Star Hunter.

Chapter 298 Infected

After putting on protective clothing, Xilin took his tools and stepped out of the aircraft.

As he expected, the robots simply couldn't do the job. If they could, a solution would have been found long ago. The Black Viper's many evolved robots are not just for show. But so far, there has been no significant progress. Some things still need to be done by humans themselves.

Watching Xilin leave, the gray cat raised its paw and then lowered its ears. It really wanted to kick Xilin unconscious and take him away from here. This place felt too strange and dangerous to it, and it had no way to help Xilin with the zebra virus.

It was quiet around, but if you listened carefully, you could hear explosions in the distance, and you could see tiny sparks on the horizon. The sparks indicated what kind of riot it was.

Xilin cautiously and slowly approached the location, observing the data detected by the instrument with each step. If there was any abnormality, Xilin would stop. But strangely, just like before, there was still nothing suspicious before reaching the location.

Xilin was very close to where the robot was standing, but the instrument display showed nothing special.

"Phew, how do you feel?" Xilin asked the gray cat.

Gray Cat shook his head. "I just feel really bad. I can't explain why, but I'm a little scared. I can't detect anything special, except for the zebra virus around us... No, the virus density in the air around here has increased! Xilin, don't move yet, I'll go take a look."

Be careful.

The gray cat lifted its foot and walked over there. When it stood next to the robot, it suddenly felt a chill run through its body, and all its fur stood on end.

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"Purr, what's wrong?" Xilin was very worried when he saw the gray cat like this.

"No...don't come any closer!"

The gray cat slowly infiltrated back, its movements now appearing incredibly difficult, unlike the effortless steps it had taken earlier. Even watching it made Xilin's bones ache.

After a long and difficult journey, Gray Cat finally retreated to Xilin's side and breathed a sigh of relief. "That place is too strange, Xilin, we'd better not go."

"Okay, let's go back first." Xilin knew that there was no need to rush, but it was good that he had discovered the strangeness of this place; at least it was progress.

Xilin was about to turn back when he suddenly stopped, staring blankly at his hand holding the instrument.

The gray cat shook its stiff fur vigorously. Hearing Xilin say it wanted to go back, it breathed a sigh of relief and tiptoed towards the flying vehicle. But after running a few steps, it found Xilin standing there staring blankly at his hands.

"Xilin, let's leave quickly, let's go back!"

Seeing that Xilin didn't answer and was still staring blankly at his hands, Gray Cat grew anxious. Could he have crashed like that robot?

"Xilin!!" the gray cat ran over and shouted.

Xilin finally looked away from his hands and at the gray cat.

"Snoring."

"What?"

"I've been infected."

"Infected?! What?!" The gray cat jumped high into the air. "What did you say?!"

"I've been infected."

"How is this possible? Weren't you wearing protective gear?" Gray Cat, as if to confirm, circled Xilin. He carefully examined Xilin's outer protective suit, finding no damage. The breathing mask, gas exchange tube, and the newly added internal virus filter were all intact. How could he be infected?! How could this be?!

"Protective suits are useless."

"You're lying! Gu Xin and that Mud guy said this is the latest protective suit. The Black Viper lunatics and those old guys from the Royal Academy of Sciences have all tested it! How could it not work! Xilin, don't lie, lying will turn you into shit!" Gray Cat really wanted to jump over and scratch Xilin's face with claw marks.

"I'm not lying to you." Xilin didn't turn back and sat down on the spot.

Just as Xilin was about to leave, he discovered that a substance had penetrated his protective suit, broken through his skin, and entered his body. Then, that familiar molecule began to slowly synthesize. The speed was not fast, but it was indeed synthesizing towards that familiar zebra molecular formula, and it was a primary mutant recognized by the Royal Academy of Sciences and the Black Viper research team.

Once the primary mutant was synthesized, it underwent a second modification, synthesizing another familiar molecular formula, which is the recognized intermediate mutant.

If it weren't for Xilin's unique physical characteristics, comparable to a computer, he really wouldn't have discovered this.

Xilin was really shocked. He hadn't expected that the so-called original virus was that thing.

"Hoo-hoo, I've found the virus source," Xilin said. His tone was calm and unhurried, revealing no emotional fluctuations caused by the infection.

The gray cat anxiously circled around, but when it heard Xilin say that the virus source had been found, its eyes lit up. According to the researchers from both sides, finding the virus source would allow them to solve the problem and develop antiviral drugs more quickly.

"What is it?! Where is it?" the gray cat asked hurriedly.

Xilin pressed an inconspicuous spot on the communicator on his wrist, which brought up a green screen. Xilin raised his hand and tapped on the screen with incredibly fast fingers. Most people couldn't even see Xilin's movements or the rapidly flashing characters on the screen, but Gray Cat could.

Following Xilin's new procedure, the gray cat's eyes changed, its pupils dilated to cover the entire eyeball, and the shimmering green light was very eerie in the darkness.

"I saw it!"

The gray cat projected what it saw onto Xilin.

The image has filtered out other organisms, and it's a supermicroscopic image. The image only shows some drifting specks of light, surrounded by other bands.

The bands are what's known as zebravirus, while the very few individual, free-floating specks are the unidentified substance in the molecular diagram that remains unclear. This unknown substance is the zebravirus origin that everyone has been searching for.

No one could have imagined that the original source of the virus was that unknown substance. Even Xilin was greatly shocked when he discovered the truth after being infected with this substance.

I have never seen a virus that is just a single substance; it is like a pure atom. But this atom is full of mysteries; its internal structure is uncertain, undefined, and indeterminate.

Even if such a substance is discovered, and the origin of the zebra virus is found, the subsequent challenges will likely be even greater. For researchers studying the zebra virus, it's like having stored up electricity for a long time, ready to unleash its full power upon discovering a target, only to find that the target is an insulator.

More importantly, this substance can penetrate protective clothing.

Xilin has reprogrammed a new set of procedures and detection methods for all sample collectors. Greycat will fully track these sample collectors and guide them to the correct detection methods.

Two hours later, Xilin received the results.

Apart from this location, there is no other free-state proto-material. This free-state proto-material is unstable and quickly attracts other necessary elements. The synthesis towards the stable state of the virus involves a relatively short period of time, going through "primary variants," "intermediate variants," and finally, the relatively stable "advanced variants." However, while advanced variants are relatively stable, this is only relative; they will undergo subsequent mutations depending on the different conditions within the host cell.

Because there are so many advanced variants of the virus, the relatively stable viral variants that follow intermediate variants are generally referred to as advanced variants.

"What are you going to do?" The gray cat looked at Xilin with a mournful expression, scratching the ground irritably with its paws. "I told you not to come, but you were so stubborn! What did you come for? Look. You're still infected with the virus. Even if your body is different from ordinary people, you're not Superman. Do you think you're really a robot...?"

The gray cat had been muttering incessantly since earlier, and Xilin hadn't responded. He sat there quietly, watching the data displayed on the screen.

After a while, Xilin stood up and walked towards the robot.

"What are you doing?! Don't go! Are you looking for death?!" The gray cat didn't care about anything else. Its body suddenly swelled up, and its appearance became fierce. Its long fangs opened, blocking Xilin's way.

Xilin sighed, walked over and stroked the gray cat's enlarged head, and said, "I'll go find out why and see if I can find a solution. If I go back like this, I'm really doomed."

The gray cat's big ears twitched, and its round eyes looked at Xilin hesitantly. "Are you serious?"

"Of course it's true! I don't want to die."

"I'll go with you!" As soon as he finished speaking, the gray cat shrank again, making it slightly more resistant to that place.

Xilin led the gray cat closer to that place, and because of the previous observation method, the gray cat showed Xilin the super-microscopic filtered image it saw.

The closer you get to that place, the more free-state protozoa there are. Without a doubt, this is the origin of the zebra virus.

Passing the robot standing there, Xilin walked towards the core point. The measuring instruments in his hand were no longer usable. This substance seemed to be able to affect the operation of machinery. It could be called a super virus. It could not only infect organisms, but also affect mechanical bodies.

The gray cat perched on Xilin's shoulder. The closer they got to the core area, the more difficult it became for the gray cat to move. Even as an organic being, it was significantly affected and could only rely on Xilin to move it.

In fact, Xilin was not completely unaffected. Because of the biochip embedded in the gene, although it was not a purely mechanical substance, it still had a feeling similar to that of a gray cat. This distance of less than fifty meters felt like running a 50,000-meter race with obstacles.

When they reached the core area, Xilin discovered a hidden basement. Given that this area was remote and heavily infected with the virus, few people came here, which explained why it hadn't been discovered yet.

He found the entrance, which wasn't large, just big enough for one person to pass through. After sliding down, Xilin put on his night-vision goggles. It was completely dark down there, without a single light. Xilin didn't dare use any lights, fearing there might be something that couldn't be exposed to light.

Some special departments in the military also have similar instructors during training, because their missions involve very special places, and there may be some substances that are easily decomposed by light. Non-toxic ones are fine, but some substances that are originally non-toxic become highly toxic after being decomposed by light.

Xilin didn't learn these skills from the military; he himself had created many substances that decomposed into highly toxic substances when exposed to light, even when he was still a Shadow Hunter.

Although Xilin is still wearing a protective suit, it is still more appropriate to use night vision equipment to avoid any abnormal events other than the presence of harmful gases.

As can be seen from the filtered images, there are more free pathogens here than outside, and the virus most likely leaked out from here.

If that's the case, could the zebra virus really have been created by humans? If so, then the person who created the zebra virus could truly be called a genius, just like that mad scientist, Hou Lei Hansen, who injected the chip into Xilin.

There are no traces of animal life here. The laboratory remains as it was before, but its equipment is not advanced, consisting mostly of instruments that have been phased out by the Royal Society.

Xilin discovered the owner of this place in a laboratory, but the person had been dead for a long time and had not decomposed much. People who die from zebra virus are like this and do not decompose quickly.

The man looked like a mummified corpse with zebra crossings drawn on it, and Xilin speculated that he was probably the first victim of the zebra virus, and also the first person to die from infection with the zebra virus.

The underground laboratory wasn't large, and Xilin quickly walked around it. No traces of the zebra virus production were found.

Several key machines had been damaged by the owner of the place, but they were only malfunctioning. Xilin was still able to read some information from these machines.

Gray Cat is out of sorts. Xilin can't rely on it. He took out a cylindrical instrument about the length of a finger, waved it over the damaged machine, and it stopped working right after reading the data; it could only go this far. The surrounding viral material was too strong; even if Xilin was curious, he couldn't look at the information immediately.

"Are you done yet?" The gray cat felt quite uncomfortable.

"Alright, let's go up and see what information is hidden inside these machines," Xilin said soothingly, stroking the gray cat's droopy ears.

There's one more place to check before we leave; that's where the original viral material escaped from.

The deceased person was sitting against the lab bench, holding a stick in his hand. The surrounding instruments were smashed with this stick. Because this person was infected with the zebra virus, he couldn't exert much force, which allowed the data on the machines to be completely recovered; otherwise, it would have taken much more effort.

The man lay there, staring at a spot—a wall. Xilin walked up to the wall, tapped on it to pinpoint a spot, and then used a knife to pry it open. He had barely made a crack when Xilin's vision went black and he collapsed to the ground.

"Xilin, Xilin, what's wrong?!" The gray cat raised its paw and patted Xilin.

It took Xilin a long time to recover. Just now, his vision was completely dark, and he couldn't see the scene shown through the night vision goggles at all.

Now that he had recovered, Xilin looked up at the wall. Looking through the opening where the knife had pried open, he saw only a broken bottle inside. As for what was inside the bottle…

Xilin rubbed his head, feeling very uncomfortable.

"Did the thing go inside your body?" the gray cat asked tremblingly.

Xilin tapped his head. "It seems so."

The gray cat wanted to cry.

Finally, Xilin shuffled out, one step at a time. He seemed to have lost his balance; his cerebellum was about to rebel, and his cerebrum was also showing signs of betrayal. The situation was not optimistic.

However, after leaving the underground laboratory, the gray cat jumped off Xilin's shoulder. Perhaps because the thing in the bottle had already moved to Xilin, the gray cat wasn't greatly affected.

After changing its size and swelling up, it carried Xilin and quickly ran to the aircraft. Whether or not it was sterilized or disinfected was irrelevant now, since it was already infected with zebra virus. Xilin went directly into the hatch, not through the sterile room.

Back in the aircraft, Xilin sat down in a chair, took out a few vials of medicine to inject, and then sat there quietly.

"Hey, Xilin, don't fall asleep, or you won't wake up!" The gray cat circled around the chair.

"Who told you that?"

"That's what everyone says!"

"Alright, I'm going to rest for a bit, don't bother me."

"You'll wake up when you fall asleep, won't you?"

"certainly."

"Lying will turn into poop."

"Hmm, turning into poop."

"..." The gray cat jumped onto the platform to the side, squatted there with its limbs bent, and stared at Xilin. After thinking for a moment, it ran to the communicator on the aircraft and contacted Guan Feng.

Guan Feng was in a meeting when an urgent report suddenly came in, throwing everyone at the Royal Academy of Sciences into a panic: the princess of the Flaming Eagle Foveg family had been diagnosed with zebra virus three hours earlier.

Previously, it was just a trivial matter within the eleventh star region, which they could delay, but now that it involves the three royal families, the people of the Royal Academy of Sciences can no longer shirk their responsibilities.

The president of the Royal Academy of Sciences urgently summoned all senior management personnel, telling them not to try to escape responsibility, regardless of what they were doing or where they were, and to come to the meeting immediately.

So Guan Feng reluctantly went back into the conference room and sat down. He just couldn't understand it. He knew absolutely nothing about the virus, so what was the point of sitting here listening to these people spouting nonsense about shirking responsibility? Before, they flaunted their academician titles everywhere, as if afraid others wouldn't know how virtuous and knowledgeable they were. But now they've become listless. They haven't come up with an effective solution in all this time. And yet they call themselves professional authorities, truly deserving of the title.

Guan Feng was just there to make up the numbers, so he didn't pretend to be patient and gentle anymore. He just sat there casually listening to these professionals ramble on, while wondering what was going on with that little bastard Xi Lin, who hadn't contacted him for so long.

Just then, Guan Feng's communicator rang. This time it wasn't a video or audio call, but a few lines of text: "Master Guan Feng, this is Hulu. Xilin has been infected with the zebra virus and is asleep now. He doesn't want me to disturb him."

When Guan Feng saw this line of text, his mind went blank for a moment, and he reflexively raised his hand to slam the table.

A loud slam on the table interrupted the righteous and eloquent speech of the President of the Royal Academy of Sciences once again!