Chapter 17 A Sudden Idea

“Phew… I thought I was a goner when I got hit.” Feng Bujue put down his pen and slumped back in his chair. “But… I wasn’t penalized for inactivity, and no monsters came to mess with me during those three hours…” He muttered to himself, glancing at the papers in front of him. “I feel like… this was a blessing in disguise.”

Indeed, for Feng Bujue, who hadn't written anything in days, the content he had produced in the past three hours was practically a freebie. With his memory, it wouldn't be difficult to rewrite the manuscript he had written here after logging off, and he could even proofread and revise it directly during the rewriting process.

“Maybe… I should go take another look at ‘it’?” That thought immediately popped into Jue-ge's head.

However, after a moment's consideration, he decided against it.

The first time he got hit three hours ago was unexpected, practically unavoidable. But if he went to look at the statue again now, it would clearly be “intentional.” Jue-ge figured… if he actually did that, there was a good chance that the second hit would trigger the inactivity penalty.

“Well… I'll ignore it for now and go explore the plot.” Feng Bujue made up his mind and muttered, “Anyway, as long as I know the principle behind that *** project, I can guard against it…”

Clearly, Jue-ge already knew the truth about the statue. When he saw the words printed on the base, a piece of information from his memory attic surfaced on its own…

…

【Item #: ***-1011】

【Object Class: Safe】

【Special Containment Procedures: ***-1011 is kept in hall-07 of site-45, with two guards watching the entrance around the clock to prevent ***-1011 from being moved. The monthly termination schedule for D-class personnel working at site-35 will be postponed until the organization thoroughly understands the effects of ***-1011. The materials produced in the experiment appear to lack anomalous properties; applications to use them for non-critical applications will be approved according to document Csg-0371-n.】

【Description: ***-1011 is a statue, approximately 2 meters tall and approximately 4200 kilograms in weight, depicting a worker whose head has been replaced with various tools. The base is inscribed with the words "Talent is the most important thing in production" and the year "1927".】

【Material analysis shows that the item is made of ordinary scrap steel and contains 2.3wt% carbon.】

【The anomalous properties of ***-1011 will begin to take effect when seen by a human test subject, who must perform no less than three hours of productive labor after seeing the item; the effects will gradually increase with further exposure to the item. Avoiding exposure to ***-1011 appears to be sufficient to stop the test subject from being affected.】

【The degree of affected individuals has now been divided into four stages】

【In stage 1, the test subject (referred to as ***-1011-1) will show increased morale and satisfaction, volunteer for overtime, and be more focused on work goals. At this stage, ***-1011-1 will cease all activities except for work, sleep, and satisfying basic physiological needs.】

【Approximately [DATA EXPUNGED] months later, ***-1011-1 will show an unwillingness to use personal safety equipment... such as helmets, gloves, or safety goggles; at this point, it can be determined that they have entered stage 2; when asked, ***-1011-1 states that these tools are "unnecessary" and "cumbersome." In this stage, ***-1011-1 will gradually abandon the use of tools, preferring to use their own bodies to complete the work... even if there is a risk of minor injury. This stage will last at least approximately [DATA EXPUNGED] months.】

【Stage 3 can be determined by the onset of insomnia in ***-1011-1. Test subjects will gather together to look at ***-1011 to replace sleep, staring at the item motionless for long periods, averaging about 3 hours of staring per day. The effects produced in stage 2 will also be strengthened in this stage, evolving into "completely abandoning the use of tools and machines." They will actively use teamwork methods to replace the work of machines with humans. In this stage, the body of ***-1011-1 will begin to deform, becoming able to promote their work goals, and possess pain-ignoring characteristics. The duration of this stage has not been determined.】

【In the only known record, the situation caused by ***-1011 entered stage 4 - the final stage. In this stage, ***-1011-1 will use each other as production materials, leading to a sharp reduction in the population of the affected factory. Despite numerous experiments by the Foundation to find the conditions that might trigger this stage, attempts to induce the final stage among D-class personnel at site-35 have been unsuccessful.】

【Recovery Log: On [DATA EXPUNGED] of [DATA EXPUNGED], 1947, at the [DATA EXPUNGED] steel mill (now site-35) in the Bashkir ASSR (Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic) of the RSFSR (Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic) in the Soviet Union, to commemorate the factory's long-term leading position in production, an official inspected the factory as part of a major awarding ceremony. At this time, ***-1011 came to the attention of the Foundation. Nevertheless, before the Foundation attempted containment, agents of the GRU ("P" Section, Psychotronics) preemptively designated the entire factory area as a restricted zone, and the stage 4 phenomenon immediately occurred.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Foundation agents, in the name of a Foundation subsidiary, purchased the closed and sold factory from the Russian Federation government for [DATA EXPUNGED] dollars and built site-35 around it.】

…

Feng Bujue remembered the description of this *** project very clearly. If he didn't remember it so clearly, this chapter might be a few hundred words shorter, which was something I was very unhappy to see.

Alright… let's pick up our integrity and get back to the story…

According to the detailed information of this *** project (the content listed above has been modified and streamlined by me), ***-1011 appeared in that Soviet steel mill at the end of 1944. Earlier that year, the Wehrmacht had bombed the factory. After the bombing, people found the statue in the factory's old warehouse, but all records of the statue's inventory, transportation, and scheduled delivery were untraceable.

Three years later… in a certain month of 1947, this statue was taken over by a Soviet intelligence agency, and its whereabouts remained a mystery from that point until the end of the Cold War.

Feng Bujue quickly went through the above information in his mind and immediately came to three conclusions: first, the script world he was in was the same universe as ***; second, the current era should be between 1947 and 1949; third, the secret experimental base he was in most likely belonged to the former Soviet “P” organization, or perhaps… it belonged to a special institution that he didn't know about.

“Since it’s the Foundation universe, that makes sense…” Jue-ge sat in his chair, striking his habitual thinking pose—lightly tapping his forehead with his fingers and sliding them down the bridge of his nose. “In the ‘real world’ I come from, the ‘Soviet Sleep Experiment’ and ‘***’ belong to the category of horror or fantasy literature, but in this universe, this kind of literature with a certain degree of realism is all real…” His fingers slid down to his chin, and he rested his cheek on his fist. “But… that brings up the problem.” He turned his head and glanced at the Head-on-a-Stick on the bed, thinking, “This universe doesn’t just have ‘black technology’; things like fantasy, science fiction, magic, religion, and supernatural settings… this place has it all, so it’s hard to judge what exactly I'm going to be dealing with in this script.”

With that in mind, he stood up, dividing a portion of his attention to perform “derivative reasoning,” while putting the majority of his attention… into searching the room.

Let's call this third room the "operating room" for now. There are quite a few things in this operating room. In addition to the props that can be used to injure people, there are also quite a few items such as alcohol cotton swabs, hemostatic bandages, anesthetics, syringes, tweezers, and rubber tubes. Feng Bujue sorted these things out, selected the ones he thought were useful, put the ones that were easy to carry directly into his pockets, and put the ones that were inconvenient to carry into a toolbox.

Then, he began to read the paper documents in the room, trying to find some useful information.

“Hmm… this could be useful.” Before long, Feng Bujue found a stack of bound files in a drawer.

The title of this stack of files was—【vno-9】

Looking at the first half of this document, one might think it was a “medical record,” but flipping through it revealed that it was more of an “experimental log” than a medical record.

【October 21, Test Subject E107 was sent to the experimental area. The cancer cells in the subject's body have spread on a large scale, and the amputated right foot has also developed an infection and lesions.】

【October 22, E107 received an injection of VNO-9, with a dosage of 10 milliliters. The subject stated that the pain in their body was relieved within minutes of receiving the injection.】

Seeing this, Feng Bujue had basically determined that VNO referred to a drug, and the meaning of the "-9" was worth pondering; generally speaking… that meant that there were eight previously failed formulas.

【October 24, Third day of quantitative injection, E107's vital signs have not changed significantly.】

【October 25, Increased the dose to 50 milliliters. E107's performance after receiving the injection was the same as before.】

【October 26, The injection volume was increased to 100 milliliters. E107 went into shock after the injection and fell into a coma after being rescued.】

【October 27, Test results showed that the concentration of VNO-9 in the subject's blood was trending upwards, and the color of their blood also changed significantly.】

【October 29, E107 woke up from the coma, expressing surprise and joy at their physical condition. According to their own account, they felt that they had recovered their health, and the physical examination results also showed that the pathological tissue in their body had largely healed.】

【October 31, E107 received the sixth injection of VNO-9, with a dosage of 100 milliliters. There were no abnormal reactions after the injection.】

【November 1, E107 accidentally cut their finger and showed panic and anger after seeing their own blood. Three minutes later, they used brute force to break free from the restraints on the bed, attacked two experimental personnel and guards, and attempted to escape the facility. Twelve minutes later, E107 was subdued, with gunshot wounds to their left abdomen, right knee, and right shoulder.】

【November 2, E107's wound recovery was far beyond that of ordinary people. Approximately sixteen hours after receiving surgical treatment, the three gunshot wounds on the subject's body were basically completely healed.】

【November 3, Seventh injection, the dosage was increased to 150 milliliters. E107 did not show any resistance; fourteen minutes later, the previously closed amputation incision on the subject's right foot suddenly ruptured, but E107 did not show any pain.】

【November 5, E107 grew a brand-new right foot.】

【November 6, Eighth injection, the dosage was increased to 250 milliliters. In view of E107's physical condition and obvious attempt to escape, the injection site was moved to "Experiment Room No. 1", and the injection will be carried out under the supervision of six armed guards.】

The record ended there. After reading it, Feng Bujue walked to the Head-on-a-Stick, showed the paper in front of the latter, and then asked, “Are you E107?”

When the Head-on-a-Stick stared at the paper, their expression seemed very agitated. After Jue-ge finished speaking, they waited five seconds before blinking.

“So today is November 6th?” Feng Bujue asked again.

This time, the Head-on-a-Stick kept staring, and didn't blink even after ten seconds.

“You can’t be sure, can you?” Jue-ge quickly understood what the other party meant and asked casually.

The Head-on-a-Stick blinked once, indicating that he was right.

“Hmm…” Feng Bujue thought for a while, and then said, “Wait a little longer… I suddenly have an idea.”

Before he finished speaking, he had already turned around and began to clean up the items on the handcart next to him…

Five minutes later, on the corridor.

Feng Bujue pushed the emptied handcart with one hand and blocked his vision with the other, passing by the room with ***-1011.

After passing the door of that room, Jue-ge no longer had to worry about catching a glimpse of the statue out of the corner of his eye, so he put down his hand and whistled cheerfully.

He was whistling the classic whistling interlude from *Twisted Nerve*. The eerie yet humorous melody sounded particularly jarring in this empty corridor.

Just as Jue-ge was whistling the third section, he had returned to the first room, the door of “Experiment Room No. 1.”

At this time, the metal door that he had unlocked had become completely open, which was obviously opened by Barefoot-ge when he went in to search.

After entering the room, Feng Bujue did not turn on the lights. He pushed the handcart next to E107's body and used the rope he had prepared in advance, along with the straps outside E107's restraint suit… to firmly secure this headless, footless body to the cart.

Then, Jue-ge adjusted his breathing, gripped the handle of the cart, and pushed the cart at an extremely fast speed, rushing into the corridor…