Supernatural Virus, Transcending Time!

If the S-1 Virus was a natural disaster, unpredictable and impossible for humanity to prepare for, then the S-2 Virus was entirely man-made, born from the greed in human hearts and the cravings within our genes.

"Hiss, isn't this the Armored Titan from Attack on Titan?"

Flipping further to the first illustration of an Infected, the familiar shape made Cheng Ye feel a bit dazed.

A giant, about twenty meters tall, was covered head to toe in insectoid armor plating. Its weapon was a smokestack from a chemical plant, spewing white smoke. Paired together, it had a bizarre, absurd feel, like Lu Zhishen uprooting a willow tree.

Opposite the giant were eight massive cannon muzzles, each over a meter in diameter.

Cheng Ye wasn't sure what would happen when they clashed, but he knew the giant would die horribly.

After all, modern technology wasn't like the omni-directional gear in manga, requiring people to fly around and cut at the nape of the neck.

Anything within the coverage of the cannons was the absolute truth!

Scrolling down, there were a few more illustrations: a Speedy Infected with its Achilles tendon grown all the way up to its neck, a Flying Infected with a pair of wings sprouting from its back, and an Intelligent Infected whose brain took up half its body volume.

Compared to zombies, Cheng Ye actually found these Infected somewhat endearingly foolish.

Their exaggerated forms clearly showed they had taken a wrong turn. No matter how foolish humans were, they wouldn't consider this reasonable or sustainable.

Naturally, it was understandable that they were wiped out and suppressed within just over a year.

"Once bitten, twice shy. If it happens a third and fourth time, it's no longer surprising."

Cheng Ye wasn't surprised by the author's question at the end of the page at all. In fact, he found it completely normal.

The S-2 Virus was immensely destructive, but it also held the potential for equally immense profit.

Flipping to the next chapter, sure enough, the S-3 Virus had freshly arrived.

'The S-2 Virus was eradicated in the summer of 2043. For the next five years, human civilization rapidly recovered, and the various shelter cities were dismantled one after another. Humanity returned to living in familiar cities, and everything seemed to be back on track.'

'Until, the S-3 Virus reappeared!'

'Although humanity has been researching the S-3 Virus for decades, it is still unclear where this peculiar virus originates. It no longer infects humans but focuses on animals and plants, perfectly merging the characteristics of both the S-1 and S-2 viruses. It spreads through water sources and, within just half a year, has radiated globally. It also helps animals and plants break through their limits, giving rise to numerous incredible effects.'

'It's hard to imagine this planet becoming so insane. Ordinary soil and plants, catalyzed by the virus, can actually give birth to a special plant that can make people revert to youth – the Nine-Turn Ginseng Fruit. Eating it, an eighty-year-old can instantly become twenty, regaining their youth.'

'Even more unimaginable is that with the appearance of the Nine-Turn Ginseng Fruit, more and more bizarre mutated creatures and plants have emerged: Mutated Sky Beef that can grant humans tens of tons of strength instantly, Hundred-Joint Grass that can regenerate severed limbs and provide super recovery abilities, Lava Lotus that can grant fire-breathing abilities, and Wind Cluster Leaf that allows for low-altitude flight.'

'Many say this is Spiritual Energy Revival, and the great era of contention for humanity has finally arrived. Many others say this is Primordial Era Returns, and the divine artifacts from ancient myths are reappearing one by one, about to lead humanity back to the Primordial Era and stand at the pinnacle of the entire Cosmos. I don't know who is right, but I know this is definitely a more terrifying virus than S-1 and S-2!'

'It perfectly grasps human nature, understands humanity's weaknesses, and precisely targets humanity's ultimate desires for immortality, power, and the extraordinary. As the flesh of the youth-reversing fruit is desperately fought over by humans, and as fruits that grant humans extraordinary abilities appear on the black market, the S-3 Virus, with its gentlest demeanor, has completed a more thorough slaughter than the previous two disasters.'

'It doesn't need to destroy human order at all; human greed will automatically shatter everything!'

'Humans have gone mad, everyone has gone mad. They've gone mad for transcendence, for strength!'

'.(Violation),(Strikethrough)'

'It's laughable. Humanity showed no signs of civilizational collapse after being bombarded by the S-1 and S-2 viruses targeting themselves, yet after experiencing the completely unaffected S-3 virus, they suffered heavy casualties. Vast swathes of cities became deserted, and full-scale war erupted.'

End of page.

No illustrations.

Cheng Ye, however, was deeply shaken. These words seemed to drag him into that mad era, allowing him to see how human nature was dissected under the age of transcendence, turning weapons that should have been aimed outward into bayonets stabbing at civilization.

"In an era of great contention, anyone can achieve transcendence."

"Even ordinary people hiding in shelters grew greedy. Their foundations naturally began to spiral out of control, leading human civilization to the abyss."

For some inexplicable reason, Cheng Ye suddenly thought of Earth.

If this virus had appeared on Earth, could humanity really have withstood the catalysis from S-1 to S-2, and then to S-3?

Moreover, there was one point that had always puzzled Cheng Ye.

Apart from a few geographical names, the Blue Star Wasteland he was currently in was completely indistinguishable from the Earth he had lived on before his transmigration.

"Did I not transmigrate to another world, but through time?"

Cheng Ye couldn't help but speculate.

Changing a place name wasn't difficult. Transcendent powers had already appeared; redrawing regional boundaries would be a simple matter.

What followed, the text's description of the transition from the New Era to the Old Era, seemed to continuously confirm his judgment.

'The chaos brought by the S-3 virus lasted for a full fifteen years. The Blue Star's population once plummeted to less than two billion. Wars erupted everywhere on the chaotic planet. Every time new transcendent items appeared, they would trigger a "grand spectacle" involving tens of millions of people. The reason this farce eventually ended was not because humanity realized the virus's danger, but because the S-3 virus mutated again, and S-4 appeared!'

'In the autumn of the Old Era, 2063, the S-3 virus fissioned into the special S-4 virus. How laughable, it all seemed like a cycle. The S-4 virus returned to the S-2 period, losing its ability to spread widely and only spreading through the air to specific individuals. And this group of specific individuals were precisely those transcendent beings from before!'

"What?"

Cheng Ye's heart jolted, and he almost cried out.

If he had been in the eras described in the book, he might not have felt the horror of the S virus so clearly.

But summarized, from S-3 to S-4, wasn't it just a form of online scam, luring people in first and then slowly butchering them?

'Transcendent beings infected by the S-4 virus would experience their powers rapidly spiraling out of control. As their gene chains broke, they would turn into mindless husks that could only survive on biological instincts, what we commonly call: the Primal Source of Infection.'

'Although the S-4 virus did not directly affect ordinary people, the mutated power within transcendent beings remained a deadly source of pollution. A very small number of people could luckily inherit a trace of transcendent ability after contact with the power, but more would repeat the same mistakes, gaining power while losing their sanity, becoming Infected that relied on biological instincts, residual memories, and habits from their past lives to act, replaying fragmented life moments.'

'All the Infected we encounter today, when traced back to their origins, can be traced to these transcendent beings of the Old Era. Their sources of ability can be found from these transcendent beings.'

"Due to the hidden and unique nature of the Primal Source of Infection, the lethality of human technological weapons has become extremely limited. To continue civilization, refuge cities were reactivated across various regions to protect ordinary people while isolating the source of infection from further expansion."

"The first Xinhuo Refuge City was completed in 2070. To prevent future generations from investigating history and repeating past mistakes, the surviving humans made a bold decision: to sever ties with the old era, re-divide the planet's map, and completely erase contaminated continental plates and ruined cities from the map. They also buried a portion of the history that caused immense damage to civilization, embarking on the path of development in the New Era."

"Year 2070 of the Old Era, Year 1 of the New Era. Human civilization has gradually returned to the right track. This is a difficult struggle that is destined to last for hundreds of years. Unfortunately, my lifespan is short, and I will not live to see the true end of this disaster!"

"But perhaps there is S-5, perhaps S-6. What do you think?"

Rustle.

Unknowingly, Cheng Ye had flipped to the last page of Origin of Infection, his gaze lingering on the question the author had written as if with the last of their strength.

S-5?

S-6?

The S-Series Virus had only mutated four times, yet it had nearly pushed human civilization to the brink of collapse.

What if there were one or several more large-scale directional mutations? What if it reverted to the wide-area transmission mode of S-1, with zombies reappearing, and these zombies had broken through the limits of carbon-based life?

Cheng Ye couldn't help but shiver, instantly realizing that this Wasteland might be far more dangerous than he had imagined.

Meanwhile.

"It is now Year 35 of the New Era. If I can find the buried history and prove this is Earth."

"Then it means I didn't travel to a parallel world, but transmigrated 80 years into the future?"

Another Monday, another day of dismal readership and collections. Please, spare a monthly ticket for this newbie~