Mage Adam-Chapter 140: The Third Generation Virus

The devil rushed into Adam's lab in a panic, crying out, "Master, there's a problem."

Adam didn't even glance his way. Using his mind power, he stuck the devil to the wall. "Quiet," he ordered, "Whatever it is, it can wait until I've finished my experiment."

The third generation of the virus wasn't a completely advanced version of the earlier one. Instead, Adam had only added a self-destruct program in it.

The virus determined the host's abilities, but only up to the strength of an average apprentice. No matter how many other infected beings one host consumes, it can't exceed this limit. So, when Adam let go of his control over the virus, they would eventually self-destruct as they all tried to eat each other.

This was what the devil saw. 𝘣𝑒𝑑𝑛𝘰𝑣𝘦𝘭.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Adam injected the third-generation solution into ten masses of infected blood and flesh, then let go of his control over them.

An instinct took over. After a few minutes of careful contact, the infected blood and flesh began to eat each other. During this, Adam tossed a small creature into the dish. The viruses immediately stopped fighting each other, and together tore the creature apart before resuming their feast.

"Not bad," Adam thought, "The command to attack is temporarily stronger than the urge to self-destruct."

As the blood and flesh chucks ate each other, the winner became more and more powerful. The power of the last one standing was as strong as an antimage apprentice. But this was its limit. When it had no more beings to consume, the virus cells began to die. The infected body shrunk, large chunks of flesh turned gray, and after ten minutes, it completely lost its life.

After writing down all the steps of the experiment, Adam, holding the final version of the third-generation virus, turned around and released the devil from his mind control. Before he could speak, he heard the devil's scared voice, "Master, is this the third-generation virus? My Garfield, you promised me, you won't destroy it!"

Adam walked straight out of the lab to Garfield's side. Ignoring the devil's look of fear and despair, he stuck the needle into his body, pushed it in all the way, then explained, "The third-generation virus only affects the offspring. The parent won't self-destruct. However, when all the offspring are destroyed, the parent will also lose the ability to infect, and the virus cells will become harmless."

The devil didn't understand, but he knew that Garfield would be okay. Instantly relieved, he jumped on Garfield, chattering happily.

"After you finish the tasks I've given you, you can spread the third-generation virus. Also, what did you want to tell me when you first came to see me?" Adam, looking at several small hills made of metal ore on the ground through the light screen, asked.

"I... I just..." The devil, still overjoyed from the relief of not losing Garfield, was caught off guard by Adam's question and took a moment before answering, "Yes, master, we have a problem. It seems like those apprentices have found us."

Adam's eyes narrowed slightly. He had always known that the apprentices were smart, and he knew his role as the secret puppet master would eventually be revealed. Still, he felt somewhat uneasy when that moment finally came. It wasn't that he was scared of them, but he wasn't sure how to react.

Looking at the two almost complete magic arrays, Adam thought to himself,

Those who are part of the trial are the best from the Tower over the last hundred years. If I kill all of them, will I be in trouble?

"How long before they get here?" Adam asked.

The devil thought for a moment before answering, "They are too powerful. Even if I keep sending antimages to slow them down, along with the interference from the infected, we can only delay them by three days at most."