Bound equipment, analysis of new findings

Su Jin woke with a hangover and a pounding headache.

Judging by the sky outside, it was already noon.

He glanced around. At some point after he had fallen asleep, someone had moved him into the side bedroom.

Fu Qingdai sat on a small stool beside the bed, her cheek propped on her hand as she studied him.

Seeing him wake, she quickly straightened up.

Su Jin pushed himself halfway upright and turned toward Fu Qingdai. "What are you doing here instead of training?"

Fu Qingdai had been about to speak, but her face fell at his question. "I just finished... I came to see how you were doing. Su Jin, did something serious happen? Did you poison those two people yesterday with chocolate?"

Su Jin took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes, something did happen. But I can handle it. Don't tell your parents about this."

"I haven't. If you tell me not to, I wouldn't dare." Fu Qingdai hesitated. "But what happened? Can't you tell me?"

"You're still young. I'm worried you might let something slip, so stop asking."

He rubbed his face, feeling some of his alertness return, then added, "But remember, we won't stay holed up in this building waiting to die forever. Sooner or later, we'll go outside. Don't trust any strangers you meet out there, and stay extremely alert if anyone around you gets hurt."

"If someone makes you feel uncomfortable or seems strange... kill them outright."

With that, Su Jin reached toward the head of the bed, picked up the Silver Spear, and offered it to her.

"I'm giving you this gun to protect yourself. Take it."

"What will you use?" Rather than reaching for it, Fu Qingdai looked at Su Jin.

"I have superpowers now, and I'm not afraid of infection. A gun isn't as useful to me anymore." Su Jin spoke earnestly. "Besides, I have another one. I'll find more guns later."

Su Jin tossed the Silver Spear to Fu Qingdai, opened the window, and pointed outside. "Fire a shot into the sky. Get a feel for it."

Fu Qingdai raised the handgun, aimed out the window, and pulled the trigger.

"Nngh!"

"Shoot. What are you straining for?"

"I'm trying. I can't pull it."

"Harder!"

"I am... is it rusted shut?" Fu Qingdai's pretty face flushed crimson with effort, and the finger pulling the trigger had gone bloodless.

Su Jin frowned, took the gun, and fired out the window.

Bang!

The gun fired normally.

After staring at the handgun in thought for a moment, Su Jin leaned over and searched.

He found the briefcase beside the bed.

He carried it with him often enough that everyone knew not to touch it. Since he had gotten drunk yesterday, Sun Ya must have left it here.

Su Jin opened the briefcase and held it toward Fu Qingdai. "Put your hand in and see what's inside."

"What do you mean?" Fu Qingdai asked, already moving.

She reached inside, felt around a couple of times, then withdrew her hand and looked blankly at Su Jin.

"There's nothing in there."

"Ah..."

Su Jin felt helpless.

Apparently, the "office" equipment the company provided was bound to him. No one else could use it.

He could accept that others couldn't use the Spatial Briefcase, but being unable to lend someone the handgun was genuinely troublesome.

It might reload endlessly, but there was a time limit involved. With enough ammunition, an ordinary firearm would actually be better.

All this did was restrict how I could allocate my already limited firepower... what a trash company!

Su Jin took a bag of chocolate from the briefcase and handed it to Fu Qingdai, speaking earnestly. "You can't use equipment from our home planet. I'll find you a weapon later. For now, focus on practicing archery."

"Take this chocolate bar. If you think someone means you harm, find a chance to get them to eat it... but don't get tempted and eat it yourself. Keep an eye on your parents, too."

Fu Qingdai turned the chocolate over in her hands, then tucked it into her pocket and nodded. "Got it."

"All right, that's everything. Go get me a glass of water."

Fu Qingdai murmured her assent and rose from the stool.

She had barely turned around when she dropped to her knees with a thud.

She tried to stand, only to fall to her knees again.

Slowly turning her head, she gave Su Jin an embarrassed glance. At last, her face bright red, she braced herself against the wardrobe and shakily got to her feet.

"Never mind. Go rest. I don't need the water." Su Jin laughed.

"Yes, you do! I'll get it!"

Fu Qingdai answered stubbornly, then left the bedroom with one hand against the wall, her long legs trembling violently.

A little later, Su Jin got out of bed and stood at the living room window.

The window was wide open, and sunlight spilled over his powerful muscles.

Under the influence of light power, the fatigue of the night and his hangover headache rapidly faded.

Su Jin unconsciously clenched his fists... and his mood improved along with his condition.

Just then, Sun Ya's voice came from behind him.

"Xiao Li."

Su Jin turned.

Sun Ya smiled. "You haven't forgotten what we talked about yesterday, have you?"

"Of course not."

"Good. Come downstairs with me. Old Wei and I have some new findings to discuss with you."

The three of them sat down in the makeshift laboratory on the fifth floor.

Looking at mutant rat No. 3, which had split into two halves and was constantly gnawing at the cage wire, Su Jin asked in surprise, "How did it end up like this?"

"We poked it a few times with a skewer. It probably realized we'd discovered it, so it stopped pretending altogether. Now it keeps trying to attack us." Wei De smiled bitterly.

"All right, let's start with our findings." Sun Ya clapped his hands.

"Old Wei and I barely slept last night. We've been at it until now, and we did discover a few things."

"Combined with what you found yesterday, these concealed mutant creatures are very different from what we imagined."

Su Jin listened quietly.

Sun Ya continued, "Broadly speaking, creatures infected by the rain can be divided into two categories: zombies and disguised mutant creatures. But they aren't on the same side. These disguised mutant creatures aren't infectious, and other zombies will attack them."

"Hmm?" Su Jin's eyes lit up.

"Don't get excited yet." Sun Ya pressed his right hand downward. "Zombies attack them because they instinctively attack living things. But the disguised infected creatures have no interest in zombies. They only offer a simple counterattack when attacked. On the other hand... besides retaining their normal habits and characteristics, they have an intense desire to attack and kill uninfected creatures."

Su Jin sighed in disappointment. "Could this infection increase a creature's intelligence? Rat No. 3 was very good at disguising itself."

"I think it's possible."

"I disagree," Wei De interjected. "Rats are already very intelligent animals. After being infected, it could clearly sense the threat we posed and disguise itself accordingly. That's perfectly normal behavior. Yet it still couldn't control its urge to kill, devouring the other rats when no one was looking. That suggests its intelligence most likely hasn't changed."

"How intelligent a disguised mutant creature is may depend on the original host's intelligence."

"Also, based on our observations of these two cases, I believe this infection can cause three possible forms of mutation. The first distorts the mind and instills a desire to kill, but the person remains an ordinary human."

"The second grants extraordinary abilities like yours, without any particularly noticeable changes in appearance."

"As for the third... it causes physical changes, like those in rat No. 3. Without its fur concealing them, the significant mutations in its body would already be clearly visible."

As they spoke, rat No. 3 opened a bloody maw that spanned nearly half its body and kept gnawing at and crashing into the cage, producing soft thuds.

Sun Ya glanced at it. "Old Wei and I discussed this last night, and we can essentially confirm one thing now. However intelligent these mutant creatures capable of hiding and disguising themselves might be, they have severely regressed in one ability normal humans possess."

"What ability?" Su Jin asked.

Both elderly men raised their heads at the same time.

"Delayed gratification."