If the S-1 virus was a natural disaster, unpredictable and impossible to prepare for, then the S-2 virus was undeniably a man-made calamity, born from human greed and the primal yearning encoded in our genes.

“Whoa, isn’t this the Armored Titan from Attack on Titan?”

Flipping to the first illustration of an infected entity, Cheng Ye felt a jolt of recognition at the familiar form.

A roughly twenty-meter-tall giant, its body covered in insect-like armor plates, wielded a chemical factory smokestack as a weapon. The absurdity reminded him of Lu Zhishen uprooting a willow tree in some wild tale.

Opposite the giant stood eight massive cannon barrels, each over a meter in diameter.

Cheng Ye wasn’t sure what would happen when they clashed, but he knew the giant’s fate would be grim.

Modern technology wasn’t like the maneuver gear in manga, requiring humans to swing around slashing necks.

Within the range of those cannons, truth reigned supreme.

Further down, more illustrations followed: a speed-infected with Achilles tendons stretching up to its neck, a flying infected sprouting wings from its back, and an intelligent infected with a brain occupying half its body volume.

Compared to zombies, Cheng Ye found these infected almost comically foolish.

Their exaggerated forms clearly took a wrong turn in evolution. No matter how naive humans were, they wouldn’t see these as viable for sustained development.

Naturally, their suppression in just over a year was hardly surprising.

“With one and two comes three and four, so it’s no shock if it happens again.”

The author’s question at the page’s end didn’t surprise Cheng Ye; it felt almost expected.

The S-series viruses were immensely dangerous but carried equally immense potential rewards.

Turning to the next chapter, as expected, the S-3 virus made its debut.

The S-2 virus was eradicated in the summer of 2043. For the next five years, human civilization rapidly recovered. Sanctuary cities were dismantled, and humans returned to familiar urban lives, everything seemingly back on track.

Until the S-3 virus emerged!

Despite decades of research, the origin of this unique virus remains unknown. It no longer infected humans but targeted animals and plants, perfectly blending the traits of S-1 and S-2. Spread through water sources, it radiated globally in just six months, enabling flora and fauna to break their limits, producing astonishing effects.

It’s unimaginable that this planet could go so mad. Ordinary soil and plants, catalyzed by the virus, could produce a special plant, the Nine-Turn Ginseng Fruit, capable of rejuvenating an eighty-year-old back to their twenties, restoring youth instantly.

Even more unbelievable, with the Nine-Turn Ginseng Fruit’s emergence, increasingly bizarre mutated creatures and plants appeared: mutated beetle meat granting tens of tons of strength, hundred-segment grass enabling limb regrowth and superhuman recovery, lava lotus bestowing fire-breathing abilities, and wind-cluster leaves allowing low-altitude flight.

Many called it a spiritual resurgence, heralding a grand era of competition for humanity. Others claimed it was a return to the primordial age, with mythical immortal artifacts reawakening to lead humanity back to a cosmic pinnacle. I don’t know who’s right, but I’m certain this virus is far more terrifying than S-1 or S-2!

It perfectly exploited human nature, targeting humanity’s weaknesses, precisely striking at our ultimate desires for immortality, power, and transcendence. As rejuvenating fruit flesh was frantically fought over, and ability-granting fruits hit the black market, the S-3 virus, with the gentlest approach, executed a slaughter more thorough than the previous two disasters.

It didn’t need to destroy human order; human greed shattered everything on its own!

Humanity went mad. Everyone went mad, driven insane by the pursuit of transcendence and power!

.(Censored), (Scratched out)

Laughably, humanity endured the relentless bombardment of S-1 and S-2 without signs of civilizational collapse. Yet, after the S-3 virus, which didn’t directly affect humans, the losses were catastrophic. Vast cities emptied, and all-out war erupted.

The page ended.

No illustrations.

Cheng Ye was plunged into deep shock, the words pulling him into that frenzied era, showing him how human nature was laid bare in the age of transcendence, turning weapons meant for external foes into daggers piercing civilization itself.

An era of grand competition, where everyone could become transcendent.

Even ordinary people hiding in sanctuary cities succumbed to greed, and the foundation began to spiral out of control, dragging human civilization into the abyss.

Inexplicably, Cheng Ye’s thoughts turned to Earth.

If this virus appeared on Earth, could humanity withstand the successive catalysts of S-1, S-2, and S-3?

One thing had always puzzled him.

The Blue Star wasteland he now inhabited was, aside from some geographic names, indistinguishable from the Earth he knew before transmigrating.

“Could it be that I didn’t cross to another world but traveled through time?”

Cheng Ye couldn’t help but speculate.

Changing place names wasn’t hard. With transcendent powers at play, redrawing regional boundaries was trivial.

The text’s description of the transition from the Old Era to the New Era seemed to reinforce his theory.

The chaos wrought by the S-3 virus lasted a full fifteen years, reducing Blue Star’s population to under two billion. Wars erupted everywhere, and each new transcendent object sparked “grand spectacles” involving millions. This farce ended not because humanity recognized the virus’s danger but because the S-3 virus mutated again, giving rise to S-4!

In the autumn of 2063, Old Era, the S-3 virus splintered into the unique S-4 virus. Laughable, isn’t it? It’s like a cycle. S-4 reverted to S-2’s traits, losing broad transmission and targeting only specific groups via airborne spread, specifically, those who were already transcendent!

“What?”

Cheng Ye’s heart skipped, nearly exclaiming aloud.

Living through the eras described might obscure the S-series viruses’ terror, but looking back, from S-3 to S-4, wasn’t it just a scam? Lure people in, then slowly slaughter them.

Transcendent individuals infected by S-4 saw their powers spiral out of control, their genetic chains fracturing, turning them into walking corpses driven by base instincts, what we call primal infection sources.

Though S-4 didn’t directly affect ordinary people, the mutated powers within transcendent individuals remained deadly pollutants. A rare few who contacted this power might inherit a sliver of transcendence, but most repeated the same fate, gaining power while losing sanity, becoming infected entities driven by instincts, fragmented memories, and pre-death habits, replaying broken fragments of their lives.

The various infected entities we encounter today can be traced back to these transcendent individuals of the Old Era, their abilities rooted in those origins.

Due to the primal infection sources’ stealth and uniqueness, human technological weapons became largely ineffective. To preserve civilization, sanctuary city programs were restarted to protect ordinary people while isolating the spread of infection sources.

The first rekindled sanctuary city was completed in 2070. To prevent future generations from repeating history’s mistakes, survivors made a bold decision: sever ties with the Old Era, redraw the planet’s map, erase continents and ruined cities polluted by primal infection sources, and bury parts of history that caused immense harm to civilization, ushering in the New Era.

Old Era 2070 became New Era Year 1, and human civilization set back on track, embarking on a grueling struggle destined to last centuries. Sadly, my lifespan is nearing its end, and I won’t see the true conclusion of this catastrophe!

But perhaps there’s an S-5, or an S-6, don’t you think?

Flip.

Unknowingly, Cheng Ye had reached the final page of The Origin of the Infected, his gaze lingering on the author’s question, written as if with their last ounce of strength.

S-5?

S-6?

The S-series viruses had mutated only four times, yet nearly pushed human civilization to the brink of collapse.

If another shift in mutation occurred, reverting to S-1’s broad transmission mode, with zombies reappearing, zombies that had surpassed carbon-based limits…

Cheng Ye shivered, realizing this wasteland might be far more dangerous than he’d imagined.

At the same time, a thought struck him.

“It’s New Era Year 35 now. If I can find the buried history and prove this is Earth…”

“Then I didn’t cross to a parallel world but traveled eighty years into the future?”