The devil found this whole thing amusing. Playing with humans at will, sitting behind the scenes manipulating everything - this was the kind of activity befitting him too perfectly. Given Adam's permission, the devil went wild, each rolling of its eyeballs conceiving a few malicious plans.
Adam didn't care about what the devil was up to. He was now engrossed in creating the virus. New ideas were born every moment and the test was no longer his primary focus.
Adam's laboratory was filled with samples of magical beasts that he had instructed the devil to collect over the past few days. He extracted specific gene sequences from the bodies of these magical beasts and injected them into the ever-churning viral culture in his ethereal petri dish, hoping to stimulate another mutation of the virus.
While dissecting the magical beasts, Adam discovered an interesting fact. He used to think that magical beasts were able to use magic due to the existence of special organs that could accommodate magical power. But now he realized that the ability of magical beasts to use magic was based on their genes. Their gene sequences were naturally formed into rune groups, and their source of magical power was not magic, but a unique form of bioenergy.
In other words, the abilities of the magical beasts were not magic, but a kind of innate gift they acquired during their evolution in the ether environment.
Adam didn't have the capability to allow soulless infectors to develop mental power, learn knowledge, and use magic. But if he simply wanted to give them innate abilities, it was easy. He just had to write new genes into the parental body of the virus.
After incessantly talking for a while, the devil realized that Adam wasn't paying attention to it. Feeling bored, it left the laboratory with a sense of disappointment and continued to manipulate Garfield in his war games.
Seven days later, when the devil successfully used the infectors to annihilate three families, it couldn't help but enter the laboratory to brag about its achievements to Adam.
Among the fifteen powers on Ceylon Island, the first to collapse were the Aum, Hill, and Lance families. In just a week, they lost all their towns except their headquarters. Their magic had limited effects on the infected, so they had to abandon their territories, bringing their elite forces to seek protection from the remaining powers. Their retreat routes, under the devil's intentional guidance, were exposed to the apprentices.
"Master, there's a big opportunity. If we head to the Foggy Forest, the Corrupt Swamp, and the Rubble Plain now, we can get a lot of Points!" The devil was eager. He found the idea of reaping huge rewards without much effort appealing. Seeing such an opportunity now, he immediately notified Adam.
But Adam's reaction was disappointing.
"I know, but I'm not interested," Adam responded without even turning his head. He hovered in mid-air, a telekinetic barrier enveloping him. His telekinetic tendrils held unseen substances, constantly adding them to the viral culture.
"Master, but--"
"That's it, no buts. You've done well. When we return, I'll transfer you a thousand units of complete Ether crystals. You can spend them as you wish in the city." Adam's mood was excellent. After seven days of continuous research, the virus was nearing successful evolution. Once the mutated serum was injected into Garfield and observed for any adverse reactions, it would be complete.
The devil was taken aback momentarily before it burst into joy. The prosperity of Meyer City had always attracted it and now, with Adam's assurance and the prospect of possessing a thousand units of currency and a new fleshly body, it was thrilled.
Adam extracted the viral serum and placed it in a syringe, instructing the devil, "Bring Garfield in."
The devil had already cast aside the matter of picking off the weak. Seeing the serum in the syringe, which looked like a living creature writhing about, it hesitated and asked cautiously, "Master, could you tell me what changes Garfield will undergo?"
Adam was not in the mood for chatter. He ordered the devil to bring Garfield into the lab and then kicked the devil out with a swift move.
Garfield had no consciousness, no soul. Though it was a living creature, it was more like a vessel, or a suit of armor. After attaching multiple probes into Garfield's body, Adam inserted the syringe into the large artery in its neck and quickly injected the serum, then waited for the virus to react.
Surprisingly, the reaction was more compatible than expected. The parental body virus almost greedily engulfed the mutated virus. On the display screen, the virus within Garfield's body began a benign self-cannibalism. Large amounts of redundant fragments were expelled from the pores in the form of impurities. The quality fragments rapidly proliferate under the unlimited supply of energy from Adam. The four basic elements of earth, water, wind, and fire were formed within Garfield's body. After a brief conflict, they harmonized and became a part of the genetic group, written into the genetic information.
Simultaneously, Garfield's body also began to change. Its color shifted from purple to black. The previously large but low-density muscle tissue started to tighten, and the body shrank in size. Seeing the smooth progression of the fusion, Adam opened the lab door and let the anxious devil in.
"Master, why has Garfield shrunk?" The devil was slightly disappointed. A smaller Garfield would be less impressive.
Adam disregarded its concerns. While the mutated virus had fused with the original parental body virus, if he wanted to complete the evolution of all the infected, he still needed the devil's help.
"Merge with it, promote the mutation."
The apprentices were divided into three teams, each led by ten members of the War Alliance. They arrived at the locations mentioned by the devil to lay an ambush.
Due to the devil's deliberate guidance, they had obtained all the information about the three forces. This ambush was certain to go smoothly. The Points they would gain, even when distributed according to contribution, would be enough to satisfy a large group.
"Lilith, what are you still worried about?" someone in the War Alliance asked Lilith, who was fraught with worry.
Their team was hiding in the Rubble Plain, preparing to intercept the migrating troops of the Aum family. With four apprentices ready to advance at any moment and over two hundred elite apprentices, they should be able to ensure a complete victory. However, for some reason, looking at the monsters walking in the plains, she felt incredibly uneasy.
"Have those things not attacked us before?" Lilith pointed at the monsters and asked.
