Chapter 43: Zombie Apocalypse (I)

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Chapter 43: Zombie Apocalypse (I)

∇ Congratulations, Challenger, for completing the mission. You have received 4,000 points as a reward, along with an additional 3,000 points for the side mission, giving you a total of 9,000 points. Would you like to use the system store?

Miao Lichen’s long eyelashes fluttered before he slowly opened his eyes. The death this time was remarkably comfortable; it happened silently while he was focused on cultivating the Qixiu Heart Method. The gradually slowing heartbeat seemed to have lost power in an instant and carried a fragility he had never experienced before. Before he could even experience what cardiac arrest felt like, he was already back in the system space. Perhaps the body he left behind hadn’t died yet, but whether it was dead or not made no difference to him.

The image of Nangong Qingyue, or rather Nan Xin, dressed in red floated in front of his eyes. Nan Xin knew perfectly well that “Miao Lichen’s” time was limited, yet he remained steadfast. He had never pursued anything with such determination himself, so he did not know what Nan Xin was so fixated on. If it was love, then he could only scoff. People who devoted their lives to something like that all have an easily shattered weakness. So Miao Lichen was destined to never understand, nor could he understand.

It was not that he hadn’t tried to love someone, but no matter how deep his feelings were, he only cared about himself. Perhaps that was exactly why the Lovely System had chosen him.

He pushed himself up and realized he wasn’t sitting on the cold floor of the system space, but on a luxurious king-sized bed that was big enough for four to five adults to roll around on. The surroundings were no longer the empty, colorless void. A red carpet stretched to the edges of the space, giving the room an air of luxurious comfort. It was exactly to his taste.

His gaze shifted to the pink egg who had remained silent since the reward was announced. The pink egg was less smug than usual and had fewer bubbles around. Upon meeting his gaze, its body involuntarily trembled. Why was this Lovely System so frightened right now?

Miao Lichen showed no self-reflection. His glance at the kitchen and then at the egg showed undisguised malice. To a system that knew his true nature so well and even signed a contract because of it, this was a blatant threat.

∇ Friendly Reminder: Please read the latest system agreement and establish friendly communications with Lovely. Lovely will wholeheartedly serve you.

A transparent screen suddenly appeared in front of Miao Lichen, its pink font resembling the playful pink egg. The first line clearly stated that Lovely would cancel all functions that actively helped the user conquer their targets; the user would need to choose everything themselves instead. Was this to give him maximum freedom?

A bright smile took over Miao Lichen’s face. He glanced at the pink egg again, causing it to tremble slightly, before opening the system shop with satisfaction. Since it was so sensible, he wouldn’t cook it for now. He narrowed his eyes slightly. The egg suddenly seemed rather meek, but what a joke. Wasn’t he the forced participant in these missions? Although he was enjoying it too.

The pink egg suddenly emitted more pink bubbles in response to Miao Lichen’s satisfaction. He wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but the egg seemed to have grown a little bigger. If it was really a growing egg, it would really be a perfect food reserve. Lovely, the future emergency food supply, remained completely unaware of Miao Lichen’s thoughts and opened the system shop.

After exchanging for the Second-tier Angel Bloodline with 3,000 points, Miao Lichen had 6,000 points left, which was just enough for the Third-tier Angel Bloodline. Miao Lichen swiped his finger across the screen and exchanged for it too. With that, he had spent every last point and was back to square one.

He observed himself in the dressing mirror. The Second-tier Angel Bloodline gave him two things. First, a pair of wings, making him a genuine birdman. Second, the Holy Angel’s Arrow, which could purify all evil. He was thankful that although the Angel Bloodline had undergone some changes after merging with the Qixiu internal energy, his wings remained a pure, flawless white and not some hideous shade of pink. But the Holy Angel’s Arrow light effect had turned pink to match the Qixiu internal energy. This was still within his acceptable range.

∇ My dear A’chen, you now have two options for the next steps. The first is to stay in the mission space for one day. Lovely will provide you the most luxurious service, giving you the imperial experience. The second is to directly enter the next mission world.

“Send me to the next world.” Miao Lichen looked up at Lovely who had suddenly changed the way it addressed him. Was this system trying to please him? Did it really think he was so easily pleased?

∇ The fourth challenge world has been drawn.

∇ Main Mission: Capture the Male Protagonist, Zhang Yang (Favorability 100).

∇ Reward: 8,000 points.

∇ Failure Penalty: 8,000 points.

∇ Friendly Reminder: If your points drop into the negatives, you will be considered dead.

“…” Miao Lichen was somewhat certain that there was a problem with the system.

Before he could ask anything, the scene before him had already changed. Every surface was covered with active laboratory equipment and test tubes filled with liquid. He wasn’t lying in a bed like his previous start points; instead, he held a test tube and was in the middle of observing something. He was also dressed in a white lab coat. He put down the test tube, leaned against the lab bench, and instructed Lovely to transfer the original’s memories.

This Miao Lichen was a professor at University S. His achievements at just over thirty years old were undoubtedly due to his intelligence, but even more to the genes he inherited from his ancestors; a fanaticism for research. They were pioneers of miracles and also people born for miracles. In Miao Lichen’s memory, all he saw were laboratories and countless test tubes.Apart from the student he’d recently taken on, his life was excessively monotonous.

But this professor had a child, a little girl who inherited his genes. She turns five this year, and today happened to be her birthday. So that child is also in this high-risk laboratory and was resting on the only bed.

Miao Lichen walked next to the bed where the cute little girl slept. Her rosy cheeks suggested she was having a pleasant dream, while her rosy lips murmured something in her sleep, full of a child’s innocence. Perhaps his gaze had been too focused, because she woke up. She blinked her moist eyes and beamed.

“Papa.” Miao Nianling threw herself into Miao Lichen’s arm, her eyes filled with pure joy. “Papa, I saw lots and lots of cute things.”

“Mhm. My Ling’er is the best. Sleep a little longer okay, my baby?” Miao Lichen smiled as he patted Miao Nianling to sleep while holding onto the Beauty Album. Once she fell asleep, he opened it.

This was clearly a Qidian novel. The protagonist Zhang Yang possessed exceptional martial arts skill from the start. His family belonged to an ancient martial arts clan, but it had gradually declined and he was the only one with aptitude remaining by his generation. His parents died early, and his extremely wealthy relatives kicked him out and seized his property.

His first love was nothing more than a pawn used by his relatives to seize his property. In the end, he was kicked out with only a few thousand yuan and had to work while studying. He was very strong due to his background in martial arts, so he didn’t starve. He even got into the prestigious University S and his research work more than covered his living expenses. However, his good fortune didn’t last long. After becoming a doctoral supervisor’s assistant as a graduate student, the apocalypse arrived.

Thus began his journey of leveling up while building a harem. The ending was naturally where both beauty and fame were under his control, and even this child couldn’t escape his clutches after she grew up. But this protagonist wasn’t like the other novel protagonists that would fall in love with every woman they meet, his reason for accepting women was straightforward: to have sex. But because he always wore a gentle, smiling face, people believed he was sincere. The women were devoted to him in turn and all possessed certain abilities.

Miao Lichen’s identity was also remarkable. He was the source of the protagonist’s savior title, the one who developed the antidote that frees humanity from the zombie virus and allows zombies to regain their sanity. In the later stages of the story, a balance was maintained between humans and zombies to prevent further war.

Miao Lichen put down the book, an amused smile on his lips as his fingers lightly traced the little girl’s back. Soon, the door opened and a deep, concerned voice that was difficult to dislike called out, “Professor Miao, are you alright?”

“Mm.” Miao Lichen simply nodded in accordance with the original’s behavior. He looked at Zhang Yang’s disheveled clothes, caught the faint scent of blood, and frowned. “What happened to you? Why did you come to the lab like this? You didn’t even do basic disinfection?”

Although Miao Lichen often became unkempt due to his experiments, he was absolutely a germaphobe in his daily life. When it came to his precious laboratory, anyone entering the lab must be disinfected and wear protective gear, otherwise, absolutely no one was allowed inside, not even the little girl in his arms.

“Professor, there are zombies outside… I came to check on you.” Zhang Yang leaned against the doorframe, having rushed over from the boy’s dormitory. The constant zombie attacks along the way left him somewhat exhausted. It wasn’t that he had a particularly good relationship with Professor Miao Lichen, but that he wanted to see if the professor who conducted research in biology would have any solutions. But from the looks of it, the professor was completely unaware of the chaotic situation outside, which was within his expectations.

“What? Zombies?” Miao Lichen’s expression finally changed a bit. His face that didn’t see the sun all year round looked even more youthful than Zhang Yang’s. He was clearly in his thirties, but looked no more than twenty. He opened a small window in the lab and the blood-red eyes of the “humans” outside looked terrifying.

“Yes, like the ones in Resident Evil.”

“Mhm… you’ve worked hard. And thank you.” After looking back at Zhang Yang for a while, His tone softened noticeably. He took out a set of pure white sportswear from a closet and tossed it to him. The implication was obvious—he was to change into it.

He picked up the bloodstained clothes and began collecting samples from them. He looked completely focused and completely absorbed in his work.

“Papa.” Miao Nianling had woken up at some point and stared intently at Miao Lichen.

“Good girl, don’t bother Papa. Papa has work. How about big brother plays with you instead?” Zhang Yang quickly stopped Miao Nianling from getting out of bed. The entire lab contained items that couldn’t be touched which made him a bit fearful. He could not let this little girl come down.

“I only want Papa, not brother.” Miao Nianling clearly did not care for his feelings and broke free from Zhang Yang’s hold to make her way to Miao Lichen. But she didn’t disturb him and just held onto his hem.

Zhang Yang looked at his hands, then at Miao Nianling with surprise. The little girl was actually stronger than an adult? Or… was she an ability user? Thinking back to what happened in the boys’ dormitory, he clenched his hands but the smile on his lips remained unchanged.

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