by <unknown>
Blacklight Biotechnology and Blacklight virus immediately became a hot topic all over the globe.
Chapter 202: Resident Evil |
A month later.
The pandemic situation of the outside world did not hinder the progress of the Spire Experimental Base at all, which was built seven-hundred meters below the surface.
In the eighth-level of the experimental base where the level-4 biosafety lab was situated, Chen Chen was studying closely a clear image of the virus.
The gene mapping of the Blacklight virus had been researched thoroughly by Little X.
The RNA of the filovirus contained 1467 genes and 50 gene coding. The virus could also perform functions that were not discovered in other viruses such as RNA recoveries and the conversion of messenger RNA into proteins.
Typically, such information could allow for the commencement of vaccine production. However, common forms of vaccines, which were live attenuated vaccines and inactivated vaccines were unsuitable to be used against Ebola viruses.
On the other hand, if genetic engineering methods were to be considered, there already existed a routine method out there. The method required using adenoviruses or vesicular stomatitis viruses to swap out the proteins of BE-006 to restructure the virus.
Adenoviruses were a group of viruses that typically infected vertebrae. It possessed a viral affinity for the lymph gland and was incapable of killing its host. As a result, they made excellent candidates for such tasks.
It functioned like this - certain key elements of the adenoviruses would first be "deleted" and "paired along" with more dangerous viruses. The adenoviruses would behave like a small vehicle, "touring" the dangerous viruses around the body's immune system. This would allow the immune system to recognize the dangerous viruses and form antibodies against them.
When the true virus invaded the body, the immune system was then capable of mobilizing its armies to swiftly destroy the viruses.
However, to produce a vaccine of such manner would take at least three months even with the aid of the entire world. According to Little X's predictive analytics, Namibia would have descended into total anarchy by then.
The middle-to-bottom layers of the government were already dead by now.
If they were to wait for the vaccine to be released, Africa's death toll would have reached 300 million. Chen Chen's Eco Science City would also be gone by then. After all, it was difficult to erect defensive structures that could completely fend off an airborne virus.
In the past few days, riots had also ensued among the citizens.
In the beginning, the international relief teams were still distributing foods and different sorts of medical supplies to the citizens outside of Eco Science City. However, following the increasing death toll, many halted their operations in fear.
Disease, death, famine, and crimes ran rampantly around the country. The regions outside of Eco Science City had turned into a battleground where Death himself had descended upon.
Looking at the situation out there, Chen Chen and the international community were under immense pressure. Although things had not completely spiral out of control, Chen Chen was also aware that they were slowly running out of medical resources.
The staff of Eco Science City and Namibia's armies were consuming more than 20000 disposable protective suits on a daily basis. As the resources were becoming scarce, even the military personnel were beginning to show signs of infection.
It would not be long before the dominoes tiles eventually reached Eco Science City and crumbled under the intense pressure.
Hence, Chen Chen needed a quicker way to produce the virus vaccine and serum.
If it was not for Africa, it was also for himself…
Then, Chen Chen took a deep breath and said determinedly, "Little X, let the Black Knights of the nuclear power plant be on stand-by. I'm heading over there immediately."
"So, you've decided?" Little X replied.
"There's no other choice. If we don't come up with a vaccine fast enough, Africa will be gone and all my efforts and work along with it. It'll be the equivalent of wasting two years of my life."
Chen Chen followed the complex protocol of removing his protective suit and exited the Spire Experimental Base. He then put on a new set of protective suits before entering the lift that ascended to the surface.
After that, Cheng Cao drove Chen Chen to his nuclear power plant.
Meanwhile, the Black Knights had made all necessary preparations in the substation. They sealed the area around a computer, forming a negative pressure isolation room. To enter the room was easy but to exit the room, one would need to go through an even complex sanitization procedure.
Chen Chen did not enter the room, but instead took a turn into the main control room to retrieve his USB drive that had been left charging for a month.
The prolonged charging had once again restored the shiny glow to the USB drive.
Bringing the USB drive into the isolation room, Chen Chen plugged the USB drive into the computer and looked at the monitor screen.
He noticed the addition of a new movie appearing on the screen.
[Resident Evil.mp4]
Chen Chen had mixed feelings about this.
Today, Chen Chen no longer needed to make meticulous preparations just to obtain a few hundred grams of resources like he used to. Following the construction of the nuclear power plant, his ability to garner resources had increased tremendously. He had also unintentionally discovered a new feature of the USB drive.
A black hole that allowed him to travel into a movie-like world.
This black hole was not one that was similar to the real celestial object bearing the same name. Instead, it resembled more like a wormhole, more specifically the Schwarzschild wormhole.
Chen Chen had intended to travel into the world of Resident Evil 1.
In the real world, there were only two kinds of filoviruses, which were the Ebola virus and Marburg virus. However, while Chen Chen was contemplating the pandemic, he thought of the virus in this movie.
According to the movie's setting, the T-virus was also a form of filovirus.
Moreover, in the world of Resident Evil, biotechnology had been developed to its peak, becoming capable of producing a terrifying virus like the T-virus that could eradicate mankind.
If Chen Chen could retrieve information related to the T-virus or the world's technology from the Hive, it would be tremendously useful in researching the vaccine for BE-06.
Furthermore, Resident Evil was considered the only movie so far that featured sophisticated biotechnology.
In terms of the movie's communication of the biotechnological aspects as well as its story plot, other zombie movies trailed far behind.
Chen Chen was no longer hesitating and he immediately plucked the USB drive into the computer.
He opened up the USB drive folder and moved the cursor onto [Resident Evil.mp4] file. Chen Chen then hit the [ctrl+c] button and then hit the [ctrl+v] button in the USB drive.
Then, the loading bar immediately filled swiftly and the 2002 American-produced movie was then successfully copied into the USB drive.
With no further delay, Chen Chen double-clicked on the movie and his vision immediately turned into pitch black. When he finally recovered his senses, he saw a long black tunnel on the screen.
Like a black whirlpool, he could vaguely see the tunnel spinning in a counterclockwise rotation. Although the size of the tunnel appeared to be confined within the screen, it somehow provoked a feeling that it was a tunnel of unimaginable size.
The dimension between reality and Resident Evil had now been linked together...
Chapter 203: Entrance |
Just like the procedure before, Chen Chen first sent a Black Knight in a protective suit into the tunnel.
However, before the Black Knight entered, Chen Chen suddenly halted. "Hold on!"
Then, he retrieved a live BE-006 virus strain for the Black Knight and said, "Alright, if
there's any danger on the other side, immediately return to the tunnel. Otherwise, continue scouting around for an hour before returning. Do you understand?"
The Black Knight mechanically nodded and immediately crossed over the tunnel into an endless dark void.
Watching the Black Knight leave, Chen Chen did not let his guard down at all. It was because the tunnel was connected to the first movie of the Resident Evil series. According to the USB drive's logic, the tunnel should reach directly to the Hive on the other end.
However, Chen Chen was unsure at which timeline was the tunnel reaching. As a result, he stationed several dozens of armed Black Knight guarding at the entrance of the tunnel.
If any zombies and Lickers came charging from the other end of the tunnel, they would be greeted by hails of bullets.
To prevent the bullet from damaging the negative pressure isolation walls, Chen Chen had also installed some wooden barriers behind the computer.
Fortunately, it seemed like there were no dangers on the other end. More than ten minutes had passed and the Black Knight had yet to return.
Of course, if the Black Knight had still not returned after an hour, it would indicate that there was a problem on the other hand and Chen Chen had to be cautious.
In the opening scene of the first movie, a spy had released the T-virus in the Hive. Following the detection of the virus by the supercomputer Red Queen, it attempted to stop the spread by shutting the Hive down and killing more than 500 researchers through poison gas.
The headquarters then sensed that something was off and proceeded to send a special task force to shut the Red Queen Down and so began the entire story plot…
However, later in Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, the Hive was upgraded into a cryogenic institute to store the bodies of the company's executives. The T-virus, which was supposedly invented by the wheelchair-bound scientist, Dr. Charles Ashford, was revised to be invented by James Marcus instead in the last chapter.
Furthermore, the Red Queen's image was also inconsistent. In the second movie, the Red Queen was said to be modeled after Dr. Ashford's daughter, Angela. Whereas in the final chapter, it was said that the Red Queen was shaped after Marcus' daughter, Alicia, in her childhood.
The plot seemed to contradict itself. Even the supposed accident that caused the leakage of T-virus was later revised to be a deliberate plot by the Umbrella Corporation to eradicate humanity.
When Chen Chen was chasing the series, he was clueless toward the end.
Another half an hour had passed. Suddenly, a bright glow appeared in the room while Chen Chen quickly rushed to the source. Indeed, the Black Knight had returned to the real world.
Immediately after the Black Knight's return, the researchers immediately followed a series of protocols to ensure the protective suit was not contaminated by special microorganisms. They had also checked the live strain of BE-006 virus and found that the virus strain was still alive.
"Looks like once the USB drive formed the tunnel, organic life can now pass through it!"
Chen Chen was visibly overjoyed.
He had once sent the Black Knight into the world of Chronicle, but found that the number of microorganisms attached to the Black Knight's protective suit had severely diminished. Chen Chen thought that the tunnel could not ferry any organic life over, which included microorganisms.
Yet, the trial this time indicated that it seemed like this rule had been broken.
Could it be that the tunnel had always allowed organic life to travel, but it was just that these microorganisms were killed previously?
Perhaps it was a setting to protect newbies. Could it be that it killed those microorganisms to protect the USB drive's new user from infection?
Chen Chen considered many factors.
However, it was not the right time to answer those questions. Chen Chen retrieved the records of the Black Knight and began to observe what it was like in the other world.
The result excited Chen Chen.
Indeed, the tunnel did lead to the Hive's experiment labs. Chen Chen could even see corpses covering the floor, some of those even belong to the Lickers.
However, the bodies had already long decomposed into bones.
It looked like the timeline the tunnel connected to was long after the events in Resident Evil 1.
Other than that, electricity supplies to the Hive had long been cut off. Therefore, there were no alarms triggered upon the arrival of his Black Knight.
Chen Chen had long known the source of the Hive's electricity. It was nuclear-powered and it was likely that it was only in hibernation mode.
The Black Knight did not discover the cryogenic room that was featured in the last installation of the movie. The Hive that the Black Knight roamed was the ordinary experimental lab that was featured in the first movie. It was nothing like the grand military base that was featured in the final chapter.
Could it mean that the first and final installation of the Resident Evil movie series was two fundamentally different worldviews?
Chen Chen thought silently. He shut the tunnel down and downloaded a copy of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter into his USB drive.
"Dong!"
An error box popped out on the screen. Chen Chen realized that he could not fit the movie into his USB drive.
If that was the case, Chen Chen decided to not bother any further. Based on the recordings from the Black Knight, he prepared a welding gun, gunpowder, a calculator, and a hard disk.
"Sir Godfather, there were no foreign viruses and microorganisms found on the Black Knight's protective suit," Little X reported.
"That's great. It looks like the event has passed for so long, even the T-viruses are completely dead. Please make the necessary preparation for me to enter the tunnel."
Chen Chen instructed.
"Are you actually going in there?"
Little X was shocked and said, "It's a dangerous move."
"It's okay, I have confidence in myself. Can you also make a simplified copy of your own? I'll need it to breach into the Hive."
"Understood!"
Following Chen Chen's order, Little X copied a simplified version of itself into the hard disk. Meanwhile, the Black Knights had also prepared the welding gun, some gunpowders, and other necessary equipment.
Then, Chen Chen stood up and took one of the automatic rifles from the Black Knights.
He had also placed a graphene box into the pockets of his protective suit.
Once all preparations were made, Chen Chen took a deep breath. It would be his first time leaving reality for an alternate dimension.
He inspected the USB Drive and found that after 30 days of charging, the USB had enough power to store 1200 kilograms of materials. With this amount of energy as his backup, Chen Chen did not need to worry about any issues on exiting the tunnel.
However, to conserve energy, Chen Chen had decided to bring only two Black Knights with him. If there were no other needs, the Black Knights would not be required to return.
It was possible that this world could be Chen Chen's interdimensional base.
With the spark of thought and the gesture of a hand, two fully-armed Black Knights immediately marched along with Chen Chen into the black hole.
Chen Chen felt his entire vision blacked out as he sunk into the dark void, followed by a gradual sense of suffocation.
Like falling into an endless abyss, Chen Chen even sensed that the force of gravity had completely vanished.
However, the loss of gravity only sustained for a brief moment. Before Chen Chen could even fully react to his situation, his feet had once again landed on a piece of land.
Two flashes of lights came shining on him, Chen Chen immediately switched on his head gear's light and saw the Black Knights were already guiding on his side.
Around him, Chen Chen observed that he was in a cold, dark metal room.
It was the Hive.
Chapter 204: Loss |
When Chen Chen saw thi
s sight, he did not immediately explore this new world, but instead turned around and looked behind him.
He only saw that dark passage behind him floating directly in thin air without any support as if space itself had opened up a circular door…
Chen Chen felt relieved upon seeing this.
After all, this passage behind him was the only path back to reality. If there was a problem with the passage behind, Chen Chen would be trapped forever in a foreign land, unable to ever return.
Chen Chen got a grip on himself and began observing the space. He noticed that he was now standing before an enormous platform.
This was the entrance to the Hive.
However, there was no tram on the platform, only a long and narrow railroad track that stretched out endlessly into the distant darkness.
Other than that, there were only a few dried, withered corpses on the platform.
Chen Chen came to a corpse that was lying face down by the rails.
The clothes of this corpse had disintegrated long ago and only a few rags of indistinct colors could be seen. In addition, the most striking thing was a fire ax that had been deeply embedded in the skull of the corpse.
Spence Parks.
In the movie, he and the heroine Alice were both security personnel for the Hive. Both of them were disguised as a couple to guard the mansion.
However, the heroine Alice had objected to the lawlessness of the Umbrella Corporation for a long time. She was going to secretly communicate with the rebels to transport the virus out.
Nonetheless, when she was communicating with her inner contacts in the Hive, Parks had overheard everything.
Therefore, Parks entered the Hive using a code he overheard from the heroine, stole the T-virus that was stored in the Hive, and deliberately smashed a vial of T-virus before he left so that he would not leave any traces. This then led to the opening scene of the movie.
This character's ending was that he betrayed the protagonist's group again, then was killed by a Licker. After he turned into a zombie, the heroine rushed to the scene and split his head with an ax.
