The phone was quickly answered as Nana, the minotaur, dialed the number, and someone on the other end picked up immediately. Clearly, the people in the basement had been eagerly awaiting this call.


    Alex took the phone, and a man''s impatient voice came through, "What''s your decision? We have sessfully developed thetest mutation-inducing serum, with a sess rate of 50%! As long as you agree to our terms, we can contribute thetest research results to you!"


    A 50% sess rate? That was indeed a very high sess rate. If it were true, half of the enved women under Alex could sessfully mutate. However, at the same time, half of them would turn into zombies.


    Regardless of whether it was true or not, this sess rate was far from enough for Alex. Without responding to the man, Alex said indifferently, "I''ll give you another 3 hours. After that, I will no longer ept surrender. Everything, including everything in the basement, will be destroyed."


    Alex finished speaking and hung up the phone. There was nothing to negotiate. Even if the other party had strong abilities, Alex didn''t need people who couldn''t bepletely controlled under him.


    Anyone seeking survival under Alex''s de had only two choices: either submit and be his ve or faceplete ughter. There was no third option for them to choose.


    "Ding-ling-ling~"


    "Ding-ling-ling~"


    The phone immediately rang again.


    No one answered.


    The terms had been made clear. Now, it was up to them to make their choice.


    Face artillery and ughter,


    or be ves and continue living.


    Let them decide on their own.


    Alex didn''t want to waste more words. These people didn''t deserve to negotiate conditions with him.


    ...


    In the basement, a group of scientists wearing special protective suits gathered in a cramped conference room. The leader was not a man but a middle-aged woman with sses.


    She wore a tight-fitting protective suit, with a slender and somewhat frail figure. Perhaps due to theck of sunlight, her skin was pale, but it was an unhealthy kind of pallor.


    Physically, she wasn''t a captivating beauty. She even seemed a bit skeletal.


    However, the woman''s facial features were extremely elegant and pure, exuding a noble and respected aura. At a nce, one could tell she was the kind of beauty dedicated to science, immersed in selfless devotion to the scientificmunity.


    The woman was approaching her 36th birthday. Throughout half of her life, her youth, her life, and all her efforts had been dedicated to the field of biological science.


    She never had a romantic rtionship.


    Never watched a movie.


    Never strolled on the streets.


    Never enjoyed life.


    She had no idea what else was worth pursuing beyond her beloved scientific career.


    She was a dull person.


    A simple person.


    As long as she could continue her research, she didn''t care about anything else.


    Loyalty to whom?


    Not important.


    The consequences of her research results?


    Not important.


    What mattered was that everything she fought for should not be drowned in the river of history.


    What mattered was that she didn''t want anyone to interfere with her research!


    She needed freedom, needed to control her own destiny!


    Her dedication and single-mindedness earned her much respect and admiration from many here. However, her autocracy and self-righteousness also made many people resentful. Yet, in this ce, no one dared to resist Professor Yang''s authority.


    On one hand, it was because Professor Yang had umted power for a long time; on the other hand, it was because Professor Yang''s psychic abilities were particrly terrifying!


    They had witnessed mutated individuals who retained some memories after the transformation attempting to rebel against Professor Yang''s experiments. However, Professor Yang directly used telekinesis to control them on an electric chair, electrocuting them alive!


    "Professor Yang... What should we do next? Our food and water are about to run out, the backup power is almost depleted, and the other side only gave us 10 hours to consider. After 10 hours, they will unleash indiscriminate ughter on us, and everything here will be destroyed..."


    The man who had just been responsible for the call spoke anxiously and fearfully.


    In the meeting room, over a dozen other researchers were also restless, discussing anxiously.


    Even in such a dire situation, no one stepped forward to make a decision.


    Everyone looked at the real Professor Yang.


    Yes, she was the true Professor Yang.


    People outside the core research team in the basement had always thought that Professor Yang was the man beside her.


    But no one knew.


    This man was just her assistant; all the research here was done under her leadership. The entire underground researchb continuously produced new results because of this woman!


    If it were before the apocalypse, this woman could have gained the admiration and respect of the entire world. The Nobel Prize in Biology would have undoubtedly belonged to her!


    But now it was the apocalypse.


    No one knew about her greatness and contributions.


    No one awarded her any prizes.


    She was not good at socializing, and she detested the intrigues and deceit of office politics. She never involved herself in anything other than scientific research. However, her achievements in the field of biology were unmatched by anyone. In the eyes of the entire research team, Professor Yang was both a deity and a madwoman.


    Professor Yang turned around, looking at theboratory outside the meeting room. In the dim light, a few people were still busy there. That ce was the culmination of their lifelong efforts, her entire emotional anchor. She might not care about her own life, but she absolutely would not allow everything before her to be destroyed.


    "Is there still no one answering the phone from above?" Professor Yang finally spoke. Her voice was pleasant and melodious.


    "Yes, after presenting his demands to us, they never answered our calls again," a young female researcher responsible for the phone sounded disheartened. "He just doesn''t want to waste time with us. His message is clear, giving us two choices, allowing us to decide our fate through our actions."


    "In his eyes, we are nothing," Professor Yang said with her eyes closed. "Such a person doesn''t care about science and won''t support our research!"


    This was Professor Yang''s greatest concern and the thing she found most repulsive. If she couldn''t conduct her research freely, she would prefer to die.


    "So what do we do?" an anxious young researcher asked. "An hour has already passed, and we have at most two hours left. Even if the two witches can''t stop him, if he wants to destroy our undergroundb, it will be difficult for us to resist."


    Professor Yang suddenly opened her eyes. "Now we have only two choices. One is to make a desperate fight, and the other is to submit to the other''s very. This time, let everyone decide for themselves."