A new type of infection

The three of them headed downstairs in quick succession, straight for the fifth-floor laboratory.

They pushed open the second bedroom door, and Sun Ya and Wei De hurried inside first to inspect the mouse cage.

Meanwhile, Su Jin unplugged his phone, which was slightly hot to the touch, from the power bank.

He was still tapping the screen when Sun Ya's frightened voice rang out. "Another one's missing! Mouse six is gone... there's nothing wrong with the cage. There are no gaps."

Su Jin furrowed his brow and opened the video.

"Forget that for now. Let's watch the recording first."

The two old men looked at the phone together, exchanged a glance, then returned their eyes to the screen.

Su Jin sped up the playback.

The mice in the cage behaved normally in the video until the thirty-five-minute mark.

The mouse marked with the number three began behaving strangely, following closely behind another mouse.

Two minutes later, its mouth opened.

Every hair on Su Jin's body stood on end, as did those of the others!

In the video, mouse three's mouth initially opened normally, but the corners kept stretching back until they reached the middle of its body!

Its gaping, bloody maw opened... and swallowed its own kind in a single bite.

After swallowing prey its own size, mouse three's body swelled to more than twice its original size.

It only returned to normal more than ten minutes later.

Su Jin lowered the phone, his entire body stiff.

Sun Ya and Wei De both looked at mouse three, which was behaving perfectly normally in the cage, and felt a chill run through their bodies.

Just as Su Jin was about to speak, a series of heavy bangs sounded from downstairs.

They could also faintly hear someone cursing nonstop.

All three startled and looked toward the door.

"You two go back. I'll take a look."

Su Jin immediately grabbed the bag beside him and stuffed his phone inside.

Then he ran downstairs.

In just a few strides, he bounded straight from the fifth floor to the third.

The noise seemed to be coming from apartment 302. Su Jin kicked the sofa aside and opened the door with his gun in hand.

The first thing he saw when the door opened was Li Kai grappling with Cao Chengping.

Both men stopped the moment they saw Su Jin.

Before Su Jin could speak, Cao Chengping slid to his knees in front of him, pointed at Li Kai, and sobbed, "Boss! He's gone mad! He's turned into a monster... he killed Li Fang!"

"That's bullshit!" Li Kai's eyes bulged with fury. "You're the one who killed her! You strangled her when I wasn't looking! You've gone mad... I know what you-"

Before he could finish, Cao Chengping interrupted him. "He drank rainwater! He must have drunk rainwater and gone mad! Boss... he's pretending! Hurry up and kill him!!"

Su Jin kicked Cao Chengping to the floor and backed out through the doorway, his gaze icy.

"Neither of you move. Stand still first."

Both men fell silent in terror, neither daring to move a muscle.

"Back up!"

The two retreated shakily. Su Jin stepped into the apartment and walked to the bedroom door to take a look.

Li Fang lay sprawled diagonally across the bed, completely unresponsive.

A pillow lay beside her. At a glance, it looked as though she had been smothered with it.

After a couple of glances, Su Jin backed out through the front door again.

On the landing between the third and fourth floors, Wei De and Sun Ya leaned over the railing, peering down toward Su Jin.

Sun Ya whispered, "Xiao Li, wasn't this whole stairwell cleared out? Did a zombie get in?"

"You two can stay and watch, but stay behind me. Don't cross that line," Su Jin said coldly. "One of the three is dead. One of these two must be like that mouse... looks like we've stumbled right into it."

Wei De and Sun Ya exchanged a glance, then hurried down a few steps for a clearer view.

They had just discovered an entirely new type of infection!

The infected underwent some degree of internal and mental mutation, developing an innate aggression toward living creatures while remaining perfectly concealed among their own kind.

They had never expected to encounter a human specimen so soon.

This was the perfect opportunity to observe one. They had to get to the bottom of it.

Su Jin gritted his teeth.

He turned the muzzle toward Cao Chengping. "Start from the beginning. What happened?"

Cao Chengping ducked his head and said hurriedly, "Just now... just a moment ago, Li Kai suddenly collapsed on the floor..."

The three listened carefully to his account, watching both men's expressions.

Once he finished, Su Jin turned the gun toward Li Kai. "Your turn."

"Boss, don't listen to his bullshit! He did all that himself! He's the one who smothered Li Fang!" Li Kai gestured frantically as he explained. "He suddenly went crazy after waking up from his coma. He rushed over before I noticed..."

Their versions were much the same, and neither man's expression betrayed anything.

Su Jin glanced back at Sun Ya and Wei De.

Both shook their heads, their expressions grim.

They couldn't tell... the impostor was remarkably skilled.

With that level of disguise and intelligence, he had no reason to kill anyone here after already meeting Su Jin.

The only plausible explanation was that the killer had only just become infected and mutated.

His fundamental nature had changed, and he had failed to control his behavior immediately after awakening from the infection.

Su Jin narrowed his eyes, his piercing gaze moving back and forth between the two men.

Finally, he waved the muzzle at them again.

"Both of you, take off your clothes! Everything!"

"Boss..." Cao Chengping wailed. "It really wasn't me. Is this necessary?"

Li Kai began undressing without a word.

The two old men's gazes immediately locked onto Li Kai.

Soon, both men were completely naked, letting Su Jin's eyes scan them from head to toe.

Normal. Everything was normal. They looked no different from ordinary people.

"Turn sideways," Su Jin said, gesturing with the muzzle.

"Boss, isn't that enough?" Cao Chengping asked shakily, glancing sideways to find Li Kai already obediently complying.

"Boss, are we done?" Cao Chengping turned sideways.

"Turn around!" Su Jin barked again.

After examining their backs, he still found nothing wrong.

A trace of sweat had appeared on Su Jin's forehead. "On your knees! Hands behind your backs!"

Neither argued anymore. They did as instructed, kneeling with their backs to Su Jin and putting their hands behind them. Cao Chengping kept turning his head to look back at him.

"Stop moving."

"Boss... please let me go. Don't torment and humiliate me like this." Cao Chengping was still crying out tearfully. "I shouldn't have insulted you before. I was wrong..."

Li Kai clenched his jaw and turned his tear-filled eyes toward Cao Chengping, his gaze murderous.

Su Jin and the two old men continued studying them closely.

A scream rang out from the stairwell!

Su Jin spun around tensely, only to find Fu Qingdai standing behind them.

Both hands were clamped tightly over her small face.

"Qing Dai! Who told you to come down here?!" Su Jin demanded angrily.

"I didn't see anything!" Fu Qingdai said in a muffled voice.

"Who asked you that?! What are you doing here?" Su Jin snapped. "Go back!"

"Dinner's ready... my mom told me to call you all to eat. I didn't see anyone downstairs..."

Fu Qingdai was still explaining when a jumble of pounding footsteps came from above.

Fu Hu appeared, looking anxious and carrying his bow and arrows, with Zhang Wan following behind him.

Behind Zhang Wan came Cheng Du, carrying a liquor bottle, and a flustered Mrs. Liu.

The narrow stairwell landing was instantly packed solid.

But when everyone looked downstairs, they froze as though struck by lightning.

"Who told you to come down here?! And you, Cheng Du! Didn't we tell you to stay isolated in your apartment? Do you still want to stay here or not?!" Before Su Jin could speak, Sun Ya angrily demanded, looking toward Fu Hu.

Fu Hu swallowed. "I heard my daughter scream and panicked..."

Cheng Du kept glancing downstairs and licked his lips. "I... I heard the noise too. Something felt wrong, so I ran out. Who knew... ahem."

"This isn't the time for jokes. One of these two is infected. All of you, go back right now!" Su Jin raised his hand and barked.

"Who's infected?" Cheng Du asked, his eyes widening. "They both look pretty normal to me."

Su Jin fixed his gaze on Cao Chengping and raised his gun. "I already know who it is. We'll discuss that later. Go back to your apartments immediately!"