Can Monsters Turn into Humans?

Bai Huan looked haggard and pale, but his lips were an unnatural red, like white paper stained with blood. The skin on them was visibly broken.

He looked away as he spoke, not daring to meet Lou Yu's eyes, as though he had a guilty conscience and feared Lou Yu would see something.

Lou Yu stepped back and moved aside, clearing the way.

Bai Huan thanked him and, without making any further small talk, walked on without looking back.

There was some distance between the door and the stairway. Bai Huan was clearly eager to leave, but he kept his pace measured and held his slender back and waist straight, trying to conceal the slight limp caused by his physical discomfort.

Although Lou Yu had only done it once himself, he had taken physiology classes, and as a soldier, he knew the human body well. He knew better than anyone what reactions injuries to different parts of the body would cause.

Besides, anyone at the base who was even reasonably well informed knew about Bai Huan and Lou Quan's relationship. Lou Yu himself had seen the two of them being lovey-dovey years ago.

Back then, though, Lou Quan had introduced Bai Huan to others with a grin and a look of happiness, saying, "This is my boyfriend." Now, as outsiders saw it, Bai Huan was merely Lou Quan's secret lover, with no recognized status.

Things and people had changed, after all.

These thoughts flashed through Lou Yu's mind in just a few seconds. He quickly put them aside and raised a hand to knock on the door, waiting until he heard Lou Quan say, "Come in."

The office window was open, and there was no suspicious smell inside. Even so, the slightly disordered desk and the satisfied look on Lou Quan's face as he leaned back in his chair made it clear what had just happened.

Around people he knew, Lou Quan couldn't be bothered to pretend.

Lou Yu had no intention of discussing Lou Quan's private affairs. He simply opened the document to the page that needed a signature and held it out to him.

Lou Yu had called Lou Quan before coming, and Lou Quan had already seen the document's contents. Trusting Lou Yu not to change anything without authorization, he signed his name without hesitation.

Lou Yu took back the document, said goodbye, and turned to leave. Unexpectedly, Lou Quan asked, "Isn't there anything else you want to say to me?"

Lou Yu said, "It would be better for professionals like Elder Li and the others to report to you about the reagent."

Lou Quan chuckled. "You know that's not what I mean."

"I'm not interested in your private affairs." The entanglement between Lou Quan and Bai Huan was too complicated. As an outsider, Lou Yu had no right to interfere.

Although Lou Yu and Lou Quan were cousins, they rarely talked about personal matters. Bai Huan was an unhealable wound in Lou Quan's heart, one that hurt even when he breathed, so Lou Yu was even less inclined to bring him up.

Lou Quan had probably been reminded of the past just now. His emotions had gotten the better of him and clouded his mind, which was why he wanted to discuss his old wound with Lou Yu.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have deliberately left the scene as it was for Lou Yu to see.

"True. It's the same old mess over and over. I'm the only one still hung up on it." Lou Quan's tone was full of self-mockery.

Lou Yu actually had countless words of comfort for Lou Quan, but he understood that in the adult world, it wasn't a case of being too involved to see clearly. People sank willingly, fully aware of what they were doing. Whether they could break free was up to them.

Lou Quan knew all too well what he should do, but he wasn't doing any of it now, and that was why he was suffering.

Lou Yu sighed silently. Without exposing Lou Quan's momentary vulnerability, he walked out of the office in silence, closing the door behind him.

Before going home, Lou Yu had to stop by the supermarket to buy ingredients for dinner.

Chen Lin was home today, and since he was a good cook, Huo Lan and the others had clamored for him to make them a meal.

The supermarket was on Lou Yu's way home from work, so he had volunteered to buy the groceries.

After the tide of mutated monsters receded and the base stabilized decades ago, agriculture and industry had slowly begun to recover, though civilization certainly had yet to return to its pre-catastrophe level.

Lou Yu had never seen the world before the catastrophe with his own eyes, but he had seen photographs and video footage. The shopping malls and supermarkets of the past had truly carried everything, catering to the food, drink and daily needs of men and women, young and old.

Food alone had come in so many varieties that three or four floors couldn't have held it all.

But now, even the Central Base, with the most abundant resources, had restored only a thousandth of what life had been like in peacetime, let alone a satellite base like Yong'an Base.

The supermarket here stocked little more than food and utensils such as pots and bowls. It wasn't large, and strictly speaking, it was only a convenience store.

Yet the number of such stores in all of Yong'an Base could be counted on one hand.

The base did have an underground black market that claimed to sell everything, but it was full of

all

sorts of people, and it wasn't a place one could visit openly.

The supermarket owner was doing accounts behind the counter. Hearing someone, he looked up and, recognizing Lou Yu, greeted him with a smile. "Captain Lou, finished work?"

Lou Yu smiled and gave an affirmative hum, then asked conversationally, "How's business lately?"

At that, worry returned to the owner's face. He gave a wry smile. "So-so. At least I won't starve. There's less grain being stocked lately, and the prices are high too, so there aren't as many customers as before."

Yong'an Base's growing areas were under official control. Part of the harvested food was stored in warehouses as reserve supplies, while the rest was sold on the market, with prices also regulated by the authorities.

So, small as the supermarket was, the fact that it could sell grain and had remained safe and sound to this day meant it surely had a powerful backer.

Grain was sold on the black market too, but because it came through unofficial channels, the price was higher and relatively few people bought it.

Fortunately, although this generation of new seeds yielded less than the last, the decrease wasn't drastic. Otherwise, the supermarket's current situation would have been more serious than simply having fewer customers.

Lou Yu reassured him, "The research institute is working on it. I'm sure the next generation of seeds will be better."

The owner said, "All we can do is hope."

What else could ordinary people like them do but hope?

Chapter 20: Can Monsters Turn into Humans?

There were only a few customers in the supermarket. Most people had stocked up on food before grain prices rose and planned to ration it to make it last longer.

The authorities had also promised to keep prices stable. Because people trusted them, and because their wallets were thin, there had been no rush to buy the high-priced food.

For now, things inside the base were relatively stable. It was nowhere near the point where people would burn, kill and loot for a little food.

Lou Yu went straight to the vegetable section and picked out a cabbage, two jin of potatoes, three cucumbers, a tray of eggs, and some seasonings, including scallions, ginger and garlic.

There was still rice at home. As for meat, he had given most of what Snow Bird had sent him last time to the military canteen and had asked someone to prepare the rest for his squad to eat.

Though Lou Quan was unsympathetic, Lou Yu worked for him, and he wouldn't go so far as to withhold his pay.

With the extra rewards for missions outside the base, Lou Yu was considered a high earner there. Although the price of vegetables had risen considerably, he could still afford to pay as usual.

After paying, Lou Yu carried the groceries out of the supermarket. It was probably another ten minutes to his home, and since he hadn't driven, he could only walk and treat it as a stroll.

"Stop right there! Don't run!"

"Nyah nyah nyah! You tell me not to run, so I won't? I'm not an idiot!"

"Hahaha, whoever gets there last is a pig!"

As he turned onto another road, Lou Yu heard young voices. Several children of seven or eight ran past him, chasing one another.

Whatever the species, children always represented hope and the future. Even though the lively, adorable little ones weren't his own, Lou Yu watched them with a pleased smile in his eyes.

The population had plummeted after the catastrophe, and during the hardest period, the birth rate had fallen again and again.

Ever since the base was built, the authorities had encouraged people to have children and provided subsidies to families with multiple children. Pregnant women were especially respected and protected.

Compared with the Central Base, where people had little desire to have children, the birth rates at the major satellite bases were impressive. At the very least, they exceeded their elementary school enrollment targets every year.

When Lou Yu got home, Liu Qi'an and Huo Lan were sitting together on the sofa with bowls of potato chips in their hands. A movie was playing on the tablet on the table in front of them.

The internet had collapsed after the catastrophe, but some electronic devices and USB drives still held e-books, movies and TV shows.

Of the material that had survived to the present, some had been protected back then, while some had been dug out of ruins by humans. Most of it circulated on the black market and wasn't cheap.

Huo Lan and the others had watched the historical fantasy film now playing many times already.

"Boss, you're back." When Huo Lan saw Lou Yu, she cheerfully hopped off the sofa with her bowl and took the bag of groceries from him.

"It's my turn to help Chen Lin in the kitchen. He just fried the potato chips in this bowl, and they smell amazing. Your share is on the table, boss."

With that, Huo Lan carried the groceries toward the kitchen, calling out loudly, "Chef Chen! The groceries are here!"

Human bases currently struggled even to provide enough food and clothing, let alone produce extras like snacks. Chen Lin had learned to make these spicy potato chips from a video he had bought and occasionally made them to satisfy the group's cravings.

Lou Yu wasn't very interested in snacks, and he really didn't have an appetite just then, so he gave his share to Liu Qi'an and sat down beside him to rest.

"Thanks, boss." Delighted to have two portions of chips, Liu Qi'an smiled until his eyes narrowed.

Lou Yu looked at the tablet. The movie was adapted from history and mythology, with King Wu's campaign against Zhou and the Investiture of the Gods as its main plot. The special effects were good too.

Just then, a scene appeared on the screen in which Daji transformed from a fox into a human. Beside Lou Yu, Liu Qi'an, who had been happily eating, frowned and looked thoughtful.

A few seconds later, he turned to Lou Yu. "Boss, the monsters in the movie are a lot like the mutated monsters now. Since those monsters can turn into humans, do you think mutated monsters can too?"

Lou Yu hadn't expected a single scene to make Liu Qi'an think of that. His body paused slightly, and he thought, You really did ask the right person.

"The demons and monsters of the past were all products of human imagination. They didn't really exist, and there are also major differences between spirits and mutated monsters, so it's unlikely that mutated monsters can take human form." Lou Yu pretended to be calm and spouted nonsense with a straight face.