And me

Creak, creak...

Suddenly, the sound of twisting and writhing "wooden strips" came from behind the two of them. The fungal threads that had been blasted open by the tank rapidly spread and closed, sealing the massive hole in the wall within seconds.

Li Wei and Alex glanced back but paid it no further attention.

A white light flickered on above the Hive, casting a faint glow into the dark space and illuminating the iron scaffolding overhead.

"I'll go find your sister." Spotting the slender figure in the shadows, Li Wei said this to Alex and prepared to slip away.

By habitual reasoning, as another Hive Mother, Elizabeth Greene—who had lived decades longer than him—was bound to be stronger!

So this tough job could be left to Alex. He'd find the guy's sister, then come back to strike from the shadows. Perfect.

Alex merely grunted in acknowledgment, his gaze wary as he fixed on a steel bridge somewhere above.

As expected, Elizabeth Greene slowly stepped from the darkness into the white light. Her pale, slender fingers brushed over the iron railing.

On the rust-flecked iron bars, a crimson dust appeared—the residue of the virus she unconsciously released, corroding the metal. A single breath of that iron powder scraped off the surface would instantly mutate someone into an infected.

Both Alex and Li Wei, who hadn't yet left, saw her: a "Hive Mother" who retained the appearance of a 19-year-old girl, her face still youthful, though her hair was a bit sparse.

Alex saw Elizabeth Greene and immediately demanded coldly, "Where is she?"

Because of the sudden surge of restlessness in his own body, Li Wei paused out of curiosity to observe her more closely.

This restlessness was peculiar... a bit like...

Like an animal in heat!

Damn, he couldn't follow that thought!

He shook his head, forcing the bizarre idea out of his mind, and tried to make himself invisible, planning to slip into the room ahead to find Alex's sister.

Emerging from her hiding place, Elizabeth Greene's gaze seemed drawn by a magnet, locking onto Li Wei's direction, ignoring Alex's question entirely.

Ignored, Alex pulled out a new serum he'd found at the GENTEC research facility. His face was taut with rage, the snub from Elizabeth Greene stoking his fury.

Still paying no attention to Alex, Elizabeth Greene fixed her puzzled gaze on Li Wei, who was trying to sneak away, and asked in a hoarse voice, "Who are you?"

It wasn't just Li Wei—after seeing him, her own body experienced that strange sensation, driving her to want to get closer to him.

How interesting!

Alex, holding the large syringe, glanced at Li Wei and dismissed him, his body coiling to spring into action.

The restlessness in Li Wei's body grew stronger. He rubbed his brow, stopped in his tracks, and tested a reply: "I'm your dad?"

?

This bizarre answer made Alex, who was about to attack, freeze in shock. He stared at Li Wei, a sudden thought popping into his mind!

Elizabeth Greene was born in 1951, yet she maintained the appearance of a 19-year-old girl.

Li Wei's origins were extremely strange. Though he'd assimilated some researchers and knew the guy had appeared out of nowhere, certain possibilities couldn't be ruled out.

Half the fury flooding Alex's mind vanished. He calmed down and turned his gaze to Li Wei.

He remembered the first time he'd met Elizabeth Greene and heard her say, "I am your mother"...

And now Li Wei was telling Elizabeth Greene, "I'm your dad." He couldn't help but make a wrong assumption.

Besides, no one could clearly explain Li Wei's origins. At first, he'd thought Li Wei was another victim like himself, but now...

If Elizabeth Greene could keep the face of a 19-year-old, why couldn't Li Wei?

Alex slowly lowered his hand. His brain felt like it was short-circuiting. If all this was a conspiracy...

Why would Elizabeth Greene claim to be his mother? Why would Li Wei suddenly appear to draw his attention? Why did this virus exist?

The common human flaw of arrogance, combined with multiple pieces of subconsciously processed information, gave birth to a new doubt in Alex's mind: Elizabeth Greene's constitution was special, but why was it special?

Could the information be wrong? Was there another secret hidden here?

Suddenly, Alex recalled the deep look Li Wei had given him on the TV tower. A chill crept up his spine.

In an instant, countless conspiracy theories converged in his mind. Strange associations flooded in, and by the end, he'd convinced himself of his own imaginings.

"Who are you?!" Alex's expression turned grim and wary as he looked at Li Wei, asking the same question.

Li Wei had his back to Alex. Assuming the question was for Elizabeth Greene, he didn't answer or turn around.

Instead, he kept his eyes on Elizabeth Greene on the steel bridge, extended his claws, and readied for battle.

After that taunt, a fight was unavoidable, right?

What a pain. Might as well just kill her outright with Alex...

As Li Wei braced himself, Elizabeth Greene, lost in thought, looked back at him and said seriously, "You're not my dad."

Li Wei: ?

Alex: ...

After saying that, Elizabeth Greene sank back into contemplation, as if stuck on some bug in her logic. Even her usually placid face showed clear signs of confusion.

The two men below, each with their own thoughts, chose to wait and see.

After a long while, Elizabeth Greene's expression returned to normal. Her gaze still fixed on Li Wei, she asked in a slightly lighter tone, "What's your name?"

"...I call you grandpa!"

As expected!

Alex's expression turned grim again. So Li Wei had given him a fake name after all!

Careless—he'd only brought one vaccine out of the lab!

Unlike Alex, Elizabeth Greene had also transformed from human to Mother, and her mind still retained fragments of human experience. Those fragments told her that Li Wei hadn't given his real name.

But none of that...

"...doesn't matter." Elizabeth Greene shook her head, slowly descended the iron staircase from the side, and came to stand before Li Wei. Calm but unyielding, she said, "Mate with me."

At those words, Alex—who had been about to leap over and take one of them out first—was interrupted again. His thoughts in disarray, he cast a bewildered look at Li Wei.

So many twists and turns... what was the truth?

At this moment, Alex was lost in unprecedented confusion.

Even Li Wei was stunned. He looked at Elizabeth Greene standing before him, and the first thing that crossed his mind wasn't why she wanted to mate with him, but rather a quick appraisal of her from head to toe.

Delicate face, refined features—aside from some hair loss, she was quite good-looking.

Great figure too, especially now that she was wearing that tech-filled, form-fitting restraint suit that perfectly showcased her body.

Ohhh~ I could go for that!

"But... I refuse!" Li Wei took two steps back and chose to decline.

He wasn't that kind of person, and he didn't know why Elizabeth Greene wanted to mate with him.

Sure, his body was stirring, but he was someone who had risen above base desires—he wouldn't be swept away by such a vulgar invitation.

Besides, there was a third party present!

Li Wei's refusal didn't surprise Elizabeth Greene. She offered another proposal, seemingly sincere: "Then absorb me."

Alex fell completely silent. He admitted he had no idea what was going on anymore.

"Give me a reason..." Seeing that Elizabeth Greene seemed serious, Li Wei retracted his claws and looked at her, utterly baffled.

Then Elizabeth Greene calmly explained the reason. "If you and I merge, it will be optimal... I won't resist."

The DX-1118 virus was a chimera that looked like an insect. Elizabeth Greene had been injected with it, eventually becoming a massive viral incubator.

Due to her gender and genetic influence, the awakened virus continuously shifted toward a more feminine form, creating a biased sexual differentiation.

Similarly, the virus inside Li Wei, altered by the physical transformation from another world, had changed into a male-like characteristic.

The greatest advantage of sexual reproduction was accelerating evolution and eliminating bad genes.

Elizabeth Greene, more experienced than Li Wei and long wishing to die, had originally chosen to let Alex absorb her, making him the new viral Mother.

But after seeing Li Wei, she overturned all her previous thoughts. Every cell in her body, inside and out, transmitted one message to her consciousness: Combine with him!

Blacklight itself was an abnormal self-powering virus capable of mutating countless times per second. If the stacking buff of sexual reproduction were added, the newborn virus would evolve infinitely faster than either of its predecessors.