Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 588 - 332: That’s Just Ridiculous

Chapter 588: Chapter 332: That’s Just Ridiculous

"Plan A can be summarized as ’shattering the immune system of Homo sapiens with various viruses, and then shattering the viruses using the body temperature of Benchmark Man’."

Theoretically, the whole process is very efficient and safe.

In practice, the second phase of the official plan, "Virus cocktail," also relies on this method for completion.

No matter how troublesome or dangerous the progression of those modified viruses at the end stage, they would all be resolved in one fell swoop.

Once foreign genes are inserted into human cell nuclei, some proteins that are more resistant to high temperatures are synthesized within the body. Initially, these enzymes are inactive due to the low temperature. However, as their numbers accumulate, they increase and form new complex reactions, gradually overshadowing the original enzyme system and supporting cellular life.

In this process, the heat produced by the body increases.

As the proportion of such cells in the human body gradually increases, the body temperature also continues to rise.

Though the viruses carry non-Earth-native gene segments, these do not partake in their vital activities. They must rely on the enzyme system of Earth-native organisms to complete their life cycle.

Even if Benchmark Man and Homo sapiens share a small part of the enzyme system, allowing a few viruses to survive, the excessively high body temperature makes it difficult for viruses to flourish.

The whole process is very safe.

Both Plan A and the second-phase ’Virus cocktail’ are very safe."

"Skin discomfort, loss of appetite, hair loss..." Yawgmoth said, "These are results of vigorously dividing cell tissues being mistakenly attacked by drugs. The virus, which is almost considered ’alive,’ can precisely target the immune system, avoiding collateral damage, but most drugs and radiation can’t do this."

Lu Xuanyu laughed and shook his head, "But the viruses in Plan A..."

"Apart from being considered ’unclean’ in popular perception, they are just a type of virus, albeit modified ones. The ’virus cocktail’ in phase two includes several prototype viruses that are even more lethal," Yawgmoth explained. "All viruses are born from nature. Attributes like ’clean’ and ’unclean’ are imposed upon them by human culture. And discriminating against chronic illnesses is wrong, isn’t it?"

Lu Xuanyu scratched his head, "It’s just...hard to get used to. And..." he gestured toward the lower half of his bed—the location normally occupied by legs—"I’ve been like this for a long time now."

"Ah?" Yawgmoth did not understand immediately.

"The first stage of this surgical process is ’destroying a person’s immune system.’" Lu Xuanyu said, "Plan A requires about five to nine months, whereas Plan B only needs twenty-one days."

Yawgmoth looked at Lu Xuanyu, "You mean... you want to get up earlier? But the end result is the same."

Lu Xuanyu shook his head, "Maybe I miss the feeling of moving freely too much... almost to the point of insanity." He pondered for a moment and said, "Your proudest achievement in life must be your academic accomplishments. One day, if you became like me, unable to understand the papers you wrote in the past, unable to conduct research, you would understand this irrational desire of mine."

Yawgmoth smiled, "You’re not stupid. You have better oratory skills than I do. Your English is more fluent than my Chinese. I’ve just devoted all my intellect to this project. If my brain were damaged, it would not just be a matter of ’unable to do research’."

Lu Xuanyu responded, "That’s what I mean."

"I sort of understand," Yawgmoth said.

"Also, living in this kind of room, enjoying these treatments, there’s a feeling of ’guilt’ inside me. ’No work, no food’ is a virtue." Lu Xuanyu closed his eyes, "I have a big competition coming up. The sooner I can stand, the sooner I will regain my form."

Yawgmoth nodded, "Although I don’t quite support that part about ’virtue.’ But indeed, this is a huge advantage of Plan B."

Lu Xuanyu nodded, "Indeed. Staying in an isolation ward for five months..."

"Mr. Xiang once advised me to give up on Plan A for that very reason," Yawgmoth looked up at the ceiling, "This technology is ultimately meant to benefit all of humanity. But the vast majority of people cannot afford to spend five months in an isolation ward. This would cause many families to go bankrupt. National finances wouldn’t be able to support it. Therefore, I started to develop research to accelerate the progression of chronic diseases..."

Lu Xuanyu felt sure he was breaking out in sweat, "Ah... that... usual medical research doesn’t involve ’accelerating the progression of diseases,’ right?"

Yawgmoth folded his arms and then nodded, "Right, which is why the UN Security Council came knocking on my door."

"Ah..." Lu Xuanyu found it hard to follow, "Mr. Xiang told me... that... it should have been an organization called ’Ethical Committee’... Is that the UN Security Council you’re talking about? The one from the United Nations? Why is that?"

"Because this research could be applied to many different types of infectious chronic diseases," Yawgmoth explained. "I started from the fundamental principles of viruses, hoping to find a way to accelerate the viral life cycle. As a result, the research can be applied to many different viruses. Perhaps the Ethical Committee thought this issue was too big to handle, so they reported it upward until it reached the UN Security Council."

"Why..."

"The UN representatives immediately shut down one of my labs, froze the project, and sealed the files. Their reason was that if they found a virus with a long incubation period, high lethality, and high transmissibility, they could use this method to control large populations to rapidly move towards death. This would become an unsolvable biological weapon. My preprint paper was withdrawn. They even planned to have the internet department take over, using download records to trace every scholar who downloaded the paper and pressure them to sign confidentiality agreements."

Yawgmoth pondered a moment, then added, "I really hope no heads of small national projects downloaded that paper—I genuinely hope that this technology is used purely for medical purposes. I overlooked its potential as a biological weapon."

When Yawgmoth said this, his expression was extremely solemn. Mr. Xiang later told him that a part of the population might have been silenced by the Council members just because they had seen the paper.

Lu Xuanyu was stunned.

He looked at Yawgmoth, speechless.

—Would his papers trigger local wars in decayed regions...?

He even felt like checking recent international news to see if there were any reports of biologists or heads of small nations being killed by "terrorist organizations" or "unidentified drone missiles."