# Chapter 1867: Searching for the Hibernation Pod
"But as a small comfort, Sample 93 successfully mutated a gene that can curb the occurrence of Black Thorn Disease, and the gene potion shows promise."
Dr. Joyce said as he removed his gloves, revealing the back of his hand already covered with black veins, and spoke to the camera: "Unfortunately, I won't live to see that day. I hope whoever sees this message can continue completing the gene potion."
What followed was his accumulated experience and the detours he had taken during his research on Black Thorn Disease. He also displayed relevant materials and proposed a method of using special environments to influence gene mutations—such as experimenting one by one with effective ways to induce gene mutations. This was considered a relatively controllable treatment method in today's game world. For example, some players in certain zones would fall ill under environmental influences, while others would undergo special evolution. The results weren't always bad, so some people tried to replicate the process to achieve good outcomes.
Of course, this treatment method wasn't ideal, and ordinary people were reluctant to use it because there were too many uncontrollable factors. Even if the treatment goal was achieved, individual differences could produce other adverse changes. Therefore, it was mostly used in preliminary experiments.
As for the origin of Black Thorn Disease, Dr. Joyce also provided relatively clear experimental results: when the environment of Zone 010 changed, a certain underground ore underwent a special transformation. The sudden large-dose radiation interference was the root cause of people falling ill, and it had a high hereditary rate.
However, people currently living in Zone 010 didn't need to worry, because that element had already dissipated. He had only contracted the disease by using instruments to simulate the environment based on the ore he had found. Additionally, before contracting Black Thorn Disease, he had already undergone multiple gene mutations, successively contracting over a dozen genetic diseases. Some could be controlled with gene potions, while others had no suitable medication.
Chang Shoujie's eyes were red as he stared at the person in the video who still maintained a smile. Even after the video finished playing, he couldn't look away for a long time.
Xu Huo quietly waited a few minutes before hearing him say: "Dr. Joyce repeatedly emphasized the defective gene coding in the video. The coding should be a hint. Translated, it can represent six coordinates in sequence."
"It should be to prevent the chip from being lost or destroyed, so he didn't use the mutated gene coding that curbs Black Thorn Disease. As long as I find Sample 93 and take it out for testing, the defective gene coding already exists, and I'll be able to discover the clues he left behind."
"If he did leave clues, then they lie along the route generated by these six coordinates."
Xu Huo took out the Zone 010 map and had him mark the locations. He found that these six places were scattered across the map, completely unrelated to each other. The route covered an extensive area.
However, all six coordinates were close to safe zones.
"Did Dr. Joyce create the clues based on the coding?" he raised an eyebrow slightly.
"You're really smart." Chang Shoujie rewound the video to a certain point and paused it, pointing to a piece of paper in the corner that showed a hibernation pod design drawing. "I remember Dr. Joyce once told me that the sand underground in Zone 010 flows slowly. If he encountered danger, using a hibernation pod to hide underground would be a good escape method. I also jokingly agreed that when I had money, I would give him one to save his life."
Xu Huo immediately searched for hibernation pods and quickly found one that could achieve movement through high-frequency vibration.
"Since the positions were preset in advance, Melissa could be inside a hibernation pod?"
Chang Shoujie nodded. He held the same thought.
"Time is of the essence," Xu Huo said while packing up the terminal device. "Dr. Joyce's information should be available to CK12 players. If Dr. Joyce wanted to obtain a hibernation pod, he would most likely have to go through them. Now that Melissa's existence has been made public, the CK12 people might already know about the secret signal you arranged with him."
After all, Dr. Joyce and Chang Shoujie had been separated for quite some time. Since he had stayed with CK12 for so long, they must have become very familiar with each other. Another piece of evidence was that if the CK12 players didn't know about this clue, this instance would be almost impossible to clear. Not everyone could coincidentally find their way to Chang Shoujie. The normal process would be to first search for clues near CK12, then find the CK12 people, fish for them like looking for a needle in a haystack, and only then extract the correct clues from the information.
Of course, there was also a lucky method, since all six coordinates were near safe zones. Perhaps a sudden massive sandstorm could flip Melissa out.
Chang Shoujie nodded. "Dr. Joyce wouldn't entrust Melissa to the CK12 people, which means the CK12 people are very dangerous to Melissa. We need to find Melissa first."
Xu Huo stuffed him into the picture frame, put away the RV, and said to the people outside: "Someone give me a hand."
Deng Xiahei and Zeng Zhao immediately stepped forward.
Considering the economic situation of Zone 010 players and the space required for equipment necessary for survival, Xu Huo screened several hibernation pods at reasonable prices, chose one with faster speed, bought it directly, and had Deng Xiahei and the others debug it before having the robot bury it underground.
"Melissa wasn't put into a hibernation pod and thrown underground, was she?" Deng Xiahei had a sudden epiphany and said in shock: "Two or three years—can she still be alive? I've never heard of such advanced technology!"
The others were also surprised, but seeing Xu Huo silently calculating the movement speed of the hibernation pod through the sand, they didn't say much.
Xu Huo took the movement distance over ten minutes, then calculated based on the route of the six coordinates over two-plus years where the hibernation pod might have reached.
Estimating that the hibernation pod might be moving from the third coordinate toward the fourth, Xu Huo circled the area on Deng Xiahei's map. "Go here first."
"Wait, are we really going to find Melissa?" Juan Er hurried two steps forward. "How did you come to the conclusion that Melissa is underground? This is too unbelievable!"
"Time is tight," Xu Huo didn't elaborate. "Whether we can find Melissa before the Zone 010 people depends on our speed."
These words immediately heightened the tension. The others stopped talking and used teleportation items to head to the area he had marked on the map.
Because the circled area was quite large, although Deng Xiahei and the others didn't arrive at the same time, they still spread out to search underground.
This was a massive undertaking, as they had no idea how deep underground the hibernation pod was set to go. They could only expand their search range as much as possible. However, after two days of searching day and night, they didn't find the hibernation pod first—instead, they encountered players from the Sand Sea Safe Zone.
The two groups knew immediately upon seeing each other why the other party was there. No words were needed—first, they had to fight to the death!