Chapter 61 — Serum
Wu Fan stared at the number on the system panel for a long moment.
18,760.
Now it had dropped to 8,760.
Ten thousand points—gone in an instant.
On the interface, a green test tube icon glowed faintly, labeled:
"Completely Deciphered Virus Serum — Prototype."
He selected redeem.
A sealed glass test tube appeared silently inside the desk drawer.
Wu Fan picked it up.
It looked ordinary—no different from a standard vaccine vial. Transparent glass, pale bluish liquid, and a simple numeric label with no explanation.
He set it back down and leaned into his chair.
Ten thousand points.
Even Merle working himself to exhaustion for a month couldn't earn that much.
But he needed it.
Not for immediate use—but for direction.
With a sample and a target, replication would be far faster than starting from nothing.
He extinguished his cigarette and pressed the intercom.
"Call Edwin, Candice, and Abraham to my office."
Ten minutes later, the three stood in front of his desk.
Edwin was still wiping his hands with sanitizer. Candice held a laptop. Abraham had faint traces of reagents on his glasses.
"Sit."
Wu Fan placed the vial on the table.
All three immediately focused on it.
The pale blue liquid shimmered under the light.
None of them recognized the label.
"A new batch of equipment has been approved," Wu Fan said calmly. "The advanced virus lab on the fourth floor of the Hive has been unlocked. It's far more advanced than the basement facilities."
He slid their access cards across the desk.
"I've already authorized you."
They took the cards in silence.
"And this," Wu Fan continued, pushing the vial forward, "is a flu vaccine. Analyze it. See if it can be replicated and mass-produced."
Candice frowned slightly. "Flu vaccine?"
"Yes," Wu Fan said without hesitation. "After the apocalypse, even the flu can kill. We need preparation."
The three exchanged glances.
Abraham looked like he wanted to speak, but Edwin subtly stopped him.
Candice carefully placed the vial into a sealed case.
"We'll begin analysis immediately."
After they left, Wu Fan leaned back and exhaled slowly.
He hadn't told them the truth.
A complete antiviral serum that could destroy the Wildfire virus was too sensitive.
Explaining it would raise too many questions—questions he couldn't answer.
It was easier this way.
A lie was simpler than the truth.
A knock came at the door.
Amy leaned in slightly. "Boss, Guillermo from the nursing home is here."
"Let him in."
Guillermo stepped inside.
He wore a faded shirt, hair neatly combed, but his posture was tense. His hands didn't know where to rest, finally settling awkwardly at his sides.
"Sit," Wu Fan said.
He tossed a pack of cigarettes onto the table.
Guillermo caught it hurriedly, startled.
"Relax," Wu Fan said as he lit another cigarette. "Just talk."
Guillermo hesitated, then lit one as well.
The smoke eased his tension slightly.
"You wanted to see me?" he asked carefully.
"I read your file," Wu Fan said. "After the outbreak, you didn't abandon the elderly. You led them, protected them, and brought them here."
Guillermo lowered his gaze. "It's what I should have done. They… died because no one helped them."
"That's exactly why I value you."
Wu Fan flicked ash into the tray. "There aren't many people left who won't abandon the weak."
Guillermo looked up, unsure how to respond.
"I want you to be my bodyguard," Wu Fan said.
Guillermo froze.
"…Me?"
He looked at Wu Fan, then around the base he had seen in recent days—Merle, Rick, armed squads, veterans of blood and fire.
And himself.
A caregiver from a nursing home who barely knew how to shoot.
"I'm not qualified," he said quietly.
"I don't choose bodyguards based on combat ability," Wu Fan replied. "I choose based on trust. You are someone I can trust."
Guillermo's throat tightened.
For a long time, no one had said those words to him.
Finally, he stood.
"My life is yours," he said firmly.
"Sit," Wu Fan said, waving him down. "Don't make it sound like a death oath."
He tossed several more cigarette packs onto the table.
"Take these. Get familiar with things first."
Guillermo accepted them carefully.
"Report tomorrow. And bring anyone from your nursing home who is willing. Not just for me—the researchers also need protection."
He paused. "They're important."
Guillermo nodded. "Don't worry. I'll protect them."
When he left, the room fell quiet again.
Wu Fan walked to the window.
Below, Guillermo's steps were noticeably lighter.
Wu Fan didn't truly need a bodyguard.
The Red Queen controlled the entire building. Every corridor, every blind spot was monitored.
But his office had no automated defense.
If someone broke in, the system could only watch.
And he stayed on the surface deliberately—so others could see him.
The most dangerous place in the Hive belonged to its leader.
That was how authority worked.
As for Guillermo—
He had been observed for a long time.
Not strong.
Not skilled.
But trustworthy.
Loyal to the weak. Ruthless to threats.
In this world, that mattered more than talent.
Deep inside the Hive, the fourth-floor laboratory doors opened.
And for a moment, everyone forgot to breathe.
The third-floor lab was advanced—but this place was on another level entirely.
Wall-to-wall display systems.
Black, seamless workbenches that left no fingerprints.
Fully enclosed fume hoods with real-time airflow projections.
Rows of incubators glowing softly with green status lights.
And instruments they had only ever seen in research papers—gene sequencers, electron microscopes, biosafety systems at P4 level.
Dr. Arthur Hawthorne reached out trembling.
"This is… Zeiss's latest model…"
His voice shook. "I thought I'd never see this in my lifetime."
Dr. Elias Benson knelt beside the incubators, fascinated.
"It can simulate pressure, humidity, altitude… it can sustain almost anything alive."
Candice, however, did not linger.
She took two assistants and entered a private lab.
"We'll analyze the sample first," she said. "The sooner we finish, the sooner we understand what the boss wants."
Inside the sealed lab, testing began.
The bluish-green liquid was placed under analysis.
The first test used the common flu virus.
The result was immediate.
The virus under the microscope shrank, curled, and disintegrated within seconds—vanishing completely.
They tried another virus.
Same result.
Another.
Same outcome.
Candice frowned.
"Repeat the flu test."
Again.
The virus was erased instantly.
But the system could not identify the composition of the liquid at all.
No known antibody structure.
No protein chain in any database.
It was as if it did not belong to this world.
Candice lifted the vial and left the lab immediately.
"Edwin."
She grabbed his arm in the corridor.
"I've finished the preliminary analysis."
"And?"
Her voice dropped.
"It can destroy all viruses. Influenza. Coronavirus. Adenovirus. All of them—in seconds."
Edwin frowned. "That's impossible. There's no such—"
"Look."
She shoved the report into his hands.
He scanned it.
Then his expression slowly changed.
Silence.
Finally, he spoke.
"You want to test the Wildfire virus?"
Candice nodded.
"If the boss gave us this, he knows what it is."
Edwin turned without another word and retrieved a sealed vial from the refrigerator.
Dark red liquid swirled inside.
Wildfire Virus — Live Sample — P4 Level Containment.
He handed it over.
"Be careful."
Inside the biosafety cabinet, Candice suited up and began the test.
A drop of Wildfire virus was placed on the slide.
Through the microscope, it looked like a burning flame—alive, aggressive, unstable.
Then the bluish-green liquid was added.
The flame died instantly.
Like water poured onto fire.
The structure collapsed, disintegrated, and vanished.
Within seconds, nothing remained except the spreading pale liquid.
Candice spoke into the microphone.
"Extinguished."
Outside, Edwin stared at the live feed in disbelief.
Arthur adjusted his glasses.
"What exactly is that?"
Edwin's voice was low.
"I don't know."
He paused.
"But I know one thing."
"What?"
He looked at the screen again.
"What the boss gave us… is not a flu vaccine."