Chapter #27

It didn't take long for the public's view to change, at first they thought Alex and Zeno were the ones responsible for the outbreak.

Then they saw the videos of Captain Robert Cross using the virus and how he started all of this.

The public naturally didn't believe everything they see on the internet... Who are we kidding? They bought that shit like it was being handed out for free.

Then Alex and Zeno actually started to clean out the infection, and the army was quick to slander them by saying they were doing it for their own benefits.

They were not wrong, yet the public opinion of them grew larger. People suddenly thought that having tentacle blades and draconic scales were cool.

By the end of the week, there was even merchandise about them.

'Dana went all out it seems.' Zeno thought as he looked at the shirts with a wry smile on his face.

Alex was glaring at his own shirts being sold. 'That is it! She is grounded when we get back.' Alex decided.

"We are ready to take on Cross. I can feel that I can compete with him through the Hive Mind." Alex diverted the topic away from merchandise.

Especially the hug pillows of himself with half naked pictures... 'Where did she even get such shots of me?!'

"Yeah, the cure and the vaccine are ready. Also I Cross is about to completely take over the Giant." Zeno said.

The cure was finished long ago, but the vaccine took time. They were ready to fight Cross since last week but Zeno figured they should clean out the hives all over the city.

'After all it is always annoying to have mobs during boss fights.' Zeno thought.

Two nodded at each other before moving out.

______

The two arrived at the former Gentek building that was being occupied by the Giant.

Alex and Zeno both could fly to some degree thanks to clever use of their abilities, so the Giant didn't seem too imposing to them.

Zeno's flight couldn't really be called flight since he was just imitating 3D maneuver devices from Attack of Titan.

As if sensing their arrival, the giant opened its mouth to roar...

Zeno threw the canister containing the cure at that moment, landing it right in its mouth.

Canister exploded releasing the cure inside the Giant, causing it to slowly melt into a puddle of biomass, allowing Alex to drink it through a straw.

'Use the special decive to absorb the biomass he said. It totally will look cool he said.' Alex grumbled in his mind as he dranked it all.

The people who were watching the boss fight from their homes through television and internet were dumbfounded. They felt betrayed!

______

Once all the biomass was consumed by Alex, they could finally see the figures of Elizabeth and Cross.

They were both back to being human, the cure didn't liquefied them due to their own genetic resistance.

Their bodies still consisted of biomass making them superior to normal humans.

"What happened to them?" Alex wondered.

The two looked different, for example Elizabeth had her hair back, she looked nothing like her recent photos.

As for Cross... Well he isn't important.

"It seems both had forgotten their memories of the time they were infected.

It is worse for Elizabeth, she lost everything. She still has the basic skills and stuff but you know she's a blank slate." Zeno quickly diagnosed them.

Hearing him, Alex quickly sent his tentacles towards Elizabeth and sucked her up in it, letting him carry her inside his own biomass without hindering his mobility.

Zeno just deadpanned at Alex. He already guessed Alex's plans for Elizabeth but in the end he just shook his head and moved on.

Both of them left New York quickly, leaving Cross to be the scapegoat for everything that happened.

______

"Welcome back!" Dana greeted them merrily.

She hugged them both separately, hugging Zeno a bit longer than necessary.

"So brother, I heard you picked yourself as a woman like she was some fresh harvest." Dana grinned at Alex who actually blushed.

"What's that supposed to mean!? Go and suck your boyfriend's face or something." Alex tried to blow the matter over but he was unable to.

"Hee, it's refreshing to see my brother blush. Well, then brother I will be sucking my boyfriend like you said." Dana chuckled as she moved back towards Zeno.

Alex's brows twitched at her unnatural cheeriness but he didn't have the heart to shoot her down.

'Am I spoiling her too much?' He wondered but decided that it was Zeno's problem now.

Alex wanted to bring Elizabeth back to his room to start her education right away but he couldn't.

After all, Elizabeth needed a full body check to see if there were any lingering effects from the cure.

In the end all they discovered was that Elizabeth was certainly not getting her memories back.

Dana, who didn't know about Elizabeth's memory loss was sad, at least until she saw her brother's creepy grin.

'Her not remembering might be a good thing...' Dana thought.

Once Zeno was sure that his future sister in-law was healthy, Alex took her to his room and locked the door.

Zeno was about to go back to the laboratory to start working on his Goldlight virus until he saw Dana staring at him.

'System, take over the research I am going to tend to my girlfriend.'

[Thank Merlin! It was getting near impossible to hold your instincts back.]

{Yeah, do try to get laid. We won't watch, I promise.} His previous life commented.

'That is not suspicious at all...' Zeno deadpanned at Ouryuu.

Dana and Zeno just looked at each other before going to their room to continue practicing kissing, maybe going even further than that.

'I am so riding that dragon tonight!' Dana encouraged herself.

______

After three years, Zeno finally finished his work on the Goldlight and even developed an inferior version he called Silverlight.

He had to go out and hunt down Pariah and consume his genetic information for it but that's not important.

Goldlight is superior to Blacklight and Redlight in every way due to being enhanced with nanites and Ceph Technology.

It is also tied to Zeno's bloodline, allowing him to transfer his infinite lifespan and vitality to the other hosts.

This will allow him to share his immortality with his loved one's and provide them with infinite biomass just the output will be limited.

Also the Hive Mind governing the Goldlight has much looser restrictions due to Zeno plans of using it on family.

Silverlight on the other hand is for people like Tyrone. It is basically a strain subservient to the Goldlight, discount slavery if you would like.

While Zeno now possesses the power to rapidly age himself to skip the whole childhood deal, he figured such strain would come in handy.

Zeno's relationship with Dana had progressed nicely, she calmed down a lot after the whole outbreak was handled.

Especially after she got infected by the Goldlight. She was over the moon.

Alex on the other hand...

Well, neither Zeno nor Dana has seen him leaving his room. For the past three years Alex has been grooming Elizabeth.

At this point they are afraid to see the results.

_____

That night Alex left his room alongside Elizabeth. They were dressed nicely which was weird considering they have been living in a room for the past three years.

"What's up?" Alex greeted them like he wasn't missing for the past three years.

"Hello, you two must be Zeno and Dana. Alex told me all about you two. It's so nice to finally meet you!" Then came Elizabeth who greeted them cheerfully.

Zeno and Dana communicated with their eyes before deciding they would rather not know the details.

"Heyyy, Elizabeth, you seem better. It's good that you're okay." Dana quickly took Elizabeth to her side.

Meanwhile Zeno just hit Alex with his elbow. "What the fuck bro?!"

Alex shrugged with a relaxed smile. "I finally have a girlfriend I can trust."

They took the entire night to catch Alex up to speed with the news about Goldlight.

Dana was already infected with 'Harem Strain', all that was left was Alex and Elizabeth getting the 'Family Strain'.

Family Strain just needs approval on both sides and an injection to take root.

Zeno has to make sure there won't be mutations but his bloodline handles the most of the work and with Alex and Elizabeth already being compatible they didn't have to worry.

It takes only a couple days for the family strain to finish it's work.

The harem version has natural Anti-NTR protections placed in it naturally produced by his bloodline and Zeno has to sleep with the woman to infect them with it.

This strain is further boosted by his bloodline, thus it only takes a single night to completely infect the harem member.

Once Alex checked the virus himself he got infected willingly, not caring about being under Zeno in the Hive Hierarchy.

'I got everything I wanted, if I were to die now I'd be a happy man. I am okay with this.' Alex thought.

______

Since Zeno had one more year until he could traverse the River of Reincarnation safely he decided to stick around and travel the world.

He naturally took his whole family with him, as they are now. No force in this world could stop them.

Then again they didn't dare to do so, Alex and Zeno became world class celebrities at the time they disappeared.

The population loved them while governments were afraid of them, especially after USA released their reports about them possibly being able to survive nuclear bombs.

So they had a pretty relaxed world tour, they collected genetic samples from all kinds of animals enhancing their fighting power.

Animals didn't offer much but the genetic diversity allowed Goldlight to become more complex.

______

And finally the day of Zeno's departure has arrived.

Neither Dana nor Zeno slept that night. They cuddled and made love 'till dawn.

Dana knew Zeno might spend thousands of years away until he finds a way to come back and she wanted to ingrain herself to his memories.

"I will be mad if you forget about me!" Dana said with a pout.

Zeno smiled at her, he didn't have the correct words for this moment. This was his third life yet this was the first time he was leaving people he cared about behind.

He already said his goodbye to Alex and Elizabeth. Giving Dana one last hug and kiss Zeno went to his next life.

_______

The trio watched Zeno leaving with a golden beam of light. Now they just had to wait for him to come back.

Just then the golden light gathered into a cloud before parting open, beyond it was a palace worthy of gods.

A stairs of light descended from the palace right before the trio's feet.

"..." Trio.

They knew he might be more powerful when he came back but, isn't this a bit excessive?