"Exploring the Limits of Genetic Engineering," The Future of Genetic Diversity: Implications and Challenges," "The Path of Genetic Medicine," "Discovery of the Gene Core," and "The Correlation Between Genes and Energy Lifeforms."
In the past five years, with non-stop research and unrestrained funding, Dr. Wang Wei has changed people's understanding of the genome. His discoveries in Gene Medicine have reduced the threshold to becoming a Genetic Warrior, thus pushing the planet into a new era of fast evolution.
Unfortunately, such a genius, considered a gift to humanity, does not have long in this mortal world. Maybe, god or the Heavens envied his talent and cursed him with such a disease.
Wang Wei wiped out the blood from the corner of his mouth with a tissue.
"Dr. Wang Wei, are you alright?" asked one of the lab assistants.
"I'm fine," replied Wang Wei, his complexion paler than a ghost. While looking at the result on the computer, he took a bunch of pills from his desk and swallowed them.
He coughed again, but a bit dry compared to his previous wheezing. His phone suddenly rang, and he frowned when he saw who it was.
"Xiao Wei! *Crying*. Y-Your father…*Crying*."
"What's wrong with father?" he hurriedly asked.
"Your father…*Crying*."
"Calm down, take a deep breath, and tell what happened. I promise everything will be alright."
"...Your father is missing."
"What do you mean he's missing?"
"He went deep into the Prehistoric Continent since he heard there was a flower that could cure your disease. However, a Fourth Level Creature appeared in the same location he headed, and no one has heard of him since then."
Wang Wei became quiet. One of the main reasons for all his success is the odd things his father brought back from that hell of a place. And as he learned of its mystery, a part of him believed that there might really be something from that place that could cure his condition.
But now, his hope was gone, and he might have lost his father in the process.
"Alright. I'm taking a plane home."
Wang Wei stood up from his chair, prepared to tell his assistant to get his private jet ready. Unfortunately, before opening his mouth, he suddenly felt light-headed, and everything went black.
When he opened his eyes, he was attached to a bunch of machines, and someone was resting next to his bed.
"Xiao Wei, you're awake," cried Yu Yan after hearing the sounds of the machines. She hurriedly called the doctor.
"What happened to me?" asked Wang Wei, still dazed and groggy; it was a terrible feeling since he felt his mind was not in the right place, no matter how hard he tried.
"I'm sorry, Profession Wang," said the doctor. "Your gene collapse has accelerated."
"Is this why I cannot feel my legs?" The doctor nodded.
"H-How long do I have?"
"2, maybe, 3 years." Yu Yan could not control her tears.
'So, I was not guaranteed to live to 35. I just won't live past that,' thought Wang Wei. He never forgot that dream that foretold his death. He looked at his mother, and he could not recognize her. And it was not because he rarely went home in the past 8 years.
But also because the woman before him was not the mother she knew. She was thin, her skin was dull, and she had heavy bags as she had never slept a wink for years. The most significant difference was her eyes; they were listless, full of sadness and despair.
"Get me my phone," said Wang Wei. He did not waste time using all his contacts to ask people for help to find his father. He offered many of his cutting-edge research–especially the gene medicines that Genetic Warriors sought after–as a prize for anyone who could find his father.
After doing all this in front of his mother, he finally looked at his medical records.
'I have no hope.' That's the conclusion Wang Wei came up with. His fate was sealed, and there was nothing he could do about it. So, he decided to spend the rest of his life with his mother. He left home when he was sixteen and rarely interacted with his family.
And in his final moment, he decided to change that fact.
Sadly, Wang Wei soon regretted that decision. As his mother watched him rapidly die before her, and with his father's disappearance, Yu Yan was simply inconsolable.
Many times, Wang Wei wanted to end his existence in this mortal coil. At the very least, he can go on his own terms or have some control over his fate. But he never dared to do as he feared his mother would follow him.
So, two years and three months later, he died in the hospital bed. And the world mourned the passing of such a brilliant mind.
"Where am I?" muttered Wang Wei as he stood up, looking at all the chairs and students next to him. He looked at his youthful and powerful hand, feeling his healthy body.
"Big brother, are you alright?" asked Fatty Jun. "You better stop sleeping before the teacher arrives."
Wang Wei mindlessly nodded before sitting back in his seat, processing everything that had happened to him.
'Am I stuck in some sort of loop? Or was it just a dream?'
After school, he rushed to the hospital to take a whole-body test. And as expected, he had the same disease. His parents reacted the same way as his dream or first life. However, Wang Wei was different.
Something ruthless awakened deep inside him, and he decided to test his theory. He did not try to cure his disease, nor did he allow his father to venture into the Prehistoric Continent to try to save him. When Wang Tian tried to argue, Wang Wei would be ruthless and threatened to take his own life if his father left him alone.
As such, he spent the next four years of his life with his parents before dying a second time at the hospital. And as expected, he found himself at sixteen, back in the same position and in the same class.
'I am indeed in a loop. And it seems the purpose is to cure this disease,' analyzed Wang Wei. Then, he focused on his previous experience of the past two lives.
'The approach in the first life was wrong: I should not have focused on curing the disease, but managing the symptoms and ensuring I live to the limit of 35 years old.'
Wang Wei understood that his disease was very complex and could not be easily cured in just a few years; it might take decades–if not longer. Luckily, he appeared to have ample time.
After school, he did not get tested or tell his parents about his disease. He convinced his mother to become a Genetic Warrior and his father to give him a large sum of money for investment.
He used that money to acquire a state-of-the-art laboratory in just over a year. And for the next three years, he continued his research until…
"When were you going to tell us about your disease?" asked Wang Tian, trying extremely hard to conceal his anger.
"If it was up to me, never."
"Boy, this is not the time for you to be cheeky. Look at the state of your mother."
"I'm just telling the truth," he argued back. "Telling you would only make things worse. You probably are thinking about going to that dangerous continent to find a way to save me. But I can tell you it won't work."
"And how would you know that?"
Wang Wei opened his mouth but could not say anything. Then, he suddenly wondered what would happen if he told his parents about the Time Loop. He did not know whether some god or devil placed him in that loop, but he was not happy that his fate was decided for him.
Furthermore, he was unhappy about keeping it a secret when revealing the truth might make things easier for him. So, he decided to gamble and tell the truth. To Wang Wei's surprise, nothing happened–except for his family not believing him.
However, he had many other ways to convince him, like knowledge about the future and so on. Then, his family established a code word to believe him easier and faster in his subsequent life.
With his family's help, things proceeded smoother. In this third life, Wang Wei lived to 30 years old, three more than the first. However, he concluded that he had reached a bottleneck in his research to manage his disease.
The fastest way to deal with this issue is with some faunas or species in the Prehistoric Continent. Otherwise, he might use hundreds of lives before succeeding. Unfortunately, that place was too dangerous. So, in his fourth life, he focused on creating the method to become a Fourth Level Genetic Warrior.
With the scattered data from the alien spaceship, he finally succeeded in his 8th life. In other words, it took him 4 lives of living to 30 years. However, he only had 15 years of research for each, so he spent 60 years.
With both his parents Fourth Level Genetic Warriors, Wang Wei had access to all the rare resources in the Prehistoric Continent. In his tenth life, he could manage all the symptoms of his disease and live until he was 35 years old.
From his 11th life onward, he focused on finding a cure for his disease. And he only succeeded in his 27th life.
(AN: If nothing out of the ordinary occurs, the should be the last one for Mortal Dust. But don't quote me on that.)