Since I've been reborn, who would still be your living medicine source

The apocalypse struck, unleashing a deadly virus. My all-powerful husband called, his voice softer than I’d ever heard it.

“Don’t be afraid, my helicopter will be there soon. I’m bringing you to Safe Zone One.”

Faintly, from the other end of the line, I heard his ‘true love,’ Eleanor Vance’s sickly sweet voice.

“Darling, why waste time on that mobile blood bag? My purification pod is ready. Hurry up and get her over here to donate!”

In my previous life, I believed his promise. But what arrived was a squad of soldiers.

They tied me to an experimental table, draining my special, virus-resistant blood.

All to save his frail Eleanor.

Finally, they discarded me like trash into the horde of infected.

Only after my death did I realize: he married me simply because my unique blood type matched his beloved’s, making me her perfect “living source of medicine.”

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day the apocalypse broke out.

Listening to his hollow reassurances over the phone, I smiled.

He didn’t know that the virus antidote I was developing didn’t rely on blood at all. It needed my living cells for its final activation.

And the highest authority key to Safe Zone One, the very fortress I’d personally built, was my heartbeat.

Want to live? Fine. But first, watch your Eleanor Vance take her last breath right in front of me.

1

Not long after the call ended, I heard the approaching roar of a helicopter outside my window.

Did Dorian Blackwood really think I was still that fool he could twist around his little finger?

I hadn’t stayed home waiting to die. I’d long since moved to my true sanctuary—the ‘Heart’ lab beneath the villa. This was my personal creation, a secret base even Dorian Blackwood knew nothing about.

The roaring grew closer. Through the surveillance monitors, I saw the familiar black helicopter.

Inside the cabin, Dorian Blackwood’s hypocritical face peered down through the window.

Pathetic.

Bang!

The villa’s front gate was violently breached. It was Dorian Blackwood’s special forces. Leading them was Captain Ryder, his fiercely loyal commander.

They stormed into the living room, only to find the house empty.

Just then, I activated the projection system. My image instantly appeared on the living room wall, at least ten feet tall.

“Hard at work, gentlemen?” My voice echoed throughout the villa via the sound system.

Captain Ryder’s head snapped up, his gun instantly aimed at my projection.

“Seraphina Jiang? Where are you?”

“No need to be nervous, Captain Ryder. I’m right beneath your feet.”

Captain Ryder’s face changed. Realizing something, he immediately contacted Dorian Blackwood via his comms: “Boss, target isn’t on site. Suspected to be in the basement.”

Soon, Dorian Blackwood’s furious voice came through the comms: “Find her! Now!”

I switched channels, connecting directly to Dorian Blackwood’s private line: “Mr. Blackwood, if you want to invite your ‘mobile blood bag,’ you should at least come in person, shouldn’t you? Hiding in a helicopter, what kind of power is that?”

“Seraphina! What exactly do you want?” Dorian Blackwood’s voice was laced with suppressed rage.

“What do I want?” My laugh turned sharper. “I want to live. But your Eleanor Vance can’t wait, can she?”

From his end, Eleanor Vance’s sickly sweet voice chimed in impatiently: “Darling, hurry up, my purification pod is ready…”

Hearing that voice, my heart gave a sharp, painful lurch. In my previous life, it was that same voice that had accompanied my last moments.

But this time, things were different.

I cut off Dorian Blackwood’s channel, connecting solely to Captain Ryder’s comms.

“Captain Ryder, want to hear an interesting story?”

Captain Ryder frowned. “Ms. Jiang, please cooperate.”

“Cooperate?” I sneered. “Like last time, when I cooperated by letting you tie me to an experimental table?”

Captain Ryder froze. He had no idea what I was talking about, because that had happened in my previous life.

But I had proof.

“Listen to this.”

I played an audio recording—encrypted files I’d hacked from Dorian Blackwood’s phone. Dorian Blackwood’s voice came through clearly:

“Once you get the blood, dispose of Seraphina Jiang. And Captain Ryder’s entire squad, leave no one. Too many people know; it’s bad for Eleanor.”

The recording cut off abruptly.

Captain Ryder’s face instantly twisted. His squad members behind him exchanged glances, their eyes wide with shock and disbelief.

“This… this isn’t possible…” Captain Ryder murmured.

“Impossible?” My voice dripped with mockery. “You’ve risked your lives for him for years, and he wants to silence you all. Captain Ryder, does that still seem impossible?”

I watched Captain Ryder’s wavering expression on the monitor, a surge of satisfaction rising within me.

Loyalty was crumbling.

Just then, Dorian Blackwood’s voice came through the comms again: “Ryder! What are you doing? Get her out of there, now!”

Captain Ryder stared blankly at his comm unit.

I struck while the iron was hot: “If you want to live, listen to me.”

As soon as I finished speaking, I activated the villa’s defense system.

Rumble—

Heavy alloy gates slammed down from the ceiling, sealing the entire villa shut. Captain Ryder and his squad were trapped inside.

2

Dorian Blackwood indeed came in person.

The cabin door opened, and Dorian Blackwood emerged, cradling a dying Eleanor Vance.

Her face was pale, her breathing shallow, looking as if she could expire at any moment. Dorian Blackwood’s expression was strained and anxious, completely devoid of his usual composure.

“Seraphina! Come out!” he shouted at the villa. “Eleanor’s fading fast!”

I activated the hidden passage in the ground. A metal door, just wide enough for one person, opened beneath their feet, revealing stairs leading underground.

“Come down,” my voice echoed from the loudspeaker.

Dorian Blackwood didn’t hesitate, carrying Eleanor Vance inside.

As soon as they stepped into the observation room, the alloy door behind them slammed shut. It was a fully transparent, reinforced glass room, with clear views in all directions.

I sat at the control panel, watching them through the glass wall.

Eleanor Vance leaned weakly in Dorian Blackwood’s arms, yet her eyes still held a defiant glint: “Seraphina Jiang, you can’t win against him. Hurry up and give your blood, and I might spare your life.”

I ignored her.

“Want to save her? It’s simple. Transfer all the highest authorities of your corporation to my name.”

Dorian Blackwood paused, then burst out laughing: “Seraphina Jiang, are you insane? For a dying woman, you want my entire business empire?”

“Do you think I’m joking?”

I lightly pressed a button.

The room’s air purification system activated, but I secretly lowered the oxygen concentration. From 21% down to 19%.

Eleanor Vance’s breathing immediately became more labored. Already weak, she now gasped for air.

“You… what did you do?” Dorian Blackwood noticed the anomaly.

“For every minute you hesitate, the oxygen concentration drops by 1%. How long do you think she can last?”

Eleanor Vance’s face grew even paler, and she desperately clutched Dorian Blackwood’s clothes: “Dorian… I… I can’t breathe…”

Dorian Blackwood’s expression instantly transformed. Anger, shock, and a hint of panic.

“Seraphina! You’re insane! Let us out!” He frantically pounded on the glass wall.

The glass didn’t budge.

I watched his frantic state, an unprecedented thrill surging through me. In my previous life, they had trapped me on that experimental table, forcing me to watch my own blood drain away.

Now, it was their turn to experience this despair.

Time ticked by, minute by minute.

The oxygen concentration dropped to 18%.

Eleanor Vance began to cough violently, her face turning purple. She weakly lifted her head, her eyes filled with venom: “Seraphina Jiang… you bitch… Dorian won’t let you get away with this…”

“Really? Then let’s see what price he’s willing to pay for you.”

Sweat began to bead on Dorian Blackwood’s forehead. He looked at the dying Eleanor Vance in his arms.

“Seraphina Jiang, what exactly do you want?”

“I told you. Your corporation, all its authorities.”

“Impossible!”

Oxygen concentration dropped to 17%.

Eleanor Vance was completely unable to speak, only gasping for breath with her mouth open. Her fingers began to turn purple, her eyes unfocused.

Dorian Blackwood finally panicked: “Wait! Wait! We can talk!”

“Now you want to talk?” My finger hovered above the button. “Too late.”

“Seraphina Jiang!” His voice trembled. “You can have anything you want! Money? Status? I’ll give it all to you! Just spare Eleanor!”

I paused my hand.

Not out of softness, but because I saw genuine fear in his eyes.

This man, once so arrogant, who had treated me as a tool, finally had a weakness.

“Money? Status?” I laughed. “Dorian Blackwood, do you think I lack these things?”

He froze.

Yes, I, Seraphina Jiang, the youngest virologist with multiple patents before the apocalypse, had already amassed a fortune in the hundreds of millions. I never lacked money.

What I lacked was his life.

The oxygen concentration continued to drop. 16%.

Eleanor Vance’s eyes began to roll back, her body convulsing.

Dorian Blackwood completely broke down: “I’ll transfer it! I’ll transfer everything to you! Please, save her!”

I watched him kneel on the ground, but the rage in my heart showed no signs of calming.

In my previous life, I had knelt like that, begging them to spare me. But how did they respond?

“Why waste time? The purification pod is ready, hurry up and donate blood.”

Now, it was their turn to taste despair.

I slowly stood up and walked to the glass wall.

“Dorian Blackwood, do you know? In my previous life, when you killed me, I begged you like this too.”

He snapped his head up, his eyes filled with confusion.

But soon, he would understand everything.

Because the real game had just begun.

3

Oxygen concentration dropped to 15%.

Eleanor Vance had completely lost consciousness.

Dorian Blackwood knelt on the ground, repeatedly banging his head: “I’ll transfer it! I’ll transfer everything to you!”

I pushed a special terminal towards him.

His fingers frantically tapped on the screen, stock transfer agreements flashing by one after another. All corporate authorities were transferred to my name.

The moment the transfer was complete, oxygen levels returned to normal.

Dorian Blackwood gasped for air, holding Eleanor Vance tightly: “Quick! Save her!”

I stood up and walked to the glass wall.

Behind me, a giant screen lit up.

Complex gene sequence diagrams densely covered the entire wall.

“You thought the antidote was in the blood?”

My voice was chillingly calm.

“Idiot.”

Dorian Blackwood froze.

“The virus antidote requires my living cells as a culture medium. The final activation and proliferation must occur inside my body.”

Data scrolled across the screen.

Lines of technical jargon flashed by.

“Draining my blood would only get you useless plasma.”

His face instantly turned ashen.

“Impossible… The doctor said…”

“Doctor? Which doctor?” I sneered. “Only I, in this entire world, could decipher this virus. Who do you think understands it better than me?”

“Furthermore.”

“The activation process is irreversible. It will drain all my life force.”

“Saving her means my death.”

I activated another projection.

An AI simulation appeared on the screen.

Images of me, in my previous life, tied to the experimental table.

Blood being drawn, drop by drop.

My agonizing struggles.

My pleas for mercy.

My tears.

Until the very last moment of my life.

Then, I was thrown into the horde of infected.

Torn apart.

Devoured.

Eleanor Vance woke up.

She looked at the images on the screen, and to my surprise, she smiled.

“Hahahaha… I really hope you died that horribly…”

4

Although Eleanor Vance had resumed normal breathing, the brief oxygen deprivation had reactivated the virus within her.

Eleanor Vance lay in Dorian Blackwood’s arms, her breath growing weaker. Black vascular patterns began to appear on her skin, signs of the virus’s spread.

Dorian Blackwood completely broke down.

He knelt before the glass wall, frantically pounding on the transparent barrier: “Seraphina! I was wrong! Please, save Eleanor! The virus is taking her life!”

“I’ll give you anything! The corporation, the fortune, the power! Just save her!”

I looked at his pathetic state, a slight smile playing on my lips: “For the sake of what we once were, I’ll give you a chance.”

As soon as I spoke, the lab’s automated equipment activated.

A mechanical arm slowly extended to my arm, precisely extracting cell tissue. Culture dishes began to churn, complex biochemical reactions unfolding in transparent containers.

A progress bar appeared on the large screen.

Antidote synthesis: 1%… 5%… 12%…

Dorian Blackwood and Eleanor Vance’s eyes instantly lit up with wild joy.

“Seraphina! I knew you still cared for me!” Dorian Blackwood’s voice trembled with excitement.

Eleanor Vance, though weak, her eyes sparkled with a desperate will to live: “Dorian… I’m saved…”

The progress bar steadily climbed: 35%… 58%… 74%…

They watched the screen intently, seeing the hope of survival.