Chapter 344 - 336: No. 304 Injection_1

"I am Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and Blue Origin, as well as their current CEO, and this is my brother Mark... okay, that should about do it."

Jeff Bezos held the camera and introduced himself, his brother Mark, and the other four passengers before handing it over to a staff member for editing and uploading to YouTube.

The New Shepard rocket was about to embark on its first manned flight, with passengers including four executives from Blue Origin along with two ultra-wealthy individuals.

Each of the six people secured themselves in window-side seats, took deep breaths, and relaxed their bodies.

"New Shepard" is a suborbital rocket capable of taking the crew capsule to altitudes of 80 to 100 kilometers, offering several minutes of weightlessness but not entering orbit.

According to the Kármán line space boundary, it is space travel; according to whether it enters orbit, it is not.

Regardless of whether it enters orbit or not, the space capsule of New Shepard faces much less atmospheric friction and ablation due to its low flight altitude, which allows for a very light weight and the installation of oversized windows for a superb viewing experience.

The six passengers didn’t even have sealed spacesuits; they just had thin bodysuits, which could either be due to Jeff Bezos’s confidence in New Shepard or a cost-saving measure.

The six waved to the outside cameraman before the final closing of the hatch, and then they settled in to await their journey to space.

...

"Blue Origin completes its first commercial manned flight of the ’New Shepard’ rocket."

"Billionaire Jeff Bezos suspected dead, his brother Mark steps in to clarify rumors."

"NACA congratulates the success of Blue Origin and expresses optimism for the prospects of suborbital tourism."

"Blue Origin denies any malfunction in the spacecraft and claims ’all six passengers enjoyed 4 minutes of excellent weightlessness,’ announcing they will release part of the flight video."

"Jeff Bezos goes missing after returning to Earth, suspected air disaster."

"..."

On March 12th, YouTube’s trending searches were completely dominated by Jeff Bezos and his Blue Origin.

Besides completing its first manned flight, the main concern was Jeff Bezos’s silence for 24 hours after landing, completely out of character, leading to speculation that he might have perished.

However, this theory doesn’t hold up since the other five were all safe; if there had truly been a problem with the space capsule, none would have escaped, so why hasn’t Jeff Bezos made a statement?

Nevertheless, most people believe Jeff Bezos is unharmed, perhaps having experienced some other accident, but likely not dead.

Lin Ju wasn’t too concerned about whether Jeff Bezos was alive or dead; Blue Origin’s research capabilities didn’t impress him, and even if Bezos was dead, it would only affect Amazon, as Blue Origin had NACA backing anyway.

He was currently at the base, and without a doubt, he had fled on the first day of the conference.

Besides not wanting to hear the marketing pitches of internet big shots, another important reason was that the USBI injection provided by the system had been manufactured.

The Department of Food and Health, in fact, its main research strength came from the Human Science Group, which was formed after taking on the USBI pilot production work. They made a crazy effort to enhance their presence at the base and finally produced a qualified drug in two and a half months.

Although the effects of the USBI drug were limited, temporary, and even its safety was unknown, it was indeed the first drug system-confirmed to have a significant and long-term enhancing effect on human body functions after just one injection.

"USBI, but internally we call it the No. 304 Injection... named after the time it took to succeed in its development. Its composition isn’t very complex, but some of the raw materials are difficult to synthesize."

Xie Miao, the head of the research group, described the injection to Lin Ju as he crossed his index fingers.

"One billion, we first spent one billion to manufacture four machines that had never existed in the world, and then we bought two hundred and forty million RMB worth of consumables to produce the key raw material;

a total expenditure of 1.6 billion RMB for 43 grams of raw liquid, which equates to about 215 doses of the 200-milligram standard dose, with each injection valued at 7.4 million RMB."

Lin Ju looked at the No. 304 Injection in his hand, with metal wrapped around both ends, and the central part containing the standard dose. It appeared almost transparent in the daylight, but there seemed to be a faint blue tinge.

The 200 milligrams of raw liquid had obviously been diluted in some liquid, and the container seemed to hold about ten grams.

"Have you tested this injection on anyone?"

Xie Miao shook his head: "Our method for verifying that it’s qualified is through numerical determination... The No. 304 Injection is quite special, it can’t be simply tested in clinical trials with mice, primates would be the least required.

It doesn’t take effect simply by being injected into the body; it requires adjustment of the body’s state before injection, and strict control of diet and daily regimen as well as taking other auxiliary drugs for a month after injection to perform effectively."

Lin Ju nodded, somewhat surprised by this information but also finding it reasonable upon reflection.

Just getting an injection and doing nothing else while muscle mass rapidly increases doesn’t comply with the law of conservation of mass, so this approach seemed more reliable.

Xie Miao: "Although we haven’t conducted live trials yet, we have observed various types of human cell samples and confirmed the action mechanism of the No. 304 Injection.

The No. 304 Injection mainly targets muscle cells, blood cells, bone cells, and various other tissues. As described, it can stimulate the growth of muscle tissue under the right external conditions. The mitochondria inside cells increase in number, and it can also induce the internal fibers of bones to become denser and thicker. The direct result is that the body becomes heavier and more solid, with a varying degree of enhancement on internal organs to accommodate increased consumption.

We believe that if someone were actually to receive the No. 304 Injection, it might even make the individual grow a few centimeters taller, because it causes the bones to grow and develop again – and this effect is permanent."

Lin Ju contemplated, setting aside everything else, the permanent height increase effect alone was quite miraculous.

Countless people around the world dream of growing taller, and there are currently two technological means available: one is to inject growth hormone, but there is a chance it won’t work and instead leads to weight gain, weakened body, and internal organ abnormalities that bring on disease; the other is to cut the leg bones and fix them with steel plates, creating a small gap for the bone to secrete bone mass and lengthening the bones bit by bit through simulated post-fracture healing.

Both methods carry huge risks and long treatment periods, but the No. 304 drug is different. It takes effect quickly with fewer side effects, at least risks that the American military would accept. But this particular feature made it extremely precious.

"Then why does the No. 304 Injection only have a 1000-day effect? Since the bones and muscles have grown, it’s somewhat like fitness training. There’s no reason for it to just disappear, right?"

"That’s a very important question."

Xie Miao’s expression became serious and his voice softer.

"The direct targets of the No. 304 Injection are the brain and spinal cord."