Change

Like a starving infant that had drunk its fill of milk,

it no longer cried, rolled around, or flailed about, but fell quietly asleep,

silently absorbing nutrients in exchange for growth.

All the neural tendrils invading Luo Di's arm retracted, taking the Zombie Transformation effect with them. There was not even any need to inject an inhibitor.

The entire blade became even more "well-behaved" than before it had absorbed blood.

The eerie skin and neural tendrils covering the blade began to fade as well, retreating to the handle and turning into wrapped bandages that increased the grip's friction.

The Zombie Blade had actually returned to its original Machete form, virtually no different from when Luo Di had first bought it from the supermarket.

Even the "corner" aura it was supposed to emit had vanished.

Director Wang's eyes widened as he held up his glasses and leaned closer for a careful look. "Lurking and concealment... did it really inherit that spider's traits? You really found yourself a treasure. I never expected this zombie's blood-sucking effect to be so good~ Logically speaking, Pseudo-Humans cannot devour one another. Is this an effect brought about by the cancerous mutation?

How do you feel?"

Overly excited, Luo Di found himself talking more than usual. "It is easier to control. It seems I no longer need to offer up blood. I can activate this blade's 'switch' simply by conveying my thoughts."

"Could you demonstrate it here? Let us see what this thing truly looks like."

Director Wang seemed to have returned to the days when he had first entered the Research Bureau, his stern expression now overtaken by a thirst for knowledge.

"Sure."

Luo Di focused his attention on the right hand gripping the blade, mentally sending a command to kill to the pituitary gland inside it.

Buzz!

The skin wrappings around the handle immediately began to move, once again covering the blade, though the form they took was somewhat different.

Several tufts of eerie black fur grew from the back of the blade, lending it a faint sense of living vitality.

Not only that,

two additional white structures resembling baby teeth appeared on the blade's surface, representing "zombie fangs" that seemed capable of granting better blood-sucking properties during combat.

Black fur, corpse skin, and white teeth.

So many traits of a living creature had fallen upon this weapon. Merely looking at it made people uncomfortable, as though the blade might bite someone on its own.

"This... this has already exceeded our expectations.

This blade is extremely valuable, and you can carry it with you thanks to the concealment properties of the blade itself. If you encounter a similar Anomaly Event again and prepare adequately, you might genuinely be able to seriously injure the other party."

"Thank you, Director Wang."

What others found hair-raising completely satisfied Luo Di's aesthetic tastes and inner desires.

From the moment the first tube of blood had been poured across the blade's surface, his eyes had never left it.

Feeling the changes in the blade and its increasingly powerful killing effects, Luo Di seemed to have taken another step closer to his life goal.

Though he dearly wanted to test its cutting power right away, he did not swing the weapon here, lest he affect the friends he had only recently made.

"Retract."

All its zombie traits faded away, concealing themselves once more within its original blade form.

Just to be safe, Luo Di still stored it in the corpse-wrapping cloth and put it back into his backpack. With that, today's business at the Research Bureau was over.

Before he left, Director Wang still could not hold back the words buried in his heart.

"I am not in Human Resources, nor do I like doing things that go against the rules. But I still want to say this: if you have any thoughts about where to continue your education this year, you can apply to our Research Bureau.

I can help you secure special hiring benefits. You may choose whichever department you like.

Even if you are not satisfied with working at the Research Bureau, you can use this place as a stepping stone to reach the capital. As a municipal public institution, we naturally also hold tickets that lead to the E.I.A. World Bureau."

Luo Di did not answer directly. He merely nodded and left.

"Director, this young man..."

The staff member responsible for delivering the blood wore a complicated expression. Back then, he had no idea how much effort it had taken for him to get into the City Research Bureau.

"That is normal enough. His personality is better suited to the Investigation Bureau or one of those major companies in the capital. A research-oriented place like ours truly does not suit him very well.

I was only acting on a whim and mentioning it casually.

I imagine this year's midyear admissions season will be quite interesting."

Outside the Research Bureau,

the class monitor walked at the front of the group with light, dancing steps. When her toes landed on the final stair, she smoothly spun around to face her companions behind her.

"I am so satisfied! I actually got to see a Corner-transforming item like that before graduation. Luo Di, your admissions results this year will definitely shock everyone. You might even outdo the elites over at First Middle School.

All right, you guys go get something to eat tonight. I need to go home and continue my tutoring."

Luo Di took the initiative to ask, "Class monitor, did your clothes arrive?"

"That's right~ But clothes like that are not really suitable for wearing out directly, so I have them at home for now. Once winter break ends, I will wear them to school. You will get to see them then."

"How do they feel?"

"Of course, they exceeded expectations. I will wear them for the admissions test too, so do not lose to me, Luo Di."

Anna, who had come up from behind, took in their entire exchange. As if she had caught the scent of something sour, she hurriedly covered her nose and moved away. "Good thing I do not attend the same school as you two, or I would be suffocated to death by the smell sooner or later."

Anna deliberately glanced at Xiao Gao, who wore glasses beside her, only to find that he was watching with great interest. There even seemed to be a trace of gratification hidden in his eyes and at the corners of his mouth.

After the rideshare took the class monitor away, the three of them casually found a restaurant nearby.

Without the class monitor present, the atmosphere was clearly not as good as during their first meal together. But after Anna downed several glasses of beer, things gradually became lively.

Winter break came to an end.

The second semester of senior year arrived as scheduled. This would be the final stretch of their campus lives.

Though they could still continue on to university after admissions, most students whose Physical Education Class grades were above average, Luo Di included, would not choose to pursue further studies there.

On the eve of the new term, within Fourth Middle School.

The faculty had already arrived early, making preparations for the start of school and ensuring that students could enter normally tomorrow.

Inside the senior-year general office,

a gentle-looking, slender male teacher who clearly did not appear athletic was sorting through miscellaneous items at the workstation in the farthest corner.

His desk held more books and documents than anyone else's in the office, including quite a few books unrelated to teaching.

Suddenly, a sharp, hurried set of footsteps entered the office.

A pair of dark black high heels over ten centimeters tall strode directly up to the male teacher, and their owner slammed a document down heavily in front of him.

The badge worn by the middle-aged woman identified her position—Dean of Academics.

Perhaps the badge was unnecessary. It was evident from her face alone.

She jabbed hard at the document on the desk, her words springing from her tongue like sharp nails, piercing and grating. "Teacher Guo, can you explain this? Your class ranked second from last in academic subjects last semester and dead last in student satisfaction.

This is not the first time I have discussed teaching matters with you, is it?"

Faced with the dean's stern reprimand, the frail Teacher Guo did not respond at all and continued organizing the books on his desk.

Yet that silence ignited the fuse on the Dean of Academics as precisely as a match.

Seeing all kinds of books on the desk that had nothing to do with teaching, the dean prepared to sweep them all away in one go.

But just as she reached out,

Smack~

A strong, powerful arm reached over and seized her hand.

A hard-featured man in military uniform stood beside her, stopping the conflict.

"Teacher Guo's teaching methods may be unconventional, but they have their own strengths. I believe he will make adjustments based on the current situation."

"Teacher Ruan? Let go of me at once!"

Though the Dean of Academics was still furious, she quickly realized that her earlier actions had been somewhat excessive. "It seems I cannot manage you anymore. I will report the specifics to the principal."

Once the dean left, the atmosphere throughout the office eased as well.

"Thank you."

Teacher Guo, who was still tidying his things, expressed his gratitude.

Teacher Ruan, dressed in military uniform, merely waved a hand and returned to his own workstation. He was a homeroom teacher and still had a mountain of work to do.

A friend's book recommendation: American Horror Celestial Master