The Interstellar Queen of Scavengers

Chapter 1554: Chapter 1554: Augustine Family

The first sentence, Ji You didn’t feel much about it, she thought it was human gene modification technology, which was no longer surprising in the interstellar era.

It had been mentioned before, precisely because the genes of the whole mankind had been improved, that human height, physical strength, and so on, could become so strong and could resist the Star Beasts for so many years...

But!

When she heard Shen Changqing suddenly add a sentence about ’livestock gene modification technology’, Ji You inexplicably found it a bit funny, so she turned her face, looked at Shen Changqing, and asked, ”So what?”

Shen Changqing looked at Ji You and said, ”Several economic livestock currently existing in the Alliance, such as Long-haired Pig, Long-eared Rabbit, and Long-legged Chicken... were all improved by the Augustine family.”

Upon hearing this, Ji You couldn’t help but tease, ”So, their family has a special penchant for the ’long’ physical trait, huh.”

Shen Changqing was not distracted by Ji You’s strange points of interest. He looked at Ji You seriously and said, ”But recently, several gene modification experiment bases of the Augustine family have been shut down.”

When Ji You heard this, she fell silent.

At this time, Sheng Qingyan spoke up very unkindly, chuckling, ”You poor dead, maybe you signed a contract with him, and someday he’ll send you to a gene research lab for modification, turning you into a long-haired monster.”

Ji You: ”...”

Ji You couldn’t help it and rolled her eyes at Sheng Qingyan, saying, ”Don’t worry, the day you become a long-haired monster, I’ll still be doing fine.”

The three of them sat side by side on the stairway of building 10 in Zone A of the self-funded student dormitory. The combination of big shorts and small vests impeccably harmonious.

Sheng Qingyan and Ji You were sitting sloppily, crooked and lacking formality, while Shen Changqing sat with a straight back, neatly. He looked at Ji You, his expression a bit serious, and said, ”Ji You, don’t get too involved with the Augustine family, it’s best not to have contact.”

Ji You put away her playful smile and said seriously, ”Yeah, I know, don’t worry.”

The two of them waited here just to explain the seriousness of the issue to her, so she certainly wouldn’t waste their good intentions.

Ji You was actually a bit touched, her group of flaky friends were usually unreliable one at a time, but in crucial moments, each was more reliable than the last.

Ji You asked, ”Class is about to start, have you had breakfast?”

Shen Changqing shook his head and said, ”In waiting for you here, we haven’t eaten yet.”

Sheng Qingyan huffed, ”If it wasn’t for you, I would have eaten already. I’m telling you, I have long-legged eggs to eat and tofu brains to drink, plus a few big meat buns every meal... It all adds up to just 2000 credit points, and it’s on you.”

Ji You ignored him, directly took out 3 nutrient solutions, and passed one to each, saying, ”Hurry up and eat, after eating we have to go to class.”

Shen Changqing took it and when drinking, he slightly frowned, then drank it all in one gulp.

Sheng Qingyan pretended to despise it, but still took it obediently, tore it open and tasted a bit, complaining, ”Huatai’s low-level nutrition solution is the worst, it’s so disgusting that it feels like it’s eating away half of my soul.”

Originally planning to go back to the dorm to change clothes, but there’s no time, so the three decided to change into uniforms in the training room later, and took the nutrient solutions, eating as they walked. Ji You heard Sheng Qingyan’s complaint but had no reaction, only asked Shen Changqing, ”Shen Changqing, you mentioned the Augustine family closed several gene labs, was it the family’s decision or under an order from an Alliance administrative department?”

Shen Changqing said, ”It was ordered by the Alliance to be shut down, because a certain research wasn’t legal, didn’t have the proper licenses, and was considered illegal research.”

Ji You’s heart skipped a beat.

Shen Changqing said, ”I don’t know the specific reasons, but the Augustine family’s business almost monopolizes the entire livestock industry. Like the natural meat we eat normally, most of it is improved by them, and has been proven harmless to humans, so there’s no need to worry about that. But those shut down labs, from what I heard and verified, I believe they were conducting illegal Star Beast modification experiments.”

Ji You was slightly stunned upon hearing it.

Shen Changqing continued, ”Instead of spending vast costs to improve and reproduce existing natural animals, those vast, endless, and ever-living Star Beasts, if truly improved to be consumable by humans, what a considerable profit would that be?”

And, with this technology in the hands of the Augustine family, even just collecting patent fees, or processing fees, it would be an unimaginable sum.

As for the rest, there’s no need to think about it, one can imagine how enormous the profit is!

The Augustine family is willing to invest in researching this technology, which theoretically is something that greatly benefits the country and the populace, but why was it forcibly closed?

It can only be said that the Augustine family’s Star Beast gene modification project touched certain red lines, and the impact must have been very bad, so the Alliance forced the closure of the laboratories.

These words, Shen Changqing did not say out loud, but Ji You and Sheng Qingyan understood.

Shen Changqing said, ”The Augustine family’s few closed laboratories, the impact should have been eliminated, and since this family holds a certain amount of influence, as long as they seriously accept punishment and sincerely correct their mistakes, the Alliance’s government wouldn’t hold on to it, so the ordinary citizens of the Alliance don’t know about this.”

In other words, the Augustine family spent money to lessen the impact of this incident.

Ji You fell silent.

No matter how the times change, the darker facets of society are never lacking.

Ji You and Sheng Qingyan gnawed on nutrient solutions without joy, occasionally grimacing at the poor taste of low-level nutrition, while only Shen Changqing drank his resolutely, being the most composed of the three. Shen Changqing’s voice was very light, saying, ”Nolan Augustine is just a branch of the Augustine family on Lanyue Star, mainly responsible for the breeding and sales of long-eared rabbits there... I haven’t heard if this branch is related to the few laboratories, but to be safe, we should avoid too much contact.”

Ji You nodded, feeling the concern in Shen Changqing’s words, and added, ”I actually have no interest in becoming a modest worker in some soul device laboratory. Rest assured, I really won’t sell myself for a mere million credit points.”

Shen Changqing turned, looking at Ji You, the corners of his mouth gently curved up, and said very seriously, ”Mm, I believe in Ji You, always have.”

Sheng Qingyan rolled his eyes, ”Aren’t you guys done yet? Hurry up and get on the vehicle!”