Nursing a hangover, Su Jin woke to a pounding headache.
A glance outside showed it was already noon.
Looking around, he had no idea when he had fallen asleep or who had moved him into the guest bedroom.
Fu Qingdai was perched on a small stool by the bedside, resting her chin on her hands as she studied him.
Seeing him get up, she quickly straightened.
Su Jin propped himself up and glanced over at her. "What are you doing here instead of training?"
Fu Qingdai was about to speak, but her face fell at his words. "I just finished... I came to see how you were doing. Bro, did something big happen? Did you poison those two yesterday with that chocolate?"
Su Jin took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, something went wrong. But I can handle it. Don't mention a word of this to your parents."
"I didn't say anything! If you tell me not to, I definitely wouldn't dare." Fu Qingdai hesitated. "Then what really happened? Can't you tell me?"
"You're still young, and I'm afraid you won't keep your mouth shut. Just drop it."
Rubbing his face, Su Jin felt some of his mental clarity return. "Just remember, we won't be huddled up in this building waiting to die forever. Sooner or later, we'll have to go outside. Don't trust any strangers you run into out there. And if someone around you gets hurt, stay on maximum alert."
"If anyone makes you feel uncomfortable or strange... kill them immediately."
With that, Su Jin reached toward the head of the bed, picked up the silver gun, and offered it to her.
"Take this gun from me for self-defense. Hold on to it."
"Then what will you use?" Fu Qingdai didn't reach for it, looking at Su Jin instead.
"I've got superpowers now, and I'm immune to infection, so guns aren't as important to me anymore," Su Jin said with earnest gravity. "Besides, I have another one, and I'll find more guns later."
Su Jin tossed the silver gun to Fu Qingdai, slid open the window, and pointed outside. "Fire a shot into the sky and get a feel for it."
Fu Qingdai aimed the handgun out the window and squeezed the trigger.
"Fire! What are you hesitating for?"
"I am firing! It won't squeeze down!"
"I'm using all my strength... is it rusted stuck?" Fu Qingdai's pretty face flushed bright red, the color drained entirely from her finger as she pulled at the trigger.
Su Jin frowned, took the gun back, and fired out the window.
Staring at the handgun in thought for a moment, Su Jin gathered himself and looked around the room.
He retrieved his briefcase from the side of the bed.
He usually carried this bag everywhere, and the others knew better than to touch it. Sun Ya had probably set it here after he drank too much last night.
Opening the briefcase and holding it out toward Fu Qingdai, Su Jin said, "Reach inside and see what's in there."
"What do you mean, Bro?" Fu Qingdai asked, though her hands didn't pause.
She reached in, felt around twice, pulled her hand out, and looked blankly at Su Jin.
"There's nothing in there."
"Ah..."
It seemed the 'office' equipment provided by the Company was bound after all; no one else could use it.
He had no complaints about others being unable to use the spatial briefcase, but not being able to lend the handgun was indeed a problem.
Though it boasted unlimited ammunition, there was still a cooldown timer. If he had plenty of ammo, it was actually inferior to ordinary firearms.
Pulling this stunt essentially restricted him from deploying his already limited firepower... Fucking Company!
Pulling a bar of chocolate from the bag and handing it to Fu Qingdai, Su Jin said earnestly, "You can't use equipment from my home planet. I'll find you weapons later, so just focus on practicing with the bow and arrows for now."
"Take this chocolate bar. If you sense someone means you harm, find a chance to feed it to them... Whatever you do, don't eat it yourself, and keep a close eye on your parents."
Fu Qingdai turned the chocolate over in her hands, slipped it into her pocket, and nodded. "Got it, Bro."
"Alright, that's all. Go pour me a glass of water."
Fu Qingdai made an affirmative sound and stood up from the stool.
The moment she turned around, *thud*—she fell right to her knees on the floor.
Trying to stand back up, *thud*—she dropped to her knees again.
Slowly looking back, she shot Su Jin an embarrassed glance before finally clinging to the wardrobe, her face crimson, and unsteadily pulling herself up.
"Alright, just go rest. Never mind the water," Su Jin said, amused.
"No, I'll get it for you!"
Fu Qingdai gave a stubborn reply and, with both long legs shaking violently, supported herself against the wall as she hobbled out of the bedroom.
Before long, Su Jin got out of bed and stood before the living room window.
The window was wide open, letting sunlight spill over his robust, muscular frame.
Under the influence of the power of light, the lingering fatigue of the night and the hangover-induced headache rapidly dissipated.
Su Jin instinctively clenched his fist... and his state of mind improved along with it.
Just then, Sun Ya's voice came from behind him.
Sun Ya smiled. "You haven't forgotten what we talked about yesterday, have you?"
"Naturally not."
"Good. Then come downstairs with me. Old Wei and I have some new findings to discuss with you."
Inside the rudimentary fifth-floor laboratory, the three sat down.
Looking at Rat No. 3 inside the cage, split wide open and relentlessly gnawing on the wire mesh, Su Jin asked in astonishment, "How did it end up like this?"
"We poked it a few times with skewers. It probably realized it was exposed, so it completely dropped the act and kept trying to attack us," Wei De said with a wry smile.
"Alright, let's start with what we've discovered," Sun Ya said, clapping his hands.
"Old Wei and I barely slept last night, working straight through until now, and we managed to make a few new discoveries."
"Factoring in what you found yesterday, these covert mutated organisms are vastly different from what we imagined."
Sun Ya continued, "Broadly speaking, organisms infected by the rain can be divided into two categories: zombies, and covert mutated organisms. But they don't belong to the same camp. These disguised mutants aren't contagious, and other zombies will actually attack them."
"Oh?" Su Jin's eyes lit up.
"Don't celebrate too early," Sun Ya said, pressing a hand downward. "Zombies attack them because they have an instinct to attack living things, but the covert infected organisms show zero interest in zombies, only retaliating mildly when attacked. Conversely... while retaining their normal biological habits and traits, they harbor an intense, murderous aggression toward uninfected organisms."
Su Jin sighed in disappointment. "Does this infection enhance the organism's intelligence? Rat No. 3's disguise was exceptionally good."
"I think it's possible."
"I don't see it that way," Wei De interjected. "Rats are already very intelligent animals. Sensing our threat after infection and disguising itself accordingly is completely normal behavior. Yet it still couldn't control its murderous urge and devoured another rat the moment our backs were turned, which suggests its intelligence likely hasn't changed."
"Just how smart a covert mutant is probably depends on the original host's intellect."
"Furthermore, based on observing these two cases, I believe the mutations fall into three possibilities. The first is a twisted mind bent on slaughter, while remaining an ordinary person."
"The second is possessing miraculous powers like you do, but without any distinct changes in external appearance."
"As for the third... it involves structural organic changes, just like Rat No. 3. Without the cover of its fur, it has already developed significant, observable physical mutations."
As they spoke, Rat No. 3, its gaping bloody maw extending down nearly half its body, continued to bite and slam against the cage, producing faint metallic thuds.
Sun Ya glanced at it and said, "I discussed this with Old Wei last night, and we can essentially confirm one thing. No matter how clever these covert mutants are, when it comes to one normal human capacity, they have severely degraded."
"What strength?" Su Jin asked.
Both old men looked up simultaneously.
"Delayed gratification."
Chapter 41