Book 1 Chapter 23:Superhuman Warrior! (Arc Finale)
Allowing himself an entire day"s rest enabledYe Chen"s augmented body to mend considerably. He was now able to leave the bedand perform some light activities. As long as he kept his range of motion to aminimum, there wasn"t a risk of reopening his wounds.
"It"s the final day."
Ye Chen inwardly muttered as he gazed beyondthe window and into the skies above.
The sky was blue and the clouds were fair.
Ye Chen spent quite a while in silence.Eventually, the door opened and his sister entered the room wearing a lavendercoloured one-piece dress. Seeing her brother gazing through the window, Ye Zhusoftened her gaze as she approached him. Speaking softly, she asked: "What"s onyour mind?"
Ye Chen slowly withdrew his gaze from the sky andturned to look at his sister. After a moment"s silence, he breathed a sighbefore saying: "It"s nothing. Anyway, has Prof. Mo Feng been successful inextracting that mutant ant"s gene cells?"
Ye Zhu nodded her head. Curious, she inquired: "Isthere a reason why you wanted those gene cells?"
Ye Chen gave a light smile while shaking hishead, offering no explanation.
The process of becoming a genome warrior carriedgreat risks, especially during the early stages where scientific knowledgeregarding the proper procedures were sorely lacking. Under such conditions, theodds of dying were nine out of ten. Naturally, he decided against lettinganyone in on such specifics. Talking about it wouldn"t improve his odds, so whywould he speak knowing it"ll only worrying them excessively?
Ye Zhu lightly creased her brow. She couldvaguely tell that there was something weighing on her brother"s mind. Yet if hewasn"t willing to divulge anything, she wouldn"t force the issue. When peoplekept something from others, they naturally had their own reasons. It"s best notto pry further.
"Come, join me for a walk." Ye Chen got off hisbed and put on a pair of slippers. With a smile, he pulled opened the door andexited the room.
Ye Zhu stared at her brother"s back as he leftbefore heaving a frustrated sigh and followed behind him.
Outside the room was a vacant and silentcorridor. Although the lights were bright, there wasn"t even a trace of anotherhuman close by, making the surrounding silence seem chilling and oppressive.
"Right now, we"re in the residential area ofthis research facility. The lounge is this way." Ye Zhu pointed to the left ofthe corridor. All the while, she gave Ye Chen a detailed explanation of theoverall layout in the facility as they walked.
Ye Chen quietly listened to her voice that wassweet and clear like an oriole"s song. As his heart began to calm, he couldfeel the tension of slaughter that was repressed within his body, graduallysubside.
Through the silent corridor, the two movedforward at a relaxing pace.
Within Ye Chen"s eyes, there hung an almost imperceptibleglint of desolation. Every time he acted, he always took the worst casescenario into consideration. This time was no different. Taking into accountthe modest equipment within this research facility, the process of awakeninghimself to become a genome warrior had a mortality rate as high as ninetypercent!
If he failed during the awakening, he wouldundoubtedly die!
Were he to succeed, it would elevate hisstanding to never seen before heights. Having a power like that during theearly stages of the apocalypse guaranteed him the ability to protect everyone aroundhim. An insurmountable incident such as their encounter with that demongalehound would never come to pa.s.s ever again.
Ye Chen was no gambler, yet the world and fateitself seem to be forcing his hand into being one.
The strength of 31 men which he possessedduring the dark era"s second month and first year wasn"t enough to offset thedangers that loomed ahead. He"d probably manage somehow to live past the secondmonth, but the third month will plunge him into a living nightmare. The fourthmonth, fifth….
The strength of every mutant freak out therewill continue to grow more and more terrifying!
From the memories of his previous life, Ye Chenrecalled the birth of the first genome warrior during the second month. Soonafter during the third month, the army began establishing a base inside thecity. This was the turning point where humanity"s redevelopment gained moretraction, paving the way for the birth of many more genome warriors.
In the later stages of the apocalypse, almostevery living human was a genome warrior.
One thing in particular which he was aware ofwas the fact that earlier on, it was relatively easier to integrate with themore volatile species of mutant freaks. Later on when the genes evolvedfurther, it"d become too violent and ferocious to tame.
"If I were to perish.…"
Ye Chen"s heart hung with a trace of grief. Theone thing which he wasn"t willing to leave behind was his sister Ye Zhu.
When a person is made to face their own death,he will undoubtedly discover many things which he is unable to let go of.
The two walked along the corridor and continuedto advance.
Not long after, they came upon a s.p.a.ciouslounge, lit brightly by some lavish looking chandeliers. Ye Zhu led her brotherinto an elevator, taking them towards bas.e.m.e.nt level 1.
*Ding!
The elevator doors slid open.
"Hey, are these all zombies?"
"How could there be so many of them?"
Yue Heng and Bai Long"s voice resounded crisplythrough the silent bas.e.m.e.nt floor. Ye Chen looked around; it appears that thisbas.e.m.e.nt floor was structured like a miniature factory. Throughout the entirefloor were numerous transparent containers filled with some kind of nutrientsolution. Soaked within were a mult.i.tude of men and women who were completelynude.
Ye Zhu gazed at the transparent containersaround them. With a hint of fright written across her face, she said: "Thesepeople were previously test subjects within this research facility. When thevirus broke out, they all turned into zombies."
Ye Chen nodded his head. As the two walked pastone of the transparent containers, the naked woman soaked inside suddenlyopened her eyes and coldly glared at their backs….
Further within, Yue Heng and Bai Long were followingbehind Prof. Mo Feng. The both of them were gazing restlessly all around, eyesfilled with curiosity. Bai Long was considerable more reserved in hisreactions. After all, he was someone who graduated from Qing Hua University withtop honours. The man took pride in being someone of considerable insight;therefore he kept his composure well.
On the other hand, Yue Heng was like a countryb.u.mpkin on his first trip in the city, sizing up every new thing he cameacross. He was just an ordinary person who never pursued a higher educationafter graduating from high school and went straight to becoming a workingmember of society. He was deeply engrossed with such a scene which one mightonly find while watching a movie.
"What are you guys up to?" Ye Zhu asked as shecuriously gazed at the three men.
Bai Long turned around, immediately spotting YeChen behind his sister. Surprised, he said: "You"re already fine enough toleave the bed?"
Ye Chen lightly nodded his head.
Bai Long chuckled as he said: "We"re followingthis distinguished professor in his experiments. The madman said that he"d finda way to make a vaccine for the virus. He specifically begged for me to be hissenior consultant. As you all know, with me being an honour student whograduated from Qing Hua University, there"s nothing between astronomy andgeography which I"m not an expert on. This lucky rascal sure picked the rightman for the job." After saying so, he gave Prof. Mo Feng a knowing wink.
Prof. Mo Feng merely gave him a glance andignored him completely.
Yue Heng who was standing beside, objected bysaying: "Weren"t you the who begged Prof. Mo Feng to show you his lab?"
Bai Long stared daggers at Yue Heng, saying: "Wouldyou have died if you kept your mouth shut?"
"I won"t. I"d just feel awfully uncomfortable."
"Die!"
"Why don"t you?"
"Cause I"m more handsome."
Ye Chen gave those two clowns a glance beforeshaking his head as he walked towards the professor. As he approached, henoticed the mult.i.tude of vials filled with various gene materials, cells andviruses strewn across the professor"s sizable work table.
Currently, Prof. Mo Feng was using a syringe toextract some kind of red liquid from a vial. After doing so, he stepped over towardsa platform with a zombie lying atop a bed. With pale skin, milky green eyes andlong, sharp nails, the zombie laid there with its hands and feet bound tightlyto the bed.
"What"re you doing?" Bai Long curiously asked.
Prof. Mo Feng was expressionless as he ignoredhis question.
Ye Chen walked over and picked up the vial filledwith red liquid, written below were the words: blood bacilli.
Observing the professor"s actions, he furrowedhis brows while shaking his head, saying: "It"s no use; zombies are cla.s.sifiedas "dark" creatures. Blood bacilli won"t have any effect on its gene cells. Returning their humanity is simply impossible.It"ll only absorb the bacteria as a source of sustenance, making it moreviolent."
Prof. Mo Feng raised his head with a trace of astonishmentin his eyes. After staring at Ye Chen"s heavily injured body for a moment, hecreased his brows and resumed injecting the zombie with his syringe.
"Rrrrargh!"
Immediately after administering the blood bacilli,the soundly sleeping zombie awakened. Its eyes flared with bloodl.u.s.t as itbegan a mad struggle to break free. Directing a ravenous glare at theprofessor, it snarled viciously while rattling the chains that bound its body.
Ye Chen shook his head but said nothing.
With furrowed brows, Prof. Mo Feng retrievedanother syringe filled with blue liquid and injected its contents into thezombie. Soon, the violently struggling zombie began to calm and eventually fallback into slumber.
Prof. Mo Feng threw the syringe that waspreviously used to administer the blood bacilli straight into the trashcan.Creasing his brows, he urged: "How did you know?"
"Many scientists have done the same, not one ofthem was successful." Ye Chen heaved a sigh. In his previous life, similarexperiments were performed across every base within a city. Of course, everysingle attempt failed to bear results.
Prof. Mo Feng no longer said anything else. Hehad always been a man of few words. He walked over towards his work table andretrieved a vial filled with black liquid. Pa.s.sing it over to Ye Chen, he said:"This is the gene cells of that mutant ant you wanted."
Ye Chen scrutinized the vial. After ascertainingits contents, he gladly accepted it.
"Let"s go grab something to eat!" Bai Longpatted his belly while smiling towards the rest of them.
Ye Chen nodded his head while placing a syringeinto his pocket. After turning around and taking a few steps to leave, he abruptlystopped as though he suddenly recalled something. Facing the young professor,he said: "I advise you to kill off all the zombies within this facility. Aftertoday, their strength will increase significantly. By then, these containerswon"t be able to hold them any longer."
Prof. Mo Feng"s pupils contracted. After directinga scrutinizing gaze at Ye Chen, he nodded his head.
Ye Chen said nothing more and left the bas.e.m.e.ntfloor along with his sister and Bai Long for the kitchen. Prof. Mo Feng staredoff towards where Ye Chen was standing for quite a long time. His eyesreflected a deep sense of contemplation. Eventually, he walked towards thetransparent containers and glanced over the slumbering zombies inside. In atone devoid of any emotion, the professor uttered: "You"ve all lost your worth."
"Rrrargh!"
"Hissss!"
The naked men and women soaked within thecontainers suddenly opened their eyes. The serene expressions on their facesinstantly morphed into a visage of savagery. Their bloodthirsty eyescollectively focused upon Prof. Mo Feng, flaring with an insatiable l.u.s.t tofeed upon his flesh.
With complete indifference, the professor walkedover and flicked a red switch which caused the nutrient solution within thecontainers to drain off towards an unknown location. Soon after, a yellow liquidbegan flooding the containers.
Immediately upon contact, the zombies beganemitting piercing shrieks. Under the continuous shower of yellow liquid, thezombies began a mad struggle to break out of their confinements. Yet, to noavail. As the last of them succ.u.mbed to the ground, they laid there, completelymotionless….
In the evening, just after having dinner, YeChen returned to his room without anyone accompanying him. Through the window,he gazed at the crescent moon that hung in the night"s sky. The pale moonlightpierced through the window and shone its mystifying luminescence upon Ye Chen,causing a tall shadow to stretch out behind him.
After a long silence, Ye Chen took out the vialfilled with mutant ant gene cells and the syringe he pocketed earlier. With thesyringe loaded up with mutant ant gene cells, he directed it towards a vein onhis arm and injected.
The contents in the syringe were slowly emptiedinto his bloodstream.
Every moment through this excruciating processseem to drag out for centuries as he battled between life and death. However,Ye Chen was able to keep his heart calm. With the syringe now empty, he droppedit to the floor and sat on his bed.
*Ba-dump! Ba-dump!
The silence permeating the room was so profoundthat it was frightening. The only thing he could hear was the sound of hisheartbeat thumping in his mind.
After keeping quiet for an extended period, YeChen gradually began to feel his body transform. An unbelievable amount of heatstarted to spread out from his abdomen, causing him to break out inperspiration. Steadily, he walked towards his backpack and took out a picturefrom within. This was a photograph depicting the image of an entire family. Onboth sides of the young couple, a boy and a little girl were smiling cheerfully….
"Dad, Mom."
Holding the photograph, Ye Chen quietly criedout.