Virus King - Chapter 66

Chapter 66: The Boiling of Group Chat No. 001! Virus Research Institute!

TL: Yang

He sat up, feeling refreshed.

Chen Bai glanced at Emily, who was still lying unconscious, her eyes rolled back and mouth foaming.

To be honest, there were benefits to foreign mares.

For instance, they were well-developed.

Smooth in every sense, front and back, top and bottom—and Chen Bai felt just as refreshed.

Especially after the Darklight Virus enhanced his combat intuition. His muscles could contract, expand, and even tremble on command.

In the recent experience, Chen Bai sharpened his understanding of his own strength, gaining further insight through minute details and applying what he learned in real-time.

The price? Even someone as skilled as Emily was left barely conscious, barely holding onto life after Chen Bai was through with her.

Luckily, after becoming an Evolver, her physical resilience had increased significantly due to the data-based enhancement of her body, which included improved recovery.

It didn’t take long for her to shakily get up, her gaze hazy as she looked at Chen Bai’s figure standing nearby. She instinctively murmured:

“Oh, Chen! You’re my god! You’re so powerful! If it’s possible…”

“Stop the nonsense!”

Chen Bai quickly interrupted this foreign mare, who didn’t know her limits—another word and the chapter would be banned.

Seeing Chen Bai’s calm expression, Emily felt a bit disappointed, but she could sense that if they continued, she might actually die.

Not from a zombie bite, not from starvation or exhaustion, but… from ecstasy?

The feeling was indescribable for Emily.

Chen Bai didn’t rush. Now that he finally had some free time, he opened Group Chat No. 001, which he hadn’t paid attention to for quite a while.

As expected, the group chat had erupted in chaos!

[Heir to the Five-Strike Lightning Whip]: @Bai, Big Boss, urgent urgent urgent! Where did you see this stuff?!

[Ding Ding]: Is there still S-tier firearms equipment?! Weren’t all real-world firearms and weapons rendered useless?!

[Overlord]: @Bai, White Emperor-sama, the S-tier ‘War God Assault Rifle’? Can you tell us where you found it?!

[King Liu]: @Bai, Big Brother, Dad! What’s with that Flood Dragon Bloodline?!

[…]

These guys, can’t they just watch the video announcements?!

Seeing the flood of messages that had appeared since he posted the video, Chen Bai couldn’t help but chuckle. As expected, even he, a reborn Chen Bai, couldn’t help feeling envious.

Let alone these guys, who were already on the verge of collapse from the punishing drop rates and experience requirements!

[I’m Really Not a Sword Immortal]: Damn it! Going from level 1 to level 2 needed only 100 experience points, but going from level 2 to level 3 takes 1000?! How are we ever getting to level 10!? Are there even enough zombies to kill?!

[Water Monarch]: The worst part isn’t that; why the hell does zombie experience drop to 0.1 after reaching level 2?! So I need to kill 10,000 low-level zombies just to reach level 3?!

[Yezi]: Don’t even mention it. Little Sister here is still running around naked. Could some big boss donate some equipment and cover the postage too… Little Sister’s willing to offer herself as thanks…

[King Liu]: Sister, it’s not that Big Brother doesn’t want to help, it’s that I’m really broke…

[Heir to the Five-Strike Lightning Whip]: Hahaha, I just killed a zombie and got a copper coin! So, if the Thunder Walker’s profession-change scroll costs a million coins, and assuming a hundred copper coins make a silver coin, and a hundred silver coins make a gold coin, that means… if I kill ten billion zombies, I can afford the scroll!

[Crow]: @Heir to the Five-Strike Lightning Whip, you calculated wrong. Zombie drops aren’t guaranteed; by my calculations, only one in three zombies drops a coin, so the drop rate is around 33%. In other words, to gather a million gold coins, you’d need to kill over thirty billion zombies!

[True or Not True]: @Crow, Lightning Fellow’s already lost it, so no need to calculate for him, Brother Crow.

[…]

Even with Chen Bai’s temperament, he couldn’t help but smile while reading the chat.

Even in the apocalypse, these silly friends in the group could provide the purest kind of amusement.

However, if they only relied on zombies to collect coins, they’d be saving for ages.

The main sources of currency were quests, secret realms, selling guides to secret realms, and drops from mutated beasts and high-level zombies. Especially with secret realms and guides, there was huge profit potential.

That was precisely why a reusable secret realm in later times had such frightening value!

Thinking of this, Chen Bai typed a message to the silly friends in the group:

[Bai]: The list I posted earlier was from a goblin merchant. The God and Devil Trial Grounds have appeared, where gods can project or incarnate on earth. That Goblin God of Trade is one of them! I’ve already uploaded the details and the personality of that Goblin God to the video announcements. Watch carefully.

[Overlord]: 1

[Heir to the Five-Strike Lightning Whip]: Oh, White Emperor! My idol, I want to take a group photo with you and keep it forever on my wall of highest honor!

[…]

Chen Bai smirked. Just how did this shameless Thunder Saint make it so far in his past life…?

Shaking his head, he thought for a moment and pulled out the special skill book, tossing it directly into the group!

[Bai]: E-tier skill book Muscle Augmentation. Click to view detailed information. Anyone interested, place your bids and tag me in the group!

The current tone of Group Chat No. 001 was all idle chatter, with barely any substantial exchange. Chen Bai figured it was time to nudge the group in a more productive direction.

He wondered if these Emperor-level, Saint-tier big shots and Pioneer talents from the future would have any interest in this low-level skill book!

To his surprise, the moment he posted this skill book—practically useless to him—the bids began pouring in!

[Group’s Only Trash]: @Bai, 2 gold coins, I’ll cover shipping!

[Heir to the Five-Strike Lightning Whip]: !!!!? What the heck? God King’s this loaded? Acting like an innocent sheep, huh?!

[Overlord]: @Bai, 3 gold coins.

[Lu Fei Fei Fei Fei Fei]: @Bai, Boss, 4 gold coins, 10 silver, and I’ll pay shipping!

[Yezi]: Just who was it that said he was broke to my face earlier?!

[…]

Within moments, the price for this low-level passive skill book had shot up to 5 gold coins! Even Chen Bai hadn’t expected that!

Who would’ve thought that such a basic skill could inspire this kind of bidding war?

Apparently, times were tough for the group members…

But what puzzled Chen Bai was, where had these guys managed to gather so much gold?!

The final outcome, however, surprised everyone. The one who secured the skill book was none other than “God King,” the group’s self-proclaimed “Biggest Trash” and resident group pet.

This guy, usually at the lowest rank within the group, forked over a full six gold coins—plus shipping!

And this was even after Chen Bai mentioned the skill’s downside: excessive muscle growth, which might not look all that appealing. Yet, this guy just retorted with “Muscles are a good thing for a man,” leaving Chen Bai speechless.

How did he pull that off?

Chen Bai had no idea.

But he was beginning to understand why these members had managed to reach such high positions in the past.

With this thought, Chen Bai decided to post one more message in the group:

[Bai]: If anyone can, help me gather some materials. You all saw that Flesh Mountain mutated zombie from before, right? There are a few more mutated types: the Claw of a Tyrant, Heart of an Aberrant, and Brain of a Lord! I need all three, and I’ll make sure you’re well compensated!

[Overlord]: 1111

[I’m Really Not a Sword Immortal]: No problem, Boss! I just saw a super-fast mutated type here; I think it might be a Tyrant. I’ll take him down for you!

[Bai]: @I’m Really Not a Sword Immortal, be careful. Don’t take unnecessary risks—mutants are extremely powerful! Only engage if you’re confident!

[I’m Really Not a Sword Immortal]: Got it!

[…]

With this issue off his mind, Chen Bai felt a weight lift from his shoulders.

The blueprint for enhancing the Zombie Claws was finally starting to take shape.

If he had to gather all the mutant materials alone, it would be quite the challenge.

After all, the apocalypse had only just begun, and finding these mutated types was nearly impossible at this stage.

But with the help of his groupmates, the task suddenly seemed much easier!

Satisfied, Chen Bai closed the group chat and slowly stood up, frowning slightly as he looked at Emily, now dressed.

“Go change your clothes! If you don’t have any spare ones, then go out naked!”

Emily froze.

Her clothes were completely soaked in blood, reeking strongly. Although Chen Bai wasn’t afraid of attracting zombies, he still needed her to lead him through every corner of the medical school.

If something happened to her, he’d be stumbling blindly through that vast medical school…

Realizing his meaning, Emily quickly ran to a nearby changing room.

Before long, the newly dressed foreign mare appeared before Chen Bai.

Only this time, Chen Bai’s expression turned slightly odd.

Just a moment ago, she’d been wearing shorts and a short top—short, but still normal attire.

This time, though, her outfit resembled a cheerleader uniform…

But now wasn’t the time to waste on trivialities. As they pushed open the sports hall doors, Emily’s face turned pale, yet she held tightly onto Chen Bai’s sleeve.

“Are there any virus or bacterial labs in the medical school?”

Hearing his question, Emily thought for a moment.

“There are several professors’ labs at the medical school, but I don’t know exactly what courses they’re researching. All the labs are in the teaching building. I can take you there!”

“Let’s go!”

…

Emily gazed at the man in front of her, mesmerized.

Before she came to the Dragon Nation, she never would’ve imagined she’d be this captivated by a man from there.

The countless zombies were terrifying.

But this man’s power was beyond anything she could fathom.

It was like he was the protagonist of some Hollywood superhero movie. From her initial fear and horror, she’d now moved to a place of calm admiration, strolling through a campus full of zombies as if he were taking a casual walk in a garden.

Even though everything around them was so dangerous.

This feeling gave Emily a strange sense of romance.

One could say that women’s thoughts, especially this foreign woman’s, indeed followed a different logic than most.

But she hadn’t been lying, either. Soon, a six-story building appeared before Chen Bai:

“Institute of Biomedical Engineering.”

Chen Bai exhaled slowly.

While he felt no fear facing low-level, mindless zombies, he wasn’t fooling himself into thinking he was invincible.

Especially after the warning he’d received from the God of Trade. Looking at Emily, who had suddenly grown tense, Chen Bai said softly: “Stay close to me!”

Emily nodded vigorously. She didn’t need Chen Bai to tell her—she wouldn’t dream of letting go.

If she were alone in a place like this, she wouldn’t last a second.

“Roar!”

A terrifying roar echoed, deafening.

But aside from the roar, there was nothing else. The moment they opened the institute’s first door, a zombie lunged forward, only to be shattered into a spray of blood by a powerful roundhouse kick from Chen Bai.

Chen Bai scanned the room with a cold gaze.

The research institute perfectly matched his mental image of such a place.

Various precision instruments and strange containers of liquid were piled everywhere, though their contents were unknown.

However, something caught Chen Bai’s eye.

He extended his hand, sending forth strands of Darklight Virus filaments that plunged into the bottles filled with strange liquids.

Moments later, a series of notifications rang in Chen Bai’s ears.

[Absorbed Avian Influenza Virus, gained 0.3 evolution points!]

So it was true!

Chen Bai’s eyes gleamed.

These were the precious, general evolution points!

They could be used to awaken abilities from any virus!

Compared to a hospital, Jiangcheng University had a far greater concentration of viruses stored here?!

Chen Bai’s interest spiked. Searching for a secret realm entrance no longer seemed like such a boring task!

[Absorbed Coxsackievirus, gained 0.5 evolution points!]

[Absorbed Dengue Virus, gained 0.7 evolution points!]

[Absorbed Measles Virus, gained 0.2 evolution points!]

[Absorbed Cytomegalovirus, gained 1.5 evolution points!]

[Acquired certain liquid-transmissible viruses. Evolution point requirements for this type have decreased!]

[…]

What kind of “virus research lab” was this?!

It was clearly a paradise for Chen Bai to perfect his Virus Talent!

In that moment, Chen Bai even forgot that he was supposed to be looking for a secret realm entrance, completely absorbed in the thrill of harvesting a massive number of evolution points!