Chapter 340 - 317: Seri Divine Kingdom

Chapter 340: Chapter 317: Seri Divine Kingdom

In the Strategy Research Room, the team responsible for research on Parasite identification was reporting to Gao Liangwei.

The team leader said with a guilty expression, "Based on the results of our repeated experiments... I’m afraid we still haven’t found an effective method for identifying Parasites."

Gao Liangwei frowned.

"Initially, we tried various methods like psychological induction and keyword recognition, but only some of the Parasites fell for it. This is because a Parasite’s intelligence is inherited directly from its original host. So, if the original host wasn’t very bright, the Parasite is also prone to making mistakes."

"I already know that," Gao Liangwei said.

Based on the reports he had received on Parasite behavior from quarantine zones everywhere, even among Parasites, some were as cunning as foxes, while others were as stupid as pigs.

The dumbest ones were like mindless brutes among humans—the kind who don’t think. They would attack the guards the moment their transformation was complete. Naturally, these Parasites were the first to be eliminated or captured.

The clever ones, however, would carefully observe loopholes in the quarantine zones’ management, waiting for a chance to blend into the general population, and would never easily expose themselves.

This difference was linked to the original host’s intelligence, personality, and even their mannerisms.

"Parasites with lower intelligence and more impulsive personalities are easily bluffed. When we directly accuse them of being a Parasite without any evidence, this type will immediately give themselves away and reveal their identity."

"But the more intelligent Parasites will flatly deny it, protest vehemently, and demand that we provide proof of their identity."

"The first type of Parasite is easier to detect; the second type is the problem," the team leader said after a pause. "For this latter group, we tried using certain Psychic Power items and abilities to control their consciousness, but all attempts failed."

Upon hearing this, Gao Liangwei pressed, "Why did they fail? If Parasites inherit their host’s intelligence, wouldn’t they inherit their Psychic Power as well? Besides, most Parasites were ordinary people, whose Psychic Power was non-existent to begin with."

"You’re right, sir. That’s what we initially thought, too. But experimental results show that the spores seem to create a protective shield around the Parasite’s brain. No mind or will-controlling items or abilities can penetrate this shield to take effect."

’The spores have that kind of function?’

Gao Liangwei’s frown deepened.

"After that, we also performed dissection experiments, hoping to understand the Parasite’s brain and develop targeted drugs... but that failed as well. We could only discover that a large number of neural networks in the Parasite’s brain had mutated, but we were unable to interfere with them."

The team leader sighed helplessly. "The neural network formed by the human brain’s neurons is more complex than any supercomputer. With humanity’s current medical technology, it’s impossible to study it thoroughly. We can only proceed slowly with AI-assisted trial and error... which will undoubtedly take a lot of time and require us to bypass many regulations."

Gao Liangwei fell silent for a moment before asking, "Is there any good news at all?"

"Oh, actually, there is one thing." The team leader’s spirits seemed to lift a little. "We’ve discovered the specific operational mechanics of the Parasites’ highest directive: ’diffusion.’"

"What is it?"

"What they call ’diffusion’ is the process of turning more people into Parasites. The purpose behind this... is currently unknown. However, through our dissections, we observed that when a large number of Parasites gather nearby, certain neurons in their brains become exceptionally active, producing something like a ’resonance.’ The function of this resonance is also unknown and is still under observation."

"As for their method of diffusion, they call it ’conversion,’ and the behavioral pattern is somewhat like proselytizing. The target must first accept it mentally before the diffusion can be completed by ’ingesting the blood of a Parasite.’"

Gao Liangwei found this rather strange. "The target has to accept it mentally first?"

"Yes. If the target doesn’t consent, the Parasite will handle the situation differently depending on its personality."

"A hot-tempered Parasite might be inclined to eliminate the target directly. Others might choose to restrain the target’s freedom and use continuous brainwashing to induce a psychological change."

’If that’s the case,’ Gao Liangwei thought, ’then we don’t need to be overly concerned about diffusion rapidly snowballing out of control in the short term.’

After all, given the current situation, not many sane people would be willing to become a Parasite, and brainwashing takes time.

"It seems we’re in a race against the Parasites."

"Yes, sir. If we can reduce the number of Parasites as much as possible before large-scale diffusion occurs, they’ll be doomed to never reach a critical mass. They’ll be forced to hide in the shadows until we humans finally figure out a way to identify them."

"But if they’re faster and achieve large-scale diffusion... then humanity will be in grave danger. Especially with our population showing almost no growth..."

The population of Celestial Water Star was only decreasing, never increasing. The continuous drain on its existing population had enormous repercussions.

Although smart devices and robots could handle most of the labor, once the population fell below a certain threshold, the entire situation could instantly collapse, leading to a complete rout.

This wasn’t a prediction; it was a reality that had already befallen many, many countries.

Celestial Water Star originally had several hundred countries, but by the time the Human Federation was established, only thirty or forty remained.

After the era of the earthquake rule ended, the Human Federation was left with just eleven member states.

Later, the Fahe Country was taken over by the Fire Worship Cult and withdrew from the Human Federation. Now, with the Black Banner Country occupied by Parasites, the number of Human Federation member states has fallen to single digits.

With these bloody tragedies unfolding before their very eyes, any country that still had a functioning system would view its population as more precious than Gold.

This was also the main reason why the commissioners from Soloma and other countries had spoken out against Gao Liangwei during the previous Human Federation meeting—they were all too jealous of the North Star’s population reserves.

After the briefing, Gao Liangwei returned to his office, reported the situation to the higher-ups, and then sent for Zhang Minglu.

Upon learning of the research department’s findings, Zhang Minglu was disappointed, but he also had a few ideas.

"Sir, it now seems that due to the intelligence gap among them, the Parasites will develop a division of labor and status, just like humans, with commanders and operatives... However, since their goal is continuous diffusion, they won’t be quick to kill the humans they capture. I suppose that counts as a small piece of good news."

"True, but that doesn’t mean humanity can let its guard down," said Gao Liangwei. "If we don’t rescue the captive humans in time, they will sooner or later become new Parasites."

"Yes, so about the Black Banner Country—"

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

A series of harsh knocks on the door interrupted Zhang Minglu.

A staff member ran into the office with a bizarre expression, as if he had just learned something utterly unbelievable.

"Sir! The Black Banner Country has just issued a global declaration! They’ve announced that from this moment forward, the nation will be renamed the ’Seri Divine Kingdom’! It will become the world’s first evolutionary nation and will welcome Parasites from all over the globe!"

WHOOSH!

Zhang Minglu shot to his feet, and an astonished look appeared on Gao Liangwei’s face as well.

"The Seri Divine Kingdom? How dare these Parasite monsters brazenly establish a nation on a human planet?!"

While Zhang Minglu had considered that the Parasites might form organizations with different roles and cooperative structures, he had never imagined they would declare the founding of a new nation after seizing the territory and cities of the Black Banner Country.

"The Human Federation will never recognize this declaration," Gao Liangwei said grimly, rising to his feet. "Humanity will never permit colonization by alien monsters!"