Edited by: Kuro and Lille
This is bonus chapter 2/3!
It didn't take long for Adam 1 to get the results he wanted. His blood was so omnipotent, he could sit there for years and find a cure for every disease and illness just by using his blood. It was honestly terrifying to see how powerful a drop of his blood could be. He could only wonder how those researchers were able to create Adam 1...
His train of thought was interrupted when he saw that his third attempt at the serum was finally showing some good results. There was a zombie sitting in the isolated room obediently. He could see the rotting wounds on the zombie slowly close up, and his skin gaining some color. The dull look in its eyes slowly gained some life, as though the person's original consciousness had come back. They probably didn't come back, but he couldn't help but wonder who was inside the zombie now.
The zombie, now the new human species that should be given a name, but he wasn't the best at giving names... He would figure it out later.
The new human species stood up and stretched. He gave a yawn like he had just woken up from a long and nightmarish sleep, making him seem like a tired house cat.
Seeing that, Adam 1 entered the room. The moment he walked in, the "man" stood up straighter, as if he was in the presence of his superior. He didn't say anything but he looked at Adam 1 with eyes of admiration and loyalty.
"Can you speak?" Adam 1 asked with a tablet in his hand.
The "man" opened his mouth to try to say something but only grunts came out.
"Do you remember your time as a human?"
The "man" tilted his head because he didn't understand. He was confused.
Adam 1 paused for a moment but then thought of a good idea. 'Can you speak to me through telepathy?' This was an ability he was capable of doing and he could contact all the zombies and Ability Users of his choice. He also had a hive-mind function. Very convenient.
'I speak. Am hungry.'
...
'What do you want to eat?'
'I don't know?'
Adam 1 wrote down that the zombie was hungry but didn't have an idea of what he could eat. It would be good to note that he would have to find food for them to eat... He had to pick up a bunch of stuff and see what was good for them and what wasn't. He knew it was going to be a long process.
It was also interesting to see that the zombie was capable of speaking broken sentences even though it had no recollection of being "human."
Adam 1 couldn't help but ask, 'Do you know why you are here?'
'No? I don't know?'
Was it amnesia? It was probably best to see if System 225 could analyze this "man" in front of him.
'System, can you check to see if there is a soul within this man?'
[Of course, Host. You must touch him for me to take a look.]
'Alright.' Adam 1 put his hand on top of the "man's" shoulder. The "man" just looked at him and didn't say anything. He didn't move, just waited for orders.
[Analyzing body for possible soul... *Chirp Chirp* Soul detected. Analyzing soul abnormalities...]
Hearing that, he took his hands away from the "man." The "man" tilted his head again just a bit to show he was confused.
It didn't take long for System 225 to come back with results.
[Host, I figured out why he has no memories. When the body becomes overrun by the Z-Virus, the soul interprets the body as dead, but the body isn't completely dead, so the soul gets trapped in the body causing a backlash, hence the complete memory loss. Souls are interesting. Normally, they can only leave the body if the body dies completely, but because of this half-dead state the Z-Virus leaves people in, they become trapped in there until they are killed.]
It gave Adam 1 chills to know that these souls were trapped in these bodies.
According to the plot of this world, even though zombies ate human flesh to stay alive, they didn't need it often and could survive a couple of hundred years without eating. They would die after 3 hundred years without eating though...
'What the hell? Did they stay half-dead for that long? Disgusting! Is this how it is in all zombie apocalyptic worlds?'
[I'm also not very sure. I've never really analyzed their bodies like I have done in this world.]
He felt it was necessary to wipe the world of these zombies so that the souls could find rest. It was sad to think they were trapped with nowhere to go for so long... He knew it was impossible to save all the zombies, but if he could save some, even if it was just to liberate some of them from their half-dead bodies, that would be good.
System 225 knew what Adam 1 was thinking. They knew what it was like to be trapped, that was why he couldn't say anything to stop him.
'System, does this one have a name?'
[His name was William before he died.]
Adam 1 nodded and then used telepathy to talk with William. 'William, first, we are going to take your vitals, next, get you cleaned up, and then we are going to go find you some food. If you feel uncomfortable or feel something is not right, you must let me know immediately.'
'Okay.'
Adam 1 walked out of the room with William following behind him. William saw Adam 1 as his mother but also his Master, so he followed closely behind, like chicks following their mother. It was odd to see, but it was very cute.
After checking William's vitals and determining them to be slightly below average, he helped him take a shower, and then walked into the room where he had the other zombies. Those zombies had been sitting obediently for a while and didn't make any noises. Only Little Jerald would from time to time, slam his hand on the desk like he was typing.
For normal zombies, they didn't have any vitals as if they were dead. If they were like Jerald, they had a pulse that was 2x the average. Once they were given the serum, their numbers would drop to where William had his vitals. Obviously, it was slightly different for each zombie due to size and tier, but it was interesting to see.
Adam 1 decided that he was going to give Jerald the serum a few days later as he wanted to see if his serum was correct. He also didn't want to risk losing Jerald.
[Host, aren't you too attached to Jerald? Wouldn't God System get mad?]
'It's fine, it's fine. Jerald is my friend and must be protected.'
Meanwhile, Morgan and Cooper were already at the outskirts of the capital. They slipped through using their abilities and camped into Cooper's Spatial ability all night. His Spatial ability was about the size of a studio apartment, so it wasn't uncomfortable. It was purely a storage so it wasn't like those cheat novels where their Spatial ability could grow crops and such. It was simple, but the size alone was enough for the two of them and their little bit of belongings.
"Sir, are you sure it's safe to run away with Adam 1? What happens if Adam 1 doesn't trust us?" Cooper was afraid that Adam 1 wouldn't trust them and then kill them and everyone in MI Base with the zombies. It wasn't an irrational fear.
"I think he will trust us." Morgan smiled as he ate his bowl of ramen. He had a feeling that Adam 1 was the person he was looking for all this time. Those dreams he had been having for a couple of months now showed him vivid scenes of a man who he loved across different time periods, possibly different worlds. Each time, he fell in love with that person and that person would love him all the same regardless of what body or what identity they had.
If Adam 1 was the man he was looking for, he wouldn't hesitate to run away with him and protect him with all his might.
Morgan forgot that Adam 1 was stronger than him but that was okay. Adam 1 would probably indulge Morgan and let himself be protected...
Cooper didn't know where Morgan got his self-confidence from but he really admired the man for that. He was someone with little self-confidence but when he met Morgan, he felt he could hold his head a lot higher because he wanted to be someone who can stand by his side. It was purely friendship and admiration though. He was aromantic and asexual. Before the apocalypse started, his goal was to become a cat dad. That dream had been crushed though... Now he just wanted to survive as long as he could.
Morgan asked after they finished eating, "Cooper, if the apocalypse ended, what would you want to do?"
Cooper answered with no hesitation, "I want to be a cat dad."
It was so immediate that Morgan had to pause to process. "I... see. That sounds like a good idea. I want to grow old with someone and spend my days relaxing. I don't want to fight anymore. I just want to take a breather."
This wasn't a surprising answer. Cooper was sure that others felt the same way.
It was a long night for them both.
****
After a few days of observing the serum, he knew it was a success. He also gave Little Jerald the serum and watched him spark with life.
That was when he got the notification.
[*Chirp Chirp* Congratulations Host for completing the Hidden Side Mission: Create a Serum for the Zombies. Good job Host, on completing a difficult task.]
It wasn't difficult because Adam 1 was a cheat, but it was still nice to accomplish missions.
Now that he finished the serum, he thought it would be best to head out and take down the researchers. Afterward, he could finish the vaccine and then help get rid of the leftover zombies. He couldn't save all of them, but it would be horrible of him to leave these trapped souls in these rotting bodies.
He knew it would be a long time before he could leave this world...
He packed up all of his things and helped the newly made humans into new clothes. The newly made humans, what he would call Homo Zom until someone came along and came up with a better name, were a little like him. They could absorb zombie cores and Ability User cores, level up in tiers, and could control other zombies, but they had to get rid of human wastes. They also needed to eat from time to time. They didn't need to eat as often as the Homo sapiens as they only needed food once a week. They were much stronger than the Ability Users who evolved from Homo sapiens.
Once everything was packed, he looked over at the only two zombies that he used the serums on. The gene mutation was rarer than he thought, and he only had Little Jerald and William. Well, the other two before William had sadly passed away, but it was odd to only be able to find four zombies with the gene mutation.
William was much larger than Jerald, towering over him. Shockingly, William was younger than him and probably died as a university student. When he found Little Jerald, the man was working at the presidential building, indicating he was at least out of university and working as a full-fledged adult.
Once they got outside of the underground research facility, Adam 1 pressed a button he had in his hands the whole time.
A loud explosion could be heard, the ground shook for a bit before stopping completely. The world above the ground had a bit of cracks and some buildings fell, but it wasn’t anything too serious. Though the underground facility was no more.
Adam 1 didn't look back nor did he care about the place he stayed in for several weeks. His mind was focused on killing some researchers and saving the world. Oh, and finding God System along the way.
kuro_kama: If I were an Ability User, I would probably want to have an auto body cleaning ability. I won’t need to waste time in bathing and cutting nails.
Lille: Man, the new species are cute… we should call them the “Cute Species” (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)
GrandpaMarky: If I were an Ability User, I hope I can use telekinesis of some sort. Would I be able to use it on myself so I don't have to move?
Also, I have to complain. I need to get a new doctor. My rheumatologist looked at my blood test results and said everything was "normal" when literally there were descriptions from the lab indicting some things were not normal. And then he upped the dose on my fibromyalgia medication even though the other one wasn't helping me, giving me terrible side effects, and all this stuff. I'm just tired. Fibromyalgia doesn't explain my swollen, red, and hot joints. It doesn't explain my fingers and feet looking weird and deformed. I just feel no one is taking me seriously because I'm young (turning 23 in October). At least the lab results said I have rheumatoid arthritis. It makes sense though. I have all the symptoms and it runs in the family. I've come to the point where I can barely walk and he said there's nothing wrong with me haha. I hate doctors most of the time. Time to ditch this one and find a new doctor.
