As Moss and Tully left the chambers, they were met with an unbelievable sight. Around two hundred first-generation TBV agents and around three hundred second-generation TBV agents stood in a twenty by twenty-five rectangle formation. Leading the five hundred strong was a first-generation elite with a commanding aura. It was Lichen.

[I guess you don’t need my help after all.] Moss chuckled as he observed the power of the new undead army.

Each undead agent was flexing power above what Moss had experienced when he fought against the first-generation TBV agents earlier. This proved that Lichen must have gained some benefits from his battle with the one hundred or so enemy agents. Moss looked over at his undead subordinate and nodded in admiration at his upgraded status.

Lichen was only level 3 but his durability was already as high as Moss’s. Though his overall stats weren’t as good as Tully, Lichen topped her via Infectivity. This meant he was at least twice as infectious as Tully.

Lichen reacted to Moss’s response with a confident nod. [Yes, Your Viralness. We managed to infect all one hundred of them first-generation agents.]

[That’s good!] Moss chuckled as he turned towards Tully and introduced her. [This is Tully, I managed to convert Lady Tully into our ranks, though not perfectly.]

[Congratulations on your victory!] Lichen praised after stealing a glance at the stoic virus agent.

Moss shook dismissively. [Thanks. I planned for you two to commence Operation Overthrow.]

[Operation Overthrow? Doesn’t that take automatic effect when you defeated Lady Tully?] Lichen asked curiously.

[Unfortunately, no. They don’t work that way like I could. Besides, Tully lost all of the connections with her sequents and her children. Fortunately, they don’t know about Tully’s loss or this place would become rather chaotic.] Moss answered.

[I see. So, what’s the plan? How should we start Operation Overthrow?] Lichen nodded in understanding.

Moss looked over the undead army once more before turning his attention on the healthy eukaryotic cells. It was unusual that the virus in an infected tulip such as this one was able to keep some of its cells alive and healthy. Maybe Lady Tully was saving them for later.

[Lichen, you go and infiltrate the TBV and TMV ranks. Infect as many as you can without drawing suspicion or being caught. Meanwhile, Tully and I will infect as many healthy cells as we can and produce a new army or two. Once we generated enough allies, we will start infecting the bluegrass and scutchgrass communities. Any questions?] Moss directed as he looked towards Lichen on his right and Tully on his left.

[No!] Both subordinates exclaimed as they set out to complete their tasks.

Lichen and his undead army boarded a couple of pollen pods and blasted towards a patch of tulips. As for Tully, she quickly produced batches upon batches of sequents to aid her before boarding on some pollen pods for random launches. Moss launched himself to a patch of bluegrass as well and began taking over it.

The submissive scutchgrass complexes did not bother resisting as they were not affected by the change in leadership. Although Moss wanted to turn them into undead, he was surprised at their readiness to submit and obey. Thus, the green-spotted virus agent decided to spare them. In addition, Moss injected some of his DNA into the strongest of the scutchgrass origin agents, granting it an upgraded status.

DING!

PLEASE NAME VIRUS AGENT

As the scutchgrass origin agent wasn’t unique or mutated, it did not have a name to go by. It was a pretty common origin agent. The only redeeming factor it had was its higher durability. Thus, Moss decided to name the blue-striped, ball-shaped virus agent ‘Norm’ to represent its ordinary life.

DING!

NAME REGISTERED

Unlike Tully who was bound to Moss by Subordinance, Norm and his sequents were bound to him via obedience. Obedience and Subordinance were not the same. Those in a ‘Subordinance’ relationship with Moss were forced to do so and thus display a master-slave type of bond. As for those in an ‘Obedience’ relationship, they were willing and thus display a master-servant type of bond. Slaves did not have free will but servants do.

As for the bluegrass complexes, some expressed dissent, but they were killed and turned into undead. After sensing their demises, the other bluegrass complexes bowed in defeat. Though Moss acknowledged their submission publicly, he did not trust them enough to turn his back on them. So, while no one was aware, Moss sneaked a couple of undead bluegrass agents to gradually infect them.

The bluegrass complexes did not know what hit them. In a matter of minutes, they were all undead. Meanwhile, Lichen infiltrated the TBV and TMV complexes. Within minutes, they attacked the unsuspecting enemies, consuming some and converting others. An hour or two later, the whole tulip field was effectively overtaken.