Scavenger

(Thanks to Beifang Zuibang for the two monthly tickets, and thanks to Ya Jian Zhu Lu for the monthly ticket.)

"Then her ability is turning into a spider?" Xiao He asked curiously.

"See, that's the interesting part." Cui Man smiled. "Actually, her Superpower isn't turning into a spider. It's that whenever she consumes a certain amount of biological cells or bodily fluids, she transforms into that organism. Spider venom, cat blood—either can activate her Superpower. But cells that have been damaged by heating won't work."

"So she was bitten by a spider?" Xiao He asked in surprise.

"That's right. Over the past two days, she's transformed into some other creatures as well, but that isn't the important part." Cui Man said proudly, "The key is that if we control the amount of bodily fluid she consumes, we can let her gain some of that creature's traits while maintaining her human form. That way, she won't fall into a confused state because her senses have changed."

"We've only been researching this for two days, and you've already made this much progress..." Ye Wanqing said, somewhat surprised. Cui Man nodded with satisfaction and smiled. "That child herself wants to solve this problem as soon as possible, so she's been very cooperative. For now, the most suitable option is probably ant formic acid. After injecting it, she can increase her strength fiftyfold while retaining her human form."

"But what if she accidentally consumes some creature and transforms? How do we turn her back into a human?" Xiao He pressed.

"It's simple. Have her inject human blood or cells—preferably her own—and she'll turn back." Cui Man said with a smile.

So that was it... Xiao He suddenly understood.

Cui Man patted Xiao He on the head. "When she turned into a spider, she could only tell that you were a huge black shadow through vibrations. She was terrified, so she attacked you. We have to carefully control how much she consumes, allowing her to obtain an organism's traits without actually becoming that species. There are also some finer details that require more experiments..."

At that, Cui Man looked at Xiao He and smiled especially kindly. "And since she'll need to train for a while longer before she can carry out missions, you and Wanqing will still have to handle things until then."

"I'll do my best." Xiao He smiled faintly, his heart filled with sympathy for the girl.

She probably still didn't know that she would eventually be sent out as cannon fodder to stall for time for him.

Xia Yu was far too petite. Her bench press probably topped out at thirty or forty kilograms, and with training, she might reach sixty or seventy. Even multiplied by fifty, that was only around three tons. That put her somewhere between LV2 and LV3—not an especially powerful Mutant.

Of course, if she could fully transform, she would probably be stronger.

When she turned into a spider, Xiao He estimated that she was above LV3. Though her strength was not particularly high, her body was extremely resilient. She could withstand his ten-ton punches, and with abilities like spider silk to support her, even ordinary LV4 or LV5 Mutants might not be able to deal with her.

But considering the nature of her Superpower, it was clearly impossible for her to transform to that extent. In that state, she was basically going berserk.

"Hmph..." Cui Man glanced at the food in front of them and smiled with satisfaction. "Mm, it looks like you've been properly following your new meal plan. Not bad." As she spoke, she patted Xiao He on the shoulder. "Keep it up for a while. Once your physiques meet the standard, you'll only need to maintain them afterward. Things will be much easier then."

"How long do you estimate that will take?" Xiao He asked with a smile.

"For you, one or two months should be enough, since your training regimen is more intense." Cui Man turned to Ye Wanqing. "But Wanqing will take more time. Her foundation is weaker, and she isn't as physically active as you."

"It's fine. I'll stick with it." Ye Wanqing said seriously. Cui Man nodded in satisfaction. "I know. You're a serious child. You'll definitely carry out any task I give you seriously. And while you're at it, you can keep an eye on your boyfriend for me."

With that, Cui Man stood up. "All right, that's it for now. I still have to go back and talk with that child. We also have a lead on a fourth Mutant now. Hopefully, we can successfully negotiate with him."

A fourth... A trace of hope rose in Xiao He's heart. Maybe he could replace us?

But after thinking it over, Xiao He felt that was probably impossible... After all, with Ye Wanqing around, he could even defeat Typhoon.

No matter what, the appearance of a new Mutant would make their missions easier. At the very least, he would not have to be the one stalling for time next time. In the future, he would only need to deal with those troublesome enemies whose names could be changed.

After seeing Cui Man off, Xiao He and Ye Wanqing continued eating lunch. To be fair, although Ye Wanqing did not eat spicy food, her cooking was genuinely good. That slightly sweet style suited his taste perfectly.

"You'll do the dishes, okay?" After they finished eating, Ye Wanqing picked up her bowl and chopsticks.

"Fair enough." Xiao He nodded, then glanced at Ye Wanqing's bowl and chopsticks. She had not finished her chicken leg or the scrambled eggs with cucumber, and he immediately frowned. "Why didn't you finish? Give it here, give it here. I'll help you eat it."

"You don't mind? I don't mind either. It's best not to waste food." Ye Wanqing handed him the plate.

"Mind what? Your saliva? We're not children anymore." Xiao He replied, then readily swept all the food she had left into his own bowl and continued wolfing it down.

Watching him like that, Ye Wanqing could not help but laugh. A warm feeling suddenly rose in her heart. The scene before her reminded her of her father and mother.

Back home, her father had always done the same thing, sweeping the unfinished food from her and her mother's bowls into his own before wolfing it all down, like a...

"Scavenger..." Ye Wanqing rested her chin on her hand and smiled. Seeing Xiao He staring at her, she quickly changed her words. "I said you look like you're enjoying it."

"Your cooking's pretty good too." Xiao He mumbled through a mouthful of food. "I think from now on, we shouldn't serve our food separately. Why not just put it all on one plate? Then if you can't finish yours, I can take care of it, and we'll have fewer dishes to wash."

"Mm, let's do that." Ye Wanqing smiled, then tilted her head in thought. "I just wonder whether eating your portion counts as violating that list? These meals are very low in calories, so it should be fine, right?"

"Eh, who cares? Not wasting food is national policy, and the Special Response Department is a government department too." Xiao He replied. He swallowed the last bite of food, then sighed in satisfaction. "All right, I'll wash the dishes!"

While washing the dishes, Xiao He was practically moved to tears. He had grown sick of eating takeout every day. Especially in their area—it looked like a prime location, but the nearby takeout options were all fried chicken and burgers. Open any delivery app, and seven out of ten restaurants sold fried chicken and burgers.

It was not as if there were no other restaurants, but the value for money...

For comparison, with the same twenty yuan, a Chinese restaurant would only get him a serving of braised chicken rice, with at most four or five chunks of chicken while the rest was potatoes, tofu skin, and other ingredients. But for fried chicken and burgers, he could buy an entire combo meal packed full of chicken.

So after looking around and going in circles, he always found that fried chicken and burgers were still his only option.

But now, he could eat food someone had personally cooked for him—and food cooked by a cute girl at that. What happiness!

Food made in one's own kitchen simply tasted different from takeout. Takeout was fine once in a while, but eating it every day became tiresome, and it was not good for the body either.

For the sake of hot, freshly cooked meals alone, he would be willing to wash dishes every day.