Edited by: Kuro and Lille
Also, thank you, Nikki, for giving me a ko-fi and supporting my novel! It means the world to me :D
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As time passed, people started to notice their loved ones going missing, and there was an increase in mutated creatures. There were tens of thousands of people in the base, so it wasn't too surprising that it took them a long time to notice.
People from all across the country flocked to this base that was considered a safe haven. The most powerful Ability Users were there, so most people thought it was safe.
Unfortunately, because zombies were attracted to heat and sound, all the zombies started to migrate toward that base, leaving them busier than ever.
If Adam 1 stopped all the zombies from attacking them, the Ability Users and the Homo Zoms would not be able to level up, so he let them attack. He also felt this was a good way to free as many trapped souls as possible and have other people help out with his workload. He always had to remind himself that he couldn't save everyone on his own, but if he could save at least a few, that was good enough for humanity.
"There are more zombies lately." Cooper, who was carrying all the supplies as well as the zombie cores, was tired from the constant waves of zombies. He did help by using his gun when the situation called for it, but he was always picking up the cores and moving the dead bodies. There were so many and he was only one person.
"There's a few more rounds left." Morgan sighed as the metal weapon he created pierced through another zombie's head. "Cooper, why don't we have Jeremiah help you out?"
Jeremiah, who was exhausted from the waves of zombies, was more than happy to help Cooper out. Jeremiah was in charge of getting zombie cores and getting rid of the bodies, and Cooper put them in his storage. They made a great team, clearing the area up so the other members had more room to fight.
They continued to fight for another hour before everyone felt there was something wrong.
[Host...]
Before he could say anything, Morgan interrupted Adam 1's train of thought.
"Why are these zombies trying to run past us?" Morgan looked into the distance with confusion. It was like these zombies had no idea they were here at this point and were blindly running to the base. It wasn't like this before when they started to kill.
Adam 1 tried to tap into the minds of all the zombies around him, but he felt like the connection was being interrupted by something. It was the first time this had ever happened to him.
'System, what's going on?'
[I am getting a weird signal coming from the research building at the MI Base. It seems to be calling all the zombies to attack the base.]
'A weird signal… Could this possibly be Dr. Linus? He has already figured out how to control zombies?'
[It seems so. Why would he want to control the zombies to attack the base? Is he trying to kill everyone?]
'That's a good question. I am going back to base. I have a bad feeling about what's going on over there.'
"Shit, we need to go back." Adam 1 killed the last zombie and urged the Homo Zoms in his mind to come with him.
"What's going on?" Morgan asked, worried because he knew Adam 1's different tones. He followed behind Adam 1 regardless.
"There's something at the base that is controlling the zombies. If my guess is correct, Dr. Linus has finally shown himself." Adam 1 said as he jumped into their Jeep they took around on missions. He started it up and urged everyone to hold onto it.
They zoomed down the streets, running over all of their obstacles because they didn't have time to stop or wait.
From System 225's reports, the signal was coming from the basement of the research building. It was a place that was off limits due to how dangerous it was like it collapsing at any moment. Plus, one of the doctors mentioned checking there and didn't find anyone, so Adam 1 didn't try to look there himself.
That was his mistake… Who was the doctor who mentioned he looked there? Ah, it was Dr. Langley, the one that helped Adam 1 escape in the previous life… It was for that reason that he decided to trust Dr. Langley, but his trust was betrayed.
He was still so weak thinking that people could be trusted just because they helped him out once.
They didn't know what was happening to Dr. Linus, but there were many zombies already at the base. Some had already started to bang on the walls of the base, wanting to get inside.
The base was already under lockdown with Ability Users trying to protect the walls. They tried to keep the zombies at bay, but they were coming from all directions, leaving no room for breathing.
"General Le, Lieutenant Cooper, Adam 1! Thank goodness you all are finally here." He was a soldier who regularly protected the base as a gatekeeper. Since the other guard had to recover from his injuries, he was left in charge of protecting the walls.
"What's the situation?" Morgan jumped out of the car, killing every zombie that was blocking his way. He looked like he was walking through a park instead of a zombie-infested area.
"Sir...!"
As those two chatted, Adam 1 had the three Homo Zoms help clear out the zombies around the base to give everyone a moment to breathe. He also cleared some up quite easily, not displaying his full power.
He needed to get inside the base. If he left Dr. Linus inside the base any longer, the situation could get worse and derail.
"I'm going in first." Adam 1 patted Morgan on the shoulder. "Stay out here and protect the base for me, okay?"
"Are you sure you will be okay on your own?" Morgan asked, worried out of his mind.
"Trust me, I will be okay." Adam 1 gave one of his rare smiles. He wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. He couldn't find Dr. Linus to kill him right away, but he still felt bad that many innocent people had lost their lives.
He would avenge them.
Once this was over, then they could explore the world together.
Seeing his smile, Morgan couldn't go against Adam 1. "Please be careful."
Adam 1 nodded and then he entered the base by jumping over the walls. People were stunned by his stunt, but he paid no mind to the voices. He hurried himself to the research center but when he got there, he realized it was too late.
Standing at the entrance of the building was Dr. Linus, but his veins were bulging and his eyes were bloodshot red. There was a limp body in his hands. Upon closer inspection, both System 225 and Adam 1 confirmed it was Dr. Langley. The man was already dead.
A deep chuckle came from the man. "Adam 1… We finally meet in person."
Dr. Linus did not completely transform, so he still looked a bit like the lanky doctor Adam 1 remembered him to be.
"I have finally become stronger. Surely, I am the strongest being on this planet! I have finally harnessed the power of the zombies. Tremble before me Adam 1 for I am your creator! Your Master!"
"How unfortunate that even though you can control the zombies, you can't control me." Adam 1 sighed while looking at the man he was searching for this entire time. Meeting him in person, he wanted to roll his eyes. This person was weaker than him.
He put a limit to his real tier. He had already reached tier 10 a long time ago, but he made sure he stayed at least a tier 7 so he wouldn't scare the people of the base. As long as he stayed around the level of his peers, no one would find him monstrous.
If he couldn't take control of the zombies as a tier 7, then Dr. Linus was on a higher level than that.
"I finally reached tier 8, the highest tier in the whole world. Soon the whole world will tremble before me." He started to float upwards, as his power was telekinesis of some sort.
Dr. Linus was like a typical Villain who blurted out everything and more. It was so generic that Adam 1 wanted to vomit.
[Host, be careful. Remember what I told you. The higher the level of the world, the more dead set they are on keeping the plot of the world. That's why these worlds are so difficult because it is hard to change the course of their story.]
'Noted. Thank you for reminding me. I will ask you more later.'
Adam 1 smiled. "You got to tier 8? Congratulations."
"You seem cocky for a tier 7. Well, I don't care about that."
It seemed Dr. Linus was able to see his tier level, though it was fake.
Dr. Linus floated toward the center of the plaza. The people who had evacuated there were confused to see the man standing where the broken fountain was.
"Adam 1, let me show you true power."
At his command, his body started to transform.
His skin turned into the same color grey as when Jeremiah mutated. The once 5'6 man became more than 3 meters tall. All the hair on his body disintegrated, leaving nothing but skin and bulging veins. His bloodshot eyes looked as though he had popped every blood vessel in his eye. A pair of arms grew out, giving him a total of four arms. All in all, he was the more complete version of Jeremiah, the so-called perfect product.
His voice was deep, terribly deep, and raspy. "Adam 1, you have foiled my plans time and time again, but today, I will be the one to destroy and save all of humanity." His laugh echoed through the silent base. No one could talk as they were too horrified by his appearance.
Most would be scared to see the final boss go into his ultimate form, but the Host found it exhilarating. With Dr. Linus like so, he felt his competitive nature coming out. He felt his adrenaline pumping for the first time in a long time.
Adam 1 cracked his knuckles and smiled a little too excitedly. "You have underestimated me, Dr. Linus."
"Underestimated? Is it not that you have overestimated yourself?" Dr. Linus launched himself at Adam 1, hoping to crush him with his bare hands.
The shockwave from the impact between Adam 1 and Dr. Linus made the bystanders fly back, some even crashing into buildings. Screams of terror soon erupted from the crowd. Many ran for their lives as they knew they would be nothing more than ants being squashed on.
Adam 1 flew back as well, hitting the research building behind him. Even so, he stood up seconds later as though he was perfectly fine.
In his head, he heard System 225's voice, [Host, after making contact with Dr. Linus, I was able to find out why Dr. Linus avoided us. He's a re-borned soul. He knew everything that was going to happen if he tried to experiment on Adam 1. The Villain System helped hide his existence too.]
'That makes sense. No wonder he avoided me like I was the plague. Heh, even though he did his best to avoid me, he will still die by my hands.'
He was going to beat up and kill Dr. Linus for Adam 1. For all the torture he faced, for all the times he tried to reach out but was tossed into a dark room, only to be brought out when he was needed for experiments.
To the original Adam 1 who only wanted to be friends with humans… This was for you.
He cracked his neck and looked over at Dr. Linus, ready to show him what true power was.
Adam 1 was testing Dr. Linus's strength. He wanted to know the extent of Dr. Linus's power. The man was strong, but he was unskilled and uncoordinated. The man was once a homebody who sat for more than 10 hours a day at the desk. He did not train in combat, nor did he train his muscles. Dr. Linus was unable to unleash the true power of his own serum.
This was, after all, a D-ranked world. Of course, there would be more flaws to the plot than the higher-ranked worlds.
"I am surprised you can stand, Adam 1, but will you be able to stand this?"
Dr. Linus rushed over to Adam 1 before he could say a word. He picked Adam 1 up with his extra arms and tossed him to the broken fountain that finally turned into dust and sand after coming in contact with the Host.
He didn't even let Adam 1 move an inch before his fist connected with Adam 1's arm. He punched wildly, like a child throwing a tantrum. Dr. Linus couldn't wait to see Adam 1 turn into minced meat as he put all of his strength into each punch.
When Dr. Linus had enough, he lifted his arms away from Adam 1 to see the pulverized body of flesh. Well, that was what he thought he would see.
What he really saw was a damage-free Adam 1 who had a little bit of dust on him from the thrashing around. But his body was still intact and there wasn't even a scratch on his skin.
"Y-you! How are you still alive?" Dr. Linus shouted with a deep growl. His red eyes bulged out in anger and frustration.
Adam 1 didn't respond to Dr. Linus' question but simply said, "Lift the restrictions." He was done playing around. He got what he wanted, so now it was time to murder Dr. Linus.
As if his body understood his command, the tier 7 aura he usually gave off increased in intensity. It drowned the pressure that Dr. Linus was emitting and became something more dangerous, suffocating even.
Even Morgan could feel Adam 1's presence from outside the gate. He knew that Adam 1 was going to get serious. Actually, he already knew that Adam 1 had long passed tier 10.
Adam 1 stood up and brushed the dirt off his clothes. His pupils became a bit larger like the zombies. It made Adam 1 look like he was being possessed by a demon of some sort.
"I let you have your fun, now it's my turn."
Adam 1 grabbed the stunned Dr. Linus by his neck and tossed him like he was tossing out the trash. Dr. Linus flew through the research building and out the other side hitting building after building behind it. He was only able to stop due to the laws of physics.
It was the first time Dr. Linus felt as though he had been hit by a truck. He wanted to get up but a heavyweight was keeping him down.
"The best revenge one can make is to kick someone when they are on top of the mountain. Watching their sky-high ego crumble to the ground, rendering them powerless, is the best kind of revenge."
"How did it feel when you thought you were stronger than me? Frustrating?"
Dr. Linus understood those words put together but he could not understand them when they were applied to him. He wanted to yell and scream at Adam 1 but it felt as if his mouth was glued shut.
"Dr. Linus, before I kill you, let me tell you something. Even if you are reborn, you are nothing but a weak little villain who thinks too highly of himself."
He had the biggest smirk on his face. The sadness and agony that the original Adam 1 warped into anger.
"How does it feel to not be in control? How does it feel to still be weaker than the weapon that you have created?"
This was for the original Adam 1. All the anger and sadness that Dr. Linus gave him would be paid back tenfold. It was also for the innocent lives that the Host could not save. He thought he would be able to save them at first, but Dr. Linus was too stubborn and wanted to create something disgusting.
Though he could not scream, Dr. Linus' eyes and face said everything that he needed to say. He wanted to rip Adam 1's head off. He wanted to go back in time and make sure that he had never created Adam 1. He should have ended it at the zombies because then, he would be able to be the savior of the world—
His thoughts were cut off there as Adam 1's hand pierced through his head. Adam 1 crushed the newly made core and absorbed Dr. Linus's power, finally killing him.
It wasn't over just yet but Adam 1 could finally roam the world with Morgan and save the rest of mankind.