Lord Tai Sui

"So this was the ability you gained after being infected by an anomaly?" Sun Hang asked.

"...The Saint said that as long as we ate Lord Tai Sui's flesh... we could prolong our lives and become immune to all illnesses..." the girl said in a tiny voice. "Even if we were injured, we would recover quickly..."

"Lord Tai Sui? Is that what you call that thing?" Sun Hang entered the term into the search bar again, but apart from a few ancient legends that had absolutely nothing to do with anomalies, there was no relevant information at all.

"..." The girl nodded again.

"Have you seen Tai Sui?"

The girl shook her head.

"Then has everyone in your organization eaten Tai Sui meat?" Sun Hang asked again. "After eating it, do they really live longer and become immune to all illnesses? Has no one dropped dead immediately after eating it?"

"N-No." This time, the girl shook her head very quickly.

"Are you sure there aren't any, rather than you simply haven't seen any? And since you know Tai Sui is an anomaly, you still dared to eat it?" Sun Hang could not help wondering whether these people's brains worked normally. Yet from the girl's behavior, it was obvious that she knew what anomalies and infected people were. So why had she so willingly accepted all this?

Since she knew how the Anomaly Research Institute dealt with infected people, there was no way she did not know about the absurdly high mortality rate after humans contracted the Anomalization Virus, right?

Sun Hang had read the relevant materials. After humans contracted the Anomalization Virus, the mortality rate was 78%. The chance of being assimilated by an anomaly was 21.7%. Only 0.3% retained their human self-awareness.

The odds of an infected person becoming an Anomaly Hunter were even lower than pulling an SSR in a card-drawing anime mobile game.

There was no way an entire Cult Organization was full of SSRs, was there?

Where would that leave the Anomaly Investigation Bureau and the Anomaly Research Institute's pride?

"Lord Tai Sui is different from other anomalies..." the girl said. "I personally saw people with terminal illnesses eat Lord Tai Sui's meat, and the lesions in their bodies disappeared immediately... There were also people with congenital disabilities. After eating Lord Tai Sui's meat, their missing limbs grew back before long..."

"Tai Sui can do that?" Sun Hang frowned and pressed the muzzle of his gun against the girl's forehead. "Then if I blow your head to pieces, will you grow a new one?"

"D-Don't kill me!" Yet the girl merely shut her eyes in fear. "I've already told you everything I know. You... can't... don't kill me!"

Sun Hang glanced at her and silently made a note: Infected people of "Tai Sui" possessed extremely powerful regenerative abilities, but the head might be their fatal weakness.

Based on the girl's description, this "Tai Sui" was clearly a miraculous medicine that cured diseases and saved lives, not some anomaly that brought disaster upon humanity...

Did those infected people who ate "Tai Sui meat" truly not have to pay any price?

Sun Hang carefully examined the girl before him, then asked another question. "Do you often not get enough to eat?"

"Huh? N-No." The girl looked confused by the question.

Since it was not malnutrition caused by hunger, the girl's sallow, emaciated appearance was clearly abnormal... Since "Tai Sui meat" had such miraculous effects that it could even cure terminal illnesses, diseases of the digestive system were definitely no problem either—thus, pathological malnutrition could be ruled out.

Was it because she had eaten "Tai Sui meat"?

Sun Hang pulled the girl up from the floor. "Come on. Take me to them... If the 'Lord Tai Sui' you mentioned really is that miraculous, the Institute might not only refrain from arresting you, it might even give you some kind of 'Special Contribution Award.'"

The girl said nothing and led Sun Hang upstairs, making him frown slightly.

Although his pistol had a suppressor, he had fired in a stairwell. Practically the entire building should have been able to hear it. Added to the time he had spent questioning the girl... If her companions really were in this building, they had probably prepared long ago and were simply waiting for him to walk into their trap, weren't they?

No, that was not right.

Sun Hang reconsidered. If they had only noticed he was following them after entering this building, that meant this building was their base. Yet Sun Hang had not smelled the "scent" of any anomaly or infected person besides this girl.

At first, Sun Hang had thought the people lying in wait for him might be uninfected, but after asking those questions, he decisively ruled out that possibility.

The girl's status within this Cult Organization should not have been high. Even without considering the tattoo's placement, being assigned to buy meals meant she was, at most, a lower- or mid-level member. If even lower- and mid-level members could obtain "Tai Sui meat," then the organization's core members could not possibly be uninfected.

Moreover, only after experiencing the "miraculous effects" of "Tai Sui meat" would the members be able to follow that "Saint" with unwavering devotion... The Saint himself and the organization's senior leaders might not be infected, but roles requiring guaranteed loyalty, such as "enforcers" and "lookouts," were absolutely filled by infected people!

The girl was acting. She had noticed she was being followed long ago, then deliberately led Sun Hang here.

But her purpose was not to ambush Sun Hang.

It was to escape.

"They aren't here," Sun Hang said to the girl walking ahead of him.

The girl's body trembled.

"You're lying," Sun Hang added.

"N-No, I'm not."

"You never intended to take me to them from the very beginning." Sun Hang's tone was calm, completely devoid of emotion.

"..." The girl did not answer again, nor did she turn around. She simply stood on the stairs with her back to Sun Hang, utterly motionless.

"At first, I couldn't figure out how you planned to escape. But after learning about your ability, I suddenly realized that the roof isn't a dead end for you." Sun Hang spoke slowly, emphasizing every word. "You planned to escape by jumping off the building... As long as your head isn't smashed, no matter how badly your body is injured, it can recover under the effects of 'Tai Sui meat.' And if I wanted to catch you, I could only turn back and go down the stairs. By then, you would have already regained your ability to move, or your companions who heard the commotion would have taken you away, right?"

The moment Sun Hang finished speaking, the girl immediately broke into a sprint. Unfortunately, she had not even taken two steps before a gunshot rang out behind her.

The bullet went straight into her lower back. The unbearable pain twisted the girl's face, and she fell onto the stairs, screaming as she tumbled down until she rolled to Sun Hang's feet. Only when Sun Hang stepped on her did she stop.

"I can choose not to kill you, but I can't guarantee I won't torture you," Sun Hang said flatly.

The ability to survive as long as her head was not destroyed was indeed powerful. But from another perspective, it was also a debuff...

Because she could not die, she could experience things even more painful than death.