True Apocalypse Game

Theoretically, this stuff could spread through the air, but direct injection into the bloodstream was naturally much faster.

As he felt the virus enter his body, Reyes shook his arm and chuckled.

"I don’t feel anything special..."

Before he could finish, a sudden CRACK echoed from his arm joint.

Reyes’s expression turned tense. He squeezed his own arm and stammered,

"What... My hand... My... it feels... a little stiff..."

Shen Feng knew the Stone Statue Virus was rapidly altering Reyes’s body.

The onset of this new Stone Statue Virus was far faster than its predecessor, possessing a trait similar to the Evil Spirit Virus.

A rapid onset that left its victims completely defenseless.

"Take a few steps. Let’s see how you walk."

Reyes quickly started walking. After a few steps, his knees made the same CRACK-CRACK sound, and he said,

"My knees feel... feel a little strange too. They’re hot... swollen, like it’s arthritis... My uncle used to have arthritis; I’ve seen him walk..."

His gait was bizarre, almost robotic.

Then, Reyes froze mid-step. He turned his head stiffly and said,

"I... I can barely move..."

Shen Feng quickly examined his skin. He found that Reyes’s skin was already in a semi-petrified state; his entire body was hardening, and his reaction speed had slowed significantly.

However, the Stone Statue Virus’s encroachment seemed to be slowing, no longer spreading rapidly through Reyes’s body.

’But if this is the outcome, if infected humans can’t move, they’ll just starve to death. Or maybe they’ll die of respiratory failure. It’s no different from being turned directly into a stone statue.’

Without time to give Reyes the Healing Potion, Shen Feng immediately extracted a sample of the second virus strain and injected it into Colin, who was standing nearby.

Colin, for his part, was quite resolute. He knew he couldn’t escape, so he might as well serve as a test subject.

’After all, if this Mr. Shen can truly develop something to defeat the zombies, it would be the best possible news for this world.’

’At that point, even if I die, I’ll become a hero remembered for ages, just like the great heroes from the legends of Mexico.’

The virus quickly entered Colin’s body.

This was the strain of the Stone Statue Virus that was supposed to completely annihilate the Evil Spirit Virus.

Within seconds, Colin began to tremble violently, his voice shaking as he spoke:

"What is this... illusions, I’m seeing so many illusions! God... oh God... what is this! I... I don’t want this... I don’t like this... Kill me, kill me..."

Then, his entire body started shaking uncontrollably, his eyes showing immense pain. He grabbed a scalpel from a nearby table and tried to stab himself in the neck!

Fortunately, Shen Feng’s reflexes were sharp. He grabbed Colin’s hand, stopping him, and simultaneously restrained him on the nearby experiment bed.

Colin’s body was still trembling, and his eyes had lost focus. Shen Feng could sense his brainwaves becoming exceptionally chaotic, as if he were enduring extreme agony.

Meanwhile, Colin’s body temperature soared and his heart rate skyrocketed, quickly surpassing the limits of human endurance!

’If this continues, Colin will be dead in a matter of minutes!’

’His heart will burst from the stress!’

Shen Feng frowned, immediately grabbing a Healing Potion for the Stone Statue Virus and injecting it into Colin.

Soon, Colin’s symptoms eased. His heartbeat and breathing gradually stabilized, and his body temperature began to drop.

’Clearly, that reaction was still caused by the Stone Statue Virus.’

’And the Healing Potion is still effective against this mutated Stone Statue Virus.’

’But what exactly was that just now?’

Colin’s face was still a mask of terror. Shen Feng disregarded everything else and asked in a low, serious voice:

"What kind of hallucination did you have just now?"

’These hallucinations are deeply concerning. Could they be related to the Will of the Stone Statues from back then?’

’But his mood soured. No matter what Colin had seen, this virus was clearly unusable.’

’Otherwise, the infected would die in an instant from their hearts exploding—even more terrifying than the Evil Spirit Virus.’

’After using it, the zombies might be gone, but so would human civilization.’

’And the strain of Stone Statue Virus that infected Reyes earlier is also a failure.’

’Do I really have to choose a Stone Statue Virus that will kill all the zombies, including Destructive Shen Feng, but also destroy all the human survivors in the world...?’

For a moment, Shen Feng was caught in a dilemma.

Colin’s eyes were vacant. He clearly hadn’t recovered from the earlier terror. His face was deathly pale as he spoke:

"I... I don’t know what I saw... I just felt like my soul was being torn apart and devoured... I felt like I was becoming food for some terrifying existence... Oh god... oh god..."

By the end, the strong man was covering his face and weeping, his body curled into a ball on the experiment bed, twitching uncontrollably.

He was like a frightened little girl.

Shen Feng’s face was grim. For a moment, he was at a complete loss.

’The virus trials aren’t progressing as smoothly as I had hoped. I haven’t gotten the type of virus I need at all.’

’Is my only choice now between different ways to destroy human civilization?’

’Should I let the survivors turn to stone or die as their bodies harden? Or should I let them die from their hearts exploding?’

Just then, Reyes’s slightly curious voice came from the side:

"Mr. Shen, what happened? Why is Colin crying?"

Shen Feng whipped his head around. Reyes, who should have been completely rigid and immobile, was now standing beside the experiment bed, looking curiously at the weeping Colin.

His expression was free of any pain, and he had clearly walked over on his own. His steps were even rather light.

The symptoms of his whole body hardening had completely disappeared!

Shen Feng quickly grabbed Reyes’s arm, squeezed it hard, and asked:

"You can move!? The stiffness is gone!?"

His skin was much softer now. Although it was still less elastic than a normal person’s, it was able to recover its shape.

Reyes scratched his head and said:

"You mean that feeling of my whole body getting stiff? That feeling disappeared on its own after a while... I thought it was a side effect caused by my immune system’s stress response... But my joints are still a bit stiff, like I have arthritis."

As he spoke, he rubbed his elbow and moved his arm, which immediately let out a loud CRACK.

Disregarding everything else, Shen Feng immediately drew a sample of Reyes’s blood for careful observation. He found that although the new Stone Statue Virus was present, it wasn’t attacking his body on a massive scale. It was behaving more like a common inflammation!

And his immune system was able to kill it!

’This is it!’

’This is the one!’

’It might cause arthritis as a side effect, but that’s nothing compared to killing all the zombies.’

Shen Feng was elated, a wave of relief washing over him in an instant.

Even if he were forced to destroy the world’s remaining human survivors, the guilt of single-handedly extinguishing all hope for human civilization was not a burden just anyone could bear.

After seeing this world’s Destructive Shen Feng, he had become more wary of his own potential for psychological deviation.

The rumbling of the giant object outside grew louder, and the pressure from the violent, dark Consciousness Field intensified.

The influence of Shen Feng’s own Consciousness Field on the zombies was waning.

’I can feel it. The zombies I was holding back outside the hospital have made their way inside. Right now, a huge number of them have gathered just outside the lab door, ready to break in at any moment!’

Shen Feng quickly extracted several samples of the new virus, injected Reyes with a Healing Potion for the Stone Statue Virus, and said,

"You and Colin, hide immediat..."

Before he could finish, the terrifying, mountain-like Consciousness Field descended completely, and the rumbling of its advance ceased.

The hospital building suddenly trembled violently. A dense web of cracks spread across the walls and ceiling of Shen Feng’s floor.

The next instant, the ceiling of Shen Feng’s floor, along with all the levels above it, was ripped into the air and tossed aside like a piece of rock.

The virus lab was now open to the sky.

Looking up, he saw the Transfer Tower, dozens of meters thick, coiled nearby like a giant, tentacled serpent. The upper half of the hospital had been ripped away by its tentacles.

And on the "serpent’s" torso was a face, its expression chilling, looking down at Shen Feng below.

At the sight of this face, Reyes and Colin trembled with fear. They glanced up at Mr. Shen standing beside them, then suddenly clung to each other, as if it were the only way to keep themselves from going mad with terror.

Although they had some trouble distinguishing between Asians, they were certain: Mr. Shen and the face on that monster were identical!

Shen Feng looked up at his "other self" and said with a smile,

"How are you going to kill me? Swallow me whole? Strangle me? Tear me to pieces? Or turn me into a puppet?"

Destructive Shen Feng in the Transfer Tower looked at the Shen Feng below and said slowly,

"Since you are me, you know that neither of us would kill the other so easily. It’s just not in our nature."

Shen Feng nodded and said:

"Exactly. We have to get to the bottom of things first, talk it all out. Otherwise, we’d lose sleep over it. You know, the big questions: Who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here? And what is my purpose..."

As he spoke, he stealthily slipped the vials of the virus into his pocket.