Civilization Watcher (Resentful Version)

"Mending the cracks in a broken body is simple—just patch it up."

The nanoscale black-and-red filaments were more than enough to create a 'gene limiter,' making it even easier to repair Firefly's battered and exhausted physique.

Damaged organs, bones, meridians, muscle tissue... Meng Yi patched them up one by one.

The second phase of the surgery took less than two hours total, not even a fifth of the time needed to cover and capture every single one of Firefly's cells.

The black-red thin layer enveloping Firefly's body was gradually retracted by Meng Yi, and the cracked azure patterns on the girl's skin closed and healed.

In the Selection Dungeon's Biohazard Worldview, there was no 'Imaginary Space' generously providing unlimited 'Imaginary Energy' as a supply.

Meng Yi also had no contact with any 'supernatural energy system,' so he could only absorb external nutrients to fuel his body's activities.

Relying on Firefly's own digestion and absorption to replenish the excessive 'water' lost from her 'container'—that would take forever.

Save a person to the end, see a Buddha to the West.

Since he'd already made her a 'gene limiter' and repaired her broken 'container,' he might as well go the extra mile.

Meng Yi acted as an efficient conversion device, stabbing one set of bio-tentacles into a massive nutrient storage tank while connecting another set to Firefly's limbs and bones.

The nutrients were absorbed at super speed by the 'Virus Progenitor,' then recharged into Firefly as 'life force.'

With this external supply, Firefly's broken cell telomeres reconnected, and the burned-out ends began to gradually lengthen.

Don't let the term 'life force' sound mystical—at its core, it still operates at the cellular level within the Microcosm Domain.

Extending telomere ends increases theoretical lifespan, stimulates cell division, replaces worn-out old cells with new ones, and performs maintenance akin to the philosophical 'Ship of Theseus' concept.

Meng Yi wouldn't overly exalt the 'Technology System' or 'Psionics System.'

Nor would he disparage the 'Idealism System,' 'Concept System,' 'Rule System,' 'Magic System,' 'Weird System,' 'Xuanhuan System,' 'Cultivation System'...

One learns the Dao in order, and each art has its specialization.

Different systems at different stages tread into various domains in sequence, but there's no hierarchy of high or low.

In his understanding, once you reach a certain level, any system can theoretically achieve 'one method understood, ten thousand clear,' constructing a 'Relative Omnipotence Domain.'

Can't achieve 'Relative Omnipotence'?

Then sorry—a cripple walking on one leg, no matter how massive their scale, is just a fattened pig waiting to be slaughtered.

Time passed. Ten hours remained until the end of the Selection Dungeon.

Firefly's three surgeries took Meng Yi a total of fifteen hours. The 'daredevil's' ailments were fully cured by him.

It took longer than expected, so when he sensed signs of Firefly regaining consciousness midway, Meng Yi administered another dose of high-concentration anesthetic.

Time was tight—he couldn't stay in the lab waiting for Firefly to wake up.

Meng Yi instructed 'Artificial Intelligence · Red Queen' to relay the pre-arranged precautions to Firefly when she awoke, then retracted all bio-viral derivatives and hurriedly left the lab.

He was going to carry out a grand plan, and also to verify a long-considered hypothesis.

He found Alex, who was idling around, his vibe completely out of place in Umbrella's underground Hive.

The hooded guy had grown up—money in his pocket had changed his mindset.

Cooped up in a high-tech facility with no way to roam the streets, Alex had transformed into a 'rich guy' addicted to the internet, throwing money around with lavish generosity.

When Meng Yi first heard about this from 'Red Queen,' he was both amused and exasperated.

After some thought, tipping female streamers was still tipping, and tipping Umbrella was also tipping—why not support his own company's tech progress instead?

So Meng Yi had 'Red Queen' use AI tech to create a batch of lifelike digital girlfriends, completely bewitching Alex.

Live-streaming female streamers, 24/7 chatty caring big sisters...

Their backstories were crafted to be as tragic as possible—like the mature older sister's 'poor family, sick mother, brother in school, new to this and not yet familiar; ex-husband abusive and a gambler, raising a daughter alone with no income; siblings all relying on me, business failed, crying every day; forced into streaming, hoping little bro will take care of me...'

If Alex could imagine it, 'Artificial Intelligence · Red Queen' could make it happen.

Big data analysis revealed Alex's orphanage background and his 'XP system' craving maternal love—nowhere to hide.

The pervasive digital paper cutouts had the young man completely fooled.

Bewitched by lust, Alex gradually lost himself in the coquettish calls of 'geigei~,' 'hubby~,' 'little bro~.'

In just over ten days, the ten million dollars freshly deposited into his account was nearly all spent by the oblivious Alex.

Such a scam... cough cough, such a grand, thoughtful plan couldn't possibly only 'look after' Umbrella's tech guys and otaku men.

America's younger generation was being heavily eroded by 'Red Queen's' 'Paper Cutout Plan.'

If America's fat pigs... cough cough, top donors wanted to meet the streamers offline for a date.

That was easy too—just tweak the clone tech a bit, and a 'B.O.W. Mod · Tyrant' could handle the gig, juggling multiple 'sponsors (big suckers).'

Using Umbrella's highest authority, Meng Yi opened Alex's private room without notice.

Hearing the door open, the hooded guy burst into astonishing speed, yanking the computer's power cord with quick hands and spinning his chair to face the door as if nothing had happened.

But the one who walked in wasn't his sister Dana checking the bills—it was Chairman Bai, who hadn't shown up in days.

That really pissed off the guilty young man.

Alex stared at Meng Yi with a face full of resentment, as if Meng Yi owed him several units of "Qi" (Note: one Qi day = 5.01 million, roughly two Shuang days).

"Boss, how do you have time to drop by my place?"

Meng Yi beamed. Not long ago, just as he'd opened the door, the young man had handed him tens of thousands of dollars. How could he not be happy?

He found a nearby sofa and sat down, crossing his legs, resting his elbow on the armrest, and interlacing his fingers. He stared at Alex in silence, making the hooded guy's hair stand on end.

"B-Boss, let's talk this out! Don't look at me like that—I'm scared..."

Alex gritted his teeth and stomped his foot. "You want me to go to the lab, right? Fine! Let's go now. Draw blood or cut meat, whatever you're in the mood for!"

Meng Yi chuckled, pushed up his non-prescription Black Frame Gold Pattern Glasses, and said with deep meaning, "Alex, can I trust you?"

Through his network contact with the Artificial Intelligence · Red Queen, Meng Yi had judged that Alex wasn't a bad kid.

At the very least, his moral baseline was much higher than Meng Yi's, and he was far less flexible than Meng Yi.

At least Meng Yi couldn't bring himself to fund a "Caring Big Sister" for free, giving away his wealth, time, energy, and emotions to help her and her "Lovely Daughter" rebuild a "beautiful life."

"Huh? Boss, what do you mean?"

"If you tell me to go east, I won't go west!"

Alex was stunned for a moment, then spoke with utmost sincerity.

Meng Yi was the first to acknowledge his identity as a "human." Meng Yi had given him today's financial freedom and comfortable life.

Unless there was a Principled Conflict, how could Alex ever betray Meng Yi?

Meng Yi smiled, stood up, and paced to the window of the virtual scenery, one hand behind his back.

"My experiment is Completed. Next, I'm going to initiate the entire civilization's 'Great Nirvana Plan.'"

"Remove the contamination of the Black Light Virus, keeping only the rapid evolution ability. In the early stages, humans might not evolve as fast as beasts or plants."

"I need you to be a 'Civilization Watcher,' suppressing uncontrollable non-human lifeforms on the surface."

Alex felt a heavy weight of responsibility and trust pressing down on his not-so-broad shoulders.

"Boss, what about you?"

Meng Yi didn't turn around. His acting skills kicked in as he said softly, facing away from Alex, "Me? I'm leaving. Starting the 'Nirvana Era' requires a sacrifice. This is the destiny I've always dreamed of."

"So, Alex, can I trust you?"

Caught off guard, lost, hesitant, reluctant...

Alex hunched his back, his fists clenching and unclenching. After a long, long time, he spoke in a hoarse, raspy voice.

"Boss, you're willing to sacrifice yourself just to let humanity evolve."

Then he gave a carefree smile. "I, Alex Mercer, have a worthless life. What's wrong with paying with most of my future time?"

"The Civilization Watcher? That title's super cool. I accept your final mission!"