Before them was a long, narrow corridor, segmented by transparent, brightly lit Barriers.
Miki and Orochimaru walked in. After passing through one section of the Barrier, a fine mist of water sprayed out.
This was for disinfection.
They then entered a buffer zone where the working UV lights turned off as they passed, and then turned back on, before they finally entered the sterile, Wu Chen room.
The room was filled with various display cabinets. Inside the transparent glass cabinets, various creatures floated.
Orochimaru looked at these creatures. Curiously, he didn't find any insects among them; most were common animals.
Then, Orochimaru saw floating people.
They wore Amegakure headbands, the oldest around thirty, the youngest barely ten.
This fellow...
Orochimaru looked at Miki's back.
Truly audacious...
Orochimaru couldn't help but lick his dry lips and asked, "How can eternal life be achieved?"
"There are many ways," Miki said. "Most are biological forms of eternal life."
"How so?" Orochimaru asked.
"Disease is one of the obstacles to eternal life," Miki said. "Individuals who don't get sick clearly live longer than those who do."
"So, eliminate disease?" Orochimaru said. "What about aging?"
"Aging isn't urgent; problems must be solved one by one," Miki said. "Otherwise, even if aging is solved, disease can still take a life."
"You're right," Orochimaru said. "A strong physique can effectively combat disease."
Miki glanced at Orochimaru, pointing to a creature in one of the cabinets and saying, "Do you know how amazing it is?"
Orochimaru looked over; it was a bat.
"Books say it can use sound for echolocation to navigate its environment and hunt prey."
"Do you think its physique is strong?" Miki asked.
Orochimaru shook his head and said, "A fragile life."
"Bats can carry dozens of deadly viruses, viruses that could easily cost you your life."
Miki chuckled softly.
Orochimaru understood Miki's meaning: disease and a strong physique are not necessarily related.
"Carrying so many viruses, it doesn't die itself?" Orochimaru asked.
"Bats have super immunity. This immunity means they are almost unaffected by viruses," Miki said.
Orochimaru said, "Amazing... Does enhanced immunity increase lifespan?"
"It's not about enhancing immunity," Miki said. "It's about changing immunity. Bats have an immune regulation system different from humans. This system can tolerate viruses and suppress inflammation. When the human immune system is activated, it triggers inflammation, and inflammation can cause various diseases, including cancer."
"Simply put, it's the ability to control inflammation."
Orochimaru looked thoughtful.
"So, what we need to do is..." Orochimaru said, "transplant this ability into ourselves?"
"What do you think gene transplantation is?" Miki said. "Unscrewing one screw and replacing it with another?"
"..." Orochimaru said, "Isn't that how it's done?"
"What if what you replace it with isn't a screw?" Miki said.
First, one must confirm whether it's the part they want.
But with so many genes, how can one confirm?
"So, how is it done?" Orochimaru asked. Since this person brought it up, there must be a solution.
"The foundation of genetic engineering," Miki said. "Gene mapping."
Miki looked at Orochimaru expectantly.
She was truly looking forward to it.
Because this job was back-breaking labor, not fit for a human.
According to Miki's optimistic estimate, Orochimaru wouldn't be able to do anything else for at least five to ten years; he'd be stuck with this job.
And the eternal life Orochimaru would research in the future wasn't biological eternal life. While he was still young, she'd trick him into working.
"The secret to eternal life lies within," Miki said calmly, holding her emotions in check. "Super immunity transplantation is just one simple application."
Orochimaru looked at Miki with eyes full of a thirst for knowledge.
"In nature, the larger the creature, the longer its lifespan."
"Mice live for only two years, while bowhead whales live for over two hundred."
"Living creatures consume energy, and consuming energy requires metabolism. Metabolism produces metabolic waste, which causes wear and tear on the body's genes, leading to aging and cancer."
"Large body size means slow metabolism, naturally less wear and tear, and thus a longer lifespan. Turtles are a typical example of longevity."
Orochimaru's eyes lit up, and he said, "Control metabolism?"
"It's not that simple," Miki said. "Bats are an exception; flying is a very energy-intensive way of life, so their metabolic rate is particularly fast."
"They have developed super gene repair capabilities, allowing their somatic cells to divide far more times than the limit for typical animals."
"Therefore, they don't have to worry about metabolic waste or the number of cell renewals."
"They hardly ever get cancer. Mice of the same size only live for two years, while bats often live for over ten."
"If humans possessed this gene repair ability..." Miki said, "wouldn't that be eternal life?"
"And what if the limit on cell division was removed, allowing them to divide infinitely?"
"That would be true biological eternal life."
Orochimaru was somewhat agitated, his usually stoic face flushed with excitement.
"And gene mapping is the foundation of all these genetic engineering endeavors," Miki said. "Just as the human anatomy map is significant to medicine, the gene map is the biological anatomy map at a microscopic level."
Anatomy, huh...
"I can do that, anatomy maps," Orochimaru said.
Although it's called an anatomy map, it's not quite an anatomy map.
The scale of the two is different.
The traits of living organisms vary greatly, and the genes that determine these traits number in the tens of thousands.
A gene map, so-called, is 3.1 billion 'letters'.
A giant dictionary.
Just copying the map isn't enough; one has to understand this dictionary.
To understand it means, first, that a sequence of A.T.G.C combinations represents a gene, and second, what behavior this gene determines in an organism.
It sounds simple, doesn't it?
But it's an enormous amount of work.
There isn't just one such dictionary; humans have theirs, and other organisms have theirs too.
Although genes share some overlap, they are definitely not the same.
A massive undertaking.
To give an analogy, this method is like measuring the entire Ninja World on foot, marking every peak and valley along the way, which is clumsy and slow.
But it's precise!
And this project signifies coveting the power of a god.
"Speaking of which..." Miki said calmly, "Bloodline Limits are etched in genes. Through gene mapping comparison, we can find and extract these genes. Do you know what that means?"
"Splendid..." Orochimaru extended his long tongue.
Of course, things weren't that simple, but Miki needed gene mapping to precisely capture a specific gene, rather than just relying on luck as she did now.
To figure out what could be created, one could only rely on chance.
This would greatly improve Miki's genetic engineering efficiency.
"Orochimaru, I'm entrusting this to you."
"Don't worry, leave it to me," Orochimaru said calmly, his eyes full of interest and confidence.
So young...
Miki clapped her hands in celebration.
Yay! She was free from hellish work!
Go, Orochimaru!
What eternal life? Miki only wanted the gene map.
Orochimaru clapped along.
He was very happy now.
Happily clapping his hands, his cold face couldn't maintain its composure.
His mouth stretched into a grin; he couldn't stop smiling.
Before, he had always explored blindly in the darkness alone, but now there was light ahead.
It was the light of hope in the darkness.
Miki glowed in Orochimaru's eyes.
And Miki looked at Orochimaru.
Since this fellow didn't mention salary, she'd just pretend it never happened.
Hmm.
Miki nodded approvingly at Orochimaru.
Orochimaru is a good person!
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