"Damn, it really is accelerated healing... If this old fossil wakes up, is he going to be immortal?" Sun Ya marveled, shaking his head.
"A blessing in disguise. But let's not celebrate yet; we need Elder Wei to actually wake up first," Su Jin cautioned.
"Right." Sun Ya's brow immediately knitted together in worry. "If he stays under, he might be stuck in a coma..."
"Waking him up? That's the easy part," Cheng Du chuckled.
"How?" Su Jin asked, his muscles tensing.
Without a word, Cheng Du simply reached out and pinched Wei De's nose shut.
Su Jin and Sun Ya stared at him in stunned silence.
Scarcely three seconds later, before either of them could intervene, Wei De shot up from the mattress like a loaded spring, his eyes wide with lingering panic.
"See? What did I tell you?" Cheng Du crossed his arms, looking obnoxiously smug.
"Old Wei, how do you feel?" Sun Ya immediately leaned over the bed.
Wei De swallowed hard, his expression still somewhat vacant.
After a moment to gather himself, he rasped, "Did you check the scans? Is that parasite still inside me?"
"It's gone! You might have literally digested and expelled it!"
"Ah... ah..." Wei De gasped heavily. He blinked in confusion, slowly raising his hands to inspect his own palms.
He muttered to himself, "I... I feel absolutely incredible. I feel like I'm twenty years younger! My whole body is surging with energy!"
"You have rapid healing, do you know that?" Sun Ya leaned in, his face practically glowing with envy.
"What? I didn't know that..." Wei De said blankly. "How do you know?"
While the old man was talking, Su Jin's hand blurred. His scalpel flashed like lightning, slashing another five-centimeter cut across Wei De's flank.
Wei De shrieked in pain. "Little Li, are you out of your goddamn mind?!"
"Look! Look at the wound!" Sun Ya yelled, jabbing a finger toward Wei De's side.
Wei De looked down. Only two drops of blood had managed to seep out before the flesh rapidly knit itself back together right before his eyes.
"I... it's really true. This is a miracle! The wound just felt hot, nothing else," Wei De muttered in disbelief. "But why did I manifest an ability like this?"
"When that parasite bored into me, my only coherent thought was getting it out and stopping the agony. Fu Hu was having trouble in bed, and he got a hardening ability? Do you think the mutations adapt to a person's thoughts?"
Sun Ya stroked his chin, falling into deep thought. "That actually tracks. That ugly woman on the rooftop clearly looked absolutely desperate for men. But what about Little Li, Cheng Du, and that little girl who planted the parasite? That completely breaks the theory."
"Not necessarily. We don't know the girl's psychological state. As for Cheng Du, he probably just desperately wanted to be a real man, and men are associated with fire."
Cheng Du's eye twitched violently. He silently turned his back to them.
"Old Wei, you call yourself a scientist spouting that kind of superstitious garbage?" Sun Ya scolded.
"Hiss... I mean, the core logic sort of makes sense. But how do you explain my abilities? You can't honestly say I secretly wanted to be both male and female, right? The theory is full of holes," Su Jin shrugged.
"Ah!" Cheng Du spun back around, looking at Su Jin with wide, delighted eyes. "I get it now, Director! Maybe the mutation is telling you that you swing both ways!"
"Don't tempt me to throw you out the nearest fucking window!" Su Jin snarled, his face twisted in absolute disgust.
God fucking damn it. He never had to deal with this kind of nonsense back on Earth, and now he was stuck with a man hitting on him on an alien planet.
That was it. If he ever made it back home, he was swearing off Sichuan food—anything that reminded him of Cheng Du!
"Enough. Let's drop the mutant psychology for now," Su Jin ordered. "Since Elder Wei is awake and feeling well, we're packing up and driving back. We can analyze the rest of this mess tomorrow."
"We can leave, but we aren't leaving empty-handed. This place is a goldmine. Since Old Wei can walk on his own two feet now, one of you should gather whatever valuable supplies you can find in the building."
Just as Su Jin was nodding in agreement, a sudden thud echoed from the outer hallway!
All four of them froze instantly, their heads swiveling slowly toward the door.
The lights in the corridor... had just turned on.
"You two, stay exactly where you are. Cheng Du and I will go check it out." Su Jin dug into his briefcase, pulling out three small spheres wrapped in plastic bags and hooking them onto his belt.
Snatching the shotgun Cheng Du tossed him, the two men exchanged a grim look and headed into the corridor one after the other.
Taking a hard left out the door, they immediately spotted a towering figure at the far end of the hall, walking toward them with slow, methodical, unhurried steps.
At a glance, the man had to be about two meters tall. He wore black tactical gear and was powerfully built.
His heavy hands swayed loosely by his sides with every step, radiating a suffocating, lethal intent.
"He's not friendly. And he's not human," Su Jin gritted his teeth.
The moment Cheng Du laid eyes on the man, every ounce of blood drained from his face. He involuntarily stumbled backward, his teeth chattering as he stammered out, "Gao... Gao Tianfang!"
"Who the hell is Gao Tianfang? You know him?" Su Jin snapped his head toward him, demanding answers. "What's his background?"
"Broken Arrow Squad... the Soldier King!" Cheng Du spat the words out like a curse before his voice devolved into a panicked ramble. "I heard stories about him ages ago; the guy is practically superhuman. He ran fifty kilometers through the mountains with twenty-five kilograms of equipment in under six hours, and ten kilometers of it at an altitude of 2,300 meters!"
"He can hold his breath for seven static minutes. He's skilled in hand-to-hand combat and a range of firearms. His nighttime moving-target accuracy at four hundred meters is over ninety percent! He has countless achievements to his name... but I distinctly remember him being short..."
"If he's infected and mutated, and his abilities have grown stronger... his physical specs are going to be godlike. What do we do, Director?!"
A spike of pure ice drove itself straight down Su Jin's spine.
If the guy was a monster before the apocalypse, and the mutation let him keep all his muscle memory and tactical skills while supercharging his body... the resulting threat level was catastrophic.
Judging purely by his massive frame, he was likely a strength-enhancement mutant. Su Jin wasn't sure he could beat the man even in broad daylight under optimal conditions, but in his current exhausted state? It was going to be difficult.
But he had a gun. It wasn't completely hopeless.
"Cheng Du, listen to me very carefully. You grab the two elders and evacuate right now. I'll hold him off... It's night. My speed and agility should outclass his."
"Director!"
"Move!"
"Please be careful!"
Tearing himself away, Cheng Du hurried back into the room and led the two old men toward the opposite end of the hallway.
Gao Tianfang didn't even twitch in their direction. He maintained his slow, relentless approach, but finally opened his mouth. "I assumed there were no survivors nearby. Imagine my surprise. I believe we've crossed paths before... My woman must have gone to kill you behind my back."
"Seeing as you are still breathing, I can only assume you killed her."
"Your woman?" Su Jin raised an eyebrow, smoothly drawing the heavy steel machete from his waist. "Do you still think in terms of relationships?"
With that, Su Jin took the initiative, stepping forward to close the distance.
"I've slaughtered a lot of beasts lately. I have no idea which one you're talking about. But since you asked, let me take a wild guess," Su Jin said coldly. "Are you talking about Jiang Yu? That bitch I completely gutted until only her skin remained—that was your woman?"
"You really did kill her." Gao Tianfang stopped in his tracks, watching Su Jin approach with a completely deadpan expression. "You must be quite capable, then. Tell me, how many zombies have you killed?"
"Heh heh heh... Do you remember how many slices of bread you've eaten in your life?"
He dragged the steel machete along the wall as he walked, leaving a long mark with a harsh screech.
"And what about that little bastard whose spine I broke? Let me guess, your daughter?" Su Jin continued to march forward, keeping his eyes fixed on Gao Tianfang. "You have impeccable timing. I'll butcher you right here and now, and send you down so you three filthy animals can finally have a family reunion in hell!"
With those final words, Su Jin planted his feet, raised his blade toward the mutated Soldier King, and faced him.