Solving the Problem

Elizabeth's physical condition was much stronger than Mercer's. Throughout the entire absorption process, Elizabeth endured immense pain without uttering a single sound. She watched Chen Changsheng's every move with clear eyes, as if trying to imprint his image into her memory.

Only after Chen Changsheng had absorbed most of the Blacklight Virus from Mercer did Elizabeth look at him with anticipation, her gaze like that of someone seeing their own path to evolution.

Noticing Elizabeth's look, Chen Changsheng dropped Mercer, who he was holding, and walked towards Elizabeth. As he walked, he said, "Hi, Elizabeth, long time no see."

As he spoke, Chen Changsheng reverted to the appearance of the youthful boy from forty years ago.

Hearing the familiar voice and seeing the young man before her, Elizabeth's memories were stirred. However, with memories spanning four billion years, it was difficult to find fragments related to Chen Changsheng.

After a full pause, Elizabeth finally recalled memories pertaining to Chen Changsheng. With a stiff voice, she spoke haltingly, "Jack, I didn't expect it to be you." After saying this, Elizabeth actually let out a laugh.

Seeing Elizabeth, who still looked like a 19-year-old girl, Chen Changsheng also chuckled.

"I also didn't expect us to meet again in this way decades later. How are you, Elizabeth?"

"Very well, better than any time before." Elizabeth was very happy. Throughout her four billion years of memory, she had been alone. That's why she had put so much effort into cultivating Mercer as her successor when she first encountered the newly formed Mercer.

One person will always get tired, just like any creature. Loneliness is the greatest weapon.

Today, seeing another creature similar to herself, Elizabeth was overjoyed. As for the Biomass that had been absorbed, Elizabeth didn't care at all. For Elizabeth, who could directly cover half of Manhattan Island with flesh and blood, that little bit of virus was insignificant.

For a viral aggregate, the amount of their own virus held no practical significance, because even if only one virus remained, they would still be alive.

While Chen Changsheng and Elizabeth were having their reunion, Arthur, who had fainted on the ground, slowly woke up.

Upon seeing Elizabeth's appearance clearly, Arthur immediately assumed a defensive stance, encasing his entire body in Blacklight Virus armor. At the same time, his arm transformed into a blade, and he prepared to attack without a word.

Chen Changsheng didn't want Mercer to interrupt their reunion. With a thought, the branches of the Willow Tree coiled around Mercer and began the blood-drawing process.

Poor Mercer, after having a large portion of his Blacklight Virus and body absorbed by Chen Changsheng, was then drained again by the Willow Tree. By the time the branches unfurled, Mercer could barely maintain his human form.

Looking at the pitiable Mercer, Chen Changsheng silently mourned for him. Meanwhile, Elizabeth said to Chen Changsheng, "He has great potential for evolution."

Chen Changsheng naturally knew that Alex had great potential for evolution; otherwise, he wouldn't have become the protagonist. However, even the protagonist couldn't escape being exploited.

From Elizabeth's memories, Chen Changsheng saw that Elizabeth had imposed restrictions on the Blacklight Virus on Manhattan Island, specifically that it could not survive in water.

In this regard, Elizabeth still possessed a sliver of humanity. After all, Elizabeth only wanted to promote Mercer's evolution and never intended to destroy humanity.

As for the innocent residents of Manhattan Island, Elizabeth had never cared. Chen Changsheng hadn't cared either. After all, compared to the over seven billion humans globally, the people on Manhattan Island were not much.

Chen Changsheng's plans in India were even more insane than Elizabeth's, so who could judge either of them, the two executioners?

Perhaps because they both evolved from the Original Virus, Chen Changsheng could clearly sense Elizabeth's thoughts. Furthermore, having absorbed a large portion of the virus from Elizabeth, she directly became Chen Changsheng's subordinate.

It was simple for a viral aggregate to decide who was in charge: whoever had more virus was the boss. Although Elizabeth possessed all the Biomass of Manhattan, that wasn't virus, so Chen Changsheng still held absolute authority.

Faced with Chen Changsheng, Elizabeth could only be as obedient as the Willow Tree. And Elizabeth was happy about this. After all, after 4 billion years of fighting alone, suddenly having someone who could make decisions for her was a novel feeling. Obeying commands without having to think too much about them was much simpler.

In Elizabeth's mind, it was as simple as: Chen Changsheng tells me to do something, and I do it.

As for Mercer, Chen Changsheng still needed him to continuously evolve and then copy his abilities. Therefore, Chen Changsheng planned to let him continue living on Manhattan Island. The destined protagonist always deserved some preferential treatment.

Wild things are always more valuable than domesticated ones, and free-range is better than caged.

If you find this book good, remember to add it to your bookshelf to avoid losing it next time.

Just as Chen Changsheng was dealing with Mercer and Elizabeth, the zombies on Manhattan Island, no longer suppressed by Elizabeth, became extremely aggressive. In a short period, they had occupied all areas except for a few important military bases near the bridges.

The military bases guarding the bridges clearly couldn't withstand the endless zombie horde and urgently requested reinforcements from the military. The generals had no better solutions. However, seeing that Manhattan Island had been completely overrun, they considered launching a nuclear missile to thoroughly eradicate the virus once and for all.

However, when the generals applied for authorization from the White House to launch the nuclear missile, their request was denied. This was because Chen Changsheng had already revealed through secret channels to the American high command that the secret to the Umbrella Corporation's production of the Elixir of Life lay within the zombies.

It was clear that the big figures above were tempted. They didn't want to give up any chance of living longer.

Also, because Chen Changsheng's insurance company had already produced some Elixir of Life in the past, the powerful elite had already enjoyed its benefits, thus having great confidence in the Umbrella Corporation.

This wasn't Chen Changsheng deceiving the American high command. In fact, the Blacklight Virus did have the effect of prolonging life. Just look at the zombies; as long as they had sufficient Biomass, they could live forever.

In fact, some substances extracted from Zombie Spinal Cords had miraculous effects in maintaining youth, but the processing required for the bone marrow was something only Chen Changsheng's Umbrella Corporation could achieve.

Speaking of which, the zombies on Manhattan Island were worth a considerable amount of US dollars. When Chen Changsheng explained the pros and cons, those in high positions began to consider it.

Chen Changsheng had already developed anti-aging agents long ago but kept them secret, only supplying them to his partners to strengthen their relationships.

This time, to save Manhattan Island, Chen Changsheng also paid a price. This was Mercer's hometown, after all. It would serve as a protected area.

Seeing Alex, who had evolved on Manhattan Island, Chen Changsheng couldn't help but think of the countless islands in the vast ocean. A vague idea began to form in his mind.

Evolving alone was far less efficient than having all of humanity evolve together. Whoever evolved better, he would imitate them – it was a simple principle.

There were 7 billion people in this world, many of whom were elites, but more were ordinary people. Chen Changsheng certainly wouldn't be so insane as to attack all of humanity directly, but his own evolution still relied on humans to provide the means.

What was the point of Chen Changsheng imitating abilities evolved by some animals? In the end, they were just unintelligent creatures. What suited them might not suit humans.

If Chen Changsheng evolved a super strong physique and could wield powerful weapons, what creature in this world could resist him?

Thinking of a certain country that seemed to be living quite well, naturally surrounded by the sea and far from the mainland. Moreover, the island also had enough people. It was the perfect place for experimentation. Chen Changsheng claimed this place.

Mourning for the people of countless island nations, Chen Changsheng turned back to the base in Manhattan to carefully consider his future plans.

The 4 billion years of memories from Elizabeth still needed to be carefully sorted. Perhaps there were some unknown secrets within them.

After bidding farewell to Chen Changsheng, Elizabeth returned to the Mother Nest on Manhattan Island. However, Elizabeth's Mother Nest had already been blown to smithereens.

Fortunately, Mercer's sister had been hidden by her elsewhere. Otherwise, Mercer would have fought Elizabeth to the death at this moment.

Elizabeth scattered Blacklight Virus everywhere. Stimulated by the hormones she released, a Mother Nest full of blood vessels reappeared. All the Biomass on the island was continuously transported to Elizabeth through the fleshy pipelines spread across the ground. In a short time, Elizabeth had already replenished the substances absorbed by Chen Changsheng.

During their conversation today, Chen Changsheng gave Elizabeth some advice: don't evolve alone, but rather observe and learn from the things around you.

Given Elizabeth's style, Chen Changsheng suggested she reference insects. It was exciting to imagine what kind of scene it would be if, after a few years, Elizabeth evolved to be like the Zerg from StarCraft.

The Willow Tree represented another path of development: a factory model for creating Biomass and life essence. While the Zerg focused on plunder, the Willow Tree aimed for sustainable development.

As for Chen Changsheng himself, he unashamedly represented technology. It wasn't that Chen Changsheng was overly confident in his knowledge, but rather that he believed in humanity. He was convinced that faced with increasingly powerful life forms, humans on Earth would inevitably advance. With the efforts of people worldwide, there would surely be a technological explosion, ushering in the era of space colonization sooner rather than later.

Chen Changsheng designed a type of organism based on the virus's characteristics. Similar to a Neuro-Bug, it possessed the ability to absorb human memories and mimic human learning, but it lacked a physical body and could only survive by relying on the Willow Tree, thus limiting the Neuro-Bug. This was also preparation for increasing the intelligence of those enhanced warriors.

In the future, there would be many such Neuro-Bugs, and Chen Changsheng would need a sufficient number of reliable subordinates to manage his ever-expanding kingdom.

The future of this world will be my dominion, Chen Changsheng thought to himself.

If you find this book good, remember to add it to your bookshelf to avoid losing it next time.