A/N: For those who want to read ahead of the Webnovel schedule, you can read up to Chapter 103 on my Patreon.
So if you want daily updates and early access, feel free to join my Patreon.Your support really helps keep me motivated to write faster.
đ patreon.com/cw/Universal_Peace
*****
Then Luke did the thing â the very stupid, very Luke thing.
He used zombie blood and infected himself.
The taste of iron and rot hit his tongue for half a second before he wiped his mouth, grimacing. "God, I really hope this counts as science," he muttered, shoving the knife back into his inventory.
Now that it was out of the way, he just needed to give the virus some time to incubate â let it settle in and see if his little experiment actually did anything.
While that worked itself out, he went back to search for Angela.
The hallways were dim and quiet, only flickering emergency lights guiding his steps.
Every time he opened a door, though, there was always someone waiting.
Or rather, something.
The first door? Two zombies lunged out from a classroom, snarling.
Luke punched one so hard it folded into the whiteboard. The second got kicked through a row of desks with a crunch.
Next room? Another pair. Same story.
By the fifth encounter, Luke sighed, flicking blood from his sleeve. "I swear, I'm just doing your job now, janitor man."
He was starting to feel like a cleaner himself â just tidying up the undead one punch at a time.
Twenty-five minutes later, Luke had searched every corner of the ground floor. No sign of Angela. Just zombies.
"Oh, but look who I foundâŠ" Luke muttered, stepping into a hallway near the gym.
A corpse lay sprawled on the floor, mauled beyond recognition. The uniform gave it away though â one of Umbrella's soldiers.
Luke squatted down beside the body, tilting his head. "Carlos or whatever your name was⊠guess the dogs got you, huh?" he said, noting the deep bite marks. "Rough day."
He stood, brushed off his knees, and checked the time. The thirty-minute mark was nearly up.
"Well, that's my cue," Luke sighed. "Let's see if the others had better luck."
He turned back to the dining hall.
***
When he pushed open the double door, he immediately noticed everyone was already there.
Jill, Selene, Peyton, Alice, Terri⊠and in the center, was â Angela.
It seems they have found her.
Well good.
Everything went as planned â finally.
Otherwise, all this effort to get the antivirus would have been gone to waste.
And Alice was carefully injecting the Anti-Virus into Peyton.
"Looks like you found her," Luke said, stepping forward.
Everyone turned at the sound of his voice.
Angela, who had been standing near Alice, looked toward him â and froze.
Alice did too.
Both of them stared at Luke like they were seeing a ghost.
Luke blinked, looking between them. "What? Do I have something on my face?"
Alice slowly straightened, her expression unreadable. "âŠLuke," she said carefully, "what exactly did you do?"
Luke frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Your body," Alice replied quietly, "it's giving off a massive dose of the T-Virus."
Jill's eyes widened. "Waitâwhat?!"
The air in the cafeteria changed instantly.
Everyone except Angela and Selene tensed, instinctively stepping back. The thought of Luke being infected wasn't just unsettling â it was terrifying.
A man like him, infected with the T-Virus?
With his magic, strength, and regeneration? That wasn't just a zombie. That was an extinction event waiting to happen.
"Luke, what did you do?" Selene asked. Her tone caught somewhere between concern and annoyance â like a wife who'd just found her husband doing something stupid. "In the thirty minutes you were gone, did you eat or touch anything strange?"
Luke scratched the back of his head, looking a little sheepish. "Nothing much. Just a small experiment," he said with a shrug. "And judging from Alice's reaction, I'd say it worked pretty well."
Alice's jaw tightened. "Worked? You call infecting yourself working?"
"I have my reasons," Luke said evenly.
If Alice could detect such a strong viral signature, it meant one thing â the T-Virus had spread completely through his system.
Every drop of blood, every cell, every breath he took carried it.
Luke exhaled slowly, a faint grin forming on his lips. So it worked.
Now all he had to do was wait.
If his theory was right, and the system truly recognized the T-Virus as an evolutionary catalyst⊠then sooner or later, his [Race] tab would update.
Alice stood up abruptly, pulling another Anti-Virus injector from the box. "No, it's not. We need to counter it now before it mutates further."
Luke caught her wrist mid-motion. His tone was calm but firm. "No need. My body is a little different. It doesn't get affected in the same way normal humans do."
Alice met his eyes, unflinching. "Luke, the T-virus isn't a normal pathogen. It mutates anything with a pulse. I've seen it turn humans into things that weren't even supposed to exist."
"Ummm, Alice, I know more about my body than anyone else, and I can be sure nothing's wrong with me," said Luke casually.
He silently took the Anti-Virus from her hand and slipped it into his inventory like it was nothing serious.
Jill, standing nearby, folded her arms but couldn't help the faint smile tugging at her lips. "Hey, why don't you convince your husband? We all saw what the virus did," she said, nudging Selene lightly.
She tried to sound teasing, but her eyes lingered on Luke longer than they should have.
And maybe it was because he'd helped save Peyton â her old partner, her friend â that she felt this mix of gratitude and curiosity toward him.
He didn't owe them anything, yet he still stepped up. That kind of thing stuck in her mind more than she'd admit.
Selene crossed her arms. "No â I know him very well. He won't do anything that puts his life in danger."
She'd lived with him long enough to know he wouldn't risk his life without a backup plan.
Then she gave a faint smirk, the kind that made Jill raise an eyebrow. "And if he does start showing any weird behavior⊠I'll stab that Anti-Virus into him myself."
Luke blinked. "Ummm, Selene⊠have a little more trust in me, will you?"
"So he will not turn?" Terri asked, worried.
"Didn't you hear anything? I will not turn," Luke said flatly.