A Bold Idea (1)

After arriving at the base, the group immediately threw themselves into work.

Kaplan busied himself rewriting the AI's underlying logic and modifying its permissions. The logistics staff busied themselves scrubbing the floors, while Alice busied herself drilling the girls.

Even Dr. Ashford, since the laboratory had been badly damaged and was still waiting for the logistics staff to clear it up, could take his laptop and relevant research materials elsewhere to study the theory.

For a time, Ren Ze was the only idle person in the entire base, with nothing to do.

With time on his hands, Ren Ze wandered around. He did not know much about computers, and after watching Kaplan work for a while, he found nothing worth seeing.

There was even less to see in the logistics staff scrubbing the floor...

And he felt too awkward to disturb Dr. Ashford.

So, driven by a death-defying curiosity, Ren Ze wandered into the base's training ground.

"Hey, this is good, this is good!"

Ren Ze feasted his eyes and enjoyed the view with great relish, disrupting what had been a perfectly orderly training formation until it became crooked and uneven.

Before he had seen his fill, Alice furiously used Psychic Power to violently fling him out of the training ground.

"Was I... just abused by my wife?"

Outside the training ground, Ren Ze sat on the floor and contemplated life. Who was he? Where was he? Where was he going?

Morals were declining; husbands had no authority anymore...

It was impossible for Ren Ze not to envy Alice's Psychic Power. After all the real combat they had gone through day and night, he had discovered that Psychic Power was truly an indispensable tool for home, travel, murder, covering one's tracks, and conquering the myriad worlds!

Ren Ze returned to his room and half-heartedly completed his daily cultivation, suddenly feeling that being a martial artist was not so appealing after all...

But Alice had inexplicably awakened Psychic Power out of nowhere, so there was no way she could teach him...

No, Ren Ze decided to consult a professional.

When he arrived at Dr. Ashford's room, Dr. Ashford was still very respectful toward this "boss" who had rescued his daughter from Raccoon City and freed him from Umbrella Corporation's clutches. He set down the document he had been reading, waved for Ren Ze to sit wherever he liked.

"Doctor, I'm just curious. You developed the T-Virus, didn't you? Wasn't it meant to treat your daughter's illness? Why could your daughter receive treatment while everyone else became Zombies after infection? Alice gaining physical abilities beyond ordinary people after merging with the T-Virus is one thing, but why did she gain Psychic Power? Doctor, that isn't scientific!"

Ren Ze dumped all the questions he had pondered for an entire day without finding answers to onto the doctor.

"You have seen my legs. This is not a disability, but a congenital chromosomal mutation, and it was passed down to my daughter Angela as well. I did not want her to spend the rest of her life confined to a wheelchair like me. Yet traditional medicine could do nothing for the condition my daughter and I had. That was my original motivation for developing the T-Virus."

Dr. Ashford seemed to be reminiscing, yet also pouring out his heart.

"Since it was a congenital chromosomal mutation, after years of painstaking research, the solution I came up with was genetic recombination—using a virus to recombine genes and alter the chromosomes' inherent defects."

"A mild virus integrates its own genetic material into the chromosomes of host cells and coexists with them over the long term. During this coexistence, the host cell's genotype naturally changes due to the integration of the viral chromosomes, and the cell's traits change accordingly. This means the host itself will undergo mutations to a greater or lesser degree. It may even mutate into another species, depending on the extent and nature of the integrated virus's effects on the host."

"Only after countless experiments did I find the T-Virus, which could treat the congenital chromosomal mutations in my daughter and me. Of course, the T-Virus also had serious flaws. For example, after it took effect, the skin would ulcerate, accompanied by an intense hunger. In the end, the patient would lose all reason and attack and devour other animals. These were all consequences of an abnormally accelerated metabolism."

"But with the T-Virus working alongside the Anti-toxin Serum, my long-held dream was finally realized! My daughter was successfully cured, but it also drew Umbrella Corporation's attention. They happened to value the T-Virus's flaws. They wanted soldiers to be infected with the T-Virus, making them extremely aggressive and devoid of all emotion, while allowing their wounds to heal through rapid metabolism."

"You basically know what happened afterward. Umbrella Corporation seized my research results and went further and further down the wrong path of developing biological weapons... After witnessing the outbreak of this bioterror crisis firsthand, if it had not been for your appearance, Boss, and if it had not been for my daughter, I might even have considered dying to atone for my sins..."

"Don't! Please, absolutely don't. Preserve yourself for something useful. Not only do you need to take care of your daughter, but ending this catastrophe will require your help too! What about Alice? Why is she different from ordinary people?"

Hearing that, Ren Ze hurriedly offered some comfort, afraid the doctor might do something rash.

"Alice is a special case. Among humans, at most one person in tens of millions has the constitution to withstand the T-Virus's power. After the Hive incident, Umbrella Corporation routinely tested those who emerged to see whether they had been infected with the T-Virus. By chance, they discovered that she had this constitution and regarded her as a priceless treasure. I received that report at the time as well, but because of my disgust toward Umbrella Corporation, I did not participate in the Alice Program."

"Wait? You're saying the ability to withstand the T-Virus's power is related to one's constitution? Then what about mine?"

Ren Ze's spirits lifted as he asked.

"That is correct. Whether an ordinary person is strong or weak, fat or thin, makes little difference under the T-Virus's effects. That is why Alice's uniqueness is extraordinarily rare and difficult to replicate. Your basic physical attributes are far stronger than an ordinary person's, so there is no basis for comparison. Once the laboratory is repaired, if you are willing to provide samples of your blood and tissue, I can study them."

"As for Alice's awakened Psychic Power—or rather, mental power—according to a document I read, it may be related to the degree of brain development and utilization. A scientist once proposed a hypothesis that humans only utilize seven to ten percent of their brain capacity. The only creature in the biological world with a higher degree of brain development than humans is the dolphin, reaching as high as twenty percent. That is why dolphins possess sonar more accurate than any sonar created by humans."

"When human brain utilization reaches around twenty percent, people can freely explore and control their own bodies. Their sensation of pain decreases, their hearing becomes astonishing, and their senses become abnormally acute."

"When human brain utilization reaches around thirty percent, through physical contact with another person, they can clearly perceive the other person's physical condition, synchronize with their brainwaves, and control their own metabolism. Pain, fear, and desire nearly vanish, as though everything related to humanity is disappearing. They can comprehend all knowledge without being taught."

"When human brain utilization reaches around forty percent, they can simply control another person's body and control objects and matter."

"When human brain utilization reaches around fifty percent, they can achieve true x-ray vision and control others or manipulate objects with their thoughts through a mere gesture."

"When human brain utilization exceeds sixty to seventy percent, they can teleport short distances. They can attack others mentally, perceive everything related to someone through contact with their body, freely decompose and recombine cells, control the formation of molecules, and alter molecular structures."

"When human brain utilization reaches eighty to ninety percent, they can control space-time, travel through space-time, and instantly move anywhere they wish to go. They can control time itself—its flow, fast-forwarding, rewinding, and stopping it."

"When human brain utilization reaches one hundred percent, they become truly omnipotent, existing everywhere between heaven and earth!"

"Of course, these are all hypotheses and cannot be verified. Combined with Alice's situation, although this hypothesis differs somewhat from reality, it does possess a certain degree of plausibility. My guess is that after the T-Virus transformed Alice, it further increased her brain utilization. As for how much it increased, I do not know."

After hearing this, Ren Ze felt a flash of inspiration cross his mind and muttered, "So cultivation can be explained through science too?"

Seeing Ren Ze sink into thought, Dr. Ashford did not disturb him. He simply picked up the document he had set aside and slowly resumed reading...

At that very moment, Ren Ze was in the midst of a mental storm—and he had a bold idea!