Rebirth: 100 Days Before Doomsday - Chapter 320

Chapter 320: Symbiotic Rebalancing
The day after Grace returned from her breakthrough training in the Infinite Realm, she convened an emergency meeting with a group of specific people.

There had been recent escalation in beast attacks on the warrior teams going out of the safe zones for hunts. Not only that, but their number had been increasing rapidly ever since the recent rain disaster passed.

These were signs that humanity needed to start working on solving the problems one after the other if they wanted to survive. Otherwise, if one day all the monsters of the old world decided to attack the safe zones, no barriers would be able to stop them.

“We need to stop thinking like soldiers,” Grace said as she stood at the head of the war room table, her gaze fixed and unyielding. “And start thinking like builders of a new world.”

Around her were sitting Rune, Davian, Dr. Kian, Professor Neil, and several other leading scientists and elemental specialists.

A digital screen behind her was displaying a global map, each region glowing red or black depending on the density of Shadow and Monster Beasts activity.

“The Veil cracks may be slowing as there are no recent disasters, but the already existing cracks are still there,” she continued. “And even if we closed every crack today, we would still be living on a planet overrun by beasts. And we can’t keep fighting forever. So I want a dedicated team to begin something new… to find a way to redeem these beasts.”

Professor Neil leaned forward, carrying a thoughtful expression on his face. “You want us to reverse the virus?”

“If that’s possible, then yes,” Grace replied. “But more than that, I want to find a way to tame them – the Shadow and the Monster Beasts.”

There was silence, then Professor Neil cleared his throat. “That’s… ambitious. You are talking about three completely different classes of organisms. Shadow Beasts were mutated by dark-element toxins in the Shadow Rain. Infected Beasts were corrupted by blood-element radiation from the Blood Rain. And Monster Beasts are… not of this world.”

“We don’t have a choice,” Grace said, folding her arms. “There are no normal animals left. No birds in the sky. No cats or dogs in the streets. No deer in the forests. Only monsters. We can’t rebuild a world like that. At least not until we find a way to either live mutually with them in the old world, or to keep their numbers in check so that they won’t stay as our biggest predators once we will return to the old world.”

It was Dr. Kian who spoke next. “We don’t have to mix everything together and look for solutions. We can create different teams to focus on each of three types – the infected, Monster Beasts, and Shadow Beasts. Let’s start that way.”

Professor Neil finally nodded his head, approving the idea. No matter how hard or impossible the project sounded, they all knew just how important it was to make the old world a liveable place once again for the humans.

There was obviously the option of killing all the beasts out there, but doing so would require decades, or more likely centuries. Besides, not all warriors could kill the beasts of high classes. And while warriors were growing stronger, so were the beasts.

Besides, if some day humans indeed succeeded in wiping out every single beast on Earth, would it really solve the problem? Obviously not! The planet was never supposed to be without animals, and their absence would only disturb the balance in the nature.

That’s why, they needed to look for further options to deal with the biggest problem humanity was currently facing.

Hence, as the eighth year came to an official end, not only Starfall Isle but even the Great Alliance started working on finding solutions to handle the beasts.

Meanwhile, Grace continued to head out for hunt missions and gather resources from the fallen beasts, either in the form of Spirit Stones or the body parts of Shadow Beasts that could be used to craft weapons, armors, and even medicines.

It was around four months into the ninth year when Professor Neil finally gave her a good news after constant failed attempts. His team had found a possible way to cure the Infected Beasts.

“There’s a sliver of their original identity left,” he told Grace during her visit to the lab that very evening.

“This time, we used purified Spirit Stones, infused with harvested liquid from the plant of Mystic Parasite. And it did show promising results.” He continued as they arrived at the section where the test objects of the ongoing research were being kept.

“When injected into the beasts’ bloodstream, followed by exposure to healing magic, the infection shows signs of reforming itself. Some beasts even reverted partially, like – losing the red glow of their eyes, shrinking back in size, returning somewhat to their normal appearances, and ceasing all aggression.”

Just listening to these changes made Grace feel hopeful. Out of all three types of Beasts – infected, Shadow, and Monsters, she had the least hope for the infected because they were considered brain dead just like zombies. But it turned out she was wrong.

“It’s not a cure,” Professor Neil added when he noticed the look of hope in her eyes. His voice was hoarse as he had barely slept in the past seventy-two hours. “But it’s a start. We call the process Symbiotic Rebalancing. It doesn’t turn them back into normal animals, but it can transform them into peaceful hybrids.”

Grace stepped into the glass chamber where a former infected fox was now curled beside one of the researchers, gently snuggling against her leg.

This was the first time she had seen an infected beast act so sweetly and warmly.

“…it’s beautiful,” she whispered.

Professor Neil nodded his head in agreement. “Terrifying. But indeed somewhat beautiful.”

Turning her attention to the man, she added, “You have done a wonderful job so far. Please continue to push forward. But don’t let this project affect you health. I need you fit and energetic to keep working for me, Professor.”

A small smile stretched the corners of Professor Neil’s lips. “Noted.”