Before the apocalypse, Wan Youyu was a successful businessman, and as a businessman, he always prioritized profit.
Now that the apocalypse has arrived, he has taken this profit-first philosophy to its extreme.
In his view, both the virus and the antidote are merely tools to achieve his ambitions.
If there were no antidote and he was certain to die, how could he care about the lives of others? It would be worth it if the entire H City and even more people were buried with him.
He knew that his research team was far inferior to the Three Overlord Powers, so he let the Three Overlord Powers worry about researching the antidote, while he only needed to focus on maximizing his own interests.
"Steel Fortress, Spear of Victory, Glory of Light, you must not disappoint me. Otherwise, you too will become my burial companions."
Wan Youyu's low murmur echoed in the conference room. A cold sneer played on his lips, and a crazed glint flickered in his eyes.
In the Brothers Alliance headquarters, Hu Banshan's brow was tightly furrowed, and a deep worry showed in his eyes.
He was burly and as steady as a mountain, but at this moment, he appeared somewhat agitated.
Although Hu Banshan had not established a harem, he had many women. Hu Banshan was now unable to determine if they were infected with the virus, and he secretly prayed, hoping they would be safe.
He picked up the communicator on the table and said in a deep voice, "Immediately gather all high-ranking personnel for an emergency meeting."
Soon, the core members of the base arrived one after another, gathering together, and the atmosphere was heavy.
Hu Banshan looked around at everyone and slowly began, "I believe everyone is already aware of the Three Overlord Powers' reaction to the New type of symbiotic zombie virus. This time, we have truly shot ourselves in the foot."
A high-ranking member stood up, looking worried: "Leader, what should we do then? Should we stop the research and use of the antidote, and do those who became Mutants through the antidote need to be isolated for observation?"
Hu Banshan pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Continue researching the antidote, but temporarily stop its use. All Mutants must be strictly isolated.
Since there is an incubation period, let's observe for a while first.
If the antidote research fails, then at the last moment, we will kill them all.
Although this won't completely eradicate it, it will minimize the risk of virus spread and preserve our core strength.
Additionally, you are all my trusted brothers, so prepare yourselves. If the situation takes a turn for the worse, we must be ready to evacuate H City at any time."
The core members exchanged glances. Although they felt uneasy, they all nodded in agreement.
Although Hu Banshan was not as ruthless as Wan Youyu, he also had no intention of exerting himself.
He chose to preserve his strength and observe. If things truly went south, and he wasn't infected, he would simply flee.
He knew that in the apocalypse, survival was the ultimate truth.
In the Luo Xia Alliance headquarters office, Mei Xue Ji sat behind a large desk, her red lips tightly pursed, her eyes cold.
Her slender fingers tapped lightly on the desktop, as she pondered the current situation.
She could be certain that she had not been infected with the new type of zombie virus, because she did not like men or women; she only liked herself. She hadn't been injured recently, so the virus's transmission routes posed no threat to her.
However, she was now faced with a choice: whether to continue researching the antidote and whether to put it into use.
As one of the Three Giants, she understood the thoughts and methods of the other two too well. Wan Youyu was a madman who would do anything for profit, and he would definitely use this opportunity to frantically research and implement the antidote.
Hu Banshan might choose a more conservative strategy, observing for a while, and perhaps not continuing to create Mutants with the antidote, but he would certainly not stop researching; on the contrary, he would intensify his research efforts.
Mei Xue Ji's fingers tapped on the desktop as she weighed the pros and cons in her mind. Unlike Hu Banshan and Wan Youyu, she was not as obsessed with power as one might imagine. She had already decided to abandon the Luo Xia Alliance, which she had personally built, and instead seek self-preservation.
She and her research team, after careful discussion, confirmed that the virus's raw material was zombie material from Six Horizontal Bars, and the virus carried in the antidote was precisely the Six Horizontal Bars zombie virus, whose toxicity was unimaginably potent.
Even if an antidote could be developed, the cost of an antidote for the Six Horizontal Bars zombie virus would inevitably be extremely high. There were simply too many people in Dream City to achieve widespread distribution.
The total population of various forces, large and small, was at least two to three million. To cover everyone would be a pipe dream.
Moreover, Dream City was already chaotic, and a comprehensive investigation would be absolutely impossible.
Mei Xue Ji could confirm that Dream City could not be saved, and as for H City, that would depend on the capabilities of the Three Overlord Powers. Because she had no obsession with power, Mei Xue Ji saw things more clearly than Wan Youyu and Hu Banshan.
She had already made plans to disband the Luo Xia Alliance, but she had not considered evacuating with her core team.
Without even the ability to test, how could one determine who was infected?
Evacuating with the core team now would only spread the infection further and introduce more uncertainties.
But now she was considering where would be the safest place for her to evacuate to.
The Three Overlord Powers had already been ruled out by her.
Firstly, the Three Overlord Powers were too close to Dream City and susceptible to being affected.
Secondly, the Three Overlord Powers were currently focusing all their efforts on killing people from Dream City within their territories; going there would only make her a target.
She hadn't considered forces that were too far away, because the scope and duration of this disaster were unpredictable, potentially even permanent. Long-distance travel would be of little meaning and she would be prone to mishaps along the way.
She needed to find a force powerful enough to directly confront the virus threat, while also ensuring relative independence and safety.
Mei Xue Ji's fingers tapped on the desktop. The larger the force, the more easily it became a target for the virus. Smaller forces, on the other hand, struggled to resist the outbreak period after a viral infection.
But there was one exception: a small force whose strength was no less than that of larger forces—Firefly.
Firefly had only a little over a thousand people in total, yet it could destroy Peerless Apocalypse. Even if a virus outbreak occurred within Firefly, she believed Firefly's strength could easily handle it.
Furthermore, Firefly's geographical location was also good; it maintained a certain distance from all major forces, making it relatively independent and less likely to be affected. Even if new types of zombies wandered into Firefly, they could easily deal with them.
More crucially, her spies embedded within the Three Overlord Powers had obtained a top-secret piece of intelligence: the leaders of the Three Overlord Powers had witnessed Zuo Feng's 'true strength'—a legendary powerhouse who had lit up nine lotus seeds, whose combat power was sufficient to handle any sudden crisis.
A flash of determination crossed Mei Xue Ji's eyes. She decided to seek Firefly's protection.
Although this meant she would have to abandon the Luo Xia Alliance, which she had personally built, in the face of life, what did power truly matter?