Chapter 250 - 234: Staking All the Prestige Accumulated in This Lifetime

Chapter 250: Chapter 234: Staking All the Prestige Accumulated in This Lifetime

This experimental result was something Yu Dong had never anticipated.

After a long, stunned silence, Yu Dong asked, "Professor Meng, what does this mean? Are we on the right path... or not?"

"Of course we are! This means we’ve made progress! We’ve managed to preserve the mutated virus’s enhancing effects on the human body. By significantly increasing a person’s metabolism and activating muscle stem cells to synthesize new muscle, the subject gains strength, speed, and durability far beyond that of a normal person. This is an outcome no previous injectable drug could ever achieve!"

Meng Dongqing’s voice grew noticeably excited as she explained.

"The only problem is that during the process, the body fails to produce antibodies to fight off the zombie virus’s toxins, leading to zombification. But... a zombie that retains its memories is a major breakthrough in itself!"

"Since he has his memories, he can’t really be called a zombie. Perhaps we should call him a ’Zombie Man.’"

"This kind of ’Zombie Man’ has an extremely powerful physical constitution and also possesses zombie-like traits. I just took him outside for a look—the other zombies show no desire to attack Cai Hong. In other words... he can walk into a horde of zombies without any issue!"

"He has a human’s intellect in a zombie’s body, and he won’t be attacked by other zombies. As long as you don’t attack him, he’s practically an immortal... super zombie soldier!"

"Even if we were to stop researching a new vaccine right now, this ’Flawed Vaccine’ alone... could create a terrifying army of ’super zombie soldiers’ for you!"

When Meng Dongqing finished, Yu Dong’s eyes widened. He saw a future that was both terrifying and filled with hope.

Super zombie soldiers!

’Using Zombie Men who’ve kept their humanity to fight other zombies... that’s an option???’

’What kind of top-tier biologist is she!’

’Right now, all Yu Dong wanted to say was... Professor Meng is incredible!’

’Thinking about it now, maybe the most useful discipline for handling this zombie apocalypse isn’t chemistry or physics, but... biology!’

’You have to use biology to fight something like zombies, which defy all biological principles!’

’It’s just that the first super zombie soldier... is a criminal.’

Yu Dong felt that the person on this cruise ship who hated him the most was Cai Hong.

Yu Dong had shattered his power play, turned everyone against him, and publicly humiliated him. On top of that, he’d been locked up for almost four months now.

This was also why Yu Dong wouldn’t let him out.

Because hatred could drive a man to madness, and Yu Dong had no intention of giving him the opportunity to act on it.

’And yet... the vaccine had succeeded on Cai Hong, of all people, and in this manner.’

’Forget commanding a super zombie soldier,’ Yu Dong thought. ’If I let Cai Hong out... he’d bite me to death first, then Wang Dingbei, and then he’d chase our people all over the ship, biting every last one.’

’CHOMP, CHOMP, CHOMP, CHOMP, CHOMP! He’d eat them all!’

’No, that’s way too dangerous!’

"Professor Meng, you have to keep him contained. Don’t let him escape. This man... he’s very dangerous. If he isn’t truly dead, he will definitely come after us for revenge."

"Yes, I understand. They’re all locked in reinforced stasis pods and are very secure. So... what are you thinking? Do you need me to create more of this ’Flawed Vaccine’ to quickly build an army, or do you want me to continue developing a new one?"

This was a choice he had to make. The research had finally yielded a tangible result.

After more than three months of research in the post-apocalyptic world, this was the only result Meng Dongqing and her team had to show for it—research that had consumed immense amounts of electricity, required dedicated security, and diverted resources to support her group of non-producing specialists.

Yu Dong was a good leader. He had never rushed her. Even when her work yielded no results, he had always done everything in his power to support her research. The logistics team was at her beck and call, getting her anything she asked for.

When she needed a special type of culture dish, Yu Dong had led the combat team on a multi-day mission, fighting their way into another research institute just to retrieve it and bring it back to her.

Even after delivering the human test subjects, Yu Dong’s first thought was to come and reassure her, telling her not to feel psychologically burdened...

’But Yu Dong didn’t know that back at the multinational mRNA vaccine corporation where she worked before the apocalypse, they didn’t experiment on death-row inmates... they used ordinary people who had signed contracts for a sum of money.’

’She had done it all before.’

’Yu Dong had placed his absolute trust in her.’

’She had to give him something to help him achieve his goals.’

’And now, although it was still crude, she had a tangible result from this phase of the experiment. It was a semi-finished product, but it was effective enough.’

’It was just a matter of whether Yu Dong wanted to use this power.’

Yu Dong mulled it over for a long time... It was a very tempting option.

But in the end, he let out a deep sigh.

"No... I can’t let my people turn into monsters like that. Besides, the mortality rate... it’s too high."

’Out of three test subjects, only one intelligent Zombie Man had survived.’

’If he were to use this vaccine, he’d have to give it to people he trusted. The combat team? The logistics team? Or the university student soldiers who would form Combat Team Two?’

’It would be one thing if survival was guaranteed, but... there was no guarantee they would even survive the injection.’

’He couldn’t subject his own people to such a dangerous experiment. Even if someone were willing to volunteer... he couldn’t agree to it.’

’And Yu Dong would never give the ’Flawed Vaccine’ to people outside his own faction. An uncontrollable, terrifying power... would pose too great a threat to them.’

’It would be better if it didn’t exist at all.’

Meng Dongqing sighed softly.

"Leader, in that case... we’ll continue our research. The next version of the vaccine is already being tested on lab mice. The response has been good so far. If this round passes, we’ll need three more test subjects..."

"Before we can create the final ’Inactivated Virus Vaccine,’ we’re going to need more test subjects."

After hanging up the phone, Yu Dong fell into deep thought.

’The vaccine research was steadily progressing. Now they had preliminary results, which proved Professor Meng and her team were on the right track.’

’In the future, there was a real chance of developing a true vaccine that would allow the human body to produce its own antibodies!’

’If it could also improve a person’s physical condition... that would be perfect!’

’Perhaps this vaccine was the key to his future—the key to starting over in this apocalypse.’

’It was just as Zhao Youcai had said: if you had an mRNA vaccine and could go back in time, you could get the ear of the highest authorities and build your own team. That was the only truly meaningful thing someone who had been reborn could accomplish!’

"Then I’ll find three more people!"

’I have to keep going!’

’I’ve come this far. There’s no turning back now!’

"Lin Mo, I need to send three people to the research institute! We’ve already had some results from the research..."

Yu Dong pushed the door open, entered, and told Lin Mo what he had just discussed on the phone.

"Who do you want..."

"Jiang Xupeng and those two rapists. It’s their time to die!"

Lin Mo looked at the unyielding expression in Yu Dong’s eyes and knew he wouldn’t accept any refusal.

’At this point, if she didn’t want to be locked up herself, her only choice was to cooperate with Yu Dong. Besides, his decision not to use the ’Flawed Vaccine’ today proved that he still had some principles.’

"Alright, we’ll send the three of them over today..."

"Excellent... We’re one step closer to success."

Seeing that Lin Mo was truly on his side, Yu Dong finally relaxed. He had just turned to leave when he heard her voice from behind him.

"Wait! Yu Dong, I have a question."

"What is it?"

"These three are the last of the major criminals on the cruise ship. If the experiment fails on them, who... who do you plan to use next?"

"There will be bad people... There will always be bad people... The vaccine research can’t stop..."

’He had come this far. He couldn’t turn back now!’

’If he turned back now, he would gain nothing.’

His past life and his future legacy both depended on this vaccine.

He would have to wager all the prestige he had accumulated in this life to fight for the zombie vaccine!

Just as Yu Dong was wondering where to find more people, Jiang Zhuoyu knocked on the door and came in.

"Brother Dong, Officer Wang wants to see you."