Chapter 9

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“Space-time transformation complete. Begin scanning mission.”

“Resident Evil plane mission complete. Main Quest: Acquire one complete copy of data regarding the Tyrant Virus, and a sample of the virus—Main Quest Completed. Optional Quest: Acquire one complete copy of data regarding the God Virus, and a sample of the virus—Optional Quest Not Completed. Urgent Quest: Unknown—No urgent quest at the moment.”

“Verdict: Trial Mission Completed. Probational Host Access upgraded. Upgrade to Official Host. Current Access: E.”

Zhang Heng slowly opened his eyes and found himself back in his rented apartment. He looked at the three identical tubes of T-Virus solution in his hand, and then at the thick, organized stack of data, not sure if he was dreaming.

However, that unfeeling electronic voice in his mind continued to play regardless.

“Access Upgrade: Dimensional Star Transportation Cooling reduced to 36 hours.”

“Access Upgrade: Research Support System unlocked. According to Dimensional Star Regulations, the host is given research access, to assist host in researching technology.”

“Access Upgrade: Access system unlocked. Currently at Level E Access. Host can carry objects of 10 cubic meters when performing space-time transformation. Weight unlimited. Host can carry zero living beings when performing space-time transformation. Weight unlimited.”

Zhang Heng was stunned at the moment, coming to an epiphany. The power of a single individual would always be small and insignificant. The unlocking of the Research Support System and the Access System had without a doubt made up for his inadequacies in terms of time and human resources.

He realized that the Dimensional Star simply wouldn’t just keep having him fight all alone.

He was unable to help but laughing out loud at that moment. It was a product of joy at surviving as well as of victory. That joy was more than enough to cause him, who had always been rather stoic, to display such massive emotional fluctuations.

He then looked at the priceless T-Virus in his hand when he was done laughing. His eyes were glittering as he looked at the tubes. He knew that there wouldn’t be any worry about not being able to become powerful, rise to the top, and become somebody of notable renown, now that he had the viruses with him.

“Access Upgrade: Tactical System unlocked. Unlocking. Please wait.”

The Dimensional Star’s system continued to make reports. He was stunned yet again. While he had no problem comprehending the Research Support System and the Access System, he wondered what this ‘Tactical System’ was.

But, just when he was still confused about that, he felt something weird going on with his right eye all of a sudden. The vision in his right eye was pitch-black one second and brightly lit the next. However, the vision of his right eye differed from that of regular folks, as he saw the world in black and white with his right eye.

“The hell…” He scanned the place around him growing yet more surprised. While the vision on his right eye was monochromatic, it boasted a clarity that was several times greater than that of his left eye. Furthermore, when he turned his eye to the table behind him, the table became huge all of a sudden, enabling him to make out the patterns, material details and even cracks on that table.

“Tactical System activated. Due to the Tactical System, the host now gains infrared vision, enhancement of static vision and dynamic vision.”

That was more than just surprising. He never expected to not only regain vision in his right eye, but his right eye’s vision was actually further amplified as well.

So-called infrared vision actually meant the ability to see in the dark. Regular folks would only be able to see in the night by using faint moonlight and starlight. That was because, while the human eye was capable of seeing visible light, it was unable to see light at infrared and ultraviolet spectrums, which were deemed non-visible light. Furthermore, having infrared vision meant that he would be able to see everything clearly in pitch-black darkness from then on out.

Static vision was even more precious. People knew that the likes of eagles, hawks, and falcons were capable of seeing the movement of rabbits over 10 kilometers away, a feat far out of reach of human vision. It was just like how the human eye could make out a fly on the floor several meters, yet an ant wouldn’t be able to see things over a dozen meters away. Enhancement of static vision made his eye perform like a telescope or magnifying glass, enabling him to see faraway objects as well as small objects that were hard to catch with the naked eye.

Dynamic vision served an even greater purpose, as it denoted the ability of the eye to catch images, process, and detect a target’s movements when a target was moving. The very reason why objects were seen as a blur when they were moving at high speeds was that the image would only sit on the cornea for 0.1 seconds. That was to say that human vision caught images at a rate of 0.1 seconds per frame. But then again, that was a vague value. Some people could heighten the rate to 0.08 and even up to 0.05 second per frame through training, while others would saw their dynamic vision reduced to 0.15 second per frame or even lower, due to being in prolonged sedentary states.

The unlocking of the Tactical System was no doubt the most precious to Zhang Heng, more so than the two systems that came before, as the enhancement of his sight directly heightened his chances of survival.

He shook his head, feeling rather tired after all that excitement. That uptight mental state he had been in wound down quickly after he finished his mission, causing him to feel rather drowsy. But the feeling of hunger from his stomach kept stimulating his nerves nonetheless. He decided to not think about any of it, shoving both the stack of data and the T-Virus solution under his bed before washing himself for a bit in the bathroom, changing his clothes, and heading outside.

It was time for him to unwind for a little bit.

He headed out to the street and saw cars and people everywhere. A thought came to his mind, thinking that the world of Resident Evil that he just experienced and returned from had once been like that as well, yet all of that was torn apart due to a single virus, or, precisely-put, a curse to humanity, resulting in that glorious civilization being utterly destroyed.

He wondered if the people going about their business in the streets had ever thought of the day where their world would too, undergo a disaster of epic proportions; the disaster that was clearly not all that far away.

He sighed deeply. He had considered warning the government and other countries, but he realized at the same time, that nobody would have believed him. If he were to just tell everyone everything he knew all at once, he would have probably ended up being locked up in some asylum as a lunatic.

Furthermore, he knew that he absolutely couldn’t afford to let anyone know about the Dimensional Star in his mind. An innocent man could get into trouble due only to what he had on his person. If the secret were to be exposed, death would become a luxury, as the greater possibility of what would have happened to him was having his brain being cut up bit by bit, suffering a fate worse than death for the rest of his life.

Other than that, he had his own agenda as well. Coming into possession of a system capable of changing the world meant that he possessed a fighting chance. When the day came that the disaster finally hit his human plane, he would at least be able to protect those around him with the power bestowed by the system.

Zhang Heng knew very well and without a doubt, that he was not some messiah. While he had a mission to become one, he knew well enough to not bite off more than he could chew.

“If I fall short of being able to save humanity, I will at least leave a spark of humanity behind instead, enabling those around me to live stable lives,” he said to himself silently.

He came to the ATM and withdrew 500 yuan. He was drawing from his scholarship but he saw no other choice. He was literally penniless at the moment and he was so tired that he hardly felt like even lifting a finger. He would die of starvation before he could even try saving the world, if he didn’t eat soon.

He didn’t splurge all of that money on a feast, instead buying a carton full of instant noodles and a carton full of mineral water, carrying them all the way back to his apartment. He then filled his stomach before taking a well-deserved rest.

It was evening when he woke up. He then took out the data regarding the T-Virus from beneath his bed. It was no doubt dangerous to just leave stuff like that around outside, as he wouldn’t able to speak for himself if someone else found those things. As such, he decided to manually copy all that data to his computer, typing away at a speed of 50 words per minute. It took him three whole days to finish inputting all that data.

He moved out of his rented apartment when he was done with all of that, beginning to make preparations for looking into the T-Virus in his possession in depth.

It went without saying that there was no way he could afford to buy all the necessary tools and apparatus for conducting his experiments. But, then again, none of that proved to be much of a problem. He steeled his mind and withdrawn 10000 yuan from his scholarship and looked for his professor in biology. The professor was professional enough to grant him access to a laboratory for three months right away, after taking the money. It was only then that he decided that he was finally done making his preparations.

The Haizhou University of Technology was a renowned school in biological research. Many experts in biology graduated from that university and went on to become giants in their own fields. As such, the university’s biology department became both very well-known and very well-equipped.

The 12th academic building was where the biological experiment part of the school was located. It was equipped with dozens of state-of-the-art laboratories known throughout the country in that very building, so much so that the building remained well-lit and alive even past midnight.

No one had ever thought that at the beginning of the new year, there was one student conducting viral research in one of the laboratories that would go on to change the world forever.