Homo Sapiens

Time passed in a flash.

It was May 22nd. In the departure lounge of Jiangcheng International Airport, Li Qingye wheeled his suitcase, following his mentor and two other classmates.

Seeing Li Qingye’s increasingly haggard expression, his mentor sighed inwardly, hoping the young man could find a way to pull through on his own.

But Li Qingye, hidden behind a pair of sunglasses, only appeared dejected. In reality, he was secretly observing his surroundings.

In the week since his genetic modification was complete, he had been studying his body and familiarizing himself with his new abilities.

After some research, he’d discovered a previously overlooked feature: the ability to activate and deactivate some of his genetic powers.

For example, if his super-sensory ability was always active, the impact on his daily life would be overwhelming.

In this state, his hearing was enhanced by a factor of about 3.7, and he could even perceive a narrow band of ultrasonic frequencies.

His sense of taste was amplified by a factor of 14, and his sense of smell by a staggering 45.

In other words, if his super senses were always on, things that smelled perfectly pleasant to a normal person, or even the slightest sound, could cause him extreme discomfort.

Fortunately, through some trial and error, Li Qingye found a way to control these super senses. He established a sensory information filtering mechanism based on his Memory Palace ability.

Senses like taste are, in essence, a product of sensory receptor cells, neurons, and brain cells.

While Li Qingye couldn’t alter his brain cells or sensory receptor cells, he could intercept the information sensory cells transmitted to his brain.

It was the equivalent of the body being injured but the brain receiving no injury signal, thus creating the illusion of being unharmed.

Li Qingye adapted this model to limit his super senses, allowing his brain to receive a normal level of sensory information.

And since he could limit them, he could naturally reactivate them at will.

Right now, Li Qingye had activated his super-hearing, carefully listening in on the passengers around him.

...

Over twenty meters away from Li Qingye’s group, two young men in their twenties stared nonchalantly at the flight information board.

POP! A bubble of gum burst. One of the men, a blond with an ear stud known as Golden Hair, feigned a casual glance to his left.

”Ah Hu, we’re just going to watch?”

The other man, Ah Hu, who had narrow, smiling eyes, took a sip of his Coke. ”Just watch,” he whispered with a grin. ”As long as we don’t lose him, we’re good.”

”Hmph, what a pain,” Golden Hair grumbled, continuing to chew his gum.

Neither of them noticed that Li Qingye, over twenty meters away, had heard every single word of their hushed conversation.

’Those two have been lingering around ever since I left the lab,’ Li Qingye thought to himself.

Although Golden Hair and Ah Hu had changed their disguises multiple times and never came within ten meters of him, they clearly didn’t know that to Li Qingye’s super senses, a person’s scent was unmistakably clear.

Especially since his eyes had become red-green colorblind, he had started consciously using scent to identify targets in his daily life.

No matter how Golden Hair and Ah Hu changed their appearance, their personal scents were difficult to alter—a fact most people overlook.

A flicker of icy killing intent flashed in Li Qingye’s eyes, hidden behind his sunglasses.

Despite his seemingly gentle demeanor, messy hair, and stubble, which made him look like a feeble scholar who couldn’t even truss a chicken...

...in reality, he was now a stone-cold killer with a wealth of experience.

This skill and experience weren’t his own, but his grandfather’s, Li Shengli’s.

The ancestral memory ability had two modes. One was a ”third-person mode,” which was like watching a movie. The other was a ”first-person mode,” which produced an immersive, firsthand experience. Of course, this mode had a side effect: the first-person memories would influence his personality.

His grandfather, Li Shengli, had been a scout who fought in the Yangtze River Crossing Campaign and the Korean War, and he had killed his fair share of enemies.

Li Qingye had chosen to experience a portion of his grandfather’s memories in the immersive first-person mode, instantly gaining skills like ”Firearms Mastery,” ”Melee Combat,” ”Wilderness Survival,” ”Battlefield Triage,” ”Hand-to-Hand Combat,” ”Trap Setting,” ”Reconnaissance and Analysis,” ”Cartography,” ”Code Proficiency,” ”Camouflage,” ”Vehicle Operation,” ”Swimming,” ”Demining,” ”Explosives Handling,” and ”Iron Will.”

There was now little difference between him and a battle-hardened veteran.

Golden Hair and Ah Hu showed signs of special-ops training, but in a true life-or-death fight, the ruthlessness forged on a real battlefield was something no training camp could replicate.

Li Qingye was fairly certain who had sent the two men to watch him.

[Attention passengers, the flight from Jiangcheng to San Francisco will be departing in one hour. Please proceed...]

The announcement echoed through the departure lounge as the flight information scrolled across the main screen.

One of the students said to their advisor, ”Professor, it’s time to board.”

”Alright, let’s go,” the mentor said, wheeling his suitcase toward the boarding gate.

Li Qingye followed him.

Golden Hair and Ah Hu, who had also purchased tickets for the flight, nonchalantly wheeled their own suitcases toward the gate.

For Li Qingye, the decision to go abroad was an enormous risk.

Domestically, their hands were tied. And with the recent upheaval at Xinxin Group drawing so much attention, his enemies wouldn’t dare make a move against him inside the country—at least, not for a while.

But time would eventually erase all memory of the event.

The rules of the game at home restricted Du Shuping and his cronies, but they also restricted Li Qingye. And under those same rules, the other side’s resources, manpower, and connections could easily crush him.

Thus, going abroad was the key to breaking the deadlock. Staying meant certain death, while leaving offered a one-in-ten chance of survival.

For that sliver of hope, Li Qingye was willing to take the risk.

Inside the cabin.

After stowing his suitcase, he leaned back in his seat. He appeared to be resting with his eyes closed, but in reality, he was listening for any sound from Golden Hair and Ah Hu.

They were seated four rows behind him and weren’t doing anything out of the ordinary, acting just like regular passengers.

”Ladies and gentlemen, please switch your mobile phones and other electronic devices...” a flight attendant announced over the intercom, reciting the pre-flight safety instructions.

Meanwhile, his two classmates were discussing their trip to America with their advisor.

One of them, a young man with glasses and an acne-covered face named Lin Yulong, was a chatterbox disguised as a shy introvert. He had been talking non-stop from the moment they met up until they boarded the plane.

Li Qingye’s advisor, a gaunt middle-aged man, was named Iron Holly.

The other student was a young man with a crew cut and sharp, phoenix eyes named Tian Nanxing.

Listening to Lin Yulong’s incessant chatter, Tian Nanxing seemed to grow impatient. He stood up and said to Li Qingye, who was next to him, ”I’m going to the restroom.”

Li Qingye lifted his legs to let Tian Nanxing pass.

As he went back to resting with his eyes closed, Li Qingye’s body suddenly tensed for a moment before relaxing again.

As Tian Nanxing walked toward the restroom, he passed by Golden Hair and Ah Hu’s seats. Right after he passed, Ah Hu also stood up and headed for the restroom.

Li Qingye instantly focused his senses, locking his hearing onto the lavatory.

Two sets of breathing, the sound of a door closing...