The Spoils Go to the Captain

Shortly before seven that evening, Zhong Xuezhi hurried home carrying two large bags.

He took off his protective suit in the entryway and tossed it into a sterile bag before venturing into the living room.

Mu Yi was curled up on the couch, browsing Crystal City's internal forums and ravenously soaking up all sorts of new information about this world.

He merely glanced up at Zhong Xuezhi, counting that as his greeting.

Zhong Xuezhi approached the couch and said apologetically, "Sorry I'm late. Hungry?"

Mu Yi was indeed hungry. He sat up on the couch and asked, "Anything ready to eat straight out of the bag?"

Zhong Xuezhi smiled. "Hang in there a little longer. I'm cooking tonight."

Mu Yi thought about Zhong Xuezhi's cooking skills and nodded in agreement. Then he pulled out three Storage Bags containing grade C and grade B shard crystals and held them out to Zhong Xuezhi.

"For room and board."

Zhong Xuezhi pulled open a bag and looked inside. His eyebrows shot up, and he raised his head to ask, "Where did you get so many shard crystals?"

Mu Yi answered honestly, "Robbery."

Zhong Xuezhi froze. "You went out robbing people this morning?"

Afraid of getting lectured, Mu Yi gave a succinct explanation. "Someone tried to rob me. I just fought back."

Zhong Xuezhi pressed him. "Did you use your ability?"

The little lunatic had previously promised not to use his ability in the city. It now seemed he probably hadn't kept that promise.

Mu Yi, however, felt that as long as no one found out he'd used his so-called "ability," it didn't count as breaking his word.

So he replied, "Relax. No one will find out."

Zhong Xuezhi sighed helplessly and continued, "So how thoroughly did you fry them?"

Mu Yi repeated himself. "Relax."

"They're still alive and kicking." He'd only shocked them stupid.

Zhong Xuezhi immediately guessed that it couldn't have been that simple, but Mu Yi clearly didn't want to talk about it, so he didn't pry.

He only reminded him, "These are unusual times. Be careful how far you go."

Mu Yi nodded rather impatiently. "I know."

Zhong Xuezhi watched him nod, then handed the Storage Bags back. "Take these back. I'm not charging you for room and board."

Mu Yi didn't reach for them. "Whether you accept payment is your business. That has nothing to do with whether I want to pay."

He hated owing people favors, yet Zhong Xuezhi kept offering them, one little thread after another, making him feel as though he'd never be able to repay them all.

Zhong Xuezhi, however, didn't consider his actions favors at all. He simply felt an instinctive urge to look after a younger brother who knew nothing about the outside world.

Unfortunately, that younger brother had never seen himself as someone to be looked after. His next words were startling. "I'm not in the habit of taking back things I've given away."

"If you don't want them, throw them out."

At that, Zhong Xuezhi immediately tightened his grip on the Storage Bags.

Though grade C and grade B shard crystals weren't particularly high-grade, they were the two grades mutants most commonly kept on hand.

Shard crystals below grade C held little energy and charged slowly, while those above grade B were drastically harder to obtain. Few Hunting Teams specifically hunted grade A or higher monsters to build up their energy reserves.

Team 404 was no different. Grade C and grade B shard crystals made up the bulk of its energy packs.

Captain Zhong could never collect enough of them as it was. Asking him to throw shard crystals away? Money falling from the sky was more likely.

So, after tightening his grip on the Storage Bags, Zhong Xuezhi studied Mu Yi's expression for a while. Once he was sure Mu Yi wasn't joking, he withdrew his outstretched hand.

"All right, I'll keep them." Better him than the trash can.

Captain Zhong was quite pleased to pocket so many shard crystals. Grinning broadly, he asked Mu Yi, "Anything in particular you want for dinner? I bought a pretty good range of ingredients."

Without even thinking, Mu Yi said, "Just make whatever you're good at."

Zhong Xuezhi thought he had quite a few dishes worth showing off, though he generally ate according to the season.

So he said, "How about a tofu and bass-head soup? Bass are nice and plump in March and April. They make a delicious clear broth."

It also nourished the liver and kidneys and supported the spleen and stomach-a perfect springtime dish.

A moment later, he added, "Mutated bass, of course."

An original-species bass cost 800,000 apiece. He couldn't afford that.

Mu Yi didn't care whether the ingredients were mutated or original-species. He only asked, "What else?"

Zhong Xuezhi smiled and pulled open the cloth pouch hanging at his waist. "Look. What's this?"

Mu Yi examined it for a few seconds, then said uncertainly, "Shepherd's purse?"

"Wild shepherd's purse, to be exact." Zhong Xuezhi explained, "I secretly dug some up during our last patrol outside the city. Fresh, isn't it?"

Mu Yi said nothing.

Calling Zhong Xuezhi a goofball was certainly fair. After all, he'd done something as absurd as falling behind during a tense patrol to sneak off and dig up wild greens.

But calling him unreliable wouldn't have been accurate, because even while falling behind to dig up greens, he would absolutely make sure every one of his duties was handled properly.

Naturally, Zhong Xuezhi didn't find his behavior absurd in the slightest. In fact, he looked rather proud as he patted the pouch. "Good thing I've got sharp eyes. It would've been a shame to miss these."

Mu Yi jiggled his crossed leg and said dismissively, "What's so special about wild greens?"

"You don't know a good thing when you see it." Zhong Xuezhi leaned down toward him, slowing his words for emphasis. "It has to be wild shepherd's purse, understand?"

"Wild shepherd's purse is much sweeter, more fragrant, and chewier than the stuff cultivated inside the city."

"Besides, this is the first flush of wild shepherd's purse this season. Both its nutritional value and flavor are at their best. You should be thrilled you get to eat it."

Zhong Xuezhi's lecture left Mu Yi's head buzzing. He smacked his lips and asked, "How are we eating it?"

Zhong Xuezhi straightened up and replied, "As a cold salad. It'll help with digestion at dinner."

"All right, I'm off to cook." He picked the ingredients back up and headed straight into the kitchen.

Mu Yi immediately sprang off the couch and pattered after him.

Zhong Xuezhi moved deftly around the kitchen, cooking with such methodical efficiency that he could do the work of four or five people on his own.

Mu Yi, on the other hand, was utterly useless in the kitchen. The only thing he could do was stay out of Zhong Xuezhi's way.

But he couldn't sit still. With his body behaving itself, his mouth simply had to keep moving. From two meters away, he asked, "What's the situation outside now?"

Still busy at work, Zhong Xuezhi replied, "Nothing much for the moment."

Mu Yi asked again, "What about that grade S Variant? Has the research institute found anything?"

At that, Zhong Xuezhi paused briefly before saying, "They've identified its type. It's a Zombie Fungus, a mutated strain of cordyceps fungus."

"Team 403's healer was unfortunately infected when we entered the mushroom forest to look for Hallucinogenic Mushrooms."

Mu Yi looked puzzled. "Zombie?"

"Yes." Zhong Xuezhi stopped what he was doing and gave a brief explanation.

"Once this fungus infects a host, it's extremely good at lying dormant, and it's very cunning. During its dormant period, it gradually severs the host's nervous system so it can control their movements."

"When its fruiting body is nearly fully grown, it forces the host to find an ideal breeding ground. Then it bursts out of their body, turning the host into nourishment for the fruiting body."

"Finally, its spores mature and spread throughout the breeding ground, causing infection on a massive scale."

After listening, Mu Yi blurted out something rather ill-timed. "That wild, huh?"

Then he cleared his throat and continued, "No wonder Team 403's healer climbed so high up that tree. He was trying to spread the spores on the wind."

"That's not all." Zhong Xuezhi added gravely, "Central Park is in the heart of Crystal City. Its location is crucial."

"Once released there, the spores could spread throughout Crystal City as quickly as possible. The damage would be unimaginable."

Mu Yi asked, "So those spores that spread really are an infection source for the grade S Variant?"

Zhong Xuezhi nodded. "Exactly. Once the spores mature, a single parasitized host can release hundreds of millions of them. If we don't identify those infected during the dormant period in time..."

"All of Crystal City could fall within days."

Mu Yi fell silent for two seconds, then asked in earnest, "And you still had the presence of mind to sneak off and dig up wild greens during patrol?"

The grave expression on Zhong Xuezhi's face froze. Then he coughed a few times and said, "No matter how serious things get, people still have to eat, drink, and shit, don't they?"

"Besides, rather than sitting around looking miserable, it's better to eat and sleep well. Keeping your energy and strength up puts you in a better position to tackle problems and solve them."

Mu Yi nodded with a hint of admiration. "That's a pretty enlightened attitude."

As expected of a top-tier player of life's little pleasures-even if he were going to die tomorrow, he'd still make sure he lived well today.