Webnovel / Derivados de obras / USB in my mind

USB in my mind

RoronoaZolo · Derivados de obras

Sin suficientes valoraciones

92 Chs

187 - 195

Chapter 187: The USB Drive Transforms

Twenty days had passed in the blink of an eye.

Since the completion of the nuclear power plant, purchase orders from Namibia had poured down like rain. The City Hall officials of several coastal cities were practically breaking down the doors of Blacklight Biotechnology.

However, Chen Chen did not accept any orders because the nuclear power plant was temporarily in trial operation.

Within the nuclear power plant, two nuclear reactors with a power of one million kilowatts were running all day long, constantly sending electricity into the substation, but this electricity was not delivered to the high-voltage transmission tower.

No one knew where all this electricity was going...

In the main control room of the substation, Chen Chen was not standing next to the USB flash drive because he had noticed that the red light on the USB was flashing more and more rapidly.

This had started thirteen days ago.

The past seven days, the USB drive had only displayed a slow flickering while it was charging as if it was breathing or its heart was beating.

However, after Chen Chen had charged the USB drive for seven days, all of this changed.

Currently, the red light of the USB drive had grown brighter, turning from a dark red to a brilliant scarlet, to the point that it was even a little blinding.

Not only that but this red light was still flashing incessantly. Its frequency was several times faster than before and as more time passed, its speed kept increasing.

In this manner, twenty days had passed in a flash.

According to the power output of the entire power plant, Chen Chen could obtain 48 million kWh of electricity every day. Even if there was some wastage, there would still be 45 million kWh. With a period of twenty days, plus the electricity accumulated on the Blacklight Cruise, the power in Chen Chen's USB drive was extremely close to one billion kWh.

Moreover, in addition to the abnormalities of the USB flash drive that were constantly appearing, Chen Chen had a hunch that, when the power in the USB drive reached one billion, some unexpected change would occur.

Therefore, on the last night of the twenty days, Chen Chen had dispatched all the Black Knights to the substation and equipped them with weapons for defense.

Meanwhile, Chen Chen left the nuclear power plant and came to the Spire.

At this distance, even if the USB drive full of one billion kWh of electricity were to explode on the spot, it would not reach this far.

Perhaps this sort of precaution was a little ridiculous but Chen Chen had no other means of dealing with this.

Reality would later prove that Chen Chen's speculation was indeed true. On the final night of the twenty days, when he was training his "Field", he suddenly received an update from Little X.

"Sir Godfather, there has been a change in the nuclear power plant substation."

Little X's voice came from the speaker. "The flashing light of the USB drive has disappeared!"

When he heard this, Chen Chen quickly looked at the LCD monitor next to the laboratory. At this time, the monitor was showing the situation in the main control room. The USB drive, which had flashed its red light endlessly, was now not flashing any light. Instead, its initial tranquility was restored.

"Send a 'Black Knight' to go and check it."

Chen Chen immediately ordered. At the same time, he put on his shirt, turned around, and walked out of the laboratory. "Contact Cheng Cao. I want to head over right now."

He quickly walked to the elevator of the Spire's laboratory, then went up to the relay station. After that, he took the tram to one of the exits and summoned the elevator.

Ten minutes later, Chen Chen had returned to the ground floor and walked out the elevator of an office building.

By the appearance, it seemed as if Chen Chen was an employee of this company and he had just gotten off work at this time.

There were five entrances and exits hidden in the Eco Science City, all of which were far apart. Even so, they were located in buildings with busy crowds to achieve maximum concealment.

Cheng Cao had been waiting by the entrance for a long time.

After Chen Chen got into the car, Cheng Cao started the car at once. They swiftly drove out of the Eco Science City, speeding toward the nuclear power plant that was twenty kilometers away.

The Black Knight who went in to inspect the situation had already reported that the USB drive was not dangerous. Thus, when Chen Chen arrived, he immediately entered the main control room.

In an instant, Chen Chen noticed the USB flash drive.

When he saw the USB drive, Chen Chen could not help but raise his eyebrows. The red light that had flickered urgently was gone and the USB drive had become as pitch-black as the first time he found it.

No, something was different...

This was because Chen Chen had noticed that there were many pinpricks of light on the USB drive as if it had become a universe studded with countless stars that glimmered constantly.

Chen Chen did not approach rashly but turned to look at the surveillance camera. "Little X, is it still absorbing power now?"

"Yes, nothing has changed," Little X replied.

Chen Chen nodded and simply stepped forward to pull down the switch.

This switch did not cut off the power supply of the substation. It just cut off the power to the superconducting device. The electricity generated by the nuclear power plant would still pass through the substation but the electricity would then be delivered to the high-voltage transmission tower.

After the power switch was completely cut off, Chen Chen turned around and pulled out the USB drive, staring at it intently.

The surface of the USB flash drive had become extremely new and immaculate. Moreover, the brilliant dots of light that glittered endlessly upon the USB drive were like stars in the night sky. These light dots flared and faded astonishingly.

In any case, what did this change mean?

Chen Chen displayed a thoughtful look. Then, he simply plugged the USB drive into the computer again and opened it on the computer, after which he dragged the first and second Chronicle into the drive.

Following that, Chen Chen moved his pointer to the icon of the movie. When he was about to press it, he suddenly hesitated.

"Little X, send a Black Knight over."

Chen Chen released his mouse and watched a cloned soldier walk in. At the same time, the soldier said with a blank face, "Number A0012, reporting to Sir Commander."

Chen Chen handed the mouse to the cloned soldier, then retreated at once to the door of the main control room.

"Okay, A0012, play Chronicle."

After Chen Chen gave his order, the Black Knight played the movie without hesitation. In the next second, Chen Chen only saw the darkness before his eyes as if a black light had unfurled instantly, shielding the light on the ceiling and casting a black shade over the entire room!

Nonetheless, this strange vision only occurred in a flash. When Chen Chen recovered his senses, a round, black object had appeared on the computer screen!

It was like a hole that had appeared abruptly. It was pitch-black to the point where it reflected no light. Not a single photon of light could pass through that black cavity.

What was even stranger was that this black hole was obviously only the size of the computer screen but in Chen Chen's perception, it seemed to be two meters in diameter.

This visual paradox made Chen Chen inhale sharply.

Chen Chen walked to the side of the black circle but was shocked to see that when it was viewed from the side or the back, the black circle disappeared without a trace.

It was as if the circle was just a purely two-dimensional black sticker. However, the question was, was there such a thing as purely two-dimensional matter in this world?

"Sir Godfather, what is this?"

Little X sounded rather taken aback. "I can't understand this existence in front of me. Is that... A black ball?"

"I don't know either."

Chen Chen shook his head. "A0012, put your hand out and test it."

In accordance with Chen Chen's order, the cloned soldier immediately stretched out his right hand toward the black hole without any fear.

Suddenly, before Chen Chen's eyes, A0012's right hand went straight through the thin black circle and disappeared behind the screen!

The black thing was a hole...

Chapter 188: Passage to the Outside World

Upon witnessing this phenomenon, not only did Chen Chen not allow himself to relax, he even took several steps backward.

He remembered several jokes from a science fiction novel, one of them went something like this:

A common plot in science fiction stories was of people in the future riding in spaceships encountering foreign planets of almost completely identical habitat as the Earth. For example, similar atmospheric pressure and similar air composition. The only discrepancy was the local flora and fauna.

Thus, the crew of the spaceship, dressed in common clothes, stepped into the planet without any defensive measures.

However, a study in Microbiology proved that this was a suicidal maneuver.

Despite the similarity in natural habitat, it was not at all a given that the microbial system was similar as well. After all, humans were born on the Earth and coexisted with countless microorganisms. The eons of evolution over time led to the development of the human immune system as we knew it today.

This meant that tens of thousands of years ago, humans had developed an immune system to adapt to nature. This immune system continued to evolve alongside the natural habitat. This was the true reason that humans were able to live on Earth.

Now, consider the scenario of rashly stepping foot onto another planet. Even if the planet's oxygen content and atmospheric composition were fit for human survival, the living microorganisms on the planet were another subject entirely. The human immune system had never been in contact with these new and foreign viruses and bacteria.

The viruses and bacteria on the planet may be largely harmless, however, even if just one percent of it was harmful, it was still a very substantial amount.

If there were only one or two harmful microorganisms, the human immune system may be able to withstand them. However, on a strange and foreign planet, what were the odds of there being just a handful of harmful microorganisms? What if there were tens of thousands of them?

Undoubtedly, these people were dead meat.

Previously, the USB drive was never able to deliver a living substance. Yet the passage had now turned into a hole meant for entry. It was very likely that the nature of USB drive had undergone some changes...

"Little X, have the Black Knights outside put on protective suits."

Chen Chen gave it some thought and quickly issued the order. He also instructed the cloned soldier again, "A0012, retract your hand and turn off the computer."

A0012 did as Chen Chen had instructed. As expected, the moment the computer was turned off, the black hole vanished instantly.

Chen Chen was able to rest his heart at last upon seeing this.

Chen Chen first had A0012 stay in place while he left the main control room and waited outside.

After some time, several Black Knights wearing positive pressure protective suits went inside and took A0012 into an isolation cabin and dragged the cabin outside.

After that, the main control room was completely locked down. A0012 was then taken to the Spire laboratory and was only allowed to go after running some tests.

A0012 was allowed to go because according to the laboratory report, there were no signs of microorganism contamination.

Still, Chen Chen did not let his guard down. He formed a USB drive inspection team consisting of three Black Knights and sent them into the main control room.

There was already a negative pressure isolation tent erected by the entrance of the main control room. Anyone coming in or out of the main control room had to be disinfected appropriately. After the Black Knights team entered, Chen Chen had them go through the previous procedures.

Upon selecting the Chronicle movie, the monitor turned pitch-black again. When the image was restored, an entrance engulfed in darkness appeared on the display.

One of the cloned soldiers had already put on a camera connected with a wire and began heading into the dark passage.

From the monitor, Chen Chen could see the cloned soldier entering the passage as if he was being compressed into it. The Black Knight entered bit by bit before vanishing in front of their very eyes.

With that, Chen Chen turned to the camera footage of the cloned warrior. He discovered that when the soldier entered the black passage, the feed turned into noise and the signal was lost.

Chen Chen glanced at the wire laying on the ground and suddenly instructed, "A0006, try pulling the wire."

Following Chen Chen's order, a cloned soldier knelt and picked up the wire connected to the camera. Upon picking it up, it was observed that the wire had been completely cut off...

The section of the cut was extremely clean. There was hardly a trace of the wire being severed as if this was the way it had always been.

"A person could enter but the wire was severed?"

Chen Chen's impression was taken by intrigue. He then further instructed, "Both of you, take the camera and enter the passage. If you see A0012 in there, take him back as well. Otherwise, come back within five minutes and make sure to record everything you see on the other end of the passage."

The two remaining cloned soldiers swapped out the wired cameras and used handheld cameras instead. Without any hesitation, they entered the passage.

The main control room instantly became eerily empty as the original cast of three had completely vanished. All that was left was the pitch-black passage which remained standing like a dark well.

"Sir, something is going on in the USB drive!" At that moment, came the voice of Little X.

Chen Chen had specifically installed a camera ahead of time which was pointed at the USB drive. Upon being prompted, he quickly turned to the feed and noticed that the glittering lights on the USB drive had faded considerably. The difference was noticeable to the naked eye.

Approximately one-third of its luster had faded.

"The total weight of a cloned soldier along with the carried equipment is 80 thousand grams, three of them makes for a total of 240 thousand grams. The USB drive had ten billion hours of accumulated electricity, enough to instantiate 833 thousand grams worth of substance, as expected..."

Chen Chen ran the brief calculation and instantly made out the changes in the USB drive. "Which is to say that keeping the passage up doesn't exhaust energy and it only consumes energy upon allowing substance to pass through?"

Midway through Chen Chen's speculations, a flash appeared in the dark passage. Similarly, there was a flash in the monitor display as if it was facing some form of interference. This observation only lasted for a split second as the image began to stabilize again over the following seconds.

It was then when Chen Chen saw that the three cloned soldiers had reappeared in the main control room.

Chen Chen loosened up a little upon seeing this. Whatever the deal with the passage was, at least this proved that it was not a one-way passage but one that granted passage from both ways across.

More than any other potential dangers, Chen Chen was only worried about the likelihood of not being able to return after entering the passage. That would prove to be most disheartening.

With this in mind, Chen Chen turned to the other display with the USB drive. He noticed that the luster density of the USB drive had decreased again. Only one-third of its original amount now.

It was pretty much confirmed that the luster was an indication of the energy level and energy was used upon entering and exiting.

The three cloned soldiers were disinfected before leaving the main control room. The camera equipment they had brought with them were package sealed before handed over to the Spire laboratory to conduct tests.

The laboratory report displayed similar results, there were no signs of abnormal microorganisms. There was a pitiful number of microorganisms on the cameras.

It was as if the passage had filtered out all microorganisms. It was only upon returning to reality when it caught the microorganism in the surrounding environment.

Still, this explanation might be a stretch since there were countless microorganisms in the human body. Even the trillions of body cells that made up human beings were all microorganisms. If the passage had filtered all living microorganisms, then theoretically, humans should not be able to enter.

This meant that only one explanation remained.

Which was that the world on the opposite end of the passage was a world without any microorganisms...

Chapter 189: New Rules

Half an hour later.

Chen Chen inserted the SD card in the camera into the computer and viewed the footage in the SD card.

Following a flash on the screen, Chen Chen saw a still of the passage in the camera footage.

Inside the recorded footage, the camera began creeping closer toward the passage. It got closer and closer until eventually the display was filled with nothing but noise.

It would appear that upon passing through the passage, the camera was interrupted by some sort of unknown source of energy.

This interference only lasted a brief instant. In the very next second, the image on the display became clear again. Instead of a pitch-black passage, it was a vast plain.

It was a world that Chen Chen had never seen before. The section between the sky and the earth was painted with light. The blue sky above was almost transparent like a piece of glass, golden sand piled together to form a vast dune structure.

On the surface of the dune, numerous pieces of objects which looked like crystals were flashing. Under the reflection of the sun, they emitted rainbow-colored beams.

Something was off...

Chen Chen quickly replayed the footage and looked at the surface again. As expected, the surface was riddled with countless crystal shards of glass. The small ones were only the size of a piece of gravel but the large ones were as large as millstones.

In one particular frame, Chen Chen even noticed a piece of crystal the size of a gigantic mountain off in the distance.

???

Numerous gigantic question marks appeared in Chen Chen's head. One thing was certain, the movie he had the cloned soldier open was the Chronicle movie. Even if the USB drive opened a passage to another dimension, it only made sense that it would lead to the world in Chronicle.

What was the deal with the crystalline the size of a mountain?

Chen Chen resumed the footage and continued watching.

Inside the footage, he saw that the two cloned soldiers who had entered later found the very first cloned soldier who went in. The cloned soldier was looking at the ruins of a city in the distance. When their God chips made a brief connection, the original cloned soldier proceeded to return to the passage with the other two.

The footage flashed again and the three of them had returned to reality.

Chen Chen watched the thirty-seconds long footage several more times.

After he made sure he did not miss any details, he put his mind to work.

"X."

After brief consideration, Chen Chen suddenly dragged the progress bar and directed it to the frame where the city ruins were visible. "Match this with pictures online to see if the ruins of this city belong to a real city."

"Got it!"

Little X accepted the task and quickly began matching the cropped image of the city ruins with all the cities in reality.

While this was going on, Chen Chen shut his eyes and silently reflected on everything he saw earlier.

"Clear sky, golden desert, the ruins of a city, and land filled with crystalline fragments..."

Chen Chen mumbled to himself. These were all the clues obtained from the footage.

However, Chen Chen still had a gut feeling that something was amiss.

With this in mind, Chen Chen began to recollect the plot of Chronicle in his mind. He abruptly opened his eyes. "Plantation?"

There was no mistaking it. Chen Chen did not see any plantation in the world on the other end of the passage.

Upon taking note of this, Chen Chen suddenly had a speculation brewing in his mind. When he suddenly perked up, he heard Little X's voice. "I found it, the ruins of the city belong to the city of Washington in North America!"

"Are you sure?" Chen Chen asked in surprise.

"Hundred percent!"

Little X was wholly confident. The image on the computer suddenly turned into an enhanced image. The image was then zoomed closer to highlight a specific building with the edges blurred out.

It was a rectangular building. Although it was largely destroyed at this point, the many white pillars surrounding it could still be discerned.

"The shape and proportions of this building hold a ninety percent similarity to the Lincoln Memorial."

Little X explained, "After matching the landscape, I found that the other buildings surrounding this building are an exact match with the real-life variant in terms of proportions and styles. This further proves that this city is indeed North America's Washington."

"This means that the city shouldn't be surrounded by desert."

Chen Chen pulled up the map to find similarities. The location the opened passage led to was none other than Washington located in North America. It was Washington in a separate world.

Only, it would appear that something had happened in that world as Washington, the capital of North America was turned into a wasteland.

Apart from that, for some unknown reason, the terrain had also turned into a desert. Also, there was a large amount of crystalline present, sprawled across the lands like large patches of cabbages.

What was the meaning of all this?

The only way to obtain more information is to conduct more research.

With this in mind, Chen Chen looked at the USB drive still plugged into the computer. He noticed that the USB drive had lost more than two-thirds of its original luster as it barely had one-third of its previous radiance.

Based on the previous observation, Chen Chen had deducted that the passage conjured by the USB drive consumed energy upon entry and exit but it did not consume energy while being idle. There was also the chance that it did consume energy but at such an insignificant rate that it was almost negligible.

It was telling that this was what it was like to have the USB drive charged with a billion-kilowatt hour of electricity.

What was unprecedented was that the USB drive which once only allowed the instantiation of objects could now open a passage for humans to enter upon activation.

If that was the case, Chen Chen should be able to enter the world of Chronicle using this method and absorb the required crystalline from within the world. This served as a good alternative to bringing the crystals into reality which was a waste of the USB drive's energy.

However, Chen Chen first needed to eliminate all possible risks this method could pose.

For example, if the USB drive only had enough remaining energy to grant entry but not exit, then would that mean he would be trapped in the world inside the USB drive?

There was also the factor of potential dangers in the world. After all, even Washington, the capital of North America was turned into a wasteland, what were the chances that the other countries of other continents did not share the same fate?

If the world had ended and humans no longer existed, what was it that led to the demise of human civilization?

Chen Chen was not going to light-heartedly step into the world before these questions were answered.

With this in mind, Chen Chen plugged the USB drive into the computer again. He opened the USB drive, selected Chronicle, and hit [ctrl+d], all done in a swift and familiar motion.

"Dong!"

A system error pop-up window appeared, catching Chen Chen off guard.

"It can't be deleted?"

There was little chance of Chen Chen ever forgetting the attributes of the USB drive. According to the USB drive settings, a movie that had an object instantiated from it would become deletable and could never be opened again. Any following attempts to open it would only result in a system error pop-up.

This time, however, the rule seemed to be overturned.

Chen Chen thought for a moment and decided to just put his cursor on the Chronicle movie folder and double-tapped the mouse.

"Dum!"

Chen Chen instantly saw his vision go black as if all the light in the world vanished in just for an instant before reverting to normal again.

It was quickly followed by the appearance of the black passage.

Not only did the movie not show a system error message, but it could also be opened again.

All signs suggested that when the USB drive had accumulated a total of a billion-kilowatt hour of electricity, the rules of the USB drive had undergone some unprecedented changes...

Chapter 190: Chen Chen's Speculations

Chen Chen suddenly thought of another possibility upon seeing the black passage opening again.

What were the chances that the four horror films that came with the USB drive had also been opened in this manner by the USB drive? Perhaps in the process of constructing real "passage" from the movies, they also became undeletable?

This was just an idea that suddenly sprung to Chen Chen. Although he had no verifiable claim to back it up, he just had a strange hunch that this was it.

After having the previous experience, this time, Chen Chen got a cloned soldier to bring several disposable sealed sample bags and a camera, and entered the passage without any other preventative measures.

After all, having already determined that no microorganisms were present in the world on the other end, there was no need for extra measures like protective suits. Besides, entering and exiting the passage consumed a certain amount of energy. Losing the protective suit weighing up to ten kilograms was equivalent to saving millions of kilowatt-hour of electricity.

This time, Chen Chen did not have the soldier take a quick exit. Instead, he ordered him to inspect the ongoings on the other end of the passage.

The cloned soldier was to collect all sorts of samples in the movie world and also traversed a radius of ten kilometers while collecting footage of everything he saw.

The soldier was to remain in the passage world for an entire day before returning to reality.

One day later, the cloned soldier returned in one piece.

In addition, he came back with a backpack full of samples. There were soil samples, crystal samples, concrete samples of buildings, and such.

These samples were all taken away to be tested. The returning cloned soldier was also subsequently disinfected following standard protocol.

Meanwhile, Chen Chen took a look at the footage taken by the cloned soldier inside the passage after transferring it into the computer.

Under the control of the God chip, the cloned soldier walked around in a spiral shape, gradually expanding outward as he went on. He maintained this pattern until he had traversed a ten kilometers radius.

Over the entire day, Chen Chen barely caught even a glimpse of a plantation in the recorded footage. Also, there was no sign of water sources. It was as if the world was barren of water. Even the soil had lost all of its nutrients. All that remained was a world consisted of inorganic substances...

Simply put, all substances needed for sustaining life had simply vanished entirely.

In addition, the cloned soldier entered the ruins of Washington and did not spot any signs of life. On top of there being no signs of a living person, there were no dead bodies either, not even dried up remains.

It was also deduced that most of the buildings had collapsed a long time ago. There was no way to tell what caused them to collapse due to the amount of time that had passed. Some of them appeared to have collapsed on their own while others seemed to have been crushed by something enormous...

This only served to further solidify Chen Chen's speculation.

The laboratory report was produced very soon after that.

The results were the same as what Chen Chen had suspected. The soil samples did not contain any microorganisms and their moisture was also pitifully low. The land had lost almost all of its nutrients, leaving a sad desert behind.

The air in that world was extremely dry but its oxygen content was higher than that of Earth in real life. To be exact, approximately five percent higher.

A similar analysis was performed on the crystal fragments as well. As expected, their material composition was that of a spinel, only the radiation they contained had been released long ago. Thus, they were unable to grant human superpowers.

"There's almost no water in the air and soil, and the soil has lost its nutrients, making it impossible for even microorganisms to survive..."

Chen Chen deducted. "X, do you know what this means?"

"What does it mean?" Little X asked curiously.

Chen Chen answered with a serious tone, "Washington is located at 38°91′ North latitude and 77°01′ West longitude. It has a temperate continental climate, 10.16% of its terrain is occupied by water. Three rivers flow through the city, namely the Potomac River, the Anacostia River, and the Rock Creek River.

"Not only that. Just thirty kilometers to the East of Washington was the Atlantic Ocean. How was it possible that there's not even a trace of humidity in the surrounding air?"

Chen Chen thought for a while and finally suggested, "Unless, even the Atlantic Ocean had dried up.

"I think I get it."

Even Little X sounded a little surprised. "What Sir Godfather is trying to say is that all of the water and nutrients in the world connected to the passage has been sucked dry by some substance?"

"Yes, this is the only plausible explanation I can think of."

Chen Chen nodded. "The data extracted from the air reflects the same theory as well. The air in the passage world contains 5 percent higher oxygen content. Doesn't this align with the trait of plants that absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen?

"When you factor in the field of crystalline fragments, the answer is revealed – an alien plant that can produce crystalline has completely drained the Earth.

"According to the series plot, didn't the alien plant die in the sequel?"

Little X asked quizzingly, "If the world connected to the passage is the world of Chronicle, how can this sort of paradox exist?"

"This has to do with the theory of parallel universe."

Chen Chen thought for a moment before further explained, "In the experiment of 'Schrodinger's Cat', a cat that's both dead and alive remains in a quantum superposition state. It's only when you open the box that the wave function state of the cat collapses and it falls into a true fixed state.

"To put this in terms of a parallel universe, there's no such thing as a wave function state collapse. That's because when conducting this experiment, the universe is already split into two. In one of the universes, the cat is already dead while in the other universe, the cat is still alive...

"This means that parallel universes represent unlimited possibilities."

Chen Chen explained, "One of the series of paradox – the 'Grandfather Paradox' which is spoken of in Multiverse Wheel refers to the so-called parallel universe —

"There are many dimensions to a universe. A multiverse is composed of countless parallel universes while a parallel universe refers to a divergence from the original universe. It's an alternate universe that closely resembles the original universe but has distinct similarities. It's just like how the universe of the movie I created and the universe the passage leads to share similar histories, but due to certain factors, there's a growing distinction between the two which leads to the formation of two completely separate worlds.

"This is only one of the many reasons."

Chen Chen further elaborated, "Of course, the movie already states that the plant was dead. However, does anyone have proof that other alien plants don't exist in the universe?

"Don't forget, the alien plants were able to communicate telepathically. Perhaps the arrival of the first plant into Earth attracted another plant that was able to consume planets..."

Chapter 191: Mechanical Processing Plant

Looking at the newly obtained information in his hands, Chen Chen found himself engrossed in thought.

The recent changes in the USB drive gave way to an ominous guess in Chen Chen's mind.

The appearance of the black passage and the world it led to gave the impression that there was a deeper facet to everything so far.

It was as if the USB drive was intentionally designed this way, that the architect behind it was trying to convey some message to the user.

Before the user was able to attain sufficient energy, the USB form was only capped in its "first form", which granted the ability to instantiate objects from movies, but it was unable to open passages for entry.

Once the user of the USB drive had advanced past a certain point and had gathered enough energy, the USB drive systematically expanded into its "second form" which allowed the user to learn new things.

It may appear that its inability to instantiate living beings was a design specifically implemented to protect the user.

Take the world in Chronicle for example. If the USB drive was able to instantiate living beings, it was extremely likely that the alien plant would be brought into reality along with the crystalline.

As for the consequences of such an action, the scenario in the passage should suffice as an example.

Chen Chen only had one question on his mind now – was it possible for the USB drive in its second form to revert to its first form?

Chen Chen thought about it. Since the USB drive still had some energy remaining, he returned to the main control room and booted up the USB drive. He looked at the movies inside the USB drive and selected Godzilla 2: King of the Monsters.

The reason behind selecting this movie was because the technology in the movie nearly mirrored that of the real world. Even if they were not of any help, it was no skin off his back should something go wrong.

Besides, the USB drive did not have enough energy inside it for Godzilla to crawl its way out. If it were to force its way out, it should end up similar to how it went for Chen Chen's fingertips, the portion that crawled through would be cut off.

After Chen Chen double-clicked the movie, Godzilla 2: King of the Monsters began playing in the computer's video player.

Chen Chen was able to rest his worries upon witnessing this.

Fortunately, this movie did not also turn into a passage.

Chen Chen turned off the movie. At this point, it was pretty clear to him that the USB drive had obtained a new functionality. In the future, there were two choices when opening the USB drive, either instantiate an object or open up a passage.

In that case, Chen Chen decided to conclude his experiments. The total power generated by a 2 million kilowatt nuclear power plant over 20 days was only enough for four people to enter and exit the tunnel once. Chen Chen was rendered somewhat speechless.

There was hardly any power left in the USB drive as it needed to be recharged.

So, Chen Chen plugged the USB drive back into the charging device and gave it time to charge.

Concerning the constant prompt from the Namibian officials, Chen Chen decided he was going to drag his response out for another month.

There were a total of two nuclear reactors in the Blacklight Nuclear Power Plant. After a month, Chen Chen could use one to provide energy for Namibia and the other for charging the USB drive.

Even though at this rate Chen Chen was going to be operating at an enormous net loss, it was money that he could afford to lose.

After locking down the main control room, Chen Chen prepared to have Cheng Cao drive him back to the Spire laboratory.

However, when Chen Chen entered the car, he received a call. It was Qian Wenhuan.

"Boss, Professor Charles from the industrial zone just contacted me. They told me the thing you instructed them to design is completed and that they have produced a prototype. They hope you can head over to take a look."

Chen Chen nodded in response to Qian Wenhuan's report. "I got it. Tell them that I'll be there in an hour."

After hanging up, Chen Chen turned to Cheng Cao sitting in front. "Head over to the dock, I need to get something."

"Got it, Boss."

Chen Chen answered and proceeded to drive toward the dock in Walvis Bay.

Meanwhile, Chen Chen sent a message to Little X. When Chen Chen arrived at the dock twenty minutes later, there was already a cloned soldier standing ready by the Blacklight Cruise who then passed a pendant to Chen Chen.

After receiving the pendant, Chen Chen had Cheng Cao switch route again and headed for the industrial zone in the Eco Science City.

This pendant was the Galaxy in Men in Black.

While the USB drive was being charged in the nuclear power plant, the Blacklight Cruise was left running as well. Chen Chen had left the Galaxy pendant in the power control room for the ship's engines to charge it around the clock.

Although the power of the Blacklight Cruise's generator was only 240,000 kilowatts which were only one-eighth of that of the nuclear power plant, it was still a substantial amount of electricity.

The price he had to pay was that the Blacklight Cruise would be burning more than 20 million U.S. dollars in fuel and maintenance costs every month.

Chen Chen also found a proper way to release the accumulated electricity, which he had done using a specially constructed generator. Upon inserting the Galaxy pendant into the generator, the generator transmuted the electricity into an endless stream of thermal energy.

Chen Chen ordered three such generators from Germany. Although the efficiency may take a small hit, at least it served to accelerate the charging rate of the USB drive.

Apart from that, Chen Chen thought of a new application for the generated power.

Which was to manufacture weapons using the Galaxy pendant.

The earliest form of weaponry over the course of human civilization development was kinetic weapons. Even though energy weapons were available now, humans still largely depended on kinetic weapons since the technology for energy weapons had yet to reach a mature stage.

Kinetic weapons contained limitless potential as well. With enough accumulated power, it was able to fire more concentrated and faster artillery shells. When the artillery shell was accelerated to light speed, it was even able to destroy an entire planet.

Therefore, kinetic weaponry was going to maintain its place in history for at least several centuries to come.

If the Galaxy pendant could instantly release powerful bursts of energy, would it be possible to repurpose it into a weapon or even utilize it as the core energy of a weapon, thus allowing it to unleash unprecedented power?

Thus, Chen Che spent several hours of his spare time learning how to draft blueprints. With the help of the references provided by Little X, he had produced several weapons blueprints which he handed over to the newly constructed mechanical factory in Eco Science City.

Now, they had brought Chen Chen's designs to life using the ultra-high precision machine tools.

When they arrived at the industrial zone, it was immediately noticeable that this sector was much more desolate than Eco Science City. The mechanical factory was the only structure erected in the middle of Namibia's barren plains.

Still, it would only remain this way for now. Soon, the construction team would arrive and begin constructing plenty of factories in the area to make up for the industrial sector shortcomings of Blacklight Biotechnology.

If it was possible, Chen Chen would like to liaise with ASML Holding in Netherland and bring back several EV lithography machines. However, even with the generous reward offered up by Chen Chen in the God's Forbidden Zone forum, none of the families could help him with it.

After all, even the central government of the Mainland was unable to obtain such equipment, there was no reason to expect a company like Chen Chen's which was rooted in the Mainland would be granted the privilege.

As the proud holder of the plaque of the world's most precise machinery, it was even rarer than the ultra-high precision machine tools. Their orders were lined up till several years away. Under the strict joint administration of the North American and European continents, the relevant technology was locked away. This was not something that can be acquired with just money.

Chapter 192: New Weapon

The twenty-first century is the age of digital communication. Such rapid development of digital information largely depended on the development of IC chips.

IC chips combined the transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, and other components and wiring required in a circuit, all fabricated on one or several small semiconductor chips. The smaller they could be manufactured, the more of them could be arranged together which led to greater processing speed.

Therefore, the development of IC chips was in essence, the miniaturization of integrated circuits.

The so-called lithography machine played a crucial role in the manufacturing process of computer chips. It utilized light sources of various wavelengths to execute the printing process using lithography, allowing it to manufacture chips.

There were several classes of lithography machines. Currently, the Mainland only had mastery of up to 16 nanometers lithography techniques while the most refined lithography machine in the world was as precise as 5 nanometers.

This class of lithography machines was known as EUV lithography machines.

It was widely regarded that human vision only covered an extremely small portion of the known light spectrum in the universe, they were "red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and indigo". Colors closer to red resulted in a longer wavelength while on the other spectrum, colors closer to indigo resulted in a shorter wavelength.

Beyond the red light, there were ultra-long waves such as infrared, microwave, and radio waves. Similarly, below indigo, there were ultra-short waves such as ultraviolet rays, x-rays, and gamma rays.

What was known as extreme ultraviolet light was a light source invisible to the naked eye that was set between indigo and x-rays on the light spectrum. Its wavelength span was as low as 13.5 nanometers, which could be utilized to produce chips with only single-digit nanometer-level.

The only company in the world that was capable of manufacturing the EUV lithography machine was ASML Holding based in the Netherlands.

Such a feat was not achieved by this company alone. It was the result of a joint effort by dozens of countries all over the world.

The lens and light source of the EUV lithography machine were sourced from countries all over Europe while the optical components and control chips came from North America.

In other words, ASML Holding was the heralded product of Western civilization.

Previously, the Mainland had already signed an agreement with the said company and planned to finalize the delivery of the EUV lithography machines by the end of 2019. However, due to interference from North America, ASML Holding never made the delivery till this date.

Therefore, if Chen Chen planned to acquire the EUV lithography machine using regular methods, it was going to end up as nothing but a fool's errand.

However, Chen Chen had no way to pull it off using unorthodox methods either. A EUV lithography machine weighed up to 180 tons, the machine was made up of 120,000 parts and required 40 containers and three freighters just to transport it. The installation and trial-running may take more than a year.

Without the other party's cooperation, it was not even an option for Chen Chen to take it by force.

It was no surprise that the Mainland was exhausted of all options.

The reason Chen Chen wanted to acquire the EUV lithography machine was to aid in the research of the T-800 chip. The research staff employed by the Blacklight industrial zone had been researching the T-800 and concluded that its chip was produced using EUV lithography technique. The precision of the nanometer-scale craftsmanship had reached an astonishing degree of one nanometer.

This was bordering on the utmost limit of silicon semiconductors.

Artificial intelligence also played a crucial role in achieving such refined craftsmanship. It was reasonable to assume that such precision down to one nanometer was achieved with the prowess of Skynet.

Chen Chen had Little X on his side. So long as he was able to acquire a set of EUV lithography machines, he was optimistic that he could achieve such precision as well.

This was the reason Chen Chen wanted to acquire the EUV lithography machine.

As things were now, it would appear that it would involve some long-term planning.

At the moment, Cheng Cao had just parked the car outside the mechanical processing plant. Several researchers had been waiting by the entrance and immediately came up to them upon noting Chen Chen's arrival.

"Hello, Mr. Chen."

"Professor Charles, I hope all is going well."

The two men shook hands and headed inside the factory together.

"Mr. Chen, we have manufactured a weapon according to your specifications."

They continued the conversation as they walked. "The only thing missing is the energy source. Once we have a proper source of energy, we may begin conducting weapon tests."

"No problem, just leave the test firing to me."

Chen Chen nodded. The crew soon arrived at the inner section of the factory. Three oddly-shaped weapons could be seen set on top of a table.

One of them was a hand-held weapon similar to a pistol, except it was not painted so it looked like it was coated in midnight black.

"We constructed the body of the gun using carbon fiber as carbon fiber is much lighter than steel. This allows us to minimize the weight of the gun body."

Professor Charles began explaining, "In addition, we made the gun barrel using the latest high-alloy chromium-molybdenum steel. Its alloy composition includes chromium, molybdenum, carbon, silicon, manganese, nickel, vanadium, and sulfur. The tensile strength of this alloy is up to 12,000 kilogram-force per square meter. It's supremely resilient and has extreme temperature and pressure-resistant qualities, it should meet your requirements."

Chen Chen nodded. He picked up the pistol and grazed its surface.

The pistol felt cold and hard to the touch. Since it was Chen Chen's very own design, he was well-versed with its structure. When he gently pressed the button on its left side, the magazine suddenly popped out of the grip.

What was contained inside the magazine were not regular bullets but oval bullets only two centimeters long and half a centimeter in diameter, slightly resembling grains of rice.

"Since there was the special propelling force you mentioned, we took the cartridge case and gunpowder installation out of the construction process. We also expanded the magazine into an enhanced magazine that can hold fifty bullets."

Professor Charles went on explaining, "As for the bullets, the outer shell is a layer of 1.5 mm thick nickel-plated steel while the bullet core is an implemented lead design to maximize its damage."

Chen Chen knew exactly what the other person was trying to achieve with all the winded explanation. However, Chen Chen was going to have to disappoint him. "Professor Charles, thank you for everything you've done here. After I've tested the firearms, I'll send the resulting data to you."

When Chen Chen finished, he patted the professor on the shoulders. Then Cheng Cao took the other two weapons as they turned around and left.

Unsurprisingly, Professor Charles unveiled a look of disappointment when Chen Chen took his leave. When he had received the blueprints for the weapons, his accumulated experience over the years quickly gave him the insight that the weapons were specifically designed this way because there was a specialized power source available.

The power source could ceaselessly release energy upon receiving impact, taking the place of the gunpowder in the cartridge place to fire bullets.

Based on Chen Chen's provided specifications, the explosiveness contained in the specialized power source appeared to be far more devastating than regular gunpowder.

Charles and the other manufacturing staff just could not figure out for the life of them just what sort of substance was able to power these mechanizations.

After all, if such a power source did exist, its potential should be utterly limitless. It was the likes that could revolutionize the energy weapons industry and pave the way to a new industrial system.

Although the existence of such a power source was near unfathomable, even breaking the supposed laws of thermodynamic formula, not a single soul would dare assume Chen Chen was out of his mind. After all, when Backlight Biotechnology presented the remains of T-800 before them, their worldview had been utterly shattered.

Such a shame that in the end, Chen Chen still did not let them have a preview of what sort of power source it was.

Chapter 193: Firearms Testing

Spire underground laboratory, Black Knights training grounds.

Chen Chen stood at the shooting range, silently admiring the pistol in his hands.

Presentation wise, the pistol appeared rather ordinary. It was not much different from a regular pistol except its sleeves appeared thicker than ordinary pistols, giving it a stocky, sturdy impression.

However, this was not the finalized product but merely a prototype. Should it yield convincing results, Chen Chen could make it the standard weapon to fit the Black Knights with.

A piece of the Galaxy pendant only weighed twenty grams. Since the nuclear power station had been completed, the USB drive could accumulate enough energy each day to instantiate 2,000 pieces of Galaxy. Even if the output was cut in half, it still made for a good 1,000 pieces.

Therefore, there was little need for Chen Chen to hold back.

If he were to directly instantiate weaponry from science fiction movies, he may be able to do it in moderation, but to issue them as standard weapons for the Black Knights was not worth the energy it was going to cost him.

With this in mind, Chen Chen gently pressed the hammer of the gun which caused a sealed air chamber at the end of its body to pop up. He put the Galaxy pendant inside it.

With a proper energy source, the gun in his hands was finally complete.

Chen Chen's gun operated on a similar principle as regular guns by producing an explosive pressure inside the chamber. It propelled the bullet from the chamber.

In the case of regular firearms, the hammer hit the firing pin which caused the firing pin to hit the tail of the bullet. This chain effect triggered an explosion of gunpowder in the eggshell which launched the bullet. In the case of Chen Chen's firearm, the firing pin hit the Galaxy pendant which triggered the appropriate amount of energy used to launch the bullet.

With the pistol gleaming in front of him, a flash appeared in Chen Chen's eyes as he abruptly raised it and aimed it at a target a hundred meters out!

With a "bang", the target a hundred meters away shattered into pieces!

"Initial velocity 800m/s. Kinetic energy 1200J. Effective range of 150 meters."

The corresponding data was immediately reflected in the test detector beside him.

Such destruction...

Chen Chen lit up. Bullets shot from regular pistols only reached an initial velocity of up to 370 meters per second with kinetic energy hovering around 500J, the effective range was usually 50 meters at best. With the Galaxy pendant serving as a power source, its power instantly reached a level equivalent to a rifle.

Furthermore, this power could still be further improvised. By hitting the Galaxy pendant with a greater force, it should be able to unleash power at a greater velocity.

As for the topic of ammunition loading, since the installation of a cartridge case was not a requirement for the bullets, the magazine was able to load more bullets. The pistol used oval bullets with a diameter of 5 millimeters and was able to load up to 50 bullets at capacity.

If this was a rifle, it should be able to hold far more bullets.

Apart from that, there was also a biometric authentication device installed into the gun. In the hands of anyone else other than the owner, it was merely a piece of junk metal.

It was also able to rotate between semi-automatic and full-automatic modules. Chen Chen put the firearm into full-automatic mode and pulled the trigger again. With a violent gatling motion followed by a round of deafening explosions, the pistol emptied out its magazine in just six seconds!

"Hm, it's alright in the speed department."

Chen Chen inspected the target sitting in the distance again. The target had already been smashed into smithereens. Even the concrete wall behind the target was punctured with countless concave pits.

After concluding the test, Chen Chen extracted the Galaxy pendant and refitted it into a larger rifle.

Compared to the previous pistol, the rifle was far more aesthetically pleasing. It was a variation of an unsupported rifle, holding a slight resemblance to an AUG rifle. Since it used the same bullet model as the previous pistol, it was able to hold up to 200 bullets at a time.

However, the structure of the rifle was sturdier. As a result, it could generate a stronger impact into the Galaxy pendant which in turn kindled a greater kinetic force.

With this, Chen Chen raised the rifle and switched to another steel target. He took aim and fired!

"Bang, bang, bang, bang..."

There was a huge recoil. It took everything in Chen Chen to hold down the raised muzzle.

After ten seconds, the magazine along with its 200 bullets was completely emptied out. The rate of fire reached as much as 1,200 bullets per minute.

The steel target had long been obliterated.

"Initial velocity 1500m/s. Kinetic energy 3400J. Effective range of 1013 meters."

Chen Chen was struck dumb by the newly reflected readings. It had blown all of the manufactured rifles in the world out of the water. The only question that remained was regarding its durability and stability.

Which was to say that with the Galaxy pendant as an energy source, pistols were escalated to the level of rifles and rifles were brought to the level of sniper rifles. In that case, what about sniper rifles?

Chen Chen turned to the third gun.

It was a sniper rifle with a design closely resembling the AWP.

To optimize the power of the sniper rifle, it did not use the 5 millimeter bullet models used in the pistol and rifle. Instead, it used an enlarged version of bullet measuring at a diameter of 10 millimeters.

Chen Chen extracted the Galaxy pendant. After a momentary pause, he suddenly tossed it to Cheng Cao beside him. "Want to give it a shot?"

Cheng Cao caught the Galaxy pendant and briefly inspected it before responding with a nod. He took the sniper rifle and inserted the Galaxy pendant into it.

"Be careful, the recoil might be a bit powerful."

Chen Chen gave him a word of caution. Immediately, a 100 millimeters thick steel plate was erected on the shooting range, slanted at an angle of 170 degrees.

The purpose of this inclined angle was to emulate the rear armor of a tank.

Thanks to the Galaxy pendant, the sniper rifle did not have to implement a bolt-action structure, it was able to fire in continuous motion. Cheng Cao knelt on the ground. With the end of the rifle propped against his shoulder, he aimed at the steel plate a hundred meters away.

There was a thunderous rumble. A look appeared on Cheng Cao's face as his entire body stumbled half a meter backward. Instead of finding time to look at the results, he began rubbing his shoulders. It would appear that the recoil did a number on his shoulders.

Chen Chen heaved a slight breath of relief when he saw what happened to Cheng Cao. "That's some destruction, good thing it wasn't me testing it..."

Cheng Cao, "..."

"Initial velocity 3400m/s. Kinetic energy 14400J. Effective range of 3100 meters."

Upon noticing the reflected readings in the detector, Chen Chen and Cheng Cao were both visibly impressed. Such power had surpassed what was the realm of a regular sniper rifle, it was practically an anti-material rifle.

More importantly, the size of the sniper rifle was nothing out of the ordinary. It was just slightly larger than a rifle and nowhere near an anti-material rifle in terms of size.

On the other end, the steel plate was completely punched through. A large hole with a diameter of ten centimeters was formed at its center.

"Not bad at all."

Chen Chen nodded. His brows curled up in a frown as he turned to Cheng Cao. "Cao, what do you think?"

"Its destruction power speaks for itself. Still, firearms aren't measured by pure destruction alone."

Cheng Cao thought for a moment before continuing. "I think that when it comes to firearms, as opposed to its destructiveness, what's more important should be its stability and consistency of output. For example, the lifespan of the barrel, the rate at which the rifling wears out, and whether the weapon can maintain its performance in complicated terrains such as a desert, plateaus, rivers, and oceans. These are all factors to consider when manufacturing firearms."

"I understand."

Chen Chen nodded in response. It was true that power alone did not mean anything. Its power had to be complemented by other features before it could be safely considered a qualified firearm.

Why was the AK47 an indestructible staple? That was because it was able to survive both extreme cold and heat alike as well as maintain its performance in all sorts of intricate situations.

Simply put, the reliability and ease of control of firearms should come before its pure measure of power.

After that, Chen Chen had the Black Knights test the three firearms and their respective performance. These weapons would still have to be modified several more times before they could become a standard issue.

Chapter 194: Terror Strikes

Chen Chen was always under the impression that the Galaxy pendant had other outlets for releasing its energy apart from using such primitive methods of collisional release.

Unfortunately, Chen Chen could not find any alternative methods for releasing its energy apart from resorting to such primitive methods. He had tried immersing it in a chemical solution, attempted to simulate it using extreme heat and cold, and many other experiments but to no avail.

It made sense he would have trouble with it considering it was alien technology. In the movies, they were an advanced civilization that had long developed interstellar travel technology where they were capable of obliterating the Earth with just one shot. Therefore, it was no surprise that Chen Chen was unable to solve the mystery behind the Galaxy pendant using the technology currently available to him.

Just as Chen Chen returned to the laboratory and was getting ready to continue practicing his "Field", his phone suddenly rang. Chen Chen took out his phone and saw it was Qian Wenhuan who was calling.

"Boss, there's an epidemic going on in Windhoek, Namibia's capital."

There was a sense of urgency in Qian Wenhuan's voice. "More than three hundred people in Windhoek have been hospitalized since last evening. They all displayed symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, internal bleeding, external bleeding, fever, and such. The hospitals in Windhoek are all overcrowded. The Ministry of Health just requested assistance from our company."

"Are those people properly quarantined?" Chen Chen turned into a frown.

"The officials say that they have been quarantined," Qian Wenhuan answered.

"In that case, donate 500 isolation suits and some tools for disinfection to them for now."

Chen Chen thought for a moment. "Based on the symptoms you just described, it's likely Ebola. This isn't all that surprising. Ebola usually breaks out in the Western African region but they occasionally happen in the Southern African region as well. This virus isn't very contagious anyway so there shouldn't be much to worry about here."

"Understood."

Qian Wenhuan took note and ended the call.

Chen Chen did not let this piece of information trouble him. After all, this was not the global pandemic that broke out three years ago. The world and its countries were well informed of the terrors of Ebola and spared no effort in stopping it.

Besides, Ebola was a powerful and lethal virus. Its high fatality rate even proved to be detrimental as it tended to kill its hosts before they were able to spread it. This was the reason that a true outbreak never happened.

Therefore, Chen Chen was not worried about Windhoek being unable to contain the spread of the virus. A simple setup of a quarantine zone should suffice.

With that, Chen Chen turned to look at a deck of poker cards set on a table. In one swift motion with his hand, the deck of cards flew and landed on his palms like a pigeon returning to its nest.

At this point, Chen Chen's mastery of "Field" already rivaled that of the protagonist in Chronicle to around the midway point of the movie.

This was the fruit of Chen Chen's hard work over the past few months.

Of course, Chen Chen still had much to improve in terms of strength. Up till this point, Chen Chen had only absorbed no more than thirty pieces of crystalline fragments which were barely one percent of the amount which the protagonist had absorbed.

As a result, the potency of Chen Chen's Field was increasing at a snail-like pace. Even till now, Chen Chen was only capable of moving objects weighing up to 500 grams at most.

With that said, whatever he lacked in terms of Field potency could be compensated with the appropriate weapons.

When Chen Chen invoked a thought, a box levitated out of his pocket. With a soft click, the box opened and several almost completely transparent graphene cards came flying out of it.

When Chen Chen extended his palm, the cards magically danced around atop his palms as if they had come to life.

With a gentle snap, the graphene cards launched off one after another and nailed themselves into the head of a mannequin positioned five to six meters away.

Chen Chen was visibly pleased with what he saw. As opposed to suddenly gaining immense powers that were difficult to control, he would much rather experience gradual growth like this one step at a time. This way, he was able to effectively maximize his strength.

After training for some time, Chen Chen seemed to have suddenly recalled something. He sat on the desk and turned on the computer while at the same time instructing, "X, help me hack into the internal network of Namibia and get the latest update of the virus spread."

"Understood!"

Little X responded almost immediately. After that, the computer processor began operating at full speed as countless web pages were closed as soon as they were opened. After half a minute of this routine, several specially selected web pages appeared before Chen Chen.

"These are the latest updates concerning the spread of the virus. A total of 1,230 people in Namibia's capital, Windhoek, are suspected of contracting a hemorrhagic fever. These areas are now locked down completely. 321 of these patients are currently receiving treatment in the hospital. The Windhoek City Hall are falsifying their claim by saying that there are only three hundred infections.

"That's not the end of it. With Windhoek acting as the central point, its surrounding cities including Bergland, Okahandja, Wilhelmsthal, Sul Lovatyre, and seventeen other cities as well as fifteen villages in the surrounding area all reported similar outbreaks. The earliest case dates back to three days ago."

Chen Chen frowned when he heard the news, "This means that Windhoek is the core of the outbreak and it was able to spread the disease to populated regions up to hundreds of kilometers away in just three days?"

"Yes," Little X replied.

"Something's not right. This doesn't line up with the rate of infection of Ebola which is transmitted via body fluids."

Chen Chen thought for a moment before instructing again, "Expand the search range. Go through all of the intranets of all countries in the African continent. Compile all of the details of similar outbreaks and send them to me."

Little X immediately got to work.

The search this time took considerably longer. After close to ten minutes later, a thick sheet of detailed report densely packed with relevant data was printed.

"In the African region, eight countries including Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Congo have all reported similar diseases."

Little X elaborated, "The earliest reported case was as early as seven days ago. However, since there had been plenty of similar outbreaks of infectious disease in the past in Congo, it was simply overlooked. The outbreak in Congo has now spread into 13 cities and 25 villages. More than 5,000 cases of infections have been discovered."

There was a heavy shadow cast over Chen Chen's face. While listening to Little X's reports, he looked at the foot of the report and noticed a shocking number displayed on it.

The total number of reported infections and covered-up infections in all countries combined had exceeded thirty thousand!

"Something's off, something's really off here..."

Chen Chen muttered to himself and further instructed, "Look up the data of the count of people infected by Ebola outbreak over the last 40 years as well as the scope of those outbreaks. Compare that data with the current outbreak."

Following Chen Chen's orders, a graph charted with comprehensive data appeared on the computer display.

"The first appearance and outbreak of the Ebola virus were reported in the year 1976, which claimed 270 lives before disappearing. The second outbreak was reported in 1995, claiming 245 victims. The most recent outbreak was reported in 2018, in which 1,600 people were infected and a thousand of them died from the virus."

As Little X's robotic voice began to report the findings, Chen Chen could see from the charted graph that all of the readings, whether it was infection count or scope of the outbreak, were all at least ten folds of the previous instances of outbreaks.

"I knew it, these cases are unlike regular Ebola virus."

This revelation only served to further cement Chen Chen's previous belief. A dark gloom cast over his face. "If this disease was allowed to spread in Africa, it's going to greatly impact Eco Science City's business."

Chen Chen got up as he instructed, "X, issue the order. All staff is prohibited from leaving the city range in the following period. Also, dispatch all of the B.S.S. and Black Knights members. Completely lock down the Eco Science City and don't allow any locals to enter!"