"Bleurgh—"
Li Aoz clutched the trash can and vomited for quite a while before finally recovering. His mouth was full of a rusty taste, leaving him a little dazed.
"Whew... That big bug bitch was definitely taking it personally..."
Li Aoz wiped the filth from the corner of his mouth. A sudden tremor ran through him, and he raised his left hand—the monitoring wristband secured around it vibrated briefly, its green indicator flashing three times in succession.
Li Aoz glanced at Head Nurse Nordly at the finish line. She was lowering her head and writing something. He seemed to realize something, then fell silent.
"The patient completed a ten-kilometer run, 200 vertical jumps, and 50 bar rotations. According to the health monitor: heart rate normal, no abnormalities, consciousness clear. All data falls within the normal human range. There is nothing superhuman about him..."
Nordly recorded the data, growing even more doubtful inside:
"His body clearly shows no special mutations, yet while in a frenzied state, he managed to infiltrate the rear section of the shelter without anyone noticing and seriously wound me with a single strike... Could a Level 5 Esha Infected really be that extraordinary?"
She began to believe the professor's view. From this morning until now, there had been nothing obviously exceptional about the patient, yet everything about him seemed unreasonable.
Last night, Li Aoz's body temperature had continuously soared to 75.9°C for a full forty minutes, even reaching a peak of 100.2°C! The human body simply could not withstand such temperatures, let alone for several minutes. His blood should have boiled long ago. Yet after receiving only 500cc of Saline Solution, his body had actually begun repairing itself.
By this morning, he had already returned to the level of an ordinary person?
Nordly found it impossible to believe.
If this had really been caused by the Esha Virus—could any virus truly survive such high temperatures?
At that temperature, even alcohol could ignite. Ordinary viruses died at 56 degrees, and most microorganisms should have been destroyed at 100 degrees. Even the clothes on his body had shown signs of catching fire.
"Could he have already awakened Aoneng?"
Nordly considered the possibility, then immediately rejected it.
"No. If he had awakened Aoneng, then according to Esha infection theory, the professor should have classified him as a Level 4 Infected. The professor understands this better than I do... But then again, who could say for sure?"
"Have someone take him for a psychological evaluation this afternoon—might as well include an intelligence test."
She was conflicted.
To date, all research into Esha theory had remained at the conjectural stage. After all, no one had the ability to collect those red-and-black cloudlike substances from the atmosphere in space...
Was that really a virus? If it was, who had released it? Or was it actually pollution caused by nuclear testing in the Old Era? The professor should have been the most anxious about Esha theory remaining unproven. If she knew perfectly well that Li Aoz was not infected and still did this...
Nordly had only just begun to trust the professor, yet she was already questioning her theory again.
She did not notice in the slightest that Li Aoz had observed every one of her mutterings and changes in expression.
His basics in stealth were excellent. Peeping, eavesdropping, tailing, and surveillance had long since become instincts engraved into the DNA of veteran players.
He pretended to continue vomiting in a dispirited state, but in truth, he saw Nordly's every reaction clearly.
Interesting...
A trace of amusement entered Li Aoz's gaze.
It seemed the so-called internal disagreement was an argument over Esha theory. Perhaps different factions had already split off.
Let me guess... The professor's faction firmly believed in the "Esha Virus infection theory," while Head Nurse Nordly and the others doubted the unverified "Esha Virus." Maybe they even suspected that this was merely rhetoric the professor insisted on because she refused to relinquish power.
Things were getting interesting, but Li Aoz did not consider himself a clever person. He certainly did not think he could play any tricks in front of a professor who had been a leader for decades.
Someone like the professor, who had greeted him with a smiling face upon their first meeting, had controlled Nether Trace for years. The Combat Power of the patients and doctors under her command was no weaker than that of a regular army. Someone who controlled the fates of so many people was definitely not as innocent and kind as she appeared.
Combined with her identity as a scientific researcher, Li Aoz had every reason to suspect that her Primary Attribute was intelligence.
"Intelligence is the only Primary Attribute of the Precision-type. Mages and architects are unlikely, since Azure Planet lacks their inheritance. If she has no Main Class, then she must be either a mechanic or a biochemist. Neither of those... are easy to deal with."
Li Aoz's core attribute was charisma. This attribute did not merely enhance Aoneng; more importantly, it most directly increased his affinity with other people.
By comparison, the intelligence attribute more directly enhanced one's IQ, logical thinking, spatial perception, and short- and long-term memory.
Idiots could not enter the Precision-type. It was the only class system that did not depend on talent, where one could crush fellow practitioners simply by grinding through problems.
Li Aoz did not want to use his weakness against someone else's livelihood.
Besides, he had 15 points of charisma, plus Perpetual · Love Hunter's 30% Primary Attribute bonus. That meant the actual effect of his charisma was 15 × 1.3 = 19.5, which rounded up to 20 points.
With charisma that high, why not use it to deal with people, chat, and trade? Why use it to play mind games instead? It was like not competing with Ding Zhen in education, but challenging him to a smoking contest instead.
Whether it was Li Aoz or his brain, both could only sigh: what a terrible waste.
Li Aoz did not want to make any moves against the professor, but someone else could.
For example, Head Nurse Nordly.
Don't be fooled by the fact that his Favorability with Nordly was negative. If his charisma had been lower, she would have started hitting him after only a few words.
Earlier, Li Aoz had deliberately tested her. On one hand, it had been to trigger the quest; on the other, it had been to test Nordly's reaction.
Yet when Nordly had clearly been poked right in her sore spot, she had deliberately restrained herself from beating him up. That was extremely thought-provoking.
"Was it the professor's instruction? No. According to the Walkthrough, it was explicitly stated that ZX-102 was Head Nurse Nordly's trigger keyword. Just how important was it? If the front line couldn't hold aggro, they could simply shout ZX-102. Nordly would immediately turn around, her rage fully maxed out, and enter a berserk state."
Li Aoz did not believe the one-sided claims of those guide-writing marketing accounts, but he absolutely believed the tearful performances of the frontline players.
"I only shouted one sentence... and she turned around and hit me with twenty-four Skull-Crushing Throws in a row!"
The professor's influence over Nordly, who already doubted her, was limited. But ZX-102 was different.
"Looks like my charisma really did work... That sounds a little strange."
With the charisma boosted by Perpetual · Love Hunter, his performance when dealing with story characters could truly be called outstanding.
"Having a specialty in hand feels great."
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