Chapter 601

"All the actors have realized it, then let me turn to the next page of the script, about the evil that occurred at this Origami University—" Mr. Rek smiled meaningfully, "Actors, have you heard of the meme virus?"

"Is this the true form of the Sleeping Banana Monkey?" Dan Heng asked.

"That's right. Meme contamination is a contagious phenomenon; it affects informational particles of cognition, turning the contaminated person's sensory perception of specific things into another form, like special effects in a film." Rek nodded, "Words, music, videos… these are all media of transmission; humans naturally have curiosity about the unknown, and the meme virus takes advantage of that."

"Even in reality, meme contamination can change a person's thoughts; and in the world of dreams— it will spawn nightmares that turn people into monkeys."

Luan Po understood their logic: "So, the evil ninja first lets the evil spirits spread decorated media, using entertainment as a cover, planting the seeds of evil arts in the hearts of all the ninja disciples. Then he usurped the master's position, subjecting the disciples' minds to torment, causing the evil arts within them to flare up."

"Such a cycle will cause the ninja disciples of Origami Village to be assimilated by the evil spirits, becoming puppets of the evil ninja… truly a heartless, merciless, ruthless grand conspiracy!"

Rek: "This actor's lines are a bit obscure, but the plot direction is basically correct."

"'Since the Toad Ninja has already seen through the truth, why hasn't he acted yet?'"

Rek let out a light sigh, wearing an expression of helplessness: "I'm just a passing director; how dare I act rashly? To defeat the fearsome villain, we still have to rely on you, the noble protagonists."

——

Death God.

Twelfth Division, Technical Development Bureau, inside the deepest autopsy room.

A pale blue light shone on the cold metal table, where the prosthetic corpse of Subject Eight lay still; her body had been meticulously dissected, each tissue slice suspended and analyzed a thousandfold on the screen beside it.

Mayuri wore a specially made protective mask; a flicker of fervor flashed in his golden pupils.

"'Meme virus… interesting! It cannot be observed as a physical entity, nor isolated; it is more like a 'concept' implanted in flesh, a 'piece of information,' directly infecting Subject Eight's spiritual essence…"

On the screen, the graph showing the stability of Subject Eight's spiritual essence flickered with an irregular wave—this is the only indirect manifestation of the 'meme virus' capturable by the instruments—it itself cannot be directly observed, only its 'presence' can be shown indirectly through the infected.

"'Acting on cognition, distorting reality… it is practically the perfect biological weapon. If we could master it…'" Mayuri's lips curled up slightly.

Just as he indulged in that fantasy, the permission door outside the autopsy room emitted a faint hum of forced unlocking. No alarm, no warning… Mayuri's eyes narrowed; he instantly gathered all his data, and as he turned, his sleeve slipped out some kind of potion.

However, the person standing at the doorway caused his pupils to contract slightly.

"'Yo, Captain Mayuri, long time no see.'"

Urahara Kisuke remained in his usual at-home attire, holding a folding fan, wearing a harmless smile. He stood abruptly in the core restricted area of the Technical Development Bureau, as if merely popping over to a neighbor's house.

"'Urahara Kisuke…' Mayuri's voice sounded icy, 'You dare to set foot here?'"

"'Don't say that.' Urahara lightly pressed the fan to his chin, his gaze sweeping past Mayuri to glance at the prosthetic corpse of Subject Eight on the autopsy table behind him, 'You must be tinkering with something extremely dangerous, huh? I couldn't help but come take a look.'"

"'Dangerous?' Mayuri scoffed, 'In your eyes, is any power that surpasses common sense called dangerous? How cowardly. This power represents the future!'"

"'The future isn't necessarily all good.' Urahara's smile faded a little, his eyes sharpening, 'You're researching that 'meme virus,' aren't you? Let me give you a piece of advice—you might want to stop.'"

"'Stop?' Mayuri laughed as if hearing the funniest joke, 'On what basis? Just because of your baseless advice?'"

"'Based on two points.' Urahara held up two fingers, 'First, you cannot research the meme virus. It has no physical form; it is not any substance or energy form we know, so you cannot analyze it with the concept of spiritual particles. This virus is like a ghost that can never be caught, right?'"

Mayuri's face darkened; he offered no rebuttal, because what Urahara said was indeed the dilemma he had just encountered.

"'Second, and most importantly.' Urahara closed his fan, pointing at the flickering screen beside him, 'You cannot control it; it is not a blade, not a sword, not any weapon we recognize. If during your research you yourself become infected, or even let a trace leak out… the entire Soul Society and the living world could be drawn into a mutation you cannot stop.'"

The autopsy room fell into dead silence, save for the regular ticking of the instruments.

"'Heh, I don't believe it… why could that primitive doctor research it? Can he control it?' Mayuri snorted coldly in dissatisfaction."

"'Then you might as well ask yourself.' Urahara turned and left without looking back, 'Why did he receive the glance of the Sage of Erudition, and not you or me?'"

——

According to Rek's words, these banana teachers were all appointed by Banana Master; he is now in the principal's office, and we can go confront him face to face.

Everyone arrived at the principal's office, which was now filled with monkeys; Banana Master stood with his hands behind his back before a huge portrait, slowly turning around: 'Dear classmates, although you neither made an appointment nor knocked, you are still welcome, banana.'

Luan Po got straight to the point upon entering: 'Stop beating around the bush—summon him quickly—Your Excellency must be the Chief of the Evil Spirits of the Divine Ape Evil Ninja, right?'

"'Uh…' Banana Master looked helplessly at Star, 'Can the classmate next to me help translate that?'"

"'In short, Origami University has seen a meme virus spreading widely and infecting students' minds. Banana Master, it is the Sleeping Banana Monkey, and the ones spreading this virus are precisely your subordinate banana teachers.'"

"'……' Banana Master gave a faint smile, 'I thought this class could be dragged out a bit longer.'"

"'Dan Heng: 'Your frankness is faster than I expected. So, this is indeed the primitive doctor's conspiracy?'"

"'Conspiracy? Banana banana banana, you're overestimating Pinokangni too much—this money-themed park left with only the smell of copper, how could it be worthy of the doctor's lofty human experiments?' Banana Master wore a displeased expression, 'Here there is only me, a 【Second-Class Research Monkey】, coming to Pinokangni to complete my graduation project: an atavistic experiment based on 【meme】.'"