Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Butterfly Effect, a Trajectory Different from the Regressor’s Memory

"The butterfly effect is pretty severe," Qi Suian said in a low voice.

The way things were unfolding now was completely different from his memories as a reincarnator.

In the original timeline, the Watchman Morning Company’s Source of Profound Virus hadn’t fallen into the hands of the Divine Prayer Association. Instead, it had fallen into the hands of Qi Suian, the Zombie Dominator.

As a result, even a hidden power like the Divine Prayer Association was wiped out by the Zombie Dominator without so much as a ripple.

But things were different now. Because Qi Suian had not become the Zombie Dominator, the Divine Prayer Association successfully weathered the initial adaptation period of its Divine Spirit Container Technology, causing the course of events to change.

The entire world was now divided into three factions.

First was the Divine Prayer Association, which Qi Suian belonged to. It was comprised of Zombie People who possessed both a human consciousness and a second consciousness—a group of humans wearing zombie skin, created through the Divine Spirit Container Technology.

Then there was the native zombie faction. It was fragmented, chaotic, and its members fought among themselves, but they were the front-line force resisting the Divine Prayer Association.

The last faction was the survivors of the apocalypse game. This faction was even more scattered. The native zombie faction at least had some combat power, but the survivors couldn’t gain any traction at all.

It was the faction suffering the most catastrophic casualties.

The first to bear the brunt were the particularly promising survivors. Zombie Chunyu Hu considered them potential bearers of Celestial Fate, so every last one of them was captured and eaten alive.

As for Qi Suian, he was just an insignificant, disposable character who played little part in this one-sided slaughter.

’Provide technical support?’ In reality, he had just partitioned out the access rights to the Immortal Satellite.

From start to finish, that was the only thing Zombie Chunyu Hu valued him for. He was of little help in any other area.

’The apocalypse game should react, right? If it doesn’t, even if the survivors don’t all die, there won’t be many left.’

Qi Suian honestly didn’t understand the apocalypse game’s logic. How could it still sit back and watch at a time like this?

The survivor faction was the largest yet the weakest, showing all the signs of being used as farmed blood-stock by the Divine Prayer Association.

Although these Zombie People possessed human consciousness, their minds were influenced by their second consciousness and had already deviated from the norm.

They were still zombies in essence, so it wasn’t just a matter of thought; their physical instincts remained.

[Mandatory Quest: Kill the Corpse King]

Suddenly, a quest panel popped up before his eyes, one he was forced to accept.

For Qi Suian, however, it didn’t matter whether it was mandatory or not. He was a violator, enjoying only some of the apocalypse game’s conveniences.

Even obliteration couldn’t touch him, let alone a so-called mandatory quest.

He clicked to open it and found the game’s rule conflict rather amusing.

The quest was to kill the Corpse King, Chunyu Hu. Failure meant obliteration, but there was no reward for success.

It was a purely thankless job.

However, the rule conflict was quickly resolved.

[Penalty: Obliteration]

[Reward: Revocation of Violator status and reinstatement of Survivor status]

[Time Limit: 24 hours]

"Seriously? You’d think ’Survivor’ status was some kind of grand prize," Qi Suian was left speechless.

Survivors did have many conveniences, like item slots, skills, and so on, but the apocalypse game was just too damn stingy.

Even the top-tier survivors were pitifully equipped.

In contrast, Qi Suian, the violator, was living a better life than any survivor.

’It’s come to me for help. Don’t tell me it’s at its wit’s end.’ Qi Suian thought about it and realized it was a real possibility.

If the apocalypse game were truly that powerful, how could it fail to obliterate even him?

If it were just a bit stronger, it would have directly erased a balance-breaking BOSS like Zombie Chunyu Hu instead of choosing to further exploit its own players.

’Even if I’m going to kill him, I’m not doing it on your orders.’ Of course, Qi Suian planned to kill Chunyu Hu, but his opponent was already a Corpse Emperor. He only had one chance.

If the Floating Cannon’s Dark Energy Beam missed, Qi Suian would have to run for his life.

The Floating Cannon had enough attack power, but that was all it had going for it. In other aspects, it was lacking.

Ignoring the countdown on the panel, he began to calculate how to best leverage his "protagonist’s halo."

What else could he do? It wasn’t like he could actually rely on raw power to win.

What was the difference between that and suicide?

Without this protagonist’s halo, he was just an unremarkable, ordinary person, not some powerhouse.

In the current situation, his Floating Cannon was probably the only thing that could kill the Corpse Emperor.

As for becoming fully infected and turning into a Zombie Dominator, there was no time to develop his power.

Did it really think he could just transform and instantly become a Dominator-level boss zombie?

His growth would be fast, but it wouldn’t be instant. Right now, he was right under the enemy’s nose. He’d probably be discovered before he even had a chance to power up.

A protagonist’s halo wasn’t omnipotent, or things would never have gotten to this point.

So, the best methods were to dumb the enemy down and launch a sneak attack.

It was impossible to kill him otherwise.

As for regretting not striking first to get the Source of Profound Virus, he didn’t feel that way at all.

How could he have known the Source of Profound Virus was so powerful? Besides, it was an unknown entity that drew him in. His first reaction should be vigilance, not a desire to possess it.

What if it had just usurped his body?

’Hiss... That couldn’t really be possible, could it?’ Qi Suian suddenly thought of the second consciousness.

’Inside Zombie Chunyu Hu’s body... I remember there’s another consciousness, right?’

’If the Source of Profound Virus chose to help Chunyu Hu, between the two of them, it definitely wouldn’t choose the human consciousness. It would choose the second consciousness, the one belonging to the zombie.’

’Judging by his behavior, Chunyu Hu’s knowledge of all these secrets must come from the whispers of that second consciousness.’

’If something is guiding all of this, then that would explain his meteoric rise in power.’

Qi Suian’s primary suspect was the former core of the Divine Prayer Association: the Profound God.

’The possibility of a "god" existing in this world just shot up dramatically.’

’But this so-called god could also be an entity like life from Outer Space, or a collective consciousness of the virus.’

’It’s only because this entity is so powerful that it’s considered a god.’

’Aside from my Celestial Fate: Profound, everything else is pretty scientific... right?’ Qi Suian’s confidence wavered.

He hadn’t been able to find out much.

"A survivor has fled into the area under your jurisdiction. Deal with it." Zombie Chunyu Hu’s voice came through his earpiece.

Now that he was integrated into the organization, they wouldn’t use something like a time imprint to communicate. Modern equipment was far more convenient and cost-effective.

"Understood. I’ll deal with it at once," Qi Suian immediately agreed. He suspected this survivor might be the very opportunity he needed to kill Zombie Chunyu Hu.