237: Chapter 237 Return

Seeing Lin Fang fly towards him, a look of malice reappeared in "Lin Tianxiong's" eyes, as if countless emotions were brewing and boiling within.

Suddenly, "Lin Tianxiong" let out a non-human shriek, like the sound of thousands of thorns rubbing and twisting together. The sound didn't just travel through the air; it directly struck Lin Fang's mental plane, carrying intense malice and despair.

The feeling was as if a claustrophobic patient had been buried in a boundless dark abyss, or as if someone with a fear of heights had slipped and fallen into a ten-thousand-fathom abyss; an unspeakable fear raged deep within Lin Fang's consciousness.

Simultaneously, the eyes of over a hundred police officers in the mountain forest were instantly filled with red veins just like "Lin Tianxiong." They raised their firearms and opened fire on the young man in the sky.

Lin Fang felt his brain buzz, nearly losing consciousness, but he managed to endure it through sheer willpower.

This anomaly's methods were actually quite formidable.

The surrounding bullets were blocked by the Force Field. Within the range of the Force Field, the brains of the over a hundred officers and soldiers instantly turned to mush, and all signs of life vanished.

In an instant, Lin Fang reached the anomaly. Without a word, he used his Force Field to bind it in place.

With veins bulging on his hands, Lin Fang said with a terrifying expression, "Do you know? Just a little more. I'm sending you to be reincarnated now. Don't play like this in your next life, understand?"

After speaking, Lin Fang began using the Force Field to penetrate every tissue and every cell of its body. The anomaly's body began to expand continuously, and the outer skin started to peel away, revealing its hideous form.

"No!"

The anomaly shrieked, twisting its body incessantly, but it simply could not struggle free from Lin Fang's Force Field. It could only say with malice, "I cannot die, I cannot die!"

Lin Fang said coldly, "Then let's test that."

After speaking, he increased the power of the Force Field.

The anomaly's body expanded like a balloon until it finally reached a critical point. With a bang, it turned into extremely fine powder. Still not satisfied, Lin Fang directly ionized it into a cloud of black smoke.

Finally, it dissipated into the vast air.

"To think you called me 'Little Fang' so many times... I've let you off too easy."

Lin Fang let out a cold laugh. At the same time, as the anomaly dissipated, he felt a wave of coolness in his mind and couldn't help but feel momentarily dazed.

When he opened his eyes again, Lin Fang found himself lying in a luxurious hospital room. The light above was not piercing, but instead carried a reassuring warmth.

Am I back already?

Feeling his current physique, Lin Fang finally breathed a sigh of relief. Little Black, who had been observing the situation at all times, spoke up in surprise, its voice carrying an anthropomorphic sob of joy.

[Boss, *sob*, you're finally awake! This is wonderful!]

"Yeah, it's been resolved."

Lin Fang sat up. "Tell me, what's the situation now?"

Little Black gave Lin Fang a detailed account of the situation in the laboratory after the unknown infection occurred.

That day,

After the first infection occurred, a total of 39 people, including Lin Fang, turned into stone statues.

Confirmed by Delison and other scientists, the principle of this phenomenon was like the Medusa Virus and could be countered with the MSV-C Composite Virus.

But then a problem arose: they found that after the petrification was reversed, the infected showed no signs of waking up, instead falling into a deep coma.

Furthermore, what baffled them was that the examination results showed their brains were completely normal.

[Two hours after the infection occurred, brain deaths began to appear among these 39 people. Up until now, only 16 have survived. Joyfully, the brain death phenomenon stopped after you woke up, Boss, and they have also regained consciousness.]

Little Black said with lingering fear.

[At the same time, I discovered an anomaly in the White Face from the experiment; it closed its eyes, and the infection phenomenon ceased.]

Lin Fang had Little Black pull up the surveillance footage. In the frame, the giant White Face on the stone was resting quietly in the isolation room. The area that originally formed the "eyes" now only had a faint mark.

Moreover, the gaps carved out by the researchers had all been restored. According to the records, after the first case of brain death appeared, those inanimate proteins began to wriggle, filling all the gaps and eventually returning to the seamless, smooth, and flawless complete state it was in when first discovered.

Lin Fang's heart sank. Could it be that the anomaly didn't die, but was merely in temporary hibernation?

This experience had been extremely perilous. If he hadn't relied on years of hard work to break through some kind of restriction at the last moment and bring the Force Field back to himself, he would have been one of the brain-dead personnel.

"Did something happen to Mite?"

Lin Fang shifted his question. In this accident, Mite was also one of the affected researchers. As a veteran who had followed him for so long and possessed top-tier abilities, Lin Fang valued Mite highly.

It would be a great pity if he died because of this accident.

[Dr. Mite has already woken up and is undergoing a health check-up.]

"Good, as long as he's not dead. Have him compile a report for me as soon as possible. As for the others who died in this accident..."

Lin Fang was silent for a moment before saying, "Handle it according to the highest specifications for compensation plans. Ensure the families receive the compensation they deserve."

This was the first time such a severe casualty event had occurred in the company.

[Understood, Boss. The relevant instructions have been issued.]

Little Black responded.

---

Two days later, Lin Fang was in his office when Mite appeared at the door holding several thick reports.

"BOSS, it is truly my good fortune to see you again. If it weren't for you, I would have died in that bizarre consciousness world, at the hands of my young daughter."

"Damn anomaly, to actually disguise itself as a little girl!"

After placing the reports on the desk, Mite plopped down. His heavy dark circles indicated he had barely rested over the past two days.

"Tell me about your findings," Lin Fang said.

"BOSS, I've looked through a vast amount of data and the company's database. What we encountered can be viewed as an information virus. Information can be transmitted, and one is often infected the moment it is seen. In reality, this concept of transmission through information is usually called—a meme."

"meme?"

Lin Fang had heard of this term. It was coined by biologist Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book 'The Selfish Gene,' extending the concept of genes in biological evolution to the cultural sphere.

A meme now refers to ideas, behaviors, styles, or usage habits passed from person to person through imitation; it is the basic unit of cultural transmission, similar to a cultural gene.

It has three characteristics: infectivity, imitability, and evolvability. Just like 'yyds,' 'juejuezi,' or 'shuan Q,' these internet slang terms are common memes.