Chapter 138

Qin Hao nodded, but his eyes did not leave the screen.

"The framework has been set up; next, we will continuously improve our internal issues and accelerate our entry into the interstellar era."

"This is not urgent."

Luo Lao suddenly spoke, interrupting him.

"Before this, the higher-ups demanded that we first raise the overall strength of the populace."

Speaking, Luo Lao used the mouse to switch the screen to another view.

A brand-new document title appeared before Qin Hao.

【National Physique Enhancement Plan】

"Is this soldier serum?" Qin Hao glanced and recognized it.

"Exactly! More precisely, it's a weakened version of it, also produced by our scientists."

Luo Lao's tone was very calm.

"The original soldier serum is too powerful, usable only by our warriors; this weakened version is perfect for ordinary civilians."

"After injection, ordinary people can greatly enhance their bodily functions, reaching twice that of top special forces, including strength, speed, endurance, reaction ability, etc."

Hearing this, Qin Hao nodded; such a thing beneficial to the country and people, he naturally agreed.

"Then what about the cost? If we want to cover the entire populace, that would be an astronomical figure."

"Its cost is not high, enough to support nationwide enhancement. Therefore, its official guidance price is twenty thousand Yanhuang coins."

Luo Lao replied.

"Twenty thousand?!"

Qin Hao was somewhat surprised upon hearing it!

"For a gene drug that can permanently alter physique and let people be reborn, this price is hardly a matter of being cheap."

"This is practically giving it away for free!"

"Once this news is announced, it will surely cause a frenzy."

Qin Hao couldn't help but think.

"What I want is just madness." Luo Lao's finger lightly tapped the tabletop.

"No matter how strong the technology or how numerous the fleets, they are external objects. A civilization's true foundation is each individual that composes it."

"I want our enemies to understand that the gap between them and us is not only in technology, but more fundamentally in the very form of life."

"I want every compatriot of ours to possess a brand-new, powerful body to welcome the impending era of the starry sea!"

……

That afternoon.

There was no warning, no press conference.

A notice from Yanhuang Guo was simultaneously pushed to the phones, computers, televisions, and all network-connected screens of Yanhuang Guo's 1.4 billion citizens.

The notice's content was extremely simple.

【To enhance citizens' physical quality and meet the challenges of the interstellar era, the state, effective immediately, opens gene-strengthening drug injection channels to all citizens.】

【Its effect is: permanently enhance all bodily functions, reaching more than twice that of special forces, with no side effects.】

【Price: yuan/dose.】

【Online reservation platforms and offline designated injection points are now open.】

One second.

Two seconds.

The entire nation seemed as if the mute button had been pressed.

Countless people stared blankly at those few lines on the screen, wondering if they were hallucinating.

Immediately after, a volcanic-eruption-like frenzy swept across the entire nation!

"Holy shit! Twenty thousand! Let my physique reach twice that of special forces? And it's permanent? Am I dreaming?"

"I'm not paying the car loan! Pause the mortgage! I want a new body! This damn thing is the most important thing in life!"

"Honey! Don't look at that broken bag; we'll take all our family's savings, everyone gets injected! Son too, daughter too!"

The shock brought earlier by magnetic levitation cars and lunar bases now seemed utterly trivial at this moment.

Cars and houses, after all, are external possessions.

And this, is a divine medicine that can let one be reborn and obtain a "super-strong physique"!

All online reservation platforms, within half an hour of the notice's release, were flooded by over a billion citizens.

Offline, at every announced designated injection site, the entrances were instantly packed solid.

People poured in from all directions, spontaneously forming long lines.

That line, like a snake in a glutton game, stretched from the hospital entrance to several kilometers down the street, winding through over ten bends, yet the end remained unseen.

Police had to be fully deployed, but they were not there to disperse the crowd; instead, they maintained order and distributed drinking water and bread.

The entire Yanhuang Guo fell into an unprecedented atmosphere, a peculiar mix of ecstasy and anxiety.

A grand celebration called "National Enhancement" descended overnight.

Yingjiang Guo, Hundred Palaces.

President Wil, unable to bear the mental torment from the double blow of the "treason agreement" and the fleet's unveiling, chose to resign.

The newly inaugurated President Harris had not yet had time to familiarize himself with his office when he was found by the head of the Intelligence Department.

"Mr. President! Something major has happened!"

Harris frowned, looking at his own discomposed subordinate.

"Running around in a panic, what's the matter? Could it possibly be bigger than Yanhuang Guo's interstellar warship? Or are they saying they've come to attack?"

"Mr. President, I think it's about the same!"

"The information officer placed a document on the table."

"Harris picked up the document, glanced at it, and froze on the spot."

"Universal... enhancement? Physical fitness doubled?"

He muttered to himself, the blood color on his face faded at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Yes, sir."

"The information officer's voice was filled with disbelief."

"Our intelligence personnel have assessed it; this technology is truly effective."

"One month, just one month, and Yanhuang Guo will become a nation of over a billion 'superhumans'!"

"Inside the office, a military general swayed, then slumped onto the sofa, slowly closing his eyes."

"It's over... we were just discussing how to catch up with their technology in ten years."

"Now we can't even keep up with their people."

"How do we fight? Our soldiers on the battlefield will face monsters whose strength, speed, and reaction are twice our own!"

"That's not war at all—it's a massacre!"

"Harris finally understood what 'big trouble' means."

"Technological backwardness can be caught up."

"The military gap can be made up."

"But when your enemy, at the species level, begins to pull ahead in generational difference, you don't even have the qualification to struggle."

"Almost at the same time, countless secret calls were made from the offices of tycoons and officials around the globe."

"Black market! Contact all black markets in Yanhuang Guo! I'll pay any price to buy a vial of the serum! Price is no object—one billion, two billion US dollars!"

"However, all attempts sank like a stone into the sea."

"Yanhuang Guo's control over the genetic enhancement serum is so strict it's pathological; not a single vial can be smuggled out."

"One month later."

"At Old Luo's home, Zhang Yunfeng was stating the latest data."

"Old Luo, the universal physical enhancement is basically complete, coverage at 95.3%; before long we'll have everyone covered."

"Qin Hao listened beside him, his chest swelling with heroic ambition."

"Our strongest shield is our fleet, our sharpest spear is our technology..."

"Old Luo seemed to see through his thoughts, lifted the teacup before him, and took a light sip."

"Now we have an even firmer foundation; surely we will develop even faster."