Ren's place might lack many things, but food was not one of them.
To prepare for the current situation, Ren had stocked the first basement level with an immense supply of food and water. Even with two extra mouths to feed, they could hold out underground for two years without worrying about a single meal.
"Holy crap! Premium beef! Select vegetables! Wait—what even is all this?!" Bai Xiaofei was floored. He rarely saw these kinds of high-end ingredients in his daily life, yet his younger cousin had an entire cold storage unit full of them?
Is this the world of the rich? Xiaofei's worldview took a serious hit.
A few days later, Ren and Mu Tiancai emerged from the lab to find Bai Xiaofei acting shifty, peering through a pair of binoculars and letting out occasional weird yelps.
"What are you doing?" Ren snatched the binoculars away to take a look himself.
Outside, the world had completely transformed into a playground for the "Corpse Brothers." Various evolved, multi-bodied variants were hunting everywhere, absorbing others to grow stronger.
"Giant-class variants have already evolved. I hope our lab's defenses can hold out for a while," Ren noted.
"What's there to worry about?" Mu Tiancai laughed. "I've already developed an infrasound generator that can influence their behavior. As long as it's active, we could walk right past them and they wouldn't touch us."
"That only works on the low-level ones with no intellect," Ren countered. "The moment the Corpse King emerges to command the horde, those infrasound waves will be useless. Xiaofei, keep a close eye on the internet for news. Tiancai and I won't have time to look after you two. Whatever you do, don't leave the villa. I can protect you here, but if you wander off, I'm powerless."
"Don't sweat it! Your big bro knows how to stay low!" Bai Xiaofei flashed a thumbs-up, telling Ren not to worry.
With food, drink, shelter, and even the latest gaming consoles available, he'd have to be insane to step foot outside!
"Alright then. I'm going to get some sleep and rest up. After that, we begin the next phase of the God Gene," Ren said.
Behind him, Mu Tiancai downed a bottle of mineral water and promptly passed out on the sofa.
Several hours later.
After Ren and Mu Tiancai re-entered the lab, Bai Xiaofei was still wondering about the "God Gene" Ren had mentioned.
"Xiaofei, there's a post online selling an enhancement drug called KW74 for a hundred thousand yuan. Is that legit?" Xiaowei asked as she scrolled through a webpage. She had stumbled upon the same drug that, in the original story, required an injection directly into the heart; she figured it might increase their chances of survival in this apocalypse.
"Don't bother," Xiaofei laughed. "Ren said he's developing something called the God Gene. Just from the name, you know it's better than some random enhancement drug. We just need to wait for him to carry us to victory."
Ten hours later, Ren emerged from the lab with bloodshot eyes. Seeing the sleeping Bai Xiaofei, he stepped forward and delivered two sharp slaps to wake him up.
"Wha—? I was having a great dream..." Xiaofei muttered, dazed.
"Stop whining. I need two vials of your blood for the experiment." Ren tied a rubber tourniquet around Xiaofei's arm and proceeded to draw three full vials.
"Keep pressure on it for five minutes. You'll be fine."
Without waiting for a reaction, Ren turned and vanished back into the lab.
Xiaofei remained in a stupor. "Wait, why do you need my blood for an experiment? And didn't you say two vials?"
Rolling his eyes and holding the cotton swab over the puncture, Xiaofei drifted back into a heavy sleep.
As he slept, the pleasant dreams he'd been having suddenly shifted. He found himself on a battlefield. In every direction, people were locked in a primitive, savage slaughter. Blood sprayed across his face, tinting his vision a deep, visceral crimson.
"Kill...!!!"
Meanwhile, inside Ren's lab.
"The God Gene optimization is nearly complete! The latest lab mice showed no 'Corpse Brother' traits after awakening. I think we're ready to use it on ourselves!" Mu Tiancai said excitedly. He was already imagining himself evolved and tearing through enemies.
"Not yet. There's still work to be done before we can safely inject it," Ren stopped him.
While the current God Gene could grant incredible super-powers, the ceiling was too low. By the standards of this world, it would only boost someone to 'Earth-level' at most—and that was counting the versatility of the abilities. Whether they could continue to grow stronger after that was an unknown.
That was why Ren had taken Bai Xiaofei's blood. He wanted to isolate the "Killing Factor" and use it as a foundation to create a version of the God Gene perfectly tailored for Xiaofei.
If this experiment succeeded, he would use the same logic to analyze his and Mu Tiancai's genetic codes to create their own bespoke versions. This would ensure their core DNA wouldn't be corrupted by the gene's future evolution, preventing them from turning into monsters that were neither human nor ghost.
Armed with the God Gene and the factors extracted from Xiaofei's blood, Ren began the first trial.
"32nd activation, begin.""60th activation, begin.""130th activation, begin."
For the next two days, Ren completely abandoned sleep, working non-stop. Despite his efforts, the reaction between the two factors was intense but never reached the "Perfect State" he was chasing.
Mu Tiancai rubbed his temples, feeling physically drained. "Bro, what kind of result are you really after?"
"Don't get discouraged! Be serious!" Ren snapped.
"No, I mean, the reaction between these two factors has already far exceeded my expectations. If we inject this serum into Xiaofei right now, he'll become a literal Superman with fifty tons of punching force out of the gate. You're still not satisfied?"
"No. I feel his potential for growth is much higher," Ren shook his head, explaining his theory. "As long as there is room for further growth, it means our God Gene hasn't been pushed to its limit. If we use a sub-par version on ourselves, we'll never achieve the same fusion effect Xiaofei has."
Ren wasn't worried about Xiaofei's floor or ceiling; even without the sixty years of internal energy from the original plot, as long as Xiaofei awakened his Killing Bloodline, he'd be an Earth-level powerhouse at minimum. Once the Yan Huang higher-ups noticed him, they'd provide plenty of resources to fast-track his growth.
But Ren and Mu Tiancai wouldn't get that treatment. If they didn't push the God Gene's limits now, they might not even reach Earth-level. If they ran into the Corpse King early, they'd be nothing but snacks in minutes!
"I see..." Mu Tiancai finally understood Ren's long-term plan. He felt a pang of guilt for his earlier impatience; Ren was working this hard for both of them.
Ren paused the experiment and picked up a finished serum. "Come on. Let's get Xiaofei awakened first. Then we'll have him get this serum out to the authorities so H City can start getting back to normal."