Half an hour later.
The infection and spread of the virus was very fast.
The armies in the major cities were completely wiped out. Less than one in ten people had yet to show symptoms of infection.
The streets were filled with roaring zombies. They would swarm over any living person they saw and devour them alive.
At this point, the floating castle was still stable.
Under the dual control of Hermione and the Rhythm Virus, there were no major casualties.
It was just that the number of infected people was increasing at a faster rate.
In the Snake of Gluttony's team, there were originally 26 humans, but due to the bubbles coming out of the back row, only 17 of them had not completely turned into zombies.
In the laboratory of the Medical College.
The fully armed Professor Sun carefully picked up the reagent and poured it into the distillation flask. After observing the information displayed on the screen for a moment, he turned around and looked at Chen Yu.
"Sir, can you give me some more muscle tissue from the infected?"
"No problem." Chen Yu nodded. He then snapped his fingers and said, "The one in front, take 20 steps forward."
The lanky boy immediately took a step forward and walked more than ten meters. The line moved forward, and outside the window of the laboratory, the infected people in the back row were revealed.
With a scalpel in his left hand and a glass plate in his right, Professor Sun walked forward. He first looked at the panda on the left, then at the infected person on the right, and asked, "Can I have some of that panda's meat?"
"Cut it up however you like. It's fine even if you decompose it."
"Then I won't hold back." Professor Sun licked his lips, raised the scalpel and stabbed it into the panda's abdomen.
The onlookers: "…"
Whoosh!
"Roar!"
Accompanied by the crisp sound of flesh being cut, the panda's abdomen was cut open in pain, and a black, muddy substance flowed out.
"Infected fat?"
Professor Sun's eyes lit up. He quickly took out a plate, collected the fat, and stored it in the fridge.
Then, he used the same Butcher technique to collect the muscle tissue of two infected humans.
"Come back, Principal."
"Okay, the one in front, go back."
"Understood!"
Nodding, the lanky student turned around and dragged the long line of people behind him. Like a gluttonous snake, the lanky student circled around the narrow corridor and followed the "tail" of the line. He then led Chen Yu to the laboratory window.
"I think the virus you are infected with is more powerful than the mutated virus," Professor Sun said.
"It's the Rhythm Virus!
He is not a fool! "
"Alright, Rhythm Virus."
Professor Sun took a step back and checked the protective suit on his body for half a minute. After making sure that there was no leakage, he sat on the chair and said, "We have some research results on the virus.
Although it's still very simple, it's not a problem to explain its infection mechanism. "
"That's enough." Chen Yu immediately adjusted the camera's angle, leaving the center position for the other party.
"Shall we start now?"
"Wait a minute.
Before you explain, I have a small question. "
"Excuse me."
"Very soon, humans will be extinct, and the disaster experience will end in a day at most.
Why do you want to collect so many experimental materials from infected people?
It's impossible to use them all up, right? "
"I've been prepared for this."
Professor Sun smiled and pointed at the closed protective suit on his body. He then turned around and showed the portable oxygen tank. "When you were broadcasting the asteroid disaster, I knew that the virus would also come, so I changed my equipment in advance.
Therefore, I should still be healthy, and there is no possibility of infection. "
"Oh!" Realization dawned upon Chen Yu. "You want to linger in this post-apocalyptic world for a while to research this virus?"
"Yes."
Nodding, Professor Sun said, "I am a virus researcher. Researching this virus, which has never appeared in human history, will bring me considerable growth and harvest.
However, isn't it a little uncivilized to use the word 'linger' to describe it? "
"Don't mind the details," Chen Yu said, chuckling. He then pointed at the camera and said, "Back to the topic at hand.
Tell the audience in front of the screen about this virus. "
"Where should I start?"
"Just start from the very beginning."
"Oh."
Nodding once more, Professor Sun cleared his throat and said, "In the early universe, gravity grabbed atomic clouds and molded them into stars and galaxies.
Meanwhile, the formation of stars is bound to... "
Chen Yu: "... W-Wait a minute, Professor Sun.
Isn't this a little 'too' early?
Why don't we move the time back a little? "
"Let's move it to my childhood, then.
In 1962, I was born in a small county in Sichuan Province.
My father was a local doctor in the city... "
"Move it to half an hour ago," Chen Yu interrupted. "Just talk about the virus. I'll read the rest when you write your autobiography."
"Half an hour ago, huh?" Shrugging regretfully, Professor Sun said, "Sure.
To put it simply, this virus is a variant of a common virus. However, its infection mechanism is far more ingenious than ordinary people can imagine.
Being able to create a situation similar to Resident Evil has truly broadened my horizons. "
"A common virus?
Which one? "the old professor asked. The blood vessels on his face had already turned black.
"Bacteriophages." Professor Sun's eyes glowed with an inexplicable light.
"Bacteriophages?"
"That's right.
It's the most indispensable virus in nature, especially for living things, the bacteriophage. "
[What's a bacteriophage?]
[Same question.]
[It's one of the most common viruses. It specializes in killing bacteria.]
[I've seen pictures of it. It looks like an alien spacecraft.]
[+ 1. Every time I see a bacteriophage, I feel like it's from another planet.]
[Don't bacteriophages kill bacteria?]
[Why can they attack people?]
Blinking his eyes, Chen Yu said, "Professor Sun, although I know a lot about bacteriophages, most of the livestream's viewers aren't.
Please explain in detail what a bacteriophage is. "
"Oh?" Surprised, Professor Sun asked, "Headmaster, you know a lot about viruses as well?"
"I know a thing or two," Chen Yu said humbly.
"Tell me, then. What is a bacteriophage?"
"... How much is your annual bonus, Professor Sun?"
"No, no. I won't ask." Hurriedly waving his hand, Professor Sun said, "Let me explain."
"Go ahead."
"Bacteriophages are viruses that attack bacteria.
They mainly parasitize living bacteria, and they have strict host-specificity.
In layman's terms, they are the nemesis of bacteria.
They play an indispensable role in Earth's biological world.
Without this virus, with the reproduction speed of bacteria, there would be no room for other organisms to survive in the world.
Hence, bacteriophages are also one of the few viruses that are beneficial to humans. "
"The source of this virus disaster is the bacteriophage?"
"Yes."
Pondering, Chen Yu asked, "Since it's a beneficial virus, why would it attack humans?"
"It isn't attacking humans," Professor Sun said as he stood up excitedly and waved his hands. "This is where the subtlety lies!
From the beginning to the end, the bacteriophage's target has never been humans!
It's still attacking bacteria! "
"If it's only attacking bacteria, why would it cause such a situation?" Chen Yu asked as he looked at the infected person at the end of the line.
"It's becoming more aggressive.
Originally, the bacteriophage only had one tail, but now, it has four.
Each tail contains a separate piece of RNA genetic information.
This makes the bacteriophage's aggressiveness toward bacteria countless times.
Moreover, after the bacteriophage injects genetic information into the bacteria, it will cleverly help the bacteria accelerate their reproduction speed for a short period of time. "
Professor Sun picked up the tablet on the table and showed the pictures taken by the electron microscope. "Look here, there were originally a hundred bacteria, but after being invaded by a mutated bacteriophage, the number of bacteria quickly swelled to tens of millions.
Also, which part of the body has the most bacteria? "
"The intestines."
"That's right, the intestines!
When the bacteria inside the intestines divide uncontrollably, they will quickly burst through the intestinal capillaries, flow into the blood circulation, and invade the liver, lungs, brain, and muscle tissue.
At this time, under the control of the bacteriophage's RNA, the bacteria will release a special enzyme that causes errors in the human body's electron transfer chain, greatly increasing the probability of electrons being transferred to oxygen, and reducing oxygen to hydrogen peroxide. "
"Hydrogen peroxide?"
"It's the main ingredient in hydrogen peroxide.
Everyone knows about hydrogen peroxide, right?
It's a disinfectant that will bubble when applied to a wound. "
"It can kill bacteria!"
"Yes, its ability to kill bacteria is very strong." Professor Sun nodded. "This will lead to the death of a large number of bacteria.
The phages that were produced in batches would escape from the dissolved cell walls of the bacteria and infect and reproduce even more bacteria.
Eventually, the human body will collapse. "
"Something is wrong here?"
The old professor frowned. "The bacteriophage infects the bacteria, multiplies the bacteria, causes the bacteria to secrete enzymes, stimulates the human body to produce hydrogen peroxide to kill bacteria, and then comes out on its own... It's too troublesome.
Isn't it more reasonable to break the cell wall like other viruses do? "
"The most amazing thing about it is this!" Professor Sun pointed to an infected person. "Didn't you notice that these zombies are spitting bubbles?"
"You mean..." The old professor was shocked.
"Yes.
When hydrogen peroxide, or hydrogen peroxide, encounters blood, it will decompose and combine the O atoms into oxygen, producing a large number of bubbles.
Because the blood is full of dead bacteria, the amount of bacteriophage in the bubbles produced can be imagined. "
Holy sh * t, this is amazing...
I understand now.
When the bubbles burst, the virus will be sprayed far away. As long as a virus is absorbed by a living organism, it will create more and more bubbles.
Damn, my scalp is numb.
The Earth's ecosystem can't be lacking in bacteriophages, so this virus is unsolvable.
The calculations are meticulous and interconnected. This virus can't be born naturally.
In the future, if humanity wants to self-destruct, it might be enough to send a biologist...
The more advanced technology is, the more fragile human civilization can be.
"Okay, that's the end of the explanation.
Let's make a conclusion. "
Professor Sun looked at the camera and said seriously, "The bacteriophage injects RNA into the bacteria, manipulating the bacteria to produce viruses and accelerate division.
"Because the bacteria are mostly in the stomach and need energy to divide, it will stimulate the brain damaged organism to feel hungry. This is the origin of the so-called zombies.
At the same time, the bubbles they spit out will increase the infectivity.
"When the infected person is injured and bleeds, the blood will come into contact with the oxygen in the air and produce a large amount of hydrogen peroxide.
This hydrogen peroxide kills the bacteria and releases the virus, which then produces hundreds of millions of bubbles...
"This is the operating mechanism of the mutated virus.
"Just by artificially modifying the gene of the bacteriophage, an irreplaceable beneficial virus is turned into a demon that destroys the ecosystem.
"So in my opinion, the artificial intelligence crisis, asteroid impact... are far less ferocious than the virus enhanced by human nature."
…
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