Chapter 69: The Clone Chat Group
The turmoil at the camp passed swiftly. For Li Changsheng, it was nothing more than a minor episode. That night, he gathered the group once again and announced the arrival of Researcher Zoe, along with plans to begin vaccine development. The news brought a surge of excitement among everyone. To celebrate the arrival of Zoe and Sarah, Amy even organized a banquet.
Li Changsheng attended, and Mohr and the others toasted him generously. He returned to his eighth-floor residence, carrying the scent of wine, and lay down on the spacious bed, savoring a rare moment of rest. Though not drunk, the wine had left him slightly tipsy, and he sprawled out fully clothed.
Beth and Amy were also present. Hearing Li Changsheng’s movements, Beth, in a blue nightgown, hurried over, wrinkling her nose. “Boss, you’ve had quite a bit to drink. I’ll get you some water.”
“Mm,” Li Changsheng replied, smacking his lips, feeling thirsty.
Beth quickly brought a glass of water. “Here’s your water.”
Li Changsheng took it, drank a sip, then pulled Beth into his arms. Her curves shifted beneath his hands, and Beth closed her eyes in delight. She was still young, fresh and sweet, especially with that inviting look that spurred Li Changsheng’s appetite. As he played with her, he gradually removed whatever was in the way.
Soon, the room was filled with hurried breaths. Amy pretended not to notice, though her eyes kept darting over, her feet rooted to the spot. It wasn’t until Beth called out to her, “Come help!”—
Clouds parted, rain cleared.
In the days that followed, Li Changsheng did not leave the residence, instead plunging into the task of upgrading his abilities. During this period, he tossed the Pioneer serum to Li Xiao G, who injected it without hesitation. As he put it, “In ancient times, Shennong tasted every herb; today, I test every poison myself.”
Meanwhile, Li Xiao Xu, elusive as a dragon, rarely appeared except to throw a few magic skill books Li Changsheng’s way, and he skipped meetings unless truly necessary.
Li Xiao T was more pragmatic, focusing on researching online meetings, and had just made some progress.
Seeing this, Li Changsheng changed the frequency of meetings to once a month.
A month quickly passed.
Under Li Changsheng’s leadership, Civilization City continued to expand its territory, having now cleared the entire southern district of walking corpses, and set up surveillance and obstacles at every intersection.
Aside from expanding territory, Li Changsheng immersed himself in Zoe’s laboratory, working to develop a vaccine, though progress was slow. He understood this well; in his previous life, when the pandemic struck, vaccines appeared only after a year. Moreover, here, the virus mutations were far more numerous.
In addition, Li Changsheng consumed many sunflowers, greatly enhancing his overall magical power. However, his cells’ tolerance seemed limited; once his magic reached a certain peak, it stopped rising.
This troubled him, but at least he had reached G2.5, enabling him to use basic summoning and portal magic.
But thereafter, no matter how many sunflowers he consumed, Li Changsheng found it difficult to gain further progress. This vexed him deeply.
Another meeting day arrived.
As usual, Li Changsheng entered the ruins of the mysterious space. Upon entering, he was taken aback by the sight: on the stone table sat a device resembling a router, with his three avatars seated around it, each holding something akin to a smartphone.
“Uh, what are you all playing at?” he asked, bemused by the elaborate setup, as if a bunch of internet-addicted teenagers were gaming together.
No one answered, except Li Xiao T, who looked up and flashed his diamond teeth. “Network video conference, success!”
Ha. Just like that?
Such efficiency.
Li Xiao T had no intention of telling him that he’d been so proactive simply to find more amusement during work hours. He casually tossed Li Changsheng an identical device.
Li Changsheng took it and examined it. Goodness—it was exactly the same as the latest flagship smartphone from the year 2023 in his previous life. Touchscreen, soft-installed apps.
At present, there was just one app: a Multiverse Chat program.
Well then.
It was no different from the chat apps he’d known before.
Li Changsheng exclaimed, “Did you develop this?”
“Who has the time? For this sort of thing, just apply to SkyNet for research funding, then have the little robots below copy and ‘proxy’ humanity’s old software, simple as that,” Li Xiao T replied with utter nonchalance.
Li Changsheng grinned, “You’ve really got the workplace figured out.”
Li Xiao T slipped on sunglasses, feigning profundity. “This is just the beginning. Once I apply to SkyNet for entertainment app funding, life for robots will finally get more interesting.”
Probably just so you aren’t bored yourself...
He truly didn’t know how SkyNet tolerated this character...
Li Changsheng shook his head, and Li Xiao T explained the usage.
The router-like device on the table was actually a robot server, able to store all kinds of information. Li Xiao T had appropriated it for himself.
The phones were all connected to this server. Since signals couldn’t cross worlds, Li Xiao T had the clever idea of placing the server within the mysterious space.
And this space could indeed transmit signals.
It was simple: as long as Li Changsheng and the others composed their messages and hit send, placing the phone in the space, the signal would transfer to the server, simultaneously updating everyone’s messages.
Once finished, just take it out.
Impressive—
Li Xiao G, perhaps fearing his sharp claws would damage the device, only cradled it gingerly, with two tentacles on his shoulder tapping away.
Li Xiao Xu was more normal, his blue, fat hands typing away.
Li Xiao T had the phone installed directly onto his body, merely watching.
Li Changsheng picked up the phone, tried it, and sent a message: “Hello, world!”
The chat soon became lively.
“1.”
“@Li Xiao T, make some games.”
“Not feasible, the latency’s too high.”
“Single-player ones.”
“Good idea.”
They played around for a while before Li Changsheng remembered the meeting, and gravely declared, “Hey, enough, stop playing, let’s get to business!”
He opened the discussion, “Li Xiao T, how’s the Pioneer reagent research going?”
“Just look at me, you’ll see it’s a success. Dr. William and the others were stunned.” He gestured to the tentacles on his shoulder. “These are the visible effects brought by the G-cell absorption reagent. Your sunflowers contributed greatly, and I have a hunch—if I can absorb even more advanced genes, I’ll evolve to G3.”
“You’re stuck at G2.5. I know you want to pursue the magic route, but you also know humans have limits. Consider looking for ancient lifeforms, unlocking genetic locks, or absorbing some exotic genes.”
“This kind of reagent will suffice. Once I’ve perfected it, I’ll make you some without side effects, based on my template.”
Absorbing advanced genes...
Li Changsheng nodded.
His zombie world likely had plenty, but their effects would probably be similar to the Pioneer reagent. He’d need even more potent zombie genes...
Or perhaps wait for Umbrella and Pioneer to produce something powerful, then swoop in and reap the rewards...
But that’s for the future.
He set these thoughts aside, his face brightening. “Guys, I’ve got good news—my summoning and portal spells are ready. Who wants to try first?”
A silence followed.
Li Xiao G looked startled. “Uh, don’t summon me yet, I can’t leave at the moment.”
Li Xiao Xu’s voice was low. “Same here.”
Li Xiao T smiled awkwardly. “I’m busy with a project, so…”
“Alright, enough! So I worked hard to learn these, and none of you want to use them?” Li Changsheng was both annoyed and amused.
Suddenly, voices came from the doorway.
“Summon me!”
“Help! Come to me first!”