aircannonsinc Chapter 238 The Collapse of Dimensions and the Supreme Physician
Chapter 238 The Collapse of Dimensions and the Supreme Physician
There were no dark clouds, and no wind.
A layer of eerie, leaden-gray fog enveloped the entire city without warning.
The neon lights on the street were scattered into blurry halos in the fog.
Pedestrians on the road began to slow down, and eventually stopped altogether.
The car was turned off, and the driver was slumped over the steering wheel.
It wasn't that he was asleep or unconscious, but rather that he had fallen into a state of absolute stillness.
Wang Minyu walked to the side of the street and reached out to grab a handful of air.
The fog has no humidity and no odor.
It feels like dust, or like cold static electricity.
"Boss, the network is down. All the base station towers are operating at full capacity, but the data packets being transmitted are all invalid 0s and 1s." Su Qing ran downstairs carrying her laptop, the screen showing a lifeless straight line graph. "This isn't a weather disaster. The oxygen content in the air is normal, but the speed of movement of physical particles is decreasing exponentially."
"Heat death," Wang Minyu uttered.
A scarlet warning of the highest level pops up on the system panel.
[The high-dimensional logic virus "Concept Erasure" has been detected and deployed.]
[Deployer: "Librarian," the core AI of Organization S.]
[Target area: Changxiang City.]
Viral characteristics: Stripping organisms of all survival instincts and basic physiological impulses.
This is not a biological virus; it's a database deletion and escape in a physical sense.
Since they couldn't eliminate the bug that caused emotions, the S organization simply formatted the entire beta server environment.
To deprive all living beings of the concept of "movement" and ultimately lead them to death in absolute stillness.
A police car with its lights on crashed into a roadside trash can and came to a crooked stop in front of the pharmacy.
Captain Zhou rolled out of the driver's seat.
He was covered in sweat and moved extremely slowly, as if he were struggling against immense water pressure.
"The hospital... is paralyzed." Captain Zhou gasped for breath, emphasizing each word. "The patients have pulled out their oxygen tubes. The doctors have put down their scalpels. Everyone is lying flat. There's no pain, it's just... they don't want to live anymore."
Wang Minyu glanced at Captain Zhou's forehead.
The gray was lifeless and devoid of any vitality.
The virus has invaded his central nervous system and is shutting down his survival instincts.
Captain Zhou was able to drive this far entirely because of his exceptional willpower in resisting the alteration of the laws of physics.
"Guan Shan, take him to the backyard. Pierre, go to the storeroom and crush all the garlic and ginger, boil them into a thick soup, and pour it in," Wang Minyu ordered.
The pharmacy is protected by a high-dimensional barrier system that has been upgraded, preventing fog from penetrating inside.
But stepping outside, the entire city is rapidly dying.
Wang Minyu turned and walked into the backyard.
At the core of the Spirit Gathering Array, the large blue crystal dug out of the mental hospital was operating wildly.
The six crystals of primordial emotions within the hexagram groove shone with blinding light, barely maintaining the barrier protecting the pharmacy as a safe zone.
Old Cai squatted beside the center of the formation, slapping his thigh in frustration.
"Boss, the soil is losing its vitality! The medicinal herbs in the ground have stopped growing; they're all dormant!"
Wang Wei, the cleaning robot that had been incorporated into the organization, stood to the side, his electronic eyes flashing blue light: "Entropy value is approaching the critical point. It is recommended to activate the escape pod procedure and leave the current dimension."
"Shut up. Take your broom and sweep up the fallen leaves." Wang Minyu kicked Wang Wei away.
He walked to the center of the spirit-gathering array and squatted down.
Conventional drugs are ineffective against this "heat death" virus that strips away all desires.
Western medicine's ventilators and cardiac stimulants, and even traditional Chinese medicine ingredients like aconite and dried ginger, are nothing more than a bunch of carbohydrates when the laws of physics are distorted.
The only antidote is a "vitality" stronger than this virus.
Wang Minyu took a shriveled seed out of the pocket of his white coat.
That was the only original seed of the "Nine Deaths Resurrection Grass" that I could exchange for using all my skill points and the millions of emotion points I had accumulated from the system shop.
Dig up the soil around the center of the array and bury the seeds inside.
"Old Cai, water the plants."
Old Cai carried a half-bucket of water from the hot spring pool and poured it onto the seeds.
The soil was stirred up.
A tender green sprout broke through the soil.
But it only grew two leaves before stopping.
The leaden-gray mist in the surrounding air surged in frantically, attempting to obliterate it.
"Not enough. Not enough fertilizer," Old Cai shook his head.
The fertilizer here refers to mood points.
The emotions generated by the dozens of people at Renxin Pharmacy are simply a drop in the ocean compared to the potential of this high-dimensional antidote that can cover the entire city.
Wang Minyu stood up and looked towards the second floor.
"Su Qing, could you broadcast my voice through physical cables to every loudspeaker in the entire city?"
"The base station is down, and the Wi-Fi is down. But the underground fiber optic cables for the city's air raid sirens are a physically connected, independent system." Su Qing typed rapidly on the keyboard. "If we can breach the city's main server, we can take over all the city's outdoor broadcasts and the GG screens. Give me ten minutes."
Five minutes.
Five minutes later, Su Qing pressed the Enter key heavily. "Connected. Ninety percent coverage across the city."
She handed her a microphone with rough wiring attached.
Wang Minyu took the microphone. He closed his eyes, and the [Talk-no-Jutsu: Satirical] skill on the system panel began to heat up, its power pushed to 200%.
On the deathly silent streets of Changxiang City, the large screen in the square, the sound system in the shopping mall, and the air raid sirens all simultaneously emitted a piercing electrical microphone feedback sound.
"Good afternoon, everyone in Changxiang City. I am Wang Minyu from Renxin Pharmacy."
A calm, indifferent voice, carrying a chilling sarcasm, tore through the leaden-gray mist. Those who were in standby mode twitched their eyelids slightly.
"I heard that you feel life is meaningless now, and even breathing is too tiring."
"What a coincidence. I also think you guys are pretty redundant."
Wang Minyu held the microphone, looking out at the lifeless street.
"You people, you can argue for half an hour at the market over a few dollars' worth of vegetables, and you'll honk your horns until they break if you want to cut in line. Now what are you pretending to be, some enlightened saint who's seen through the illusions of the world?"
"The guy who just bought a house, you haven't even finished paying off your 30-year mortgage yet. If you die now, who will cover the bank's bad debts?"
"That guy who's been manipulated by his boss all year and still hasn't gotten his year-end bonus, you're just going to die like this. Your boss can go to a club tonight and celebrate by opening champagne and missing out on a paycheck. Are you happy about that?"
The sound travels through the cable, precisely piercing the eardrums of everyone.
"Your so-called rationality, your calculations, your greed, your competitive spirit—all crumble before the virus. You're admitting defeat already?"
"What a cheap species."
"Then go die. Die completely. Make room for me so I can turn all your houses into public toilets."
Extremely harsh.
Unrestrained and baseless insults.
He didn't preach any grand principles, nor did he call for love and peace.
He accurately pinpointed the most sensitive, selfish, and worldly pain points of modern people.
For an instant.
A spark ignited in the neurons of citizens whose emotional centers had been suppressed by the virus.
Not reconciled.
anger.
The feeling of humiliation from being insulted.
This faint emotion, when combined with the base of hundreds of thousands of people, converged into a massive and suffocating spiritual torrent.
This torrent pierced through the mist, centered on Renxin Pharmacy, and surged wildly into the spirit-gathering array in the backyard.
The two-leafed seedling at the center of the formation absorbed this massive amount of anger and resentment.
The sound of shoots growing could be heard.
The leaves swelled rapidly, turning from green to an almost transparent emerald green.
The main stem shoots upwards at a speed visible to the naked eye.
One meter, two meters, ten meters.
The plant has broken through the physical limits of growth.
It grew into a towering tree that blocked out the sky, its branches and leaves covering the entire abandoned pedestrian street.
"Bloom," Wang Minyu said coldly.
Millions of tiny white flowers bloom simultaneously on the tree canopy.
A strong, earthy aroma, mixed with the cool scent of mint, rose into the air.