“Dad!”
Meng Chao saw that everyone’s faces were solemn but not overly sorrowful, and he sighed in slight relief. He went up to ask about the situation.
Meng Yishan told him that Blessed Heavenly Garden did not suffer a lot of casualties. They lost one resident, and two were heavily wounded. The good news was that they obtained a large amount of monster meat. Next year, they would definitely be able to be graded as a five-star region, and their supply of ammunition would increase by 20%. They would also get a lot of extra cultivation resources, which would allow their descendants to become stronger.
There was another piece of good news as well. Ma Jianjun, who lived in Block 22, Unit 4 and was a young factory worker in a machinery, had reached a breakthrough to save his partner from the clutches of monsters and became a superhuman.
“We have our own superhuman in our region now?” Meng Chao was surprised and delighted.
There were usually two paths for a person to become a superhuman.
The first was to build their foundation from their youth. They were to use stances, breathing techniques, and meditation techniques to repeatedly refine their bodies and get into university. Once they were sufficiently prepared, they could become superhumans and soar to the heavens.
This was the golden path that was peaceful and neutral.
The other path was this: since Dragon Citizens had been nourished by spirit energy for decades and had viruses, their potential was ten times stronger than that of the Earthlings in the past. When they ran into life threatening situations, there was a high possibility that their energy would burst out of them, and they would awaken to supernatural abilities.
Supernatural abilities gained during battle were usually paid for with a devastating price. They were usually limited to a single domain, and they had very limited room for expansion and improving. People who awakened them were known as pseudo-superhumans or broken-star superhumans.
Broken-star superhumans were like premature babies. Before their brains, nerves, flesh, and blood had completely matured, they had to withstand a spirit energy impact that was way beyond what they could take. It was, thus, very difficult for them to cultivate in the future.
Due to long-term considerations, cultivation aristocratic families did not let their children become superhumans too early. In fact, they even deliberately suppress their realms at times.
If anyone’s child became a superhuman at the age of fourteen or fifteen, no one would think that he had extraordinary talent. Instead, they would shake their heads and sigh, because the child was probably already crippled.
But to the normal people in Blessed Heavenly Garden, even if someone became a broken-star superhuman, they were still a superhuman!
“Our region is going to earn big this round.” Meng Chao smiled, but when he saw that his father’s expression was a little off, his smile faded away. “Dad, what’s wrong? Did something happen at home? Could it be… that something happened to my sister?”
Bai Jiaocao was his main worry. He feared that the powerful mental interference brought by the monster invasion might crush her mental strength index and once again push the possibility of her becoming corrupted to 100%.
“Something did happen— No, she wasn’t injured. It’s our neighbor, Granny Wang… Ah, just take a look at it on your own.”
Meng Yishan found himself not knowing what to say, even though the words were at the tip of his tongue.
Meng Chao felt his heart tense. He rushed home and found that his sister was curled up in a corner of the folding bed.
It was hot, but she used two bed sheets and a blanket to wrap herself up.
“Young Cao, what’s going on? I’m here, don’t be scared!” Meng Chao was anxious.
Muffled sobs came from under the blanket and bed sheets. Bai Suxin felt helpless nearby.
Meng Chao comforted the girl with gentle words. After being comforted for a long time, Bai Jiacao finally pushed the blanket and the bed sheets from her face.
The girl wept horribly in the dark. “Big Brother, I was too horrible. I saved Dad, I saved Mom, but I didn’t manage to save Granny Wang. She’s going to die! She’s going to turn into a zombie!”
“What?” Meng Chao turned around to cast a questioning look at his mother.
Bai Suxin explained that there were many monsters yesterday, so all the residents moved to the underground shelter. While they were moving there, a drove of Demonic Halberd Pigs crawled out of a space-time rift and separated the group.
Everyone launched their counterattack where they were. Bai Jiacao was incredibly brave. No one saw what she did, but she used a small kopis and killed two Demonic Halberd Pigs!
However, no matter how bravely the future Dark Witch fought, right now, she was just a girl who had not awakened to her abilities. After killing two monsters, she used up all her strength, and even her kopis was stuck in the monster’s bone. She could not bring it out.
At that moment, the third Demonic Halberd Pig rushed at her.
Their next door neighbor, Granny Wang, had always fought together with their family. Without even thinking, she moved in front of Bai Jiacao as her shield, lifted her extra large shotgun, and fired.
Her accuracy was great. With just one shot, she blasted off the monster’s eyeballs, but it drove the beast into anger. It bared its fangs and pierced the old lady’s stomach. Then, it threw her more than ten meters away.
When Meng Yishan and Bai Suxin managed to save Granny Wang, the old lady was already a mangled mess.
They used medicinal gel to stop her blood in time, but the bacteria on the Demonic Halberd Pig’s fangs stimulated the virus in Granny Wang’s body. With the subsequent collapse of her immune system, the bacteria invaded her central nervous system and her brain tissues. She… could not be saved.
“Granny Wang’s going to turn into a zombie.” Meng Chao’s heart sank.
When Earthlings transmigrated to the Other World, their first great enemy was not the horrible environment or the fights brought by the draining of resources. Instead, it was the mysterious virus and bacteria of the Other World.
The immune systems they brought with them from Earth had never seen such strange bacteria before.
Many of the transmigrators were instantly crippled or their immune systems went through such abrupt changes that they turned into all sorts of deformed monsters.
Later on, with the nourishment of spirit energy, the activity of the cells in Earthlings increased by dozens of times. They unlocked the shackles of their genes and awakened to supernatural abilities, but it had side effects.
For example, if a person’s brain died but a large amount of their central nervous system remained highly active, the deceased would turn into a zombie who was filled with the instinct to kill and eat.
They were like the zombies seen in horror movies and games on Earth.
After adapting to the viruses in the Other World and all the research conducted on them, the Dragon Citizens now had all sorts of antibodies in them, which resulted in a brand new immune system.
The zombie research center developed all sorts of medications to fight the viruses and bacteria to ensure that in normal situations, the viruses and bacteria would not be activated. The medication could even make the viruses and bacteria stimulate human genes so that they could break through their limits.
But in special situations, for example, when a person was severely injured, when their immune system was incredibly weak, or when a monster suddenly injected large amounts of viruses or bacteria into the person, that person would still face a certain chance of turning from a carrier to an infected.
Granny Wang might have been hale and hearty, but she was still old. Her organs were also attacked by the Demonic Halberd Pig’s fangs, which was the worst possible situation.
“I did this to Granny Wang. I was too weak.” When Bai Jiacao saw her older brother, she found a way to vent her emotions. Her eyes were glazed as she kept repeating, “I was too weak. I was too weak. I was too weak—”
“Young Cao!” Meng Chao yanked the blanket away and grabbed her shoulders. He said loudly, “You didn’t do this to Granny Wang. She sacrificed her life heroically to protect our hometown. If she was still conscious, she wouldn’t want to see you like this!”
Bai Jiacao was still unable to get out of her emotions. She stared at her older brother in a daze before she suddenly smiled and mumbled, “I’m going to get stronger, much stronger, so that this tragedy won’t happen again.”
“Listen to me, only when your heart is strong will you truly be strong. With your current condition, no matter how physically strong you become, you will be a slave to your strength. You won’t be able to save anyone. You’ll only bring about an even greater tragedy!”
When Meng Chao saw that his sister was not listening to him, he sucked in a deep breath and asked his mother, “Where’s Granny Wang?”
“In her house.” Bai Suxin hesitated for a moment. “The army sent someone over. They’re from the Eternal Journey.”
Meng Chao was slightly stunned. “They’re holding a joyful funeral for her?”
Bai Suxin nodded. “Yes.”
“Alright, based on procedures, you need a witness for a joyful funeral. We’re neighbors. We can bear witness. Young Cao, you’re coming with me.” Meng Chao yanked his little sister to her feet.
“I-I don’t want to go. I don’t want to see how Granny Wang looks like right now…” Bai Jiacao struggled with all her might, and her voice quivered.
“Didn’t you say that you want to become really strong? Yet you don’t even have the courage to look at Granny Wang?” Meng Chao asked. “We’ve been neighbors for twenty years. We’re going to send Granny Wang on her final journey!”
He dragged his sister to No.706. The door was opened, and the house was filled with the residents of the unit. Granny Wang’s friends, who usually played mahjong with her, were among them as well.
Three military doctors in white coats were there. Two of them held controllers that allowed electricity to charge through, and the other had a large pistol at his waist.
“Young Juan?”
Bai Jiacao did not dare to go in, but once pushed inside, she saw that Granny Wang’s granddaughter had come back. She was schoolmates with Bai Jiacao while they were in elementary school, and they were best friends who grew up together.
Bai Jiacao could only answer the soft call.
“Young Cao, come and keep me company.” Wang Xiaojuan bit her lip and extended a cold hand.
Bai Jiacao braced herself and squeezed her way through.
She shut her eyes, not daring to look. She could only hear Granny Wang as she let out rumbling sounds from her throat, along with the sounds of chains turning around.
The girl felt her older brother hold her shoulders. Warmth came from his palm, and his voice spoke from above her. “It’s okay. I’m here.”
Bai Jiacao leaned against her older brother and finally found the courage to open her eyes.
She saw that a metal frame had been placed on Granny Wang’s wooden bed. The old lady was curled up on the frame, and her limbs were tied down by chains.
Her waist was bound by bandages, and her stomach had become one size bigger than before. Even though they had spread a lot of medicinal gel on her wounds, blood still seeped out of them.
The terrifying wounds had instantly taken the old lady’s life, but the spirit energy, viruses, bacteria, and the incredibly active cells worked together to keep her miraculously alive.
… No. 90% of the old lady’s brain was dying. Her consciousness was gradually fading away.
But the remaining 10% and her body were living in another way. Since they had lost the limitations placed on them by human consciousness, they became more excited… and savage.
Clang! Clang!
Granny Wang suddenly started spasming violently, and the chains holding her down clanged violently.
Thick blood vessels appeared on her wrinkled skin, and balls of blood began moving around in her blood vessels. They looked like rats. The brown age spots had turned green at some point, and dense, small red dots appeared on her livor mortis.
Her limbs twitched madly, and the heaving of her chest grew weaker until it became still.
She no longer needed to breathe. She had turned from a human to another unidentified creature.
Bai Jiacao was shocked. She wanted to move back.
Next to her, Granny Wang’s granddaughter and her childhood friend started sobbing.
Bai Jiacao could not hold back her fear and regret as she said stiffly, “It’s fine, Young Juan. Granny Wang has already passed away. She… she didn’t feel any pain.”
“85% of the patient’s brain tissues have died.
“The patient will lose 100% of her breathing functions in three minutes.
“The three viruses: T35, T44, and R39 have gone over the critical point in the patient’s body.
“With Dragon City’s current medical standards and the patient’s age, wounds, and body functions, we have come to an overall conclusion that we cannot save the patient. Family members, do you acknowledge this fact?”