by <unknown>
For example, the bionic technology that Chen Chen was zealously developing — replacing old organs was like replacing the parts of a machine. In this way, life could last longer.
If one were to be even more radical, one could also choose to keep the brain only and replace the entire body with machinery, so that the lifespan of human beings would be equal to the lifespan of the brain.
The lifespan of the brain alone was one hundred and fifty years. If this was combined with some special technology, the lifespan of the brain might be doubled a few times.
Nevertheless, although this method would easily allow people to live longer and further ensure the security of existence, it lacked part of the potential that all life should possess. Thus, unless civilization was at its end, Chen Chen would not regard this path as the main one.
The third and last path was the method of soul sublimation.
The rough idea of this path was: abandon the body and exist in the world in the form of a soul. Human beings would develop into a ubiquitous, yet incorporeal civilization.
It was just that modern science had not yet confirmed the existence of the soul, so this path was just an idea for now.
Chen Chen still remembered what Professor Wang Xi said: "We humans are still completely ignorant in the face of the boundless ocean of truth. Perhaps a distant, impossible dream like immortality is only the first step in the search for truth…"
It was this statement that sparked Chen Chen's desire for longevity.
Chen Chen came back to the present. Now, he was staring at a humanoid monster covered in black armor in the isolation room, whose head was like a winter melon. Chen Chen's expression was a probing one.
This monster had still been an ordinary human a day ago.
His name was Patton. He was once a murderer sentenced to life imprisonment. He was later purchased by Chen Chen and kept in the Delta-level experimental dormitory of the Spire Experimental Base.
Still, this Delta experiment subject started his journey mutation after being injected with five milliliters of black goo yesterday.
The experimental subject first showed pathological signs of flushing and fever, then hemorrhages all over the body, confusion, and finally a descent into a state of shock.
Within the body, the proteins of the experimental subject were rapidly converted into the prion protein of the black goo. At the same time, these prion proteins began to decompose the DNA of the experimental subject and combined with the DNA fragments, forming a retrovirus that only affected the experimental body itself.
After that, because of how the retrovirus functioned, the subject started to undergo violent physical mutations. During the mutation process, the subject developed an intense sense of hunger and any organic matter and protein were devoured as sustenance.
By this morning, the subject drifted between sleep and consciousness, then finally lost all rational thought and became an ugly monster with low intelligence and no humanity.
"The black goo promotes the forceful and rapid division of biological cells, greatly increases the mutation rate, produces all kinds of abnormal cells, and eventually produces a new organism…"
While he described the functions of the black goo, Chen Chen looked at the monster in the isolation room and sighed. "However, when the genes of the organism itself are altered in an instant, the combination of individual proteins, enzymes, and the DNA itself would cause tens of thousands of unpredictable results. Therefore, it's no surprise no matter what the experimental subject becomes, but… This appearance is really ugly…
"However, after being infected by the black goo, the test subject exhibits extremely high energy metabolism efficiency and cell division rate, both unprecedented in the human body."
Little X added. "Before the black goo was injected, the subject weighed 55 kg. After the black goo was injected, the subject spent five hours consuming food equal to his own weight. Only half of this amount was converted into useless urine and excrement that were discharged from the body. All the rest has been converted into the bodyweight of the subject."
Chen Chen looked at the report in his hand. Sure enough, the bodyweight after the mutation had now reached 80 kg, which was 25 kg more than before.
"This is probably why the alien grew so fast."
As he observed the enlarged test subject, Chen Chen pondered aloud. "In the movies, the aliens can often grow, in a few hours, from a small size into a beast that weighs hundreds of kilograms. Although the movies rarely show the aliens eating, it now appears that the aliens still need to eat, with a greater eating capacity than humans."
At this point, Chen Chen suddenly took two steps forward, walked to the window of the isolation room, and looked at the subject carefully.
As Chen Chen approached, the test subject in the isolation room suddenly burst out in a screech and immediately pounced toward Chen Chen!
"Bang!"
There was a loud impact as the test subject hit his head on the glass of the isolation room. A large amount of light yellow blood splattered on the glass.
"Intelligence is very low."
Little X sounded rueful. "And the blood isn't corrosive. Besides a head that's somewhat similar to the alien's, the experimental subject before us can only be regarded as an alternative zombie at best."
"That's to be expected. In the movie, the process of the aliens' birth requires the participation of the Engineers."
Chen Chen explained, "The alien exoskeleton has a mechanical aesthetic, which is derived from the exoskeleton structure worn by the Engineers. Later, in Alien: Covenant, there's a spore plant infected by the black goo. After the spores infect the human body, a white alien form without a mechanical-style exoskeleton will be born, which illustrates the problem.
"Thus, the acidic blood of the alien may also come from the Engineers."
With this in mind, Chen Chen snapped his fingers lightly. "Okay, let's dissect this monster into sections. I need a diagram of his organs and a gene map…"
"Understood."
…
This took a few more hours. When Chen Chen walked out of the laboratory, he heaved a long sigh.
To Chen Chen's disappointment, when the subject was completely dissected and sliced, Chen Chen did not find anything unusual. The subject did undergo genetic recombination, but after the recombination, it was just a savage beast without intelligence.
Even its brain structure had become much smaller and its plasticity was not as good as human's.
Still, Chen Chen knew that this was a normal phenomenon. Human beings could be regarded as the supreme product of the Earth, the only high-level life form. It was impossible for the black goo's mutation to make humans even better than before.
The only thing that surprised Chen Chen was that the test subject was originally a male, but when it was dissected, an immature reproductive organ was discovered in the body.
It was a cyst structure that existed in the lower abdomen. After opening it, he found that there were dense piles of larvae that looked like tadpoles.
Those tadpole-like larvae were fully transparent. Their biological structure was simple, but they were alive. They were first conceived in the cyst but would be released later at a critical time.
Looking at the structure of this cyst, Little X could roughly determine that when these tadpole-like larvae matured, they would be ejected through the belly button of the test subject before they penetrated their target's body as parasites.
This was how this new species reproduced — parasitic reproduction that was similar to the aliens, simple yet horrifying.
At present, it seemed that Chen Chen could forget about using the black goo to strengthen the human body. Drinking it would certainly be a fatal move. Its lethality was comparable to paraquat. However, if it was used to develop chemical weapons, that should be relatively easy.
Next, one of Chen Chen's research directions would be to combine the black goo with spore plants to form the kind of spores that c
ould parasitize the human body, as in the movie Alien: Covenant.
He wondered how David in the movie discovered this idea. After parasitizing the human body, the spores would not cause humans to mutate but instead form an embryo in the human body.
Following that, the embryo would grow silently, until it was able to break away from the human body. Then it would break out through the back or chest and grow into a white-skinned creature, like the alien.
Chen Chen had to admit that he still had a long way to go in terms of researching the black goo.
Even so, at present, it appeared that the reproduction method of the monsters produced by the black goo was parasitic reproduction. Even the perfect creature that was finally born — the Alien — was the same. This reproduction method reminded Chen Chen of a virus.
A virus called Golgotha or G-virus for short.
This virus was almost the same as the black goo. It could also mutate biological genes, resurrect the dead, and even give birth to a new species on the basis of infecting a life form.
It even earned itself a label: a "thoroughly evil substance" that went against God.
The crucial thing was that the G-virus was modified from the T-virus.
"I could try to combine the black goo with T-virus. Maybe there will be new discoveries…"
Chen Chen had a flash of inspiration and he started to muse in silence.
Chapter 276: G-Virus |
A few days later, when Chen Chen received the results, he went to the level-five biosafety laboratory again.
At this time, the Black Knight assistants were going through a complicated and tedious process, separating one conical-bottom centrifuge tube after another.
The centrifuge tubes were full of red liquid. This translucent liquid contained many fine and dense sediments.
This was the new substance formed by the combination of black goo and T-virus.
"Click!"
The screen behind Chen Chen turned on automatically, displaying a black and white image. At the same time, the voice of Little X rang out. "The process of combining the T-virus with black goo wasn't stable as it was affected by the dosage and the culture medium. In general, it'd produce unique variations in three directions.
"Ultimately, we obtained 87 new types of viruses. These are also filoviruses. After destroying those viruses with duplicate functions, I finally selected the three most representative types of viruses."
Chen Chen looked at the image when he heard this, only to see three pictures displayed side by side on the screen.
Each of the three pictures featured a special filamentous substance. As these were taken from an electron microscope, there was no color. One could only tell that the three filamentous substances were almost indistinguishable, just like three slender, hideous worms.
Nonetheless, these worms were less than one micron in length and less than a hundred nanometers thick. Their entire body was made of simple protein shells and RNA nucleic acids.
As he stared at these three special viruses, even Chen Chen felt a chill run down his spine. The T-virus itself had the power to threaten mankind in the first place. Now that it had been strengthened by the black goo, what sort of strength had it attained?
"After some experiments on animals, I've determined the properties of the three viruses.
"Of these three, the first virus has enhanced infectivity and can be transmitted through the air. Organisms that can be infected include almost all carbon-based life. After being infected, the same thing will happen as when one is infected with black goo. When the host dies, a new life will be born in the place of the host. Because there were too few experiments, it's still uncertain whether there's an immune group."
Following Little X's explanation, a mouse-like monster with a black shell and red eyes appeared on the screen. Ripples of red muscles could be seen in the cracks of the shell, which looked extremely sinister and terrifying.
"The second type isn't highly infectious and cannot be transmitted through the air, but it strengthens the virus' ability to mutate the host. After the host is infected, the degree of mutation is far more acute than the other two viruses."
Immediately afterward, the picture changed again and Chen Chen was greeted with a palm-sized monster with seven or eight pairs of fleshy feet on its abdomen. This monster did not have a black outer shell. Instead, all over its body were large and small eyeballs, meaningless organs, and swarms of tentacles.
It looked just like a pile of monster corpses piled up and fused to form an indescribable thing.
"Besides these two, there's the last type."
Little X continued. "The third virus isn't very capable of mutation nor is it extremely contagious, but it's indeed the most incredible of the three viruses."
Chen Chen's eyes lit up upon hearing these words. "In what way is it incredible?"
"You'll find out soon enough."
Little X kept Chen Chen in suspense. Following that, the screen flashed and another peculiar picture appeared.
The screen showed two pictures spliced together. On the left side was an ordinary-looking white mouse with big, shining eyes, looking endearingly at the screen.
On the right, the mouse was still standing, but it had become a monster about the size of a rabbit, with a black outer shell and red muscles.
"This…"
Chen Chen raised his eyebrows and realized what was off at a glance. "The biggest change in this third mouse seems to be its body size?"
"That's right. What's surprising is that although this mouse infected with the third virus has also eaten a lot, it only consumed about 50 grams of sustenance. Yet it has grown from 20 grams to a monster weighing 300 grams."
"You mean, its weight has increased by 260 grams out of thin air?"
Chen Chen looked up sharply as if he could not believe this.
"It's definitely true!"
Little X quickly explained, "It's true. I have all the video records here. Like the other experimental mice, it only ate twice its weight. The weight of the first two mice only increased from 20 grams to roughly 40 grams. Only this mouse practically broke the law of conservation of energy. Plus, all this happened within a few hours!"
"Then what's the reason?"
Chen Chen asked, "What caused it to increase in size?"
"After dissection, I discovered a special organ in the body of this little white mouse."
Little X replied, "This mouse's skin has a special absorption mechanism that directly absorbs moisture and even microorganisms from the air to replenish itself. Not only that, I've noticed a lot of high-energy covalent bonds in the mouse's blood. It seems that it's able to directly react with the nitrogen in the air to create a shell. Its weight could increase out of thin air probably due to these factors."
After hearing this, Chen Chen could not help looking flabbergasted. "Isn't this too implausible?"
"Not at all."
Little X explained, "Perhaps there are many factors we haven't yet discovered, but what can be confirmed is that the growth rate of the third mouse does exceed the material energy it takes in. This is beyond doubt. I think this holds the secret key to why the alien could grow up rapidly."
"Then let's focus on the second and third viruses."
Chen Chen nodded. "As for the infectiousness of the virus, I don't think there's a need for further research. Just seal off the first virus."
"Understood. I'll use the most stringent storage technology to seal the first virus."
Little X agreed. "Even so, should you give these three viruses a name?"
In response, Chen Chen simply pulled up the gene sequence diagrams of the three viruses and thought aloud, "These three viruses can be regarded as different subspecies of the same type of virus. They have an inextricable link to the T-virus, similar to the G-virus in Resident Evil. In that case, let's just call them G-viruses."
"Then these three types would be G-001, G-002, and G-003?" Little X asked.
"Nothing wrong with
that. I'll leave that up to you."
Chen Chen smiled, then turned and left. However, as he reached the door, he suddenly had a very preposterous thought…
G-virus, G-virus… Why was this new type of virus, synthesized from the black goo and T-virus, so similar to the G-virus in the game? No, one could even say that they were identical….
'Why did I have to name it G-virus? What was going through my head?'
Chen Chen could not help but narrow his eyes.
"Sir Godfather?"
Seeing that Chen Chen had halted in his steps, Little X called out instinctively.
Chen Chen did not answer, but took another step forward and disappeared outside the door of the laboratory.
Chapter 277: Brain-Machine Interface Technology |
After obtaining the holographic imaging technology, the bionic technology quickly broke through its previous bottleneck. In less than a month, a bionic prosthesis was sent to Chen Chen.
This gadget called a bionic prosthesis had no head, only extending up to the neck. Its overall appearance was masculine, only there was no genitalia. In addition, the torso and limbs were painted to be flesh-colored, with only the gaps between the joints revealing that this was not a normal human body.
As he stared at this gadget that looked like a sutured monster, Chen Chen could not help raising his eyebrows.
"This is the bionic prosthesis based on the integration of bionic and mechanical technology from many movies."
Little X explained, "The arms, spine, legs, internal organs — the bionic prosthesis can be divided into these four sections. The four sections are assembled to form a complete bionic prosthesis. When they are taken apart, they become separate bionic prostheses and artificial internal organs."
As Little X spoke, the Black Knights standing on both sides of the bionic prosthesis began to take it apart before their eyes, quickly dismantling it into eight pieces, then spent a few minutes to reassemble it.
"The bone structure of the bionic prosthesis is made of titanium alloy, the outer shell is made of elastic polyethylene to simulate muscle tissue, and the joints are constructed with normal-temperature superconductors. The Meissner effect induced within can perpetually maintain a gap of 0.5 mm between the bearings. This is a completely frictionless bearing technology."