"… Makes sense."
Su Lun smiled. "Since you were the one who defeated me, if possible, I would like to die in your hands. I believe that you'll definitely give me a quick death.
"Unfortunately, I've already told you everything I know. There's nothing else I can tell you in exchange for my death."
"Don't be hasty. I believe that you don't know where the Vortex is, but as long as you answer my questions honestly, you might be able to help me figure out its thoughts and actions so that I can determine its next move," Meng Chao said.
"I'd like to know just how the Vortex convinced you to betray humans and join the monster civilization.
"It doesn't seem to have hypnotized you, and it didn't use any physical methods to modify your brain. As the vice gang leader of Golden Tooth and the God of Wealth of the Lair, you don't seem to be unlucky. Besides, ever since Dragon City obtained a huge victory in the northern offense, its situation has become even better.
"I just can't think of any reason why a smart person like you would betray everything and take such a risk."
"Reason …" Su Lun nodded.
He thought about it for a long time before he said, "Money, power, strength, and status. It's just these things. There's nothing special about it."
Meng Chao frowned. "Are you willing to join the alien race and kill your own people because of these things?"
"Isn't that enough?"
Su Lun smiled. "In the near ten thousand years of human civilization on Earth, at least 99% of the wars started because of these reasons. Countless of the smartest, bravest, and strongest people raised their weapons against their own people for money and power. They killed so many people that their blood flowed like rivers.
"The victors became heroes and emperors.
"The losers became butchers and demons.
"I'm just an insignificant mortal. Since ancient times, so many heroes and demons couldn't resist the temptation, so how could I?"
When he saw the puzzled look on Meng Chao's face, Su Lun moved the chains with difficulty and spread his arms.
"Alright, if I have to add another reason, it should be … revenge, right?"
He smiled in a rather strange manner and lowered his head. He used his blood-dyed hair and eyebrows to hide his expression and mumbled, "Hatred. Only hatred is a better reason than money, power, and strength."
"Revenge?"
Meng Chao frowned a little. "Who are you taking revenge on?"
"Take revenge on Heaven Pharmaceuticals, one of the nine mega corporations in Dragon City."
"The nine great mega corporations are all interest groups working together. If you take revenge on one of them, it's the same as declaring war on all of them. Tell me, aside from the monster civilization, who else can help me overthrow the nine great mega corporations?"
Meng Chao was stunned for a long time before he asked, "Just what sort of irreconcilable grudge do you have against Heaven Pharmaceuticals? Why are you using the monster civilization's power for revenge?"
"Does the death of one's father count as' absolutely irreconcilable '?"
Su Lun stared at Meng Chao deeply, as if he wanted to vent all his resentment before he died. He began to talk nonstop.
In fact, there was nothing special about it.
It was nothing more than a story that happened every day in the business world, where the strong preyed on the weak and the losers were in the wrong.
Su Lun said that he was born in a pretty good family. His father was a rather famous hunter, but his mother was an expert in life sciences. She specialized in researching how to refine monster materials into gene medicine that could stimulate the human body's potential.
That was during the early stages of the Monster War. There were plenty of heroes, and there were plenty of things waiting to be done.
Even though the living conditions of the transmigrators were still pretty bad, the light of victory had already appeared on the fog-shrouded horizon. The continuous birth and evolution of runic symbol machines, gene medicine, and spirit energy martial arts gave countless heroes the chance to leap over the dragon gate and soar to the top.
To ambitious young people with amazing skills, that was the best era.
Su Lun's parents were the lucky ones of that era.
They used their courage and intelligence to continue riding the waves and accumulating strength and wealth.
By the time Su Lun became sensible, his parents had already opened a rather large pharmaceutical factory and created a few rather successful gene medicine.
Concocting genetic medicine was the most profitable business of that era.
In that era, when humans opened their eyes, they had to fight against monsters on the streets. Any gene medicine that could increase their fighting strength by a large margin could be exchanged for unimaginable profits.
And since the death rate of humans was high, no one cared about the side effects and sequelae of gene medicine.
If they took the gene medicine, they would die tomorrow. If they did not take the gene medicine, they would die now. This was the simplest choice.
Unfortunately, to pharmacists, the period of wild growth that was as dazzling as fireworks was too short.
As humans continued to reclaim their lost land, the death rate rapidly decreased, and everyone's lives became valuable again.
In just a few years, hundreds of flowers bloomed, and more than one thousand gene medicines were released in one go, causing the entire market to fall into an incredibly cruel competition.
What was even more terrifying was that the nine great mega corporations began to push into the fierce competition in the Red Sea. They used their capital and power to reap the harvest like a whirlwind.
This was an asymmetrical war that crushed all the other mega corporations.
The mega corporations had a lot of capital, and they could take over small and medium-sized pharmaceutical factories without any scruples.
They could also withstand the super long research and development cycle that required them to burn endless money to create gene medicine with stronger effects and more stable properties.
They also had enough strength to carry out carpet bombing advertising campaigns and make their shining brands deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
The small and medium-sized pharmaceutical factories that were developed from family workshops and grassroots groups were simply unable to fight against the mega corporations.
Quite a number of owners of the small and medium-sized pharmaceutical factories chose to accept the olive branches thrown by the mega corporations and become part of them.
But there were also a handful of stubborn pharmacists who could not bear to part with their brands and research results. Some of them did not like the style of the mega corporations, so they refused to accept the proposal to take over them and continued to compete with the mega corporations in the market.
Su Lun's parents were the latter.
His mother had a unique way of thinking in the field of life sciences. She wanted to maintain her independence, so she refused to take over Heaven Pharmaceuticals, the giant in the gene medicine field, time and time again.
However, as Heaven Pharmaceuticals continued to expand, the citizens became more used to choosing gene medicine produced by the big brands, and the living conditions of the small and medium-sized pharmaceutical factories became worse.
As the small and medium-sized pharmaceutical factories around them were either taken over or closed down, Su Lun's family's pharmaceutical factory also ran into difficulties in its business.
If they wanted to break Heaven Pharmaceuticals' monopoly, they had to come up with a product that was stronger than their competitors'.
Su Lun's parents placed all their hopes on a brand new gene medicine.
Not only did they spend more than ten years accumulating it and their lives on it, but they also spent a lot of money on it.
They even went to the underground finance companies in the lair to get a large sum of money for research and development.
For three years, Su Lun's parents were like torches that were full of gasoline. They kept burning themselves up and practically did not sleep or rest. Finally, they saw a ray of light.
A brand new gene medicine that could stimulate the mitochondria and increase the efficiency of energy conversion and release was about to be born. It was at least 30% more effective than other products of the same type.
Even now, Su Lun still remembered that during those years, his parents seemed to have turned into wandering ghosts, and he rarely saw them.
Even when he did see them, their skin was pale and they looked withered. They looked like they had just crawled out of their coffins and were about to crawl back in.
Only on the day the experiment of the new gene medicine was completed did they look like they had come back to life. They painted their faces with oil paint and were extremely excited.
But …
Just when Su Lun's parents were about to complete all the tests and bring the new gene medicine to the Supernatural Tower to be registered, a shocking piece of news came from the market.
The super gene medicine developed by Heaven Pharmaceuticals, Heaven No.9, had been released!
Based on Su Lun's words, Heaven No.9 had the same molecular structure and ratio of monster materials as the new gene medicine his parents developed. The principles behind how it worked on human cells were also similar. Even the spirit energy magnetic fields it stirred up had similar ripples.
But compared to the gene medicine his parents developed, Heaven Pharmaceuticals' product was more mature and stable. Not only were the side effects and sequelae greatly reduced, they also added a series of expensive materials that made it look even better. In one go, they released more than ten versions of the gene medicine, including the youth version and the ultimate version.
Besides, there was a grand launch and a crazy amount of advertising, so Heaven No.9 soon occupied half of the market and became Heaven Pharmaceuticals' flagship product.
Then, they kept updating it, and to this day, it was still selling like hotcakes and making a lot of money.
"That's …"
When Meng Chao heard this, he could not help but ask, "Are you trying to say that Heaven Pharmaceuticals' flagship product, Heaven No.9, was stolen from your parents' pharmaceutical factory?"
Heaven No.9 was a rather famous and popular gene medicine.
It was most suitable for one-star to three-star Earth Realm superhumans.
Regardless of whether it was cultivation or actual fights, it could stimulate the cells, expand the spirit meridians, increase the spirit pressure, and increase the fighting strength by a large margin.
Even Meng Chao often drank Heaven No.9 as if it was Coke when he had nothing to do.
He did not expect that there would be such a story behind Heaven No.9.
"That's right. Heaven No.9 was stolen from my family!"
Su Lun's eyes were bloodshot. He gritted his teeth and said, "Before Heaven No.9 was released, Heaven Pharmaceuticals' medicine creation style was completely different from mine. This is also one of the important reasons why my mother never accepted being taken over by them.
"But the refinement principle behind Heaven No.9 and the method to increase spirit energy miraculously matched my mother's train of thought. Any expert would be able to tell at one glance that it was my family's style!
"Besides, after the incident, my parents investigated carefully, and they found signs of an invasion in the equipment and database in their lab.
"But before they could investigate further, a mysterious fire broke out in the lab.
"As for the two pharmacists who were in critical positions and whom my parents regarded as their right-hand men, they chose to resign and disappear at this critical juncture. Half a year later, when the dust settled and they showed up again, they had already joined Heaven Pharmaceuticals!"
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