Energy Full

Alex couldn't stand it any longer. He grabbed the syringe and leaped toward Elizabeth Greene, intending to eliminate and absorb her to uncover the truth.

His attack didn't make Elizabeth Greene feel the slightest threat. She simply twisted her body with agile grace and kicked, sending the approaching Alex flying backward.

Li Wei clearly saw Alex's face twisted by the direct impact of her sole and couldn't help but wince in sympathy for a second.

"Tsk—that's brutal!"

Li Wei grinned with a grimace, stepping back twice to put a little distance between himself and Elizabeth Greene.

After kicking Alex away, Elizabeth Greene turned her gaze back to Li Wei, took another step forward, and extended her left hand. "Absorb me, and you will gain everything I have."

"Fine, you said it yourself!"

Though he wasn't entirely clear on what was going on, since she was being so sincere, how could Li Wei refuse her?

Besides, his goal all along was to absorb Elizabeth Greene, replenish the Key's energy, and leave the world of Prototype as soon as possible.

His right hand grasped Elizabeth Greene's outstretched hand, while his left arm transformed into a blade-like claw.

Before he could even raise his hand, Alex reappeared, both hands now claws, his face twisted with a murderous intent that seemed bent on grinding Elizabeth Greene to dust.

Seeing Alex show up again, Li Wei felt a sudden urge to kick him away too.

After all that blabbering, Elizabeth Greene had already said she'd willingly let him assimilate her—why did this guy have to jump in again?

Though Elizabeth Greene's focus was on Li Wei, she couldn't ignore Alex. She merely glanced back, and Alex's limbs froze stiff before she kicked him flying once more.

When her gaze returned to Li Wei's face, her expression remained flat and emotionless.

If there had been a hint of tenderness or reluctance in her eyes, Li Wei might have acted faster. Unfortunately, there was none.

"Come on..." Elizabeth Greene took another step forward, hoping Li Wei would end her painful existence quickly.

Whoosh!

A syringe shot straight through the air, instantly piercing Elizabeth Greene's temple with such force that her head snapped sideways at a ninety-degree angle.

The sudden shock made Li Wei, who had been about to act, lower his arm and turn to look at Alex, who had stepped back into the light from the darkness.

"Didn't you hear what she just said? She's willing to let me absorb her. You trying to steal it?"

Alex didn't answer Li Wei's question. He just gave him a cold glare, then charged at Elizabeth Greene with one hand a claw and the other a broad blade.

A hoarse scream rang out from in front of him. Li Wei turned his head again and saw Elizabeth Greene pulling the syringe from her temple, clutching the wound with her left hand as she stumbled backward, shrieking in pain.

Alex wanted to kill Elizabeth Greene, but Elizabeth Greene wanted Li Wei to assimilate her.

So... what should he do now?

Claws and a broad blade materialized in an instant. Li Wei took a step forward, blocking Alex's path.

This move seemed to provoke Alex. With his final stride, he poured all his strength into a vertical slash of his massive broad blade aimed at Li Wei.

A clang of metal rang out inside the Hive, and a burst of air exploded on the spot. Two nearly identical broad blades clashed, resulting in a deadlock.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Li Wei and Alex were locked blade-to-blade, claw-to-claw, their faces less than forty centimeters apart, every detail clear to each other.

"I need the truth. Get out of my way—I have to kill her myself!" Alex gritted his teeth, pouring more strength into his blade, forcing the words out through clenched jaws.

Li Wei didn't answer Alex's question. He simply increased his own strength in return.

If Elizabeth Greene hadn't willingly offered herself for assimilation, Li Wei might have stepped aside. But now, he couldn't just pretend those words never happened.

As the two wrestled for dominance, Elizabeth Greene, wailing in pain, was tormented by the vaccine and collapsed to the ground, eventually vomiting up a large amount of sticky, pinkish mucus.

The mucus swelled rapidly on the ground, gradually forming a massive humanoid outline, accompanied by guttural, beast-like growls.

Both Alex and Li Wei noticed the commotion behind them. They pushed off each other with sudden force, separating.

After splitting apart, they both turned to look in Elizabeth Greene's direction.

There she was, still on the ground, vomiting continuously. The mucus she expelled was growing on its own, quickly taking shape into a humanoid figure, birthing a hideous monster.

A tall, deformed body, skin streaked with blood vessels and flesh tones, a gleaming bald head, and arms sharp as pillars—it resembled a Hunter, but the pressure it exuded was far greater.

The newborn Supreme Hunter slowly rose from the ground, instantly assessed the situation, and let out a roar toward Li Wei and Alex.

Elizabeth Greene slowly climbed to her feet, wiping her mouth absently, then pointed a finger at Alex.

Receiving Elizabeth Greene's will, the Supreme Hunter stomped the ground hard. Its speed was slow, but its charging momentum was like a tank barreling forward.

Heavy, yet not lacking in speed!

Li Wei watched in awe. That kind of power-packed physique was exactly his style—ugly as it was, if he ever had a squad of these things for a fight, they'd scare the enemy to death before a single blow was struck!

But soon, he'd be leaving. The Key's energy had already risen to 82.67%. Absorbing the Mother of All, Elizabeth Greene, should fill it up completely.

He wouldn't need weird abilities like controlling a Hive anymore. The virus wouldn't leak under his control either. The only real downside was that he could never marry or have children again.

Unless he found someone willing to undergo his Prototype transformation and turn their body strange... but that shouldn't be too hard to find, since it was a modification that could preserve eternal beauty!

No use dwelling on it. After the Supreme Hunter forced Alex back, Elizabeth Greene walked over to Li Wei again.

This time, Li Wei didn't hesitate. His long blade and claw pierced Elizabeth Greene's body simultaneously. Countless blood-red tendrils spread out from within him, slowly wrapping around and dissolving her, assimilating and absorbing her.

Elizabeth Greene didn't resist, just as she had said earlier. She accepted her death with calm eyes, her self-awareness flickering like a candle in the wind as Li Wei's absorption process gradually extinguished it.

As Elizabeth Greene's consciousness faded, Li Wei gained the memories of her entire life.

Born into a military family, deceived by Blackwatch and the upper echelons of America, he was sent to live in Hope Town, where everyone was injected with a virus called DX-1118.

None of the townspeople knew what was happening until one day, when full-scale mutation began. Due to her unique constitution, Elizabeth Greene became the virus's host body, her form transforming into a super-factory producing lethal pathogens.

All the mutants spontaneously protected her...

Having reviewed the entirety of Elizabeth Greene's memories, Li Wei learned something that pleased him.

Even after becoming the Hive, her reproductive capacity remained intact. Elizabeth Greene, already transformed into the Hive, still endured a painful labor and gave birth to an infant.

However, Elizabeth Greene had little memory of her child. By then, Blackwatch personnel had already stormed the town, forcibly taking her away while she was in a weakened state. That child was naturally taken by Blackwatch for research, its whereabouts unknown.

Being able to continue spreading his genes was certainly a good thing, but Li Wei was more concerned about whether the Key's energy had finished charging.

He looked at the progress bar beside the translucent Key and the number displayed on it. As he had expected, the energy had reached 100%, and the Key's transparency remained at 50%. A faint white light flickered at its edges, as if he could reach out and pluck the Key from the void at any moment.

"It's over..."

Time to go home!

The taut muscles across Li Wei's body slowly relaxed, the corners of his mouth gradually curling up in delight. Then, he was sent flying by a massive kick from the Supreme Hunter.

His body instantly twisted into an arch, shooting out faster than a cannonball, piercing through the fungal-wrapped wall like a comet and flying out of the core Hive.