Chapter 87: Li Changsheng—Both the Blood Orchid and the Research Results, I Want Them All!-Multiverse: All My Avatars Are Monsters(Like the maple, the maple, the maple.)

Jack glanced at Gail.

Gail knew well that she couldn’t simply return without results. If she failed to rent a boat and went back empty-handed, those capitalists would certainly make her life miserable.

With this thought, she strode up to Li Changsheng and said, “We’ll give you a thousand dollars. Let us rent your boat.”

“Who do you think you’re looking down on? I’ll give you ten thousand dollars, now get lost!” Li Changsheng sneered, pulling out a wad of cash from his pocket and tossing it at Gail.

To avoid suspicion, Li Changsheng decided to play the role of a nouveau riche. But he truly was one; competing with him in wealth was courting death. He had the resources of several worlds backing him.

“Damn it!” Gail’s chest heaved with anger as she cursed under her breath.

Bill’s eyes brightened at the sight of the money. He quickly stood up, blocking Jack and his group. “Since this gentleman has already rented the boat, you all should leave now,” he said, waving them off as if shooing flies.

Between eighty thousand and fifty thousand, Bill’s choice was easy.

Shan bit her lip. “Such a big boat, are you going alone?”

“So what if I am,” Li Changsheng replied coolly.

“Why not share the rental? We can pay!” Shan suggested.

Li Changsheng laughed. “Do I look like someone who’s short on money?” Shan and her companions frowned, but then Li Changsheng’s tone shifted.

“But if you’ve got some strange tales or oddities, I might consider it.”

“Strange tales?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

At this point, Ah Chuan explained it to them.

The group was astonished, looking at Li Changsheng as if he were a fool.

Forget it, no need to argue with a fool.

After a brief discussion, Gail and Jack began to tell Li Changsheng about the Blood Orchid.

Li Changsheng already knew, but feigned curiosity and promptly agreed to their request to share the rental.

...

The next day, at a dilapidated dock on the banks of the Manhattan River.

Ah Chuan was tinkering with the machinery aboard an old passenger ship, while Bill waited on the dock for the group.

Gail stepped out of a luxury car, her gaze sweeping over the decrepit vessel. She frowned. “Is this your boat? It’s worse than a tin shack scavenged from junk.”

Her words were laced with clear dissatisfaction.

After ten years in New York, she had finally reached a high position, and for her, only the best would do in every aspect of life.

Bill was unfazed. He pointed at the boat’s hull and replied, “She may not look like much, but believe me, she’s powerful.”

Anyone daring to venture upstream during the rainy season, his boat had certainly weathered many storms.

Gail frowned, but there was nothing she could do. Grumbling, she picked up her luggage and boarded.

Shan, Jack’s assistant and a talented researcher, was busy with chores, handling new arrivals and organizing equipment without a hint of complaint on her face.

Suddenly, her eyes lit up as she hurried toward a car. Approaching, she called out to a young Black man, “Damn, what took you so long?”

Carl Burris was lugging a heap of equipment out of the car.

He grumbled, “GPS, satellite navigation systems… It’s tough getting these through Indonesian customs.”

Shan raised an eyebrow. “Oh, starting to complain already?”

Carl shrugged. “That’s right.”

Shan teased, “Would you rather stay in the office?”

Burris scoffed, “Of course! Oh, we’re not riding that wreck, are we?” He glanced at the battered boat.

Shan replied lightly, “Be optimistic. At least the weather’s nice.”

Though things were far from ideal, her attitude remained upbeat.

A middle-aged man walked over and glanced at Shan, a flicker of admiration in his eyes. “You must be Shan.”

He was Bandogue, the team doctor Jack had invited.

He’d come with the intention of a leisurely trip, but unexpectedly encountered a beauty like Shan.

Shan nodded. “Yes, we spoke on the phone. I’m glad you could join us.”

Desire flashed in Bandogue’s eyes.

Shan sensed it, smiled awkwardly, said nothing, and turned to carry her equipment onto the old boat.

With that, all the film’s characters were present.

...

Li Changsheng observed all this from the café across the dock.

He had no urge to appear just yet.

The boat was chaotic, and boarding now would only mean wasting time waiting for others. Better to enjoy a cup of coffee instead.

He didn’t need to scramble for a seat like before. Captain Bill had already reserved the best, most spacious spot for him.

Don’t ask why.

The answer is simple: he paid.

Li Changsheng took a sip of coffee and briefly recalled the movie’s plot.

...

The plot of Anaconda is straightforward.

A pharmaceutical company in New York discovers that in the primeval jungles of Borneo, there exists a flower capable of granting immortality—the Blood Orchid.

To secure investment, Bill and his team decide to travel to Borneo and collect samples of the Blood Orchid themselves.

As the flower blooms only once every seven years, with a blooming period of just half a year, Bill’s group is forced to risk the dangers of the rainy season.

What they didn’t expect was that the Blood Orchid’s power did not rejuvenate humans, but instead transformed a group of snakes into ferocious, terrifying creatures. To move their massive bodies, the snakes had to consume several times more food than before, making the humans who intruded their territory the perfect prey.

In the end, only Shan, Gail, Bill, and Carl survived.

Yet Li Changsheng found many absurdities in the story. First, Bill killed a long-snouted crocodile underwater with a dagger. Then, the gigantic anaconda chased the four survivors and failed to kill a single one.

It seemed the film was a bit too politically correct.

Now, in the real world, the dangers they would face would surely be far more fierce.

However, Li Changsheng wasn’t particularly concerned.

Fate determines life and death; wealth is bestowed by heaven.

Wasn’t there a saying in his previous life—let go of the urge to help others and respect their destiny?

But Jack’s company had reached a certain stage in their research on the Blood Orchid.

They had achieved preliminary results.

Li Changsheng was very interested in these findings.

After all, he could only hand over the Blood Orchid to Li Xiao G for research, and what Li Xiao G developed might not necessarily be usable by others.

Back then, the G reagent worked only because the two brothers had identical body structures, even though Li Xiao G had already been infected by the G virus.

Their genes and souls were the same, so whatever reaction the G virus caused in Li Xiao G, it would do the same in him.

As for giving it to others, no one could guarantee it wouldn’t turn them into mindless monsters like William in the game.

Therefore, Li Changsheng had never given the G reagent to Amy, Beth, or any of his other close companions.

But the Blood Orchid was different. If they could truly develop an immortal elixir, not only he, but Amy, Beth, and Ann could all benefit.

Obtaining information through Jack was out of the question.

In the film, Jack became so obsessed with acquiring the Blood Orchid that he was willing to kill all his colleagues for it.

He died still dreaming of becoming a billionaire through the Blood Orchid.

The only option was to approach Shan or Mitch.

But Li Changsheng favored Shan; after all, she was a top researcher, and half the credit for the current progress on the Blood Orchid belonged to her.