"It's wonderful..."
"It's simply... an incredible miracle!"
Vegapunk—that old man with the massive head—was currently hunched over a giant electron microscope.
His eyes bulged, bloodshot, yet frighteningly bright. That iconic long tongue of his lolled from the corner of his mouth in extreme excitement. Spittle was practically flying onto the screen.
Before him was a sample sealed in an absolute zero container. It was the residual body tissue of Deadpool, recovered earlier from the North Blue battlefield.
That is to say—the original Blacklight Virus sample!
"Cellular activity... infinite?!"
"Telomerase... no, there isn't even a concept of telomerase here!"
"This thing is like a perpetual motion machine, constantly self-dividing, recombining, and evolving!"
Vegapunk's hands trembled as he operated the console. He attempted to use a high-energy laser to cut a small piece of tissue for slide observation.
Sizzle!
The moment the laser touched that blackish-red lump of flesh, a strange scene unfolded!
The flesh seemed alive, actively twisting and writhing! It even... like a tiny, greedy mouth, directly swallowed the laser's energy!
"It can even assimilate energy?!"
"This violates the second law of thermodynamics!"
"This simply shouldn't be something a carbon-based lifeform is capable of!"
Vegapunk grabbed the apple antenna on his head, letting out a near-manic shout. Even for a genius like him, hailed as being five hundred years ahead of human wisdom, he felt a deep sense of powerlessness before this virus named "Blacklight."
It was the... despair of a low-dimensional being facing a high-dimensional creation!
This thing's code was too perfect. So perfect it was like a forbidden program personally written by God!
Just then,
Beep—!
The massive laboratory doors slid open. A tall, plump female clone walked in. She held a burger larger than a washbasin in her hands, eating frantically like a hamster.
That was one of Vegapunk's clones—"Desire" York.
Burp—
York let out a loud burp, completely disregarding her image. She lazily glanced at her original body, who was currently in a state of frenzy.
"Hey, Stella."
"Can you calm down for a second?"
"The Den Den Mushis from above are about to explode from all the calls."
York said as she licked the salad dressing off her fingers. Her face was the picture of impatience.
"It's those five old geezers again."
"Especially that curly-haired old man with the cane, what's-his-name, Saint Jaygarcia Saturn."
"His tone is very aggressive. He's asking why you aren't picking up and whether the antidote for the Blacklight Virus has been made yet."
"He says if you don't provide results soon, they'll cut the research funding for next quarter."
Hearing this, Vegapunk, who was still immersed in his scientific fervor, suddenly froze.
He turned around. His face, previously filled with a thirst for knowledge, was instantly clouded with anger.
"Funding? Funding! Those pig-brains only ever think about funding!"
Vegapunk hopped around in rage. That massive head of his wobbled along with his movements.
"What do they think we're doing here?!"
"Are we stir-frying?! Like it'll cook faster if you just turn up the heat?!"
"This is the Blacklight Virus!"
"It's a taboo that even the mysterious SCP Foundation doesn't dare touch lightly!"
Vegapunk rushed up to York, spit flying everywhere.
"Do you have any idea how complex this thing is?"
"Its genetic sequence changes every second! Even if I use the most advanced 'Punk Records' for calculations, I can't keep up with its mutation rate!"
"How am I supposed to give them an antidote?!"
"Am I supposed to go beg that monster named 'Abel' for some charity?!"
York expressionlessly wiped the spit from her face. She took another large bite of her burger and said indistinctly:
"What's the point of yelling at me?"
"I don't understand any of this. I'm only responsible for eating, sleeping, and... well, excreting."
"Go yell at the Gorosei."
"Tell them that even you, the 'World's Greatest Scientist,' have things you can't handle."
Vegapunk was so stifled he rolled his eyes. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
Of course, he couldn't admit he was incapable. This was a matter of a scientist's dignity! And more importantly... his pursuit of truth!
"Hmph!"
"Those high-ranking old geezers don't understand what true 'evolution' is at all."
Vegapunk sat back down in his chair. He looked at the Blacklight Virus sample still writhing on the screen, his gaze gradually becoming profound.
"This virus... it's like a lock."
"A genetic lock that seals the upper limit of carbon-based lifeforms."
"Conventional means, whether chemical agents or physical cutting, cannot destroy its core structure."
At this point, Vegapunk reached out and pulled up a new data file in the air.
It was the combat data on Hulk that Kizaru had just sent back.
Looking at the soaring heart rate curve, looking at the physical strength capable of withstanding a Light Speed Kick, the flames of hope ignited once more in Vegapunk's eyes.
"But..."
"Everything has its counter."
"This lock is not entirely without a key."
He pointed at the projection of the green monster on the screen and said with a trembling voice:
"Do you see it, York?"
"This... is the key!"
York stopped chewing. She leaned in curiously.
"You mean... that big green guy?"
"The monster that beat Kizaru so hard he almost cried for his Mama?"
"This thing looks even more dangerous than the Blacklight Virus, doesn't it?"
"No! You don't understand!"
Vegapunk shook his head excitedly.
"Bruce Banner... this man is simply a miracle!"
"The kind of energy inside him... that kind of benign mutation triggered by gamma rays..."
"It possesses an extremely domineering 'exclusivity'!"
Vegapunk pulled up two sets of simulation data. One set was the Blacklight Virus's consumption model. The other was the Hulk's cellular anger model.
When the two sets of data collided, a blinding red light erupted on the screen!
"The Blacklight Virus wants to assimilate everything."
"But Hulk's cells refuse to be assimilated by anything!"
"It can even... in turn, suppress the activity of the Blacklight Virus!"
Vegapunk grew more excited as he spoke. His hands clattered rapidly across the keyboard.
"This is the only breakthrough!"
"Only by cracking the genetic code in Bruce Banner, by figuring out how he harnesses that violent energy, can I find a way to restrain the Blacklight Virus!"
"Even..."
Vegapunk paused. A heart-palpitating fanaticism flashed in his eyes.
"I can even fuse these two powers together to create a..."
"Truly perfect biological weapon!"
"Surpassing the Seraphim! Surpassing the Four Emperors! Even... surpassing God!"
Looking at his original self lost in self-intoxication, York rolled her eyes speechlessly. She stuffed the last bite of the burger into her mouth.
"Alright, alright, I get it."
"So, the key now lies with that Dr. Banner?"
"As long as Kizaru brings him back, you can deliver the results, right?"
Vegapunk nodded heavily.
"Exactly!"
"Dr. Banner is the key! Aside from him, no one can solve this puzzle left by God!"
"Not even I can do it!"
York brushed the breadcrumbs off her hands. She turned and walked toward the door.
"Then I'll reply to those old geezers like that."
"Tell them, if they want to live, if they want to preserve the rule of the Celestial Dragons, then they should just wait obediently."
"And stop hounding us every single day like their lives depend on it. It's ruining my appetite."
Watching York's departing figure, Vegapunk didn't care about her rudeness. His attention returned to the screen before him.
In one corner of the screen was Hulk's ferocious, roaring face. In the other corner of the screen was the eerie, writhing flesh of the Blacklight Virus.
Two forces capable of destroying the world.
In the eyes of this mad scientist, at this moment, they were slowly overlapping...
"Come quickly... Bruce Banner."
"My dear friend..."
"I can hardly wait to understand your body."