Chapter 1814: The Madman's Journey (Twenty-Seven)

The situation was getting worse and worse.

Lying in the special protective ward of SHIELD, running a high fever and in pain all over as if his body had fallen apart, the zombie Spider-Man looked out the window at the chaotic scene and thought things were getting more and more complicated.

The zombie Spider-Man knew it was already three days later, because on that day, after being bitten by the corrupted hound, he could not withstand the excruciating pain as if it wanted to kill him and passed out directly.

When he woke up again, he found himself in SHIELD, partly because he had screamed so terribly that the superheroes were worried he would die, so they could only move him to the rear, and partly because SHIELD Director Nick had too many questions to ask the zombie Spider-Man.

When he woke up this morning, the zombie Spider-Man poured out everything he knew and told Nick his solution, but Nick merely shook his head in silence and handed him a newspaper.

After returning to the ward, the zombie Spider-Man didn't even have time to look at the newspaper, his temperature soared to 42 degrees, and he was rushed straight into the emergency room; SHIELD's top doctors used all their knowledge to save him, and just as he woke up, his temperature spiked again to 39.6 degrees.

But this time, indeed no doctor could come to save him, because after him, in New York, Coulson, who was indoors checking the virus spread, Natasha, who followed the Avengers to subdue the Hulk, and several other important SHIELD agents all got infected.

Their symptoms varied: Coulson's lips rotted and he bit anyone he saw; Natasha had a persistent high fever and kept shouting she was hungry; the few doctors SHIELD had left were almost worked to death on the operating table before barely keeping them alive.

After the zombie Spider-Man woke up, he found his fever had slightly subsided and his mind had cleared; aside from feeling as if his whole body had been run over by a truck, he could barely move.

So he took the newspaper Nick had given him, and when he saw the front-page headline, he desperately closed his eyes.

In just two days, all members of the Avengers were infected.

This was almost inevitable; the first infected was the Hulk, and only the Avengers could stop this big guy; if they didn't stop him, letting the Hulk rampage in the city would kill many people, and superheroes could not just stand by.

But if they tried to stop him, they would inevitably get into a tussle with the Hulk, and no one could guarantee they wouldn't get hurt; once someone got injured, they would go mad and attack others, and the final outcome would be total infection.

Why is it like this again? The zombie Spider-Man thought desperately, how many times? How many times exactly? Why, after giving his all to stop it, does it still end like this?

The zombie Spider-Man stared blankly at the ceiling, wondering if continuing had any meaning, when the TV in the ward broadcast the voice of a news anchor.

"Then, Dr. Mo Sen, in yesterday's news you proposed that New York City actually experienced two virus outbreaks at the same time; what is your basis for saying that?"

"Of course, please look here; this is an infected person from the Bronx, his orbicularis oris muscle is almost completely rotted, his gums are exposed, and when he attacks others, he mainly relies on biting through their skin with his teeth."

"And this photo was taken at a café in Manhattan; a customer was bitten by his pet dog and also got infected, but his lips are not rotted, his oral muscles are intact, only his skin turned gray-green, his nails elongated, and his method of attack is scratching others with his fingers."

"It can be clearly seen that the results of infection with these two viruses are completely different, and there is no evidence to prove this is just two variants of one virus."

"If this evidence is still insufficient, then please look; this is the pet dog that previously infected that customer, its skin is gray-green, and all the infected animals appearing in these dozen or so pictures are infected with the second virus."

"This proves that the virus causing lip muscle rot cannot infect animals, while the second one can; this difference alone can fully explain that these are two completely different viruses..."

The zombie Spider-Man's attention was completely captured by the news on TV; he endured the soreness all over his body and sat up, staring intently at the screen.

He had some impression of this medical expert; it seemed he had seen this doctor once during his rescue; any doctor appearing in SHIELD must be an expert in the field, and his judgment is highly credible.

If the first virus causing lip rot is the one the zombie Spider-Man is familiar with, then where did the second virus, which turns skin gray-green, come from?

The zombie Spider-Man suddenly remembered that the gray-green hound that bit him yesterday seemed to have been infected with the second virus; could his current terrible condition be the result of the two viruses fighting inside his body?

Thinking this, the zombie Spider-Man suddenly noticed that the vague hunger feeling that had been lingering in his heart had weakened somewhat.

Although it hadn't disappeared completely, it had weakened to the point where Spider-Man would hardly notice it if he didn't pay attention; and while infection with the second virus might cause skin to turn gray-green and also cause hunger, those symptoms had not appeared.

Could it be that the two viruses clash, causing both to lose their activity?

Thinking this, the zombie Spider-Man felt as if he had seen hope; he endured the intense pain, crawled out of bed, shuffled to the phone beside the bed, dialed Nick's number, and said his discovery.

Not long after, Nick rushed over, but he did not open the door to the protective ward; the zombie Spider-Man also cautiously stayed away from the door, instead speaking through the ward's window: "Nick, I can feel my condition improving; I swear, please believe no one wants to save you more than I do; no matter what, we must try!"

Standing outside the door, Nick took a deep breath; he actually didn't fully trust these outsiders, but he really had no choice, because just now, the frenzied Coulson had attacked two medical staff, adding two more zombies; if this continued, SHIELD would have no one left.

And what made Nick feel even more urgent was that the superheroes who had all turned into zombies were now fighting among themselves; they hadn't thought of him yet, but they would soon.

After leaving the zombie Spider-Man's ward, Nick made an important decision; he told his remaining assistant: "Take Natasha, Coulson, and Hawkeye to my 56th secret base's safe house and inject them with the virus they currently lack in their bodies."

"Leave the activation key with the zombie Spider-Man; tell him, if he sees news of the SHIELD director turning into a zombie, he should find a way to take refuge in the secret base; if his method works, then they will be the only survivors."

"In that secret base, there is the last sky carrier; if they still have their reason, they should find a way to leave Earth, create an antidote, and then come back; go."

The zombie Spider-Man spent three desperate days in the protective ward; until the evening of the third day, that terrible pain seeping from his bone joints finally weakened.

And what made the zombie Spider-Man even more delighted was that the hunger sensation also disappeared at the same time, and he felt that his previous fatigue and pain had all vanished; his whole person seemed to be reborn.

But the news coming in cast a shadow over his originally elated heart: first, New York had completely fallen, with almost all citizens infected with the zombie virus.

Second, SHIELD Director Nick Fury had also turned into a zombie and was now spreading the virus together with the zombie superheroes of the Avengers.

Third, the superheroes from the zombie Spider-Man's universe had been released by them; now they had formed a new alliance and were searching the city for survivors.

The zombie Spider-Man had long obtained the key Nick left behind; on the fifth day, when his condition finally improved, he came to Nick's secret base.

He finally received the first truly meaningful good news after such a long time: the three agents lying in the life-support chambers had awakened, and just like him, all three had recovered.

This proved the zombie Spider-Man's guess was correct; the second virus might very well be the antidote to the first virus, and after they conflicted, the infection symptoms were all gone.

But now they faced a new problem; the situation outside the secret base changed instantly; when several people had recovered and stepped back onto the land, a world war broke out.

Those infected with the same first virus as the zombie Spider-Man were called red zombies, while those infected with the second virus were called green zombies; the two sides fought over food, and it eventually evolved into a global, protracted war.

This made the Spider-Man even more desperate than if the whole world had been hit by a single zombie virus, because this group of zombies was already preheating nuclear missile silos, preparing to completely wipe out the other side.

Having found the thorough solution to the zombie virus, the zombie Spider-Man was unwilling to just give up; if he gave up this time, would the next cycle still have this inexplicable second virus? No one knows.

He had no more chances; the zombie Spider-Man thought, this time is the end, and it must be victory, not defeat.

Thus, the zombie Spider-Man led these three surviving agents into joining this protracted world war.

Since these two kinds of zombies are not the mindless, biting-only zombies from zombie movies, after becoming zombies, they all retained their intelligence, only occasionally driven by hunger.

So this war is actually no different from wars among ordinary humans; they don't use fangs and claws, but terrifying thermal weapons.

The superheroes from the zombie Spider-Man's universe infected with the red virus, while due to the previous battle with the Hulk infected by the green hound, the superheroes of the local universe were infected with the green virus.

In other words, each side has its own Avengers, as well as scientists and weapons experts; such a war, when fought, could be described as heaven-shattering and earth-destroying.

The zombie Spider-Man led the three agents in constantly searching for usable chemical lab equipment, separately extracting samples of the two viruses, and looking for opportunities to inject ordinary people.

To ensure that ordinary people injected with the other virus could endure the painful recovery period, the zombie Spider-Man built an apocalypse base from scratch, established a medical system, and defended against zombie invasions.

Spider-Man is like a seed thrown into the dark purgatory; flames burn off his shell, darkness buries his roots, but nothing can stop him from, upon seeing the light, growing upward with force.

Defeat all enemies attacking the base, reverse all crisis situations, knock down all superheroes trying to block him, victory, victory, ever advancing toward victory.

In the end, fully armed ordinary soldiers advanced; the zombies collapsed; the white color representing healing and purity washed away all the green and red on the map; humanity drove out the zombies and reclaimed Earth.

In this process, hopeful efforts broke through all difficulties; small victories piled up into great results; the war waged in the name of justice and salvation is no longer a sinful destruction, but more like a cathartic outpouring.

The accumulated failures and disappointments from countless cycles, as one battle after another is won, are scattered like dust in the wind behind the back, just as another universe's Batman experienced in war.

The war's towering flood surged through every tiny circuit of the heart, iron horses and beacon smoke trod a path to heaven within the mind, leaving behind tender affections, stepping into the blood-red sunset.

Spider-Man saved himself, and saved the world, once again.