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Once Xu Duoduo had thought it through, she no longer minded at all. Although she was afraid he might kill her, she also understood that he would not touch her as long as she retained her awareness.

If the day ever came when she truly lost her mind, she would no longer be herself.

She would be nothing but a walking corpse.

Then she might as well let him kill her. Besides, whether it was imprinting or their connection as former classmates, he had been the first person she saw after becoming a zombie. If he had been the sort to kill first rather than risk letting a threat escape, one bang! from that first shot would have ended her.

How could any of this have happened then?

Xu Duoduo trusted him not to kill her by mistake, so she stopped holding back. She just wanted to stay with him.

She really did not like the Research Center.

The cold lighting and researchers in white coats hurrying back and forth.

It made her feel as though she might be strapped to an operating table and dissected at any moment.

Xu Duoduo would rather go out to fight, gather supplies, and rescue other survivors.

That would mean much more to her, too.

After leaving the institute, they boarded the special subway again to reach their destination, finally arriving in front of a huge, newly built residential complex.

Qin Luo led her through the complex, scanning his wristband along the way, until they reached Building A. It really was a coincidence: Xu Duoduo had lived in Building A at her old complex, and now she would be doing the same here.

"Straight ahead is the Activity Center Building. The first floor is the cafeteria, the second is the supermarket, the third has all sorts of shops, and the fourth has a cinema and a gym."

The complex had seven residential buildings, labeled A through G and arranged in a circle.

The Activity Center Building stood at the center.

As soon as they entered the complex, Qin Luo automatically turned into a tour guide and explained everything to her.

Both their homes were on the nineteenth floor of Building A.

"My room is 1900, and yours is 1901. Old Wang is in 1905, Old Bai is in 1906, and Xiaofei is in 1907. The three of them are just down the hall."

If Xu Duoduo had not already been earmarked for Qin Luo's team, she would never have been assigned such a nice apartment.

She was very grateful for that.

She followed him upstairs. Just like entering the complex, getting into the apartment required scanning her wristband. Inside was a one-bedroom apartment with a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom.

It looked like a model apartment. The four-piece bedding set was all white, just like in a hotel.

Qin Luo leaned against the doorway, watching the little zombie wander around inspecting her new home. She was rather cute. "I'm right next door. Come straight to me if you need anything."

After speaking, he knocked twice on the door to draw Xu Duoduo's attention. Only after she nodded did he turn to leave, closing the door behind him.

Xu Duoduo happily wandered around on her own. She quite liked this little apartment, and it even had a balcony. She liked sunshine.

Unfortunately, she did not know whether she would ever see a normal sun again.

Qin Luo had not asked her for the canned food, either. He must have intended to leave it with her for now, right?

Xu Duoduo checked the multifaceted Rubik's Cube Space in her mind. Several little compartments were filled with cans, and the sight gave her a strong sense of security.

Then she began figuring out her wristband. It had small slots on both sides for inserting various chip cards, and its screen was neither too big nor too small.

She could tap directly on the screen. It had a messaging app and a page displaying her personal information, which served as her digital ID.

[Name: Xu Duoduo, gender: female, age: 22, height: 1.63 m.]

[Mutation tendency: zombie virus.

[Ability: none.]

[Strength: speed bonus 1.5.]

There was also a freshly taken photo of her, a headshot with a completely blank expression.

Apart from the messaging app and her personal information, there was an app that stored various barcodes.

When she opened it, she found transit codes, base entry and exit codes, and a code for her residence.

That was straightforward enough.

There was also a payment app. When she opened it, it showed a balance of 100 points.

The incoming payment notification stated that she had just participated in the rescue operation at Qingyuan Residential Complex in K City and had performed well, earning her a bonus of 100 points.

Xu Duoduo was quite happy to see that. Those were all the wristband's functions for now. The only other thing was a standard-issue tablet, whose apps were simple too. There were just three: a camera, a photo gallery, and a forum.

After logging into the forum, she found several sections. The serious ones were [Mission postings], [Mission experience sharing], and [Resource library].

The only casual section was [Free chat], which was full of gossip.

As soon as she entered, she saw a thread sitting at the very top. Its title was [The functions of mutant cores and theories about their formation].

Xu Duoduo immediately tapped it. It seemed to be the original poster's own theory: mutant cores were byproducts of mutated living or nonliving things. They were not necessarily located in the brain, nor were living things the only ones that could have them.

Original poster: I participated in a rescue mission in C City yesterday. A computer had actually mutated, and it even had a mutant core inside. It nearly wiped out our entire team. The culprit was an AI program on the computer.

She shared a link to the resource section, where she had posted an account of her experience just yesterday.

There was also a video showing the combat team prying a mutant core out of the computer tower. It was actually a mechanical mutant core.

The discovery had shocked everyone, which was why the thread dominated the rankings.

-This world has seriously gone insane!

-AI ruling the earth?

-That used to be a joke, but with things like this, it really could happen now.

-Hahahahaha, nobody stop me! We might as well all die together! It's over! Everything's over!

-Just how much crazier is this world going to get?

There were countless replies like these. Everyone was both falling apart and terrified.

Xu Duoduo had eaten a mutant core just last night, the one from the Mutant Monkey King. Qin Luo had said it was the lowest-grade mutant core. Although it had looked ugly and bloody when first removed, the core itself was very clean.

It was like candy in her mouth, crunchy, refreshing, and lightly sweet.

It was filling, too.

Even now, Xu Duoduo still felt seventy to eighty percent full after eating just one. It really had tasted good.

She also suspected that it could improve her physical capabilities. After eating it, she had clearly become more nimble. She could now move around almost as freely as an ordinary person, without the clumsiness she had suffered at first.

Sure enough, the original poster was speculating about that effect too. She said one of her companions had accidentally eaten a little and developed a high fever. Afterward, their physical capabilities had suddenly improved, and they had developed a new ability.

But eating mutant cores might also be dangerous. The original poster still warned everyone not to try it lightly. She had already written a report, and anyone interested could take a look. She also welcomed rational discussion.

Everyone grew fervently excited about it.

Xu Duoduo also tapped into the resource library section and had a look. She found plenty of information and finally understood why Bai Shu and Chen Xiaofei had been recording videos of the thunderstorm earlier. So this was what they had been for.

Among the twenty newest and hottest threads were posts by Bai Shu and Chen Xiaofei, titled [Latest thunderstorm developments] and [Mutant Monkey Group].

The descriptions were clear and concise, interspersed with all sorts of photos and videos taken on-site.