076 Super Soldier Serum?

Two months had passed since Li Daniu and the others had found the survivor base. Robert and his group had fully integrated into life at the base. In this post-apocalyptic world, everyone struggled for survival; no one was willing to share their hard-earned gains to support idlers.

Abe and Betty, relying on their exceptional physical abilities, had joined the base's hunting team. Before Robert and his companions arrived, the hunting team’s duties, besides gathering supplies and hunting, had mainly been to eliminate any Night Demons that threatened the base. But after Robert brought a vaccine that could cure Night Demons, the team’s main mission shifted to capturing them alive, so they could be turned over to the medical unit led by Robert and Anna for treatment.

Though humanity had suffered an unprecedented catastrophe, knowledge had not been entirely lost, and many industrial machines remained functional. The only major obstacle to rebuilding civilization was the lack of population. Without enough people, production could not be restored. Relying solely on the dwindling stores of food and resources left from before the disaster, how many more years could humanity endure?

Standing atop the watchtower, Li Daniu looked down at the survivors bustling with hope throughout the base, his heart filled with emotion. When they first arrived, aside from Carl—who was elated to reunite with Robert—everyone else in the base resembled the walking dead. If not for the fact that these people could speak and didn’t attack others, Li Daniu would have thought the base had been infected by another kind of virus.

It was only after Carl explained the base’s situation that Li Daniu and the others understood why the people here behaved so lifelessly. At the onset of the disaster, Carl had followed his commanding officer, stationed at this military base by order. Once their posting ended, however, further orders never came. By then, the disaster had fully erupted, and all communications collapsed without human maintenance.

Some nations had emergency communication facilities built for nuclear war, but when those authorized to use them died from the virus or became Night Demons, the equipment became nothing but scrap metal. The virus was indifferent to status—be it president or scientist. Infection meant only a one percent chance of survival. Even those immune like Robert might not escape being killed by loved ones transformed into Night Demons.

Carl’s unit was lucky; during the mass infection, they managed to eliminate all fellow soldiers who had turned. In the end, only eighty or so remained, but they were well-trained soldiers, fully armed and supplied. When Carl’s commanding officer died at the hands of a Night Demon, Carl, as the highest-ranking survivor, took command of the remnant unit.

With this force and the defensible military base, Carl began taking in survivors from nearby cities, establishing the survivor base. By the second year after the catastrophe, the base population had reached 1,500. Yet, in the third year, the number not only failed to increase, but dropped by nearly two hundred. Fewer survivors appeared, especially in the past six months—besides Robert’s group, no new arrivals had joined. Supplies, too, grew ever scarcer. To find anything usable in the already scavenged ruins, Carl’s people had to venture deep into areas swarming with Night Demons.

Casualties mounted. Of those who died at the base, nearly half perished by their own hand, not from injury or illness. Not everyone could face such disaster with equanimity or persist in the absence of hope. It is easy to grow accustomed to luxury, but hard to return to hardship. Modern people, used to comfort and convenience, suddenly had no phones, no internet—none of those indispensable things. They also faced hunger and attacks from Night Demons. In such circumstances, suicide quietly became common within the base.

When Carl announced that Robert had brought a vaccine capable of restoring Night Demons to humanity, the entire base erupted in celebration. Later, in full view of the base’s inhabitants, Robert spent three days treating two captured Night Demons and successfully restored them to conscious humans. A surge of hope exploded in the base, which had been teetering on the edge of silent extinction.

Few can persist in utter despair. But most will endure in the face of difficulty. When Robert transformed despair into challenge, the base operated as if wound to new life.

Now, two months later, the base’s population had grown to 3,500. Of these, a staggering 2,000 were former Night Demons restored to humanity. Robert called these people the New Humans. Their physical abilities, enhanced by the virus, far exceeded ordinary humans; whether working, scavenging, or capturing Night Demons, their efficiency was incomparable.

Farmland was being reclaimed, machinery repaired—the base was developing at a remarkable pace.

“Tarek, the medical bay is calling Tarek.”

Li Daniu was still lost in thought when Robert’s voice came through the radio. He signaled others to take his place on watch and hurried to the medical bay.

Robert’s medical bay was no longer a cramped fifty-square-meter basement, but a vast warehouse exceeding five hundred square meters. Passing several recovering Night Demons, Li Daniu entered Robert’s office and asked eagerly, “Well? Any progress?”

While everyone else was optimistic about the base’s future, Li Daniu harbored a persistent worry: the conflict between New Humans and ordinary humans.

“There is,” Robert nodded. Ever since Li Daniu had raised the issue, he’d been working on a new project, and now he’d succeeded. “Animal trials have been successful. Now we need human trials—but we have no volunteers.”

Robert produced two vials, excitement in his eyes. “If human trials succeed, then all our ordinary people can gain the physical enhancements of Night Demons without becoming one first.”

Seeing the vials, Li Daniu was equally excited. This was the very reason he’d remained at the base these past two months.

After discovering the New Humans’ superior abilities, Li Daniu had worried that as their numbers grew, war would eventually erupt between New Humans and ordinary humans. Though this world was not his own, he considered Robert a friend, so he’d warned him of the danger.

Li Daniu’s original intention was to have Robert infect himself with the virus while he was still present in this world, let the virus strengthen him, then use the vaccine to restore Robert’s humanity—granting him superhuman abilities. But Robert refused; the risk was too great. Infection did not guarantee transformation into a Night Demon—there was a ninety percent chance of death.

Moreover, the base housed 1,500 normal humans; it was impossible to have them all infected. Yet, when the first conflict between New Humans and ordinary humans broke out, Robert came to agree that Li Daniu’s concerns could bring renewed disaster to humanity just as hope was returning.

Thus, Robert secretly began developing a new drug—one that would grant the virus’s physical enhancements without affecting the mind or appearance.

Li Daniu had only meant to fulfill a friend’s duty by warning Robert; he’d never expected this new drug to bear fruit so quickly. In his view, such a breakthrough would take at least three to five years of research. To his surprise, his well-intentioned warning had led to genuine results. If Robert succeeded before he left this world, the value of this drug would be beyond measure.

“We should discuss this with Carl. This must be done,” Li Daniu urged.

Hearing this, Robert made up his mind. He was not one for indecision. If they clung to misplaced kindness and refused human testing, ordinary humans could one day become slaves to the New Humans.

“I’ll go find Carl.”

“Let me go instead,” Li Daniu stopped him. “This must be kept secret from the New Humans—including Abe.”

“All right.” Robert paused, then suddenly said, “Don’t you think this stuff is a lot like the Super Soldier Serum Captain America took? Should I make myself a Captain America suit?”

“I thought your favorites were Batman and Superman?”

“Can’t I like them all?” Robert sighed. “If not for this disaster, Batman v Superman would probably have already hit theaters.”

Reflecting on the Batman v Superman film he’d seen, Li Daniu replied, “Maybe it did, and it wasn’t as good as you’d imagined.”