Chapter 17: Progenitor of the Red Light Virus

"Chairman Bai, no, my dear Bai."

"This is an epoch-making technology. If you want, the 'Nobel Prize in Medicine' or 'Nobel Prize in Physiology'—you can have as many as you want!"

"Friend, yes, we are friends forever!"

"I just want to ask, when will this technology be applied to me?"

"That's right, I've had enough of this life of waiting for death in my twilight years!"

The sterile laboratory, which should have remained quiet, had now turned into a noisy, bustling wet market.

Meng Yi's expression remained unchanged. He wore a 'kind' smile on his face, patiently waiting for both the elderly vampires and the young vampires to calm down.

Nobel Prize? Laughable.

Does he, Meng Mou, need an award to prove himself? It's more like the other way around.

If the Nobel Committee begged him to accept an award, it would still be a matter of whether he'd accept it or not.

After a long, long time, seeing that they had stopped talking, Meng Yi coughed once and said.

"Friends, as you can see, lifespan no longer belongs to the authority of God, but is held in my hands!"

"Let's find a quiet place and have a good talk about how to conduct this 'business'."

The elderly vampires agreed one after another with extreme generosity.

Money? To them, it was just a string of useless numbers!

Power, status? No problem at all!

The dining table where they carved up the cake wouldn't mind the addition of a 'passionate', 'generous', and 'magnanimous' friend.

……

Meng Yi instructed the reborn Alicia Ma Kusi to stay in the laboratory to slowly experience the changes in her body, and to return to her personal quarters only after she had adapted sufficiently.

In the large tiered conference room used once before, the young vampires were not qualified to step through the door and were ordered by their family elders to wait at the entrance.

Wonderful!

Having anticipated this, Meng Yi whispered to himself.

"【Psionic Interference · Cognitive Tampering · Thought Seal!】"

In an instant, the cognition of the twenty-seven young vampires was tampered with.

Absolute loyalty to Meng Yi became the sole goal of their lives.

After a two-second delay, Meng Yi walked into the large conference room, where the many dark screens conveyed the enthusiastic concern of 'friends'.

"Bai, my best friend, you don't look so good?"

"You must pay attention to resting more. If there's anything to do, just order the servants to do it; you mustn't tire yourself out."

Meng Yi nodded with a smile, letting it go in one ear and out the other, treating it as if they were farting—and the foul-smelling kind at that.

"【Friends】, friendship is friendship, business is business."

"I'm a straightforward person, so I won't beat around the bush."

"I need the 'Hope Town: Elizabeth Greene' that you control, as well as the latest research and development data from all biomedical research institutes, including the Gentek Corporation."

"!!"

Meng Yi's demands caused the elderly vampires to explode, and they complained one after another.

"Impossible!"

"Bai, you are too greedy!"

"You are simply the most insatiable capitalist I have ever seen!"

"We will help you rebuild an even more powerful Umbrella Corporation!"

"We will help you amend the relevant laws of the United States!"

"We will help you whitewash the negative image of the Umbrella Corporation!"

"We will help you mobilize the military to clear out the infected in Raccoon City!"

"Isn't doing all this enough?"

"Bai, my dearest friend, there is a saying in the Great Eastern Nation: 'know when to stop.' 'Hope Town: Elizabeth Greene' involves too many things; it is far from something we can decide on our own!"

"At most, we can give you the data on Gentek Corporation and other research institutes within our sphere of influence."

Meng Yi's smile remained, and he leisurely picked his ear with his pinky finger.

"Are you finished?"

"Friends, do you know the name of the sample Alicia Ma Kusi fused with? It is called 'Longevity Gene · Type I'."

"As the name suggests, after 'Type I', there will be 'Type II', 'Type III'..."

"Are you satisfied with a mere two hundred years of life?"

"Friends, it's fine to fool me, but don't fool yourselves."

"The Red Light Virus progenitor, the Black Light Virus extended version—I have longed for these for a long time; they can greatly accelerate the speed at which I produce subsequent models of the 'Longevity Gene'."

"I and you are all vested interest holders."

"If you can't do it, why not invite more 'friends' to join in, so everyone can enjoy the future of immortality together?"

"Besides, I am the only one who can perform the 'Longevity Gene' modification surgery at the moment!"

"Friends, I've said all I have to say. You should think it over carefully."

Silence. A long silence.

The elderly vampires were weighing the pros and cons.

They wanted youth and longevity, but they didn't want Meng Yi and the Umbrella Corporation to completely lose control.

Regardless of where 'Chairman Bai' obtained the 'Red Light Virus progenitor: Elizabeth Greene' and the intelligence on 'Hope Town', giving a definitive answer was already imminent.

Is this a multiple-choice question?

No, this is a single-choice question with only one option; the answer was already destined.

Once they harbored greed for 'life extension and immortality', they lost the right to choose.

"'Hope Town: Elizabeth Greene', Black Light Virus research data—fine, we can give them to you."

An old man spoke hoarsely, his tone shifting to reveal the iron-blooded and murderous intent of his past military career.

"However, Bai, after we give you the things, you must immediately arrange the 'life extension' surgeries for us in batches!"

"If not... that is something neither we nor you want to see."

He had lived for too long, even participating in the Second War, and knew how important 'lifespan' was to an old man in his twilight years.

In order to live forever, they wouldn't mind selling their souls to the devils of purgatory!

"Of course, we are 'friends', this is very simple."

Meng Yi snapped his fingers and smiled with satisfaction.

"How about we set the time for one month from now? The crude surgeries performed on those test subjects don't need to be used on my 'distinguished friends'."

"One month? That's fine."

"Bai, you really are the smartest human I have ever seen!"

The devious Meng Yi succeeded in his empty-handed scheme, laughing like a cunning fox that had successfully stolen a chicken.

"Friends, I wish our friendship lasts forever!"

"Indeed, indeed. Then 'Bai', you rest first, we'll see you in a month!"

……

With the basic consensus reached, Meng Yi didn't need to discuss the minor details with the elderly vampires; he could just leave it to the people below to handle.

How could a 'chess player' who values time do everything personally? Otherwise, what were subordinates for?

With laughter and joy, this 'transaction in the dark' came to a successful conclusion.

Every participant in the transaction was beaming, feeling that they had profited.

As the black screens shut off one by one, Meng Yi sat in the dark conference room, his body weight leaning against the back of the chair, his gaze staring gloomily at the ceiling.

"Red Queen."

"Respected Chairman Bai, I am here."

Meng Yi couldn't be bothered to look at the holographic projection condensing beside him. He tapped his fingers lightly on the table and said clearly: "Five orders."

"One, print and copy the data related to Alicia Ma Kusi's surgery and give it to that group of young people; let them take the data back."

"Yes."

"Two, prepare to receive the gifts sent by our 'friends'. Sort the various research materials into categories, and imprison the 'Red Light Virus progenitor: Elizabeth Greene' at the highest level."

"Yes."

"Three, notify Alfred Ashford to go to the Antarctic research institute and have him bring Alexia Ashford to the Raccoon City underground Hive."

"Yes."

"Four, notify Alicia Ma Kusi to leave the laboratory, clean it up, and prepare for the virus fusion surgery for me."

"Yes."

"Five, let Luo Ji, Firefly... no, cancel the fifth order for now; we will discuss it later."

"Yes."

As the Red Queen's projection dissipated, Meng Yi was filled with emotion.

"Finally, finally I can get rid of this weak body." ===== CHAPTER 18 =====