Chapter Eighty-Eight: The Advancing Art-2

The transition from G2 to G3 required the rewriting of fifty thousand genes, a full doubling of what was needed to move from G1 to G2.

Judged by gene count alone, Ye Hai in his G3 form had completely stepped beyond the bounds of humanity.

His entire body had undergone a monstrous transformation.

Two additional arms had grown from the shoulder blades on his back, exceedingly long, long enough to touch the ground even when he stood upright.

Compared with his original pair of arms, these were somewhat flattened, like a pair of wings, their ends ending in a pair of hideous, razor-sharp claws.

No trace of skin remained anywhere on his body; he had become a gray carapace bound together entirely of tissue fibers and muscle.

On his left thigh, there was now a blood-red eyeball about twenty centimeters in diameter. It looked eerie, ferocious, and strangely cool.

The G3 form was larger than the G2 form by a full size.

Its strength had increased severalfold as well. Before, Ye Hai had already found it taxing to take on a mech alone in his G2 form.

But after entering G3, a single blow was enough to shock the pilot to death.

Even the mech’s thick alloy armor had caved inward by a massive extent.

He could even seize a mech weighing nearly five tons in one hand and hurl it into the sky.

At the same time, G3 was the most agile of the five known forms of the G virus.

After Ye Hai had flung the mech into the air with tremendous force, he had actually been able to leap onto it with his own speed and use it to spring forward.

If not for Ye Hai’s ability to control the direction of the G virus’s evolution, the G3 form would have been the most perfect and balanced state among G-virus beings.

After Ye Hai seized the ankle of Xiao Lin’s mech, he violently swung his right rear arm and smashed the machine to the ground.

At once, Xiao Lin was hurled headfirst toward the earth.

Panicked and flustered, Xiao Lin frantically increased the mech’s power, trying to halt the fall.

At such a height, even though Xiao Lin’s mech was far superior to those of his subordinates, there was no escaping the fate of being knocked senseless by the impact.

And once he was stunned, if his true body were dragged out from within the mech...

Then Xiao Lin’s power, ambition, and life would all be reduced to nothing.

At last, just before impact, Xiao Lin managed to stabilize the mech.

Being seized by Ye Hai had merely been, in Xiao Lin’s view, a momentary lapse.

As long as he could rise again and exploit the mech’s ability to fly, he would absolutely seize the initiative once more.

Just as he was about to climb and escape, Ye Hai kicked him hard in the back.

Xiao Lin only felt a colossal force ripple through his entire body, and he could no longer maintain his balance.

The entire mech shot forward in a furious ground slide, except the thing plowing the earth was not its feet but its head.

While the mech was still skidding along with such swagger, Ye Hai exerted force through both legs, and his immense body actually shot out like a bolt of lightning.

In an instant, he caught up to General Xiao Lin, who was still sliding across the ground.

Then he sat down heavily on the mech.

His forearms clamped down viciously on the mech’s arms, rendering it unable to resist.

His pair of rear arms began raining punches wildly on the mech’s head.

A textbook street brawl by some hooligan...

Ugly, perhaps, but highly effective.

From afar, Javier watched Ye Hai pummeling the mech, and his teeth could not help aching.

The material used in Xiao Lin’s mech was the same as that of the antimatter mech in Javier’s hands.

Though it was a kind of liquid memory metal, Javier knew full well just how hard it became once formed and solidified.

It suffered no damage even when firing antimatter energy.

Yet this alloy, one of the strongest known in the Leviathan star system, was actually beginning to deform under Ye Hai’s blows.

Still, Ye Hai did not seem to be having an easy time either.

In the clash of raw force, his rear arms were likewise splattered with blood and flesh, and in a very short time a large section had been shredded away.

Fortunately, the G virus’s regenerative ability remained as trustworthy as ever, and the destroyed muscle tissue regrew in an instant.

From Javier’s perspective, Ye Hai’s physical toughness was probably already enough to withstand about twelve percent of the antimatter cannon’s output.

For Javier himself, the most he could currently endure was only seven percent. One had to remember that although the cannon was fastened to the hand, the recoil would still be transmitted through the arms and into the whole body.

With Javier’s G1-form physical strength, if he forcibly used the maximum fifteen percent output, his entire body would be battered into complete annihilation, beyond even the salvation of the G virus.

The battle soon ended with Xiao Lin’s collapse into unconsciousness.

Ye Hai clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction, feeling as though he still had energy to spare all over his body.

He rose with a trace of regret and, with one hand of his right rear arm, lifted Xiao Lin’s mech before walking slowly toward Javier.

As he dragged the mech along, Ye Hai noticed that this machine was much lighter than the two mechs he had thrown earlier.

“This liquid metal really is good stuff. I wonder if I can get some from Tiki and Nangong.”

As Ye Hai approached, Javier shrugged and said, “That form of yours is seriously damn cool!”

“Way more imposing than my G1 form...”

“Speaking of which, why did my G1 form only grow an eyeball on my neck?”

“I even thought a tumor had grown in my throat!”

“That thing never rests for a moment, darting from my throat to the nape of my neck... and when I smoke, it blocks my windpipe!”

“Feels like it’s breathing secondhand smoke...”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve felt the taste of a cigarette lingering in my lungs...”

Ye Hai grinned and teased him, “Smoke that never reaches the lungs doesn’t count as secondhand!”

“Also, since you brought the biotower out, Tiki and Nangong should be fine by now, right?”

Javier extended one arm and pointed at the giant sea eel behind him. “Used a dose of healing medicine... they’re sleeping like the dead now!”

“Also, Liana took the giant sea serpent to find Nangong. I don’t know whether she found him, but after they separated, he never showed up again!”

“Still, I don’t think there’s much to worry about. That girl may not be very good at using her power yet, but she’s ridiculously strong...”

“Now that you’ve entered G3 this time, you should already be catching up to her strength, right?”

Ye Hai smiled faintly. “If it were a sparring match, I’d lose eighty percent of the time.”

“But if it were a fight to the death, she’d die one hundred percent of the time...”

While the two were chatting idly, the mech on Xiao Lin’s body gradually softened, turned liquid again, and withdrew back into his clothing.

Ye Hai lifted Xiao Lin and brought him close to his face.

Studying the unfamiliar countenance before him, he asked with mild puzzlement, “He looks vaguely familiar, but we definitely have no connection... Do you know who he is?”

When Ye Hai turned Xiao Lin by the ankle and faced him toward Javier, a flash of anger and savagery appeared in Javier’s eyes.

“General Xiao Lin...”

“So it’s this bastard!”

“I never imagined that a dog I raised on Giant Tree Star would turn around and bite its master...”

Ye Hai cut him off. “You’re a corpse catcher now. Remember your position. You are you, and Giant Tree Star is Giant Tree Star...”

“Using the phrase ‘my Giant Tree Star’ is utterly awful!”

Javier gave him an exasperated look.

“Ah... right, right!”

“You’re right about everything!”

Ye Hai froze slightly. This guy had actually grasped the essence of that expression by accident... a talent indeed!

Then he heard Javier go on:

“Actually, all five great warlords have support behind them...”

“Giant Tree Star is the backer behind Xiao Lin...”

“And behind the Talan Army is one of the Four Stars, Sea Wolf Star!”

“Nangong Yixiao’s black hair and black eyes are classic Sea Wolf Star bloodline traits...”

“Otherwise, with Nangong’s status as a renowned commander of the star system, how could the Talan Army possibly accommodate such a figure, though there are also other stories between Nangong and the Talan family...”

Ye Hai nodded. He had some understanding of Sea Wolf Star.

After all, the leeches used to develop the T virus had been obtained at great expense through the Dark Surge organization from Sea Wolf Star.

Suddenly, inspiration struck him.

His mind began spinning furiously.

Excitedly, he asked, “Do you think if I sell Xiao Lin to Tiki, he’ll pay a good price for this traitor?”

“Then if I sell Nangong the news that Xiao Lin has been captured, might they have a chance to swallow Xiao Lin’s forces...”

“That information should be worth a fortune, right?”

“Could it be exchanged for a flagship?”

Javier’s eyes rolled so hard they nearly flipped over as he cursed inwardly:

“This scheming vampire...”

“In such a short time, he’s already figured out a way to wring Xiao Lin dry.”

“But exchange him for a flagship?”

“Fantasy. You’d probably have to sell your whole organization bundled together and still couldn’t afford one!”

“Much less Giant Tree Star or the Talan Army—none of them would ever open that door.”

So Javier said helplessly, “I’m afraid you’re thinking too much. Forget that the Giant Tree Star and Talan Star lot would never sell you a flagship.”

“Even if they really did, who would you have to pilot it?”

“Your corpse catcher organization has, at most, a thousand people. Tonight alone, probably nearly three hundred have died!”

“With only seven hundred left, let alone flying a flagship...”

“Even cleaning would keep you busy for three days and three nights.”

Ye Hai said regretfully, “Really?”

“What a pity. I’ve never once gone into space aboard a ship.”

Hearing that, Javier could not help but blurt out in surprise, “You’ve never been into space?”

“Before the zombie virus outbreak, weren’t ships the main long-distance means of transport on Zombie Star?”

“And one of the cheapest, too!”

Ye Hai rolled his eyes and sighed inwardly: I’m not from Zombie Star, all right? Where I come from, only a few hundred people ever went up into the heavens... would it ever have been my turn?

The two chatted as they walked into the laboratory inside the giant sea eel.

Just then, they suddenly heard the communicator on Tiki’s person repeatedly crackle with voices.

“Commander Tiki... please respond!”

“Commander Tiki... what happened down below? We’re being heavily interfered with by an electromagnetic signal. We can no longer receive the images from the Plati black market.”

Javier stepped forward, took the communicator from Tiki’s pocket, and said, “This is Javier. Commander Tiki is fine. There was a small accident, but everything is safe now. The commander just fell asleep...”

Hearing Javier’s voice, the other side let out a long, relieved breath.

Then they said anxiously, “That’s a relief, as long as Commander Tiki is all right!”

“Colonel Javier, the situation is extremely urgent right now...”

“A huge number of unknown mutants have appeared at the foot of the northern mountains, and they are now besieging three people...”

“According to our microwave detection, many more unknown mutants are advancing from underground toward the direction of the Plati black market. The east, west, and north sides are already completely surrounded.”

“And those three people to the north are in terrible condition. I’m afraid they won’t be able to hold out much longer.”

“I suggest you take Commander Tiki and immediately break out to the south, then board the ship and return...”

“The Plati black market...”

“It’s lost.”