Chapter 57: Optional Side Quest

[May 12].

1. The Corpse Vine has destroyed a massive amount of body cells, while the mutated T-Virus is simultaneously performing rapid cellular repair. The integration between the Corpse Vine and the living host is better than imagined.

2. The Corpse Vine is improving Alex's human anatomy; he has become exceptionally strong, and a layer of Corpse Vine armor has begun to grow on his skin.

[May 17].

1. Alex has become more tolerant of low-temperature environments, but will enter a dormant state in environments below -17 degrees Celsius.

2. Due to the extreme destructiveness and instability Alex has demonstrated, we have placed him in temporary dormancy to ensure safety.

[May 20].

1. The Corpse Vine parasite is insensitive to fire, but is exceptionally vulnerable to fire damage.

2. A strange discovery: the T-Virus serum possesses extreme lethality against plant-based parasites, capable of directly killing the parasitized plant-zombie, while the remaining husk maintains a "living" state.

[May 21]

1. In case of danger, the emergency cooling device can be activated by pressing the red button to rapidly lower the overall temperature of the mortuary environment. Additionally, one can attempt to eliminate them by spraying a solution diluted with T-Virus serum using a water hose.

2. We will apply to superiors for more serum for research purposes.

Note: Remaining T-Virus serum is located in the safe inside the Director's office. Password: ALEX.

[May 26]

1. Higher authorities are very interested in Alex (ALEX) and wish to transfer him to headquarters for observation.

2. To ensure a smooth transfer, we have prepared a specially designed freezer and placed ALEX inside temporarily to await relocation (even after a power outage, the freezer can guarantee at least 30 hours of freezing time).

3. Next, we will attempt to research how to further strengthen the Corpse Vine parasite.

Note: We have received word that superiors will help us find some living subjects from the prison and transport them here to assist us with human live-subject testing.

The log ends here.

Fang Heng's eyelid twitched, and he felt a surge of joy in his heart.

Found it!

As expected, his intuition was correct; the T-Virus serum mission was related to the mortuary.

The safe password was hidden in the notebook all along!

Next, as long as he found the T-Virus serum, the mission would be complete.

To hell with the Corpse Vine parasites!

What do they have to do with me!

Just as Fang Heng was about to run to the Director's office on the third floor to find the serum, lines of game prompts flashed rapidly across his retina.

[Prompt: You have read the experimental team's notes].

[Prompt: You have accepted the mission - Find the T-Virus Serum].

[Prompt: Your mission objective has changed].

What's going on?

Confused, Fang Heng immediately opened the game log to check.

Mission Name: Find the T-Virus Serum. Difficulty: SSS. Basic Mission Requirement: Find the T-Virus Serum.

Optional Mission 1: During your mission, you discovered descriptions of the Corpse Vine. The Dark Knight Order has always been searching for the origin of the apocalypse; you may attempt to collect a Corpse Vine sample and deliver it to Wirtel. (Upon completion of this optional mission, your basic mission reward will increase by 1.5x).

Optional Mission 2: During your mission, you discovered descriptions regarding the Corpse Vine parasite; you may attempt to find a Corpse Vine parasite sample and deliver it to Wirtel. (Upon completion of this optional mission, your basic mission reward will increase by 2x).

Optional Mission 3: During your mission, you discovered descriptions regarding Alex (ALEX); find Alex's original body (or a sample) and bring it back to Wirtel. (Upon completion of this optional mission, your basic mission reward will increase by 4x).

Note 1: Optional missions can be completed simultaneously, and rewards can be multiplied and stacked. Note 2: If the mission completion rate exceeds 100%, extra rewards can be obtained proportionally.

This damn temptation!

Fang Heng gritted his teeth.

He had originally intended to grab the T-Virus serum and leave immediately!

The basic difficulty of the "Find the T-Virus Serum" mission was already the game's highest SSS-rank!

The rewards went without saying!

But now, with these branching side missions, if he could complete them, the rewards provided by the mission would escalate to a terrifying level!

Fang Heng desperately wanted the rewards, but he also had to stay alive to claim them!

Not to mention those terrifying Tier-2 mutated zombies—the Corpse Vine parasites.

There was even ALEX, further strengthened through fusion with the Corpse Vine...

Fang Heng had no doubt that the so-called ALEX had already become strong enough to reach Tier-3 or even Tier-4.

But...

The rewards were too enticing! If he completed all the side missions, he would receive 1.5 * 2 * 4, which was 12 times the original reward!

"Dammit!"

Fang Heng cursed inwardly.

In any case, he had to find a way to get the T-Virus serum first!

Fang Heng did not delay any longer. He looked up immediately and said, "Sorry, I've found something. I need to head out for a moment; I'll be back soon."

Without waiting for Hao Zhou and the others to stop him, Fang Heng hurried out of the room.

Taking advantage of the fact that the Corpse Vine parasites on the first basement floor had not yet caught up, Fang Heng ran all the way back to the third-floor laboratory with his large cleaver in hand. He moved the picture frame on the wall and quickly entered the password.

'ALEX'!

*Click!*

The safe popped open from the inside.

Two vials of medicine lay quietly inside.

[Prompt: You have obtained item - T-Virus Serum * 2].

[Increase: Your mission - Find the T-Virus Serum basic completion rate: 200%].

Eh? There was an extra one.

This meant that if he submitted double the T-Virus serum and completed all the optional side missions, his final reward would jump to a terrifying 24 times the original!

He had to go for it!

An opportunity like this only comes once in ten thousand years; there was no reason to back down!

Risks certainly existed, but the mission rewards were undoubtedly much greater!

It was entirely worth taking some risks for it!

If he gave up on this mission, how could he sleep at night!

Fang Heng casually put the two serums into his inventory and returned the way he came, while simultaneously beginning to contemplate his next move!

Now he had to consider how to obtain the three mission items for the side quests.

Based on the information from the experimental notes, the three items required for the side missions should all be in the research room behind the mortuary on the first basement floor.

The safest method would be to find a way to restore power and let the zombies in the mortuary enter a dormant state again.

But that was impossible to achieve in the short term!

In that case, he would have to use force.

The Corpse Vine parasites have very low resistance to fire; therefore, a focused flamethrower might be highly effective against them.

However, using a focused flamethrower in this environment required extreme caution.

This was not like the prison underground tunnels; one mistake could easily lead to a fire.

If that happened, even the mission items could be burned to ashes, and he might even be trapped and killed in the fire.

So...

The safest method was to lure them away from the basement and then wipe them all out in one go, dealing with them once and for all.

"If I use explosions..."

Fang Heng muttered to himself, a preliminary plan beginning to form in his mind.

As for ALEX, according to the description in the experimental notes, the specialized freezer could maintain a controlled temperature for 30 hours.

This meant he needed to resolve the trouble quickly within 30 hours, otherwise...

(End of Chapter)