Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!
Chapter 953: Gene Virus

Chapter 953: Chapter 953: Gene Virus

"SE virus?" Xu Huo repeated.

Already having slipped up, Teacher Ai solemnly looked at him, "Just who exactly are you?"

"Who else could I be," Xu Huo chuckled, "just a player wanting to clear the game."

He paused, then looked past Teacher Ai towards the retired security guard and, holding onto the "Little Mushroom Cloud," said, "I’ve come for a friendly chat. How about we don’t cause trouble for each other?"

Having witnessed the power of the "Little Mushroom Cloud," Teacher Ai raised his hand to stop his companion, "Even if we could escape from him, we’d be skinned alive, not to mention that neither you nor I know whether the person standing in front of us is real or fake."

His square-faced companion was puzzled, but Teacher Ai kept his gaze fixed on Xu Huo, "When you escaped the training base you used Psychic Power, able to affect a Rank-B player, your level of Evolution is probably not as simple as you claim, just on the threshold."

Xu Huo nodded, "I like dealing with smart people, it saves a lot of trouble."

"W37 is after you, a player disabled for many years and a security guard retired from the lab – I’m curious about who you really are."

"But that’s not what I’m most concerned about—I’d like to know more about the SE virus."

"You’re just here to play the instance, what use is knowing that to you?" Teacher Ai refused to budge.

"I am a good person." Xu Huo’s expression was indifferent, his nonchalant attitude casting doubt on the truthfulness of his words, "Clearing the game is one thing, spreading the virus is another. If the live sample indeed carries the SE virus you speak of, I will dispose of the sample after clearing the game."

Teacher Ai was taken aback, "So the sample from the W19 Laboratory is indeed in your hands!"

Xu Huo did not deny it, and continued, "The Law Enforcement Team is now pursuing you. With your current state, it would be difficult to do anything. You’ve been holed up in W18 all these years, never expecting W37 to evolve into what it is today."

The strength of the players and the government’s cohesion are better than any other Base City. It won’t be easy to find loopholes, let alone act as a unified group.

What’s worse, a retired security guard is still under government surveillance. It’s not hard to imagine that W37 had long set their sights on him, causing Teacher Ai to be immediately surrounded upon appearing. Trapped from all sides, they were unable to move and were forced to choose setting off an explosion for a distraction.

Teacher Ai and the square-faced man fell silent. After a while, the former spoke, "I can tell you..."

"Teacher Ai!" The square-faced man interrupted him with a shout.

Teacher Ai raised his hand, "Many of our comrades who came to W37 some years ago are almost all dead now, we can no longer leave the city."

"What makes you so sure he’ll help us?" The square-faced man was not only challenging Xu Huo but sharply questioned, "Don’t forget our fallen comrades!"

Teacher Ai did not respond with anger but instead calmly said, "Do you have a better plan? If the infection in the quarantine is due to an original sample, W37 will soon be overrun."

The square-faced man’s mouth opened, but then he said, "What he says may not be true."

Xu Huo pulled out his cellphone and played a video he had casually recorded.

After watching the footage of the children scratching at their blemishes, the square-faced man’s expression changed from doubt to disappointment, and then to despair as he stood by silently.

Teacher Ai’s complexion wasn’t much better, and after calming his anger, he said, "The SE virus is the one that destroyed Base City 06 and many others... You inspected the bodies in the car, do you have specific data on the virus?"

"It’s confirmed to be the same as the one collected in W18," Xu Huo replied. "As for whether it’s the original sample you speak of, I’m not sure. You’ve seen the bodies too; they should be indiscernible with the naked eye."

"If the infection in the quarantine is due to another live sample, the rate of progression in the video is nearly identical to that of the original sample. Deaths will occur within 24 hours, and within 48 hours the entire Base City will be contaminated," Teacher Ai said. "Air, water sources, food, soil, everything within sight will become a medium for spreading."

Regarding the mediums of transmission, Xu Huo actually had a clue, but he hadn’t expected it to be related to a side quest in this way.

The countdown of 48 hours meant that before the virus completely spread through the city, players must take action. Although the side quest didn’t explicitly state what needed to be done, like the ones he encountered in Clown City, it required players to make subjective choices.

In the Dimensional Game, on the surface, it still adheres to universally accepted concepts of good and evil, so he should make a positive choice – that also aligns more with the significance of the countdown.

"Is there any way to stop the spread of the virus?" Xu Huo thought for a moment, then asked, "The SE virus didn’t just disappear without reason, did it?"

Teacher Ai looked at him with surprise, "It did indeed disappear on its own, as mass murder was not the primary purpose for which this virus was developed. The initial symptoms of the infection become less severe over time with the spread and batches of infections."

"The wider the infection spreads and the more people who are infected in succession, the weaker the virus becomes, which is why some were able to survive at the end."

The outbreak in Base City 06 was unusual from the start, so it was not surprising that the virus was artificially created rather than by chance, but not for the purpose of killing... Xu Huo thought of the children born to the infected.

"This is a genetic virus?"

Painful expressions appeared on both Teacher Ai and the square-faced man, the former said, "Correct, the SE virus is a genetic virus, originating from Base City 01. It was initially developed to weaken the power of other Base Cities... For such an absurd reason, so many died, and the descendants of the infected, due to genetic damage, would not evolve anymore, ruining the future of the entire Base Station..."

Upon hearing the last sentence, Xu Huo was first skeptical, "Are you sure the SE virus can destroy Evolutionary genes?"

This conflicted with his speculations about W37. Given Gao Xiaoyan’s performance and Base City’s relaxed attitude towards dungeon players, it seemed unlikely that the Base City authorities were unaware. Whatever their intentions, it was improbable that the Base City’s leadership would be foolish enough to risk their future potential.

Moreover, he did not believe that the SE virus indeed had the lethal power to destroy the Evolutionary genes. Those who were initially infected had mostly died out, with few survivors, and even fewer children, which was not enough to support the conclusion that "no Evolvers will appear again."

"I have reviewed the experimental data of the SE virus, and the experiment indeed achieved this result." Teacher Ai, weakened, supported himself against a nearby shelf and took a breath before continuing, "If the virus spreads in W37, players won’t be affected, but the ordinary people living in this city will die in a very short time. Then a large amount of the virus will be produced, which will contaminate other Base Cities through air and water flow, leading to a new round of infections until the virus weakens."

Xu Huo narrowed his eyes; as an engineer, he knew perhaps a bit too much.