Age of Cosmic Exploration Chapter 182

Zhang Heng was pulled back from the brink of death via injections of the ultimate vaccine and Formula X after being unfrozen. However, that didn’t mean that he was safe. On the contrary, his body conditions were still in a critical stage. Yes, his new immune system had started working and had killed off the virus, but his organs that had been damaged were still damaged.

His trachea was greatly punctured and there was internal bleeding in his lungs. An emergency operation had saved his life, but he was unable to speak for the previous 15 days. It was only today that he managed to spit out some monosyllables.

However, his condition wasn’t the worst. That unfortunate prize went to one of the Survivors. His entire trachea had to be removed. Thankfully, cloning technology from the 4th revolution was powerful enough to be able to replicate a new trachea from his DNA, but the process needed a few months to complete. Therefore, the man had to survive on his ruined trachea before his assigned operation date. It was a veritable torture, and the man appeared to be suffocating during his every waking moment…

However…

At least he was still alive!

This was a sentiment shared by all the infected troopers. When they were taken out of their flash frozen state, they were barely hanging on to life. If the operation came an hour later, none of them would be alive. Regardless, 3 of them did perish in the process. The ultimate vaccine didn’t help because their internal organs were too damaged to be able to code new proteins.

There was another complication to the operation…

And that was an overly effective nervous response system.

The result had shown that after the first injection of the ultimate vaccine and Formula X cocktail, the human immune system would continue to release additional Component X. Saburo and Ivan’s research showed that this would eventually peter out. After about a month, the immune system would stabilize and it would stop producing unnecessary Component X. Of course, it would retain its ability to produce immunity against new bacterial threats in the future, but it wouldn’t be as impactful as the first time.

This caused 2 unique problems. For one, the infected had a sensation that they were in slow motion all the time. This was most obvious when they watched movies. They could finally understand why movies were called moving pictures, because in their minds, the movies were shown in stills, one picture after another. This affected Saburo the most because unlike other patients who were infected, he still needed to work. Even though his ultimate vaccine was a wild success, the strain it put on the body was still too high, making it unsuitable for non-Homo Evolutis and children, so he had to continue with his experiment and research.

What did it feel like to have an overly effective nervous response system? It’s actually quite easy to describe. When one takes a step forward, in one’s mind, the foot has already been lifted off, moved forward, and made contact with the ground. However, in reality, the body hasn’t even caught up to the command to the lift one’s leg. The only consequence was constant tripping. For this, Saburo had visited the hospital many times. The most severe was for a broken arm.

The other side effect was the fatigue. Since the brain was in a constant state of hyperactivity, both the physical and mental state of the patients were definitely strung out. Furthermore, to compensate for the increased metabolism, there had to be a high intake of food. Zhang Heng alone had to consume at least 8 meals each day. That certainly didn’t help to deter a sedentary lifestyle.

While the infected was suffering from these inconveniences, the Homo Evolutis Faction was a buzzing hive. With Yao Yuan as chair and Guang Zhen as vice, they were discussing the Formula X’s success.

"I believe we should use this method to improve our soldiers’ physical attributes."

This was a secret meeting attended by authorities from the Barracks and the Homo Evolutis Faction. The one given the floor was a military expert. Waving a piece of data, he continued, "From our latest war with the alien monsters, it is obvious that our normal soldiers couldn’t compare to the Black Star Troopers. This is beyond the issue of equipment, but rather they lack the necessary intuitive response and the physical condition to support a greater response system.

"Everyone here is a military man or woman, so you should know that bullets fired from common weapons from our 3rd revolution have an initial acceleration of several hundred meters per second, at most 2,000 meters. Their range is short, or at least there won’t be a situation where a bullet fired within a planet’s ozone layer that could possibly end up outside of it. The best weapon can only manage to take out targets that are beyond the immediate horizon.

"However, now that technology has entered the 4th revolution, it is necessary that our soldiers have improved physical attributes. This is because the electromagnetic shields have pretty much nullified the importance of long-ranged artillery. Combat has gotten closer and more immediate. With the exception of a spaceship’s space cannon, most of the combat is going to be limited to on-the-grounds warfare."

The expert continued, "Because of this, our soldiers need to have a better response system and dynamic vision. This will help increase their combat capability by increasing the chance to inflict critical hits on their enemies as well as to evade enemy attacks. This new vaccine enables our bodies to naturally produce Component X, and the only negative effect observable so far is longer fatigue and increased appetite.

"Therefore, our team’s plan is to use the new cocktail to induce an evolution in our soldiers’ bodies. When combat reaches its height, a shot of harmless bacteria and nutrients can be used as a trigger. This way it acts as a drug. Granted their prowess won’t be as powerful as the troopers’, at least that will put them at a more level playing field. Yes, there is the fatigue to contend with, but our team feels that overall it is a worthy price to pay!"

After the expert descended from the stage, Guang Zhen took his spot. He began, "I have something to add to this. First, it is undeniable that the Black Star Troopers are incredibly strong, but we have so few of them. After this war with the flesh alien, we’ve lost about 30 of them. That is not a small number for a unit that totals at just over 100 members. Let’s not forget that this is just one war. If this continues, we’ll be shutting down the entire Black Star Troopers unit pretty soon.

Therefore, I agree with the need to improve our soldiers’ physical attributes. Future warfare will be centered on close quarter combat, as the expert before me just explained. Other than the improvement in weapons technology and grounds transports that we’ve discussed, I truly believe it is time to initiate the bionic project."

As the Hope’s second-in-command, Guang Zhen’s words carried more weight than the expert’s. Even Yao Yuan had to consider what he had to say.

Yao Yuan took the podium after Guang Zhen. He said, "I believe everyone here has a report on the bionic project. I’ll be honest, ever since the inception of Homo Evolutis Faction, we have been working on research that investigate why and how a common person turns into a Homo Evolutis, but with our current technological level, the research has hit a wall at every turn. The only success we have so far is the identification of Component X that appears within the Homo Evolutis’ bloodstream whenever they activate their power.

"First, even though there are now 20 plus successful examples of inducing an evolution in our immune system with a cocktail of Formula X and Saburo’s ultimate vaccine, it is worth noting that all these success stories are about the Homo Evolutis. They already had Component X in their systems to begin with."

Yao Yuan’s tone got serious as he continued, "Before this, the researchers from Homo Evolutis Faction tried experimenting this Formula X on animals, and there hasn’t been a single survivor, so they have come up with a hypothesis…

"Could it be that non-Homo Evolutis can’t support Formula X? Therefore, even though the bionic project is incredibly alluring, the fatalities that it could cause might be greater than what anyone of us here could have predicted. I dare say a 100 percent fatality rate is not impossible, so I have to announce that…

"Until the safety of the project is ascertained, the bionic project will be indefinitely delayed. Dismissed!"

Chapter end