Chapter 196: Chapter 194: Virus Mutation
The mist spread rapidly, already blanketing half of Shen Feng’s office building.
Soon, the sound of shattering glass filled the air. Dozens of newly infected zombies were smashing through windows, screaming as they lunged for the ground below.
Roars echoed from nearby buildings, punctuated by shrill screams. It seemed many new zombies had appeared.
Shen Feng’s brow furrowed. He instantly understood. These must have been the survivors who had been hiding in the various buildings. Through sheer luck and skill at hiding, they had evaded both the zombies’ searches and the infection.
But now, after inhaling the yellow mist that filled the air, those survivors who had struggled so hard to stay hidden had all turned into zombies.
Shen Feng’s heart leaped into his throat.
’The mist erupting from the zombies’ bodies... I don’t even have to think about it. It must be highly contagious!’
’Since there’s a mastermind behind all this chaos, they wouldn’t just create some ordinary fog.’
Most importantly, even though the eye of the typhoon had passed, strong winds still battered its outer edges.
Driven by the gale-force winds, the dense mist was rapidly spreading across all of Tokyo, across all of East Japan.
At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before it drifted across the ocean to Eurasia and Hua Country, entering the global atmospheric cycle and infecting all of humanity with the Evil Spirit Virus.
Shen Feng had thought the epidemic was under control. Now it seemed he had been far too optimistic.
The mist was already drifting higher. In many places, the yellow color was no longer obvious, but it was undoubtedly a highly infectious aerosol.
"Jingwei, a yellow mist has appeared near Tokyo Tower. I suspect it’s a viral agent. Run an analysis if you can, and issue a warning to the Salvation Army and the world’s governments. Tell them to administer the counterfeit Antiviral Serum injections as soon as possible!"
At this point, Shen Feng found himself wishing for the typhoon’s torrential rain and violent winds to return.
At least a downpour would dissolve the yellow mist and prevent it from spreading so quickly.
But the current overcast sky and light drizzle were clearly not enough to stop it.
The Antiviral Serum was useful for now, but it would only delay the disaster’s onset by a month at most.
If a true vaccine or cure for the Evil Spirit Virus wasn’t found in a month, all of humanity would sicken at once. It would be a terrifying extinction event.
After a moment’s thought, the Nanomechanical Cluster around Shen Feng’s body began to writhe, starting to devour the building he was in.
Soon, dozens of spider-like Nanomechanical Robots had assembled at his side. At Shen Feng’s command, they plunged into the dense fog, lunging toward the zombies spewing the mist.
The sky was still overcast. He could no longer afford to hold back; he prepared to use his Gray Tide to devour every zombie in the Tokyo area and turn them into metal sculptures.
But the instant the mechanical spiders touched the zombies, the creatures’ bodies erupted with a powerful electromagnetic pulse!
This point-blank EMP was extremely lethal. It instantly destroyed the mechanical spiders, which crumbled into piles of dead-black metallic dust.
Shen Feng’s heart went cold. The sensation from the electromagnetic pulse was uncannily similar to the black-hole-like consciousness he had encountered in the zombies’ brains last night.
’What the fuck is this thing?!’
Shen Feng cursed silently. Within the yellow mist, it was as if every single zombie had become a miniature EMP generator.
Devouring all these zombies with his Gray Tide wouldn’t be as simple as he’d initially thought.
Looking up at the nearby Tokyo Tower, Shen Feng gritted his teeth. He leaped from the building’s exterior wall, diving like a fish into the yellow viral fog below.
The moment he landed, he broke into a frantic sprint in the direction of the Celestial Divine Biomedical Corporation.
With the appearance of this terrifying yellow mist, global infection was now inevitable. Unleashing his strongest Gray Tide could swallow everything, including the zombies, but that would no longer solve the problem.
Now, he had to do the opposite: he needed to preserve the integrity of Tokyo’s core area to find the original virus, or patient zero.
With his hands tied, he couldn’t use the Gray Tide for now.
Shen Feng sprinted onward. As he ran, the Nanomechanical Cluster around him devoured the ground, forming into individual Nanomechanical Robots that clustered around him as they all surged forward.
As he ran, Shen Feng whipped out a sharp Metal Whip, which instantly flicked past a mist-spewing zombie beside him, slicing its head clean off.
The zombie’s head rolled away like a ball, but even more yellow mist billowed from the stump of its neck.
Frowning, Shen Feng lashed out with the Metal Whip again, this time shredding another zombie’s body to pieces.
With a loud BANG, the zombie’s body exploded as if it had been filled with gas, releasing a cloud of yellow mist even denser than before.
Expressionless, Shen Feng did nothing more.
Clearly, killing these zombies was pointless. It only accelerated the spread of the mist.
The zombies had become walking poison gas bombs.
The toxic fog was so thick he could barely see the path ahead. The air was filled with the roars of newly turned survivors, the screams of those being bitten, and even the sound of running footsteps.
Shen Feng remained expressionless, as if he heard nothing, and continued along the route he had plotted from above.
Some ten minutes later, Shen Feng emerged from the dense fog with several dozen Nanomechanical Robots, stopping before a three-story building.
A massive sign on the roof read: "Celestial Divine Biomedical Corporation."
He had arrived.
From the outside, the building looked deserted, as if everyone had already fled.
Or been eaten.
Shen Feng’s Silicon-Based Brain extended its Consciousness Antennae. The electronic doors before him slid open, and he strode inside without hesitation.
The building was well-sealed; not much of the yellow toxic fog had penetrated inside.
Aside from a few small rooms, the first floor consisted of a massive auditorium that looked like a church.
Huge banners and streamers hung everywhere, covered in crazed, dream-like ramblings:
"Find true freedom in the purification of the God of Nothingness."
"Achieve the state of eternity in the embrace of the one true god."
"To humanity, civilization. To civilization, eternity. To the soul, transcendence."
Shen Feng couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
’Yep, with this kind of vibe, this had to be the place.’
There was nothing of substance on the first floor. It was likely just a place for brainwashing.
Shen Feng led his troop of Nanomechanical Robots to the second floor, which was sealed by an alloy door. He immediately found it was a massive viral laboratory, fully outfitted with all kinds of equipment.
At the same time, dozens of zombies were strapped to experiment tables, still wearing patient gowns.
Sensing Shen Feng’s presence, the zombies immediately began to writhe and roar, straining against their iron restraints.
Just then, Jingwei’s voice echoed in his mind:
"Shen Feng, I’ve analyzed the yellow mist that drifted over. It’s a new variant of the Evil Spirit Virus with strong resistance to the Antiviral Serum. The serum’s suppressive effect is significantly reduced. It can only hold back this new strain for about a week."
’Son of a bitch...’
Shen Feng swore under his breath.
The virus had mutated and evolved again.
That meant the world had only a week left—perhaps not even that.
It was impossible to know what kind of mutations this new virus would cause. If it produced more of those heavily mutated zombies, ordinary people wouldn’t stand a chance.
With a wave of his hand, the dozen or so Nanomechanical Robots behind him began inspecting the entire laboratory, controlled by his Consciousness Antennae.
But a thorough search, including the third floor, turned up nothing.
The place had clearly been scrubbed clean. Not even a single needle was left behind.
All that remained were the dozens of zombies strapped to the experiment tables.
Shen Feng’s brow furrowed. Just as it seemed the trail had gone cold, he suddenly heard the sound of hurried footsteps.
"Who’s there?!"
He whipped his head around to see a figure, who had been strapped to one of the tables, suddenly unbuckle its restraints. The figure scrambled to its feet, turned, and sprinted down the second-floor corridor.
The person was incredibly fast, their footsteps steady—not at all like a zombie’s. Wearing a hooded sweatshirt, they leaped, smashed through the window at the end of the hall, and hit the ground running, sprinting toward Tokyo Tower without a backward glance.
’Chase!’
Shen Feng’s eyes widened. He immediately vaulted from the second floor in hot pursuit.
His intuition told him...
...this was a human!