Chapter 27 – The Iceberg Beauty just now… counted as being shy, right?

“Overall, the project’s moving along pretty well right now. If everything stays on track, the first batch of X-model weapons should be ready to put into use soon. The only problem left is how many we can actually produce. So for now, your main job is to rest up properly. If nothing unexpected happens, we’ll need you for a hard fight next month.”

Ji Song’s voice came through from the other end of the call. Ying Xize was talking in a fairly relaxed posture, his eyes drifting to the man not far away, expression steady and calm. “Got it. So how’s Pingcheng looking right now?”

Ji Song thought it over for a bit, then said, “There’ve been a bunch of small ‘incidents’ these past two days. The Investigation Department reacted fast and dealt with them pretty quickly. But the ones behind those ‘incidents’ were all aberrants. The specific aberrants that caused the infections still haven’t been found, and that’s a huge hidden risk.”

Ying Xize paused, then finally asked straight out, “Have you ever thought that maybe aberrants don’t exist?”

Ji Song was obviously thrown off on the other end. “What do you mean?”

Ying Xize said, “According to Zero, it might not be just humans getting infected.”

A long silence dropped over the line. Ji Song had clearly caught the terrifying weight of that idea. When he spoke again, his voice had turned completely heavy. “If that’s true, then we’re looking at a real apocalypse.”

Ying Xize: “Then you’ll need to arrange for people to do full examinations.”

Once the call ended, he lifted his eyes to the man who wasn’t even trying to hide his stare. “Are you watching TV, or watching me?”

“Can’t help it. You’re nicer to look at than the TV.” Su Fengzhou didn’t look the least bit flustered at being called out. He leaned back on the sofa with a lazy smile, gaze still as straightforward as ever. “Sometimes I really wonder if you’re actually too calm, or if you’re simply way too indifferent.”

Ying Xize didn’t respond either way. “Read it however you want.”

He flicked a glance at the TV, where the local news was playing. He didn’t care much for it; this thing only got used once in a while because someone was around. He asked, “After watching the news for a few days, got any new conclusions?”

Su Fengzhou flipped through the small notebook in his hand. “All those small ‘incidents’ happened in Pingcheng’s Nanming District, which is also the residential area closest to Chen Mountain Cavern. From the reports, they were handled right away, so they were basically contained before they could blow up. And based on everything we’ve gathered, those aberrants didn’t have any connection or contact with each other before they got infected. At most, their travel routes might’ve overlapped, but there’s no clear pattern in when the infections happened.”

He shut the notebook with a snap. “So yeah. In the end, there’s nothing to chase down at all.”

Ying Xize was mentally wiped out. He pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. “…You only needed to say the last line.”

“That won’t work. If I don’t explain how I got there, it’ll look like I’m purposely burning electricity on your TV,” Su Fengzhou said. When he saw Ying Xize take his coat off the hanger, he asked, “Where’re you going?”

Ying Xize was already shrugging into it. “I had Assistant Xiang collect some cell samples from the Pingcheng aberrants for me. They should’ve reached the research institute by now. I’m going to take a look.”

He’d barely finished speaking when Su Fengzhou got up from the sofa. Ying Xize, just about to open the door, paused a bit.

Before Ying Xize could even ask, Su Fengzhou was already hooking an arm over his shoulder and guiding him outside like it was the most normal thing in the world. “Perfect. I’ve been stuck at home these past few days, and it’s kinda stuffy. I’ll go take a walk with you.”

Ying Xize frowned. “Unauthorized personnel aren’t allowed into the lab.”

Su Fengzhou smiled. “Then you could always stop treating me like an outsider.”

Ying Xize: “…”

…

This was Ying Xize’s first time stepping into the Ningcheng Research Institute since the Chen Mountain Caverns mission.

Out of all the volunteers who’d backed that mission, only five made it back safely in the end. Two of them had even handed in resignation letters because the psychological damage was too much.

So Ying Xize was slightly surprised to see Yu Qingyi still at the institute.

Back in the caverns, Yu Qingyi had been clearly on the edge of falling apart. And he’d personally seen her boyfriend’s name, He Ji, on the martyr list from that operation.

He’d assumed that kind of hit would drag her into a long slump. He didn’t expect that she wouldn’t step away from the front line of research at all, and that she’d return to her normal work the first chance she got. The only difference was she’d gotten noticeably thinner, her face looking worn and drained.

With Su Fengzhou tagging along behind him, Ying Xize kept catching the looks researchers threw their way as they passed by.

But when Yu Qingyi saw them, she didn’t look surprised at all. After greeting Su Fengzhou, she turned to Ying Xize. “The samples you had Assistant Xiang collect are already in the storage vault. Freezer 2235. The password’s the old ID number. You can pick them up anytime.”

After she said that, she seemed to notice how Ying Xize was looking at her and gave a smile with no warmth in it. “You don’t have to look at me like that. I’ve figured it out. Being weak and running away doesn’t help. Brother He… since it’s already like this, instead of lying to myself and pretending nothing happened so I can go back to some so-called peaceful life, I’d rather use my own way to fight until I can’t take another step. Someone has to stand at the front, right?”

Ying Xize thought about it for a moment. He didn’t hear anything wrong with what she said, but he still asked, “So you’re not scared anymore?”

Yu Qingyi shook her head, sounding almost like she was mocking herself. “I am.”

After Yu Qingyi left, Su Fengzhou looked the way she’d gone and said sincerely, “That beauty’s got quite the personality.”

Ying Xize said, “She’s a recent widow. If you like her, go chase her.”

Su Fengzhou immediately pulled his gaze back, then sized Ying Xize up and down, tone a little loaded. “Too bad. She’s not my type.”

Ying Xize didn’t look at him again.

On the way to the storage vault to pick up the samples, Su Fengzhou stuck close, basically glued to his side. Even after they got into the lab, he casually dragged a chair over and sat down right next to him, as he belonged there.

Catching Ying Xize glancing over, he obediently made a “shh” gesture, saying he’d stay completely quiet.

Ying Xize opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn’t kick him out.

Xiang Jiayan had followed him for years, and he’d always been extremely exact with basic sample requests like this.

This batch had eight tissue samples total, taken from four aberrants found in Pingcheng, specifically from the parts with higher activity levels.

To make sure the concentration was as high as possible, Ying Xize first released his spiritual form, that little silver snake, from his spiritual realm.

He was focused on the work at the bench and didn’t notice the little silver snake curiously sliding over toward the man beside him.

Su Fengzhou was pleasantly surprised by how proactive it was. He slowly held out his hand, and the silver snake slithered up his arm.

Then he stayed perfectly still and let it roam around on him. He felt itchy with the urge to move, but he didn’t dare make any sudden motions, afraid he’d scare the cute little thing.

Ying Xize finished the initial processing of the tissue samples pretty quickly. While waiting for them to culture, he turned his head and saw his own spiritual form perched on Su Fengzhou’s shoulder, the two of them simply staring at each other.

His gaze paused there for a beat. He was about to say something when Su Fengzhou suddenly, slowly lifted a hand. Before Ying Xize could figure out what he was doing, Su Fengzhou had already neatly given the little silver snake a light pinch at the back of its neck.

That same feeling immediately transferred to Ying Xize’s own neck through the special connection he had with his spiritual form.

Su Fengzhou’s fingertips were scorching, like a little ball of fire, extra obvious against Ying Xize’s always-cool skin. It was like the heat seared straight through him in one go.

Ying Xize: “…”

His back straightened almost on instinct. Only when he felt that heat creep all the way up to his earlobes did he suddenly stride over.

Before Su Fengzhou could even enjoy the moment of having touched the little silver snake, he got very directly “invited” out of the lab, half pushed and half shoved.

Click. The lab door shut with decisive finality.

That crisp sound made a few people passing by look over.

Su Fengzhou froze for a second at the sudden switch. When he realized what it was, he couldn’t help covering his face with his hands, his shoulders shaking as he laughed.

If he wasn’t wrong, that reaction from the Iceberg Beauty just now… counted as being shy, right?

The full experiment process took quite a while.

By the time Ying Xize finally got the last data report, he remembered he’d forgotten to give Su Fengzhou the key to the rental apartment when he kicked him out.

Just as he was debating whether to make a call, he pushed the door open and found Su Fengzhou hadn’t gone anywhere. The guy had no idea where he’d even found a chair, but he’d dragged it over and planted himself right at the entrance, waiting there all the way until evening.

So now, with how their coworkers were looking at them, the meaning in those stares was honestly way too much.

Su Fengzhou acted like he didn’t notice a thing. He got up from the chair, stretched a bit, then took the lab report from Ying Xize’s hands. He flipped through it casually, but sadly, it might as well have been gibberish to him. “So what’s the result? Is the infection bad?”

Ying Xize shook his head. “It’s the opposite. All the samples show a very low level of alienation.”

From what they’d seen in the past, the higher the alienation level in an infected person or source, the more aggressive they tended to be.

This result should’ve been good news, but looking at Ying Xize’s face, Su Fengzhou could tell it wasn’t that simple. “So what’s the issue?”

Ying Xize looked at him steadily. “The alienation level is low, yes—but the direction of alienation in each sample is completely different.”

Su Fengzhou frowned. “You’re saying those four people were infected by different alien forms?”

“That’s the most optimistic guess. The scary part is, this could be autonomous alienation. If that’s the case, it means another alien infection is already spreading quietly somewhere we don’t know about.” Ying Xize paused, then said, “Either way, Captain Su, it looks like we’ll have to contact the Infection Control Department this time.”

“Yeah. Might as well be optimistic, if something big really is going down, at least we’re mentally ready for it.” Su Fengzhou subconsciously squeezed the cigarette pack in his pocket and let out a heavy sigh. “Knew it. A good vacation always ends way too fast.”