Teething period

When Qin Luo came over, Shishi immediately stuck close to him. When she was more clearheaded, Shishi wouldn't casually grab him, but followed behind him instead.

Once she got close enough, she could smell his scent. It was fresh, sweet, and fragrant without being cloying, like mint mixed with fruit hard candy.

The moment the little zombie got hungry, her teeth started itching, so she pulled out a teething stick and began gnawing on it. These things were supposed to be for little children.

It was baked from flour, sweet potato starch, and carrot puree.

It was incredibly hard.

She had no idea which mother-and-baby store it had been scavenged from, but as long as she had something to use, that was fine.

Growing little fangs really made her mouth uncomfortable. Her gums itched terribly. It wasn't so bad when she didn't notice it, but when the itching really started, she wanted to bite something.

Xu Duoduo was feeling a little down, too. No normal person would gnaw on something like this, so instead of the joy of growing up, she felt a little depressed about being different from everyone else.

"What's wrong? Did teething make you withdraw into yourself? Not happy?"

Qin Luo found it strange. He had actually been watching her the whole time. The little thing had been happy to see him, but then she'd pulled out a teething stick and started gnawing as they walked.

Worried that her short little legs couldn't keep up, he had deliberately slowed down.

He thought taking the little zombie for a leisurely stroll was pretty nice, too.

Normally, once he got back to the base, he would have already darted into the house to rest.

When else would he walk slowly with her like this?

Yet she'd somehow gotten angry while teething. Qin Luo didn't really understand, but when the little zombie looked up at him, a trickle of blood suddenly ran from the corner of her mouth, leaving him completely stunned. "Wait, holy shit, what's wrong with your mouth?! Are you hurt? Internal injuries? Did storing too much in your space cause a backlash?"

Qin Luo was so anxious that he pried her mouth open with his fingers. A closer look revealed that her gums were bleeding from all that gnawing. Meanwhile, Xu Duoduo was still staring at him with wide eyes. She sniffed. Oh my god, my emergency food smells even better when he's this close!!

Although she wasn't planning to eat him, that sweet scent was far too intoxicating!

She was practically dazed by it.

When she didn't respond, Qin Luo panicked. He scooped her up, slung her over his shoulder, and ran for the subway entrance. Less than two minutes later, he appeared at the Research Center. The moment he spotted Xiao Qiao, he shouted, "Quick, quick, quick! Her gums are bleeding! Can you stop it?"

Xiao Qiao thought something serious had happened and hurriedly said, "This way, this way! The Emergency Department!"

But a minute later-

Xiao Qiao stood with her hands on her hips and burst out laughing. "Captain Qin, what is wrong with you? The little zombie is just teething. You can take a look at the latest research report. The data hasn't been uploaded to the database yet, but our research shows that some organisms enter a second growth period after infection. Congratulations, your little zombie has grown up a little~"

Qin Luo looked utterly speechless as he watched the emergency doctor smile and stop Xu Duoduo's bleeding. The little zombie had her mouth wide open, but her eyes were still turned toward him.

She really never let him stop worrying.

He knew she liked him, but did she have to stare at him every second of the day?

It was pretty embarrassing.

Qin Luo felt his cheeks burning. He raised a hand and snapped his fingers at her. "Look at the doctor. What are you looking at me for?"

The doctor's eyes curved with a smile above her mask. She was just about to say something when Qin Luo cut her off. "I know she's teething. But how did she gnaw until she bled?"

Xiao Qiao was organizing things. Without even looking up, she said, "You know what it means to be too worried to think straight? That's you right now. She was gnawing too hard."

Her new fangs were hard, and so was the teething stick. With hard grinding against hard, how could she not bleed?

The kind doctor also said gently, "If possible, give her something softer to chew on. We're not rodents, after all. It's best not to bite things that are too hard."

Babies had silicone teethers, too, but a little zombie like Xu Duoduo had a full set of intact teeth. A soft teether couldn't withstand even one bite from her. She would puncture it straightaway.

Qin Luo asked quite seriously, "Could she just not chew on anything?"

The doctor said that not chewing would leave her uncomfortable, but if she could endure it, there wouldn't be much of a problem.

Xiao Qiao called him a monster. How miserable would it be to just grit her teeth and bear the itching? "Do you even know how to raise her? No, I mean, do you know how to take care of her? If you don't, leave her with us. We'll make sure she's well cared for."

"Honestly, do you think everyone can endure hardship like the monsters on your team?"

Xiao Qiao kept grumbling, but they couldn't get in the doctor's way while she was treating patients. Seeing that everything was fine, the doctor began ushering all three of them out.

Then she gently called the next number.

The little zombie had always been a good little girl, a well-behaved child, and she instinctively felt both fear and respect toward doctors and teachers. At first, she had worried she might frighten the kind doctor. But as she followed Qin Luo out, she happened to see the next "patient."

This child had come with her mother. Little leaves grew on top of her head, making her look quite cute. She was probably only seven or eight. But when the doctor asked her to open her mouth-good grief, it split all the way to her ears!

Her mouth was filled with more sharp teeth than anyone could count.

Xiao Qiao grinned as she explained, "Well? This child is adorable too, isn't she? Her mutation is a man-eating flower! It's also an ability in the Devour category."

"If she's trained properly, her ultimate move could swallow a whole bunch of mutation monsters in one bite! She just eats a bit too indiscriminately, so she ends up in the hospital a lot."

Xiao Qiao was delighted by this. "And this new little darling's seeds are really interesting. The little leaves on her head will flower and bear fruit, and there are seeds inside the fruit. Once planted, those little man-eating flowers can guard your home!"

The only drawback was that they sometimes failed to recognize their owner. They were a little dim.

Oh, mama.

This world has gone completely insane.

"All right, that's the end of Xiao Qiao's commentary. You two can go about your business. Oh, and the new research report is very important, so make sure you read it carefully later. Now go get your abilities monitored."

Xiao Qiao bundled Qin Luo and Xu Duoduo into the elevator and sent them straight up to the second floor. She even smiled and waved at them before turning to leave.

Dressed in a white lab coat, Xiao Qiao looked very happy as she skipped away. She clearly loved her work.

The little zombie was envious.

Qin Luo also forgot about the sanity-draining child from earlier and turned his attention to Xu Duoduo. Seeing her unable to resist biting her lip again, he knew her teeth were still itching, so he tentatively offered her his wrist.

Xu Duoduo's eyes brightened another notch, and she swallowed frantically. She was so hungry!!

What a merciful lord!

He's actually offering himself for me to eat? He's that nice? Can something like this really happen?

But the little zombie didn't bite.

She was too embarrassed.

Qin Luo silently withdrew his hand. For some reason, he even felt a little disappointed. Still, the little zombie really didn't bite people when she was clearheaded. She was a good girl.

He couldn't help sighing.

As luck would have it-

The moment they reached the second floor, they saw Wang Weihu and the others, who had just finished their ability monitoring. Their abilities hadn't been as unusual as Qin Luo's, so they hadn't needed frequent checks. Headquarters only required ordinary ability users to be monitored when they felt unwell.

A thunderstorm-type user like Qin Luo was considered special, so he had to undergo monitoring every time he returned from a trip outside.

Bai Shu and the others had come for monitoring this time because of their last team battle against the mutated snake person. Sure enough, Wang Weihu and Chen Xiaofei had both grown a little stronger, while Bai Shu, who hadn't been injured, showed little change from before.