After Yang Jia sorted out his own problems, the two of them turned their topic to the virus.

Although it is a heavy problem, it is one that must be faced, and they do not have much time left.

The first thing Li Bai asked was the question she was most concerned about: "What is red sage?"

"What?" Yang Jia was a little confused.

Li Baidao said, "According to the information I've looked up, you and several colleagues conducted an experiment using red sage in virus research. Why, you don't remember? All the data and reports from that experiment have been deleted, leaving only a title in your personal files."

Yang Jia frowned slightly, and put his index finger under his nose. "Let me think about it."

Although theoretically these should be her memories, and she should have reacted immediately, Yang Jia felt that her brain was more like a hard drive. These data were stored there, but when she needed them, she couldn't just recall them out of thin air; she had to look them up one by one.

Fortunately, she had already sorted through the previous part of her memories. The experiment likely wasn't conducted after infection with the third-generation virus, so the scope was much smaller. Yang Jia quickly found the experiment that best matched Li Bai's description. "There's a similar one, but it's not red sage grass, it's purple sage tail."

"Purple Rat Tail?"

"That's it." Yang Jia flipped open his illustrated guide. "Remember? We've seen it before. I said it looked familiar, but I just can't place it."

Li Bai took the illustrated book and looked at it. His heart suddenly tightened slightly. "Are you sure?"

Because she didn't know what "Red Sage Grass" was, she couldn't find the experimental data from that year, and it was impossible for her to conduct the experiment again. Now that she had found this plant, not to mention that Yang Jia should have the experimental content in her memory, even if she started from scratch, she should be able to quickly reach a conclusion.

Yang Jia nodded. "Yes, I was the one who named the plant Purple Rat Tail because its inflorescence resembles a purple, furry tail."

"This kind of grass doesn't grow around the base, does it?" Li Bai asked. Although it was a question, her tone was firm.

Yang Jia said, "It was found in the forest near the base."

Li Bai looked at her and said, "This kind of plant is not recorded in the base's database."

Yang Jia frowned, her face solemn. If Li Bai hadn't mentioned it, she would never have thought that such important information was hidden in her mind.

"Yes, because this experiment was conducted entirely in private. There was no registration or application for a research project. It was completed entirely by the team members who sacrificed their personal time." She looked up at Li Bai, "And after the experiment was completed, we personally destroyed all the experimental data and results, and deleted the experimental report. I don't know why it appeared in the researcher's file. Apart from us, no one else should know about this experiment."

Li Bai did not pursue this latter point of doubt, but instead asked, "Why destroy the experimental data and results?"

"Because..." Yang Jia took a deep breath and said solemnly, "All the data from clinical trials show that the so-called DIE virus is essentially a medium that can induce mutation and evolution in humans, thereby adjusting and transforming the human body, allowing us to develop in a direction that can adapt to the environment of Hope Star. - Of course, this last point is just a hypothesis and has not been proven."

"How is that possible?" Li Bai questioned, "If that's true, why hasn't anyone noticed it yet?"

"Because the human body can't withstand the intensity of this transformation, it will react violently in a short period of time, causing the transformation to fail," Yang Jia said. Her tone was slow, with an inexplicable solemnity and seriousness. "At the time, someone proposed that since this virus existed on Hope Planet, and there was still life there, there must be something to control it. This is similar to the principle of mutual generation and mutual restraint in ancient Chinese medicine. So we decided to start with the plants on Hope Planet."

But at that time, the plants near the base had already been studied, so they had to venture into the mountains and forests to look for plants they had never seen before.

"Sure enough, after adding the purple rat tail, the situation has changed. The virus's transformation of living organisms will become gentler, reducing the intensity of the transformation to a tolerable level."

"After reaching this conclusion, we conducted numerous experiments on animals. The vast majority died, but a small number survived. The data from these test subjects almost all underwent drastic changes, becoming several times more powerful than before. We speculated that this was because the dangers on Planet Hope were several, even dozens, of times greater than on Earth, so to adapt, they had to accept and undergo this transformation. However, our exploration of Planet Hope was still limited at the time, so we couldn't prove this hypothesis."

Li Bai's eyes flickered when he heard this, and he almost immediately found the crux of the problem. "Does this transformation have any drawbacks?"

Humanity's desire for immigration is extremely urgent. If it were simply to transform their bodies and become more powerful, I believe no one would be unwilling to accept it. However, after the experiment was completed, Yang Jia and others personally destroyed the experimental results and various data, which shows that there must be some unbearable drawbacks.

Yang Jia didn't answer the question immediately. She relaxed her body, lay down on the grass, and stared at the clouds in the sky for a long time before whispering, "You should know how those two survivors of the second-generation virus died, right?"

"Systemic failure," Li Bai replied. While this was a secret to the general public, she was clearly not one of them. Especially after all the research she'd done recently, she'd learned even more secrets.

"This is the aftereffect of a successful transformation," Yang Jia said. "All the test subjects who successfully survived had their lifespans significantly reduced. After a period of time, their bodies would fall into inexplicable exhaustion and eventually die."

"After our group's discussion, we concluded that the so-called transformation was merely a superficial illusion. In reality, it was a stimulation and overdraft of the body's potential. This explosive growth in strength actually came at the cost of one's life. Once this potential was exhausted, one would die of exhaustion. Perhaps in the future we could find a better solution that could completely resolve this hidden danger. But at the moment, it wasn't feasible. Out of the conscience and professional ethics of biologists, we deliberated and decided to destroy the experimental data, preventing anyone from knowing this experiment had ever taken place."

Li Bai shook Yang Jia's hand vigorously and said, "You are right."

From the perspective of humanity's long-term development, this flawed "evolution" is certainly undesirable. But both Li Bai and Yang Jia understand that in the eyes of some, human life is a priceless commodity. If they can trade ten thousand men for a hundred powerful warriors whose strength has skyrocketed several times, they will choose the exchange without hesitation. Even if these powerful warriors will die in just a few years, the benefits they bring are considerable.

The Earth has stored so many humans, just to throw them all out for sacrifice at some point. As long as the reward for such sacrifice is sufficient, those who can decide their life and death will not hesitate.

However, as biologists specializing in the study of various life forms, the researchers could not accept their experimental results being used in this way. To prevent this technology from being exploited, they simply destroyed the experimental data and ended the course.

Even when some of them were infected with the virus later, no one thought of restarting the project.

But it's clear that someone knew about this and even recorded it in the researchers' personal profiles. It's just that for some unknown reason, the purple sage tail was replaced with the seemingly similar red sage grass. Even if someone saw it, it would be difficult to follow the clues.

All the people who participated in the experiment at that time have died. If it were not for Yang Jia’s special nature, perhaps no one would ever know that such a truth was hidden in it.

After a moment of silence, Yang Jia spoke again, "The vaccines we previously researched actually halted the transformation, but they couldn't actually repair the hidden dangers that the transformation had brought to the body. So even if the vaccine was used, it would still eventually fail."

She didn't say the second half of the sentence, but Li Bai already knew it: in this urgent situation, their only choice is to restart this project and strive to find a better solution in the shortest time possible to resolve the hidden dangers in the infected person's body.

There's at least one benefit to gaming: if you're experimenting on players, even if you experience "failure," it's just a death in the game, with no significant impact on real life, and the loss is negligible. So, when conducting experiments, feel free to experiment with anything.

Thinking of this, Li Bai and Yang Jia looked at each other, feeling a little heavy in their hearts.

Did the person who designed this game - or the person who came up with this plan - know this?

After all, there's an unknown insider who left a trace of this incident. It's hard to determine their stance, and whether they've leaked this information is unknown. But if the person who proposed this plan is an insider, could they have anticipated this situation?

If so, it meant someone was manipulating the entire thing from start to finish. Li Bai and Yang Jia had to consider another question: Did the other party know of Yang Jia's existence? If not, how could he guarantee that this experiment, now buried in history, could be restarted? If so, did he know more?

After a while, Li Bai finally spoke, "No matter what, at least we now have a direction to work towards. Even if there are many doubts, we can't give up."

"I know." Yang Jia said, "I will personally lead this project."

When Li Bai heard this, her expression changed slightly, but she pursed her lips and looked at Yang Jia for a long time, but in the end she did not speak.

The so-called personally hosting the experiment was just a nice way of saying it. In reality, Yang Jia volunteered to be the experimental subject.

This experiment inevitably requires a living organism to undergo various permutations and combinations in order to find the optimal solution. This process is not only dangerous but also inherently painful. After all, injecting various drugs into the body is never a pleasant experience.

Although players in the game wouldn't actually die, this type of experiment was still ethically difficult to accept. Yang Jia couldn't ask anyone else to do this, and since she was infected with the virus, wasn't she the perfect experimental subject?

But Li Bai couldn't stop her.

Because this wasn't just about saving others, it was also about saving oneself. In such matters, those who took the lead were destined to sacrifice more than others. She and Yang Jia had chosen this path, and there was no turning back.

Although she wanted to replace Yang Jia as the experimental subject, she also understood that there was no point in acting on impulse at the moment.

Yang Jia has his own responsibilities, and Li Bai has his own mission.