I Can Control Resources

Naturally, Wu Qingjing didn’t believe him.

But Gao Neng had spoken with such certainty. Moreover, the tissue cells in the cultivation chamber were all telling him that Gao Neng wasn’t joking when he said he could create a genetic weapon in seven days.

"Fine. I’ll give you ten days!"

...

The next day, Wu Qingjing arrived at the genetic weapon laboratory bright and early.

He was even earlier than Gao Neng.

He got there at 7:30 a.m.

He wanted to see with his own eyes what method Gao Neng would possibly use to complete the creation of a genetic weapon in the next seven days.

Eight o’clock.

Gao Neng clocked in right on time.

For the entire day, Gao Neng and Wu Qingjing stayed in the laboratory. The two were inseparable, stuck together like a newlywed couple.

Of course, there was a third wheel in their midst: Lan Ruohua, who watched on with a frosty gaze.

In fact, Lan Ruohua was furious!

She even felt like cursing someone out!

’You’re the esteemed Speaker of the Federation Supreme Council! Instead of doing your council work, you come running to the genetic weapon lab to steal my job and read out data?’

’The nerve!’

’And you used your authority as team leader to snatch it away!’

’If you’re here to read out data... then what am I supposed to do?’

Lan Ruohua was so angry she couldn’t stomach a single bite of food all day.

And word of all this, naturally, reached Liang Qi’s ears.

Originally, Liang Qi had thought that after Wu Qingjing’s visit, Gao Neng would immediately head into the Underground City and stop putting on an act in the laboratory.

But what was the result?

Gao Neng hadn’t left.

Instead, Wu Qingjing had gone in?

’What the hell!’

Liang Qi felt as if his intelligence was being insulted. ’Do you two really think I’ll believe you’re actually conducting an experiment just because of this?’

’How naive!’

Time passed quickly.

The third day was more of the same.

Just like the day before, Wu Qingjing arrived early to wait for Gao Neng. He then happily stole Lan Ruohua’s job again, reading out data for Gao Neng from the sidelines.

And so, Lan Ruohua just kept huffing and puffing on the side.

Eventually, Lan Ruohua began to pace around the lab, muttering as she went, "You old fossil, don’t think I’m afraid of you just because you’re the Speaker! I, Lan Ruohua, am a lone wolf, dedicated to my research, unconcerned with worldly affairs. Now that I’ve finally found someone I’m interested in, how can I let some decrepit old man snatch him away?"

The story of this love triangle between Lan Ruohua, Wu Qingjing, and Gao Neng quickly made the rounds throughout the entire laboratory.

All the researchers started avoiding Lan Ruohua.

They were afraid of getting caught in the line of fire.

Unsurprisingly, this news also reached Liang Qi’s ears.

’A love triangle? Wu Qingjing stole Lan Ruohua’s job? And he’s been acting as Gao Neng’s assistant for two days straight? What... what on earth is going on?’ Liang Qi’s mind was reeling once again.

He wanted to go to the laboratory to see for himself, but with Wu Qingjing there, he simply couldn’t find an opportunity.

After all, Wu Qingjing had been guarding against him recently as if he were a stray dog.

He wouldn’t let him get anywhere near.

Liang Qi was on pins and needles.

His mind raced with possibilities.

’For example, is Gao Neng really learning how to create genetic weapons from Wu Qingjing? But if he’s the student, why is Wu Qingjing the one reading out the data?’

’It makes no sense!’

’But if that’s not it, then what are they doing?’

’What kind of act is this?’

Liang Qi was filled with curiosity, but he quickly realized that as a competent strategist, he shouldn’t indulge such feelings.

The more curious he became, the more likely he was to lose his composure.

’This is most likely a trap!’

Although he had no idea what kind of trick Wu Qingjing and Gao Neng were pulling, he knew that in a situation like this, the best course of action was to wait and see, meeting all their moves with inaction.

And so, more time passed.

The fourth day, then the fifth.

By now, Wu Qingjing naturally understood the method Gao Neng was using.

In fact, by the third day, he had already figured it out. Gao Neng was using a "multi-tasking" approach that looked just like playing a video game.

The principle was simple.

It involved extracting all the tissue cells at once, then arranging a precise timetable according to the different cultivation cycles of each cell type.

It sounded simple.

And the specialized knowledge involved wasn’t actually that extensive.

It was nothing more than mastering the cell cultivation cycles. For example, if Cell A’s cycle was 36 hours and Cell B’s was 31 hours, then to create a composite of the two, you would simply start cultivating Cell A five hours in advance.

Simple, right?

But putting it into practice was another matter entirely.

The cultivation of Cell A could fail. In that case, even if Cell B’s cultivation was successful, completing the synthesis would be impossible.

On top of that, Cell A’s cultivation cycle could also be prolonged.

After all, even in a successful run, minor issues could arise during the process. For example, if one step went slightly wrong, the 36-hour cycle could easily become 37 hours.

It wasn’t that other people didn’t know this method.

But what good was knowing it if you couldn’t use it?

No one would ever actually do it.

But Gao Neng did.

Moreover, Gao Neng was juggling far more "threads." He was basically cultivating numerous cell types—A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and so on—all at the same time, with the cultivation time for each one calculated with pinpoint accuracy.

And what did that mean?

It meant that every single one of Gao Neng’s tissue cell cultivations was a success.

And it wasn’t just that they succeeded.

It was that the entire process was executed without a single error, without a single moment of delay. Not one cell’s cultivation time was extended.

It was under these exact conditions that...

...Gao Neng had managed to crazily shorten the experiment’s duration again and again.

He took what would have been three months, or even half a year, of research time and compressed it into half a month.

And now, with two days left of the seven-day deadline Gao Neng had set, laid out before Wu Qingjing were the readouts: Heart Cultivation: 93%. Muscle Cultivation: 93%. Blood Cultivation: 93%. Bone Cultivation: 93%...

Wu Qingjing was utterly stunned.

This could no longer be called a genetic weapon experiment.

This was art!

Flawless, perfect art!

By this point, Wu Qingjing’s initial disbelief had transformed into eager anticipation. He was waiting for Gao Neng to create a miracle in the field of genetic weapon experimentation.

’Two days left! Can he really do it?!’ Wu Qingjing’s heart pounded with excitement. All other thoughts had vanished from his mind. He only wanted to witness this magnificent achievement alongside Gao Neng.

’Fifteen days!’

’To create a genetic weapon!’

...

「Two days later.」

The weather was bright and sunny, a rare occurrence now that winter had arrived.

Liang Qi received a notice first thing in the morning.

A meeting at the genetic laboratory.

This surprised Liang Qi. He remembered that Wu Qingjing and Gao Neng had only been in the genetic laboratory for a total of fifteen days. What was the point of calling a meeting now?

Liang Qi couldn’t guess the reason. However, he had some understanding of Wu Qingjing’s personality. He was an extremely stubborn man, but he would never cause a fuss for no reason.

’Are they finally going to show their true colors?’ With this suspicion in mind, Liang Qi brought an assistant and arrived early at the genetic laboratory.

Lan Ruohua was the one who received him.

Since Wu Qingjing had snatched away her data-reading duties, she had been forced to swallow her pride and take on reception work.

"Councillor Liang!" Lan Ruohua’s tone was stiff. It was clear she was in a foul mood, to put it mildly.

"You don’t seem to be in a good mood, Ruo Hua?" Liang Qi and Lan Ruohua had attended the same university, so they were considered classmates.

"Would you be in a good mood if your man was stolen? That old fossil, Wu Qingjing, hmph!" Lan Ruohua shot back irritably.

"..." Liang Qi was speechless.

Only Lan Ruohua would dare to say such a thing. Who else in the Federation would dare to publicly call the Speaker of the Federation Council an "old fossil"?

However, it was precisely because of this personality that Liang Qi knew Lan Ruohua could never hold any official position in the Federation Government.

She posed no political threat, so their relationship was relatively straightforward. They could chat without any pressure.

"Follow me. We’ll wait outside the demonstration hall." Seeing that Liang Qi wasn’t talking, Lan Ruohua added this casually before turning and walking toward the hall.

"The demonstration hall? I thought we were having a meeting," Liang Qi said, not quite understanding.

"We are. The meeting is *in* the demonstration hall," Lan Ruohua replied impatiently. "Didn’t Wu Qingjing tell you? The genetic weapon Gao Neng created is having its internal demonstration today."

"A genetic weapon? A demonstration? What kind of genetic weapon?" Liang Qi was even more baffled. ’What could Gao Neng possibly demonstrate after a mere fifteen days?’

"What do you think?!" Lan Ruohua snapped, and with that, she ignored Liang Qi completely.

The assistant behind Liang Qi moved to stop her.

But Liang Qi waved his hand. He wasn’t about to pull rank as a councillor in front of Lan Ruohua. Besides, he knew it would be useless even if he tried.

That was just Lan Ruohua’s personality.

She was completely dedicated to her research.

As for anything else, she couldn’t care less.

So what if he was a councillor?

She even dared to curse out the Speaker!

The three of them walked toward the area outside the demonstration hall.

When they arrived at the seating area outside the demonstration hall, Liang Qi realized that it wasn’t just him. Every single researcher from the genetic laboratory was present.

It was an internal demonstration, with no reporters present.

But it was, by all means, an official event.

Normally, a meeting like this would only be held after an experiment had been declared a success and recognized by everyone involved.

’But the problem is, what the hell could you possibly succeed at in just fifteen days?’

Liang Qi’s mind was filled with questions, but he sat down nonetheless. Someone then came and poured him a cup of tea.

Just then, Wu Qingjing appeared.

His face was glowing with excitement.

The difference was, he emerged from within the laboratory itself. Upon appearing, he immediately walked over to Liang Qi.

"Teacher!" Liang Qi immediately shot to his feet.

"Ah, Liang Qi, let me ask you a common-sense question. How long would you say it takes, at a minimum, for a genetic weapon to go from research and development to final success?" Unlike Lan Ruohua, Wu Qingjing was in a fantastic mood.

"Hmph!" Lan Ruohua snorted from the side.

Liang Qi looked at Wu Qingjing, momentarily confused as to why he would suddenly be in the mood to ask such a simple question.

Nevertheless, he gave it some serious thought.

"Assuming we don’t account for various external factors and have sufficient research personnel, taking the simplest Tier One genetic weapon as an example... from initial development through experimentation to success, it should require a minimum of three months and five days." Liang Qi’s answer was very detailed, showing he was performing a professional calculation in his head.

"So, about three months, then?"

"Yes," Liang Qi nodded.

"And what about a Tier Seven?" Wu Qingjing asked again.

"Tier Seven? That’s much harder to calculate specifically, but I’d imagine... at least seven to eight months. After all, even replicating an existing Tier Seven Genetic Weapon takes about four months!"

"So, creating a Tier Seven Genetic Weapon in half a month is impossible, correct?" Wu Qingjing continued, his expression thoughtful.

"Of course it’s impossible," Liang Qi stated with certainty.

"Mm. It seems that over the past few years, you’ve really been focusing all your energy on the Council. Your expertise in your professional field has regressed quite a bit," Wu Qingjing said, finally shaking his head.

"Regressed quite a bit?" Liang Qi’s brow furrowed. Normally, he wouldn’t argue with Wu Qingjing in a public setting, but his words today were just too blunt.