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Chapter 46 Speculation on the Origin of the Virus 1
Inside the safe house, four people sat around the computer, and Lu Zhao's fingers tapped rapidly on the keyboard.

The data in the USB drive is being parsed one by one, and various files and codes are constantly flashing on the screen.

"This data is highly encrypted," Lu Zhao said with a frown, "some files require special decryption tools to open."

Su Wanqing sat next to him, staring at the screen: "Is there anything I can help with?"

"Help me find that black hard drive. It should be in my backpack," Lu Zhao said. "There are some decryption tools in it."

Su Wanqing got up to look for the hard drive, while Xiao Ran stood by the window on guard to make sure that the safe house was not being followed.

Lin Che sat on the other side of Lu Zhao, observing the data flashing on the screen.

"These look like experimental records," Lin Che said, pointing to a folder on the screen, "but most of them have been deleted."

Lu Zhao nodded. "Yes, someone tried to destroy the evidence, but the data deletion wasn't complete. In the computer world, deleted files are usually just marked as overwritable, and the actual data still exists on the hard drive."

Su Wanqing came back with the hard drive: "Found it."

"Thank you," Lu Zhao took the hard drive and connected it to the computer. "Let me try to recover some deleted files."

He opened a professional data recovery software and began to scan the data in the USB drive.

The software ran for a few minutes and displayed some files that could be recovered.

"Something," Lu Zhao said, "but it's not complete."

He clicked the restore button, and several files were reconstructed. One of them, titled "S-0 Experiment Record," caught his attention.

"This looks very important," Lu Zhao said as he opened the document. "S-0 should be the code name for that virus."

The document is incomplete, but some key information can still be read:
"The S-0 sample demonstrated unprecedented stability and infectivity under laboratory conditions. Compared to known viruses, its genetic sequence showed clear signs of artificial editing. Test subjects developed obvious symptoms within 24 hours of infection and completely lost their mental capacity after 48 hours. The virus survived in the air longer than expected."

"This is the zombie virus out there right now," Xiao Ran said as he walked over. "The description matches perfectly."

"And it clearly mentions 'traces of artificial editing,'" Lin Che pointed out. "This isn't a naturally evolved virus."

Lu Zhao continued to flip through the documents: "There is also a record about the source of the virus, but most of it has been deleted."

Only a few lines of text remained: ".The sample originated from. The genetic sequence was obtained through a special channel. The similarity is as high as 97%. After modification, the infectiousness and mortality rate were enhanced."

“This information is too fragmentary,” Su Wanqing said, “but at least it confirms that the virus is man-made.”

Lu Zhao opened another recovered file, which was a financial record.

“Look at this,” he pointed at the screen, “this project has received a lot of external funding.”

Lin Che leaned over to take a look: "The source of funds only has a code name, no specific name."

"SG Group, Shadow Fund, Zero Point Investment." Lu Zhao read out a few code names. "These are all cover names used to hide the true source of funds."

"I've seen similar operations in the Special Forces," Xiao Ran said. "They're usually used to hide projects that governments or large multinational corporations don't want to make public."

Lu Zhao continued searching and suddenly found a folder with a higher encryption density, named "Execution Plan".

"This requires a special tool to decrypt it," he said, opening a program on the hard drive.

The decryption process was slow, with a progress bar displayed on the screen. The four of them waited anxiously, each lost in their own thoughts. "Why do you think someone would create a virus like this?" Su Wanqing broke the silence.

"There are many possibilities," Xiao Ran said, "biological weapons, population control, or even some kind of crazy social experiment."

"Or it might be related to the 'Biological Reset Plan,'" Lin Che added. "We've seen that name in those documents before."

Lu Zhao did not participate in the discussion, he stared at the screen intently.

Finally, the decryption was completed and the folder was opened.

"It worked," he said. "There are several files inside."

The first file he opened was a detailed plan titled "S-0 Launch Plan."

"Oh my God," Lu Zhao's voice trembled, "This really is a deployment plan."

The document details how the virus would be released in a specific area, including the time, location, and expected effects.

“计划在三年前的7月15日在五个主要城市同时释放S-0病毒预计初始感染人数为每城市500-1000人.考虑到病毒的传染性，预计两周内感染率将达到90%以上”

"This is horrific," Su Wanqing said. "They are planning a mass murder."

"Not only that," Lu Zhao continued reading, "it also mentions the follow-up plan: 'After the first phase is completed, the second phase of the biological reset plan will be launched.'"

"What exactly is the biological reset plan?" Lin Che asked.

Lu Zhao shook his head. "The document doesn't go into detail, only mentioning that it's a 'multi-phase plan' with the goal of 'redefining the direction of human evolution.'"

"Sounds like some kind of eugenics experiment," Xiao Ran said. "Using a virus to wipe out most of the population and then rebuilding society?"

"It's very likely," Lu Zhao said, "but we need more evidence."

He opened another file, a research report titled "S-0 Variant Study."

"This is even more interesting," Lu Zhao said. "The report mentioned that people infected with the virus will mutate to varying degrees."

The report records the mutation process of the infected in detail: the initial symptoms are high fever and increased aggressiveness, the body begins to mutate in the middle stage, and in the late stage, the human characteristics are completely lost, and they become complete monsters.

"This explains why there are different types of zombies out there," Lin Che said. "They are in different stages of mutation."

"But there's something strange here," Lu Zhao pointed to a section of the report. "The report mentioned that a small number of infected people showed 'abnormal reactions'. Instead of turning into zombies, they gained some kind of 'special abilities'."

The four of them looked at each other and thought of the same thing.

"Elemental ability users," Su Wanqing said softly, "Could it be that our abilities are the result of viral infection?"

"That makes sense," Lin Che said, "After the virus outbreak, some people did begin to display superpowers."

“But we didn’t have any symptoms,” Xiao Ran retorted. “I never felt unwell or out of control.”

"Maybe it's some kind of mutant strain," Lu Zhao speculated, "or maybe we have special factors in our bodies that resist the virus."

(End of this chapter)