Chapter 29: Chapter 29: The Essence of the Combat Program: Hosting the Abyssal Virus

"The so-called ’battle program’ is a mutation formed by the Umbral Virus combining with an organism’s genes."

"This way, the Umbral Virus can live as a parasite inside the human body without actively harming it."

"However, the concentration of the Umbral Virus cannot be too high. Otherwise, this parasitic relationship will completely alter their genes, turning the task force into Mutated Zombies."

Qi Suian analyzed the data extracted from Geng Fu. As for the other six members of the task force, their deaths were not so peaceful.

After all, he was self-taught and couldn’t compare to real scientists. Besides, he subjected himself to all sorts of destructive modifications and experiments, so he naturally wouldn’t treat his test subjects any better.

That was why he went through them so quickly.

"You... just kill me..." Geng Fu paid no attention to what Qi Suian was saying. All he wanted was a quick death.

Qi Suian’s experiments were simply too agonizing. The torture made him wish for death.

Especially since they both possessed the Umbral Virus. Unlike a normal survivor, this made him far more valuable to Qi Suian.

"Want to die? We can talk about that after you’re worthless to me."

"But I am curious," Qi Suian asked, "when you transformed into a rhino-man, did you not feel that something was wrong?"

But Geng Fu didn’t answer, merely continuing to mutter, "Kill me, kill me..."

’His Spirit has broken?’ Qi Suian reached out to check. It really had.

Because his physique was too strong, the anesthetics he had on hand were useless.

Using a suppression serum would have interfered with his research, so he had been dissecting him directly. On top of that, he hadn’t taken any precautions during the various experiments.

This had caused Geng Fu’s mind to shatter.

’As for how to control them? Simple. Just use the Divine Purification Force Field (Umbral) at its lowest setting.’

At its lowest power, the force field couldn’t destroy the Umbral Virus, but suppressing it wasn’t a problem.

Only then could Qi Suian conduct his research smoothly.

Ignoring Geng Fu’s muttering, Qi Suian continued his research.

’This parasitic approach is quite clever. Although the battle program is a lesser version of the Immortal Surgery, it still retains many core functions.’

’With their help, I can upgrade my E-rank talent to D-rank.’

In the early stages, talents were relatively easy to upgrade; it was just a matter of small refinements.

However, the higher a talent’s rank, the greater the difficulty in upgrading it.

For instance, he had managed the F-to-E-rank upgrade without much effort, and that was with very little knowledge of the Umbral Virus.

But he had been stuck on the E-to-D-rank upgrade until now.

For one, he lacked sufficient data, and for another, he didn’t have a viable path for advancement.

Things were different now. With the forced cooperation of Geng Fu and the others, Qi Suian finally had a clue about how to proceed.

As for anything more, that would require time.

He estimated that he could complete the research for his D-rank talent upgrade in about three days.

BEEP—

Qi Suian’s hands paused. The device monitoring Geng Fu’s vital signs had just alerted him.

"He’s dead."

"Consider yourself liberated," Qi Suian said softly.

He wasn’t surprised by this. He had estimated that Geng Fu would only last this long. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

It would be rude of him to keep living.

’A corpse isn’t as valuable as a living subject, but it hasn’t started to decay yet, so it should still be able...’ Before Qi Suian could finish his thought, the Umbral Virus in Geng Fu’s body began to flare with activity.

’After death, the Umbral Virus inside the body expands, ignoring the force field’s weak suppression and turning the corpse into a Mutated Zombie in a short period.’

’Based on the data, it will be a tier-four Mutated Zombie at a minimum, and that’s just its initial level. It will continue to get stronger.’

He had just finished this thought when the tier-four Mutated Zombie abruptly sat up and lunged at him.

But before it could reach him, the AI increased the power of the Divine Purification Force Field (Umbral), though not to its maximum.

In an instant, the tier-four Mutated Zombie was suppressed. The activity of the Umbral Virus in its body dropped rapidly, entering a deep state of dormancy.

’Once it loses its activity, it reverts to being a corpse.’

Qi Suian examined it further. ’It’s a corpse, but its durability is remarkably high.’

’If I’m not mistaken, even the strongest survivors at this stage would die in a single encounter.’

’As for a tier-three Mutated Zombie, the top echelon of survivors could probably handle one, but only with powerful talents, items and equipment from the apocalypse game, and proper planning.’

A tier-five zombie, however, was a qualitative leap—it would have gained sentience.

Even a large group of survivors would be no match for it.

"AI, begin deactivation," Qi Suian said.

Since Geng Fu was no longer of any use, Qi Suian naturally prepared to dispose of him.

If he hadn’t turned into a zombie, he could have just been tossed outside.

But now Geng Fu wasn’t just a zombie, he was a tier-four Mutated Zombie. If he let that out, what if it came back to take a bite out of him?

The AI adjusted the output, controlling the intensity and range of the Divine Purification Force Field (Umbral). In an instant, the zombified Geng Fu was turned to ash.

’That said, why did this happen to Geng Fu, but not the other six members of the Rhino Task Force? None of them zombified after death.’

’Is it because he was the captain? Did he receive a deeper level of modification in the Rhino battle program?’ This thought occurred to Qi Suian. ’A captain would surely be treated differently from his subordinates.’

’This is good news.’

After dealing with Geng Fu, Qi Suian began planning the modifications to upgrade his own talent.

The core component would, once again, be the Umbral Virus.

’A shame. I’m still not able to modify my own cerebral cortex to obtain the S-rank Puppet Master’s directed Spirit interference frequency.’

’Otherwise, if I took the risk, I might be able to reach an even higher level.’

Unlike with the mutant adrenaline, Qi Suian lacked the proper conditions to modify his cerebral cortex. At the very least, he had to resolve the hidden dangers of the Umbral Virus first.

Although Qi Suian seemed to be using the Umbral Virus with ease, the underlying risks had never been resolved.

If he reached full infection, he would still turn into a Zombie Dominator.

His body’s limitations had prevented him from proceeding.

If he succeeded, Qi Suian would be able to delve into another domain of the Umbral Virus: the Spirit.

Until now, his research on the Umbral Virus had mostly been based on the physical body. Even the Death Potion had enhanced the Spirit at the cost of destroying the body.

The result was a temporary boost to his Spirit, but in reality, it was just a side effect of stimulating the brain.

’Well, better not to overthink it. Not unless I get my hands on another survivor with an S-rank or higher Spirit-type talent.’

’Or... I could make Chunyu Bao an experimental subject.’ Qi Suian always had a backup plan.