DDT - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Zombie King × Little White Flower (16)

As he spoke, Yi Mingchang began to tremble.

He looked directly at Yi Shuhan, whose face had turned slightly pale, and said in a hoarse voice, "Everyone thought your mother was dead. But she wasn't. My wife, my love, she was so young, with so much of her life left to live. How could she die?!"

Yi Mingchang took a breath and continued, "Mingqing was seriously injured and fell into a coma. She lay in the intensive care unit for a full two months. I used the most advanced medical technology in the country and finally managed to save her life! But!" Yi Mingchang slammed his hand on the metal table beside him. "The woman I cherished more than anything was left in a vegetative state!"

A profound sense of grief emanated from the man, who was in the prime of his life at forty-something.

"Do you have any idea how much pain I was in? How unwilling I was to accept it?!" Yi Mingchang roared.

"I wanted her to wake up, to stand before me, alive and well! No, even if she couldn't move, it would have been enough if she could just open her eyes and say a few words to me!"

"But she didn't."

"Do you know that for the first few years, I gave up all my research, suspended all my projects, and stayed by Mingqing's bedside day and night? I talked to her every single day, sang her favorite songs. I called out to her every day! But it was useless! She wouldn't wake up! She didn't even twitch an eyelid to give me any response!"

"Do you know how desperate I was? More than two thousand days and nights, and I still couldn't wake her!"

"I thought it was ridiculous. Even after I made the driver who caused the accident spend over a decade in prison, even after I made him lose his wife and children, his family ruined, it was all for nothing. The person I loved most remained lying in a hospital bed, completely unresponsive to my calls and my presence!"

Yi Mingchang suddenly stood up straight, a strange excitement shining in his eyes. "My waiting and companionship were ultimately useless. It took me six years to finally understand. Since external stimuli and that bunch of incompetent doctors couldn't wake her, why not take matters into my own hands and research a solution myself?"

"I returned to the research center, spent all my savings, and secretly sought funding for special research everywhere. Eventually, I secretly built this massive underground research facility. This Advanced Research Institute."

"I spent a full eleven years developing a reagent to enhance brain and bodily activity. For the first ten years, there was no progress. Then, on an extraterrestrial meteorite secretly provided by the military for my research, I discovered a brand-new life form. God finally opened a window for me!"

"You have no idea! How perfect that organism was! A structure of infinitely and orderly dividing cells, perfect genetic chains… I even discovered biological phenomena in them that science simply couldn't explain. Some of their cell-like structures, which contained countless genetic chains, could generate electricity or create powerful air currents. Some could transform into a substance as hard as diamond. Others could create fire from nothing, gather water molecules from the air, or even alter their own gravity. There were so, so many. I divided these lovely little things into groups. The only flaw was that they couldn't reproduce. I observed them for a whole year, and the population of each group was rapidly declining. I was frantic. Such a fascinating organism shouldn't just vanish from the world!"

"Later, by coincidence, I discovered the true way for them to reproduce!"

At this, Yi Mingchang burst into laughter, looking completely mad. "You'll never guess, and I never expected it either. The method of reproduction for this miraculous organism… is parasitism!"

Yi Mingchang's venomous gaze swept over everyone present. Hearing the word "parasitism," they all felt their scalps tingle, a sense of foreboding rising in their hearts.

The researchers had all arrived at the institute shortly before the apocalypse. They usually only studied the virus within zombies and knew nothing of this history. They only knew of Yi Mingchang's undisguised hatred for his daughter and the experimental details he had gradually revealed over the past year. The experiment was called "Resurrection," a plan divided into three stages, with his daughter, Yi Shuhan, serving as the main through line for the latter two stages.

Speaking of his most beloved research, Yi Mingchang grew more and more fanatical, completely forgetting about the intruder, Chi Junluo. He was lost in the results of his years of research, unable to extricate himself.

"It was three years ago. Seeing the non-reproducing alien life forms gradually dying out, I conducted experiments with increasing frequency to find a way for them to multiply. Then one day, I accidentally broke the culture vessel for the airflow group's life forms. The sharp glass cut my arm, and the culture fluid from the airflow group contaminated my wound. I disinfected and treated the wound, but two hours later, I fainted."

"When I woke up, I found a strange power coursing through my body. And then, I discovered… I could control air currents!" As he spoke, a strong wind began to blow through the research center.

"I immediately performed a comprehensive check on myself and found countless alien life forms active in my blood! So, the reproductive method of these perfect life forms was parasitism! They lived inside my body, in my blood, without affecting my life at all. In fact, they gave me immense power. I named it an 'ability.'"

"This was a discovery, an evolution that transcends our era!" Yi Mingchang exclaimed excitedly.

"From that day on, I secretly found many volunteers, had them sign life-and-death contracts, and injected different life forms into their bodies. But the results were not ideal. Some had severe physiological reactions and quickly died. For others, the parasitic life forms failed to take hold, and they remained ordinary people. And some developed extremely strong aggression, lost their sanity, and became living dead without human consciousness. I had originally locked them up together, but I never expected a researcher to be bitten while delivering food. Not long after, he became just like the living dead. This is what you call 'zombies.'" As he said this, a look of pride appeared on Yi Mingchang's face.

"Then I began research on the Life No. 1 reagent. I selected the most active alien life forms with the most complete genetic chains as the base and conducted experiments on various animals and volunteers."

Hearing this, an angry expression appeared on Yi Shuhan's face. Chi Junluo gently squeezed her hand to soothe her. Yi Shuhan forced herself to keep listening. She was so close to the truth now; she had to hear it all!

"The research on the Life No. 1 reagent was very successful, with a failure rate of only twenty percent. Most test subjects either survived or gained abilities. Damn it, it's all my fault for being too impulsive back then! I shouldn't have ignored everyone's advice and used the No. 1 reagent on Mingqing directly!" Yi Mingchang pounded his head in frustration, grabbing his hair fiercely, his expression pained.

"What did you say?! You used this parasitic life form on Mother?!" Yi Shuhan was stunned for a moment, then accused him, "How could you use Mother as a test subject?!"

Although Yi Shuhan had no memory of her mother, she had always longed for one. She often thought how wonderful it would be if her mother were still alive.

Today, she suddenly learned that her mother had been alive all along. A vegetable, yes, but still alive! Her selfish father had deceived her for nineteen years! He never even let her see her mother, never even allowed her to know of her mother's existence!

The respect she once had for her father was now matched by the hatred she felt after learning the truth. But it wasn't over.

Yi Mingchang ignored Yi Shuhan's question, continuing his story. "I shouldn't have been so impulsive. Perhaps Mingqing's body was too weak to withstand the effects of the No. 1 reagent… I… failed."

"Failed? Failed…" Yi Shuhan stared blankly. "You're saying… Mother became a zombie?!"

Yi Shuhan was furious. If Chi Junluo hadn't been holding her back, she would have rushed him.

"No, no, no!!! Mingqing would never become a zombie! She didn't! She doesn't attack people, she hasn't woken up. She's not a zombie! She's not!" Yi Mingchang angrily refuted Yi Shuhan.

"I thought of every possible way to salvage the situation. I already had a concrete idea for a new experiment! Preparations for all three stages of the new experiment had already begun. A year ago, the new experiment made a major breakthrough. I discovered a new path forward! But I needed a test subject, and the most suitable one was you! My daughter, Yi Shuhan, you're finally of some use!"

"But my experiment hadn't yet reached the stage where you were needed as a test subject for the reagent when my secret research was discovered by Officer Wang from the northeastern military. He threatened me. He said if I didn't hand over the rights to use the reagent, he could use the power of the state to kill me and silence me, no matter how powerful my ability was. On the other hand, if we joined forces and sprayed the reagent across the country, and even the world, then we, with our great power, and he, with his influence, could run rampant, invincible. And I could have more test subjects for my experiments!" Clearly, it was the last sentence that had swayed Yi Mingchang.

Thinking of his beloved's uncertain fate, with no guarantee of saving her, Yi Mingchang agreed to Officer Wang's proposal.

Officer Wang sent his loyal subordinates to carry the reagent to countries all over the world, and within a month, they had sprayed the atomized reagent. The apocalypse began, orchestrated by a mad scientist and a man hungry for power.

As the only person in the world with a blood relation to Shu Mingqing, Yi Shuhan was Yi Mingchang's only choice for his experiment. He had originally planned to infect Yi Shuhan and turn her into a zombie during the second stage. Then, after creating a new reagent, he would adjust its formula based on Yi Shuhan's genes to achieve his goal of saving his love. However, because the apocalypse had started a year ago and the new reagent's development had hit a bottleneck, Yi Mingchang hadn't acted against Yi Shuhan yet. Instead, before the apocalypse began, he gave her sleeping pills and secretly implanted a tracking chip in her left shoulder blade, to prevent losing her after the world descended into chaos.

"So, that high fever I had a year ago, the one that left me unconscious for days… that was your doing, wasn't it, Father!" Yi Shuhan said, her face cold with fury.

Chi Junluo reached out and touched Yi Shuhan's shoulder blade. A quick scan with her mental power confirmed it—there was indeed a chip the size of a fingernail.

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