A Spark Can Set the Prairie Ablaze

The Stone Statue Disease on his body seemed to be worsening faster.

Fortunately, he was still in the early stages of infection, so he had plenty of time.

After reading through all the materials, Shen Feng did not feel much emotional turmoil. His heart was remarkably calm.

He had once made assumptions about how Stone Statue Disease had emerged.

Generally speaking, there were only two possibilities. One was that it had been independently developed in a laboratory; the other was that it came from some unknown place humanity had yet to fully understand.

Just as the Ebola virus had come from the African jungle, the original Stone Statue Disease virus had come from beneath Arctic glaciers.

He had originally thought those Brain Apes were the cause of Stone Statue Disease, but it seemed he had misunderstood them.

They were merely a pile of byproducts produced during the mutation process of Stone Statue Disease.

From the moment the Stone Statue Disease virus first appeared, humanity's ultimate fate had already been sealed.

This terrifying virus kept mutating until it finally became the ultimate form of Stone Statue Disease, triggering the extinction of all humanity.

In a sense, it was like a time bomb planted beneath the Arctic glaciers by some prankster, waiting for curiosity-driven humans to dig it up.

He had basically figured out the origins of the Brain Apes. Now, he only needed to obtain a tissue sample to complete his mission.

Come to think of it, the appearance of the Brain Apes had forced him into the Radiant City Epidemic Prevention Center, giving him time to properly look through the other detailed records on Stone Statue Disease.

He still had enough food and water for roughly three or four days. The safest course of action was to hide here until the Brain Apes left, then find a way to leave for the capital.

Shen Feng shifted into a more comfortable position in front of the computer and continued reviewing the various materials stored within.

Most of the files were research data on Stone Statue Disease, as well as accounts of what had happened after its outbreak.

Starting from the earliest records, one could practically feel the entire process of society going from ignorance to shock, then panic, and finally complete extinction.

As for the horrifying virus known as Stone Statue Disease, aside from disease prevention methods, researchers had also put forward some new perspectives from different angles.

Patients in the earliest stages of Stone Statue Disease experienced increased strength and greatly enhanced brain function.

According to research, this was likely because some of their body cells had begun to undergo silicon-based transformation, producing these changes.

During the early stages of the Stone Statue Disease outbreak, many had even believed that if humanity could stabilize the virus at this stage, the entire human race could achieve a massive evolution in physical capabilities.

After all, weakened pain perception, tougher skin and bones, and improved brain function truly could be called evolution.

But this stage generally lasted only two short weeks. What followed was declining mobility and gradual organ failure, though their resistance to physical damage rose sharply.

It was said that some late-stage Stone Statue Disease patients could even withstand handgun bullets fired at close range.

What caught Shen Feng's attention even more were two research papers.

One of them proposed that after the human body had been completely transformed into a silicon-based form, although no brainwave activity could be detected, there was always a faint electromagnetic radiation pulse within the bodies of stone statue humans, one that closely resembled brainwave activity.

Therefore, the author believed that after humans completely became stone statues, they might still possess thoughts and consciousness. They were still alive, only in the form of stone statues!

The stone statue humans who had become stone statues had turned into entirely new silicon-based lifeforms, possessing nearly eternal life!

It was only that the flow of time for these silicon-based lifeforms had completely diverged from that of their surroundings.

The hypothesis in the other paper was even more novel.

Its author believed that stone statue humans who had become silicon-based lifeforms might have entered an entirely new era of mental connection.

Every silicon-based human body was like a massive silicon-based information storage device, capable of storing enormous amounts of data and perhaps even exchanging information through some method humanity had yet to master.

It was even possible that all stone statue human bodies, using the entire Earth as their foundation, formed a supermassive processor that was spontaneously simulating a new world, perhaps even a new universe.

Within that virtual universe, the thoughts of all stone statue humans had been liberated, free to create and destroy without limit.

Simply put, the bodies of stone statue humans had become servers, while all human consciousness had jointly created a virtual world.

That was why, once large numbers of stone statue humans appeared, their consciousness no longer depended on individual bodies. Instead, it roamed freely within that virtual world, and the destruction of a single stone statue would have no effect whatsoever.

These two papers left Shen Feng utterly astonished.

Though they had merely been hypotheses from back then, they were undeniably wildly imaginative.

Could these stone statues really still be alive!?

Shen Feng walked up to one of the stone statues and examined it carefully.

This statue was the stone statue of the person in charge of the Radiant City Epidemic Prevention Center.

He stood with one foot on the ground and the other suspended in midair, as though he were taking a step forward.

Shen Feng looked at the floor beneath him. After all these years, a thick layer of dust had accumulated there.

He had not paid it any attention at first, but now he noticed that behind the stone statue, beneath the dust, there were faintly three deep footprints!

Though those three footprints were also covered in dust, they were clearly much shallower, and the closer they were to the statue's current position, the more distinct they became!

Shen Feng inspected the other stone statues in the room again, and his breathing grew rapid once more.

Behind every stone statue were two or three footprints of varying depths, clearly left in different years.

Could they really be moving at speeds tens of thousands, millions, or even hundreds of millions of times slower than ordinary people?

Had these stone statues taken only a few steps over the course of several years?

Then what had the normal world become in their eyes? A mass of rapidly shifting, bizarre shadows?

Shen Feng rubbed his forehead. These matters were still far too complicated for him. Aside from survival, he had no energy for the time being to figure them out.

What concerned him more now was the location of the "Pangu Virus," also known as the "Stone Statue Type 2 Virus."

According to the information he had found in the database, the final injection of the "Pangu Virus" had been temporarily transferred to the Radiant City Epidemic Prevention Center for research.

But before the research could even begin, the Stone Statue virus had broken out on a massive scale.

In other words, the "Pangu Virus" injection was still inside this building!

Moreover, with the solar power system continuing to operate, the injection could have remained perfectly preserved.

After searching through the laboratory, Shen Feng put on a pair of medical gloves, walked over to a metal cabinet that still looked clean and orderly, and entered a password he had obtained from the computer system.

The cabinet door opened instantly, and a wave of cold air spilled out. Even after several years, the refrigeration system was somehow still running.

Rows of injections sealed inside glass compartments appeared before him. They were all samples of various viruses and vaccines obtained during the Stone Statue Disease outbreak.

Most of these things had once possessed terrifying power, though they should have largely lost their effectiveness by now.

Shen Feng opened a hidden compartment and pulled out the item inside.

A small metal cylinder.

He placed the metal cylinder on the table and pressed a button. The cylinder immediately opened, releasing a puff of white vapor that pushed out an injection.

This was the "Pangu Virus" injection!

Only a small amount of liquid nitrogen remained in the metal cylinder, and the injection itself was tea-brown. There was no way to tell whether it was still effective.

Shen Feng took a deep breath and picked up the injection.

Whatever. Even if it had already lost its efficacy, it had merely mutated into the final Stone Statue virus.

One more burden would make no difference. He was already infected with the Stone Statue virus anyway, so he might as well take a chance.

Then he drove the injection into his forearm and injected it.

A cool sensation spread from his arm, then throughout his entire body.

Shen Feng waited for a while, but nothing unusual happened. Disappointed, he tossed away the injection.

It had probably expired.

After browsing so much information and going through all that trouble, Shen Feng finally felt exhaustion wash over him. He cleared off a sofa, lay down, and fell into a deep sleep.

After an unknown amount of time, waves of roars and howls jolted him awake. He abruptly opened his eyes, only to see the entire laboratory bathed in firelight!

Shen Feng shot to his feet and saw the walls of the laboratory brightly illuminated by light shining in from outside.

He hurried to the window and looked out.

Night had fallen, and the sky was completely dark. Yet at Radiant City Central Plaza, not far from the Epidemic Prevention Center building, a huge bonfire had been built. The blazing flames rose dozens of meters high, illuminating everything around it.

Brain Apes sat densely packed around the bonfire, as though they were holding some grand ceremony.

And serving as firewood within the blaze were thousands upon thousands of stone statues!