22 Questions

5 hours later.

Long Yu's closed eyes suddenly twitched. He has finally awoken from his unconscious state.

As he opened his eyes, his vision slowly adjusted to the dark surroundings. It was already night time, and the parking lot of the supermarket was deathly quiet.

Far in the distance, Long Yu could see red and blue lights flashing. It seems the police has cordoned off the entire area.

Taking out a pair of military binoculars, he turned on the thermal vision and saw a few figures patrolling the area.

After making sure that those were actual people instead of zombies, he heaved a sigh of relief.

It seems that the police force was still functioning, which means that Nanjing city has yet to turn into a complete hellhole.

Fortunately, the Black Shark's windows were not visible from the outside and the engine was also not on.

This saved Long Yu the trouble of having to go through any troublesome interrogations from the cops.

As Long Yu shifted his legs, he felt something on his lap. He looked down and saw Xixi sleeping in a fetal position, with her head resting on his lap.

'So it wasn't a dream after all…' he shook his head.

Exchanging for a small blanket from the system, he carefully covered Xixi's body with it.

Long Yu was unclear how he got in the car. The only thing he remembers was him passing out after using the serum. The only clue he had was Xixi.

Since she was still sleeping, he decided that it was not to late to ask her after she has woken up.

Long Yu looked behind him and was glad to see that his supplies were still there. Now that doomsday has started, these supplies have become even more essential for his survival.

He was sure that once the situation today hits the news, the supplies in supermarkets and shops would dwindle fast.

Although he could always exchange for more from the system, his currency wasn't infinite after all.

Calming his mind, Long Yu started to sort out his thoughts. There were many questions that he wanted to ask from the system.

'System, you still there?' he asked in his mind.

[Yes] the system replied in its usual mechanical voice.

Although it was a pointless question, it gave Long Yu reassurance nonetheless.

'Mind explaining whatever the hell just happened this afternoon?'

[System has determined the origin of the cause. Would host like to exchange for the full details?]

Long Yu accepted it right away. Even though he had already received a brief answer during the chaos, he wanted a more detailed explanation.

After looking through the exchanged information that was provided in text mode, the events could be broken down like this;

_______________________

An experiment was conducted in an underground location XXXX, by injecting the blood cells from the brain of a newly mutated ape, into human test subjects.

During the experiment, only one male test subject showed reaction to the injection. The results were a pleasant surprise to the scientists.

The male test subject started showing slight increase in strength and speed after the first hour.

Another 4 hours later, he had exceeded the strength of an average male by 50%. Furthermore, his recovery speed from injuries had also improved tremendously.

What the scientists were most happy about, was that, the test subject had yet to show any adverse side effects. The were no signs of any aggressive personality like the mutated ape.

Having received the go ahead from the top brass, they gave him another dose of injection, which was probably the stupidest thing they could have done.

After a full 8 hours passed from the initial injection, no scientists or guards were alive anymore in location XXXX.

The genes in the test subject that had originally started to successfully mutate, suffered a rapid deterioration after the second injection. Increased aggression and violence also followed.

It started going on a killing spree, infecting and devouring everyone it came across. At that point, there was nothing human about it anymore, except for its shape.

Thanks to the escape attempt by one of the scientists, the zombie was able to easily leave the premise through the front door and go above ground.

It then entered a new hunting ground nearby, which was the supermarket. Well, the rest is history.

_____________________

*Sigh*

'It seems I have underestimated the foolishness of humanity.' Long Yu lamented as he massaged his glabella with his thumb.

There were only 3 reasons that would have led to the initiation of the experiment in the first place; curiosity, greed and lust for power. Long Yu doubted that it was the former.

'Now that we have gotten that out of the way.. on to the second issue.' He was ready to fire questions at the system once more.

'System, how is it that Xixi has awoken her powers this early?' he asked.

[Similarly to how humans are born different, the same concept applies to the genes in humans.

A similar analogy would be how a human can be born taller than others, or how a person is born with higher IQ compared to other people.]

'So you're saying its like some kind of innate gift?' Long Yu more or less got the gist of what the system was implying.

[Correct. However, this type of early natural mutation is extremely rare. System has calculated that there are currently only 9 of such cases in the entire world.]

'Well, aren't you a lucky one..' Long Yu gently stroke Xixi's hair.

'System, exchange for the location of Xixi's mother.'

[Confirm exchange?]

'…..'

Long Yu hesitated for a long time before finally cancelling the exchange.

He could not make up his mind, or rather, he did not dare go ahead with the exchange.

If, Xixi's mother was still alive, everything would be good and all. But what if it turns out to be bad news instead? What if she had already been eaten, or maybe, she had been infected and was killed later on? If Xixi was to ask him about it, could he really bring himself to tell her about it?

"I guess it is times like this where they say ignorance is bliss…" Long Yu said in a sad voice.

'Anyway, I've been meaning to ask, what's with the two countdown timers on the top right of my vision?

[6d 7h 23m 12s]

[9d 18h 43m 15s]

[The timer above is similar to the previous 'doomsday' countdown]

'Hm? I thought that one already reached zero? Why is there a new one?'

[Due to all zombies having been wiped out, system has taken the liberty to apply another countdown timer. It marks the moment where most humans will start to experience the second category of failure in their mutation, thus, giving birth to the so-called doomsday.]

'Well, I guess that's good news? Another 6 days to prepare… I'll take it.' Long Yu thought to himself.

'So… what about the second countdown timer below?' Long Yu had a feeling he would not like the answer to this one, but he had to ask anyway.

[When the second timer ends, the infected genes in host, that had been suppressed by the serum, destabilises, causing the body and mind to break down.]

'Wait, you're saying I'm going to turn into a zombie once the timer reaches zero? But why!? I thought I had already been cured by the serum.' Long Yu was shocked at the system's reply.

As if it was too lazy to answer him, a screen showing the description of the serum appeared in front of him.

==================

[Gene Suppressor Serum] (Consumable)

[Halts the corrosion in the user's infected genes and stabilises them for a certain amount of time. Provides a limited restorative effect to the genes and suppresses the side effects]

[Exchange Price: 1x stage 1 mutant gene core + 10 million yuan]

__________________

It seems that amidst the confusion, Long Yu had not read the description properly. No, it was because he did not have the time to do so. After all, it was the only chance at survival that he could grasp at that time.

'Any ways to fix it?'

[Recommended options:

Host can either continue to exchange for the gene suppressor serum before the timer ends, or exchange for the gene restoration vaccine to cure the infection completely.

Based on the time constraint, host would have approximately 3 days and 11 hours to collect the needed currency for the exchange, before the infection recommences.]

'Great… another problem to add to the pile…'

At this point, Long Yu was no longer fazed. He was too tired to bother about it anymore. He just wanted to get some proper sleep before thinking about anything else.

"I need a real bed," he moaned softly.

After a few clever distractions planted by Long Yu, he managed to drive his car out of the area without being noticed by the cops.

Long Yu directly pulled up at a random VIP parking spot at one of Nanjing's 5-star hotels.

Seeing his car, the valet boy did not even mention that the spot was already taken. He quickly and politely led Long Yu, who was carrying the sleeping Xixi in his hands, to the reception desk.

...

"Not bad.." Long Yu said as he looked around the suite that he booked in.

The room was spacious with two comfy queen beds, a big lounge facing a great view of the city, and an overly luxurious ensuite bathroom. Of course, it could not compare to the ones he stayed in Macau, but he was still satisfied with it.

Long Yu first tucked Xixi into one of the beds, before going into the bathroom for a shower.

After taking off his shirt, he examined the area of his stomach that was stabbed by the zombie's claw. The wound was not there anymore. What was left, was a slightly noticeable scar.

'The system was right. It seems I have inherited some of the zombie's regeneration power after I had been infected by it. Otherwise, I would have died from bleeding out even after injecting myself with the serum.'

Long Yu was not sure why or how he acquired the power, but he was lucky to have gotten it nonetheless.