Negotiation

Xia Tianming, whose head had been crushed halfway, stood up unsteadily, his feet trampling upon the Tyrant's head which was covered in viral tentacles.

When he moved his foot away, the octopus-like Tyrant head began to stir once more.

Yet this time, it did not crawl aimlessly; instead, it slithered up Xia Tianming's pant leg as if summoned by the progenitor.

Upon reaching Xia Tianming's severely damaged head, the tentacles within the Tyrant's skull suddenly connected and intertwined with those protruding from his own mangled cranium!

The Tyrant's head then began to dissolve on its own; within moments, all its flesh and brain tissue melted into a ball of blood, which was then consumed and absorbed!

Only a metallic, alloy-like skull remained, falling to the ground with a crisp, clattering sound.

Viral Energy +600

[Blacklight Threshold: 2023/3000]

Devouring the head of this Tyrant had actually provided him with 600 points of viral energy.

The Blacklight Virus gained a massive amount of nutrients, and the half of Xia Tianming's head that had been crushed was instantly filled in by viral tentacles, healing completely without a single trace of injury!

However, his eyes appeared somewhat vacant at this moment.

When his head had been crushed and his brain destroyed just moments ago, he had lost consciousness.

Now that he had regained awareness, he found himself perfectly fine, standing in place with his head fully restored.

In other words, everything from standing up to devouring the Tyrant's head had not been a conscious act, but the Blacklight Virus taking control of this body...

Can I even still be considered myself...

BANG!

At that moment, the massive commotion caused by the headless Tyrant caught Xia Tianming's attention.

He turned his head to look; the giant was flailing its fists wildly, smashing deep craters into the sturdy walls.

It was actually still alive; its vitality was truly tenacious.

But now, Xia Tianming was thinking about how to eat it.

If devouring just its head could provide 600 points of viral energy, wouldn't devouring that massive body provide even more, perhaps even enough to break through the threshold and achieve the next evolution?

It seemed the Umbrella Corporation was raising him like livestock; perhaps they didn't even realize they were fattening up a monster they couldn't control!

Xia Tianming approached from behind, and the Tyrant, having lost its head and thus its senses, naturally could not detect him.

When he reached a distance of two meters behind it, he transformed his hands into Blacklight Claws and slashed fiercely at its back!

CLANG!

It was still impossible to break through the Tyrant's steel-like bones.

Xia Tianming recalled that it was his viral blood seeping into the Tyrant's wounded eye socket that had allowed the Blacklight Virus to invade its brain, destroy its neural tissue, and trigger a rejection response, forcing the Tyrant's self-preservation mechanism to rip its own head off.

If it hadn't decapitated itself, the Blacklight Virus would have soon invaded its entire body from the head.

In other words, this thing needed to be breached from the inside!

Without a second thought, Xia Tianming bent his knees slightly and leaped directly onto the Tyrant's shoulder!

He wanted to force the Blacklight Virus into the Tyrant's neck stump once more to completely seize control of its entire body!

Perhaps due to muscular nerve reflexes, the Tyrant's headless body sensed something had jumped onto its shoulder and swung its arm violently to smash it!

Xia Tianming sensed a gust of wind approaching and leaped to the Tyrant's other broad shoulder, simultaneously slicing his own wrist to let black blood flow continuously into the neck stump.

Like a surging tsunami, the Blacklight Virus invaded the Tyrant's body, moving with unstoppable momentum through the blood vessels to every corner of its frame!

The T-Virus and cells within the opponent were instantly devoured by the ferocious Blacklight Virus, unable to offer any resistance!

In the blink of an eye, the headless Tyrant ceased all movement, freezing in place like a statue.

The dark green blood within it was also converted into the black-red hue that symbolized the Blacklight Virus!

Seeing it stop struggling, Xia Tianming extended dense clusters of tentacles from his body, which burrowed into the neck stump to begin devouring and absorbing it from the inside out!

Perhaps because of the excessive energy contained within the Tyrant, consuming this massive body took significantly more time than devouring other infected subjects.

While Xia Tianming was in the process of consuming the Tyrant, Wesker, located in the safe room, communicated with him once again: "Impressive. You actually killed the Tyrant that Dr. Pim worked so painstakingly to develop. Tell me, does this meal suit your appetite?"

His words sounded as if he had known all along that the Tyrant was no match for Xia Tianming, and that it was a generous gift he had offered to the other party.

"What exactly do you want?"

For the first time, Xia Tianming spoke—the very first words he had uttered since arriving in this world, nineteen chapters ago!

His voice was extremely calm and devoid of emotion, causing the shareholders in the safe room to shudder involuntarily.

Seeing that he had actually answered, Wesker took it as a good start and hurriedly continued: "As I said before, I want to reach a cooperative relationship with you. You provide the company with research samples, and we provide you with any life you desire, but the ultimate goal is to benefit humanity."

Xia Tianming listened to these words—the culprits behind the destruction of humanity claiming their goal was to benefit humanity???

He wanted to laugh, but he couldn't, because the Blacklight Virus had stripped away his emotions and facial expressions.

And this so-called cooperation was undoubtedly because they valued his ability to reproduce and heal indefinitely, wanting to turn him into a source of slices for the Umbrella Corporation—the kind of endless meat-pig that grows flesh as fast as it is cut—to create an army of viruses like himself?

"Fine, but is this how you treat your partners, locking me in this hellhole?" Xia Tianming spoke again.

Wesker was stunned for a moment, then hesitated and said: "Ahem, actually, I would like to let you out, but the shareholders around me cannot accept you for the time being. After all, the strength you have displayed poses a great threat to our company, so it would be better if you stayed here for now and cooperated with our research?"

In truth, the shareholders beside him had not spoken at all; it was merely a lie fabricated by the naturally suspicious Wesker, who had not believed Xia Tianming's words in the slightest.

He had been so resistant before, yet now he was suddenly willing to cooperate—who could easily believe that?

Therefore, neither side trusted the other in the slightest.

Xia Tianming heard this load of nonsense and ceased speaking, continuing instead to consume the remains of the Tyrant beneath him.

He felt a continuous stream of viral energy pouring into his body, and his Blacklight Threshold was rising steadily, giving him the distinct premonition of an imminent breakthrough!

Perhaps once this evolution was complete, he would be able to breach this impenetrable containment facility!

He would let these fellows who loved researching viruses experience the Blacklight Virus they dreamed of firsthand!