Chapter 6: The Chameleon Superman p2
Fang Qiang felt like he was in a dream. He swayed and leaned weakly against the wall.
As he did, his entire body turned green, including his eyes and hair.
There was a mirror opposite him. He could clearly see that his color-changed body blended almost perfectly with the wall behind him, as if he were invisible. He had to strain his eyes to make out a faint human silhouette. Oh god, I’ve really become a chameleon…
Fang Qiang was so scared he nearly fainted. He was perfectly happy being a human; he had no desire to become a four-legged monster.
Fortunately, aside from the color change, his body was otherwise unaltered. He hadn’t grown a chameleon’s tail, nor were there any signs of his limbs “bestializing” into claws.
In other words, he wasn’t a chameleon. “Chameleon Man” would be a more accurate term.
Once he figured this out, his panic subsided, replaced by a feeling of bewilderment. What is going on? How can I suddenly change color? Did the fire bake me into evolving?
His heart began to race. He already had a faint inkling that this had to be related to Professor Mo’s synthesis agent.
The fact that he had survived the ordeal and unexpectedly gained the ability to change color had to be the result of the agent.
But Professor Mo had also injected himself with the agent. Why had he died? And the agent was only supposed to unlock human potential, not turn someone into a “Chameleon Man.”
Fang Qiang pondered this for a long time but couldn’t come up with an answer. With Professor Mo gone, these questions might forever remain a mystery…
But wait. A flash of inspiration struck him. He remembered that before he left that night, Professor Mo had given him a CD and told him to study it and keep it safe.
At the time, Fang Qiang hadn’t paid it much mind. But thinking back now, the professor’s expression and tone had been a little strange, almost as if he were giving his last will and testament.
Fang Qiang leaped up, rushed to his desk to find the CD, and inserted it into his computer.
The screen showed that the file was encrypted and required a password.
Without a second thought, Fang Qiang typed in the synthesis agent’s most fundamental equation. The folder opened.
The first thing he saw was a message.
“Xiao Fang, funds are low, and I may not be able to find a suitable chimpanzee for testing. I’ve decided not to wait. Tonight, I will test it on myself. This version of the agent was synthesized with the genes of a chameleon. If anything should happen to me, you must continue this research. I’m counting on you. All the data and materials are on this disc. Please keep them safe. – Mo.”
Below it was a postscript: “PS: I’ve recently noticed strangers lurking around. They may be corporate spies targeting this invention. Be careful. I hope I’m just being paranoid.”
Reading the message over and over, Fang Qiang’s eyes filled with tears.
He finally understood why he had gained the ability to change color. But he still didn’t understand why Professor Mo had died after the injection, while he had not only survived but had turned a disaster into a blessing. Could it… could it really have been the fire?
The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. He clenched his fists, his resolve hardening in an instant. No matter what difficulties he faced, he would carry on the professor’s legacy and continue the research until the day it succeeded.
In that moment, he seemed to have completely forgotten that this kind of gene-splicing experiment was forbidden by the church.
In fact, ever since his “resurrection,” he hadn’t once thought of the Lord, the church, or the guidance he had once cherished.
It was as if he had never been a devout believer at all.
…
Evening. Dragon City Security Department. Director’s Office.
“Chief Yu Lan, as per your request, we have contacted the municipal police department and informed them of the true circumstances of the research institute fire. Their chief has agreed to follow your instructions and will no longer investigate the matter. The official story will be an accidental fire,” the department head, Director He, said respectfully as he hung up the phone and Yu Lan walked in.
Yu Lan nodded slightly. She thought to herself that those bumbling police officers, upon hearing the case involved espionage and that a top agent like herself was on it, would naturally be happy to close the case and be done with it.
“The two of them were interrogated separately. Any progress?” she asked slowly. “The two of them” referred to the two American agents she had captured, one black and one white. They had not managed to escape her pursuit that night and were now her prisoners. This time, a prepared Yu Lan had dislocated their jaws, giving them no chance to commit suicide.
“After being injected with truth serum, they both confessed,” Director He said. “Their stories are identical. They said they found nothing of value and only stole a few vials of drugs from the lab to have something to show for their efforts.”
Yu Lan’s brow furrowed.
Technically, the mission was over. All the enemy agents except for Black Snake had been captured. It was a resounding success. But for some reason, she had a nagging feeling, a sense of unease, as if she had missed something. Is it because that disgusting pervert didn’t die?
Yu Lan asked herself silently, lost in thought.
She had called the hospital that morning to inquire about Fang Qiang’s condition. It wasn’t because she was concerned for his well-being; she was just meticulous and never let any suspicion go unexamined.
Fang Qiang was her suspicion. The pervert had been injected with the same agent, then smoked and burned, yet he had survived. His luck was a little too good.
But the doctor had confirmed that Fang Qiang’s burns were horrific and that he was not yet out of danger. Yu Lan thought that perhaps she was overthinking it. Fang Qiang was a young man, after all, with more vitality than an old man like Professor Mo. It was not impossible for him to have survived. Am I just being paranoid? Or is there some other secret about that pervert?
The feeling of unease grew stronger. Yu Lan stood up abruptly. She decided to find Fang Qiang herself and observe him.
But just as she took a step, her phone beeped with a text message.
It was an order from her superior: “Urgent new mission. Return to the capital on the next available flight.”
Yu Lan’s heart sank. She let out a long sigh.
She was a soldier, and a soldier’s duty was to obey orders without a second’s delay.
And so, with a heavy heart, the elite female agent rushed out, quickly packed her bags, and headed for the airport.
Much later, when she was stripped of her uniform, her beautiful naked body exposed, her full breasts shamefully swaying as she was forced to submit to the perverse training of her fated nemesis, she would think back on this moment with endless regret. If only she had disobeyed a superior’s order just once, if only she had delayed for just one hour, her fate would have been entirely different…
…
Early morning. The sun was bright.
Fang Qiang walked out of his house, his spirits high, his heart filled with excitement.
He had spent the entire night studying the data Professor Mo had left him, yet he felt no fatigue. On the contrary, he felt more energetic than ever before. He wasn’t even hungry.
This had to be the work of the synthesis agent.
Professor Mo had said that whoever was injected with the agent would become a “superman,” with mental and physical abilities far exceeding those of a normal person.
And that was exactly how Fang Qiang felt now. An inexhaustible strength seemed to flow through his veins. Even his steps were lighter and faster than before, giving him a pleasant, almost ethereal feeling.
He broke into a run. He ran for two kilometers straight without breaking a sweat, his breathing even, his heart rate barely increasing.
He was overjoyed. He almost wanted to sing out loud. All the pain and humiliation he had recently suffered was swept away. Life felt incredibly precious and beautiful.
This synthesis agent was truly amazing.
In addition to the effects Professor Mo had predicted, it had also given him the ability to change color. As long as he was naked, his body would automatically take on the color of whatever background he was near.
This ability might not have much practical use for now, but Fang Qiang had spent a long time excitedly experimenting with it last night. He discovered he could turn almost any color, even complex, multicolored patterns, making him even more adept than a real chameleon.
What’s more, the ability could be controlled by his thoughts. When he didn’t want to change, he just had to give a mental command, and he would look like a normal person.
At this moment, Fang Qiang was standing near a pile of trash, a few annoying flies buzzing around his ears.
Looking at the pesky insects, a strange idea occurred to him. What if I flicked my tongue out like a chameleon…
One minute later, a young man ran into a nearby convenience store. Without paying, he grabbed a bottle of mineral water from the counter and began to chug it down, only to spit it out with a retch. He repeated this several times…
…
A few days later, Fang Qiang was humming a little tune as he walked into a nearby supermarket to buy some daily necessities. It was just past eight in the morning, and the store had just opened. There were no other customers inside.
He was carrying a basket, browsing the shelves, when he heard footsteps. Three men rushed in.
All three had black cloth sacks over their heads, with only their eyes and mouths visible. They were each holding a gleaming machete, their menacing appearance enough to send a chill down anyone’s spine.
They went straight for the counter, raised their machetes at the terrified female owner, and shouted, “This is a robbery! Hand over all the money!”
The flash of the blades terrified the rather attractive owner. She let out a scream and tried to duck under the counter, her hands over her head.
“Get the hell out here!”
“Not a sound! If you don’t cooperate, we’ll chop off your hand!”
The three men roared, grabbing the owner and pulling her out. They pressed a machete against her arm.
“The money or the hand? Your choice!”
“Waaah… please spare me… I’ll get the money…” the owner begged, trembling. With a tear-streaked face, she took out her keys and unlocked the cash drawer.
Fang Qiang saw it all. He knew he had run into the city’s notorious “Hand-Choppers.”
They were a gang of ruthless robbers who often committed crimes in broad daylight. At the slightest sign of resistance, they would chop off their victim’s arm without a second thought. Because Fang Qiang was standing behind a shelf, the three robbers, thinking the store was empty, hadn’t noticed him.
In the past, if he had encountered something like this, Fang Qiang would have hidden, cowering in a corner, terrified and praying. But today, he wasn’t afraid at all. In fact, he had a strong urge to teach these three a lesson.
He had a strange confidence that he could easily defeat them. This confidence didn’t come from his “mind”; it was like an innate instinct, branded into his very cells, his very blood.
“Stop!”
With a commanding shout, Fang Qiang leaped out, looking heroic and full of vigor.
The three robbers were startled, not expecting anyone else to be there. But when they saw it was just one man, they relaxed.
The tall leader of the group brandished his machete. “This is none of your business, kid! If you know what’s good for you, get lost. Otherwise, don’t blame me if my blade doesn’t have eyes!”
Fang Qiang walked toward them. “I’ll give you one chance,” he said calmly. “Put down your knives now.”
The robbers burst out laughing. The tall one nodded, and the other two rushed forward, their machetes swinging down at his head.
The gleaming blades came at him from both sides, about to draw blood…
