374: Chapter 375 Out of Control

One day later, on the streets of Barsai City.

"Viewers, I am reporter Enrigda. As you can see, behind me is a massive parade. Over a million Plifimosians are gathering here, calling themselves supporters of the 'Face Cult,' and are heading down the main avenue toward the Barsai City government building."

"What surprises me is that many of these people were once atheists, but now they have abandoned their beliefs to join the correct path..."

The reporter's face was flushed with excitement, his eyes filled with fervor.

The camera zoomed in.

Looking around, on both sides of the streets, atop buildings, and on floating platforms, that pale and eerie human face pattern was everywhere. It was printed on banners, tattooed on tentacles, projected onto giant light screens, and even held high above the heads of countless people like a most sacred totem.

"Face! Face! Face!"

The rhythmic shouts rumbled like thunder, making the air buzz. A million voices merged into a frenzied torrent, sweeping through the entire Barsai City.

Serentias stood on the floating platform at the front of the parade. A near-divine light of fanaticism burned in his sixteen eyes as he held high the image that carried all the illusions of reunions. His voice echoed through the wide-area amplification system to every corner:

"It is not a curse, nor is it something evil! It is the deity that listens to our longing!

As long as we spread its likeness, as long as more eyes gaze upon it, our departed loved ones will never truly leave us!"

It wasn't just Barsai City.

More and more Plifimosians poured out from their homes, workshops, and academies. Some had tears in their eyes, some looked infatuated, and some even ignored bans to project the human face pattern directly into the sky above the city.

In just one day, this human face pattern spread like black wildfire. From underground mineral veins to city-states, from commoners to nobles, it began to consume the massive Polyphemus Planet.

By tonight, the followers of the Face Cult had expanded to a staggering hundred billion, nearly occupying one-tenth of the Polyphemus population...

—

On the other side, after Lin Fang learned of this situation, he said in surprise, "Xiao Hei, are you saying they didn't turn into stone?"

That shouldn't be right. Isn't this eerie meme supposed to petrify whoever looks at it? Why did it suddenly stop working?

At Lin Fang's instruction, the human fleet had already returned to Pandora Planet, prepared to wait and see how things developed.

[Boss, that is indeed the case. To avoid detection by Polyphemus's intelligence, I haven't obtained much information.]

Xiao Hei projected several images.

Lin Fang looked at these wildly spreading images, suddenly thought of something, and sighed.

"Xiao Hei, do you remember that memes, like genes, have the possibility of mutating? I think that's likely what's happening here."

"To survive better, it has begun to transform. Using an individual's deepest obsession as bait, it breaks down mental defenses and turns the infected into a breeding ground for spontaneous transmission, multiplying and spreading frantically."

"It seems this meme can not only petrify people but also manipulate their hearts."

Lin Fang frowned. This wasn't the outcome he wanted. While it would certainly bring disaster to Polyphemus, Lin Fang was also worried about whether this meme would spiral out of control and even become something that could no longer be dealt with.

Fortunately, the source of this meme, that Face Stone, was still kept in the Black Watch Base. He could have the Clones destroy it at any time, and he had also planted a large amount of high-energy explosives next to it.

But Lin Fang still felt a faint sense of unease. To ensure nothing went wrong, he ordered Xiao Hei to notify Mite to keep a close watch.

But before long, bad news arrived. That Face Stone, held in the Level 5 Underground Biological Laboratory, had actually shattered on its own...

—

Half an hour ago,

At the Black Watch Base, Mitte Wester, who was at the Underground Meme Containment Center, didn't dare be careless after receiving the system's command. Puffing out his stomach, he ordered two teams of Clone soldiers to guard the Face Stone strictly.

At the same time, he and several scientists blindfolded themselves with black cloth and entered the laboratory. They used their wearable smart assistants to act as their eyes, describing the situation in front of them to Mitte and the others. Only in this way could they avoid being infected by the meme.

Mitte naturally had to take Lin Fang's orders seriously, lest the BOSS come back and find him displeasing, and think about making him lose all that fat again.

Because Mitte had already developed a resistance to the highly effective weight-loss drug, Metabolix Capsules, losing all that fat would truly be the death of him.

"Xiao Zhi, are its eyes open?"

Mitte asked. Although he couldn't see ahead, he was already very familiar with this place. At this moment, Mitte was standing less than a meter away from the Face Stone.

[Dr., its eyes are open.]

Someone had seen it again.

Mitte understood. Because he was wearing a protective suit, he reached out and touched it without fear. It still had that familiar cold, slimy texture.

Mitte felt a bit guilty. Lin Fang had put him in charge of researching this meme, but after all this time, the Research Institute had made no progress.

Before it, human scientists were truly like ignorant children.

Suddenly, Mitte felt a sharp pain in his palm, as if extremely fine ice needles had pierced through his protective suit and deep into his flesh. The cold pain surged through his arm's meridians to his entire body, causing even his stout frame to shiver uncontrollably.

What was happening? He had touched it so many times, and this had never happened.

Mitte's heart skipped a beat, and a chill rushed from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Before he could make his next move, a crisp cracking sound suddenly came from the strange stone in front of him.

A strange look of satisfaction suddenly appeared on the face of the open-eyed strange stone, and it glanced at Mitte with eyes full of hatred.

If it could, it would have loved to stab this fat man who frequently violated it to death.

Dense, spider-web-like cracks began to spread inside the Face Stone. Then, in just a second, the entire stone crumbled into countless tiny particles of dust.

Xiao Zhi's alarm blared.

[Dr., it shattered!]

—

Lin Fang turned off the screen with a heavy expression. The worst-case scenario had occurred. He naturally wouldn't be naive enough to believe that the meme had disappeared; it was more likely that the meme had gained some kind of power and escaped from his hands.

Lin Fang knew that everything had two sides. Whether it was the war against Verland or the one against Polyphemus, it was because of it that Third-Party Technology had achieved victory.

And since he had been reluctant to destroy this powerful weapon, the meme spiraling out of control was not entirely unpredictable.

Hmm...

I guess you really don't know what you have until it's gone.

Lin Fang sighed; this was the second time he had sighed today.

The only thing Lin Fang could still accept was that, at least for now, the meme's opponent wasn't him.

Hang in there, Polyphemus. Wiping out the evil forces is all up to you now.