Homo Sapiens

A beach at sunset.

The waves glittered as they broke.

Li Qingye was lying under a parasol at his beach villa, quietly reading a medical research paper.

Nearby, Sangjibada Laiyal and a thoroughly disciplined Wu Xinlan were dressed in maid outfits, busy preparing dinner.

「A dozen minutes later.」

”Sir, dinner is ready.”

Li Qingye put down the paper he was holding, which was on telomere repair technology for chromosomes. The technique described in the paper had not yet been tested on humans, only on animals.

Furthermore, the technology could only restore a small portion of the telomeres, not repair them completely.

Li Qingye wasn’t surprised. After all, it was natural for such technology to have flaws and limitations in its early stages.

Still, the concepts within it were worth studying.

Setting aside the printed paper, he stood up and stretched lazily. He had taken a rare day off to vacation at the beach villa.

After stretching, he glanced at the dining table.

On the table was a simple meal: lamb pilaf, kelp and soybean soup, and stir-fried shrimp with loofah.

Seeing him take a seat at the table, Sangjibada Laiyal asked gently, ”Sir, would you like to watch some television? There’s a soccer match on tonight—Hongsawaddy versus East Japan.”

”Hongsawaddy?” Li Qingye picked up his spoon. ”Sure, let’s watch.”

”Yes, Sir.” Sangjibada Laiyal turned on the television, switched to the sports channel, and soon found the live broadcast of the match, which had already been underway for about ten minutes.

As he put a spoonful of long-grain rice soaked in savory juices and spices into his mouth, Li Qingye glanced at the screen and couldn’t help but smile.

He had clearly seen through the Hongsawaddy soccer team.

「On the pitch in East Japan.」

The once-confident East Japan Team now wore grave expressions. This was a completely different Hongsawaddy team from the one they had faced in ’19.

Da Po Yong, Takumi Minamino, and the others had shed their previous condescension.

But their seriousness was utterly useless. The Hongsawaddy players kept the ball practically glued to their feet.

Just as Takumi Minamino rushed forward to double-team him, the opposing player—as if he had eyes in the back of his head—instantly sidestepped and passed the ball into a blind spot in East Japan’s defense.

’Not good!’ Da Po Yong thought in alarm, quickly falling back to defend.

But it was too late.

Hongsawaddy’s Mang Feilong took the ball and charged forward like a cheetah, swiftly breaking through the blockade of three East Japan defenders.

Finally, from about thirteen meters out, he faked out the goalie and sent a perfect banana kick curving toward the net.

Even though the East Japan Team’s goalie twisted his body in a desperate attempt to block the incoming ball, it was futile.

The rapidly spinning ball sailed in from an impossibly sharp angle and planted itself firmly in the back of the net.

”HUFF... HUFF... How is that possible!?” Takumi Minamino stopped in his tracks, staring at the cheering Hongsawaddy players and his own stunned teammates.

Meanwhile, the East Japan coach on the sidelines looked as if he had seen a ghost.

For the rest of the half, the East Japan Team was completely caught in Hongsawaddy’s tempo, suppressed to the point they could barely breathe.

By the end of the first half, Hongsawaddy was ahead by four goals.

The East Japan spectators, who had bought tickets expecting to see their team crush an easy opponent, could be summed up by a single phrase: ”Damn it, give us our money back!”

Back in Luzon, Li Qingye was watching the live broadcast. Having just finished his meal, he shook his head with a smile. Of course, he knew why the Hongsawaddy soccer team had become so powerful.

’How could a team full of New Humans not be strong?’

Forget the East Japan Team; even the top soccer teams from the European leagues would be left questioning their existence if they faced a Hongsawaddy team composed entirely of New Humans.

New Humans were assisted by bio-chips. As long as they exercised properly and trained in soccer skills and tactics for a while, they would almost never make a mistake unless it was intentional.

Li Qingye had never cared much for sports. He was simply too busy to manage such minor affairs.

However, his subordinates, Gafei and Mao Gu, seemed quite enthusiastic about the sports industry and had sponsored many domestic teams.

It was actually quite easy to select a suitable soccer team from the hundreds of thousands of New Human employees. After all, the Homo Sapiens Company could give its own people a leg up, letting them win from the starting line.

He opened his special biological tablet and looked up information on the Hongsawaddy soccer team.

As expected, the entire team was composed of New Human employees. They were from the United Group’s Yangon Taxi Company—every single one of them an employee of the taxi company.

Due to the Homo Sapiens Company’s internal policy of providing at least five days off per month, many employees lived comfortable lives. With ample free time, they naturally developed personal hobbies.

As a result, all sorts of soccer teams, basketball teams, and other sports clubs began springing up like mushrooms in the various subsidiaries.

The reorganized Hongsawaddy sports department had also become an agency dedicated to coordinating internal competitions.

Currently, Hongsawaddy had established its own soccer leagues, basketball leagues, and so on.

However, unlike other regions, Hongsawaddy had its own style: corporate sports teams were the main force.

For example, the full name of the team representing Hongsawaddy this time was actually the Hongsawaddy-Yangon Taxi Company Soccer Team.

Since New Humans made up the vast majority of players in many subsidiary teams, the internal competition within the Hongsawaddy soccer league was exceptionally fierce. The team that could represent Hongsawaddy in the World Cup qualifiers was the ultimate champion forged in a brutal crucible.

It was the same story in Luzon.

’At this rate, the World Cup finals will probably become an internal war between Hongsawaddy, Siam, Luzon, and Malaysia,’ he mused.

Li Qingye felt this was going too far. He instructed Phil to notify the head of the sports division and have the teams tone it down a bit. They shouldn’t make it so the world powers couldn’t even win a single gold medal.

After all, as third- or fourth-rate small nations, they could become exceptionally strong in one or two fields, but they shouldn’t make rapid progress across the board, or they would attract too much attention.

In soccer, for example, they could let the opponent score a goal or two, or make intentional mistakes. They shouldn’t perform too perfectly.

New Humans had not yet become the global mainstream, but their abilities were too comprehensive and perfect. If they aroused the vigilance of natural humans, they would surely be attacked by all sides.

Li Qingye was all too aware of this fact.

In his ancestral memories, many geniuses who stood out from the crowd met tragic ends, all because of the jealousy of others.

Humans all crave perfection, but most don’t want others to be better than them. When they see someone stronger or more successful than themselves, they can’t help but feel jealous.

Everyone hates the rich, yet they also hate that they aren’t the rich ones themselves.

To natural humans, New Humans were a special group that was wealthy, powerful, knowledgeable, and utterly perfect. Such perfection could easily cause ordinary people to have a mental breakdown.

The Homo Sapiens Company had not yet fully converted its entire internal workforce into New Humans, so it was necessary to avoid the direct exposure of the New Human population.

Even in the future, when the Homo Sapiens Company officially made its debut, it would be best to keep the existence of this special group a secret for the long term—at least until New Humans made up more than 20% of the total human population. Only then could they consider relaxing the confidentiality restrictions.

The head of the sports division, having received Li Qingye’s reminder, quickly came to his senses.

They had been so focused on winning that they had nearly forgotten the company’s directive to keep a low profile.

Soon, the sports divisions within the four regional branches held a secret meeting and readjusted their development strategy.

They shifted from their previous goal of comprehensive dominance to focusing on just two or three areas. Furthermore, teams were instructed to consider their opponents’ skill levels and go easy on them occasionally to avoid appearing too flawless.

The Homo Sapiens Company’s internal adjustments to its sports development caused no ripples in the outside world.

But in the North Atlantic Ocean, undercurrents were about to begin stirring.