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Game of Thrones: The Giant Crab of the Narrow Sea
Game of Thrones: The Sword King
Game of Thrones: From Bastard to Emperor
"Stabilized Extremis Virus."
"That Dr. Maya Hansen, whom Mr. Si Bei brought back earlier... although she had some hidden agendas at first, her capabilities are quite impressive."
"I tried using the technology deconstructed from the shrinking pill to help stabilize the drug's properties. While the enhancement effect brought by the Extremis Virus itself has been weakened, it retains the ability to regenerate severed limbs. Moreover, we can now ensure that subjects won't self-destruct due to emotional instability after injection."
Sherry stood before the lab bench. Although she was a bit surprised that Luca wasn't most interested in her perfected "APTX4869" or the "Shrinking Pill," she introduced the stabilized Extremis Virus to him in her usual cool tone.
However, Sherry, who was busy explaining the contributions of the "Stabilized Extremis," didn't notice...
Luca, who appeared to be listening to her report, had long since drifted away from her words.
Because at this moment, holding the Extremis Virus syringe in his hand, Luca's entire attention was captivated by the new System panel that had popped up.
> [Blacklight Virus DX-1118C]
> [Prototype World 1/5]
> [Creator: Alex Mercer]
> [Core Component: Extremis Virus]
> [Synthesis Materials: 10 Different Viruses]
> [Item Description: A new type of virus synthesized under the leadership of Dr. Alex Mercer within a virus-like substance capable of autonomous evolution. The virus itself is highly contagious. Most infected individuals die due to organ failure, cell mutation, etc., but a very small number of hosts can assimilate and coexist with the Blacklight Virus, achieving an evolution in life form.
> Hosts who perfectly merge with the Blacklight Virus will gain abilities including but not limited to: enhanced physical attributes, evolution through consuming other organisms, flesh regeneration, infecting other organisms, and even immortality.]
> [Friendly Reminder: DX-1118C is the most unstable variant among the original Blacklight virus strains. After injecting this virus, will you gain power? Become a zombie? Or be replaced by the virus and lead the world to destruction? It's all a gamble.]
Gamble my ass!
Reading the final "Friendly Reminder," Luca's trembling hand almost threw the damn thing across the room.
Luca had certainly heard of the infamous Blacklight Virus from the gaming world.
Not only that, he had heard rumors like "Infect Manhattan in 3 days" and "Destroy humanity in 14 days."
And now, this incredibly dangerous substance was right in his hand. As long as he wanted to, he could synthesize it at any moment.
Yes, synthesize it at any moment.
Although the synthesis materials required "10 different viruses," which seemed specific...
One had to realize that the air people breathed every day contained hundreds or thousands of viruses, known and unknown.
In other words, Luca only needed to draw the synthesis array, and the air floating inside the circle would be enough to satisfy the material requirements.
However, despite such simple synthesis conditions, Luca didn't quite dare to actually create it.
Why? Because this thing could genuinely destroy the world, even if this was the Marvel Universe.
Given the Blacklight Virus's unstable evolutionary and consuming traits, if it infected and consumed a few super-powered individuals, it might just spiral out of control and ascend to godhood on the spot.
Creating a Blacklight Zombie Universe wasn't out of the realm of possibility.
More importantly, regarding the enhancement brought by the Blacklight Virus—take Alex Mercer, the protagonist of Prototype, as an example.
Leaving aside the astronomically low probability of his birth...
Fundamentally, he was no longer the original Alex Mercer. He was a viral collective born from the virus consuming Mercer's corpse, possessing Mercer's memories and mindset.
Although souls—a higher level of self-cognition—existed in the Marvel World...
If one truly merged with the Blacklight Virus, even if the soul remained unchanged, it was hard to say if one could still be considered human.
After hesitating for a long time, Luca put down the Extremis Virus vial and looked at Sherry with a complicated expression.
"So... hypothetically speaking, if I had a viral pathogen that was extremely contagious and could potentially destroy the world if released..."
"But researching the virus itself might yield results that could enhance the human body or cure diseases. Do you think we should bring it out for study?"
After speaking, Luca looked at Sherry quietly.
Unexpectedly, Sherry rolled her eyes at him.
"You're overthinking it. The Extremis Virus isn't contagious."
"I'm not talking about Extremis!"
Luca immediately tried to explain.
But before he could speak, Sherry continued.
"Boring hypothesis. What research doesn't carry risks? I didn't see you being this indecisive when you were researching the Hell Gate a while back."
Sherry crossed her arms and looked at Luca as if he were an idiot.
"That thing behind you seems to be some kind of energy device? If a mistake occurs during its development, I imagine the blast radius wouldn't be small either, right?"
"That's different..."
Glancing at the "Hextech Engine" Sherry gestured to, Luca wanted to refute her, but stopped himself.
Yes, whether it was demon research or dimensional engines, the dangers of failure were significant.
The former could lead to a Hell invasion destroying Earth. The latter might not crack the planet in half, but flattening New York would be easy.
The reason Luca hadn't worried much researching those—even nearly causing a disaster—was because he had a theoretical foundation in demonology and mechanical energy. He was mentally prepared for the potential dangers and could take sufficient precautions, allowing him to research recklessly.
But in virology, he really only knew a smattering. Coupled with the catastrophic potential shown in the original game, he was hesitant about synthesizing the Blacklight Virus.
Seeing that Luca seemed to get her point, Sherry continued.
"No matter what kind of virus it is, how contagious, or how dangerous. As long as sufficient protection and isolation measures are taken during the experiment... then no matter how great the danger, it won't spread."
"As researchers, if we can't even achieve that, then humanity has no business researching virology."
Listening to Sherry's slightly lecturing tone, Luca scratched his head awkwardly.
Thinking back, she was right.
Whether it was the Blacklight Virus or the even more famous T-Virus...
Disasters only spread because outsiders attacked the lab or someone maliciously released it.
If researchers followed protocols properly, an accident might not happen once in decades, let alone destroy the world.
Thinking of this, Luca stopped agonizing over it. He looked at Sherry with renewed enthusiasm.
"So, uh, Sherry... are you interested in starting a new project?"
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