Chapter Forty-Four: Are You Kidding Me?

When Ye Hai revealed his G1 form, both Qiao and Zella were left dumbfounded, staring at him in astonishment. This form, at first glance, bore a striking resemblance to a mutated zombie, with bulging muscles across his body radiating sheer, violent strength even from a distance. The massive eyeball embedded in his arm was especially jarring—a sight so shocking that anyone seeing the G-virus for the first time would, in an instant, be seized by a sense of overwhelming dread.

As a seasoned virologist, Qiao understood all too well that the higher the degree of mutation, the more intense the viral reaction. The human body could hardly adapt to such dramatic changes in such a short time; the most direct consequence of this maladaptation was the erasure of human consciousness, reducing the host to a walking corpse. Even with the zombie virus, multiple evolutions were required for the flesh to adapt to such terrifying, frenzied changes; otherwise, bodily collapse was almost inevitable, which was why the infected rarely exhibited drastic changes in appearance during stages one through six.

But the two viruses Ye Hai demonstrated today—the “Veronica” virus in Liana, formed from the T-virus and queen ant gene fragments, and the G-virus in Ye Hai himself, created by merging the T-virus and NE-α parasite—seemed to flout these basic evolutionary laws entirely. From the very start, they were extreme, violent, and dangerous.

On the Bolognese Starship, Edward Teach—who had begun the broadcast reclining comfortably in his seat—was now leaning forward, eyes wide, glued to the screen. As one of the top ten generals of the Leviathan System, he had witnessed countless grand spectacles throughout his life, but the scene before him struck him to his core. He was no stranger to Zombie Star. Back when the zombie virus first broke out, he staged a feint toward Chaos Star, drawing all attention, which bought Giant Tree Star precious time to delve underground and seize vast resources and technology. By the time others caught on, Giant Tree Star had already made off with astonishing spoils, and Teach’s deft feint-and-raid made him famous, outwitting many renowned commanders of the system. As a pirate, his cunning was legendary, and after order was established on Giant Tree Star, Teach naturally rose to the ranks of the great generals.

Before today, Teach had looked down on Zombie Star. Twenty years prior, he had led his warriors into battle on the planet’s surface against mutants. While the swarms of mutants caused significant casualties for the pirates of Giant Tree Star, the plundered resources and technology had long since been digested. In his eyes, this long-desolate, undeveloped world was now nothing more than a maiden ripe for the picking beneath Giant Tree Star’s might. Were it not for the enormous cost of planetary purification and the interference of various factions, Zombie Star would have been stripped bare long ago. This mindset was shared by most of the Leviathan System’s elite.

But what Teach witnessed today shattered his preconceptions. The system’s collective error was staggering. Zombie Star may have stagnated technologically, but it had grown in its own savage way. Its natives, forged in this brutal crucible, now displayed awe-inspiring strength and potential. Confronted with a mutant queen bee impervious even to area bombardment, Teach calculated the full firepower of his fleet and was horrified by his conclusion: if his fleet were to battle the queen’s mutant swarm on the planet’s surface without violating the Leviathan System’s Weapons Convention, he might well lose. Was it possible that a mutant swarm from this irradiated world had grown strong enough to challenge an interstellar fleet head-on? If the queen’s swarm could survive in space, wouldn’t that make them equivalent to a fleet themselves? The chilling thought made Teach shudder.

The natives of Zombie Star were equally astonishing. When the battleship’s main cannons failed, Teach believed all hope was lost for those in the irradiated wasteland—survival was impossible. Yet it was a “seventh-stage intelligent zombie mutant,” once reported by Javier but dismissed by Teach, that overturned the entire situation. Teach was unsure if this intelligent mutant was a super-soldier engineered by the Corpse Collector Organization or an evolved zombie, but from his attitude toward another corpse collector, it was clear there was a connection.

It was the virus he brought, injected into the girl’s body, that transformed what had seemed a one-sided massacre into a struggle of ants against bees. The result was clear: the ant queen succeeded in winning over vast numbers of the bee queen’s followers, reversing the course of the battle. Though the bee queen and her honor guard seemed immune to the ant queen’s influence, the prowess displayed by the seventh-stage intelligent zombie suggested he had long been prepared to deal with the queen bee—and now, those plans were unfolding before all.

This Corpse Collector Organization, overlooked by all in the system, had somehow advanced its virus and genetic technology to extraordinary heights in the harsh environment of Zombie Star. On other worlds, even with every advanced device at hand, viral research had produced nothing so revolutionary. The four major planets, far ahead of Giant Tree Star and Chaos Star in technological might, had only rumors—never confirmed—of gene warriors breaking through to the sixth stage. The Corpse Collector Organization, without doubt, had already accomplished this, even producing individuals capable of standing alone against high-tier frenzies. Their viral technology was now the most advanced in the entire system—so advanced, in fact, that it might well reshape the balance of power in the Leviathan System.

Teach, awestruck, also felt a surge of good fortune—he had chosen the right moment to come. Giant Tree Star, constrained by many factors, could no longer overtake the four majors in technology, but viral genetic engineering presented another possibility.

His gaze sharpened as he watched the queen bee approach Ye Hai on the screen. “Come on! Show me your strength… Let me see just how powerful the Corpse Collector Organization truly is!”

The queen bee, towering and swift, charged directly at Ye Hai. He crouched, legs tensed, then leaped skyward, driving a punch like a gale toward her abdomen. Suddenly, a powerful force field enveloped him, and his momentum was halted in midair—he was completely immobilized. “Damn! Psionics!” flashed through his mind.

Under the gaze of all, the queen bee’s massive stinger, thick as a pillar, struck out—skewering Ye Hai from the chest up and reducing half his body to bloody pulp.

Qiao, Zella, and even Teach, watching with high hopes from orbit, were all left gaping in disbelief. Where was the overwhelming, unstoppable might they had been promised? They had prepared themselves for glory—only to witness this...