"She's about the same age as you; you should be able to get along."
Wen Xiang Yuan nodded thoughtfully. She had an impression of Zhao Xiang's daughter. She was apparently an illegitimate child brought into the Zhao family later.
Life in the Zhao family hadn't been easy for her.
However, this girl was a bit special; she was only interested in scientific research and never attended any banquets or social events. The only time Wen Xiang Yuan had seen her was when she was first brought back to the Zhao family.
She might have been only seven or eight years old then.
"I understand. I'll go see my cousin."
Wen Xiang Yuan didn't let anyone from Dingshi Group follow her. She had Lu Yue use her permissions to access Dingshi Group's monitoring system.
The system here was also provided by Saike Company, though all permissions had been sold to Dingshi Group.
This was also a project of the Dong family. They had started their business in security monitoring, and now their monitoring systems were everywhere in the Federation.
When she chose Lu Yue as her personal maid, the most important factor was that she had attended university for a while before dropping out because her family couldn't afford it.
She heard her grades were excellent and that she was a candidate trainee for Saike Company.
Wen Xiang Yuan spent most of the day at Dingshi Group before finally heading to the artificial human gene cultivation lab, where her cousin, Zhao Qiqi, was located.
Zhao Qiqi looked the same as she did when she was a child; Wen Xiang Yuan recognized her at a glance.
Thick braided pigtails hung over her chest down to her waist, and a pair of round glasses sat on her nose. She had a small, palm-sized face with delicate features, making her look somewhat dorky.
"Cousin."
Zhao Qiqi looked up from the microscope. She paused. "Miss Wen."
Her father had told her that Wen Xiang Yuan might come looking for her and instructed her to find a way to get on her good side.
In the future, she would be their benefactor.
Zhao Qiqi didn't care about benefactors; she had no material desires.
So Zhao Xiang had changed his approach: "If you want to keep doing research, you have to rely on her."
Because of this, Zhao Qiqi had specifically looked at photos of Wen Xiang Yuan. She was beautiful, the kind of person you remember after one look.
Now that Wen Xiang Yuan was right in front of her, looking even more beautiful than in the photos, Zhao Qiqi said "Miss Wen" and then didn't know what else to say.
Wen Xiang Yuan smiled. "No need to be so formal, Cousin. You can just call me by my name."
Zhao Qiqi gave an "oh" in response. "Wen Xiang Yuan."
Wen Xiang Yuan was amused. She walked over to look at what Zhao Qiqi had been examining but couldn't understand it.
The research lab was very clean, with only Zhao Qiqi and an assistant present. Wen Xiang Yuan looked a bit bored.
"Have you always been in charge of the artificial human gene project?"
Zhao Qiqi nodded. "I've been in charge for five years."
"Then what about the previous project data?"
Zhao Qiqi understood. She remembered her father mentioning that before Wen Xiang Yuan's mother died, she had sent her genes to be merged with an artificial human to watch over her daughter.
She looked at Wen Xiang Yuan with some sympathy. "Are you looking for your mother's genes?"
Wen Xiang Yuan was silent for a moment. "No, I want to understand the artificial human genes of the Scavenger Project. Your father told you, right? I'm going to start a new project."
Zhao Qiqi didn't care much. Regardless, Zhao Xiang had said she had to provide whatever Wen Xiang Yuan wanted to see.
"That's too old. Besides, the subsequent artificial humans in the Scavenger Project were all automatically generated by the program. It's a very mature system that no longer requires human supervision."
The technology was indeed very interesting. It wasn't just the first successful application of artificial human genes, but also the potential awakened abilities buried in their genes that were triggered by different environments and experiences at a certain stage of development.
It was said that the activation rate was less than one percent.
Zhao Qiqi admitted that it was this project that sparked her interest in scientific research.
But after so many years, those technologies seemed very ordinary now. They possessed more advanced technology that hadn't been applied to that project.
That project had long been forgotten. Zhao Qiqi didn't know why her cousin suddenly wanted to re-develop that old project.
"There will be exceptions in the gene development of scavengers."
Wen Xiang Yuan's words were pointed. Zhao Qiqi understood. "You mean the scavenger from over ten years ago whose awakened ability exceeded our predicted range."
Zhao Qiqi shrugged. "That was just an exception. I thought about studying it too, but the sample was destroyed, and nothing similar has happened since."
"A person."
Zhao Qiqi looked up, her eyes filled with confusion.
"What did you say?"
Wen Xiang Yuan repeated calmly, "That person was not a sample."
Zhao Qiqi thought for a moment. "True, they do count as people."
"There are exceptions."
Zhao Qiqi looked over. "Does an artificial human developing a split personality count as an exception?"
The previously numb and cold Zhao Qiqi suddenly had a bright light erupt in her eyes after hearing Wen Xiang Yuan's words. Her whole being became vibrant.
"Really?"
Wen Xiang Yuan nodded. "I discovered it while inspecting the project, but you cannot have any contact for research, and you cannot harm her. She is very important for my next project."
"If anything happens to her, you will die, and so will your father."
"If you disturb the people in the scavenger world and make them aware of our existence and research, you and everyone in the Zhao family will wish you were dead."
Wen Xiang Yuan was still smiling as she said this, looking gentle and bright, but Zhao Qiqi felt a shiver run down her spine.
She hesitated for a moment. "I wouldn't do something like that."
"Although in my research philosophy, they aren't the same as us and artificial humans aren't protected by law, I am someone who respects my research subjects. You can rest assured."
"And if what you said is true, I'll be even more careful. Otherwise, I would lose such a precious research subject."
Wen Xiang Yuan watched Zhao Qiqi for a while, then nodded. "One more thing. This research must be kept secret. Report any progress to me."
"As long as you can do that, I can satisfy whatever needs you have."
Zhao Qiqi spoke almost the next second. "I need my own research permissions."
She looked at Wen Xiang Yuan and added, "I can choose within a range, but you can't just make me do work solely for profit."
Zhao Qiqi's love for scientific research had nothing to do with money. She had too many things she wanted to study and unknowns she wanted to explore, but Zhao Xiang only used her as a cash cow, making her develop whatever was profitable.
Her life was very stifling.
"I can do that. Not only that, but I can also guarantee that the research topics I provide will definitely be of interest to you."
"As long as you are only responsible to me and complete the research topics I give you, you won't have to worry about anything else."
Zhao Qiqi let out a smile. Although it was fleeting, Wen Xiang Yuan still captured her happiness.
"I will definitely work hard."
"Now, I'll take you to the gene bank. Tell me the name of that scavenger."
"Fu Xi Ming, we've rested enough. We plan to enter the pollution zone."
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