Chapter 181: More Samples Needed

Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

181 – More Samples Needed

“Since we’re making it, wouldn’t it be better to create a drug that kills the parasite without harming the human body, instead of an anesthetic?” Seung-ho suggested to Myung-jun as they moved to the laboratory in the subspace to work on the new substance.

Myung-jun, who had been fiddling with the box containing the parasite, responded to Seung-ho, “The problem is we only have one living parasite. Even if we thaw the one that’s frozen, we only have two at most. And if we try to take a sample of the tissue for testing, it will surely commit suicide the moment we approach it with a scalpel.” The captured parasites were like triggerfish, programmed to self-destruct to conceal information if the infected human host was threatened.

To test the drug, they needed to inject the necessary amount of it into a living parasite’s body in one go—enough to kill it instantly before it could attempt suicide within the host’s body. However, with only two parasites, determining the effectiveness of the newly created substance was nearly impossible.

“We need more samples.”

“How many are you thinking?”

“Twenty? Thirty? I can’t say for sure. Alchemy is that kind of field.” In alchemy, as practiced by Seung-ho, even a slight contamination or error in the synthesis process could completely alter the properties of the final product.

Yet, Seung-ho already had a concrete plan in mind for synthesizing the new substance. “We’ll start the synthesis based on a substance that is toxic to the monster. It might be weaker than the poison created by Zhai Tianlin, who is known as the Poison Emperor in China, but that’s not an issue. The poison we’re aiming to create doesn’t need to kill a monster the size of a house, just a parasite about the size of a palm.”

The challenge was to create a substance that was toxic to the monster but safe for the human body. This was no easy task, even for Seung-ho, who had reached class rank 7 since joining the Liberal Clan, but Myung-jun had faith in Seung-ho’s abilities.

“Seung-ho will be able to do it, I believe.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because if Seung-ho can’t do it, all those soldiers will die.”

This was a situation Myung-jun was all too familiar with—where the survival of humanity hinged on his actions. He had faced and overcome such scenarios multiple times before.

Determined to support Seung-ho, who now bore a heavy burden, Myung-jun resolved to do what he could.

“Seung-ho, focus all your efforts on synthesizing the new substance. Meanwhile, I’ll take the rest of the team and capture more live parasites.”

“More live parasites? From where?”

“Where else? We’ll have to go back to the unit where we captured the infected earlier,” Myung-jun said with a bitter smile, muttering to himself, “Let’s see how many more times these fools will fall for it.”

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“We’re here for supply delivery. The truck is loaded with combat rations and hot packs.”

“We’re delivering PX items. We heard you’re out of cigarettes.”

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“Let’s go back. Reagent 19 failed,” Myung-jun said.

“Again? Isn’t Seung-ho one of the top-ranked alchemists in the world? Is it really that difficult?” Kei asked.

“The difficulty lies in the nature of what we’re trying to create. If it were something like an acid that could dissolve anything, it wouldn’t be so hard. Of course, we’d first have to solve the problem of the container dissolving too,” Myung-jun explained.

“And what we’re making now?” Kei inquired.

“That’s even harder. We need a substance that can kill the parasite so quickly it can’t react, yet is harmless to human tissue. It’s like creating an insecticide that kills cockroaches instantly but is safe enough to eat,” Myung-jun elaborated.

Kei, after a moment of contemplation, looked at Myung-jun with a shocked expression. “Is that even possible?”

“It should be. The abilities of the awakened are meant to create ‘miracles’ that transcend the laws we understand.”

Even as he spoke confidently, Myung-jun struggled to suppress the anxiety gnawing at him. If Seung-ho didn’t complete the reagent quickly, the synapse entity might realize something was wrong and order the remaining infected to commit mass suicide. This fear was becoming more real by the minute. Unlike ordinary entities, the infected controlled by the synapse entity were capable of higher-order thinking and were beginning to sense the dwindling number of their kind.

However, the conclusion reached by the synapse entity was not to order a mass suicide. Instead, it made a completely unexpected decision: to have all the infected within the unit escape and infect every human nearby. To this end, the synapse entity issued new instructions to the connected entities.

[From now on, the movement restrictions for protecting the entities are lifted. All infected are to find new hosts and attempt infection.]

This new command overrode the original order of [If the connection signal is lost, commit suicide to erase evidence.]

[Move. Move.]

[Initiate search for new hosts. Spread the infection.]

[Spread the infection.]

Suddenly, soldiers abandoned their posts and ran into the forests and valleys, leaving the base unguarded. Myung-jun noticed this anomaly when he arrived at the infected unit to capture a new parasite to replace the failed 19th specimen.

“Huh?”

Driving a small oil tanker truck under the guise of a supply officer delivering boiler fuel, Myung-jun arrived at the base and immediately noticed the absence of guards at the post. The usual sight of armed soldiers allowing him passage was missing. Realizing this, Myung-jun cautiously got out of the truck, maintaining his vigilance.

Looking towards the distant barracks beyond the barrier, he muttered, “Is it shift change time?”

Kei, who had followed him out of the truck, replied with a frustrated expression, “If it weren’t for this bionic suit, I could sniff out what’s going on right away.”

“The moment you take that off, the senior will notice. Just bear with it, even if it’s uncomfortable,” Myung-jun advised.

After waiting for a few minutes for the guards to change shifts, Myung-jun realized that no one was coming. He quickly ran into the guard post and pressed the switch to raise the barrier. Turning to Kei, who was looking at him with a worried expression, he said, “Something’s happened.”