Infinity: Kill your way through the movie world.

For his experiments, Alan Thorne put tens of thousands of live human samples into a giant sealed disintegration chamber. The immortals came from various settlements and shelters. Some were suicides who volunteered to participate in the experiments, some were refugees who refused to obey the settlement's control rules, and a few were individuals that Alan accidentally found in the ruins who were on the verge of complete decay.

Before each person is placed into the digestion chamber, their number, vital signs, and initial condition are recorded.

They were stripped naked and guided or transported into sealed chambers. After the sealed doors were closed, the corrosive liquid was injected from the top and released in layers according to a set procedure, starting from the skin and gradually penetrating into the muscles, bones and internal organs.

The entire process lasts from several hours to tens of hours, depending on the size of the immortal and the degree of decay. Observational records show that the skin and flesh are rapidly peeled off and dissolved in strong acid, the bones gradually soften and disintegrate in a higher concentration of corrosive liquid, and the internal organs are turned into liquid particles under the alternating action of layered acid liquid.

But even after hundreds of years of observation, trace cells in the liquid can still be revived by the soil, and the pain is completely preserved.

The dissolved liquid particles settled at the bottom of the experimental chamber, were collected, and transported to a separate observation area where they were mixed with dry sand and a small amount of water.

Months to years later, faint signs of activity appeared in the sand. Cell fragments began to reorganize, and consciousness returned. Although a complete body could not be formed, the pain signals continued without interruption.

Allen stared at the data in silence for a long time before shutting down the experimental records and initiating the second phase of the program.

Unwilling to give up, he spent decades extracting highly toxic radioactive liquid from underground and simultaneously soaking the immortals in it with organic decomposing bacteria.

Those radioactive raw materials were extracted from cracks in the Earth's crust more than two thousand meters deep. They contained high concentrations of decaying elements and could release ionizing radiation that could last for hundreds or even thousands of years.

He used these raw solutions alternately with chemical corrosive agents, first decomposing them with acid, then irradiating them with radiation, and then introducing decomposing bacteria to devour the remaining tissue.

Ultimately, it can only dismantle the physical form, but cannot sever the bond between cells and consciousness.

Those immortals who were treated with both radiation and microbial flora experienced faster and more thorough dissolution of their flesh and bones, and their bones were corroded more deeply, but their consciousness remained attached to the scattered particles and never ceased.

Allen used industrial computing power to deduce millions of chemical formulas and came to the ironclad conclusion: native chemical substances can only destroy tissues, not eradicate the source of consciousness.

He shut down most of the chemical digestion plant, keeping only a few sample pretreatment lines as backups.

The second direction is microbial symbiotic phagocytosis.

Allen invested heavily in transforming hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of underground constant-temperature forests. It was a massive system engineering project that took decades to lay underground water pipes, set up air exchange channels, and install lighting and temperature control systems.

His biological research team artificially and directionally cultivated super saprophytic decomposing fungi and phagocytic microorganisms. After countless screenings, reproductions, and eliminations, they cultivated a group of highly efficient decomposing species that could completely devour the organic matter that was put in within a short period of time.

The flesh and blood are completely broken down into basic molecular components by the microbial community, but the host's consciousness will transfer to the soil medium, and the scattered cells will revive after the microbial community dies.

Allen directed his biological team to continuously improve the microbial community genes, iterating for three hundred years, and finally determined that the microbial symbiosis pathway was completely unworkable.

Over the course of three hundred years, countless immortals were devoured by microorganisms in the breeding grounds of constant-temperature forests, countless fragments of consciousness were reawakened in the soil, and countless pain signals were recorded, analyzed, and archived, ultimately returning to the starting point.

Allen looked at the mountain of records and data, at the conclusions that, despite repeated verification, still pointed to a dead end, without anger or sigh.

He was past the age of getting excited about failure. Over the years, his emotions had been worn down to a near-static smoothness, like a riverbed that had been washed by water for too long, all its edges smoothed out.

They simply shut down the main power system of the microbial culture farm, allowing the constant-temperature forest areas to enter a natural cooling mode, and then turned to the next direction.

When the Earth's Vitality Barrier project was launched, Allen was already over three hundred years old.

His body had long lost its original shape; his skin was withered, his muscles atrophied, and his bones were brittle. When he stood, his body leaned slightly forward, like an old tree about to be broken by the wind.

But he remained standing, still recording data, still adjusting the energy isolation arrays buried deep underground, constructed from tens of millions of tons of insulating ore.

Those ores were mined using global mining resources. They were stripped from deep veins on various continents, and after being coarsely crushed, finely ground, purified, and sintered, they were laid layer by layer in continuous areas ranging from fifty to three hundred meters underground.

The array spans several continental plates, stretching for thousands of kilometers, with thicknesses ranging from several meters to tens of meters.

In theory, if the isolation is thorough enough, the cellular fragments scattered in the soil, vegetation, and water will no longer be able to obtain the meager energy supply needed to maintain consciousness. They will gradually decay, become inactive, and eventually be completely annihilated.

However, after the array has been operating for two hundred years and has consumed massive amounts of mineral resources, the observation data still has not yielded the desired results.

The cell fragments in the isolated area did have reduced activity, but they were not completely extinguished; they did not reach the critical point of complete annihilation.

The earth itself possesses an extremely weak yet extremely resilient foundation of life, like a bottom-level water vein that will never be drained, continuously supplying extremely small amounts of energy to those fragments.

Even if the array reduces energy exchange to a minimum, it still cannot completely sever their connection with the earth.

Allen looked at the long-term data curves transmitted back from the observatory, watching them slowly pulsate at low levels, like a lake that would never completely calm down, and he knew that this path was also blocked.

There was no anger or frustration; he had moved past the stage where he would be emotionally affected by failure.

They simply recorded and archived the data curve, then shut down the main control power supply for most areas of the array, leaving only a few scattered observation stations running, in order to verify over a long period whether there were any unexpected state mutations that could occur under extremely low probability.

Countless experiments, costing billions and mobilizing global production capacity, have all failed.

Physical decomposition, chemical corrosion, high-energy radiation, microbial engulfment, and biological isolation—every path has come to an end.

Allen possesses everything in the world, yet he cannot find a single way to make himself disappear completely.

He became increasingly aware that with all the resources and technology on this planet, the prison of eternal torment would never be a solution.

All the experiments ultimately point to the same conclusion:
“Native materials cannot erase native consciousness. Those reagents, radiation, high temperatures, and microorganisms all circulate within the planet. They are part of this system themselves. No matter how they are operated, it is the system itself that is disturbing itself and cannot break through the system’s own boundaries.”

In the 312th year of the Cataclysm, Allen made the most radical decision of his life: he would no longer send immortals to the laboratory; he himself would become the sample.

He decided to abandon his complete physical body and conduct the largest and most thorough self-microscopic deconstruction experiment in human history.

He wanted to dismantle himself, leaving no intact part, scattering and dispersing it all into the earth, and then using himself as a permanent living observation vessel to continuously explore the underlying laws governing the existence of consciousness. He wanted to personally touch that boundary and verify where the limits of consciousness dissipation lay. The entire laboratory at that time was built a thousand meters underground. It was one of his earliest projects and the last private experimental space he preserved.

The walls are made of composite alloy panels, the doors are explosion-proof and airtight doors, and the internal energy supply is independent of all external lines, powered by a small geothermal generator set.

The laboratory is not large, but it is fully equipped. All the instruments were designed by him personally—precision decomposition equipment, layered corrosion tank, mechanical fixture set, industrial grinding device, ventilation and diffusion duct system, high-speed camera recording array, neural signal acquisition unit, cell sensing synchronous transmission module, covering almost most of the technical means he had used in external experiments, but their configuration is more refined and reliable than those external ones.

He lay on the workbench, gazing at the laboratory ceiling one last time in a fully realized, flesh-and-blood state.

The metal ceiling has fine markings indicating the routes of pipes and cables. These markings were drawn by him years ago with a marker. The cable routes are to ensure that all signals can be accurately transmitted to the external data storage.

He observed for a long time, confirming that all the operating indicator lights of the equipment were on, that the output of the power system was stable, and that the connection between the end of the signal link and the main control database was smooth.

Then he began the disassembly process, which was carried out without anesthesia, relying on a complete set of precision disassembly equipment manufactured in his own factory. No doctor or assistant was needed; the entire operation was handled by the mechanical system in pre-programmed steps. He was only responsible for continuously perceiving and recording at the conscious level.

The first step is the skin.

The precision disintegrator moved slowly across his body, cutting out uniform narrow strips, peeling away the rotten outer layer with an etchant, and dissolving it into a basic molecular slurry.

The slurry was pumped through the guide pipe to woodlands, streams, and soil layers one kilometer outside the laboratory, where it was evenly released into the surface vegetation and soil pores.

He could feel the cold pain and burning sensation as every inch of his skin was peeled away, as if he were being ripped open alive. He didn't close his eyes because closing them wouldn't help relieve the pain.

The second step is muscles.

The muscle fibers, which were already mostly necrotic, were separated and shredded piece by piece by the mechanical clamps and sent into the layered corrosion tank. In the low-concentration corrosion solution, they were softened and decomposed, eventually transforming into a liquid matrix containing a large number of cell fragments, which was then diffused to a more distant area through another set of guide pipes.

He could feel the vibrations and tearing sensation as each muscle was being shredded, like being cut by countless tiny saw blades at the same time.

The third step is the skeleton.

Industrial grinding equipment grinds bones into micron-sized powder, which is then dispersed throughout the mountain forest rock layers via a ventilation system.

Bone meal is dispersed in the air, blown by the wind to more distant areas, and gradually settles into the topsoil of ridges, valleys and stream banks.

He could feel the pressure of his bones shattering and the slight tearing as the bone powder was pulled by the airflow, as if someone was repeatedly polishing every bone in his body with fine sandpaper, from the inside out, without ever stopping.

The fourth step is the internal organs.

The rotten and necrotic organs were removed one by one and put into a pool of highly corrosive chemicals to decompose completely, turning into a solution rich in cellular debris, which then seeped into the surrounding strata through underground channels.

He could feel the continuous burning sensation from within as his internal organs were dissolved, like being repeatedly burned by an inextinguishable fire.

The feedback signals surged into his sensory core like a tide, accumulating every second, impossible to shut down, weaken, or ignore.

When he had truly completed the decomposition of his entire body and all his cells were evenly distributed in the natural environment within a one-kilometer radius, the entire principle immediately took effect.

Those cell fragments scattered in the soil, vegetation, and water are all bound to his single core consciousness cluster.

They didn't disappear; they were simply dispersed.

The world's ironclad rule takes effect immediately:

All the stimulation, damage, and friction pain of all the scattered cells would be simultaneously transmitted to his single core consciousness cluster. For nearly nine hundred years thereafter, he lay dormant on the earth in the form of diffuse molecules, enduring the continuous and escalating pain across the entire domain, while remotely controlling his global industrial empire to maintain his behind-the-scenes rule and scientific research operations.

After the dismantling was completed, it took him several years to adapt to this new state of being.

His senses no longer receive signals through his eyes and ears, but perceive them through fragments scattered across the earth.

He could feel the temperature changes caused by light filtering through the leaves and falling on the soil surface, smell the dampness and humus emanating from the soil as it was turned over, and hear the gurgling sound of water flowing through gravel.

His perception range gradually expanded, from the initial one kilometer to several kilometers, tens of kilometers, and hundreds of kilometers, eventually covering the main areas of the entire continent. He did not need to move; he only needed to exist to perceive every inch of land under his jurisdiction.

But this also comes with unparalleled pain.

The torment from his senses almost drove him insane!

However, he still did not give up on the allocation of global resources. Production reports and resource consumption data from mines, pharmaceutical factories, and underground laboratories on various continents were transmitted in real time to his cellular sensing network through sensor lines buried deep underground.

Those lines intersect with the area where his fragments are distributed. He can sense the weak current stimulation and temperature fluctuations brought by those signal pulses, and then issue instructions through the terminal system to adjust the production capacity allocation, raw material allocation, and test scheduling.

He remotely determined the amount of supplies and the distribution of anesthetic vegetation to human settlements in various regions.

If a large-scale disorderly self-harm or wanton waste of experimental samples occurs in a certain area, he will directly cut off the supply of materials and silently complete the order control.

He never showed his face, but every settlement administrator knew that if certain unseen boundaries were not followed, a batch of supplies would suddenly be cut off and unable to arrive.

He remotely coordinates the scholars and craftsmen in thousands of laboratories around the world.

They submitted their results, received new instructions, and allocated resources at their respective workstations. Massive amounts of data from bodily deterioration experiments were uniformly aggregated into his unique, gigantic global database, a database built with millennia of industrial resources, containing billions of records of human cells, vitality, and pain thresholds.

He spends a lot of time each day rummaging through this data, quickly browsing the newly uploaded records, looking for any signs that might hint at a new direction. These signs are like fragments of ore scattered across a wasteland, tiny particles that he needs to personally sift through, classify, compare, and connect, ultimately weaving them into a path that may lead to extinction.

Day after day, torture continues across the world. (End of Chapter)