"So, may I ask, what is the principle behind this special bullet?" A big shot sitting in the audience asked the question that everyone else—including Sun Hang and Yang Lian in front of the screen—wanted to ask.

The big shot wore a sharply tailored military uniform. The seven rows of medals on his chest and the glittering stars on his shoulder epaulettes testified to his significant position; a simple remark from such a person could send aftershocks through the upper echelons of the Xiazhou Federation.

Now, he rested his chin on his fist, watching the stage with keen interest at those bullets painted in different colors.

"According to research from Dubhe Tower, the mimetic frequency of anomalies is not random and chaotic. In fact, like the periodic table of elements, existing memes' quantity and types can be calculated; however, the computational workload is enormous. Even the most advanced supercomputer today would need tens of thousands of years to accomplish this task," Mr. Deng spoke eloquently.

"Go straight to the point," the big shot said again.

"Understood." Mr. Deng nodded, "Since there is a pattern to follow regarding meme frequency and the possibility of 'human editing' exists, we can absolutely deduce and determine which segment of a target anomaly's meme grants its special ability. For example, anomalies like C499 with exceptional restoration abilities have a similar segment within their meme, granting them seemingly immortal powers."

"Continue."

"We spent four years and conducted more than two thousand experiments to determine this meme's frequency," Mr. Deng continued, "Then, we spent another two years locating an entirely opposite frequency in other anomalies to neutralize this immortal meme."

"Neutralize? Did you say neutralize?" Another person in the audience spoke out. This person wore a dirty lab coat, and his messy gray hair was completely disheveled. He wore glasses with tortoiseshell frames, with thick tape wrapped around the frame—a representation true to older literati descriptions. However, in Dubhe Tower, where geniuses are everywhere, such old fellows are often truly formidable characters.

"A stroke of genius!" The old fellow seemed somewhat excited, "I had this idea when I was young, but the analysis equipment was too outdated, making it difficult to clearly parse each meme segment...Tell me, how did you do it?"

"Actually, it all started with a coincidence." Mr. Deng smiled at the audience. "The origin was a 'confrontation experiment,' where we placed copies of C499 and another anomaly in the same scenario, forcing them to attack each other and collect data...We discovered that there were three anomalies whose attacks on C499 (its copies) caused damage that wouldn't self-heal or heal very slowly."

"And then?"

"After comparing the memes of both step by step, we found two segments that are completely 'opposed' in frequency. When these two segments are fused, they exhibit an 'annihilation' phenomenon similar to matter and antimatter contact. But meme annihilation doesn't release energy, so the safety of these special bullets is undisputed."

Mr. Deng paused, then continued, "Manufacturing the bullets took us only four months, while analyzing and comparing various meme segments took us a full seven years."

"What about the other three bullets? How are they different?" The big shot from the military asked again.

"The other three bullets represent three directions we plan to explore next," Mr. Deng said, "They target 'special anomalies without physical entities,' 'anomalies with extremely strong physical defense capabilities,' and..."

Mr. Deng deliberately paused for a few seconds, piquing everyone's interest before slowly saying, "Rule-type anomalies."

"Using bullets to eliminate rule-type anomalies?" Yang Lian was taken aback. "That's...impossible, isn't it?"

"I think she's just painting a pretty picture," Sun Hang commented, "In reality, they spent seven years to research just this one type of special bullet...The other three are still only at the 'New Folder' stage. According to her, finding a way to counter anomalies by comparing meme segments sounds rigid...It's okay for known anomalies, but suppose the enemy is a brand-new anomaly or a mutated version that's completely transformed, she can't expect it to wait before attacking until she's prepared, right?"

"Uh..." Yang Lian glanced at Sun Hang, although she wanted to criticize why someone like him who can hardly recall a few lines of the anomaly sequence dared to speak so recklessly against industry experts, but upon reflection, indeed Sun Hang's words weren't wrong...Perhaps this is what people mean when they say 'rough words but not rough logic.'

The idea of "meme neutralization" sounds beautiful, but the feasible space in practice is not large.

It's like prescribing medicine accurately; when a disease has been thoroughly researched, it can be cured effectively...but what if a brand new disease suddenly appears?

Just before a new medicine has been developed, doesn't it mean patients can only wait to die?

"The other three types of ammunition are named 'Exorcism,' 'Steel Severance,' and 'Destiny Inversion'..."

Before Mr. Deng could finish, the military big shot interrupted her, "For the other three types of ammunition, how much time do you need before they can be produced?"

This big shot seemed to understand the gap between reality and ideal, and the expectation in his eyes had diminished significantly compared to earlier.

"'Exorcism' is expected in five years, 'Steel Severance' in three years, and 'Destiny Inversion'..." Mr. Deng's eyes suddenly appeared uncertain, "A conservative estimate of about twenty to thirty years...But if the project team's scale is expanded, and more research funding is provided, the time can be significantly reduced..."

"Let's do this, we had a brief discussion just now, we'll add ten first-level researchers and twenty-five second-level researchers to your research team, as for the selection, you can coordinate with the management of Dubhe Tower yourself. Research funding will temporarily be increased to three hundred percent, and permission levels raised by one...I hope you can show me samples of 'Exorcism' and 'Steel Severance' soon," the military big shot said, "In addition, 'Li Fire' will be mass-produced immediately, and the ammunition will be selectively distributed to the special forces preparing to head to the Shuzhou Region for practical tests. Once proven to be of practical significance, it will be promptly promoted throughout the military."

Sun Hang noticed that this big shot never mentioned 'Destiny Inversion,' evidently, he had little hope for it.

To break rule-type anomalies with bullets, the bullet's propellant would presumably have to be the meme of a rule-type anomaly, right?

"Yang Lian, has the Federation successfully contained a rule-type anomaly?" Sun Hang turned to ask.

"...To my recollection, probably not." Yang Lian shook her head, "Currently, the publicly known figure possessing the meme of a rule-type anomaly is the hunter codenamed 'Bao Si.'"

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