Taking the Initiative

"RR Virus... it's already here?"

Wu Ming stared at the brief news headline on the screen, momentarily dazed.

It was now 9 p.m. on January 10, 2015.

Yet the first time he had seen news of the RR Virus had been on the morning of January 3.

Seven days.

The RR Virus had crossed the ocean from America, traveled over ten thousand kilometers, and reached Huaxia in just seven days.

That was far beyond his expectations.

Wu Ming murmured inwardly, I thought it would take at least a month for the RR Virus to appear in the country. I never expected it to take only seven days.

"How did it get in? The country clearly cut off all entry routes."

From the very beginning of the RR Virus outbreak, Huaxia had suspended all international flights and closed every port open to the outside world, all to prevent anyone from carrying the virus into the country.

Yet those blockades had turned out to be completely useless. The virus had still arrived.

"I remember that although the RR Virus can spread through the air, it can only survive in the air for three hours. That shouldn't be enough to cross ten thousand kilometers, unless..."

He suddenly froze, his pupils contracting slightly. "I understand. The ocean! The virus spread through the sea!"

Transmission through water!

According to the laws of viral transmission, a virus that could survive in the air would inevitably survive even longer in water. That gave the RR Virus an opportunity to spread rapidly.

Moreover... there were countless creatures in the ocean. As long as one fish became infected, the virus could easily spread to more distant regions. Even predatory seabirds could become sources of infection.

Then one became ten, ten became a hundred, forming exponential spread, until every creature connected to the sea was infected and became a source of transmission. Then they crossed the ocean and reached the other side.

In the end, the RR Virus had crossed more than ten thousand kilometers in only seven days, reached Huaxia's waters, and then... successfully come ashore!

And as a coastal city, Magic City would naturally become the first area within Huaxia to be infected!

Wu Ming leaned back in his chair, feeling somewhat frustrated.

His plan had been disrupted.

According to his original plan, he should have had about a month to prepare, training his physical condition until it neared the limits of an ordinary person. That way, no matter how high the RR Virus's fatality rate was, it would not be able to harm him.

Once the virus appeared within Huaxia, he could take the initiative and face its genetic modification in peak condition.

That had been the safest approach.

But now, he had trained for only three days.

He closed his eyes and began calculating rapidly.

There were currently two paths before him. The first was to continue with the original plan and wait for the virus to naturally spread to Sichuan before coming into contact with it. That would give him ample time to further improve his physical condition.

The second... was to take the initiative, leave for Magic City now, and become one of the first infected!

The silence lasted several seconds.

Wu Ming opened his eyes, his gaze turning resolute.

"To hell with playing it safe."

So what if he had trained for only three days? His physical condition had not yet reached its limit, but he was still strong and healthy. At the very least, it would not become a weakness when facing the RR Virus's modification.

"People with worse physical condition than mine can survive. Why can't I make it through?"

"Besides, I have four times the Cell Activity and Energy reserves to back me up."

Wu Ming thought confidently.

If he still could not endure it with such an outrageous setup, then the RR Virus's fatality rate should not be 30%. It should start at 99%!

"So for me, continuing to train is merely icing on the cake. It doesn't mean much."

"But if I actively come into contact with the virus, I can complete my transformation in a short time, optimize my genes, and step into the threshold of cultivation sooner."

"I need to make myself stronger as quickly as possible. Only then can I increase my chances of surviving the catastrophe."

Wu Ming had not forgotten that this was the world of Swallowed Star. The so-called RR Virus was merely the first trial faced by Earth's people.

After that, the countless monsters that would also mutate and grow stronger because of the virus were the true catastrophe!

"In September 2015, beginning with an assault launched by marine life, countless birds and beasts will begin attacking human settlements."

Wu Ming silently recited the information he had obtained from the original work. From that day until March 2021, there would be five and a half full years of brutal war between humanity and monsters!

This was the "Grand Nirvana Period" in Earth's future human history.

"There are only nine months left until the Beast Tide appears."

"I can't sit around and wait for death. If I want to survive the catastrophe, I have to seize every opportunity."

He stopped hesitating and opened a ticket-booking website.

When he opened the train schedule to Magic City, Wu Ming frowned slightly. "There are only bullet trains... High-speed rail hasn't opened yet at this time?"

"And it takes fifteen hours. I probably won't arrive until tomorrow night."

Of course, what concerned him was not the exhaustion of a long journey, but the possibility of encountering a city lockdown after the outbreak fully erupted.

If he arrived one step too late and Magic City was sealed off, he might have to turn back.

Shaking his head, Wu Ming decided to check other methods of travel, such as the faster airplane.

The moment he opened the flight schedule, his eyes lit up. "Only three hours? That's great!"

Without hesitation, he bought the earliest flight the next day. If all went smoothly, he would probably reach his destination by 9 a.m. tomorrow.

After successfully buying the ticket, Wu Ming began packing his luggage. He did not bring much. Aside from a change of clothes, the rest consisted of high-energy food for emergencies.

After packing his backpack, he thought for a moment, then took that special steel pen from the drawer and placed it inside.

Because he had only recalled a limited amount of the original plot, the pen could come in handy if he encountered a special situation and needed to recall the original work.

Of course, the main reason was that the pen was small enough to toss into his backpack. Otherwise, he still preferred the talent from the Knight Armor.

After all, according to his guess... the physical talent granted by the armor might include talent for Genetic Energy.

Then, as long as he made sure the armor's talent was equipped while undergoing the RR Virus's genetic modification, he might have a chance to achieve a more perfect transformation.

So Wu Ming planned to equip the armor in advance. As long as he did not switch equipment midway, he could continuously enjoy the armor's talent bonuses.

However, there were still nine hours until his flight took off. He was not in a hurry to replace his talent. Instead, he continued equipping glucose during that time to replenish his body's Energy reserves.

Time quickly passed until 3 a.m.

After his Energy reserves were fully replenished, Wu Ming slung his pack over his back. He first went to the storage room and touched the Knight Armor, confirming that its talent had been equipped. Then he quietly left the residential complex and took the taxi he had booked in advance to the airport.

At 9:40 the next morning, the plane landed safely at Hongqiao Airport.

Fortunately, the city had not yet begun its lockdown. He passed through security without issue and successfully set foot in this coastal city.

"Looks like news of the virus hasn't fully spread yet. Or rather, the residents here still don't understand how serious this is."

Looking at the enormous traffic flow outside the airport, Wu Ming shook his head slightly. He said nothing, hailed a taxi, and left.

He had no specific destination in this city. He simply found a hotel in the urban area, set down his luggage, and left again.

Wu Ming wandered the streets alone, carrying nothing except that steel pen.

January in Magic City was somewhat chilly and damp. The sky was gray, and there were not many pedestrians on the streets.

After walking for about two hours, Wu Ming suddenly stopped.

Just now, he had felt as if something within his body had moved. It was so faint as to be nearly imperceptible, yet somehow familiar.

After thinking briefly, he immediately recalled the source. That feeling... was very similar to when he had raised his Cell Activity. It was the slight restlessness of his cells.

"It's here."

Wu Ming took a deep breath. Since such a sensation had appeared in his body, there was a high chance that he had already been infected with the RR Virus.

This had been the purpose of his trip, so he did not panic. Instead, he retraced his steps and quickly returned to the hotel where he was staying.

He opened his backpack, poured all the high-energy food he had brought onto the table, and quietly waited for the changes in his body.

Second by second, time passed. Before he knew it, four hours had gone by.

Wu Ming frowned slightly. He could feel that the agitation within his body had grown a little stronger than before, but only by a little.

That little bit of force could not possibly shake the stable genes supported by four times the Cell Activity.

"Looks like the dose isn't enough." He sighed softly.

As the saying went, talking about toxicity without discussing dosage was nonsense. The RR Virus was powerful, but the amount that had invaded his body was too low to shake the cells within him.

It could only be said that the concentration of the virus in the air was still relatively low at this stage. It would probably take time before it could even affect ordinary people. That was why there were still pedestrians on the streets today.

The RR Virus had most likely already spread, but its concentration was insufficient. It could only lie dormant within ordinary people, silently accumulating strength.

And when facing Wu Ming's more stable genes, the virus found it even harder to exert any effect. It would probably need an even longer incubation period before it could affect him.

Thus, only two methods remained before him.

The first was to wait, waiting for the virus to take root in his body, slowly grow, and gradually expand its influence.

But the problem was that he had no idea how long he would need to wait.

His mother had mentioned that the time between infection and onset varied from person to person. Some people might fall ill within an hour, while others could hold on for several days before showing symptoms.

And his own genes were even more stable... perhaps it would take ten days or half a month before there were any results.

He could not help but laugh wryly. It seemed that building the dam too solidly could also be troublesome.

The problem of flood prevention had been solved, but now that he needed water, he had no better way. He could only wait for the flood to slowly grow strong enough to overflow the dam.

"Perhaps I should consider the second method."

Wu Ming thought to himself, That is... actively ingesting more of the virus!