True Apocalypse Game

Once the blood became semi-coagulated, it was inevitably teeming with the virus, making it an excellent sample.

Shen Feng then took the severed zombie finger from the glass bottle he had brought and cut off a thin slice of flesh.

He took two more petri dishes, poured in the culture medium he had brought, and placed the blood clot and the slice of flesh into them together.

Next, he took another petri dish, chipped off some fragments from the severed, petrified finger he had brought, and placed them inside.

Having done all this, Shen Feng leaned back in his chair. The silicon-based framework in his chest began to softly play a cheerful Mexican song, "La Elisa."

Although he was using a highly efficient culture medium meant for creating artificial biological bodies, it would still take some time for the various viruses to regain maximum activity and begin to multiply.

He could take a short break.

The melodious, cheerful music echoed throughout the virus lab, lifting Shen Feng’s spirits considerably.

He had to admit, while the land of Mexico was disaster-ridden and full of magical realism, its people were unfailingly optimistic and cheerful, firm believers in seizing the day.

This was evident from the Day of the Dead and the country’s musical style.

After "La Elisa" finished, it was followed by "La Puntada," a cheerful tale about a simp who gets drunk and confesses his love to the girl he idolizes.

Shen Feng tapped along to the song’s rhythm. As he glanced at the nurse tied to the bed out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly froze.

The zombie nurse, who had been constantly struggling and shrieking, had now fallen silent.

Her pupils were still dilated, but her eyes had become much calmer, as if she had entered a state of dormancy.

Yet, judging by her eyes, she was clearly awake.

Shen Feng couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

’Interesting.’

This zombie was clearly affected by the music.

Her brain had undoubtedly lost all memory and humanity. That much was certain.

But a faint trace of her former response patterns remained.

It was like muscle memory; even after turning into a zombie, she was still influenced to some degree.

The nurse must have liked this song when she was alive.

Just then, the song ended. The zombie nurse, as if suddenly startled awake, began to struggle and howl madly again, seemingly even more violently than before.

Shen Feng couldn’t help but feel a pang of sorrow.

’Are fragments of her old memories occasionally flashing through her mind?’

’How pitiful...’

He controlled the silicon-based framework in his chest and played another song, this time the famous love ballad "La Llorona."

Under the influence of the music, the zombie nurse quieted down again, staring blankly at the ceiling. He wondered if, during certain parts of the song, a fragmented image of a past lover might flash through her highly mutated brain.

It wasn’t just the zombie nurse. Even the zombies outside the lab, who had been frantically clawing at the door, grew much quieter.

Shen Feng nodded. Raising his arm, he resumed his emotionless data entry:

"Observation Log:

Deeply mutated zombies are susceptible to the influence of music. This may be because the auditory processing centers of the brain retain some of their original tissue structure. The underlying principle is currently unknown. It is also unknown whether other specific external stimuli can trigger different changes in the zombies.

Further experimentation is required, but this phenomenon is highly significant and warrants close attention."

After a few songs, Shen Feng stood, stretched, and began observing the three samples under the microscope.

The two Evil Spirit Virus samples were identical. Apparently, the Evil Spirit Virus in this Doomsday World hadn’t mutated much, just like in the previous world.

This fact put Shen Feng at ease.

His vaccine was still effective and could save the world’s surviving non-Immune population.

This aligned with his initial assessment; after all, having encountered so many zombies, he would have noticed any major differences immediately.

Next was the Stone Statue Virus. It had fully reactivated and, under the microscope, resembled clusters of silent, miniature stone statues. The sight reminded Shen Feng of the terror of being dominated by the statues, sending a shiver down his spine.

Using a dropper, Shen Feng drew up a drop of the Stone Statue Virus culture and added it to the Evil Spirit Virus culture, then began to observe carefully.

When the Devil-shaped, spike-covered Evil Spirit Virus encountered the silent, statue-like Stone Statue Virus, there was no initial reaction.

Then, the Evil Spirit Virus began to move toward the Stone Statue Virus clusters.

Since an individual Evil Spirit virus was several times larger than a Stone Statue virus, many of the Evil Spirit viruses began to engulf the Stone Statue viruses, enveloping them completely.

At first, the Evil Spirit virus desperately tried to break down the Stone Statue virus. But then, the Stone Statue virus actually began to multiply and divide inside its host!

In a matter of moments, the Stone Statue virus had completely absorbed the material of the Evil Spirit virus. A dozen or so newly replicated Stone Statue viruses then burst out, completely disintegrating their host!

Witnessing this, Shen Feng felt a sudden jolt of excitement.

’This could work!’

’That "One Is a Billion Trillion, a Billion Trillion Is One" entity is indeed more powerful than the Master of the Void!’

Soon, the Stone Statue Virus had killed off more than half of the Evil Spirit Virus in the petri dish. Petrified crystalline particles began to appear in the nutrient solution.

Normally, the Petrification Disease didn’t spread this quickly. In a human host, petrification would take a month to build up before breaking out.

But now, as if stimulated by the Evil Spirit Virus, the activity of the Stone Statue Virus was greatly enhanced. Its infection speed seemed to rival that of the Evil Spirit Virus!

’If this version of the Stone Statue Virus had appeared in my original world,’ Shen Feng thought, ’humanity would have been wiped out.’

The Evil Spirit Virus acted as a sort of catalyst for the Stone Statue Virus.

However, Shen Feng also noticed that the remaining Evil Spirit viruses had stopped trying to engulf the Stone Statue viruses. Instead, they began to clump together, forming a dense cluster that occupied its own distinct area in the culture medium.

It was like two armies in a standoff. The Stone Statue Virus launched multiple assaults, wiping out many Evil Spirit viruses on the periphery, but it could never fully eliminate them. The Evil Spirit Virus cluster’s reproductive rate was simply too fast. In contrast, the Stone Statue Virus was much slower, its attacks mostly passive, occurring only after being engulfed.

Eventually, the two viruses reached a strange equilibrium in the culture medium. The Stone Statue Virus occupied the majority of the space in a relatively sparse distribution, while the Evil Spirit Virus, though tightly clustered, could not expand its territory and was forced to defend its small enclave.

The way these two viruses attacked each other was also bizarre.

It was as if they possessed their own subconscious, each intolerant of the other’s existence.

Shen Feng then took a syringe, drew up the culture containing the Stone Statue Virus, and walked over to the zombie nurse strapped to the examination table.

Noticing his approach, the zombie nurse began to shriek and struggle once more, futilely trying to bite him.

Shen Feng clicked his tongue and said:

"You must have given plenty of shots in your day. This time, it’s my turn. Quiet now, quiet. This will be over soon."

He quickly injected the Stone Statue Virus culture into the zombie nurse’s body.

Her veins were filled with nothing but viscous black blood and clots. Shen Feng doubted whether the Stone Statue Virus could even circulate through her entire system.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long.

Just a few minutes later, starting from the injection site, patches of her skin began to petrify at a visible rate.

The petrification gradually spread across her body. It wasn’t total; about two-thirds of her body turned to stone, while the remaining third maintained its zombie-like flesh, creating a bizarre appearance.

Soon, the petrification reached her neck and head. Most of the zombie nurse’s face turned to stone, but the area around her forehead and eyes remained flesh.

He estimated that her brain had likely remained untouched by the petrification.

The zombie nurse now looked like an indescribably bizarre, half-flesh, half-stone monster.

Shen Feng had expected to see the zombie petrify completely. This outcome was a major surprise.

He undid the straps and chains on the zombie nurse, freeing her.

’Get up. Walk a little.’

The zombie nurse struggled to rise and lunge at Shen Feng but tumbled right off the examination table and onto the floor.

She then staggered to her feet, completely devoid of the ferocious speed and agility she had possessed earlier.

She looked as if she had Parkinson’s disease.

Her movements were extremely sluggish.

Her face still held a ferocious expression, and a low growl rumbled in her throat as she "pounced" toward Shen Feng. But it took her nearly five minutes to struggle just two meters forward.

Seeing this, Shen Feng was overjoyed.

’It worked!’

The zombies’ movement speed after being infected with the Stone Statue Virus was even slower than the zombies from the original Biohazard. They posed no threat at all.

If all the zombies in the world were like this, humanity would have nothing to fear. They could just be picked off one by one.

A predator that moves at a snail’s pace is no longer a predator.

You could just take any random object, jab it into an eye or ear, and destroy the brain.

However, this Stone Statue Virus was still incredibly lethal to human survivors, who would become infected and turn into stone statues.

’It still needs refinement.’

’The best-case scenario would be to cultivate it, then induce and screen for mutations to create a strain that only targets zombies.’

’More experiments are needed.’

With that thought, Shen Feng pressed the muzzle of his gun to the zombie nurse’s temple and gently pulled the trigger, ending her life.

After disposing of the body and sterilizing the lab, Shen Feng went through decontamination and walked out of the isolation chamber to the main virus lab door.

The sounds of scratching and banging still came from the other side of the door. Apparently, the zombies from before hadn’t left, drawn in by the intermittent noises from within the lab.

Shen Feng took a deep breath and gently turned the wheel-like lock on the door. The alloy door clicked open.

He quickly pulled the door open just a crack—enough for one person to pass through—reached out, and grabbed one of the zombies, yanking it inside.

’You’re the one! The one who was scratching the door!’

’Get in here!’