Ling Tian, cloaked by an invisibility talisman, strode boldly through the factory grounds. He had now reached the central area, where several workshops housed the core operations of Gustav Pharmaceuticals and produced their flagship products.
Security here was exceptionally tight. Despite the late hour, the factory buzzed with patrolling guards, heavily armed and well-equipped. Each guard was outfitted with night-vision goggles and accompanied by guard dogs. It was no exaggeration to say that even some American military bases boasted less stringent defenses.
Suddenly, a horn blared from behind him. A large tanker truck approached, carrying the chemical raw materials used in the pharmaceutical production. Ling Tian darted aside. As the truck passed, he stomped his feet, propelling himself two meters into the air. His hand then landed squarely on the tanker's cylindrical body.
True essence surged into Ling Tian's palm, which adhered to the tanker like a suction cup. With a slight exertion, he used his hands to support himself and rapidly climbed onto the truck's roof.
The tanker proceeded for several hundred meters until it reached a checkpoint. Seven or eight security personnel stepped forward to conduct a thorough inspection of the driver and the vehicle, requiring the driver to sign numerous documents. Naturally, they failed to notice Ling Tian casually seated atop the tanker. Cameras were everywhere, and the guards at the checkpoint shone searchlights onto the roof, but they found nothing amiss.
After a fifteen-minute inspection, the tanker passed the checkpoint and entered the most secure zone of the pharmaceutical plant. Before him stood a massive factory building. Ling Tian, utilizing his spiritual realm, phased directly into its interior.
Inside, he observed numerous densely packed tanks and apparatuses connected by pipelines to a final, colossal tank. This tank stood over ten meters tall and had a diameter of similar proportions. Ling Tian recognized it as a reaction vessel, where various purified materials were mixed. A mechanism within the tank continuously and slowly agitated the liquid. Based on the mixture of materials, specific raw ingredients were added or reduced, and industrial factors such as temperature and pressure were controlled.
This mixing process could take anywhere from a few days to several months to yield the desired drug. Subsequently, the final product underwent purification and inspection before being released from the factory.
The drug produced by Gustav Pharmaceutical Group in this apparatus was named "Essence of Life," their undisputed most potent product. This product was the result of decades of research, with its inspiration drawn from the Boston lobster.
The Boston lobster, scientifically known as Homarus americanus, surprised scientists with its remarkable lifespan; most populations exceeded a century. Longevity had always been humanity's relentless pursuit, and the discovery of such a long-lived creature had sent scientists into a frenzy, eager to uncover the secrets of its extended life.
Research revealed that the Boston lobster possessed a richer abundance of genes regulating processes like DNA repair, cell cycles, and immune responses. This discovery held the potential to guide the localization of human longevity genes. Further studies indicated that the lobster's genes were inherently superior, exhibiting excellent neuroregulatory properties and exceptionally strong immunity.
However, the most significant and coveted aspect was the lobster's ability to repair DNA. Human cells constantly divide and renew, with new cells gradually replacing aging and dying ones. With each cell division, the telomeres within the cell's mitochondria shorten. When a person reaches a certain age, these telomeres become too short to support further cell division, hindering metabolism and ultimately leading to senescence and death.
Of course, humans rarely reach such a natural end. Scientists calculated that by measuring the shortening of mitochondrial telomeres, the maximum human lifespan was approximately 120 years. Yet, very few individuals ever reached this age, with most succumbing to illness or accidents long before.
In contrast, certain substances within the cells of the Boston lobster could repair DNA. Each time the lobster molted, its cells underwent a massive renewal. This renewal process even restored the length of the already shortened telomeres. Theoretically, if free from predators, human capture, marine pollution, or disease, these Boston lobsters could live much longer, potentially 400 or 500 years.
Eventually, a laboratory at a small American pharmaceutical company achieved a breakthrough. They extracted this substance from Boston lobsters and combined it with active ingredients from other precious plants, developing a new drug: the Essence of Life. To validate its efficacy, the small pharmaceutical company conducted clinical trials for nearly twenty years. The results showed that subjects injected with this drug experienced an 80% reduction in the incidence of cancer and Alzheimer's disease. Furthermore, in a ten-year comparative study, an octogenarian group receiving continuous injections of the drug lived, on average, 40% longer than the control group.
This discovery filled the executives of the pharmaceutical company with elation, believing they were on the cusp of achieving ultimate success. However, misfortune struck. A devastating car accident claimed the lives of several company shareholders. Subsequently, the FDA declared several of the company's products problematic, leading to their recall. This caused a severe cash flow crisis, rendering the company insolvent and unable to repay its bank loans. Consequently, the entire company, including its laboratory, was acquired by Gustav Pharmaceuticals.
In reality, these events were not coincidental. Both the car accident and the subsequent series of actions were orchestrated by the Gustav conglomerate. They had long coveted the drug and had been waiting for the opportune moment to acquire it cheaply, only making their move after the drug's research and clinical trials were complete and it was ready for market. They gained possession of the drug with minimal investment, and the launch of Essence of Life has since generated billions of US dollars in annual profits for Gustav Pharmaceuticals.