You were supposed to hoard supplies, why the heck did you hoard zombies!

The conversation had reached a point where nearly everyone in the room understood what Doctor Zhao meant.

Zhang Ye immediately furrowed his brows and asked,

"Parasite?"

"Is there such a small parasite?"

Ai Bing, who wasn't well-versed in biology, could only shake her head to indicate she didn't know, after which both she and Zhang Ye turned their questioning gazes toward Doctor Zhao.

His expression was equally serious, but to their questions, he could only reply with a helpless shake of his head,

"I don't know."

"Right now, it's not possible to determine exactly what this thing is."

Zhang Ye was immediately stunned, "Even you don't know?"

Doctor Zhao nodded, his gaze still fixed on the tissue sample under the microscope, as if choosing his words carefully.

Only after a long pause did he once again speak slowly,

"From what I know about these pathogens, what we usually see in such situations are some extremely rare bacteria."

"But I cannot rule out the possibility of some kind of insect that has never been discovered."

"After all, judging by the behavior displayed by the zombies, the likelihood that the zombification is caused by a parasitic infection is quite high."

Both listeners had become very somber upon hearing this.

Yet they said nothing, just listening quietly.

Indeed.

Seeing that they had no intention of interrupting him, a hint of satisfaction flickered across Doctor Zhao's face, and he continued slowly,

"For now, I have named this pathogen Corpse Worm."

"What do you think, Director Zhang?"

Zhang Ye immediately smiled and replied, "I have no objections, as you're the one who discovered it, Doctor Zhao, the naming is naturally up to you."

As he spoke, a trace of confusion flashed in his eyes, and he went on to ask,

"But there are some things I still don't understand."

"If these things are really worms and living people are turned into zombies through parasitism, then what's with those Mutant Beasts on the streets?"

Ai Bing, clearly sharing the same doubt, quickly followed up,

"Zhang Ye is right."

"They don't seem to be parasitized and haven't undergone zombification; they only seem to have undergone some changes in body shape and temperament."

That said, their current state was worlds apart from before the disaster.

After all, crawfish used to be much smaller.

This could no longer be called a mutation; it was a complete genetic transformation of the species, like Spider-Man getting bitten by a spider and then having the strength to scale walls and swing from rooftops.

Both of them thought their questions might stump Doctor Zhao for a while.

But to their surprise, he immediately had an answer.

"Because they haven't been parasitized," Doctor Zhao said definitively.

Zhang Ye immediately frowned and was about to argue, "But you just said it was a parasitic..."

"Parasitic insect," Doctor Zhao cut in.

"It's not yet certain, so it's just a hypothesis."

"But this doesn't conflict."

"What do you mean?" Zhang Ye was a little bewildered.

If the Corpse Worm truly was parasitic, then logically, those Mutant Canines and other animals should have already become Corpse Beasts.

Their skin decaying, their limbs emaciated, just like those they had seen among the zombie hordes.

But that hadn't happened.

Compared to their zombified counterparts, the Mutant Beasts almost entirely retained their animal nature and physiological features, with only differences in shape and temperament.

If Doctor Zhao's earlier assumptions were correct, then theoretically, such a thing should be impossible.

But was that really the case?

Ai Bing fell silent, evidently pondering the same issue.@@novelbin@@

Then, her eyes suddenly brightened.

"Could it be—"

"Symbiosis."

Doctor Zhao spat out two words.

A strange excitement flickered in his deep-set eyes.

Just like those mad scientists in movies who had finally found the answer to a problem that had plagued them for years. Experience tales with My Virtual Library Empire

As if to corroborate his claim, he took a new sample from nearby — a piece of flesh freshly sliced from the Mutant Rat in the corner.

After making some minor adjustments, the man quickly stepped aside to indicate Zhang Ye to come and have a look.

Ten minutes later.

Zhang Ye and Ai Bing eyed each other wordlessly.

Both saw deep surprise and disbelief in the other's eyes.

Compared to the original sample, the tissue slice from this Mutant Rat displayed a completely different form under the microscope, astonishingly devoid of any swimming worms.

But on the helical objects within its cells, there were clearly some strange branches.

Those must have been left by the Corpse Worms as they burrowed in.

What in the world was going on?

Seeing their expressions, Doctor Zhao knew they had grasped the difference between the two cases, so he immediately explained in a grave tone:

"This is what I refer to as symbiosis."

"The Corpse Worms are not just parasites within the host cells."

"Instead, after entering, they have, for some reason, reached an equilibrium with the host cells, thus preventing the zombification process."

Zhang Ye recalled the branch-like structures on the spiral bodies he had seen earlier.

The spiral objects must have been the cell's DNA.

As for the branches...

They were the Corpse Worms.

But when he relayed what he had seen to the others, Doctor Zhao offered another horrifying explanation:

"This is the real reason I called Director Zhang here."

"The Corpse Worm's parasitism is not like the infectious diseases caused by ordinary parasites; it takes root directly upon the DNA of the organism."

Doctor Zhao's complexion had turned extremely grave at this point.

And within it, there were traces of worry.

Parasitizing on DNA?

"What do you mean?"

Zhang Ye clearly did not understand the meaning of his words.

After all, the other man was a doctor of medicine, while he was utterly ignorant in the field, with the only bit of biological knowledge being what he had learned in high school.

And that had probably been thrown into a ditch along with his torn-up textbooks by now.

He only remembered what DNA meant.

The genetic material of living organisms.

Doctor Zhao glanced at him and continued: "It's simple, the parasitism of the Corpse Worm leads to the alteration of the host's genes, and it seems that the reproduction of the Corpse Worm also relies on the replication of the host's DNA."

(I'm purely speculating here, don't take it too seriously.)

Zhang Ye finally understood what he meant.

But then came the second question.

Symbiosis?

If it alters the host's genes, how could it possibly achieve a symbiotic relationship between them?

The answer quickly came from Doctor Zhao's mouth.

"It's simple."

"Their genes have fused."

"Under the influence of some cause, the Corpse Worm that entered the host cell has fused its own genes with those of the host."

"This is why those wild beasts didn't undergo zombification but instead underwent mutations."

"Their genes indeed mutated."

The room fell into deep silence.

It seemed everyone was immersed in the shock of his words.

Could a worm capable of injecting its genes into a host be natural?