Another Kiss and My Lips Will Split (Continued)

Lou's father is a chosen one? No need to go into the kitchen. Bai Yan's childhood was difficult, and he didn't have the opportunity to cook delicious food. After growing up, he was busy with his studies and work, and had even less time to learn those things.

When Lou Yu a child, he watched TV dramas where children would secretly prepare a delicious meal to surprise their parents on their birthdays. A week before Bai Yan's birthday, Lou Yu begged the family chef to cook for him.

Lou Yu stood on a stool and busied himself at the stove for a week, teaching the chef until his face turned green. In the end, the chef could only tell Lou Yu tactfully that he was too young to cook and that it might be better for him to learn when he was older.

Later, on Bai Yan's birthday, Lou Yu still prepared a table full of dishes with the help of the chef, but in the end, no one got to eat them because Lou's father and Bai Yan had a fight that day and overturned the table.

Lou Yu, who is older, is perfect in every aspect except for his cooking skills, which are often ridiculed by Lou Quan as a kitchen killer.

Tao Qiu picked up a sponge cake and fed it to Lou Yu's mouth, pretending to be angry, saying, "What are you saying, you little mouth? Here, have some sponge cake to sweeten your mouth."

After Lou Yu obediently ate, he continued, "Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses; no one is perfect. Your cooking skills are alright, but mine are not bad. I'll let you try my cooking sometime, kid... Before you, everyone who tried it said it was good."

Tao Qiu spoke too fast and almost blurted out the word "baby," but luckily he reacted quickly and covered it up.

Lou Yu raised an eyebrow. "Who have you cooked for before?"

Tao Qiu said, "My family, of course. Who else could it be? I know what you're thinking, but I allow you to be jealous all the time."

Lou Yu quite adorable because he gets jealous when he likes him.

Lou Yu was pleased to hear this, feeling as if Tao Qiu had acknowledged his identity.

Only boyfriends get jealous.

The two were so lovey-dovey that they completely forgot they could also have some pastries, and ended up feeding each other an entire box of pastries, even sharing a pot of water to cleanse their palates.

Lou Yu put away the food box, took out a piece of paper, and carefully wiped Tao Qiu's hands clean. Tao Qiu looked down at his actions and suddenly remembered something.

"Little Yu, this is the first time you've given me something. There's a collection of books in it, and one of the ghost stories is pretty good. I'd like to read the sequel. Remember to bring it for me next time you come!"

"A ghost story?" Lou Yu thought carefully before recalling it. He looked at Tao Qiu apologetically, "That collection of stories belonged to my teammate. He also really liked that ghost story in it, but... there was no sequel. The author of the story died in an accident while on a mission before the story was published."

The collection of writings was bought by Liu Qi'an. Because of this matter, Liu Qi'an mentioned it to them several times, saying it was very mysterious, that the author actually ended up with the same fate as one of the characters in his own story.

Lou Yu didn't find anything mysterious about it. Going on missions is inherently dangerous; dying out there is perfectly normal, isn't it? It's just a passing fad.

But because of Liu Qi'an's rambling, Lou Yu had a pretty deep impression of this story, which is why he remembered it so quickly.

Tao Qiu was dumbfounded. "The storyteller is dead?"

He could even imagine how disappointed the chicks would be when he told them the truth.

Lou Yu sighed, "In this world, death is as commonplace as breathing."

Looking into Lou Yu's forlorn and sorrowful eyes, Tao Qiu grasped his hand and said earnestly, "I don't care what others do, you must live well. You're still pursuing me, you can't give up halfway."

Lou Yu grasped his hand, their fingers intertwined. "Don't worry, I still want to win you over and live with you for many, many more years. No? I won't die easily."

The two looked at each other. Tao Qiu, staring at Lou Yu's purplish eyes, suddenly realized that she had almost forgotten about the important matter.

Tao Qiu said, "By the way, I have something to ask you."

Lou Yu nodded. "Ask away, I will answer to the best of my knowledge."

Tao Qiu asked, "You've experienced superpower awakening, so do you know how the Awakening Reagent is made?"

"I've seen the general process and can explain it in parts, but I'm not a professional. I can't explain it in more detail or do it myself."

Tao Qiu breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this; knowing the general outline was enough.

He asked, "The production of the Awakening Reagent, right? It involves extracting components from mutated plants and animals?"

Lou Yu was surprised that Tao Qiu knew this, but he didn't hesitate and immediately replied, "Yes, mutated monsters are the foundation and key to the reagent's success. The Yong'an Base is also trying to make the reagent now. I helped them collect the juice of a mutated plant, and others are responsible for collecting plant roots, flowers, animal blood, fur, organs, etc."

Under Tao Qiu's focused gaze, Lou Yu continued, "I've heard that the reason why reagent development is so difficult and mass production is due to several factors. Besides the difficulty in obtaining materials, even if a batch of reagents is successfully produced using the blood of a certain animal, the blood may not work in the second batch. A specific organ from the same animal is required. It's impossible to explain this strange change using scientific principles, let alone find a pattern."

Lou Yu heard all of this from Old Doctor Li and the others at the Yong'an Base Research Institute. As an insider and the only source of research material, he had the right to know a great deal of information.

Of course, the researchers' original words were more professional and complex, Lou Yu could not fully understand them, so he could only describe them in simple and easy-to-understand terms.

Tao Qiu asked curiously, "What kind of superpowers can you awaken? Is it related to the mutated monsters or the materials on their bodies that were used in the reagents?"

"Yes, and it's directly related," Lou Yu said. "Before I came to the Yong'an Base, I saw several successfully awakened ability users. Their abilities were all kinds of strange, but they were all part of the original mutated monster's abilities. For example, the reagent used the juice of a certain mutated flower. The mutated flower's hunting method is to release a fragrance to stun the enemy before killing and devouring them. So, the ability user possesses the ability to release the fragrance of a stunning flower."

"If the reagent uses animal materials, the ability of the superhuman will mostly be bestiality, such as growing tough skin, wings, or fur, etc. Of course, there are exceptions. Sometimes snake materials are used, but instead of growing scales to protect the skin, the superhuman will mutate and produce highly venomous saliva."

"My special ability is an exception. The reagent I inject uses a raw material called '?' It's a long worm that naturally attracts lightning. It's actually most skilled at using poison. The reason it became the raw material is because it was struck by lightning and killed, allowing humans to take advantage of the situation."

"Everyone thought I would mutate into a worm-like creature with poisonous abilities, but no one expected that I would awaken the elemental power of lightning. I'm a special case. If I hadn't been deemed to have failed in my awakening, I would have died immediately due to the instability of my power. Right now, I'd probably still be being used as a test subject in the research institute."

Actually, as a special failed individual, even Lou Yu, who was on the verge of death, was very valuable for research. However, he was Lou Family, and he had caused such a disaster that neither the Lou Family Shen Family wanted to keep him, which is why they let him go.

Tao Qiu looked at Lou Yu with heartache, never expecting such a story behind Lou Yu's awakening of his superpowers.

Tao Qiu wondered if Lou Yu hadn't revealed his secret of being able to transform into human form, or if he didn't want him to become a test subject, because he empathized with Lou Yu's own past experiences.

Lou Yu Tao Qiu's pity and concern, but he still comforted her, saying, "That's all in the past. Look how well I'm doing now. I have a career, friends, and I'm even the only one Snow Bird loves. Everyone at the base envies me."

That last sentence is what Lou Yu truly wanted to express.

"Smooth-talking." Tao Qiu actually loved hearing Lou Yu's sweet words, but on the surface she had to pretend to be disgusted.

After the brief incident, the two continued their serious discussion.

Tao Qiu asked, "When did the Ability Awakening Reagent appear?"

Lou Yu said, "Six years ago, the Shen Family of the Central Base officially made the existence of the reagent public, and even presented two successful awakened superhumans to prove its authenticity. However, considering the difficulty of developing the reagent and the high failure rate of superhuman awakening, the Shen Family must have secretly experimented for many years before going public. But I don't know exactly how long they used it."

Remembering Red Fox's words, and combining them with Lou Yu's earlier discussion about the relationship between superhumans and mutated monsters, Tao Qiu asked him, "Are there fox-type superhumans at the Central Base, or have reagents been developed using fox blood, fur, or organs?"

Lou Yu: "Will it work? I don't know if the materials from the fox were used for reagent development, but I didn't see any fox-type ability users before I left the Central Base."

Tao Qiu frowned. Could it be that what Red Fox said wasn't true? Was it someone from the Central Base?

When the Red Fox asked if that thing was related to humanity's ability to regain its former glory, Tao Qiu immediately thought of Lou Yu's special ability.

To regain control in this era of mutation, one must inevitably embark on the path of mutation.

The Red Fox suggested that he ask the humans if they remembered the White Fox on the mountain fifteen years ago. Therefore, it's reasonable to assume that humans went up the mountain back then and took something from the White Fox.

Based on Lou Yu's description of the reagent's general development process, those humans likely took the White Fox's blood, fur, or similar materials, and the reagents made from these materials should have yielded some results.

And the White Fox probably also sensed that it had been successfully developed, otherwise the Red Fox wouldn't have been so confident, saying that humans definitely needed that thing.

The Shen Family announced the reagents to the world six years ago, nine years after that, fifteen years ago. Could those nine years have been their research period?

Tao Qiu felt something was off.

He voiced his doubts. "The Shen Family has been secretly conducting research for so many years, didn't you notice anything at all before?"

Lou Yu shook his head. "To be honest, the Shen Family's scientific research capabilities aren't particularly outstanding in the Central Base. Before the Shen Family, many talented individuals had been trying to figure out how to give humans superpowers, but they hadn't succeeded for decades. Everyone knows how difficult it is, so when the Shen Family produced the reagent, we were all very surprised. The Shen Family explained that it was developed accidentally."