Evolutioner

"Virus Evolution Fluid?" After setting down the water and steamed bun in his hands, Zhao Tianlei slowly reached out and took out the Virus Evolution Fluid. He then closed the Storage Space and stared at the item in his hand, hesitating.

"Forget it. I'm already doomed to die at this point anyway. I might as well take a gamble."

The reason Zhao Tianlei was afraid was actually the name of this thing: Virus Evolution Fluid. This stuff was a type of virus—and a deadly one at that. In any case, Zhao Tianlei had watched and played Resident Evil. The T Virus, G Virus, C Virus, parasites, the Progenitor Virus, the Abyssal T Virus—anything with the word "virus" in it definitely wasn't anything good.

If the voice in his mind was lying to him, and the thing in this bottle wasn't an antidote at all but an even more potent virus, then after injecting it, he would suffer excruciating pain. He might even turn into a terrifying monster, lose his reason, and start slaughtering humans. Even so, Zhao Tianlei was even less willing to give up this opportunity and die for nothing.

"******, if I really turn into that kind of monster, I'll kill myself."

With that, Zhao Tianlei gritted his teeth and injected the Virus Evolution Fluid straight into his body in one go. Only after the entire bottle had been injected did Zhao Tianlei slump down onto the floor, as if waiting for something.

"Hmm? Why isn't there any reaction? Could the medicine have expired?"

"Ugh..."

Just as Zhao Tianlei was beginning to feel puzzled, a sudden burst of pain erupted inside his body. At first, it felt like being pricked by needles, but the pain that surged up afterward made every hair on Zhao Tianlei's body stand on end. In an instant, the dying expression on his face was replaced by agony, and he collapsed onto the floor, rolling around in pain.

Zhao Tianlei had no idea how to describe what he was feeling. The pain was almost unbearable—far worse than being caught by zombies and having a chunk of flesh bitten off. Worst of all, it came from inside his body. His blood churned abnormally, while pain filled his bones, his flesh, and even his skin.

"Ah..."

The entire process lasted two minutes, but to Zhao Tianlei, it felt like two centuries. In the end, he let out a wail and passed out, lying motionless on the rooftop. No one knew how much time had passed when a dark cloud suddenly appeared in the sky. Rain began to fall—not heavy, but not light either—washing over the terrifying, bloodstained school and gradually thinning the stench of blood throughout the campus.

Raindrops fell incessantly onto Zhao Tianlei's body. Perhaps it was because of the rain, or perhaps because the weather had cooled, but Zhao Tianlei slowly opened his eyes. A drop of rain happened to fall into his eye, jolting him awake. He realized that he was lying on the ground, surrounded by rainwater. Only then did he remember that after being scratched and bitten by zombies and becoming infected, he had fled all the way to this rooftop, injected himself with the Virus Evolution Fluid, and then passed out from the pain.

Thinking of this, Zhao Tianlei hurriedly opened his clothes to inspect his body, checking it over and over. Only after confirming that he hadn't turned into a monster like those in the game did he breathe a sigh of relief. However, he soon noticed something else: the wounds left by the zombies' bites and scratches had completely disappeared. Those wounds had been extremely conspicuous, yet they had actually healed just like that. Zhao Tianlei was quite surprised.

"This is ****** amazing. I wonder what happened?"

Scanning host. Subject 0 has successfully evolved, evolving into a Second Class Soldier. Strength: 18. Agility: 16. Defense: 17. Recovery Ability: 8. Storage Space: Level 3 expansion. Normal use enabled.

After the mechanical voice finished speaking, Zhao Tianlei hurriedly interrupted it. "Don't shut down. Wait! Tell me what happened. What are all those confusing things you just mentioned? Why can't I understand a single one of them?"

After hearing Zhao Tianlei's words, the mechanical voice replied without hesitation, "Subject 0, Second Class Soldier. After your body was scratched and bitten by zombies, it carried a large amount of Biochemical Virus, placing you in an infected state. Because you promptly injected the Virus Evolution Fluid, you successfully prevented yourself from becoming a zombie. The Biochemical Virus in your body was transformed into beneficial bacteria, thereby strengthening your cells. The data just now was the result of your physical attributes after their enhancement."

Zhao Tianlei couldn't help asking, "Second Class Soldier? Why do you call me a Second Class Soldier? Does that mean something? I've evolved, so why am I only a Second Class Soldier? Could this be the weakest rank? Since I evolved, shouldn't I be some kind of general at least? At the very least, I should be a colonel or Senior Colonel, right?"

"You have only just evolved. You are still far from being promoted to colonel, Senior Colonel, or a general rank." The mechanical voice immediately struck Zhao Tianlei down so thoroughly that he could barely recover. What surprised him, however, was that he had actually guessed correctly—there really were ranks such as colonel, Senior Colonel, and General Officer.

Zhao Tianlei continued asking, "Then what exactly are these ranks? Earlier, you refused to explain and said that my rank wasn't high enough. Now that I've successfully evolved, can my current rank let me learn more about the situation?"

"The Evolver Rank System is a system based on an evolver's own abilities. More precisely, there are nineteen ranks among evolvers. Of course, it could also be said that there are eighteen, because according to the Main God's rules, no one will ever advance to the final rank—that of Marshal."

"The nineteen ranks are divided into soldiers, noncommissioned officers, field officers, senior officers, general officers, and Marshal. Soldiers are divided into First Class Soldier, Second Class Soldier, and Third Class Soldier. Noncommissioned officers are divided into Master Sergeant, Sergeant Major, and junior sergeant. Field officers are divided into First Lieutenant, First Lieutenant, Second Lieutenant, and Second Lieutenant. Senior officers are divided into Senior Colonel, colonel, lieutenant colonel, and major. General officers are divided into general, senior general, Lieutenant General, and major general. The highest rank is Marshal."

"Normally, after becoming an evolver, an ordinary human would first become a Third Class Soldier. Yet you were directly promoted to Second Class Soldier. Perhaps it was because you killed so many zombies before evolving, earning enough experience to advance directly after your evolution. The initial maximum standard for a Third Class Soldier's physical attributes is 10 in every category except Recovery Ability. In other words, the maximum Strength, Agility, and Defense are all 10 points. Your data—Strength 18, Agility 16, Defense 17, and Recovery Ability 8—is already quite impressive."

"As for the Storage Space, it initially has a capacity of one cubic meter. After you advanced to Second Class Soldier, it increased to three cubic meters. In the future, it will continue to grow and expand as your experience increases. Good luck, Subject 0. The hope of humanity now rests in your hands."