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Chapter 27: 27

“Before we discuss this creature, let’s talk about the malformed cadavers that were sent to you a few days ago . ” Professor Qin’s expression was calm . However, the words he said sent a hair-raising pressure sweeping through the audience .

“Those people had contracted a disease, which we address as “Banyan Malformation Disease” for now . The name came about as the disease is, as this student had suspected, related to a banyan tree . The Banyan Malformation Disease shows up in 3 stages after a person contacted it . The first stage is the Asymptomatic Stage, where nothing shows up on the patient . This period is short and not longer than 15 days . ”

4

“The 2nd stage is the Limbs Malformation Stage . At this degree, cells begin to malform and quickly multiply, very much like cancer cells . It will destroy the conventional cell structure within days . The difference is that these abnormal cells would cause the patient’s body to undergo a drastic change in appearance . Within a couple of days, the body would become like the ones you have dissected . If a timely and proper amputation is done, the disease can be entirely cut off so there is still hope of treatment for the patient . ”

As he spoke, staff members projected a related video on the massive screen in front of the stadium . The hundreds of people that had gathered watched attentively, as though they were in a lecture .

Gu Jun was no exception . On the video, the amputation process was shown from a top-down perspective . This surgical process was done by a specialised team of surgeons, who carefully and precisely removed areas of the limb that was infected by the Banyan Malformation Disease . Having dissected this malformed limb first hand, Gu Jun was well aware of the incredible difficulty of this intricate process .

Should the number of patients be large, there was no surprise that this special department would require to hold emergency recruitment of talents . Afterall, anatomy and surgery processes had an immense correlation .

As the video played on, beads of sweat formed on the foreheads of the audience . Several of them watched with dropped jaws, while others were caught in a daze . Even the renowned surgeons with the professors were gasping in disbelief . The technical expertise of the surgeons in the video was dazzling . They could not hold a candle in comparison .

“Wow . ” Xu Hai, Zhang Haoran, and the rest couldn’t contain their adulation for the first-class technique they were seeing . This video was a massive eye-opener for them .

Gu Jun was also taken aback . Even with the benefits of the 2nd tier Hands of Dexterity, he knew that he could barely be sufficient to be a waterboy for these phenomenal surgeons .

The surgical video skipped a few parts and only played 10 minutes worth of footage . In the next scene, the patients had had their malformed limbs cleanly removed . Just like regular amputees, a prosthetic limb had been attached . With some physiotherapy, they would be able to move properly again . Even after the amputation, Gu Jun was sure that these patients would be quarantined separately and monitored for a very long time .

“As to whether the patient could suffer a relapse and their expected life span, there isn’t any conclusive data yet . We will need a longer clinical observation at the moment . ”

Professor Qin continued, “The malformed remains that you have dissected were in the second stage, but they failed to get proper treatment at the right time . ”

Obviously, this statement concealed some crucial details . Professor Qin’s words became sober, “When the patient progresses to the third stage of bereavement, the abnormal cells will quickly spread to the whole body except for the head . Structural distortions and skin ulceration would be seen . The patient is in severe pain, confusion, delirium, and mania . As the condition develops, the patient will experience muscle spasms throughout the body and even develop opisthotonus . ”

3

The development of opisthotonus was due to severe hyperextension and spasticity . In this state, an individual’s head, neck, and spinal column entered a complete “bridging” or “arching” position .

As Professor Qin spoke, another video was played on the big screen . Immediately, a petrifying wail resounded throughout the entire venue .

It was a CCTV footage of a white jail-like room . The room was narrow and cramped, smaller than 5 square metres and utterly barren of any furniture . There was a patient lying on the ground, curved backwards like a bow . It was a gruesome sight . The patient’s head had bent all the way and stuck onto his back . His abdomen also protrude outwards . At this point, he could barely be called human anymore .

Once again, the sight had sent a crushing pressure onto the audience . Amongst the people, many were silently reaching out for the vomit bag .

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Gesturing at the screen, Professor Qin explained further, “For patients in the bereavement stage, they had already lost all of their senses . Should there be another patient who is also in the bereavement stage nearby, they would enter a frenzy and rush together . Due to the ulceration of their flesh, they would be stuck together like glue and unable to come apart . At the spot where they touched, new skin forms and the wound heals . From that point on, the two patients would be connected together like a conjoined twin . As several others get conjoined, they would malform and take the shape of a banyan tree; just like the patients you have seen within the cage . ”

As the blood-curdling screams lingered in their ears, a sudden chill trickled down the spines of the professors and students present as the memory of the abomination they saw resurfaced . This was not the shock and fear they had felt earlier, but a dark and gloomy sense of reality sinking into their minds .

Previously, they acted like ostriches . They hid from the truth and convinced themselves that this mutation was only a bad dream . A horrific experimentation that had gone wrong . The video had forcefully pulled them out of their lies and showed them the truth . This abomination was no demon or ghost . It was a disease, and they were doctors .

As this reality sank in, a large patch of gloom and pressure loomed over their heads . Just like a brewing storm, the demand as a medical slave was about to rain upon them .

“Once the patients with Banyan Malformation Disease have glued together,” Professor Qin’s face was downcast and grave, “We no longer treat them as humans, but as a new kind of creature . Right now, there is no way to cure them . At this moment, we have found this creature in at least two states; alive and dead . The living Malformed Banyan can continue to grow . Its black liquid is infectious, and other organisms will become infected once they come into contact with the active black liquid . What’s more, the infected organism would rapidly develop and enter the bereavement stage . Just now, Gu Jun hypothesised accurately . The Malformed Banyan can bind to organisms other than humans . The rejection reaction that Sun Yuheng mentioned does not occur . ”

1

Another video was played . This time, everyone was stupefied . The scene in the video had entranced everyone watching .

It was still a CCTV footage of a similarly barren white cell . Within it was a gigantic white-painted metal cage . Within this cage stood a human banyan tree .

It was evident that it was not the same as the one in the stadium . The one in the footage was several sizes bigger . Probably about 30 odd corpses had already attached themselves . It was a gruesome sight as it started pacing around the cage slowly . As two staff, clad in full Personal Protective Equipment, approached, tens of heads turned . As though it was rehearsed, they started screeching out simultaneously and formed a cacophony of shrill, deafening shrieks which was worse than what they had just endured .

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“The biologist within the department concluded that this creature was dependent on their screeches to hunt,” Professor Qin discussed the behaviour while the video was playing . “Should any of you have the misfortune to meet a Malformed Banyan one day, you cannot allow yourself to be paralysed by fear . You must immediately escape from its hunting range . Otherwise, you would be partaking in this hunt . ”

At that moment, 2 lab rats were released into the cage by the staff .

“Chi! Chi!” Facing that gargantuan monster, the rats yelped in fear and balled up as their fear had them stuck in their spots . Like a sitting duck, the rats were soon stuck within the hands of the Malformed Banyan and were unable to escape from the hands of death . The footage was sped up . Quickly, the black liquid was released and penetrated the rat’s skin .

Several minutes later, their bodies were also twisted . After another 10 minutes had passed, they were in opisthotonus . Within the next half an hour, it was already the bereavement stage!

Several hundreds of professors and students witnessed the conjoining of diseased organisms . On the CCTV footage, the time had shown how the lab rats had become part of the Malformed Banyan within two hours .

Within the stadium, it was pin-drop silence as everyone watched on . Only the low rumbling of the air-conditioning can be heard . It was a depressing sight for them all . Students gripped their hair in horror, while others cupped their heads and balled up . The psychologically stronger few simply sighed helplessly while looking up at the ceiling or the floor .

“Uh…” Cai Zixuan opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but words failed to form .

The same silence had stricken Wang Ruoxiang . Beside her, He Yuhan hugged her teammate tightly and muttered falteringly, “It’s too miserable, so miserable…”

Yes, it’s miserable . Gu Jun’s eyes narrowed, and he looked directly at the demonic sight on the screen . Yet, why did he see a particularly regal and magnificent aesthetic in this creation?

20

It was like a new birth, a high tower rebuilt on the ruins of destruction…