The Vote

Cain stared blankly at the decorative mirror.

The reflection in the mirror also showed a look of astonishment, and within that astonishment, there was something else that was hard to describe.

Soon, the facial features in the mirror returned to their original appearance, as if everything that had just happened was just an illusion.

"Go get a medical checkup!"

Judy acted decisively, signaling directly to the security personnel. At the same time, two S-class mutants, one on the left and one on the right, grabbed the other's arms. It was Skinny Monkey and Giant.

With two special S-class abilities, 'physical absorption' and 'energy absorption', activated simultaneously, the opponent would truly be Mr. G, leaving him no choice.

Cain quickly regained his composure and said, "The rest of the plan will be arranged by Rogge. Raise the confidentiality level of the meeting to the highest level, and arrange for all irrelevant personnel, including myself, to have their memories erased after the meeting."

"Okay, boss," a burly black man in a suit nodded, his expression serious.

A group of people escorted Cain away; nearly half of them were S-class mutants. Undoubtedly, the previous battle had opened the eyes of these arrogant individuals.

Layer after layer of security mechanisms were opened, and finally, the two arrived in front of a huge "mother nest," a massive flesh and blood gate that exuded an indescribable aura.

The Mother Nest, a level-three civilization building, is the pinnacle of cultivation technology. It can repair any injury, and even if only a single cell remains, its body can be rebuilt.

It doesn't even need cells; as long as the genetic sequence and memory storage device are left in the mother nest, it can reshape a "living person" as needed.

Besides repair, its biggest function is digestion, which completely digests all the germs, toxins, and even implants left by Cyber Hacker on the "patient's" body.

"After you come back, you can take charge of the overall situation again," Judy said without turning her head while operating the system.

Cain nodded, his expression showing no tension, but rather a relaxed reassurance to the others, "It's nothing, don't worry too much, just wait for me to come back."

"Both of you have had contact with him, so go too!"

Judy looked at the skinny monkey and the giant with a serious expression. The two were stunned for a moment, remained silent for a while, and then reluctantly nodded.

Even for S-class mutants like them, the "Mother Nest" would need a year and a half to reshape its form. Under these circumstances, at least in this corporate war, they are not involved.

"Hey, you're just the head of the electronics and networking department, don't be so rude to our CEO!"

Helena said to Judy with dissatisfaction.

Judy was so startled that she took a step back.

"Hmph, now you know you were wrong, don't you?"

"You go in too!"

"What?!"

A moment later, on the holographic screen projected by the monitor, the facial features of Hailena, who had just spoken, changed directly into those of a man.

"Hyrona and Cain didn't have any contact, so this 'transmission' wasn't physical transmission. Was it through saliva, breathing, or something more complicated like pheromones or biomagnetic fields?!"

Judy felt like her head was about to explode. The meeting room had just been filled with almost all the executives involved in the corporate war. What if these people got "infected"?

"Arrange mechanical guards to monitor the employees on site. Managers at level 5 and above will enter the nest to reset, while employees below level 5 will be subjected to live dissection."

"And in ten minutes, send me in too."

Judy hesitated for a moment, then said:

"If I'm not back in ten minutes, activate the executive cloning program."

Upon hearing this, the AI's voice responded without any emotion.

"Cloning executives requires the signatures of all board members; you only have the power to propose, not the power to make the final decision."

"Then submit it to the board!" Judy roared irritably. "We're a biotech company. Don't they know how dangerous this biological virus is? Aren't they worried that our enemies will take over and replace the entire management team?"

"Understood, the proposal has been submitted via the fast track."

The next moment, a small, decorative pendant on Judy's ear began to transform, and a network implantation pod quickly materialized. This type of network access pod was not sold on the market at all, and it was of a very high level.

Almost instantly, Judy broke through the physical layer, the transmission chain layer, and the network layer, reaching the application layer of cyberspace.

This speed was unimaginable in the previous cyberspace; moreover, without a specific network device, most people who went online would simply go crazy.

Now, connecting to the cyber network is no different from accessing the internet.

Judy's virtual body quickly took shape amidst the accumulation of numbers. As she looked around, she saw that the underlying protocol had been stained red, and the sea of data had disappeared, replaced by a pot of boiling soup filling the entire space.

The primordial soup of life, the nurturing mother of all life on the planet.

The life-giving elements in the air were so concentrated that it felt as if someone was chattering in your ear.

"It's Judy, our network builder."

"So what should we call her, eldest sister, or little aunt?"

"Judy, there seems to be something different about you."

"Judy, when can I get a temporary body? I want to go down there and play too."

"Stop arguing! I'm here to see my mother!"

All sound ceased abruptly as Judy screamed.

Before the digital signal was fully formed, Judy pulled out the skin, where the target code was not yet fully stitched up, and rushed deeper.

She could vaguely sense that, in addition to the "Soup of Life," other large-scale renovations were taking place in the cyberspace.

"Mother, Mother!"

"My child, what brings you here?" a loving voice rang out.

Finally, Judy reached the deepest point, where the digital signals were so intense that they created indescribable and unbearable hallucinations, and she finally found her target.

It was a pregnant woman. Her face was ordinary, but upon closer inspection, every line of her skin looked like an endless number of dividing cells.

She was not tall and had no imposing presence, but apart from her children, no one could look her in the eye.

Because looking directly at her will lead you into the abyss of cell division.

"Mother!"

The closer Judy got to the other person, the smaller her figure became, and the more childlike her features became, until she finally turned into a little girl.

"Good boy, what brings you here? Would you like some candy?" the other person said gently.

"Mother, when you ate the other person, did you really eat them completely? Were there any virus residues?"

"Good child, why would you ask such a question?"

"Because Cain, Helena, and even maybe me, have all been infected by some kind of ability of the other party. I don't know if it's some kind of illusion or something else."

Judy paused, then said, "But we're a biotechnology company, and our defenses against bioweapons are extremely tight. If he can break through all those defenses and interfere with us, it means a huge problem has arisen! Gene lock? Cell controller? Or some kind of consciousness/sensory controller?"

"Child, don't scare yourself. Mr. G is completely and utterly dead, there's no doubt about that."

The mother's words shifted,

"However, what you said makes sense. I will descend with my will to assist you in the inspection and prevent any from slipping through the net."

"I've investigated. Some time ago, a group of people used some unknown means to hire countless powerful hackers in the underworld. Now it seems that this mysterious group is the Dugo Group."

Judy continued:

"Mother, if you sense any signs of a hacker attack, please notify me immediately. Our electronic network defense department is there to deal with these scumbags."

"Alright, alright, Mother will listen to you."

Judy gave her many more instructions, which her "mother" nodded in agreement with. Only then did Judy feel relieved, and she said with some reluctance:

"Mother, after entering the nest, I'm afraid I won't see you for a while, but don't worry, there will be another me to take care of you."

"Hehe, then you must come back as soon as possible, your mother will miss you."

After Judy's virtual body dissipated, "Mother" slowly looked up at the sky, as if she could see the starry sky beyond the domain through the electronic grid.

And her gaze was a live demonstration of countless cells dividing themselves.

She looked down at her slightly protruding belly and murmured to herself in a loving tone:

"Why don't you come out?"

In another conference room that had been completely disinfected, Cain, Judy, Helena, Roger, and another executive were gathered together discussing matters.

The scene looks like it did ten minutes ago.

The people are still the same few people, but they are no longer the same five.

To be more precise, it is a gene clone.

The executive cloning program is one of the most closely guarded secrets of some companies.

The theoretical basis is that once a member's high-ranking members are assassinated, brainwashed, or turned to the dark side, the prepared 100% clones will be activated to carry out a major overhaul of the high-ranking members.

In fact, every super-enterprise has similar backup plans.

But to be honest, not many people use it.

A senior executive was assassinated, and another senior executive was promoted.

An executive attempted a rebellion, so he was fired and then his own business assassins were dispatched to eliminate him.

An executive betrayed the company's interests; first, control him, then punish him according to the amount of the bribe he received.

Unless absolutely necessary, there will not be a situation where an entire high-ranking official is purged.

The reason is simple: would you be willing to hand over your wealth, status, wife, and children to a complete stranger?

If you're unwilling, then what about those big shots whose status, wealth, and enjoyment far surpass yours?

Therefore, very few super-enterprises are capable of preventing problems before they arise and replacing all senior executives before a crisis begins; only those enterprises with a very strong will can suppress the various conspiracies and entanglements of interests among senior executives and force a change of leadership.

Venus Life Safety Group is such a company.

Because its corporate vision is that of a "biological computer," an "artificial intelligence," and, more importantly, a "mother."

At this moment, Cain spoke with his signature smile, saying, "Then, according to my proposal, let's launch a regional corporate war ahead of schedule to unify this region as soon as possible. Let's begin the vote."

One by one, the arms slowly rose.

No one objected.