The Role of Relics

The door opened, revealing three individuals inside the room.

An elderly man, a middle-aged man with a small beard, and surprisingly, a boy who appeared to be only eleven or twelve years old.

From the map, Reno could only discern three people in the room, but he hadn't anticipated the presence of a child among them. Upon seeing the boy, he paused for a moment before regaining his composure and said, "Who is Mr. Fernandez here?"

The elderly man trembled as he responded, "That's me."

"I guessed as much." Reno tossed him a storage device. "This is a message from Mr. Barlow for you."

Then he walked over and stood in front of the middle-aged man with the small beard. "Let me guess the background of this gentleman. Just now, my companions and I took down nearly fifty private guards from the Santiago family outside. I don't suppose the family would send only a group of bodyguards for negotiations. Since we're here for business, there must be someone in charge... Are you a Barlow, a Reken, or from the Santiago family?"

The Santiago family consisted of six major clans, with Santiago being just one of them.

"I am Daniel Reken, born on Konstantin Star, and currently the CEO of the McKen Consortium. Pleased to meet you, Captain Johnny Reno." The man extended his hand gracefully.

His face was slightly pale, and his hand trembled slightly, but he maintained overall composure.

The fact that he mentioned Johnny Reno's name indicated that his sources of information were quite fast, probably having gathered information about Reno at the time of the incident.

Reno didn't shake his hand. "A consortium CEO? Quite a big shot, but compared to relics, it's not much."

Upon hearing the word 'relics', Fernandez hastily interjected, "I don't have—"

Reno interrupted, "Aren't you going to read the letter before considering how to organize your lies?"

Fernandez quickly inserted the storage device into his terminal. Upon seeing its contents, his face changed completely.

Reno then turned his gaze to the boy. "And you? Which family's young master are you?"

Daniel Reken grabbed the boy. "He's my son. I just brought him along to play."

Reno ignored him and simply stared at the boy.

The boy's gaze was direct.

He stood there, looking straight at Reno, without speaking. His hair was naturally curly, his skin slightly darker, with a faint blue sheen beneath the skin.

Due to the interstellar migration, environmental differences had caused some genetic variations among humans in different regions. In addition to the traditional yellow, white, black, and brown races, there were also blue, red, and pink races, although these differences were mostly subtle.

Having slightly blue-tinted skin wasn't uncommon, but Reno couldn't help but stare at the boy.

The CEO, uneasy under Reno's gaze, pulled the boy behind him. "Mr. Reno, if there's anything you want, you can just say it. The relic is here, and we're willing to hand it over to you, but please don't harm my son."

With that, he stepped aside.

Behind him was a magnetic field.

The magnetic field consisted of four super-electromagnetic coils, emitting dazzling electric lights, giving off an extraordinary beauty.

At the center of the magnetic field was a crystal-clear object.

It was so dazzling that even those who had never seen it before would know it was a relic.

But Reno only glanced at it casually before looking away.

He looked at Fernandez. "That's not the one Abradai brought back."

The director hurriedly replied, "The one you brought back has lost all its energy and is worthless now."

"Whether it's worthless or not is for me to decide. Where is it?" Reno asked.

Fernandez looked at the middle-aged man with the small beard.

The CEO quickly said, "The Santiago family has bought it. Trust me, Mr. Reno, it's just a piece of junk relic with no value. We bought it because we're also researching relics, and the institute wouldn't sell us a intact relic. We can only buy some scraps for research purposes."

"What do you need scraps for?"

"Even if it's scrap, there's usually some residual energy."

"And what can you do with that?"

"... With some methods, sometimes residual energy can be increased," the CEO replied with a meaningful tone.

Reno understood; this so-called residual energy must have been deliberately left by the institute.

"The federal government spent two hundred years without being able to figure out what it is. Do you think you'll get results from researching with a bit of residual energy? And you're telling me you're doing a losing business, and you've been doing it like this all along?" Reno scoffed. "Using hundreds of billions to get a few super-powered soldiers? You're definitely losing out."

"In fact, this is indeed a losing deal," the CEO replied, "I know you don't believe it, but while we may not accept other losses, we can accept this one. And not just us, everyone, all the families!"

"Why?" Now Reno was puzzled.

Daniel replied, "Mr. Reno, I know you possess incredible abilities, and in fact, this is no secret among the major families. But your perspective is too limited; you only see the ability but not the essence."

"What essence?"

"Life!" Daniel became excited. "To most people, granting extraordinary power to individuals is the meaning of relics, but few understand that life is the essence of relics! It's a miracle bestowed upon humanity by God, a divine gift that can bring great power and eternal life to people!"

Reno was stunned. "Are you saying..."

"Yes!" Daniel replied loudly. "Longevity, lifespans beyond your imagination! Reno, you're still young, so you don't know what relics can bring you. But we know that those changed by relics not only possess powerful abilities, but most importantly, their very essence of life changes. Life becomes more vibrant, and even the dying can rejuvenate!"

Reno was shaken.

Daniel exclaimed, "Yes, this is why we pursue relics. It's the ultimate means for every wealthy and influential person to defy death."

Reno understood. Although the mortality rate of relic usage among humans was as high as ninety-five percent, for those on the brink of death, this terrifying death rate automatically transformed into a five percent chance of survival.

For those wealthy and influential figures whose lives were coming to an end, in cases where medicine failed, they were willing to take risks and undergo relic experiments. If successful, they could step back from death and gain tremendous power.

This was why they were so keen on relics.

Eternal life!

This was the pursuit of the powerful figures.

"Who told you that relics could grant life?" Reno asked in a deep voice. He needed to understand whether this was rumor or fact. "I've never heard that the divine beings could attain immortality through relics."

Daniel immediately replied, "It's not immortality, but life. Those who can wield life energy from relics are not divine beings, but the Yag insect race."

"What did you say? Insects?" Reno was shocked.

"Yes, relics aren't exclusive to divine beings; the insect race is also searching for them, and they... are quite adept at using relics. However, their methods of using relics are different. For the Yag insect race, what they gain from relics is the power of life."

"The power of life..." Reno muttered to himself.

At that moment, he suddenly thought of those bio-humans.

The scene of Bear-man Bebolga squeezing bullets out of his muscles still vividly remained in his mind. The sheer strength and vitality were beyond what a real bear could achieve.

Just relying on the genes of a grizzly bear?

Impossible.

It was the relic!

The relic changed them, changed everyone, changed the divine beings, changed humans, and even... the insect race!

Daniel didn't know what Reno was thinking; he was just excitedly saying, "You may not believe it, Mr. Reno, but this is the truth. The Santiago family has already proven it through personal experience. Some of our important family members have survived because of this and gained tremendous power... For more than two hundred years, although the Dawn Plan has not succeeded, humanity is not entirely ignorant. We are gradually gaining our own understanding of relics!"