At this point, the governnt had fully taken control of Rakucho Pharmaceutical—this included its U.S. branch as well as its headquarters in Japan.
In the company’s na, they issued a public announcent stating that the SSU white pills currently on the market had serious defects. They urgently recalled all sold white pills from pharmacies and consurs. At the sa ti, consurs who had already taken the white pills could, with proof of purchase, buy the black pills at half price to expel the nanomachines from their bodies.
After releasing the notice, perhaps worried that so people might be reluctant to give up the weight-loss effects of the pills and refuse to take the black pills, Rakucho Pharmaceutical also removed the pink pills from sale. At present, only the black pills remain available for purchase on the official website.
It was already well known what would happen if the intake of pink pills was interrupted during use. Artificially reducing the supply of pink pills not only led to a surge in scalpers reselling them at inflated prices, but also forced so financially struggling individuals to take the black pills earlier, thereby reducing the number of hosts for the tapeworm.
Even so, there were still plenty of people unwilling to take the black pills. With limited resources, the U.S. governnt could not personally warn each of these individuals, so they occasionally fabricated shocking news stories to scare the public, hoping to persuade them to co to their senses. If so still refused to listen, then so be it—after all, as a nation of immigrants, the United States was not short on people.
All of these asures were aid at cutting off the source of the parasite.
In addition, the U.S. governnt implented several other asures simultaneously.
Anyone paying attention to gathering information would notice that during this period, major governnt agencies had all beco extrely busy:
The Environntal Protection Agency, under the banner of “eliminating pollutants and purifying freshwater systems,” began deploying insecticides on a large scale in urban sewer systems and natural bodies of water. The Food and Drug Administration, the Food Safety Inspection Bureau, and various state health departnts jointly issued a series of laws, regulations, and guidelines, strictly regulating the sale of raw food in comrcial establishnts such as cafeterias and restaurants. The Departnt of Health and Human Services released directives requiring hospitals of all sizes across the United States to stock a batch of special dication. Pharmacists and doctors would receive online training, and when patients t certain criteria, they would be required to prescribe these black special-effect pills…
At the sa ti, television news began to feature more educational content about parasites. Reports such as “A resident of a certain state becos emaciated after being infected with tapeworms from drinking untreated water” appeared from ti to ti.
Schools across the United States also increased lectures on hygiene knowledge. From elentary school to university, students of all age groups were now required to receive education on related topics…
Under this series of combined asures, while it was impossible to completely eliminate accidental human infection by mutant tapeworm eggs, the number of cases was indeed greatly reduced.
At this stage, Everly judged that this parasite-related thriller film was probably nearing its end.
Based on her experience watching similar films in her previous life, stories like this usually have two main challenges: identifying the source of the problem and solving it.
The source of the problem was the SSU diet pills, and the solution involved a multi-pronged approach—black pills, exterminating the parasite eggs, and maintaining food hygiene. Along the way, there were horrifying and gory scenes of the disease’s onset, tense battles of wits with the pharmaceutical company, and moving monts of various governnt departnts setting aside their differences to work together in overcoming the crisis. It even took the opportunity to poke a bit of fun at their occasionally uncooperative Japanese counterparts… By this point, a film about an infectious disease or parasite like this could already be considered quite complete.
After cautiously staying in the cabin for more than half a month, Everly packed up her things and returned to school with Misha and Orff.
Of course, just because the “movie” had ended didn’t an that all problems were completely resolved.
Take the “Butterfly Fall Incident” from a few years ago as an example—the cursed videos related to it still hadn’t completely disappeared even now. Sothing like mutant tapeworm eggs, which are difficult to detect with the naked eye, would be impossible to eradicate entirely once they spread.
Even after returning to school, Everly and Misha maintained good living habits: they avoided raw food, didn’t drink unboiled water, washed their hands frequently, and underwent regular health checkups… As a result, although there were occasionally a few unlucky classmates who suddenly lost a lot of weight, the two of them had never been affected.
Thank goodness for that. Everly had worked hard to build up her muscles and definitely didn’t want to get infected with so bizarre parasite that would cause her weight to plumt.
Good things co in pairs. About a week after classes resud, the Latin translator Everly had previously hired online finished his work and sent her the English version of Alexander Magni Iter ad Pardisum (Journey to Paradise).
The section related to Alexander’s search for the Fountain of Youth was described as follows:
[…After passing the sources of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, Alexander received a revelation there. He learned that beyond the Red Sea, in the “Land of Darkness,” there existed an earthly Eden that the gods had not yet reclaid. Within this Eden was a spring—by drinking from it, humans could beco ageless and immortal.
Alexander resolved to obtain the Fountain of Youth.
He led his party on a detour to the far side of the Red Sea. After several days of travel, Alexander arrived before a great mountain. This mountain was unimaginably tall and vast; whether looking upward or to either side, no boundary could be seen.
Alexander attempted to climb over the mountain, but it was far too steep and smooth. Even the most agile warriors could not successfully scale it. Just as Alexander was feeling discouraged, he noticed a cave at the foot of the mountain.
Inside the cave was a straight path, without any rises or dips. The deeper one went, the darker the surroundings beca.
Alexander realized that this might be the road leading to Eden. But he was a responsible ruler, so he did not allow his soldiers to follow. Instead, he entered the cave alone.
After walking in darkness for twelve days and nights, a bright light finally appeared ahead. Alexander followed the light and, at the end of the path, saw a mountain surrounded by the world. Although he had never known what such a mountain should look like, the mont he saw it, he understood.
Before that mountain stood a blazing angel. Its body was tall and imposing, and both its eyes and chest emitted a brilliant light.
Upon seeing Alexander, the angel was puzzled. In a flat and peculiar tone, it asked him, “Mortal, who are you, and why have you co here?”
Alexander told the angel that he had co to the Land of Darkness to drink from the Fountain of Youth and obtain an ageless life far beyond that of ordinary humans.
The angel refused Alexander’s request. It told him that God did not wish for humans to obtain immortality—at least, the God here would not permit it. If he were to drink from that spring, he would anger the great master who created him.
“O king of the mortal world, you have already received sufficient favor from the Creator. Return, and continue your search—what you will ultimately obtain is only death.”
Alexander was terrified by the angel’s prophecy.
He did not persist any further. Turning back, he left through the passage, exited the cave, and reunited with his followers.
However, after that, the adventure in the Land of Darkness beca an experience that Alexander the Great could never quite put behind him. After returning to his holand, he would still often recall his conversation with the angel in the Land of Darkness.
Unknowingly, the king of n developed an idea: he would send his subordinates back to the Land of Darkness to continue searching for the Fountain of Youth.
As a result, perhaps because such actions angered God, not long after his subordinate Andrews set out, Alexander—still only 33 years old—died of illness in Babylon…
This translated version was not significantly different from the one Everly had previously painstakingly pieced together using a dictionary, so it should not contain any mistranslations.
The story felt sowhat abstract and seed almost fabricated. However, its general outline was similar to the bedti stories Rebecca had told her, and even added so extra details on top of the original version, which helped resolve so of Everly’s earlier confusion.
For example, the “[a flat and pitch-black straight road]” that had once puzzled Everly was directly explained in Alexander’s original story—it turned out to be the passageway of a cave.
And then there was the “flaming angel” ntioned in the poem. The original story also provided a concrete description: a tall, muscular humanoid being that could speak in a flat, strange tone, with eyes and chest emitting light, its entire body burning with flas, and its skin resembling tal… Well, it was hard to imagine—could it be that the ssengers of God in legend all looked so bizarre?
By this point in the investigation, the poem related to Orff had essentially been deciphered.
The four stanzas of the poem corresponded to the following interpretations:
“In the ocean in southern Dalifer State, on the day of the transit of Venus, [Pavuka • Oris • Ananino] slowly rose from the sea.”
Everly suspected that [Pavuka • Oris • Ananino] was the na of an island.
“Follow a pitch-black, flat cave passage forward, and upon arriving beneath the [mountain surrounded by the world], you will encounter the guardian left by Aurelbis.” In Alexander’s story, it is said that the “mountain surrounded by the world” is sothing that “you will understand the mont you see it,” and Everly felt that this concept did not require further investigation.
“Hand over a teorite containing extraterrestrial life information to the fla-covered guardian who watches over the staircase.”
“Ascend the staircase, drink from the Fountain of Youth, and then bathe in the Spring of Longevity—you will achieve immortality.”
The mystery of the poem had essentially been deciphered, but one issue still required further investigation—the location of the Fountain of Youth was far too vague.
The sea south of Dalifer State included a vast marine protected area and a narrow strait connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of xico. Although this region looked only thumb-sized on the world map, its actual area exceeded 10,000 square kiloters.
With such a vast expanse of ocean, no matter how much Everly was “favored by the sea,” it would be impossible to search it piece by piece.
Of course, in theory, when the island surfaced, Everly could sense it through her connection with the sea. But there was one problem: she did not know whether the island stayed above water for an entire day, or only during the transit of Venus.
A transit of Venus typically lasts about six hours. If the journey there took too long, she might not even have ti to obtain the spring water before the island sank again—in which case everything would have been for nothing.
Therefore, the next step was to narrow down the possible location of the Fountain of Youth island as much as possible.
As for investigation directions, Everly felt that “Pavuka • Oris • Ananino” could be a clue, and Orff’s family lineage was also marginally useful. In fact, if the Winton people’s culture had not been interrupted, asking them directly would have been the best option—but unfortunately… sigh, what a ss!
There were still more than two years until the next transit of Venus, so there was no need to rush.
At the mont, there was another more urgent matter—final exams.
That’s right, final exams. Universities in the United States generally start their sumr breaks quite early; state universities usually don’t begin vacation until late June, which is already considered relatively late. Previously, in order to avoid the parasite situation, Everly and Misha had skipped a period of classes. Now they had to hurry and review properly if they wanted to secure their full scholarships!
For money—charge!
—————————————————————————————
Author’s Note:
The story of Alexander and the Land of Darkness has been slightly modified for narrative purposes and is not the original version.
User Comments
0 comments from readers