The restless editorial office
X-rays, chest fluoroscopy, tissue tests...
Ben underwent another thorough examination from head to toe.
But no matter what tests they ran, they could find nothing unusual.
In the end, they had to rely on Ben's own sensations, repeatedly trying different emotions and stimuli such as holding his breath and breathing fire to trigger changes in the symbiotic substance inside him. Huang Jiutian stood beside him to sense those changes and compare them against the scanner readings.
Only then did they finally establish a rough behavioral model for the foreign entity.
It was extremely sensitive to Ben's emotions, disliked oxygen-deprived environments, and was highly sensitive to open flames nearby, allowing Ben to influence those flames to a certain extent.
Although Ben's conscious will seemed to be in control, the unknown organism appeared to have fused with his lungs or his entire chest cavity. It was gradually spreading throughout his body at an extremely slow rate, and sometimes made him irritable.
Studies of Ben's bodily tissues also revealed that, after his fire ability was brought out, his metabolic rate had increased at least twofold.
This was why Ben's intake of food and nutrients had recently surged, putting him in a state of evolution.
At times, this evolution even showed signs of disrupting his original genetic structure, leaving the future development of his body uncertain. It might also be affected by the food he ate, his emotions at the time, and the information he absorbed.
Now Norton had another headache.
He had initially thought they might suddenly gain a large number of Evolvers. Now he had discovered that these Evolvers might become ticking time bombs.
Rather than putting them in laboratories to study them in hopes of obtaining uncertain results with slim odds of success, Norton still hoped to