This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 627: This Bad Idea Might Actually Work

Chapter 627: Chapter 627: This Bad Idea Might Actually Work

[

ID: Chu Guang

Gene Sequence: Manager (Phase Six)

Level: LV.40→LV.50

——Basic Attributes——

Strength: 45→60 (+15)

Agility: 35→45 (+10)

Constitution: 40→50 (+10)

Perception: 39→50 (+11)

Intelligence: 40→53 (+13)

]

[

Talents: 1. Wild Instinct: In extreme situations, Wild Instinct can be invoked, temporarily boosting all attributes by 10~15% and increasing fatigue accumulation by 20~30%.

2. Mind Intimidation: Can produce a psychological pressure effect on life forms with a complete mind that are weaker than oneself, weakening their resistance and will.

3. Swarm Mentality: Can share 3~15% of intelligence attribute with life forms possessing a complete mind that are weaker than oneself, providing them with inspiration and increased thought speed. This effect is influenced by distance, number of individuals, receptivity, etc., with a maximum range of 10m.

4. Call For Victory: Vocal cords vibrate at a special frequency, infusing shouts with courage, inspiring listeners with an unbeatable determination.

5. "Unable to parse." (New)

]

Shelter No. 404, medical room.

Sitting on the scanning bed, Chu Guang looked at the blade he had twisted into a pretzel shape in disbelief.

He had just returned to the refuge from West State City the night before and had not been lying down long before he had a vague dream, waking up in sweat.

As usual, he assigned the task of washing the sheets to Xiao Qi and immediately contacted Heya to schedule a medical examination.

As expected, his Gene Sequence development had once again made a breakthrough!

To be honest, Chu Guang understood his own body’s conditions, but he hadn’t imagined that they were already so exaggerated that he could twist a blade into a pretzel with his bare hands.

There was a small cut in the palm of his hand from where the skin had been sliced open by the blade, and although the blood on the blade had not yet dried, the cut was already nearly invisible.

It wasn’t just strength.

From the keratinocytes on the surface of his skin to the capillaries and muscle tissues just beneath the dermal layer, and even the internal organs and bones, everything was developing in a direction beyond that of normal humans.

Even though there were no significant changes in the macro structure or outline of his body, in actuality, it had already been replaced with something else.

In Heya’s words, the DNA of the average person usually has only 2% active expression, which is essentially the limit of what the human organism can tolerate.

However, his DNA was designed meticulously, and the selective expression ratio within the entire gene library had already reached 4%, or even higher!

An inappropriate but vivid analogy would be, average people are like privately-owned cars that can be bought from the market, all with four wheels and an engine, performances vary according to the brand and type, but running on the highway is certainly not an issue.

Awakeners, on the other hand, are like F1 racing cars. Although they also have four wheels and an engine, anyone can see that they are a completely different matter from ordinary cars. Even if it could run on a highway, no one would license it.

And Chu Guang’s situation was even more exaggerated.

His F1’s engine was not an ordinary gasoline engine, but four plasma nozzles plus a controllable fusion engine! Others use wheels to run on the highways, while he was practically flying close to the ground!

This was no longer even a car, but had completely become something else.

But it was indeed the case.

The 1.1-ton power armor felt like putting on a down jacket to him.

While others relied on the energy provided by nuclear fusion batteries to power their armor, he was able to move freely in power armor relying solely on his physical strength.

Chu Guang figured if he physically went back to his original world, he would most likely be studied as an alien.

Well, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with that.

After all, just by looking at this exaggerated Attribute Panel, he felt that there was indeed no difference between himself and an alien.

A normal person’s basic strength value is 5, the force of a punch is about 50 kilograms, and his Strength Attribute is 60—is that 12 times, which is 600 kilograms?

Of course, this is just the force of the punch.

According to the momentum formula, the actual force produced by a common person hitting a target could be about 1~2 times that number, while a trained individual could reach 3~5 times.

In other words—

Based on rough calculations, could he punch with the impact force of a ton?!

At this thought, Chu Guang suddenly became interested and wanted to try out just how powerful a punch he could deliver at full strength.

However, he’d barely clenched his fist when an urgent cough interrupted him.

"Don’t mess around."

Looking at Heya, who was warily glaring at him, Chu Guang slightly startled, then smiled awkwardly and loosened his tight fist.

"I was just a bit curious."

"Curious about how many minutes it would take to demolish my lab?"

Heya made a helpless expression and continued.

"I can tell you directly that the result is pretty much the same as getting hit by a truck, it’s not just ’twelve times the strength’ that simple; your muscle fibers and bones have actually become another kind of ’material’. However, I still advise you not to actually pick a fight with a truck. Even if you really want to test it, you might as well install a titanium alloy skeleton or something first. No matter how unbelievably hard your bones are, they are still bones, after all."

"I’m not that idle... By the way, what is that ’Unresolved’ at the last line?" Chu Guang suddenly noticed the last line of the Attribute Panel and turned to Heya to ask.

Knowing that Chu Guang would ask this, Heya casually pulled over a chair, sat opposite him, and flicked her index finger, pushing the holographic image in front of him.

The DNA helix unfolded, and blue labels listing the selected expressed gene segments, the resultant messenger RNAs transcribed, and the chain of proteins formed through ribosomal processing appeared.

Although the entire biological process was presented very visually in this report, Chu Guang still found it confusing and didn’t understand any of it.

Obviously aware that this was beyond his scope of knowledge, Heya didn’t beat around the bush and explained succinctly.

"’Unresolved’ means just that – your body has undergone some changes, beginning to synthesize some proteins I’ve never seen and am unsure of the specific functions. I don’t want to start giving you a lecture from the basic concept of ’how genes affect biological traits’; in short, you can think of it like this... A human body is like a construction site, and on your site there are some oddly shaped bricks being used to build a structure that I can’t comprehend the function of."

"There’s no precedent in the refuge’s database, so I can’t speculate on the possible outcomes of these changes based on existing samples. We can only observe for a while to see what happens."

Chu Guang was a bit surprised.

"So it’s an enhancement that even you can’t identify?"

"That’s perfectly normal; I’m a researcher, not a prophet. But don’t be so sure it’s definitely an ’enhancement’."

Heya suddenly curved her lips playfully, leaning in a little closer with a mischief-filled smile, "What if it’s some kind of genetic disease? For instance, if you suddenly grew two heads on your shoulders, that’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility."

Although the likelihood of that was not high.

After such a long time of research, Heya was able to determine that his genes were not naturally formed but seemed to be designed using a body of knowledge that was alien to her.

This was true for most of the residents of the refuge.

Their very existence was of "Singularity level" technology, with at least one foot stepping beyond the realm of common understanding.

However, her intention was merely to scare this guy a little, so he wouldn’t recklessly depend on his robust physique and dismiss the importance of his own safety.

Unfortunately, to her disappointment, Chu Guang clearly wasn’t scared and just chuckled at the ambiguous statement.

"If it were really that sort of thing, you wouldn’t inform me with a tone that seems like you’re joking."

Heya, leaning back in her chair, listlessly twisted her mouth.

"That’s true, I should prepare the tone for a terminal diagnosis next time."

Chu Guang smiled.

"So, we still need to observe to see what that change specifically is, right?"

Heya nodded and said bluntly.

"Yes, I suggest increasing the frequency of physical examinations from once every seven days to once every three days, and every two days if possible. Frankly, I am very interested in the changes happening to your body, and being able to observe the entire process of physiological changes within you could greatly benefit the research I’m conducting."

Feeling somewhat uncomfortable under that intense gaze, Chu Guang coughed lightly and waved his index finger, switching off the semi-transparent holographic screen and fastening the buttons on his shirt.

"Let’s wait until after the Tide passes. I’ll consider it then, but I’m afraid I won’t have much time to spare recently."

Looking at Chu Guang as he rose from the scanning bed, Heya suddenly remembered something and began to speak.

"Right, speaking of the Tide, there’s something I need to discuss with you."

Seeing Heya’s serious expression, Chu Guang also dropped the smiles from his face and became earnest.

"What is it?"

"Xiya."

Hearing this unfamiliar name, Chu Guang slightly furrowed his brows.

"Xiya?"

Heya nodded and continued with a serious tone.

"A new lair has appeared in the city center. According to the clues provided by Xiaoyu, it seems to be called Xiya. Our researchers collected spore samples active in Qingquan City and discovered a mutated strain that is different from before."

"Mutated strain?" Chu Guang was stunned. "Haven’t there been Tides in previous years?"

Heya patiently explained.

"Of course there have been Tides every year. The Tide itself is a way for the ’Mutated slime fungus’ to expand their population, and they also undergo new evolutions in this process. However, this year is different from previous ones."

Chu Guang remained silent, waiting for her to continue.

Heya paused for a moment, trying to explain in layman’s terms that he could understand.

"According to the data I collected from Giant Stone City, although the ’Mutated slime fungus’ would undergo group evolution during the Tide in previous years, it typically evolved in the direction of rapid reproduction, rapid healing, and tougher armor."

Gradually sensing something was amiss, Chu Guang cautiously asked.

"What about this year?"

"This year it’s fire resistance."

Holy shit?!

Chu Guang was immediately shocked.

"Fire resistance?!"

Looking at Chu Guang’s astonished expression, Heya gently nodded.

"As far-fetched as it sounds, according to our observations, it is so."

"Isn’t it... could there be carbon-based organisms that fire can’t kill?"

"It’s not that they can’t be killed by fire, but rather, this new type of ’Mutated slime fungus’ releases spores that exhibit physiological traits not seen before. For instance, when exposed to unbearable high temperatures, the large molecular carbon chains inside the spore’s vesicle would rapidly combine with surrounding oxygen molecules under the catalyst’s effect, swelling quickly in volume until the vesicle bursts, releasing large amounts of carbon dioxide."

"After this process is completed, the spores will die rapidly, but the oxygen in the area will also be rapidly depleted. According to simulations by the Biological Institute, under standard atmospheric pressure, when the spore concentration index reaches 500, it can reduce the oxygen content in the area from 20.95% to 10.1% within half a minute, and the only cost is consuming 80% of themselves. If the spore concentration index reaches 800, it only takes ten seconds to complete this process."

"Furthermore, most conventional combustion processes consume oxygen themselves, and the release of spores by the mucosal entities is a continuous process, which will further reduce the oxygen content in the area and thereby weaken or even completely stop the ongoing redox reactions."

Most combustible materials will extinguish if the oxygen content drops below 14% after ignition.

If these mutant spores can really drop the oxygen level to 10.1%, the impact could extend beyond incendiary bombs, possibly even stalling some synthetic oil engines and generators.

Fortunately, the minimum oxygen content for hydrogen combustion is 5.9%; otherwise, the Alliance’s air cells running on hydrogen might also suffer.

Chu Guang’s face finally changed.

In preparation for this Tide, the Alliance had amassed nearly a thousand tons of incendiary bombs and almost three hundred thousand tons of fuel for making napalm.

And now his researchers were telling him it might all be useless?!

"Do mucosal entities not need to breathe?"

Heya said with a grave expression.

"That’s precisely what perplexes me. If those slime fungi create a vast ’anoxic zone’ within Qingquan City, it would evidently affect their own life processes. I can only speculate that the offspring produced by the new breed lair are more tolerant of anoxic environments, after all... they originally came from heaven."

Chu Guang fell silent for a moment, his index finger pressing against his brow.

"Being able to identify problems in advance is always good... I don’t believe that there are creatures without weaknesses in this world."

"I think the same as you. Perhaps the incendiary bombs won’t perform as pessimistically in real combat as the projections suggest, and besides, we are thinking of other solutions... You didn’t just prepare incendiary bombs, did you?" Heya asked worriedly as she looked at Chu Guang.

"That’s not the case. We wouldn’t place all our hopes for victory on a single weapon," Chu Guang shook his head and sighed, "But to be honest, incendiary bombs have an irreplaceable role in the fight against the ’Mutated slime fungus.’ They have the best cost-effectiveness ratio and can clear a large number of corpses. If the incendiary bombs can’t achieve their expected effect, the war will be tougher than anticipated."

Was it because incendiary bombs were used too often?

It seemed that was indeed the case.

Previously, when Giant Stone City was dealing with the Tide, they consistently used the tactic of incendiary bombs carpet bombing and mercenaries rushing in to dismantle things.

The Alliance had done the same thing when facing the Tide before, even purchasing a few more efficient heavy-hitters from Giant Stone City.

Chu Guang couldn’t help falling into deep thought.

If those slime mold continued to reproduce, they would become a larger problem sooner or later.

"We need to permanently solve the threat at the center of Qingquan City."

Just then, an idea suddenly struck him, and he spoke up.

"What if we have the lairs consume each other?"

This wasn’t an idea he came up with; he had seen such discussions on the Forum before. Some players even encouraged Falling Feather to take Xiaoyu out to see if it could devour the opposition.

He remembered Heya once saying there was "intra-species strife" among the mutated slime fungi. Mucosal entities from different beehive consciousness would attack and even devour each other to compete for sunlight, land, and organic material.

At Chu Guang’s question, Heya blinked in surprise.

"Having the lairs consume each other... well, that’s not impossible. Theoretically, mutated slime fungi with significant DNA differences can consume each other, and that’s one of their ways of acquiring genetic information and strengthening themselves. It’s just that there’s no precedent for a lair consuming another lair."

It wasn’t just the Alliance that hadn’t encountered such a precedent; even enterprises with tentacles stretching across the entire eastern part of the Central Continent hadn’t come across it.

Because the Alliance and these enterprises had signed a research agreement regarding the mutated slime fungi, the data and research findings on mutated slime fungi observed by the enterprises and their allies over the past two hundred years were basically open to the Alliance. However, after combing through all the records, she hadn’t found any cases as extreme as this.

And the most critical aspect was that Xiaoyu’s main body was on Floor B6 of the shelter, which filled the entire engine room. It couldn’t even pass through the engine room doors, let alone use the elevator.

In the future, it might even merge with the entire Floor B6.

How could they make it consume another?

Letting that "Xiya" into the shelter was even more unrealistic—any slight mishap could make the entire shelter repeat the history of Floor B6.

Watching the stunned Heya, Chu Guang’s eyes flickered slightly as he continued.

"What if we have residents of the refuge who carry biological prostheses voluntarily inject their biological parts into the body or the lair?"

If by this method they could directly eradicate the lair, he would even consider stuffing players into artillery shells to perform a "surgical strike" on the lair.

Of course, this wasn’t targeting the newly born mother body.

It was aimed at the lair in the city center!

Although it seemed a bit unkind, after just getting through a winter and spawning a big batch of "little lives," that thing should be pretty weakened, right?

There couldn’t be a more suitable opportunity than now!

Heya opened her mouth, and after a long pause, she finally squeezed out a sentence with a peculiar expression.

"This... whose idea is this?"

Chu Guang sighed.

"Is it not feasible?"

"No..." Heya shook her head, her expression subtly shifting as she said, "On the contrary, I think this rotten idea might just work."

Chu Guang: "!!!"

Holy shit?

It might actually work?!

-

(Thank you to "Cold Night Is Not Over" and "Tang Yi" for the leader’s rewards!!! In a few hours, it’ll be 2023, wishing everyone a lucky Year of the Rabbit!!)

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