Four Methods

"Laboratory leak? Now that was a classic trope."

Wu Ming shook his head slightly. "Thanks for the intel. My original hypothesis was missing some key factors, but now they've been filled in."

"You're welcome," Zhao Minghui said steadily. "Let's get back to the point and talk about your research."

"Since you understand RR's nature, I assume you also know how to deal with this kind of transformation?"

"Of course. I mean methods that ordinary people can use as well."

"That was the purpose of this call." Wu Ming did not waste words. "Since RR's nature is to assist Gene Evolution, we only need to respond according to the principles of Gene Evolution. That will treat the root cause and greatly reduce the mortality rate."

"I don't understand the professional medical knowledge. I merely summarized four response methods based on RR's characteristics."

"However, since you monitored the conversation between my mother and me, you should already know the first three methods."

"You mean Cell Activity, energy replenishment, and physical fitness?" Zhao Minghui said. "We do know that intelligence, and we've verified it. What's the fourth method?"

"Willpower."

Wu Ming said calmly, "More precisely, the will to survive."

"The will to survive?" Zhao Minghui froze. "Wait, weren't we discussing how to deal with the virus? How did the topic suddenly shift to something so intangible?"

"Don't worry, I haven't gone off-topic." Wu Ming explained, "Though mental willpower may seem intangible, it can indeed affect genes."

"Do you have any concrete evidence?"

"Of course." Wu Ming leaned back in his chair, his gaze lowered slightly. "Mr. Zhao, I don't know whether you've ever served in the military, but I heard some stories from my dad."

"Some soldiers perform ordinarily on the training grounds, but once they enter a real battlefield or are pushed into desperate circumstances, the strength and speed they unleash can far exceed their usual limits."

"Is that true?"

Zhao Minghui fell silent for a moment before replying, "It is."

In fact, he had come from the military before transferring to the Supervision Office. He had seen the situations Wu Ming described more than once, and had even experienced them himself.

He had originally believed it was merely the body's instinctive potential bursting forth in the face of life and death. But the question was, where did that potential come from?

Or rather, wasn't so-called potential simply the power of genes?

At that thought, Zhao Minghui was already thirty percent convinced.

"That's good. Otherwise, I'd have to find other examples, like those news stories about seventy-year-old grandmothers lifting cars to save their grandchildren." Wu Ming smiled.

In truth, he had only casually brought up that example. What truly convinced Wu Ming that willpower could affect genes was information from the original work.

That was, martial artists who frequently tempered themselves through life-and-death trials evolved their genes faster than ordinary martial artists.

And the source of it all was the belief that they wanted to live.

"That news story was fake," Zhao Minghui reminded him. "And scientifically speaking, they unleash their potential because their bodies secrete adrenaline. How do you explain that?"

"That's even simpler." Wu Ming countered, "Tell me, isn't adrenaline only secreted in a crisis? If an ordinary person faces no danger at all, can he simply order his body with his mind to automatically secrete adrenaline?"

"To put it bluntly, isn't that still willpower influencing what the genes decide?"

Zhao Minghui's voice caught. It did seem to make sense.

"Why did I deliberately emphasize the will to survive?"

Wu Ming continued, "Because life-and-death crises are the best at forcing out a person's desire to survive. As long as the will conveys the thought of wanting to live to the body, the genes will do everything they can to respond."

"Likewise, the stronger an RR-infected person's desire to survive erupts under the threat of death, the more likely their genes are to actively complete their evolution."

"However, everyone's willpower differs. Relying on willpower alone may not be reliable. The safest approach is still to combine it with the previous three methods."

"The first three methods..." Zhao Minghui gave a faintly bitter smile. "Food is the only one that's somewhat easy to solve. Which of the other two can possibly be widely implemented? We can only do our best to notify people."

Whether it was Cell Activity or physical fitness, it was simply unrealistic to spread them to every citizen within a short period of time. Even the machinery of the state could not accomplish it. They could only leave it to fate.

"No matter what, thank you very much for offering such valuable advice this time, Wu Ming."

Zhao Minghui said solemnly, "The country will not forget your contribution. But verifying the hypothesis and making it public will take time, so your reward can only be delivered after a while."

"Oh, and because this contribution is rather special, your reward won't only be money. You can also make some special requests."

"Aren't you a senior high school student? We can have top universities across the country offer you admission without an exam, including Kyoto University and Qingshui University. What do you think?"

"Uh, there's no need for that." Thinking that he probably would not have time to attend university in the future, Wu Ming quickly shook his head in refusal.

After thinking for a moment, he simply said, "If you insist on rewarding me... then help me find some ancient texts. Preferably ones related to cultivation. The more, the better."

"Ancient cultivation texts?" Zhao Minghui was taken aback, then joked, "Student Wu, don't tell me you want to cultivate your way into becoming an immortal?"

"Who knows?" Wu Ming smiled. "Now that things like Gene Evolution have appeared, who knows whether humanity can keep evolving? Maybe those ancient legends about immortals weren't necessarily false."

"All right." Zhao Minghui chuckled as well. "I'll help you apply for it. This request isn't excessive, so it should be approved."

"Do you have any specific requirements for these ancient texts, or should we select them freely?"

Wu Ming thought for a moment. "To be honest, I know absolutely nothing about cultivation, but there is one specific thing I'm looking for."

"Please help me see whether any text records a cultivation method called 'Five Hearts Toward Heaven.'"

"Five Hearts Toward Heaven? That should be a cultivation posture recorded in some text. I'll look into it for you."

Zhao Minghui did not think much of it and agreed at once. "I'll notify you immediately if there's any news."

Delighted, Wu Ming smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Zhao."

"It's nothing." Zhao Minghui laughed heartily. "Let's leave it at that. I have matters to attend to, so I'm hanging up."

With a beep, the Supervision Office's call quietly ended, and the severed connection was restored once more.

Shen Xinglan had listened throughout her son's conversation with the Supervision Office. Knowing that Wu Ming had already achieved something in the field of the RR Virus, the worry in her heart finally eased.

She did not scold Wu Ming again, nor did she ask why he had gone to Magic City. She merely told him to stay safe before hanging up.

Inside the hotel room, Wu Ming let out a long breath, and his slightly uneasy mood gradually calmed.

He had not expected his mother to ask nothing in the end, rendering all the explanations he had prepared in advance useless.

"But this is fine too. Since Mom isn't urging me to go back, I can stay in Magic City a while longer. Perfect—I can absorb more virus and make a huge improvement."

Just then, his phone chimed with a text notification. Wu Ming looked at the screen and froze.

It was a bank deposit notification showing that his account had just received a transfer of one hundred thousand yuan. The sender was Shen Xinglan, with the note: Stay warm, don't be stingy with yourself, and eat on time.

"..." Looking at the text message on his phone, Wu Ming felt a warm current rise in his heart, and he could not help taking a deep breath.

Honestly, he was not someone who liked spending money recklessly, so he had saved some money over the years from his Lunar New Year gifts, a little over twenty thousand yuan.

For a senior high school student, that money was enough to live on for a long time. But if he used it to stay in hotels—especially hotels in Magic City—it would be rather tight.

Just moments ago, he had been calculating that if he stayed here longer, he would probably need to find a cheaper place to stay.

But now... with his mother's support, he naturally no longer had to worry about making ends meet.

After thinking for a moment, he picked up his phone and sent Shen Xinglan a text.

"Thank you, Mom."