Eh? You want to try the humanoid girl's iron fist too?

This seems like a good thing, but it depends on how you look at it.

Based on research on collapse radiation and ELID infections, the paper clearly states:

"People with this factor are more adapted to environments contaminated by collapse fluid than others. Unless exposed to high-intensity collapse radiation, the rate of mitosis and organelle irradiation of mutated cells will be slower than the rate of clearance by their own immune system. Eventually, all mutated cells in the body will be eliminated."

This description implies that immune individuals have undergone physiological changes, and their tissues and organs have fully adapted to the collapsed radiation zone.

Raphael quickly retrieved the paper in his mental space, skimmed through it twice, and immediately realized that a terrible inference awaited Tony:

"When he leaves the radiation-contaminated area, he is very likely to suffer from immune disorders and organ failure due to the lack of collapse radiation."

Given our current understanding of collapse and reverse collapse technologies, it is virtually impossible to solve the problem that happened to Tony Gagia.

In the conventional world, scientists often consider the stable state of matter to be the solid state. In the solid state, the molecular structure of matter is the most stable.

However, in the eyes of an unknown civilization, solid matter is not a good state of preservation. They understand the composition of matter as fluid, which makes their physical laws quite different from existing fundamental laws.

From the perspective of fundamental theoretical physics, the unknown civilization has achieved an astonishing level of control over microscopic particles—specifically manifested in the high degree of compression of matter in the macroscopic world.

The technology revealed by the ruins is a highly integrated complex system, and the report also points out the complexity of the technology.

Years of research have led archaeologists to make some generalizations about the technological systems used in archaeological sites, and the final conclusion is that archaeological techniques can be broadly categorized into "collapse techniques" and "reverse collapse techniques."

Simply put, it's about packaging a specific item into an "item.zip" file, and the reverse collapse technology is about decompressing the "item.zip" file into the item itself.

The use of collapse technology by unknown civilizations was so common that it has been reported in ruins around the world.

Similarly, according to the technical analysis and reports of those archaeologists—Raphael preferred to call them archaeologists, since all technology comes from archaeology—human research on archaeological technology stagnated for a long time, making it difficult for them to control even the most basic collapse techniques.

If we compare ancient technology to a gas cylinder, and humans to primitive people, then modern primitive people would only use the gas cylinder as an incomprehensible natural cannon, at most adding a tubular launcher and then launching it with gunpowder.

After all, primitive people could not understand that gas cylinders were just household items used by modern people to boil water and cook, let alone understand how to use them correctly.

It is worth noting that in the 70s, the USSR used collapse fluid to create a man-made, non-nuclear weapon of mass destruction.

The United States also developed similar weapons around the same time. The difference was that the Americans added identification elements to the container manufacturing process and used a sealed circumferential polarization device to make the collapsing liquid visible.

The collapse fluid itself is transparent, but the collapse radiation it releases will excite the identifier, causing it to emit a bright green light.

It was the same transparent container with double-layered tubular protection that Tony saw in Dr. Gordon's apartment.

With enough stimulation, a 50-milliliter volume of collapse fluid can be turned into a bomb.

According to the report, different technologies are used to display relics, and before the establishment of the Archaeological Service (SASS) in 92, research on relics in various countries was limited.

In fact, large-scale surveys of ruins began shortly after the end of World War II. However, the scientific capabilities at the time were insufficient to understand the key points of "collapse technology." For the next 40 years, even superpowers could only mechanically adapt it into inferior weapons.

Before advancements in microphysics, people didn't even realize that collapse technology as a weapon wasn't the most terrifying aspect. The real threat of this archaeologically derived technology lies in its alteration of the fundamental laws governing the world's operation.

While it may not yet threaten the foundations of human cognition and science, its impact is tangible and visible.

However, the prospects are equally vast.

Collapse technology has become a bridge between the macroscopic and microscopic worlds. Under this bridge, matter can be disassembled and reassembled in any form, and even transported over long distances, which was unimaginable in the past.

Even today, the disruptive impact of collapse technology on fundamental physics remains difficult to grasp. However, all of this pales in comparison to reverse collapse technology, which has completely surpassed the heights that current science can reach.

After thinking about so many things in the past and future, Raphael realized that humanity's understanding of collapse technology and collapse fluid has always remained at a rather rudimentary level, even though her understanding is also based on the understanding of "humans".

That was the worst possible news for Tony Gagia.

“Can you tell me how bad it is?” Tony asked, his breathing gradually calming down, and his mental state seemed to be recovering as well.

"very good."

Raphael paced back and forth in the room, glancing at the ceiling with a tentative look as she moved her fingers. “ARA might be helping your body, or it might be disrupting your balance.”

How could that be?

Volume 1: The World Before the Great War: Chapter 59 Unknown

"What are you talking about?" Doug asked. "Is that test tube dangerous?"

"Yes, it is very dangerous."

Raphael took out the Geiger counter, walked around Tony once, and then left the room where he was temporarily resting for half a minute.

She glanced at the blank white screen with dissatisfaction. Raphael walked in, seemingly oblivious to Tony's gaze as he faced the bustling, noisy street outside, and said:

“Tony Gargia, what do you think I’m worried about in this war? You might say: the invisible and intangible collapse radiation, the bullets that kill without blinking an eye… But I’m telling you—collapse radiation may very well become something indispensable to you. It won’t kill you, but you will die if you lose it.”

Raphael turned to the wary Doug and asked, "Do you know what archaeologists call people who are adapted to collapse radiation?"

“How should I know? I’m just a stock trader,” Doug Sutton said with a helpless expression.

"Well, although it's not certain yet, my intuition tells me that you should be one in a million lucky ones."

Tony was completely dumbfounded. After a long pause, he finally managed to utter a single word: "Huh?"

"Of course, you're unlucky too."

"Yes, I've been really unlucky."

Tony agreed with this assessment; how could he know that the transparent container emitting a beautiful, luminous green light was dangerous? No one had ever told them about these things; almost all their information about the collapse radiation and collapse fluid came from Raphael.

He had previously wondered why, as one of the first agents activated by the SHD National Strategic Bureau, he should be considered a core fighting force at the grassroots level, yet he had rarely heard of anything related to ruins and collapse technology.

Could this be a story Raphael made up? Could it be a tactic to get them to defect from the SHD Homeland Strategy Bureau? And so on.

But the medicine and detailed information the other party presented, along with the inhuman creatures that appeared in the Dark Zone of New York, reminded him that what the female naval lieutenant from DARPA said was absolutely right.

Besides, when Raphael saw off the civilian Ebo Kehler at the bridgehead earlier, the National Guard captain stationed there invited her to leave with him.

The greatest tragedy in life is having no value to be exploited.

Tony realized that the value he could offer couldn't be exchanged for anything with Raphael. To put it bluntly, lacking any usefulness, he was worthless in Raphael's eyes.

Only through equivalent exchange can one obtain reasonable assistance. Although it sounds cruel, this is the law of society.

It is often said that "birds of a feather flock together," and this is indeed true during our school days—top students play with top students, and struggling students play with struggling students.

Even in the market, if you can't offer enough value, no one will do business with you.

After all, who would do something that loses money?

Isn't it true that everyone in the world is driven by profit?

Tony licked his dry lips, looked up at Raphael with seriousness, and said in an extremely earnest and respectful tone, "Based on what you know, Lieutenant, what might be my final fate?"

"The best outcome is that you survive, and the worst outcome is that you are sent to the dissection table or become one of those roaming monsters outside."

Raphael added with a mocking expression:

"I don't know what effect the ARA anti-radiation drug will have on your body. It may accelerate your radiation assimilation process, or it may reverse your tendency to become a normal person. Which direction it takes depends on whether you are favored by the goddess of fate."

She turned her head and said in a slightly lower voice, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have taken out the medicine. I really wanted to get the supplies from the airdrop."

“It was my decision to administer the medication to Tony, it’s none of your business,” Doug Sutton said.

"Don't rush to take responsibility, you guys. I'm not dead yet!"

Tony was both amused and exasperated. He slowly stood up from the ground, and the strange feeling in his body made him reaffirm the correctness of Raphael's account and the information about the collapse technology and collapse fluid.

"If I am an adaptor, does that mean I won't become like the thing outside?" he asked seriously.

"Maybe, but not necessarily. I can't give you the answer you're looking for."

Raphael unconsciously twirled a strand of hair that fell beside her ear with her fingers. She was merely a relayer; it was already quite good that she could understand the papers published by scientists (archaeologists) and apply them to the right situations.

More importantly, people nowadays haven't...

There are no actual cases of "exempted persons" being seen, and therefore no corresponding research.

Although there are similar plans, they all fall under the category of genetic engineering. Raphael thought for a moment and remembered that there had been a plan thirty years ago to recreate "GIRUL".

After a series of clumsy studies and experiments on archaeological techniques by the US and the Soviet Union that resulted in accidents, the world recovered from its astonishment at the technology and realized with alarm that it was extremely difficult to analyze the overall technology of archaeological sites using current scientific theories.

This directly led to a growing aversion to the "indirect contact" method of studying unknown civilizations.

In the North Lan Island ruins discovered in the 1990s, researchers found the remains of an unknown life form that were almost completely intact.

It is believed to be one of the intelligent entities that created the ruins of civilization. Based on its attire, this life form is thought to be a guardian of the unknown civilization's ruins.

Therefore, the only sample was named "GIRUL-尉".

After GIRUL was properly preserved, North Lan Island, which had no other useful research value and was located 67 meters underground, was quickly sealed off after the rescue excavation work was completed.

Twelve years later, due to the needs of urban development, the entrance to the Beilan Island ruins was completely buried and blocked, and new buildings sprang up on the ruins.

GIRUL was then forgotten for 30 years until research on GIRUL resumed after the establishment of the UNESCO World Heritage Scientific Office in 92.

However, the restart work seems to be going poorly. Raphael thought it was absolutely true that the way to destroy an alliance is to keep stuffing people into it; it was precisely because there were so many participants that GIRUL's restart research plan had been delayed.

According to records, the plan was chaotic and lacked leadership from the outset. In addition to political and higher-level considerations, biological experts within the Science Agency were also divided into two factions.

One faction emphasizes that the GIRUL project is the key to restarting the ruins, advocating for a thorough study and technological replication of the ruins after activation;

The other group advocates halting the excavation of the ruins and investing the main funds and research projects in the humanization of the embryonic body, using this as a bridge to understand the dangers of the unknown civilization.

In an era of constant international instability, the latter view has gained widespread acceptance, and the humanized embryo culture project spurred by the GIRUL gene has been launched.

However, Raphael was also unaware of the project's success or failure, and DARPA's information ended there. Lacking subsequent reports and data, she had no way of knowing what abilities the collapse radiation adaptees actually possessed.

This also prevented her from telling Tony Gagia whether he had a future.

PS: (。?＿?。) I'm sorry~, the update is late.

Book 1: The World Before the Great War: Chapter 60 The Decision

In fact, it is not difficult to modify the genes of an embryo, but because the embryos induced by the insertion of the GIRUL gene have an extremely high mortality rate, only two cases survived.

To ensure the integrity of the genetic chromosomes, all embryos were female. Depending on the egg, the two surviving cases showed physical differences between Caucasians and Mongoloids.

Among them, women with Caucasian physical characteristics have white hair due to a genetic defect; women with Mongoloid physical characteristics have normal hair color, which is ordinary black.

Furthermore, both subjects were indistinguishable from ordinary humans during their infancy.

Based on this unusual phenomenon, the research institute named the observation project "Black Lily and White Rose" and the twin sisters "Lily" and "Rose".

The subjects grew rapidly. Due to their metabolism being much faster than that of ordinary humans, they showed physical characteristics of a normal human around 14 years old by the age of 7.

This means that the GIRUL gene is fully expressed during development. Upon reaching this conclusion, those in the know and project participants erupted in celebration, as this path might be a shortcut to the finish line.

However, by the 15th year of the program, according to various tests, apart from having slightly higher muscle attachment strength and prefrontal cortex activity than ordinary people of the same age, Lily and Rose did not show any other particularly unusual features.

When testing whether the observed objects could affect the ruins, no actual interaction was found between the ruins materials or remaining equipment.

After 20 years of observation, the GIRUL reconstruction project has essentially failed, leading to growing calls for a direct re-examination of the ruins.