Chapter 16: Fusing with the T-Virus? A Transcendental-Grade Item!

Had it not been for neutralizing the Red Queen’s contingency plans, Yu Fei would have found it nearly impossible to seize leadership of the entire team. Even if he were to destroy those Lickers later on, it was uncertain how much merit he could have earned if he hadn't been the one in control.

But that was all in the past now.

"With this much merit, how should I distribute it?" Yu Fei pondered as he gazed at his system interface.

In truth, his options were limited. Since directly boosting his Physique or Spirit attributes would be inefficient, he was left with only three skills. Given that the Computer skill was largely unnecessary, he was left with only Combat and Marksmanship. While Yu Fei could choose to upgrade a new skill from scratch—having 175 merit points at his disposal, he could easily raise a new skill from level zero to level three—he had to admit that under current circumstances, he could not think of any skill more useful to him than Combat and Marksmanship. If he were to upgrade a skill, choosing between the two was his best course of action.

"However..."

"Perhaps I have a second option!"

Yu Fei reached into his jacket and slowly pulled out a spiral-shaped vial. It was a blue spiral vial—the T-Virus.

It was not the T-Virus serum, which was green; the blue liquid was the genuine T-Virus, a terrifying pathogen capable of turning the living into zombies. Yu Fei had discovered it in a previous laboratory and secretly tucked it away. Looking at the eerie, captivating color of the T-Virus, a spark of fervor flashed in his eyes.

"The function of merit points is not limited to just boosting attributes or upgrading skills!"

He still remembered the description of merit points: *Capable of strengthening all things.*

Raising his own attributes and upgrading skills were merely functions he had developed himself. In reality, merit points could not only enhance and upgrade everything about Yu Fei himself, but they could also enhance and upgrade anything outside of him. If he wished, he could even pick up a random stone from the road and upgrade it. If he had enough merit points, it was not impossible to upgrade that stone into a primordial spiritual gem.

Of course, Yu Fei had no intention of doing something so thankless. Even if he were to upgrade external objects, he would need to find something with high enough value; what would be the point of upgrading a rock? Putting aside common stones, the vast majority of things in this world were not worth upgrading to him.

The T-Virus was an exception. Although it had created zombies and even destroyed human civilization in the original story, the researchers' initial intentions had been noble. Whether in the second film or the messy final chapters that followed, the original creators of the T-Virus always aimed to "cure diseases and save lives." Judging by Alice, the perfect test subject, the T-Virus indeed possessed such potential—and even the ability to grant "evolution."

Zombies were merely failed products. As for the Lickers, Tyrants, Hunters, and Nemesis—setting aside their grotesque appearances, hadn't their strength surged compared to normal humans? Even if they were categorized as malignant mutations due to various issues, there was still Alice. After injecting the T-Virus, Alice had not only gained formidable physical prowess but also possessed "telekinesis," effectively leapfrogging into a new stage of humanity.

"If I could perfectly fuse with the T-Virus like Alice, and even possess telekinesis..." Yu Fei looked at the vial in his hand, his eyes filled with longing.

Theoretically, it was possible for him to obtain superpowers through the T-Virus just as Alice had. However, that was merely a possibility. The Umbrella Corporation had subjected so many people to human experiments, yet only Alice had perfectly integrated the virus. According to the lore of *Resident Evil*, this was because the original creator had encoded the virus specifically for Alice's genetic structure; only she could perfectly assimilate it. For anyone else, even if they didn't lose their minds and turn into irrational zombies, they would inevitably suffer from various complications.

Therefore!

"Can merit points eliminate the negative effects of the T-Virus?"

The thought crossed Yu Fei's mind. This was the very reason he had secretly kept the vial.

"Let's try it."

"System!"

"Eliminate all negative effects of the T-Virus!"

As Yu Fei’s intent shifted, ten merit points vanished in an instant. He could perceive tiny flecks of golden light descending onto the T-Virus in his hand.

'It actually works?'

Yu Fei’s expression brightened, but before he could rejoice for long, a notification arrived that made him instantly frown.

"To eliminate all negative effects of the T-Virus, ten strands of merit are required. Do you confirm?"

"Ten... strands? What does that mean?"

Yu Fei was puzzled by the unit at first, but he quickly received the relevant information from the system.

"Strands" were a more refined, higher-grade form of merit, corresponding to the "transcendent" rank. One strand of merit could be converted into 1,000 merit points. However, conversely, it required 10,000 merit points to convert into a single strand of merit.

"Transcendent rank?"

Yu Fei looked at the T-Virus in his hand, lost in thought. In that case, the T-Virus must also be a transcendent-grade item. Considering the telekinesis associated with it, classifying it as transcendent felt natural. By the third film, Alice’s telekinesis was powerful enough to destroy a satellite in orbit! Such power was clearly far beyond the scope of an ordinary human; calling it a transcendent power was an understatement.

Yu Fei accepted this, but...

"I don't have that many merit points!"

Forget ten strands; Yu Fei didn't even have a single strand of merit. Although he had performed several "good deeds," he had only ever earned standard merit points.

Trade them? He could. But it took 10,000 merit points to exchange for one strand... Even without the ten-fold price difference, he couldn't afford a single strand even if the exchange rate were 1,000 to one. Yu Fei had previously thought he had a decent amount of merit, but he now realized that his hundred-odd points were barely a drop in the bucket. Just to remove the negative effects of the T-Virus required ten strands, which meant 100,000 merit points. His current stash was barely one-thousandth of what was needed.

"I’d better stick to upgrading my 'ordinary' skills," Yu Fei decided, showing a rare moment of self-awareness as he tucked the T-Virus away.