CHAPTER 820: 818: THE NEISSERIA ONES

At the far edge of another world far from the Boundary Prairie,

there lies a vast array of fully excavated metal mines. This was once the largest metal mining site in the early Old World, where even the early Suffering Monastery would source abundantly to develop its iron chain plantation industry.

Moreover, under the nourishment of the Evil Sun, the metals here once possessed regenerative properties.

However, following the end of the war, this place was quickly depleted and rapidly declined. Hundreds of years ago, some Treasure Hunters still came here hoping to find some rare metals, but now it’s mostly deserted, with many Prophets of the Old World predicting it would eventually turn into a new Abyss,

Yet hundreds of years have passed, and it remains the same,

Although completely shrouded in darkness, there is always the feeling that glowing stones from the past remain among the mines, keeping it at the ’critical point’ of transforming into the Extremely Dark Land.

However,

almost no one is aware that,

in the depths of a certain mine, by walking thirteen laps along a fixed mine tunnel route, and moving the seemingly unremarkable stones on the ground, one can open a hidden passage.

The passage emits a strong metallic luster, and each time it opens, it can illuminate the entire mine.

In the deepest part of the passage lies a secret area filled with brain nerves, more complex than the Source Epidemic Area, where a special race that survived from Ancient Times is conducting various secret experiments.

[The Neisseria Ones]

This is a special race with brain capacity on par with the Madmen, but unlike the Madmen, they have strong social cohesion and enjoy sharing knowledge.

In theory, such an intelligent race with collective nature would have excellent development,

but unfortunately, they have a genetic flaw of being overly kind and naive.

In ancient times, they mastered a vast amount of advanced technology, even developing special tools that could break through the Plague Level,

but they did not seek shelter from any Source Epidemic Area, choosing instead to ’remain aloof’ and not willing to cooperate with anyone, reducing human interactions to focus solely on research,

Their existence threatened many forces unintentionally, and many organizations lurking in the dark coveted them,

They were nearly exterminated for various reasons even before any invasion war came, and their various ancient tablets and technological creations were divided among major powers.

However, the Neisseria Ones were not completely annihilated;

some survived and have since vanished entirely, no longer dealing with any Old World forces.

With the passage of time, most even forgot about them, believing that this group had already been wiped out.

Their descendants did not harbor hatred towards the Patients who plundered and slaughtered their ancestors, instead hiding deep within the world to analyze the issues of their race meticulously, formulating a plan for a stable development of the Neisseria Ones, free from invasions.

Evidently, they still did not choose to rely on any Source Epidemic Area, but rather worked on strengthening their own weak Physical,

and a hundred years ago they finished a book with more value than the Plague Book titled the "Ascension Theory."

The core idea mentioned is [Mechanical Ascension]

However, the risks of Ascension are enormous, in this Old World where Fertility is impossible and the population is already small, if the Neisseria Brain Entities were to die during the process of Ascension, it would not only delay research progress but also further accelerate the extinction of their race;

they can no longer afford any personnel loss.

Therefore, some suggested using humans of unknown character, from the infected world, for training.

During the training process, their brains would be constantly monitored, and as soon as any Thought unfavorably towards the Neisseria Ones arose, it would be immediately erased and they would be cast back into the Old World to fend for themselves.

Reagan, due to his inherent Super Spiritual Power, and his own development of brain-related illness, was drawn by Neisseria upon his first arrival in the Old World.

Of course, Reagan was not the only chosen one,

prior to him, at least thirty other humans were selected, but unfortunately, they all vanished without a trace, only Reagan returned to Zion after encountering the Neisseria Ones.

Since he had signed a soul-level confidentiality agreement, he was unable to disclose the organization involved behind the scenes,

even the Gentleman Organization was unaware of what organization Reagan was associated with in the Old World, only knowing that his spiritual power was surging at an incredible rate each year.

Furthermore, Reagan was very compatible with the Neisseria Ones, living only for two things,

1. Conducting scientific research,

2. Ensuring Faye lives a perfect life,

Both of which could be satisfied among the Neisseria Ones;

through Learning ancient technology and infecting with Neisseria meningitidis, Reagan discovered a method to allow Faye to continuously evolve while maintaining a Stable awareness.

Reagan’s excellence was gradually acknowledged and appreciated by the Neisseria Brain Entities, who even regarded him as one of their own,

Once Reagan completed the Path, surpassing most of the Neisseria Brain Entities in some aspects, he was handed the "Ascension Theory" by the Great Elder, hoping he could attempt to become the first Ascender.

There was no need for persuasion;

Reagan was immediately attracted by the articulations of the theory and agreed without hesitation.

Since then, the entire Neisseria Ones revolved around Reagan to implement the "Ascension Plan," investing all of the cluster’s accumulated resources into Reagan.

If he could become an Ascender, the entire race could collect enough data based on Reagan’s transformation experiences to greatly reduce Ascension risks, enabling the entire tribe to ascend fearlessly against any invaders.

But the reality was far from simple,

even though the entirety of Reagan’s body below the head was mechanized to achieve 100% Synchronization Rate,

the transformation of the head region continually failed,

either the Synchronization Rate couldn’t meet requirements, or it might threaten Reagan’s Self-awareness, potentially annihilating his entire consciousness, rendering him a useless mechanical puppet.

As such,

Reagan temporarily left the Neisseria Ones, returned to Zion for research, recently leveraging William’s connections to establish a research relationship with Black Ascaris Company, and signed the "Chaos Moon Research Agreement" with Lorrian.

All of Reagan’s research findings were immediately shared with the cluster through ’infinite distance brainwave sharing.’

These seemingly unrelated scientific research were all used to pursue a method for brain Ascension, and although there was some progress, it was still far from completion.

Reagan also found himself trapped in an unprecedented bottleneck,

even so, the entire Neisseria Ones could not find another presence to match Reagan alone, they considered Reagan a treasure and even constructed a ’Synchronization Rate Statue’ using parts of Reagan’s brain tissue.

This statue could accurately reflect Reagan’s current state.

Now, in the secret chamber deep within the mine,

a group with brains over twice the size of humans and exposed without skull coverings, severely inflamed and emitting a faint red glow.

They gathered before Reagan’s Synchronization Rate Statue, as a significant fluctuation had just emanated from within the statue.

Crack!

A slight crack appeared at the waist and abdomen of the statue, not deep, but such an attack capable of damaging the metal of an Ascender suggested the attacker’s level, and even blood that shouldn’t be there was seeping from the statue’s wound.

When they tried to Sensing Reagan’s position, they could only get a vague rough coordinate.

It is known that previously, regardless of where Reagan was, even in the human world, they could easily locate him using the technology embedded in the statue.

Realizing the situation was not right, the Neisseria Brain Entities began to communicate.

mo~mo~mo~

With waves of brainwaves transmitting,

In no time, the mysterious group cloaked in insulated capes began to move, heading towards the direction of the Skin Factory.