Chapter 577 - 548: Full Body Prosthetics Life Extension Plan

Cancer in the Marvel World is a rather peculiar disease, not completely incurable, but hardly curable.

The essence of Lille’s condition was radiation residue and chemical damage that led to the collapse of his cellular genes, which caused his cells to die off faster and their division functions to malfunction.

Lizard Serum would fix the part of the transgenic lizard responsible for expressing specific traits onto his cells, activating a robust cell division capability and restoring his cellular functions to normal, or even surpassing that of an average person.

However, lizards could also develop cancer, and at a molecular level, genes were naturally damaged by radiation, making it impossible to heal solely through Lizard Serum.

In fact, no pharmaceuticals involving genetic modification could achieve this.

The International Gene Cooperation Company had gradually mastered the gene-editing technology sneaked from Biotechnology companies and had launched a research program akin to an upgraded version of the Human Genome Project based on the still intact global market.

This research program aimed to use gene-editing technology to treat patients with innate or acquired genetic damage, to deepen control over genetic techniques, and to explore potential methods to further improve human transgenic technology.

According to Conners’ original estimates, there might still be hope, but the main technical progress remained in treating some common congenital diseases with clear causes, such as Hemophilia A and B, Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Sickle Cell Anemia, and others.

Humanity had sufficient understanding of these diseases, and a wealth of data had made it clear which specific trait genes the patients were lacking. Mature gene-editing technology had made it possible to fully cure these kinds of diseases.

But for Lille... greater understanding of genetics only meant a deeper understanding of which cellular functions he was missing and the tragic stages he would go through before death—nothing more helpful.

In the observation room, Lille had already turned off his artificial heart. As the concentration of Lizard Serum fell, his body deflated suddenly, and even his thought processes began to slow down—

Theoretically, his brain’s electrical signals were faint, but his body remained normal in vital signs due to the stimulation from the brain-machine interface signals.

Without the cries and moans of a dying man, Conners looked at the dreadful data and the unresponsive Lille, suddenly not knowing what to say.

His blood oxygen concentration had already fallen significantly below 60%, and his atrophied muscles could hardly support normal breathing. Discussing just this one issue, one would feel even more powerless and suffocated than drowning...

That feeling was like the Death God already pressing on your chest, seeming to put a bit more effort, and the body would be crushed into fragments by tremendous force.

This was the body moving towards death, a delusion perceived by the brain.

Beyond that, tumors and cancer cells were progressively growing. It seemed that taking samples 10 times would detect cells with aberrant gene expression, and although it seemed okay on the surface, surgeries were being performed all the time, but who could live with such a life?

Those were tumors, and already weakened organs would only get worse, bringing more pain to the person.

[Lille: How is it? Don’t worry about me, just tell me straight.]

Conners organized his words:

[Conners: We... Lille, if it had been the early stages of the disease, we could have tried using targeted drugs to repair your genes, but now...]

[Conners: It’s already too late, the mechanism of action of cancer cells is complex, and we still need time to screen, but...]

But what we lack now is time.

Without Lizard Serum, Lille might find even normal thinking difficult; with Lizard Serum, the rate of proliferation and spread of cancer cells could be several times that of the normal scenario.

After all, Lille’s condition had worsened much faster than Conners had previously imagined, and he vaguely suspected it might be related to the equipment on Lille’s body.

Yet those pieces of equipment were also part of what allowed him to live and work normally because his spinal nerves had long been abnormal.

That spinal prosthetic was so advanced that Conners couldn’t understand it, but with his current understanding of prosthetic technology, he knew that it was also a device ensuring Lille could lead a normal life, considering the small section of the spinal cord retained below the prosthetic, Lille’s nerve cells had long been unable to function normally.

Technology indeed saved Lille from the fate of gradually becoming disabled and silently dying in his remaining lifespan, but it also...

...made his death come more certainly and swiftly.

Conners, towards the end, was no longer able to communicate with Lille through voice. He compiled a comprehensive summary, marking detailed reports and data analyses, and compared them with their current progress.

The result was one: Lille was moving too fast, so fast that no technological advancements could keep up with the speed at which his body was deteriorating.

Separated by a glass, Conners sat in front of the equipment, looking at the prosthetic on his own hand: the second generation prosthetic from the International Genetic Cooperation Company. For the disabled, this prosthetic, which utilized synthetic muscles, was nearly indistinguishable from a natural arm.

[Lille: Professor?]

Lille, having finished reading the summary, found it odd that Conners had suddenly fallen silent.

Conners usually loved to report his work, almost weekly sending an email with an attached video to his boss.

It seemed he enjoyed directly reporting which technologies had been implemented and how they had changed the fates of many people.

Why the sudden silence?

[Conners: I...I just feel ashamed and unwilling to accept it, you saved me, we saved many people together, but we...we...]

We can’t save you.

This was a video conference.

Atlas Group had no real investors; the shares once issued for fundraising by its subsidiaries were gradually being repurchased and diluted, so there was no need to report Lille’s health conditions to any so-called "board of directors."

However, Lille felt that people should know his health was not good, and the core scientists and partners should know more details.

Conners’ performance... well, it could be described as genuine but also quite demoralizing.

Lille glanced through it briefly, and it could still be summed up into two issues:

First, he had been splashed with unknown waste belonging to the Rocksen Group, the chemical waste not only damaged his genes, but the radioactive elements within it also stayed in his body, causing a dual effect, continuously leading to his cellular apoptosis and organ decay.

Second, to solve the superficially sick state, he had the Si Anweisitan implanted and injected the Lizard Serum. These measures gave him superficial health but at the cost of depleting his vitality, and with his drastic actions, his cancer emerged prematurely.

Both were difficult issues to solve...

But they still could be extended.

In the silent meeting, Lille said:

[Lille: If I remember correctly, our prosthetic technology is already very mature, replace all the parts inside me that can be replaced.]

Replace them all.

Since the technology was mature, they should maximize the use of technology, not rely on cell-supported body functions, which might reduce the rate at which the cells were completely depleted.

And it could also better monitor the cancer transformation.