"Alexia"
Alexia only looked away from the computer screen after someone mentioned her first name.
Just by looking up slightly, she saw Sui Yang, dressed in casual business attire, standing in front of her desk.
"Boss, I'm sorry, I have a little..."
"Just sit down."
Sui Yang raised his hand to indicate that the other party did not need to get up or say any words. Instead, he walked around the desk to Alexia's side, and, with his gaze also fixed on the computer screen
"I just want to understand what the characteristics of the Stairway to the Sun or rather, the Progenitor Flower, discovered by Kennedy, the professor and the Hunters, are."
"Wait a moment, boss." Alexia started using the mouse and keyboard again, and brought up several holographic screens that appeared on the desk, presenting Sui Yang with more relevant information and videos.
This includes the appearance of villagers infected at various stages, such as eyes filled with blood, skin sprouting plant-like thorns, and then the head being replaced by tumors and more vine-like tentacles.
As for the videos, they are individual recordings shot by ARS elites who assisted Leon in venturing deep into the rainforest to search for the ancient city and the Stairway to the Sun, The Progenitor Flower.
The video provides a direct view of an ancient site from multiple angles.
As the boss, Sui Yang naturally knew the latest developments from all sides. Besides, he didn't need much sleep and had plenty of time and energy to handle company affairs.
Three days earlier, on July 18, the same day Arthur and his group launched their raid on the Luftan Research Center, Leon and his team followed the trails left behind by the infected and ventured more than ten kilometers into the rainforest, successfully finding an ancient city that had been severely weathered and eroded.
Although it's called a city, its actual area is only about four football fields. There are no outer walls, and inside there are many stone houses covered with vines, with a chaotic layout.
However, in the center of the ancient city, there is a well organized stepped altar about fourteen meters high and fourteen meters on each side, and on the altar is a small megalithic circle.
As for the source of the strange occurrences in Loja, which led to the villagers and rebels. becoming infected, it lies within those megalithic formations...
It is a huge man eating flower.
At first glance, it seems no different from the Rafflesia gadutensis, with five deep red petals with spots, but the central part is a mouth full of fangs.
Its crimson vines and veins had long since taken root on the altar and stone array, and many ordinary-sized red flowers clung to the ground beneath the altar.
Sensing the intruders, those red flowers, about the size of an outstretched palm, were able to detach from the soil and quickly crawl using their roots.
It seems they intend to attack Leon and his group, or more likely, they plan to take them in directly.
This also explains why infected individuals and mutants often exhibit distinct plant like characteristics.
Faced with the rampant, blood-red flowers that have broken free from the soil, it is inevitable that the unarmed villagers will become their nourishment.
But how could the well prepared ARS not carry a flamethrower when facing a situation where they need to go deep into the rainforest? It would be pretty stupid of him not bringing flamethrowers considering they are gonna get a mutated flower on steroids.
Therefore, the so called Progenitor Flower was successfully recovered by Leon and others.
"Through preliminary studies of the samples, my team and I discovered that the Progenitor Flower contains a virus in the form of RNA, but this is quite different from the characteristics described in the Captain's Notebook.
This indicates that the Progenitor Flower underwent some kind of mutation over the past few centuries, but the absence of any inscriptions or murals in the ancient city left the Cambridge history department team with no way to proceed."
Alexia leaned back in her chair and chuckled at Sui Yang, continuing, "However, I have no interest in what effects it had before the mutation, or the history of that ancient city. After all, I think nanomedicine is more realistic when it comes to curing all diseases.
So I'm actually quite satisfied with the characteristics of the mutated Progenitor Flower. For example, it can enhance the strength of the organisms it hosts, and all the infected seem to possess some kind of collective consciousness."
Sui Yang became somewhat interested.
"Boss, please look." Before Sui Yang could ask any questions, Alexia once again manipulated the mouse and keyboard, displaying the D-00267 experiment process on the holographic screen and providing an explanation.
"Based on the preliminary research over the past two days, I have discovered that the large thing rooted on the altar is the Matrix, the source of everything, and the little thing that attacked Kennedy and his group, as well as the infected people who were inhabited, are all under the unified command and control of the Matrix.
This immediately reminded me of ant colonies and bee colonies, so I conducted my first experiment using carpenter ants and mutated flower samples, which indirectly confirmed my hypothesis.
That is, over the past few centuries, colonial activities and large scale population movements have led to biological invasions in various continents and countries, causing severe damage to local ecosystems, and the Progenitor Flower was no exception.
However, to avoid being eaten up by different creatures, the Flower of God had to develop a coping mechanism, which resulted in mutations and successfully ensured its own safety.
As for how it mutated, my guess is that the Progenitor Flower devoured some kind of insects in a beehive society, greatly improving its information processing efficiency while also acquiring the ability to move, parasitize, and coexist.
The latest experiment has confirmed my hypothesis, the virus extracted from the sample has a strong compatibility with carpenter's ants, although..."
At this point, Alexia glanced at the holographic screen, especially at the horrific state of D-00267, then shrugged and spread her hands.
"Although the experiment quickly led to the death of materials such as D, it also demonstrated that the virus has multiple possibilities.
Once my team and I have thoroughly analyzed the samples, we can begin our research using your clones, boss. Perhaps... we can cultivate what's known as a gene seed"
(After listening to Alexia's description, Sui Yang felt even more strongly that the "Flower of God" was very similar to the Stairway to the Sun in "Resident Evil, especially in that they both contained RNA viruses.)
After listening to Alexia's description, Sui Yang was more convinced that the Progenitor Flower was the same Progenitor Flower from Resident Evil, especially in that they both contained RNA viruses. The universe he is in, the Progenitor Flower was called the 'Flower of God' which he was quite dissatisfied with the name, he would rather called it the Progenitor Flower rather than the Flower of God.
Sui Yang considers the flower as the miracle of evolution rather than being a flower made by a god, seriously who was the dumbass that made the name?
"You've done a good job, keep it up." But Sui Yang didn't dwell too much on the difference between the two flowers and said, "The Hunter Team has moved the Soldier Boy to the fourth basement level of the building, and also brought all the research data from Gogosky Luftan Military Industry, as well as samples of Compound No. 5."
"Okay, boss..." Alexia nodded slightly, but frowned slightly.
Without needing to use his psyker sense, Sui Yang could detect the other party's fatigue and immediately said, "I will try my best to keep an eye out for top experts in the fields of biology and chemistry to share the research pressure with you and your team."
There's no need to rush the new super soldier program. The portal is about to open, and perhaps the materials for farming the gene seeds also exist in Universe 02.
As Sui Yang spoke, he turned and left the office. However, while waiting for the automatic door to open, he added, "The bonuses have been deposited into your accounts. If you're too tired during this time, you can take some time to relax and have fun. You can decide on your own holidays."
"Don't worry, boss, I know how to balance work and rest..."
Alexia merely gave Sui Yang a slightly lazy thumbs up, seemingly unmoved by the bonus.
However, once the automatic door closed and the office returned to silence
She instantly lost all signs of fatigue, her fingers flying across the keyboard as she seemed quite pleased to continue immersing herself in the ocean of work.
Sui Yang meanwhile was putting his back on the door, listening to the tapping keyboard that Alexia was making 'I know how to balance my work my ass, your still as hard working as ever Alexia'
Sui Yang sigh and chuckles as he left, leaving her alone