She Would Grow Stronger

Zhou Diao's outstretched hand froze, and he did not dare move.

What Feng Ling had said was truly terrifying. He would rather hear, "Or you'll die," than hear her say she would give birth to him!

"I say..." Zhou Diao took a deep breath, staring wide-eyed at Feng Ling. "Don't tell me you've already turned into a Contaminant?"

Otherwise, who would have such a freakish ability?!

Feng Ling frowned slightly and flicked her wrist again. The two Cards flashed like silver streaks and instantly returned to her wrist, transforming into bracelets.

"This is an advanced ability of the Hive, called Nest Building," Feng Ling said. "I'm still figuring out exactly how to use it. For now, I can only confirm one thing: once the nest is complete, it can convert flesh and blood into new life. The more energy the nest contains, the stronger the life-form it produces."

She glanced at Zhou Diao, gently stirring the wonton soup in her bowl as she continued, "I don't want the life-form I raise to have poor physical abilities, so I want to save up as much energy for the nest as possible."

Zhou Diao: "..."

Why did she have to glance at him while saying that?

Was she taking a jab at him?

Ding—

The doorbell rang.

Huangfu Miaomiao very conscientiously went to the door, stood on tiptoe, and looked outside through the peephole.

After confirming that the person outside was not a Xenomorph, she gave Feng Ling a safe gesture before opening the door and accepting Feng Ling's delivery from the courier.

Feng Ling had ordered far too much food. The courier had to make several trips before everything was delivered.

It would take quite a while to finish all that food.

As Feng Ling ate, she silently sensed her nest—

When she had first used Nest Building, she had deliberately chosen a Spider Card that seemed highly compatible with the Hive and a Bird Card that seemed extremely incompatible with it.

She had chosen them that way because she wanted to know whether the Hive's success rate in nurturing life was related to Card Compatibility.

She had yet to get any results from the experiment, but she had discovered another problem:

—The nest built with the Spider Card as its foundation was nearly full of energy.

—The nest built with the unknown Bird Card had stored only a little over half its energy capacity.

Why was that?

Was it because differing Compatibility caused different energy absorption rates?

Or was it because the Spider Card was a Low-level Card and could hold less energy than an Intermediate Card?

...But strictly speaking, spiders were arthropods, not insects. That did not necessarily make it a Low-level Card, did it?

Then what exactly was causing such a huge difference in the nests' development speed?

As Feng Ling pondered this, Zhou Diao asked, "Other than Nest Building, what other abilities does your Card have? Can it heal teammates?"

She came back to herself, glanced up at Zhou Diao, then lowered her head and continued eating.

"The Card underwent a gene mutation. I don't have any abilities related to healing."

"Tsk, the Research Institute will definitely be very interested in you. A completely unknown evolution path." Zhou Diao sighed.

He had wanted to tease Feng Ling a little more, but the words reached his lips and he decided this matter should be taken seriously. After all, an unknown evolution path meant that Feng Ling would face greater risks than others when absorbing Cards in the future.

"Why don't you join the Supervision Bureau? Let those old men and women at the Research Institute help you figure something out," Zhou Diao said, rubbing his chin. "Actually, I wasn't in favor of you joining the Supervision Bureau before, but your current situation is indeed pretty dangerous."

Feng Ling lifted her soup bowl and took several sips of wonton soup before opening the container of chicken leg rice.

"Why weren't you in favor of me joining the Supervision Bureau?" she asked casually. "Are the benefits not good?"

Zhou Diao frowned. "It's annoying. You have to submit reports for everything you do, there are weekly meetings every week, and besides..."

He paused, turning to glance at the three Special Forces members in the living room. Then he turned back and lowered his voice to Feng Ling. "Besides, I'm from Qingjiang."

"...What?" Feng Ling blinked.

Zhou Diao shot her a disdainful glare. "You don't get it? I said I'm a local of Qingjiang. Of course I have to look out for my hometown. I don't give a damn about all that crap about putting the bigger picture first. All I know is that if I get transferred away, there'll be no one left in Qingjiang City. If you join the Supervision Bureau, you'll definitely get transferred too."

"But if your superiors want to transfer you away, you'll have no choice but to comply, right?" Feng Ling said.

"They won't transfer me, hehe~" Zhou Diao mysteriously pulled a flat stainless-steel flask from his jacket. "I've got this."

Feng Ling tilted her head and studied the flask for a while, but could not see what was so special about it.

"What does that thing do?"

"The secret is not being too well-behaved~" Zhou Diao chuckled in the tone of an experienced senior. "I've already had five drunk-driving incidents and three cases of damaging public property. When the higher-ups transfer people, they'll definitely prioritize Inspectors with good performance. Me? I'm perfectly safe."

Feng Ling could not help laughing.

She had thought Zhou Diao was all brawn and no brains. She had not expected him to have so many twists and turns in his mind.

"Feng Ling..." Zhou Diao tucked the flask back into his jacket, his smile fading as he asked seriously, "Will you return to your hometown someday?"

Feng Ling thought for a moment. "...Probably not."

She did not have many good memories of that homeland.

"That's great," Zhou Diao said with a wide grin. "Then stay in Qingjiang with me!"

Feng Ling raised her brows. "I'm a Hidden Boss. Your Lao Su would love nothing more than to drive me out of Qingjiang City."

Zhou Diao flashed his bright white canine teeth. "You need to grow stronger, so strong that no Xenomorph dares come to Qingjiang!"

Feng Ling smiled, picked up the chicken leg, and took a fierce bite.

She would grow stronger.

Strong enough that those people would never again dare see her as a weak, easily bullied target.

Early the next morning, Feng Ling went to Qingjiang Bridge No. 1 as planned.

There were sightseeing walkways on both sides of the bridge.

She, Huangfu Miaomiao, Zhou Diao, and the three Special Forces members walked from one end of the bridge all the way to the other.

They made the round trip twice, but the trail seemed to end here.

From the bridge, Feng Ling could see the Ferris Wheel in the distance, but she could not figure out where the "Snake Moon" and "Skyfire" were.

It was already late May. There was no shade anywhere on the bridge, and the temperature kept climbing as time passed.

Zhou Diao was drenched in sweat. "Everything about Qingjiang is great except it's too damn hot... It's only May, but it's at least thirty-four degrees today... I'm about to get heatstroke!"

Huangfu Miaomiao nodded in agreement, so sunbaked that she did not even want to speak.

Feng Ling stared at the distant Ferris Wheel. Why were there no more clues?

After finding the Frog in a Top Hat, she had found the White Bird.

Following that pattern, once she found the White Bird, she should have discovered the clue to the next riddle. But why could she still not see the Snake Moon or Skyfire?

Feng Ling paced back and forth across the bridge, thinking, Could it be because the four words "Salivating Kiss" haven't been solved?

Yes...

That had to be the reason.

She had found the "Frog in a Top Hat," and only when the frog "rushed toward the clouds"—when it reached the highest point of the Ferris Wheel—had she discovered the "White Bird."

Then she would have to wait until the frog gave the White Bird a "Salivating Kiss" before she could obtain the clue to the third riddle.

Feng Ling frowned, her expression grave as she searched the river's surface and spotted a River Ferry.

"Come on. We're going to the Dock."

Early update~~ Haha! Mainly because I wanted to show off the little gifts I prepared for the top five on the reader ranking~~ So happy