Blacklight Virus

[World: Resident Evil]

[Mission: Eliminate the T/G-Virus and purify this world]

BOOM!

With an earth-shaking explosion!

A mushroom cloud of dust burst open amid the rotting horde, drawing a series of growls from the Zombies!

As the swirling dust slowly began to clear, the outline of a figure gradually emerged.

"Where am I?"

Xia Tianming stared at the unfamiliar surroundings in shock, his eyes filled with confusion and unease.

He clearly remembered that just a second ago, he'd been at home playing the old game Prototype.

Then, accompanied by a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder outside the window, his computer screen suddenly exploded. The next thing he knew, everything went black, and he'd ended up in this desolate, unfamiliar place.

And just now, he'd heard a strange voice echo in his mind.

What was Resident Evil?

A mission?

Purify the world???

So he'd transmigrated—and into a dangerous post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies, at that?!

He hadn't even had time to think any further.

ROAR!!

Suddenly, he heard a bestial roar!

A Zombie, its entire body horrifically decayed, charged straight at him!

The raggedly dressed Zombie was so badly decomposed that every time it ran, chunks of rotting flesh fell from its body, revealing gleaming white bones!

The eyeball in its left socket had fallen out, dangling from a single nerve and swinging outside the socket with each frenzied step!

It looked utterly terrifying!

The first instinct of any normal person upon seeing this Zombie would have been to run.

But Zombies with hideous faces were closing in from all directions with roars, leaving him nowhere to escape.

So he'd transmigrated straight into the middle of a horde. What a damn hellish start!

And yet, when Xia Tianming saw the Zombie charging at him, a sudden hunger inexplicably welled up inside him.

He couldn't help thinking... that Zombie would probably taste delicious?

Damn!

How could he possibly have such a deranged thought???

After the thought surfaced, Xia Tianming found himself stepping forward without meaning to, rushing straight toward the Zombie as it charged at him.

As the distance between them rapidly closed, Xia Tianming could already smell the stench of putrefaction coming off the other man!

ROAR!

The Zombie opened its rotten mouth and snapped at the audacious human who dared approach it!

Xia Tianming looked terrified, but he still reflexively threw a punch!

SPLURT!

Whether it was because the Zombie's body was so badly decomposed or for some other reason, Xia Tianming's punch went through it as easily as if he'd struck a block of soft tofu!

His fist passed between its ribs, smashing the shriveled, useless organs in its path before bursting through its back, coated in clotted, putrid blood!

But a Zombie's only weakness was its head. Punching through its chest wasn't enough to kill it.

It opened its foul-smelling mouth and kept biting at Xia Tianming's neck, even with his arm still impaling its chest!

"Damn it!"

Xia Tianming cursed under his breath, clenched his other hand into a fist, and sent it swinging toward the Zombie's hideous head with a gust of wind!

There was a muffled THUD!

The Zombie's head exploded like a jar of soy sauce smashed to pieces!

Red, yellow, and green juices ran down his arm. It was utterly disgusting!

But what happened next made Xia Tianming's eyes widen in disbelief!

Black-and-red tendrils began to sprout from the skin of his right hand—the one that had smashed the Zombie's head?!

They seemed to have minds of their own, greedily sucking up the Zombie's juices splattered across his arm.

Even after draining them, they weren't satisfied. They shot toward the headless Zombie's body!

The black-and-red tendrils spread into countless fine strands, writhing madly over the Zombie's body like a blooming Bloody Rose!

They shredded its rotting flesh, bones, hair, and even its tattered clothes into a mass of dark-red blood!

Countless tendrils greedily devoured and absorbed the blood, draining it completely in no time.

And the entire bizarre process took less than two seconds!

After devouring the Zombie, Xia Tianming felt no discomfort at all. Instead, a pleasant sensation, like a spring breeze, spread through his entire body, as if he'd been reborn.

And this feeling...

was absolutely exhilarating!

[Blacklight Threshold: 1/300]

After devouring the Zombie, Xia Tianming suddenly found this piece of information in his mind.

Blacklight... Threshold?

Could it be the Blacklight Virus?

Remembering the black-and-red tendrils that had extended from his arm, and how they'd shredded the Zombie into a ball of blood before absorbing it, he realized this was one of Prototype's signature abilities—[Consume]!

The Blacklight Virus could shred and consume any organic matter, breaking it down into nutrients for the virus and using them to strengthen its abilities!

Most terrifying of all, it could even steal other people's abilities!

The Blacklight Virus could be called the king of all viruses!

And the Blacklight Threshold might be the equivalent of skill points in the game.

Once he broke through a threshold, he'd be able to unlock other viral abilities.

Such as the Blacklight Claws, the Blacklight Blade, the Blacklight Whip-Blade, and Camouflage.

With the Blacklight Virus at his side, wouldn't he be at the top of the food chain in this world?!

While Xia Tianming was thinking about all this,

the other Zombies had already closed in. A quick estimate put their number at no less than a thousand!

Xia Tianming stood right in the middle of the horde, like a drop of milk falling into ink. The ink—the Zombie horde—was surging inward, trying to engulf him!

An ordinary person would probably have been scared witless by this sight, collapsing to the ground.

But Xia Tianming, with the Blacklight Virus inside him, felt a surge of excitement inexplicably rise in his heart, as if countless delicacies were coming to him of their own accord.

He stood right where he was, his hands trembling slightly with excitement, the corners of his mouth lifting despite himself.

If he consumed all one thousand Zombies, he could probably break through the threshold several times!

But he was still at the Blacklight Virus's initial stage. Facing so many enemies could also put him in mortal danger.

After all, even Alex Mercer could be killed by mooks early in the game.

But even if he wanted to run now, there was nowhere to go. Zombies had filled every gap in every direction, and as far as the eye could see, the horde was surging toward him!

Standing at its very center, Xia Tianming could feel the ground trembling beneath him!

ROAR!!!

A one-armed Zombie reached Xia Tianming first. Its mouth opened like a blooming flower into six flaps, each lined with rows of horrifying fangs!

If it managed to take a bite out of him, it would tear away a chunk of flesh as big as a basin!

This was a Mutated Zombie.

It spread its petal-shaped maw and snapped at Xia Tianming's head, trying to engulf and swallow his entire head!

But with the Blacklight Virus at his side, his reaction speed had also improved.

Xia Tianming reacted instantly, striking with both hands and grabbing two of the Zombie's mouth flaps. Then he ripped them apart, splitting its head in half!

Another one-hit kill!

Black-and-red Blacklight Tentacles sprouted from the pores on his arms once more, shredding the Mutated Zombie into a ball of blood and devouring it completely, without leaving even a speck behind!

[Blacklight Threshold: 3/300]