G! Resurrection!!

In the narrow, dim alley, a body convulsed helplessly on the filthy, muddy ground. Its eyes were wide open, filled with resentment, fury, hatred, pain, and despair...

Blood continued to gush from the severed neck, making a strange bubbling sound. The steaming blood stained a large patch of the dirty ground, turning it from black to red.

"How pitiful! You fought tooth and nail... only to end up empty-handed..."

"So... I really am going to die!!"

"I can't accept this... I only get one chance to die... and now I'm dying just like that. I really can't accept it!"

"The T-Virus... the T-Virus I worked so hard to get...!!"

"Heh heh, Wang Ning... you think I can't tell it's you, even when you imitate Li Shuangmu's voice? How ridiculous..."

"Even if I die... I truly despise you... Just you wait, Yin Kuang. You wait..."

"One day, I'll slit your throat too and bleed you dry, to repay you for today's humiliation, today's grudge, today's hatred!!"

His teeth ground together with a grating sound... But as he lost more and more blood, his strength rapidly ebbed away. In the end, he didn't even have the strength to grit his teeth.

At the threshold of death, Yin Kuang used the last of his strength to bite his lip and savor the metallic taste of his blood. Yet it tasted so sweet. "Wang Ning, one day, I'll find out what your blood tastes like!!"

His head grew heavier, his body lighter. Yin Kuang could no longer feel any pain. He only felt as if he were flying—no, floating, like a dandelion carried by the wind, drifting farther and higher...

Yin Kuang saw his mother... In the lush fields, bent over as she pulled weeds from the rice paddies... worn and aged from hard work, she smiled like a flower. "You're home, son..."

His father... swung the hoe polished smooth by his hands, turning over the soil along the field ridge again and again. He sprinkled a few sprouted peanut seeds, covered them with earth, then stamped them down with his dirt-covered feet... He glared, planted the hoe in the ground, and snapped, "Go study! This kind of work isn't for you. You're useless!!"

His well-behaved twin little sisters held up their freshly returned exam papers... pouting and pleading with their brother, their cheeks flushed red. "Brother, we got 100 points! I want a Barbie doll..."

"Dad... Mom... little sis... I..."

"I... don't want to die!!"

"Ah!!"

At that moment, Yin Kuang found strength from somewhere and rolled over, facing the pitch-black sky. From his torn throat, he forced out a roar—though in truth it was so faint that it didn't even leave the alley before the draft scattered it.

"No!! I don't want to die. Absolutely not!!"

"I still have a chance... I still have a chance..."

"Nicholas!! Watch me... I'm not you! I, Yin Kuang... will definitely..."

"Live on!"

With a thought, an item vanished from the middle of his inventory. Then, a glass vial suddenly appeared in Yin Kuang's hand.

It was a glass vial just like the one containing the T-Virus—the difference was that the double-helix-shaped container inside held no icy blue T-Virus...

The vial came from an underground passage beneath a natural gas company owned by Umbrella Corporation, the one he had blown up. It had been clutched tightly in the hand of a dead researcher! The researcher had killed himself, though Yin Kuang didn't know why. When, on a whim, he picked up the vial, he suddenly received a "prompt"!

That prompt had helped him understand why Dr. Isaacs had wanted him to activate the self-destruct sequence in that three-story building. On the surface, it had been to help Yin Kuang, but in reality, it had been to destroy evidence for himself!

The strange amber liquid inside the glass vial was none other than...

Item: Semi-finished G-Virus!!

Description: An advanced strain of the T-Virus, whose research Umbrella Corporation's SSS-level directives strictly prohibited. Rumor had it that Dr. William Birkin, a genius researcher at Umbrella Corporation, had discovered the new virus while studying the T-Virus. For some reason, after William Birkin's death, Umbrella Corporation forbade any further research into it. However, Dr. Isaacs, chief researcher at Umbrella Corporation's North American branch, had defied company orders and secretly researched the G-Virus, making some progress. This G-Virus was Dr. Isaacs's proudest and most cherished creation—even though it was only a semi-finished product!

Rating: The only one of its kind in the world!

Effect: Use it, and you have an extremely high chance of becoming a G-monster! Use it, and you have an extremely high chance of being rejected by the G-Virus and dying! Use it, and the G-Virus will undergo countless unpredictable mutations inside your body. No one knows what you'll become! Smash it, and you'll get nothing. Perhaps Dr. Isaacs is very, very interested in this item.

Note: The G-Virus is a special substance. The "University" does not offer it for exchange! (This is because, for example, someone could directly exchange for the "Perfect Blood" from Underworld, then enhance both their werewolf and vampire bloodlines and achieve a "Perfect Body." Wouldn't that be ridiculously overpowered? There are plenty of similar examples!)

Evaluation: This is the pinnacle of human genetic research. This is an abomination that trespasses into the realm of the gods. This is God's forbidden domain... Humanity, how dare you profane God?!

"Hahaha... How many times... have I said it?... I... don't believe... in God!!"

Amid faint, trembling laughter, tinged with madness and fear, Yin Kuang rammed the G-Virus into his neck...

"Ah!!"

It was a scream so piercing it seemed the rush of air alone could tear open his throat!

*************************

"Need my help, Li Family's young master?"

A voice, slightly mocking, suddenly came from the shadows.

Li Shuangmu glanced up and saw Wang Ning emerge from the darkness like a ghost, smiling as he stepped into the dim light.

"What? Did you succeed?"

"Heh heh, what do you think?" Wang Ning shrugged, smiling with an easy, relaxed air.

Li Shuangmu had no goodwill toward Wang Ning at all now. He said flatly, "If you still want something from me, you're out of luck... And I suggest you stop targeting me. If we really fought, you might not be my match."

Wang Ning pursed his lips. "That's why you're the last person I want to offend right now. See? I came to help you, didn't I? So, are you handing Zeng Fei over to me, or the pretty girl on your shoulder?"

Li Shuangmu tossed the slightly chubby Zeng Fei to Wang Ning and said, "Let's hope he doesn't turn into a corpse later!"

"Whoa, he's pretty heavy." Wang Ning lowered his center of gravity before steadying himself. "Don't worry. No one's paying me to kill him. And don't you think a living Zeng Fei is more valuable than a dead one? I'm quite fond of his bullets."

"Be careful he doesn't use one to blow your head off someday."

"Haha, never mind whether he'd do that... Do you think I'd give him the chance?"

Suddenly, Li Shuangmu seemed to catch a scent. The next moment, his expression shifted slightly. "You really did kill Yin Kuang?"

It was the smell of blood!

Wang Ning said, "I killed him. What's so surprising about that? How many people have died by my Ning Wang blade? One more hardly makes a difference, right? I'm curious, though. Yin Kuang's got a good head on his shoulders, sure, but that's no reason for you to value him so highly. Mind telling me what you're thinking?"

"Would you believe me if I said it was just a feeling?"

"I only believe what I see and hear."

"Then I've got nothing to say." Li Shuangmu continued, "What about you? Why were you so determined to kill him? He already gave you the T-Virus. Why go out of your way to finish him off? You know, killing him once only costs him ten years of his lifespan. By now, you're probably his number-one enemy."

"But he's not worthy of being my opponent." Wang Ning stopped and stared coldly at Li Shuangmu. "You, Li Shuangmu, are the perfect nemesis for me, Ning Wang!"

"Oh? Is that your feeling?" Li Shuangmu said with a faint, inscrutable smile.

Wang Ning tapped his eyes, then pointed to his ears. "What I see and hear."

"Then should I feel honored, Wang Ning?"

Gradually, Li Shuangmu's expression settled into stillness.

Keeping one's emotions off one's face!

That was the best way to describe Li Shuangmu's expression now.

Something called "presence" emanated from Li Shuangmu. His seemingly slender frame and straight back made him seem able to hold up the heavens and stand upon the earth. His eyes were calm as still water, yet carried a quiet authority that made it hard to meet his gaze.

This was the real Li Shuangmu, the heir the Li Family had spent twenty years cultivating!

"Good! I think... this is the enemy I truly have to face!"

"Careful, or you'll get burned playing with fire." The hoarse, low voice came from Li Shuangmu's mouth. Though it was still his voice, it gave the listener a distinctly different feeling.

Even Wang Ning couldn't help but pause. Then he said, "We'll see."

********************************

Imagine countless earthworms burrowing in through the soles of your feet, writhing and twisting madly as they tunnel through your flesh... Then, following those narrow passages, they keep burrowing upward, twisting as they go. Or they bore into your bones and keep digging upward from within; or they pierce your skin, then burrow back into your flesh somewhere else... Always upward, ever upward...

As the countless worms tunnel through your flesh, they keep splitting into more worms, or joining together to become thicker ones... They treat your body like rich, soft soil, burrowing in, burrowing out, then burrowing back in. They never want to leave. They settle inside you... When they're happy, they burrow a little; when they're unhappy, they burrow some more!!

They tunnel through your organs, then into your bowels... Then they follow your throat and keep burrowing upward. Perhaps, tired of your body's dark, damp confines, they squeeze through your esophagus and crawl out of your mouth, enjoying the fresh air; or perhaps they want to see if the brain is more comfortable to tunnel through than the rest of the flesh. So they surge forward in groups, along the spine, through the roof of your mouth, through your nose, through your eyes, and then...

"This pain... This pain... It hurts so much!!"

"Why... you... idiot... I can't accept this!"

"I... can't... accept it!!"

Worms covered his entire body, big or small, long or short. Their slick bodies were coated in glistening, disgusting slime—the more disgusting, the better. These were the things driving Yin Kuang nearly out of his mind with pain!

Suddenly, Yin Kuang punched the ground!

Bang!

His fist left a bowl-sized mark in the concrete!

Another punch!

And another!

The ground, once smooth and unbroken, was left dented and pitted by Yin Kuang's repeated punches.

Bang!

This time, he slammed his head into the ground. The ground cracked!

Bang!

Then he slammed his head against the wall. The wall cracked!

"Roar—aaah!!!"

This time, the sound was already a beast's roar... In the narrow alley beneath the dark night sky, it rolled outward in waves...

Until... no one knew how long had passed—perhaps a moment, perhaps ages... Yin Kuang lay on the ground like a corpse, his whole body stained red with blood...

Just as Yin Kuang's mind was on the verge of collapse, with both feet about to cross the gates of hell, he suddenly received the following "prompts."

Prompt: "Rookie Student" Yin Kuang injected the Semi-finished G-Virus. The "Resurrect the Dead" effect activated. You have successfully come back to life!

Prompt: The "Rookie Student" injected the Semi-finished G-Virus, causing an unknown genetic mutation...

Please note: The hidden +3 Fortune effect of your Kitchen God Amulet activated. You have been enveloped in pure, selfless motherly love... The success rate of all probability events in your favor has increased by 30%!

Please note: The effect of your special skill "Mystic Protection" has activated... Abnormal circumstances... Unable to analyze...

Prompt: "Rookie Student" Yin Kuang, after preliminary evaluation, the following conclusion has been reached: You have gained a new, unknown enhancement!! Check its detailed stats yourself!

Prompt: "Rookie Student," since you have gained a new, unknown enhancement, you have the right to name it!

Please note: Your special skill "Mystic Protection" will be forcibly stripped of 5 "Exam Scenarios"! As compensation, your hidden Fortune stat has increased by 1!