Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 773 - 19 The Beginning of the Journey

Chapter 773: Chapter 19 The Beginning of the Journey

By the side of the small landscape trees made up of genetically modified plants, Jeanne took over the decision-making power.

According to Tumor Xiang Shan, the black hand behind his creation must have an agenda. His tumor was clearly no accident but a designed product.

"Why?" That was what Jeanne had asked at the time.

"Because your neurons have all turned out this way, and most of the commonly used Restoring Enzymes are still effective on them—the membrane receptors that combine with Restoring Enzymes and activate the downstream pathways are all originally expressed on these completely new differentiation results." Tumor Xiang Shan said, "For the same neural mutation, Evolu cells have become very insensitive to Restoring Enzymes due to receptor mutation. It could be said that the majority of Restoring Enzymes used by humans for practicing Inner Strength cannot be absorbed by Evolu cells. But it’s the opposite in my case. It’s hard to believe that this is the result of a random mutation—I think that there’s at least a ninety percent chance that it’s a ’designed product’."

"Why?" Jeanne felt incredulous.

Tumor Xiang Shan said, "Perhaps it’s so that the neural network structure inside this tumor can be adjusted at any time, making this tumor more closely resemble the neural network of Xiang Shan. Or it could be in order to leave the possibility for the tumor to practice Inner Strength—if the latter is true, that would be good news for you, wouldn’t it?"

"Ah?"

"If it’s the former assumption, that means there’s no longer a ’Restoring Enzyme that’s effective on me but not on you.’

Jeanne paused, then leapt up, "What are you saying?"

"The ’absorption of Restoring Enzymes’ relies on receptors." Tumor Xiang Shan explained, "If there’s a receptor that only exists on my modified neurons, then it’s very possible that the ’designer’ behind this also created a corresponding Restoring Enzyme that can be absorbed only by my cells and not by yours."

"Under Yawgmoth’s theoretical framework, customizing receptors and macromolecules is just a process that consumes computational resources, and conducting transgenic operations on living organisms is fool’s work. If a mysterious power can mess with your brain under Old Dog Hartman’s nose, then they are fully capable of custom-tailoring a special Restoring Enzyme. They have the resources. ’Making the tumor like Xiang Shan’ could use specialized Restoring Enzymes. That would be a little more concealed."

"In that case, leaving the receptors corresponding to the general Restoring Enzymes is simply to allow the tumor to easily obtain the resources for practicing Inner Strength."

Jeanne immediately understood, "That is to say, if these receptors were left solely for your birth... then they would have to risk me detecting it prematurely, frequently using conventional Restoring Enzymes on me, meaning there’s no ’custom-made Restoring Enzyme’ at all?"

"Yes," Tumor Xiang Shan nodded, "which is why I said, ’the latter would be good news for you.’"

Jeanne stood up, excitedly spinning in place, "Then, analyzing the receptors on your neuronal cells..."

"That’s not necessarily possible, Jeanne." Xiang Shan sighed, "With my limited knowledge, all I can do is offer you this analogy. A series of substances, including Restoring Enzymes, are like ’a key with a component attached.’ You can use the key to open a locked shell of a machine and then embed the component, activating the hidden function of the machine."

"One lock may correspond to several keys, and one key may open several locks—of course, high specificity where ’one key corresponds to only one lock and that lock can only be opened by this key’ does exist. Moreover, various different components can be attached to a key."

"Analyzing my cells would be like finding a bunch of locks. You could deduce many keys from them, and these keys can then have more parts attached to them—this is entirely different from the difficulty of ’directly designing a key, a lock, and then attaching a specific part.’

Jeanne felt somewhat disheartened, "So, there’s no hope, is there..."

"For the current Scientific Knight Order, such resources are not too abundant," Tumor Xiang Shan said, "But at the same time, you also have to consider a fact, Jeanne—could the person who acted against you possibly come from the Scientific Knight Order?"

Jeanne’s Prosthetic Body even trembled uncontrollably. Intense emotions even overwhelmed the correction program.

"Correct... I haven’t heard of such technology. It’s theoretically possible, but there’s no practical need to develop it..."

If a rare disease almost never causes death and has a more than 99.99% chance of self-healing, then humanity generally wouldn’t be motivated to develop a cure for it. In such cases, it’s more effective to just eat well and boost the body’s functions than anything else.

Perhaps those on the fringes of the academic world might study the pathogenic mechanisms of such diseases. Knowing the reasons, theoretically, a cure could be developed quite quickly. However, that cure might forever remain just "theoretically quick to develop."

Of course, things are different now.

The Scientific Knight Order controls more resources. And academic achievements decide the promotions within the knights.

For the sake of papers, they can come up with any sort of project.

If you were to ask who in the Solar System could pull off such technological achievements, the Scientific Knight Order would undoubtedly be the prime suspect. The other suspects would either have the ability to understand and steal their databases, or be part of a secret organization that includes some Scientific Knights.

It’s a lead.

"Firstly... we should pray that the papers haven’t been stolen by the Heroes... Official academic paper downloads are always tracked. If the Heroes’ public resources don’t have relevant content... The download records of the relevant papers could become a lead... "

"No, if the related technical details were privately developed by individual members of the Scientific Knight Order, then that information might never appear in the database of the Order..."

"The doctors in the initial training camp were all trained by the Scientific Knight Order... Should we start with this lead?"

Jeanne mimicked Xiang Shan’s way of thinking, sorting through the numerous threads of thought.

Tumor Xiang Shan reminded her, "Outside of the Scientific Knight Order, there are also some people with professional skills."

"The Heroes might not come forward with resources to solve my personal problem, right..." Jeanne looked troubled, "they are at an absolute disadvantage when it comes to resources..."

"No, I’m not talking about Heroes." Xiang Shan shook his head, "Actually, the inheritance issue between the Sixth Martial God and the Seventh Martial God makes me feel that the current Heroes may not be entirely trustworthy. At least until my status is clarified, it’s best not to make contact with groups like the White Fleet Prosthetics Followers that are closely affiliated with the Seventh Martial God’s Legitimate Line."

Jeanne stared at Xiang Shan, "Should I do the opposite of this advice?"

Xiang Shan laughed heartily, "You decide for