Chapter 71

"Like a Parkinson's patient, terrified to watch their body slowly change, or a person with macular degeneration, whose vision gradually worsens..." Dr. Connors spoke of his emotions, now alone in the laboratory. Even the toughest of men needs an outlet for their feelings.

"I really want to cure myself..."

"I want to create a world without flaws..."

"Does anyone want to guess what I did..."

"Prosthetic limbs? They look good, but the results are not ideal! Stem cell regeneration? There's hope, but my solution is more radical..."

Dr. Connors walked to his lab bench, surveying the various instruments and equipment. After a long moment, he raised his head: "Yes, a hybrid gene experiment in new biology."

His research institute was large, and the place where he stood was clearly the core. Behind the lab bench, a large blue tank was attached to the wall, with a few zebrafish slowly swimming back and forth.

Dr. Connors withdrew his gaze from the tank and explained: "Parkinson's disease is a chronic degenerative disorder characterized by a dysfunction in the dopaminergic nigrostriatal pathway. But zebrafish can regenerate cells at will. If we can endow the patient with this ability, they can cure themselves. But we have to ignore the gills..."

"Yes, that's right, exactly." Dr. Connors repeated this to himself.

The subsequent video content showed Dr. Connors talking to himself, recording each step of the experiment:

"Using zebrafish research, we can establish a new animal model for Parkinson's disease. By microinjection, 6-hydroxydopamine is injected into the vitreous cavity of zebrafish to specifically kill dopaminergic neurons in the retina. We use techniques like immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry to identify at the protein level..."

After Spider-Man confirmed that there was nothing particularly unusual about the subsequent experimental content, Mrs. Connors ejected the tape and replaced it with another: "Curt brought back and placed in the study are recordings of key steps. He told me that if someone wants to study his abnormal state, there is no more direct way than this."

Ymir couldn't understand Dr. Connors' experimental content and couldn't figure out the connection between zebrafish, white mice, and Dr. Connors turning into a lizard man.

However, Spider-Man was thoroughly engrossed, as he was Dr. Connors' student and specialized in new biology, which aligned with his studies.

"Curt Connors, starting experiment IAD-1879 today."

Dr. Connors' face was filled with fatigue, but he looked spirited: "In our past experimental groups, we have already conducted protein structure analysis, ribosomal DNA, chromatography, transgenic testing, X-ray imaging, and human lineage testing..."

"Now we see the Gerneral instrument." Dr. Connors walked to a set of experimental instruments emitting white vapor. Ymir saw Peter and Whitman on the TV screen. As an outsider, he could only judge from this that Dr. Connors' experiment had entered the developmental stage.

In the video, Dr. Connors was guiding his students, a part that Spider-Man understood well. However, upon revisiting it, he realized that the doctor had progressed further in hybrid gene experiments than they had imagined.

"The concept of the Gerneral instrument is simple. By inserting an antigen, it can create a cloud to spread over an entire community, even an entire city. Theoretically, we could cure all polio patients in New York in just one afternoon!"

Peter marveled, "That's an incredible invention!"

Ymir, watching from the TV, felt a jolt. He finally remembered that in the movie, the Lizard Doctor used this instrument to turn all New York residents into lizard men.

Now they knew that in the research institute, the Lizard Man had not kidnapped Dr. Connors. So, what was the long, white-cloth-wrapped instrument in his hand?

Ymir was almost certain it was the Gerneral instrument: "If Dr. Connors puts the hybrid gene agent that turned him into a lizard man into it and turns it into a cloud, it could very well make the movie's plot come true in this world!"

Spider-Man and Mrs. Connors hadn't seen the movie and seemed unaware of this. In the video, Dr. Connors' research team had already moved past zebrafish research and built a database of reptiles, primarily lizards.

"What we see now is a computer model of a lizard." A virtual image appeared on the 3D projector. Dr. Connors said, "Many amazing creatures in nature have superior adaptability and can regenerate complete limbs at will."

The projected lizard model automatically severed its tail, and then quickly regrew a new one in the computer simulation.

"You can imagine how jealous I am. I want to harness this ability and transfer it to a host test subject." The host test subject Dr. Connors referred to was a three-legged white mouse named Freddy in his lab.

Ymir unconsciously touched his nose; his name also contained the segment "Freddy," making him feel as if he was mixed with the white mouse.

Dr. Connors extracted the gene segment responsible for tail regeneration from the lizard and used the real white mouse Freddy as a test subject, then performed data calculations. This experiment was much more humane compared to directly applying it to the test subject in Ymir's previous life.

However, it was also because the technology in this world had advanced to this level. Experimental computers at universities like New York University already had basic artificial intelligence. Some secret advanced technologies had even ventured into the realm of artificial intelligence.

Ymir mused, "With so many research fanatics in this world, I wonder if there's a research institution like the Umbrella Corporation conducting biological weapon research?"

It's quite possible. For example, the experiment that created Captain America was originally intended to develop biological weapons, and the background was World War II America.

Now, with the war over and post-war technological development advancing rapidly, the emergence of a supercomputer like Red Queen is not entirely out of the question.

Although Ymir hadn't yet met Iron Man, from his understanding of the movies in his previous life, Tony's AI butler JARVIS was certainly no less advanced than Red Queen.