Chapter 487 - 425: Do You Want to Go to Space?

Chapter 487: Chapter 425: Do You Want to Go to Space?

「Early morning, March 25th. Strategy Research Room base.」

Guan Tong, Zhang Minglu, Dragon Soul, and Wenren Yizhi were in a small meeting room, discussing the details of the upcoming experiment.

Zhang Minglu began by giving Guan Tong a detailed briefing on the Human Federation’s previous exploratory experiments into the Crimson Fear, revealing some details that had not been made public.

He paid special attention to the experiment in the Lu Rui Country.

"The test subject from the Lu Rui Country, the one whose prefrontal cortex had been removed, became a vector for the Crimson Fear after the experiment. Anyone who makes eye contact with her experiences an effect similar to looking directly at Crimson Terra."

Guan Tong asked curiously, "A human can actually become a vector?"

"Yes. The Human Federation hasn’t publicized this information for fear it would be exploited by malicious actors," Zhang Minglu said.

Dragon Soul, who was standing nearby, added, "Given the fanaticism of the Fire Worship Cultists and the Parasites, if they learned of this, it’s highly likely they would deliberately create a large number of vectors to use against humanity."

Guan Tong nodded. A prefrontal lobotomy isn’t a complicated procedure. If a malicious organization got their hands on this information, it’s easy to imagine them capturing people to perform it on them by force.

Zhang Minglu continued, "Due to the removal of her prefrontal cortex, the test subject’s intelligence was far below average. But she was specially selected by the lead researcher of the Lu Rui Country experiment precisely because she still possessed a degree of rationality and was able to communicate."

"Since she could communicate, what did you learn from her after she became a vector?"

"Unfortunately, she could no longer communicate normally after becoming a vector. However, we observed that she began to mutter to herself frequently. We placed a listening device on her, and everything she’s said to herself over the past few days has been recorded."

As he spoke, Zhang Minglu pressed the play button on a laptop that was on the desk.

An audio clip began to play, and the sound of a woman’s halting mumbling filled the room.

"I don’t understand... I don’t know... what..."

"No... I don’t want that..."

"Can’t... do it... I can’t..."

After a few moments, Zhang Minglu stopped the playback.

"So, what do you make of it?" he asked.

Guan Tong thought for a moment. "It sounds like she’s having a conversation with someone."

"You’re exactly right!" Zhang Minglu’s eyes lit up. "That was our conclusion as well. The things she’s been muttering to herself, over and over, sound like she’s in a conversation with someone we can’t see. And this being—let’s call it a person for now—seems to be constantly demanding she do something."

"Telling her to spread the fear? Like the Alien Spores before?"

"Yes and no," Zhang Minglu said. "The spores’ goal was to spread, to convert more of their own kind. But the Crimson Fear leads to death. What is there to gain from spreading it?"

"..."

Of course, Guan Tong couldn’t figure it out. Before reviewing this data, he knew very little about this particular rule.

Zhang Minglu pushed up his glasses. "The Human Federation believes that the ’unknown’ mentioned in the classified intel is this Source of Fear, which can be transmitted through humans. If that’s the case, it means this unknown is purely harmful to humanity, with no benefit, and not worth exploring."

Guan Tong remained silent. He knew that if it were truly "not worth exploring," he wouldn’t be sitting in this room right now.

Sure enough, Zhang Minglu’s very next sentence was a pivot.

"But, take a look at these."

Zhang Minglu pulled up some photos.

The people in the photos all shared one trait that was obvious at a glance: their expressions were either twisted in fear or ashen and numb.

Many of the first few subjects wore a variety of clothes, but in the later photos, most of the people were wearing military Combat Suits.

"These are all people who have been affected by the Crimson Fear," Zhang Minglu said. "Most of the earlier ones were civilians. These new additions are mostly coalition soldiers."

’Coalition soldiers...’

Guan Tong was, of course, aware of the night raid on the coalition base by the Parasites from the Black Banner Country.

"Some of these people are already dead; others are still alive. But those who are alive don’t have much time. Just like the astronauts on the first two manned rockets, once they enter the acute stress phase, they only have a few days left to live."

Hearing this, Guan Tong understood what Zhang Minglu was getting at.

Zhang Minglu said frankly, "The primary purpose of exploring the Source of Fear is to see if we can find a way to save these people. Guan Tong, your ’Mental Stability Anchor’ and Wenren Yizhi’s ’Black Hole’ are two abilities that make the risks of such an exploration relatively low and controllable."

After a long moment of consideration, Guan Tong nodded. "I can give it a try, but I’ll need a large amount of Flowing Psychic Power."

’If I can really save people, it’s a risk I’m willing to take.’

But taking a risk wasn’t the same as being reckless. If he was going to face Crimson Terra head-on in a grueling fight, he had to be prepared with enough ammunition and supplies.

Psychic Power was his ammunition, and he would need a massive amount of it.

"That won’t be a problem," Zhang Minglu assured him. "Mr. Gao has said before that if your ability is being used to help others, the required Psychic Power will be provided by the government. Since you’ve agreed, let’s discuss the exact procedure."

As he spoke, Zhang Minglu let out a subtle sigh of relief.

Before getting a clear answer, he hadn’t known if Guan Tong would agree.

After all, it was an incredibly dangerous task. Moreover, since the abilities to store Psychic Power and project the Mental Stability Anchor were both unique to Guan Tong, it meant no one could act as his substitute. Guan Tong himself had to be the one to perform the experiment.

If Guan Tong had been considering things from a purely self-preservationist standpoint, he might have refused. After all, whether others lived or died was technically none of his business, and not helping wouldn’t stop him from successfully clearing this rule on his own.

But Zhang Minglu believed that, based on his track record, Guan Tong would agree. He just couldn’t be completely sure until he heard it with his own ears.

"Here’s the plan: first, we’ll spend three days concentrating Flowing Psychic Power into you, just like we did during the ’Earth Dragon Flipping Over’ Rule Stage. With our previous experience, we can transfer even more in a shorter amount of time.

"Three days from now, on the 29th, we will officially launch the final experiment before the Rule Stage ends. During the experiment, besides you relying on your own power, we will provide external support in the form of mental-resistance items. For example, we’ll have Wenren Yizhi destroy all her other black chess pieces, leaving only a single one. If you carry it on your person, it will be concentrated with all her mental-resistance power."

Guan Tong looked over at Wenren Yizhi. She had been in the office the entire time, but she seemed completely lost in her own world, not having said a single word.

As if sensing his gaze, she snapped out of her reverie.

"I can do that," she said.

Each chess piece occupied a portion of her maximum Psychic Power. Destroying the others to preserve only one would indeed concentrate all her strength into it, providing much greater support.

"At the appointed time, Dragon Soul, Chen Na, Silver Fox, and I will all be on-site. We might not be able to help you with our abilities, but having familiar faces around might help you relax on a psychological level."

After he finished, Zhang Minglu looked at Guan Tong expectantly, waiting to see if he had anything to add.

Guan Tong thought for a moment before saying, "We’ll go with this plan. But there’s no need to arrange for familiar people to be at the site."

Zhang Minglu was taken aback. "Why not?"

"I hate to say it, but any experiment has a chance of failure," Guan Tong said calmly. "People affected by the Crimson Fear don’t just die or go into shock; some of them also attack everyone around them indiscriminately. If I fail the exploration and can’t pull out in time, and I end up affected by the Crimson Fear... I don’t want anyone around for me to attack."

"That..."

Zhang Minglu really had overlooked that point.

Now that Guan Tong mentioned it, he realized it was indeed a serious problem.

’With Guan Tong’s combat prowess, if he loses control to the Crimson Fear, he’d probably kill everyone on site!’

"I think Guan Tong is right," Dragon Soul said grimly. "If ’Shadow’ loses control, the consequences would be unpredictable, and it would pose an immense risk to the public. Therefore, the experiment should be conducted far from crowds, far from the base, and far from any populated city."

No one doubted how much destruction "Shadow" could cause with a sufficient supply of Psychic Power.

The scene he created back on Holy Grail Island while wielding the Holy Grail of Infinite Psychic Power was breathtaking enough. Now, so much time had passed, and no one but Guan Tong himself knew how much "Shadow" had evolved.

Zhang Minglu and Dragon Soul exchanged a look, recalling a top-secret internal assessment conducted by the Strategy Research Room. The assessment covered the world’s most famous and powerful Ascenders. Naturally, "Shadow" was on the list—in fact, he was ranked at the very top.

The conclusion of that assessment was: at peak condition and with a sufficient supply of Psychic Power, "Shadow" could single-handedly destroy an entire army corps or annihilate a whole city in a short amount of time.

At this thought, Zhang Minglu couldn’t help but hesitate.

’If we have Guan Tong do this experiment and he loses control, who could possibly stop him?’

’And what price would we have to pay to stop him...’

"What’s the matter, Dr. Zhang? Having second thoughts?" Guan Tong asked.

Zhang Minglu clenched his jaw and shook his head. "Every endeavor has its risks; I’m well aware of that. But if you refuse to take any risks at all, you’ll just end up like a frog in slowly boiling water, dying in comfort. I’ll find a suitable test site, one that can mitigate the risks..."

He stopped mid-sentence, suddenly freezing. He stared at Guan Tong for a long moment, a somewhat crazed glint appearing in his eyes behind his glasses.

"Guan Tong, how would you like to go to space?"