153: Special drugs

Under Dr. Zhou's brief arrangements and the cover of a temporary visitor's vest thrown over his suit, Shen Mingyuan was able to move within the non-core security areas to a limited extent.

He deliberately avoided the official investigators who were gathered in discussion with solemn expressions. His pace was steady, but his eyes swept over every detail like a scanner—closed isolation doors, hurried water stains on the floor that hadn't been fully cleaned.

The air held the lingering scent of faint disinfectant mixed with an indescribable sweet and metallic smell. His mask not only blocked potential risks but also obscured his expression, making it easier for him to blend into the background.

Avoiding the main flow of people, Shen Mingyuan relied on his deductions of the functional areas and the signs on the walls to find a room labeled 'Feed Temporary Storage Room.' The door was slightly ajar, and the faint scent of grain and hay wafted from within. He slipped inside and quickly scanned the environment—stacked bags of feed, neatly arranged nutritional supplements, and clearly labeled water buckets. Everything looked standard and calm, forming an eerie contrast with the tragic explosion being handled outside.

"If it's poisoning, food or water sources are the primary suspects," Shen Mingyuan analyzed calmly. He walked over to an opened bag of mixed feed, not rashly touching it with his hands. As a lawyer who often dealt with various physical evidence (including potentially hazardous Materials), he was in the habit of keeping basic supplies in his briefcase. He opened the bag, took out a pair of disposable rubber gloves, and skillfully put them on.

The gloves brought a slight sense of detachment, but they ensured safety and prevented leaving direct fingerprints. He leaned down and, using his fingers, carefully pinched a few dark brown cylindrical feed pellets from the open bag, holding them up to his eyes to observe them closely under the dim light of the room. The surface of the pellets was smooth and the texture firm; no strange attachments or abnormal colors were visible.

Next, he brought them close to his mask. Despite the gloves and mask, he habitually took a deep breath, trying to capture any chemical odors that might leak out—but he gained nothing except the inherent, somewhat monotonous grain scent of the feed itself.

No visual abnormalities, no olfactory abnormalities.

Shen Mingyuan's gaze sharpened. He gently placed the few feed pellets on an idle plastic tray nearby instead of putting them back in the original bag. Then, he turned to a plastic bucket labeled 'Fresh Drinking Water for the Day.' The lid was half-open. Still wearing his gloves, he used the inner side of his finger to extremely lightly touch the un-submerged part of the inner wall of the bucket's mouth, then brought it close to sniff again. Still, he found nothing.

Sensory inspection yielded nothing.

He straightened up and looked around this seemingly normal storage room. If the problem wasn't here, where would it be? A more sophisticated poisoning method? Or was the root of the problem in an entirely different direction?

His gaze fell back onto the few lonely feed pellets on the tray. When his fingertips had touched them earlier, there had been nothing besides the hard texture.

[Consciousness Space]

[Warning!] The System's electronic voice abruptly rang out in Han Chengyu's consciousness. [Detected high-concentration, non-natural biocatalyst residues attached to the contact surface (External Carrier: Unknown organic feed pellets)! Activity Rank: High Risk!]

[Automatic deep scanning and analysis program forced to start...]

Han Chengyu's 'consciousness' instantly focused. "What's going on? What did Shen Mingyuan touch?" he asked immediately.

[Analyzing compound structure...] A massive stream of data unfolded before Han Chengyu, as complex molecular formulas, energy spectrums, and reaction path simulations rapidly flashed, overlapped, and were compared.

[Analysis complete. Confirmed substance nature: Man-made, highly complex biocatalyst/inducer.]

[Preliminary reverse-engineering of its design intent and action mechanism model:]

[The core function of this substance (Temporary Designation: Drug Type A) is: Forcibly intervening in and accelerating the basal metabolism and replication cycle of 'primordial evolution factors' (evo factors) within a living organism, thereby creating a chain effect that stimulates host cells to enter an abnormal, high-speed division preparation state.]

[Design logic speculation: The creator likely intended for it to serve as an 'evo factor activator' or 'potential stimulant' to safely and controllably increase the factor concentration in latent individuals, guiding targeted evolution.]

"Sounds like... some kind of evolution catalyst?" Han Chengyu immediately thought of the Prometheus organization's philosophy.

[Critical design flaw/unforeseen side effects discovered:]

The System's analysis continued in depth. [This drug severely underestimates the deep coupling between evo factors and host cell metabolism. Its catalytic effect on evo factor replication inevitably leads to the complete disruption of the host's systemic cell division cycle.]

[Model calculation results: Under the influence of the drug, new cells are forcibly spawned, while old cells delay or even refuse apoptosis due to the abnormal activity of the evo factors sustaining them.]

The two effects overlap, causing the number of cells within the living organism to expand malignantly in a short period, leading to the collapse of microscopic structures and finally triggering a macroscopic... physical self-destruction.

External manifestation: Abnormal swelling and bursting of the organism from the inside out. Match rate with externally observed 'animal self-explosion' events: 98.7%.]

"In other words, this thing might have been intended to 'create gods' or produce Evolvers, but in reality... it became a biological bomb with terrifying efficiency?"

Han Chengyu felt a chill. This practice of treating life as experimental material that could be altered at will, completely ignoring its fundamental stability, was horrifyingly cold and dangerous.

[Further scanning the external storage environment (via the sensory link with Unit and Aptitude Holder Shen Mingyuan and trace energy field feedback)...]

The System did not stop. [Detected more signals of the same type.]

[Confirmed: Within this storage room, compound residues highly homologous to 'Drug Type A' in terms of action mechanism, but with significant differences in specific molecular configuration and catalytic efficiency, have been detected across different feed batches and on the surfaces of water containers.]

[Identified variants: Drug Type A-1 (relatively mild effect, potentially longer latent period), Drug Type A-2 (strong catalytic effect, targets metabolically active tissues), Drug Type A-3 (rapid and violent effect, induces the highest intensity of cell division).]

[Conclusion: This incident was not a single-drug poisoning, but rather at least three homologous catalysts/inducers with different formulas being deployed simultaneously or sequentially. The deployer's purpose is highly likely to: Test the actual induction effects, action speed, action intensity, and differences in final destruction forms of different formulas (variants) on different biological individuals within the same environment. This is a... multi-variable field biological experiment.]

The Consciousness Space fell silent, with only the eerie blue data streams silently scrolling.

Han Chengyu 'watched' the cold data marked by the System representing different lethal variants, a surge of emotion mixed with anger and urgency swelling in his consciousness. 'Prometheus'... they not only viewed life as expendable but had directly deployed this cruel 'experiment' on the outskirts of the city, in a place that was supposed to save lives.

This time it was animals; what about next time?

He turned to the System, his voice in his consciousness decisive: "Record all data! Establish an independent file and label it as 'High-Risk Biochemical Catalyst.' Focus on marking its action mechanism, flaw principles, and variant characteristics.

Additionally, calculate what the consequences would be if Shen Mingyuan had touched it directly without gloves, or accidentally inhaled or ingested dust with these drugs attached?"

[Simulating...] The System ran briefly.

[Based on the activity of the drug variants and Aptitude Holder Shen Mingyuan's current Physique (basal evo concentration 0.029%): Direct skin contact may lead to abnormal cell proliferation at the contact site (severe dermatitis, tissue hyperplasia);]

Inhaling or ingesting trace amounts is extremely likely to induce systemic minor cellular metabolic disorders accompanied by intense discomfort. However, due to the low concentration and the Aptitude Holder's special Physique, it is expected not to lead to instantaneous malignant swelling and bursting. Risk Rank: Low-Medium, but it is strongly recommended to avoid any form of direct exposure.]