Life Dungeon Game

As he spoke, he started to walk forward.

"Professor, the phone is ringing!"

"Oh, okay, here you go."

-

After waiting for about ten minutes, Heo met Coles at the front desk.

The other person paused slightly upon first seeing He Ao, but quickly recovered, walked over, looked at He Ao, and seemed about to speak.

Then it stopped.

"There's a coffee shop outside the hospital, how about we go there to talk?"

Before he spoke, He Ao said with a smile.

Looking at Heo's smiling face, Coles knew that Heo didn't want to reveal this, so he nodded slightly, "Okay."

After making a few instructions over the phone, he left the hospital with He Ao.

The two quickly walked into the coffee shop outside the hospital.

Heo ordered a black coffee, while Coles ordered a milk.

The coffee shop offers private rooms, and the two of them booked a small one. He Ao checked the room and found that there were no cameras inside.

The black coffee and milk were served quickly.

Coles took a sip of milk, and as time passed, his emotions gradually calmed down.

"So, what do you want?"

Being an underground doctor is not a respectable job, especially since it involves institutions in the gray area like research institutes. If it gets out, it will deal a fatal blow to the medical reputation he has built up over half a lifetime.

“Doctor, relax,” He Ao said softly. “I just want to understand the ins and outs of this matter, such as… how did you become a ‘doctor’ at the research institute?”

He paused for a moment, then added, "Given your current status and position, you shouldn't lack money."

"The cause is a subject of research."

Coles glanced at Heo and said in a hoarse voice, "There was a secret research project within the Star Group. Reid was one of the project leaders for part of this research. That was about a decade or so ago, before I had the high position I have now. He invited me to participate in this research."

"It seems this is a very important research project."

He Ao sat up straight.

Coles was already considered a relatively well-known figure in the federal medical community.

It's understandable if he joined this research when he was young for some benefit, but the fact that he's still in this research project at this age and in this position proves that the research project itself is very attractive to him.

"Yes!"

Coles took a sip of coffee and looked out the window.

This private room has a large one-way floor-to-ceiling window, through which you can see the street outside and the patients coming to the hospital.

Most of these people are elderly people with gray hair.

He Ao followed his gaze, then turned his head and asked with a smile, "So, can I know what the theme of this project is?"

"Theoretically, I signed a confidentiality agreement and shouldn't tell you, but right now I don't seem to be able to make a decision,"

Coles turned to look at Heo, gave a hoarse laugh, paused for a moment, as if pondering something.

"That project was called the 'Mars Project,' and the subject he studied was very simple."

"eternal life."

After he finished speaking, he looked at He Ao's face and found that He Ao's expression did not change.

He seemed puzzled. "You don't seem surprised."

"Isn't it normal for medical foundations to research immortality?" He Ao shrugged.

"When science and technology develop to a certain point, or even before it develops to a certain point, there will always be some people who control wealth and power and want to control wealth and power forever."

"In the primitive era, the research on immortality was handled by certain charlatan priests. In the modern era, this task naturally falls to medical conglomerates. It's not surprising that Starstar Pharmaceuticals, as the largest medical conglomerate in the entire Federation, has a research project on immortality."

"The key is..."

He Ao's gaze was fixed on Coles in front of him. "What have you figured out?"

"To be precise, it's what 'they' discovered."

Coles looked out the window, his gaze deep and unfathomable.

"For more than a decade, I never got to the core of the research. I could only watch 'them' bring out the core results one by one. Of course, by 'ruminating' on these core results, I have achieved my current position."

He Ao stared at the old doctor in front of him, picked up a sugar cube from the table, added it to his coffee, and gently swirled it with a coffee spoon.

This old doctor doesn't seem to be as virtuous and respectable as he appears, nor as indifferent to fame and fortune.

(Double monthly votes needed, please vote!)

I'm a bit busy, it'll be a little later, and I'm still on my way.

Chapter 456 The Things the Research Institute Cultivates (Long Chapter, Seeking Monthly Tickets)

"Is Mr. Reed a key member of Project Mars?"

He Ao stirred his coffee and suddenly asked.

"Of course, he is the only core member of the research institute in Limen City."

Coles sipped his milk and spoke slowly.

"Are there research institutes in other cities too?"

He paused for a moment while stirring his coffee.

“Currently, there are more than a dozen research institutes in the entire Federation, scattered throughout various major cities,” Coles pondered briefly. “The group usually sets up research institutes in densely populated metropolitan areas. Limen City is a rare exception. In fact, I don’t know why the group set up a research institute in Limen City.”

"Um,"

He Ao continued stirring his coffee. The reason why Limen Store was 'chosen' was probably because of the existence of the Fountain of Youth.

To be even bolder, perhaps the earliest 'research' started at the Limen store.

However, He Ao did not delve further into the topic, but instead asked casually, "What kind of person does Mr. Coles think Reed is?"

"He's smart, but not cut out for research, though he's very lucky."

Coles put the milk to his lips and spoke calmly, his tone carrying a slight upward inflection, a hint of disdain.

This 'doctor' felt that Reed was inferior to himself.

The so-called "good luck" should refer to the fact that Reed joined the plan relatively early and happened to be at the core of the plan.

"What if something happens to Reed, or he makes some serious mistake..."

He Ao slowly stopped stirring the coffee, and the swirling coffee hit the slender, now-still spoon, creating a faint, translucent foam.

Upon hearing this, Coles looked up in surprise and stared blankly at Heo.

He saw a fleeting glimmer of expectation in his eyes.

He then turned his head away and shook his head. "I'm so old now. Although I've been with the company for so many years, it's already very difficult to advance further. You don't need to try to sow discord between me and Reed."

"I was just saying,"

He Ao smiled.

Everyone has things they care about. Those who love money care about money, those who are lustful care about lust, and Coles has probably always been curious about the core secrets of the Mars Project. Over the years, this curiosity has accumulated into a kind of obsession.

Once the seed of obsession takes root and sprouts, a person will no longer be controlled by reason.

He knew he could now ask more probing questions; in a sense, Coles and he shared a 'common interest'.

He put down his coffee spoon and looked out the window at the magnificent hospital building against the night sky. "When did Project Mars begin?"

"The Mars Project has a long history,"

Coles replied slowly that this was not a core or complicated issue. "It is said that there was a similar plan within the group when it was first established, but these plans had not achieved any significant results until about 22 years ago, when the plan began to show some promise and a new research team was gradually organized."

Were you working at this hospital back then?

He Ao asked.

"Do not

"Yes," Coles shook his head, "this hospital didn't exist back then. I was working at another private hospital under the Star Group. Star Beauty Hospital was developed and built by the group later. I was transferred to this hospital after I joined the program."

The Qunxing Zhimei Hospital was built about twenty years ago. The core area here was originally a park, which was taken over by a businessman about forty years ago and demolished and rebuilt.

According to the information collected by Eve, there are rumors that the businessman who bought the core area originally wanted to build a hospital there.

However, whether due to a broken funding chain or some other reason, no new buildings were constructed on the site after the park was demolished.

The land had been abandoned for nearly twenty years before it was eventually bought by the Qunxing Group in some way. The Qunxing Group then bought all the surrounding land, demolished the original buildings, and built the current Qunxing Zhimei Hospital.

Judging from Coles's words, all of this happened after the 'Mars Project', which seeks immortality, made progress.

It seems that about twenty years ago, someone brought the Fountain of Youth into the sights of the Star Group and used it to advance Project Mars.

"So, Reed introduced you to Project Mars in the first place because...?"

Heo turned to look at Coles.

"For my surgical skills."

Coles coughed. "More than a decade ago, I was quite well-known in the surgical community in Limen. It was around that time that I received an invitation from Reed. Actually, he invited not only me, but all the well-known surgeons in Limen at the time."

"Five surgeons were invited to participate in the program. At first, we were not assigned any research, but were instead given a lot of human anatomy work. In the end, the other four doctors withdrew from the program for various reasons, leaving only me, who was the least famous at the time."

"After the other doctors left, the group did not give me any new tasks, but only asked me to continue dissecting corpses."

"Corpses available for dissection are rare, and almost every one should be cherished, but Reed has provided me with a steady stream of corpses. However, these dead bodies all bear some kind of disease or accidental injuries."

"During that period, I gained a deeper understanding of human anatomy every day, which laid the foundation for my future surgical work."

"Those bodies came from the Starry Night Hospital?"

He Ao glanced at the hospital outside the window and asked softly.