What Li Tongchen received was information about a certain terpene compound.
When he saw the basic structure of this terpene compound, he was first ecstatic, but then he cald down and frowned.
According to his current understanding of the Stone Statue Disease virus, this terpene compound should be able to inhibit its spread.
But that was all.
It would only inhibit the virus’s spread and delay the onset of symptoms, not eradicate it completely.
And at best, it would only buy them about a month.
’Does the entity behind the ga not have a vaccine at all, only this simple inhibitory asure?’
But even so, this was enough to make Li Tongchen feel less desperate.
Even one extra day would be a blessing. With more ti, perhaps a new solution could be found.
By midnight on the third day, the ga ti was over.
Of the one hundred dical elites selected by Shen Feng, a total of thirteen managed to prevent their ga characters from dying, successfully completing the mission and obtaining partial vaccine information.
Of the remaining people, seven had their ga characters die, permanently losing their eligibility to play.
The other players completed the ga to varying degrees, but a few of them either didn’t seem to take the ga seriously or displayed overly idealistic behavioral patterns. Shen Feng eliminated all of them directly.
Their failure to quickly change their mindset and internally accept the "True Apocalypse Ga" indicated that these individuals had poor adaptability. They would struggle to handle unexpected situations and be of little help to Shen Feng.
Furthermore, those who acted overly idealistic in the ga would be equally incapable of making the right choices in an apocalyptic disaster.
It was like the famous trolley problem: a train is approaching a fork. One person is standing on the side track, while nine people are on the main track ahead. Do you pull the lever, sacrificing the one person to save the nine?
Many people would get bogged down in a dilemma of morals and values.
But what if the one person were replaced with ten thousand, and the nine were replaced with the rest of humanity? How would one choose then?
An idealistic person, faced with such a montous decision, would only consider their own moral judgnt, and in doing so, cause the vast majority to die.
From a certain perspective, these sanctimonious idealists were also the most selfish of people. Their decisions were not based on rational choice but on first considering whether they themselves would face moral judgnt and a guilty conscience.
Ultimately, their subconscious was still self-centered.
After removing these individuals, only seventy-nine of the original one hundred remained.
A line of text appeared on the ga terminals of all seventy-nine:
"Congratulations, you have passed the internal beta test and earned the title of ’Player,’ becoming a mber of the Player organization."
Only then did they realize that the Player organization was the na of the mysterious force behind the ga!
Li Tongchen glanced at the Player title on his phone screen, slipped the phone into his pocket without a second look, and pushed open the door to rush toward the lab.
He had gone nearly three days and nights without sleep. His whole body felt light and unsteady as he walked, as if he were treading on cotton.
But none of that mattered. He couldn’t sleep yet!
Another three days passed, and the expedition team mbers’ conditions had all worsened.
The progression ti for the early stages of Stone Statue Disease wasn’t uniform; it varied depending on the patient’s condition.
The deputy leader of the Ice Dragon Expedition Team was now unable to move normally, his skin even showing signs of cracking.
Throughout the entire Polar Center Building, even the high-level leaders were now showing early symptoms of Stone Statue Disease.
Society was also seeing a large number of reports about acute skin diseases and joint problems.
The Stone Statue Disease virus had already spread rapidly.
The highest levels of leadership, having learned the severity of Stone Statue Disease, were even beginning to consider locking down the entire Demon City.
Compared to Alaska, which was already completely out of control, their ability to execute orders was, after all, the strongest.
However, if a lockdown and martial law were truly ordered, it would undoubtedly trigger nationwide, and even worldwide, panic.
The experintal team had long been standing by under his orders. Soon, following the information provided in the ga, Li Tongchen had synthesized the terpene compound and begun administering it to several severely ill patients.
Just two hours later, the patients’ symptoms began to show signs of easing!
Not only did their skin elasticity show so recovery, but even the cracking sounds from their joints beca fainter.
It was working!
Li Tongchen didn’t hesitate and imdiately reported this news to the highest authorities.
Of course, he concealed the existence of the "True Apocalypse Ga."
Imdiately after, he contacted the *Lancet* and other international journals directly to publish the composition of the terpene compound and the trial results.
What he hadn’t expected was that the *Lancet* imdiately put out a special issue, publishing reports from thirteen of the world’s top dical experts.
The content of the reports was all about the "Stone Statue Disease" virus!
Stone Statue Disease, this na, completely replaced its previous designation of a self-limiting acute hemorrhagic-like syndro and beca the virus’s official na.
Each person’s treatnt thod was like a piece of a puzzle. When the thirteen pieces were put together, they ford a complete vaccine!
This was sothing Li Tongchen had never expected.
And he imdiately connected these experintal reports with the "True Apocalypse Ga."
But, just like him, not one of these thirteen people ntioned anything about a "True Apocalypse Ga." It seed they were unaware, having found these thods entirely through their own experints.
Li Tongchen also wondered if the others had gone through an experience similar to his own.
Conversely, there were five or six other titans of the dical world who claid they had encountered a "True Apocalypse Ga." They said the ga’s developer was likely the mastermind behind Stone Statue Disease and that they had been eliminated from the selection process.
But when asked to produce evidence, they claid their computers and phones had all been formatted, leaving nothing behind.
Although their words garnered so public attention, they were ultimately dismissed by everyone as jealous ramblings directed at the thirteen doctors.
A few days later, the dical systems of several major nations went into overdrive, and the Stone Statue Disease Vaccine began mass production.
The public had only just learned of the horrors of Stone Statue Disease when the catastrophe began to dissipate.
The thirteen doctors who had jointly developed the Stone Statue Disease Vaccine were imdiately awarded that year’s Lasker dical Award and were considered shoo-ins for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or dicine. For a ti, they beca heroes to the entire world.
While ordinary people might not have fully grasped the situation, the entire dical community already regarded them as absolute heroes.
Only those with so dical background could deeply understand how insidious the Stone Statue Disease virus truly was.
The Stone Statue Disease virus was ultimately classified as a level-five infectious disease. Below it were the level-four Ebola virus and the level-three SARS.
This was enough to illustrate the monuntal achievent of the Stone Statue Disease Vaccine, and the greatness of these thirteen doctors.
For the ti being, however, none of this had much to do with Li Tongchen.
After several sleepless days and nights of intense work, he was finally able to rest, collapsing in his office and sleeping soundly for a full day and night.
When he was finally awoken by hunger, he got up and, still wearing the sa white lab coat he’d had on for days, returned to his desk.
A great catastrophe had been temporarily averted, but Li Tongchen now felt even more bewildered about the entity behind the True Apocalypse Ga.
’Who is it? What kind of person could it be?’
A package his assistant had received for him sat off to the side.
Suddenly, his phone chid again.
Li Tongchen imdiately picked it up and opened it.
The blood-red eyes appeared again, and a line of text materialized on the screen:
"Congratulations, Player, for successfully passing the final test. You have obtained the title ’Disciple.’ Please accept the developer’s gift."
’Disciple? A gift?’
A look of confusion crossed Li Tongchen’s face. He then suddenly noticed a striking icon on the package: a blood-red eyeball!
He imdiately tore open the box, and a 100-yuan banknote fell out.
He picked up the banknote and examined it with confusion, but there was nothing unusual about it. It could even pass a currency detector’s inspection.
’What does this an?’
Suddenly, Li Tongchen saw the printing year on the banknote and froze.
2025.
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