Age of Cosmic Exploration Chapter 143

Chapter 143: Fever
Images of the planet they had warped into were published in the Hope Weekly the day after its discovery. Understandably, this had created such a stir in the public that the paper was sold out. To make that happen, every family had to purchase at least 5 copies!
After a long night of analysis, basic information about the planet had been acquired. Of course, they would need more time before a detailed analysis could be done, a task that was compounded by the fact that they were stuck underground.
"Oxygen percentage in the air composition is 29 percent and carbon dioxide 1 percent [1]? Everything else is similar to Earth’s… Is this dangerous?"
Yao Yuan asked the biologists who handed him the report. Among them was Ivan, who answered, "The high percentage of CO2 shouldn’t pose any trouble. As long as people don’t commit to extreme activities, there should be no harm other than the planet being warmer than usual."
Knowing how difficult it was to procure such valuable information in their situation, Yao Yuan smiled appreciatively. "That’s a relief. Hopefully, the planet isn’t a host to some dreadful virus… Then again, even if it is, we must find a way to overcome it. This is a second chance handed to us by God, so we mustn’t let it slip away!"
Ivan repaid Yao Yuan’s smile. "That’s right. I’ve not seen, much less touch, the ocean for a long time, so I can’t wait to get to the surface."
Yao added, "Your son is in his troublesome stage, isn’t he? It’s about time he wants to run around freely. Hopefully we can reach the surface soon. I too can’t wait to lay my eyes on the blue sky and sea."
The two chatted amiably until the team of biologists had to leave. Even so, the smile didn’t leave Yao Yuan’s face. He could feel his face muscles cramping from smiling too much for the past 2 days, but he couldn’t help himself. It was difficult to not be infected by the sense of mirth all around.
As the saying goes, you’ll only treasure it after you lose it. After the loss of Earth, there was no one on the Hope that was not overjoyed by this miraculous find. Yao Yuan shook his head, incredulous about their good fortune. As he settled down to read some paperwork, his secretary, Barbie, barged into the room. Her usually perfectly styled hair was in a disarray as she exclaimed disconcertingly, "Captain, we’ve been infected by a mysterious virus!"
Outside of the pathology lab, Yao Yuan saw Mitsuhara Saburo peering through his microscope while a few assistants bustled about frantically. Without knocking, Yao Yuan entered and demanded, "What’s wrong? I heard that there has been a virus infection? When and how did it happen? Wasn’t there a strict order that no one was allowed to come into direct contact with the outside minerals?"
Saburo stood up and bowed, "Captain, I’m afraid it’s not a virus infection."
"Not an infection?" Yao Yuan asked curiously.
Ever since they realized that this planet housed living organisms, Yao Yuan ordered all of the outside entrances to be on lockdown and set soldiers to guard them. Since there were microorganisms 4,000 meters beneath Earth’s crust, who could say things would be different with this planet?
Their experience on Planet Sahara reminded them that the evolution of organisms in space could be wildly different from their history on Earth. An incredibly powerful space plant could be destroyed by Earth’s common plant virus after all.
Similarly, mankind’s immune system evolved alongside Earth’s own strains of unique viruses and bacteria. Therefore, it was foolish to expect man’s immune system to be useful across different planets. Yao Yuan knew some viewed this action of his to be overly cautious, but he had no choice because he couldn’t risk the possibility of alien bacteria leaking into the Hope!
Therefore, when he heard that there was an infection,

his expression immediately dimmed… If someone had really bypassed his many orders to not go outside the Hope and had unwittingly brought an outbreak back to the Hope, that person would suffer a fate worse than death!
His feeling thus took a 180 turn when he heard Saburo say that it wasn’t an infection.
Saburo forced a smile. "Since it’s not an infection, then most possibly it’s…" Before he could finish, the pathologist collapsed forward. Everyone in the room dropped their work and rushed to their leader’s side. They talked over one another, unsure of what to do.
Yao Yuan, however, remained calm and squatted down beside Saburo’s repose body. He felt the pathologist’s pulse and forehead… "Fever? Homo Evolutis?"
It was too early to tell, because many diseases showed symptoms of fever and faint spells. However, to be safe, Yao Yuan asked for quarantine for Saburo and all the consecutive fever victims.
The victims, on their part, sprang up like mushrooms after a fresh rain. They included Barbie, Zhang Heng’s friends Ning Xue and Mao Miao, and a few others from the Black Star close guards, including that female soldier who saved Zhang Heng’s life on the meteorite base. In total, there were 160 plus people in quarantine.
The pathological department, of course, didn’t stay idle even though their leader, Saburo, was unconscious. However, after diagnosis was done on the patients’ samples, the result on the presence of virus came back negative!
At the same time, these patients’ brain activity was shown to be 10 times faster than normal as revealed by the CAT scan performed using the latest electromagnetic medical devices. The mesomeric resonator showed more interesting results. These patients’ genetic coding seemed to be evolving.
Because of their internal increased activity, the patients’ physical bodies needed extra nutrients to keep up. Thankfully, due to the improvement in medical science, the Hope had packets of nutritional tonics available. The patients were supplied with these tonics almost daily. Thus far, Yao Yuan was sure that the Hope wasn’t ravaged by a new virus but instead some of its people were undergoing a new adaptation to life in space. Yao Yuan was unfamiliar with its inner workings, but these people were evolving into a new batch of Homo Evolutis!
(The first set of Homo Evolutis came when the Hope first left Earth. And now it’s happening again. Could it have something to do with the discovery of this planet that’s similar to Earth…? Or is it something else?) Yao Yuan paused to think. Even though the Hope had access to medical devices from the 4th revolution, all of the results came back negative on accounts of sickness, virus, bacterial, or microbial infection. It was extremely similar to Virus X.
Either way, with this happening, everything else had to be put on halt. Even though they still hadn’t fully understood what a Homo Evolutis was, Yao Yuan knew well enough to know that they would be invaluable assets to the Hope. The Whisperers could help the Academy greatly, the Perceptors were the best soldiers, the Diviner was helpful as an alarm, the Seekers were perfect for surveillance, the Anima could invalidate the creator’s particle… another All-Rounder would definitely be a welcomed addition, and lastly, a second Deceiver could be kept as an ultimate trump card.
In conclusion, the known Homo Evolutis had already been a great help to the Hope, and there was a possibility of Homo Evolutis emerging with new powers.
Even for the normal Homo Evolutis, who showcased no obvious superhuman skills, they were already exceptional soldiers. Seated in the combat jet, their ability could rival 100 normal jet pilots!
The time between the last patient that was sent into quarantine and the first patient to wake up was 18 days… 1 month and 4 days later, all of the patients were conscious. In total, there were 193 fever patients, and under the aid of the tonics, 172 survived and 21 died.
Another month was given for the patients to recuperate before they were hauled to the Homo Evolutis Faction for analysis. There were 13 new known Homo Evolutis: Saburo was a Whisperer, Barbie was an Anima, Mao Miao was a Diviner, Ning Xue was a Perceptor, and the female soldier who saved Zhang Heng was a Seeker. The rest were all Survivors [2]!
Sadly, there was no new All-Rounder or Deceiver…
"159 survivors and 13 known Homo Evolutis."
Looking at that line in his report, Yao Yuan had mixed feelings. If mankind had better medical technology during the first Virus X fever, the lives of several hundred people would be saved and there would be more Homo Evolutis around… "Regardless, the truth is that a second batch of Homo Evolutis is here. Then…
The digging operation shall resume tomorrow!"

Chapter end