Magic Space: Struggling to Survive in the Apocalypse

At noon, when Liam Sterling and Ronan Kendrick entered Rhys Chase’s office, he still hadn’t woken up.

Ronan Kendrick could tell from the color of his face that he had entered a devolution period. Successfully gene-edited humans were divided into two types. The first was a 100% success, with no defects, as flawless as a robot; every ten years, they could even undergo a self-evolutionary upgrade. The other type was a "passable" specimen. Although considered a success, their various stats and metrics only met the minimum passing score. After the age of thirty-five, this type of edited human would experience a one-month devolution period every year. Rhys Chase was forty-five, so he had been devolving for ten years. If his stats were at a 95 when he was thirty-five, they were now only at a 70.

Ronan Kendrick told Ryan Rowe and Liam Sterling to leave. The two hesitated for a moment before exiting the office. After the door closed, Ronan took an IV kit out of his spatial storage, drew 200cc of blood from his own arm, and began transfusing it into Rhys Chase’s arm.

When the transfusion was over, the needle mark on Ronan Kendrick’s arm had already vanished. He then took a large block of ice from his spatial storage, crushed it, and stuffed it directly into Rhys Chase’s mouth.

Half a minute later, Rhys Chase’s body temperature suddenly skyrocketed. His skin turned bright red, like a boiled shrimp, and white steam even started rising from the top of his head.

Ronan Kendrick took a coil of hemp rope from his spatial storage and bound him securely. When the time was right, he opened the office door and let Ryan Rowe and Liam Sterling back in.

When the two came in and saw Rhys Chase tied up hand and foot, they were both startled. Ryan Rowe moved to untie the ropes but was stopped by Ronan Kendrick.

"Mr. Kendrick, why did you tie Mr. Chase up?"

"He’ll wake up soon. When he does, he might lose his mind. It’s best to keep him restrained."

Steam was still curling up from Rhys Chase’s head. Ryan Rowe reached out to touch it and realized the steam was hot.

"Mr. Chase will be alright, won’t he?" Liam Sterling was still very worried about Rhys Chase’s condition. The two of them stripped off Rhys’s jacket, intending to place a cold towel on him to cool him down. Ronan Kendrick gestured to a nearby bathtub, telling them to put Rhys Chase inside it before pouring in two buckets of ice.

"He’ll wake up when all the ice has melted."

Rhys Chase’s face contorted, and pained roars escaped his lips. He tried to break free from the hemp ropes and even started ramming his head against the edge of the tub.

Ryan Rowe and Liam Sterling exchanged a look. No wonder Ronan Kendrick had tied Rhys Chase up. Right now, Rhys was like a wild beast that had lost all reason. He let out terrifying howls, his body twisting and struggling in the tub.

After ten minutes, a sour, foul odor began to emanate from Rhys Chase’s body. Liam Sterling went to check on him and discovered that his skin seemed to be shedding a layer.

"It’s not skin. It’s toxins from his body. He’ll be fine once they’re expelled."

Ronan Kendrick stuffed another handful of ice into Rhys Chase’s mouth. After this was repeated for an hour, Rhys weakly opened his eyes.

He spat out a piece of unmelted ice and stared blankly at the three men before him.

"What happened to me?"

"Mr. Chase, you’re finally awake! Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?"

Rhys Chase’s skin was quickly returning to normal, but wisps of steam were still rising from his head, which looked both strange and comical.

Liam Sterling quickly filled him in on what had happened since he passed out. "Mr. Chase, you scared us to death! You were out for almost two days and a night. Mr. Kendrick is incredible. You really did wake up as soon as he arrived."

Hearing Liam Sterling’s description, Rhys Chase instantly understood.

This month was his devolution period. In the past, during these periods, he would always wake up covered in injuries. To prevent any incidents, he would always make arrangements in advance and find a secluded place to ride it out. He never expected the devolution to start early this time. He hadn’t had a chance to prepare before he suddenly collapsed in his office. Thankfully, there were no outsiders here.

"Thank you. It’s been getting worse every year. If it weren’t for you all, I might have been unconscious for a long time, and I might have even gone insane."

"As long as you’re okay, Mr. Chase. You can’t keep working late into the night. There are so many people in the base’s management; you can’t be expected to worry about every little thing," Liam Sterling couldn’t help but lecture.

"I’m getting old. My body’s getting weaker." Rhys Chase smiled and staggered to his feet out of the water.

He asked Liam Sterling and Ryan Rowe to arrange a meeting for him. After being absent for two days, a few of the old hardliners in management were probably thinking the cat was away and the mice could play.

After Liam Sterling and Ryan Rowe left, Rhys Chase changed his clothes and returned to the office.

"Ronan Kendrick, did you give me a blood transfusion?"

Ronan Kendrick nodded. He wasn’t the type to do a good deed and not take credit for it; of course, he had to make this clear.

"The transfusion has side effects. For the next month, you’ll be extremely agitated and won’t feel any fatigue, like there’s a fire inside your body. My blood is a double-edged sword—it’s both medicine and poison."

A smile played on Rhys Chase’s lips. "It’s rare for you to say so much to me at once."

Ronan Kendrick...

"Don’t worry, I’ll remember all of it. I’ll find a balance and won’t overdraft my already short lifespan anymore." Rhys Chase poured him a cup of tea.

"After getting together with Evelyn Ford, you’ve become like a normal person in every way but physically. Especially how you’re tough on the outside but soft on the inside. You said before that you’d only give me half a bowl of blood a year."

Ronan Kendrick said flatly, "You’re still useful. You can’t die yet."

"So heartless. I’m a patient. Could you please not use the word ’die’ in front of me?"

"The more you fear death, the closer it gets. Rhys Chase, how long do you want to live?"

Rhys Chase looked at Ronan Kendrick in silence. After a long moment, he sighed. "Not too long. A few hundred years would be enough."

Ronan Kendrick... ’Even a tortoise might not live that long.’

"Your body can last until seventy, at most."

Rhys Chase let out a stifled laugh. "That’s enough out of you. Who goes around giving people a countdown to their death? Ronan Kendrick, I drank your blood. It can extend my life."

"We’re both edited humans. Our blood is difficult to integrate. For a normal human, half a bowl of blood is enough for a complete transformation. But for you, half a bowl a year can only help you maintain your appearance and extend your life by a year or two. If you want to live for several hundred years, your only hope is to achieve immortality through cultivation."

Seeing him say the words "achieve immortality through cultivation" so seriously, the corner of Rhys Chase’s mouth twitched.

"Aren’t you afraid of death? You and Evelyn Ford have a good relationship. Have you ever thought about how hard it would be for her if you died and left her all alone in this world?"

Ronan Kendrick watched Rhys Chase quietly. "You underestimate Evelyn Ford. Our relationship is very strong, but I believe she can live very well without me. She has never been a clinging vine, nor does she need to rely on others to survive. She’s not the type of person to live or die for love. If I were to lose her, I’m the one who wouldn’t be able to go on living. Besides her, there is nothing else in this world that brings me joy."

Rhys Chase felt like he was being force-fed their romance. He surrendered. He would shut up.

’Being love-struck is terrifying. It drops your IQ to negative 250.’ "Ronan Kendrick, you’ve lost the wild nature of an edited human. You’re just a tamed dog now."

Ronan Kendrick raised an eyebrow. "What’s wrong with being tamed by her?"

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