104: Chapter 104 The Birth of a King

Late at night, in the Colombian rainforest. Violent winds whipped torrential rain against the corrugated iron roofs, creating a deafening roar.

An unmarked black Black Hawk helicopter tore through the curtain of rain, hovering over the helipad of the Umbrella secret base. Its surface was coated with advanced radar-absorbent material; not even a single blip appeared on the base's radar screens.

The cabin door slid open, and four dark figures descended via fast-rope. Without any unnecessary cushioning movements, they absorbed the impact with a slight bend of their knees and stood firm.

Security Captain Jonathan led several subordinates forward to meet them. Just as he was about to offer a greeting, his eyes swept over the equipment of the four individuals, and a layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.

Full sets of black tactical armor, with ballistic vests loaded with ammunition and tactical gear. Most terrifying of all were the gas masks they wore; two red goggles emitted a suffocating sense of pressure in the dark night. They held custom MP5 submachine guns equipped with suppressors and tactical flashlights, standing in a staggered formation that covered all blind spots.

This was the Umbrella Corporation's most mysterious and cold-blooded Rapid Reaction Security Force. Jonathan had served in the Navy SEALs, but he would bet his life that even the most elite SEAL team didn't possess the death-like, icy aura of these men. Standing together, the four of them breathed in perfect unison—they were essentially four emotionless killing machines.

The lead soldier carried a silver briefcase and walked straight to Dr. Park, who had been waiting for a long time. Without any pleasantries, a mechanical voice emerged from behind the gas mask:

"Retinal scan."

Dr. Park stepped forward. A red light shot out from the front of the briefcase, scanning his eyes.

"Fingerprint confirmation."

Dr. Park pressed his thumb onto the sensing area of the briefcase.

"DNA verification."

The soldier pulled out a blood collection needle and unceremoniously pricked Dr. Park's fingertip, letting a drop of blood fall into the slot on the side of the case.

Beep—a green light flickered on. With a click, the metal latch popped open.

As the case opened, a plume of white cold air billowed out. In the center of the shock-absorbent foam lay a specialized high-pressure injection gun. Inside the transparent glass tube, a pale golden liquid was slightly squirming, emitting a faint fluorescence.

This was the "Queen Seed" Chen Feng had spoken of.

The soldier closed the case, thrust it directly into Dr. Park's hands, and turned to give a hand signal. The four men quickly returned to the helicopter, and two minutes later, they had completely vanished into the pitch-black rainy night.

The entire handover process took less than three minutes, crisp and efficient.

Carrying the case, Dr. Park turned and walked toward the laboratory, casually cutting off all internal surveillance cameras along the way.

On the cold metal lab table, the silver briefcase was opened once more.

Dr. Park picked up the injection gun. The pale golden liquid reflected off the lenses of his gold-rimmed glasses.

He knew very well what this reagent meant. Once he pressed it, he would no longer be a pure human. The oaths he had taken at MIT, the boundaries of academic ethics—all would be completely shattered at this moment.

But he didn't hesitate for even a second.

This man-eating South American rainforest had long ago taught him a lesson: if you aren't a man-eating beast, you can only be a sheep to be eaten. His boss, Chen Feng, had placed the qualification to be the shepherd in his hands, and he would never back down.

He tore off his white lab coat, unbuttoned his shirt, and stood with his back to the glass of the sterile chamber. Holding the high-pressure injection gun in a reverse grip, he felt for the position of his own neck.

The nozzle was pressed firmly against his skin.

His thumb pressed down hard on the plunger.

"Pshhh—"

High-pressure gas instantly forced the golden liquid into his spinal canal.

The moment he pulled out the empty tube, Dr. Park lost all strength, and his body slumped heavily onto the lab table.

Pain.

A severe pain that was simply beyond words.

It wasn't the pain of flesh being cut by a knife, but rather like thousands of red-hot steel needles stabbing upward along the spinal cord, piercing directly into the cerebral cortex. He opened his mouth wide, a distorted scream tearing from his throat. His hands gripped the edge of the metal table so hard his fingernails instantly split, and blood flowed across the surface.

The golden liquid rushed directly into his brain along with the cerebrospinal fluid. He could feel his brain tissue being violently torn apart and reconstructed by something. The skin at the back of his neck bulged high, as if insects were scurrying frantically beneath it. Several thick, dark-gold blood vessels crawled up his neck and onto his face, extending all the way to the corners of his eyes.

The whites of his eyes instantly became bloodshot, his pupils constricted sharply, and the originally black irises were completely swallowed by a layer of eerie dark gold.

A massive torrent of information directly overwhelmed his consciousness.

He saw countless images. They were the memories of the parasite—the most primitive instincts of reproduction, parasitism, control, and consumption. A brand-new set of neural synapses grew frantically in his brain like an invisible web, penetrating the walls of the laboratory and radiating out in all directions.

Five minutes later.

The violent convulsions finally stopped.

Dr. Park slowly climbed up from the floor. He picked up his gold-rimmed glasses, wiped the blood from the lenses with his sleeve, and put them back on.

The eyes behind the lenses had turned into a pure dark gold. There was no longer any human emotion, only absolute logic and a high-and-mighty indifference.

He felt it.

He didn't need surveillance screens or walkie-talkies. Points of light lit up in his mind. Those were the Plaga Parasites distributed in every corner of the base. Every point of light was a dog under his absolute command.

He walked to the floor-to-ceiling window of the lab, looking down at the busy camp below.

"Stop."

He issued a command in his mind. No sound was made; it was merely a thought.

The next second.

All activity in the entire base came to a screeching halt.

Infected workers carrying munitions dropped their ammo crates into the mud without a second glance; infected drug traffickers patrolling the edge of the camp stopped in unison, turned as one, and faced the direction of the central lab; even the lookouts in the outer perimeter holding sniper rifles set their weapons aside.

Over a hundred infected individuals, regardless of what they were doing, dropped to one knee at the exact same time.

Their heads were bowed low, welcoming their one and only king.

The most exaggerated was "Alpha." This monster, implanted with a dominant Plaga, had been gnawing on a piece of bloody raw meat. The moment he received the command, he spat the meat onto the ground and knelt on one knee in a perfect knight's salute, his forehead pressed firmly against the muddy ground.

Dead silence.

Aside from the sound of rain, no other noise could be heard in the entire base.

Jonathan was patrolling with a flashlight when he turned around to find several of his subordinates all kneeling.

"What's wrong with you people? Get up!" Jonathan walked over and kicked one of them.

The man remained motionless, not even blinking, like a lifeless stone statue.

Jonathan's scalp tingled. He pulled out his pistol and looked around: "Enemy attack! On alert!"

No one paid him any attention. All the infected maintained their kneeling posture.

Inside the lab, the corners of Dr. Park's mouth curled into an exaggerated arc.

He closed his eyes.

He linked his consciousness to "Alpha." His vision shifted instantly; he saw the muddy ground of the camp and smelled the faint scent of blood in the air.

He switched his consciousness to a sniper on a tower. His vision soared, and he peered through the curtain of rain to see a wild rabbit in the jungle two kilometers away.

He could even feel the heart rate of every single infected person.

This was the Hive Mind.

This was the feeling of a god!

The entire base had become an extension of his own body.

"Boss..." Dr. Park looked toward Los Angeles and murmured softly, "I accept this great gift you've given me. Soon, I will return to you a true empire."