Umbrella Corporation, Your Emperor Has Returned

The path toward the underground area of the building was even more treacherous than before, though this was only true for Luo Ji, an ordinary person.

After all, in the pitch-black environment, humans could not perceive from which direction a crisis might strike.

Meng Yi possessed a mental world, and the girl was suspected of having undergone gene modification surgery; neither was hindered by the darkness.

After stopping the Bomber Violent Woman who had tried to "rise up and attack" several times, Meng Yi managed to cobble together a cannon fodder legion of over seventy zombies. He acted as the vanguard and, incidentally, found a still-functional flashlight for Luo Ji.

A surreal scene unfolded before his eyes. Luo Ji had already begun to doubt his own existence—what the hell are you, a human or a ghost?

Only then did it dawn on Luo Ji.

Without even knowing it, he had walked back and forth before the gates of life and death.

Judging by this small glimpse, if he could manipulate zombie infected, could he also manipulate normal human minds?

If he had not accepted Meng Yi's invitation, would he too have ended up as one of the "zombie vanguards"?

"Commander, are you a Path Strider?"

Driven by curiosity, the Bomber Violent Woman thought for a long time before asking.

Path Strider?

"No, you can think of me as a 'superpowered individual'."

Meng Yi gave an indifferent reply, though ripples were already stirring in his heart.

A string of unremarkable numbers like "AR-26710" meant nothing, but the term "Path Strider" had been cataloged by Meng Yi's Memory Palace.

In his previous life, he was a corporate slave working nine-to-five at a research institute.

During his student years, he had obtained three doctorates in biology, chemistry, and medicine.

Games were far too distant from his daily life; he never had the time to play them.

However, while chatting with colleagues during his downtime, he had learned about a game that was popular for a time, Honkai: Star Rail. The term "Path Strider" was precisely the setting for the extraordinary beings in that game.

Input main keyword: "Path Strider", associated keywords: serial number AR-26710, begin search!

Meng Yi did not stop walking, his divided thoughts using the Memory Palace to query the identity of the Bomber Violent Woman.

[Main Entry: AR-26710: Glamoth Empire standard gene-modified clone, serial number AR-26710, pilot of the Firefly IV Strategic Assault Armor (SAM). After the Fall of Propagation and the Cosmic Locust Plague event, the Glamoth Empire fell and the Celestial Front was lost. Invited by the Slave of Fate: Acheron, she joined the illegal pan-interstellar civilization organization, the Stellaron Hunters, calling herself "Firefly" to search for the meaning of her existence.]

[Main Entry: Path Strider: A prerequisite for an Emanator, capable of wielding varying degrees of extraordinary power. By practicing the philosophy of a certain Aeon, one may gain the gaze of that Aeon and become a Path Strider.]

[Expanded Entry 1: Aeon: Idealism System, Concept Gods. Their will is sublimated to the extreme, leveraging "Imaginary Energy" to anchor and solidify into a "Path," roaming the universe with endless lifespan. Suspected to be a product of the "Imaginary Tree" shedding the old for the new after the Era of Ancient Beasts: Twilight War.]

[Expanded Entry 2: C'tan: Physical System, Rule Gods. The manifestation of certain physical rules of the Warhammer Universe, feeding on celestial stars, immortal energy lifeforms. They once seduced the Necron race, triggering the birth of the "Cosmic Disaster: Space Undead," and launched the "War in Heaven" against the Eternal Ones: Old Ones. Later backstabbed by the Necrons: Silent King, they were split into thousands of "Aeon Shards."]

Meng Yi felt his head buzzing. Evolution Paradise really didn't pick and choose its candidates.

The Warhammer universe view, the Three-Body universe view, and the game universe view all sitting at the same table playing cards?

What next? Is there a follow-up expansion for "Warp Chaos Gods vs. God-level Civilization: Erasers"?

Tyranids vs. Fecund Swarm, physical rule C'tan vs. idealistic Concept Gods, Necrons: Silent King vs. Machine Emperor Rubert, Psionic Technology vs. Two-Dimensional Foil vs. Genius Society black tech...

Meng Yi glanced nonchalantly at the Bomber Violent Woman not far to his side.

If he remembered correctly, this girl was the type who had "unknown combat power, grows stronger against strong opponents, burns everything away, and shines for a fleeting moment."

Her known highest achievement was unscientifically breaking through the core of a ruined material planet, setting off a brilliant "big firework" in the cold space of the universe.

It's a trap, the idealism system doesn't care about science!

Regardless of the price paid to pierce the planet's core, her destructive power was already comparable to a desperate Alpha-level telekinetic glass cannon from the Warhammer universe.

He had thought he was outrageous enough, but who would have guessed his teammate was even more so. There really is always someone stronger, and one cheat is always better than the next.

However, her current state is not easy. Her once-vigorous Life Fire has become a tiny flame, and she could die at any moment.

Without her armor, in poor condition, with little origin left, and lacking a "Path" to provide energy, how much power can she still exert?

For the sake of insurance, Meng Yi converted her into an equivalent, barely controllable human-shaped "Big Ivan."

A gene-modified human from some cosmic civilization, plus the potential power of a "Path"—I really want to study her.

Soldier. Commander—the identity she habitually used to address him—could that be leveraged?

Meng Yi hurriedly extinguished the thoughts that instinctively sprouted as a normal scientific researcher.

He had been making "suicide vanguards" for too long; he couldn't afford to offend this level of "suicide unit" just yet.

He would skip the VIP lab guest treatment; helping her figure out how to save her life and drawing a few tubes of blood along the way should be fine.

The so-called "Slave of Fate: Acheron" could only treat the symptoms, not the root cause, using the "Path."

Meng Yi's "Mind System: Psionic Power," combined with the gene technology from the Selection Dungeon, might just be able to do it.

Not to mention, the "Red Light Virus" mentioned in the Selection Dungeon, and its improved "Black Light Virus," had great potential.

Fearless of death, unlimited "Ignite the Star Sea."

Good heavens, are you the strengthened version of Eight Gates Guy?

While Meng Yi pondered how to profit, he led his two teammates through more than ten kilometers of pitch-black underground train tracks.

The "Hive," built by the Umbrella Corporation two hundred to eight hundred meters beneath Raccoon City, had already appeared at the edge of the mental 3D network Meng Yi had constructed.

Along the way, Meng Yi incidentally subdued three "Big Dogs" wandering the underground tracks, or as they were more familiarly known, "Lickers."

With dozens of zombies and three Lickers, his cobbled-together cannon fodder army was barely presentable.

Multitasking was not difficult for Meng Yi, who toyed with minds and spirits. He had long since mastered the art of manipulating puppets, and the technical difficulty was far lower than building a "Memory Palace."

The spirit strength of the zombies and Lickers was too weak; precise manipulation of them did not burden Meng Yi much.

Surrounded and protected by the biochemical cannon fodder legion, Meng Yi watched as Luo Ji, an ordinary person, had his eyelids twitching incessantly, beginning to struggle with whether he was on the right "pirate ship."

The "Bomber Violent Woman" was also hesitating, wanting to speak but holding back.

He always felt that Meng Yi's style was completely different from theirs; what was with this overwhelming evil villain aura?

I won the bet! The Gift Package is in hand!

The mental network swept through the Umbrella underground Hive, and the lowest level fed back the mental fluctuations of thousands of humans.

Meng Yi stopped in his tracks, the corners of his mouth curling into a "sunny, cheerful boy" arc.

No longer worried about consumption and load, he unleashed his ultimate move from seven or eight kilometers away.

"Psionic Interference: Extreme: Wide-Area Cognition Alteration!"

In one breath, he modified the cognitive thinking of thousands of people, adding a memory that did not exist.

Although most of them were in a deep sleep, it still placed a great burden on Meng Yi's fragile body.

"Hoo—"

He leaned the weight of his body against a Licker and shook his dizzy head.

Meng Yi: "Umbrella, your emperor has returned!"