Age of Cosmic Exploration

Chapter 178: During the Experiment

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Mankind’s medical history was thousands of years long. Discounting the prehistoric period, even modern medicine had had a long history of about 200 years. However, we were still hamstrung when it came to vaccines against viruses, bacteria, and microbes as well as risky operations like heart transplants.

When mankind’s technology reached the 4th revolution, many medical technologies also evolved. For example, there was a type of nanobot that could enter the human body to repair damaged organs or dissect tumors without the need for surgery. Other than that, the genetic mesomeric resonator could be used to elongate all carbonate life forms’, mankind included, lifespan. The efficacy of surgery could also be increased by using technologies the like super growth field to stabilize the cellular activities of human organs during operation to increase the operation’s success rate. However, the side effect of the super growth field was still heavy on animals, so its uses were mostly limited to plants. It would probably require the 5th or 6th industrial revolution for the technology to be perfected.

It was true that the 4th revolution had introduced a giant increase to mankind’s medical progress, but there was also the appearance of many new diseases. Or rather, there was an increase in the number of viruses, bacteria, and microbes mankind’s medical technology couldn’t handle in space.

Saburo was alone in the locked laboratory. Of course, Yao Yuan, who had the master key, could still enter it, so this wasn’t a step to ward off Yao Yuan but to steel his own determination.

"Hanako, Shiro... I will not let what happened to you repeat itself!"

At the same time, Ivan sat silently in the biology lab. Researchers in the room looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to come to a decision.

After some time, Ivan announced suddenly, "Report this to the Captain, then..."

The group of scientists sighed both in relief and in worry. This meant Saburo’s experiment would be forcefully halted, but it would help ensure the Hope’s safety.

"...then transfer all the data we have on the alien cells, as well as this planet’s microbes, viruses, and bacteria to Professor Saburo. That is the least we can do for him."

Relief changed into shock. The researchers were confused. Did Ivan want to stop or help Saburo? His orders served 2 drastically different purposes.

Regardless of his intentions, as the leader of the biology committee, Ivan’s orders were quickly carried out. However, there were some issues during the transference of information. Since Yao Yuan and other authorities had their focus fully trained on the mother nest that was hurtling towards the sun, they wrongly assumed the update meant Saburo was still working on discovering the alien cell’s weakness, so they didn’t pay it much attention.

Just like that, Saburo attained all the data from the biology lab. He then received splices of untainted alien cells from the damaged combat jets that returned from war. Since the combat jets hadn’t entered the planet’s atmosphere, the alien cells attached to them hadn’t had contact with the planet’s microbes, viruses, and bacteria. They were, so to speak, pure.

In the next few hours, Saburo submerged completely into his experiments. Time flew by as he worked on data analysis, observations, and experiments. His whisperer power was activated from time to time, allowing him big and small breakthroughs...

Several hours later, the mother nest, which had evolved to a super organism, was confirmed to be dead. The Hope breathed a collective sigh of relief. However, no one knew that for one member of the Hope, the battle was still going on...

When the correct news reached Yao Yuan, it was already 3 hours after the destruction of the mother nest. It was so delayed because there were simply too many things waiting to be done. The steps that needed to be done to ensure that the death of the mother nest was final took up about an hour of his time. The rest was spent doing something incredibly important... that was to clear all the remnants of the alien cells within this solar system!

Emergency modifications were done on the remaining 80 space jets so that their emissions could release high heat using the interaction between liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. Rough estimations put the required time to finish clearing the alien carcasses at 3 months. The monster carcasses littered the solar system, so they had to prioritize the ones that were closest to New Earth.

Similarly, the clearing had to be done on New Earth. This operation would require lesser time, 1 and a half months to be precise. This was because it was easier to clean the carcasses on Earth due to the presence of natural oxygen. Unlike the space combat jets, the exterminators on New Earth had no need for constant refuels. Furthermore, they could rely on technology, like Fuel Air Explosives, to clear a large space within a short period of time.

Within the 3 hours, Yao Yuan dropped a newly created Fuel Air Explosive on the spot where the alien monsters landed. After that, a unit with flamethrowers was dispatch to make sure all traces of alien were burned away.

He finally had some time to take a breather when Guang Zhen led the flamethrower unit of about 2,000 people from the Hope. However, before he could even grab a quick bite, another piece of breaking news fell into his lap.

"What? You mean Professor Saburo has locked himself up into a laboratory to conduct experiments on the alien cells?" Yao Yuan asked in shock.

Ivan, who came to update him on the infected, nodded firmly. "That’s right, Captain. We sent this information to you a few hours before the death of the mother nest was confirmed."

"Are you sure?" Yao Yuan asked, still in shock. "How could it have been reported already? I would have stopped him if I knew. The alien cell can easily mutate to become a supercell capable of digesting everything. How could he be allowed to conduct such a dangerous experiment?! If he is infected, no one will be around to help him because he’s doing this on his own! Stop him immediately! Never mind, I’ll go and stop him myself!" Yao Yuan leaped out of his seat, hailed an electromobile, and sped to the Academy.

With an agile backflip that was inconspicuous with his scientist identity, Ivan leaped into the seat beside Yao Yuan. He smiled slyly in response to the surprised gaze that Yao Yuan threw him, adding, "Captain, you can’t pin the blame on us. We did inform you of this hours ago; you must have missed it somehow. Because no reply came from you, we assumed you were in support of Saburo’s action."

Yao Yuan racked his mind and indistinctly remembered someone did come over from the biology lab with an update. The person said that Saburo wanted to commission pre-evolved alien cells for his experiment. Since Saburo was a firm follower of scientific protocol, Yao Yuan didn’t dwell on it. Furthermore, he thought a whole lab would be watching over Saburo’s experiment. Help would be readily available if anything went wrong.

Lastly, all his focus then was occupied by the mother nest. Now that the mother nest was a problem of the past, Yao Yuan realized he had glossed over an important piece of news due to his haste and Ivan’s careful wordplay.

However, he found himself unable to punish Ivan or even Saburo. Professor Saburo’s action was ultimately for the goodness of mankind, and his willingness to take on this dangerous experiment alone was admirable.

"Regardless... Let’s get to the lab first and pray that nothing serious has gone wrong..." Yao Yuan sighed.

Inside the lab, Saburo held a test tube with his shaking hands. After a few hours of using his Whisperer power, his face was flushed a sickly red. He stared at the thing inside the test tube with pride. That was the purpose of his experiment... It turned out better than how he expected it be.

The ultimate vaccine’s first prototype!