opened his eyes and found himself lying on a dissection table.

Several young people in white coats lit up with excitement when they saw him wake up.

“He’s awake! He’s awake!”

Their tone was as enthusiastic as if they were announcing the birth of a baby.

“Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is only used in cases of cardiac arrest. I don’t believe that was my condition. Also, who taught you that pinching the philtrum is a first aid method?” Lin Si’s expression remained impassive. “I suspect you’ve been away from Earth for so long that you’ve forgotten the most basic biological knowledge.”

One of the young researchers scratched his head awkwardly. “…Doctor, the emergency medical robot malfunctioned, so we had no choice but to use manual methods. See? It worked.”

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