After Being Parasitized by a Monster 31

Chapter 31: Consider finding a partner.

Miles away.

The first ray of orange light crossed the vast ocean and sprinkled on this barren land. The abandoned bay welcomed another sunrise.

Several ships were moored at the port until several military helicopters passed through the channel, breaking the silence.

The metal sign prohibiting passage hummed in the strong wind. A woman was the first to jump down the rope ladder. After landing, she tore off her mask, walked to the bollard, and lit a cigarette.

While waiting for the others to gather, she casually crushed a menacing starfish in a crack in the ground.

If they were still using the shoreline coordinates established for the Defense Center to locate themselves here, then their longitude would be negative.

They were far from the land.

Cangzhou Port, once one of the world’s largest industrial seaports, had now been successfully incorporated as a military port—of course, even if it hadn’t been, the shipping industry was basically paralyzed after the full-scale outbreak of ocean pollution. These places were idle anyway, so they could only be managed by the Defense Center.

The helicopter landed and then took off again.

The third branch squad had assembled, but the team leader and her members stood quietly in a row, with no sign of urgency.

Qu Ying clicked her tongue and finally stubbed out her cigarette, turning back.

“Let’s go, what are you waiting for.”

She still had a smile on her lips, but anyone could see that she was not happy.

Her communication rights were confiscated, she was fitted with a personal tracking device, her freedom of movement was lost, and her abilities were restricted… It sounded nice that she was a specially hired external aid, but in reality, she was being watched more closely than a prisoner. No one would be in a good mood.

She took the initiative to extend her hand and ask for a strong inhibitor.

The leading team leader paused for a moment, looked at a weak-looking female researcher in a one-piece protective suit behind him, and after seeing the other nod, he took out a syringe from his carrying gear.

“Sorry, Officer Qu.”

Qu Ying took it and injected it into the vein of her wrist without any expression.

As if the researcher had a natural instinct to soothe the experimental subject, Chen Ke stepped forward and smiled gently, “It’s not that we suspect you, it’s just that the situation in the ocean is unpredictable, and it’s for your safety.”

“Understood,” Qu Ying raised an eyebrow. “Heavy weapons need a safety catch.”

“Ah… your safety catch is not this one,” her smile deepened, but her voice lowered. “Actually, for a suspect, if they haven’t shown any harm for the time being, our attitude is often not to catch them all in one go, but to observe.”

She deliberately paused, “For example, Wang Qi.”

And for example—

She didn’t continue, but Qu Ying knew that there was another name after that.

Breaking the needle, Qu Ying expressionlessly threw the discarded recyclable to the team leader next to her. Her pupils were like a winter lake, the ripples disappeared, and they froze into hard ice.

She asked faintly, “Where is the destination this time?”

“East Island.”

…

The experiment was about to yield results. Cheng Ming spent more time at the research institute and had no time to soak in water, truly forgetting to eat and sleep.

If she didn’t solve the virus, she would soon be solved by herself.

The direct result was that because she often came and went, she was seen by Song Manqing in the corridor for several days in a row, and this person’s face became uglier each time.

It was as if she was at odds with her. She also stayed later and later, and the time they met quickly rose from 8 pm to 10 pm.

Fearing that the other party would mistake her for being competitive, Cheng Ming tactfully and silently reduced her outings.

At eleven o’clock at night, after exporting the latest data of the day, she was about to go downstairs and back to her apartment. As she passed through the corridor, she suddenly covered her nose and rushed into a laboratory.

The abnormality of her body always came unexpectedly. Worried that her blood would contaminate the water source, she had to collect it and pour it into the waste liquid bucket each time.

But she didn’t know if it was because she had walked too quickly with her back bent, but it didn’t look like a good deed.

Just as she had finished cleaning the bloodstains in the sink, the door behind her was pushed open. “What are you doing?”

Cheng Ming was also turning around to pull the handle. At this, she quickly stepped back, and her spine hit the edge of the sink. Her head was already dizzy, and her hand was not steady, so she almost fell.

“You—” Song Manqing, who had pushed the door open, was choked and stunned.

What kind of low-level frame-up was this?

Despite her shock, she hesitated for two seconds before stepping forward to help her.

Cheng Ming had already recovered and waved her hands repeatedly, “I’m fine, I’m fine.”

She couldn’t understand why this person was always staring at her. She fumbled in her bag for a while and took the initiative to hand over the external hard drive. “Do you want the gene data of the core structural protein?”

She thought the other person was asking for a favor but couldn’t bring herself to say it.

When Song Manqing heard this, she first stared at the thing in her hand in surprise, as if she couldn’t believe that she had already analyzed the key protein. Then, her brow furrowed even tighter—

“You’re still so young, why are you in such a hurry for quick success?”

Her tone was even a little aggressive, as if she really disliked her way of doing things.

Cheng Ming: “…”

Huh?

So, was this lady worried that she would steal her credit… She smiled helplessly.

She couldn’t very well say that she might die if she didn’t work hard. After she had steadied herself, she said “thank you,” stuffed the hard drive into the other’s hand, and walked past her out of the laboratory.

The antibody extracted from her own blood had been confirmed to have a down-regulating effect on the inhibition of algaefungus proliferation caused by the virus.

After another half a month, Cheng Ming finally obtained the first tube of the preparation produced by genetic engineering.

Looking at this clear liquid, she took some algaefungus samples and observed them after injection.

The effect was good. It was almost the same as the antibody purified from her blood, and there were no abnormalities.

But it was unclear whether it would have side effects on the human body.

There was no place to find a second “hybrid” creature like her to do experiments on.

She was her own guinea pig, her own researcher, her own savior.

That night, she brought three nutrient supplements from her apartment and injected one before the injection, just in case.

The first time was a test, with only the minimum dose of 10mL.

She chose to stay at the research institute to prevent serious adverse reactions. She could get the fastest treatment here.

The door of the break room was locked, and a boundless silence enveloped her.

She took a deep breath to calm her tense mood and eliminated all distracting thoughts.

The needle pierced her blood vessel.

With every 1mL drop of the piston, it was as if she could hear the sound of the immunoglobulin and plasma proteins colliding and mixing.

This was the coldest winter, the longest night.

She curled up in a blanket and, while quietly waiting for the drug to take effect, she looked up and saw her empty and solitary reflection in the mirror on the table opposite her. She couldn’t help but curl her lips into a slight smile.

It was a slight self-mockery.

She also found it quite absurd.

Once upon a time, she had tried every means to kill it. Now, at its weakest moment, what she had to do was to try every means to save it, and sincerely look forward to its response.

The pinhole no longer bled, and she threw away the cotton ball. A draft book was spread out in front of her, and she held a pen in one hand. As the clock on the wall ticked by, she recorded her reactions within two hours.

Headache, low-grade fever, nausea, chills… mild, non-specific immune reactions.

She marked the key points and, after confirming that there were no serious side effects, Cheng Ming let out half a sigh of relief, threw off the blanket, and lay down.

Seven hours later, she was woken up by the alarm. She got up and looked again.

No allergies, no persistent low-grade fever.

She hadn’t taken any hydrating measures the night before, but her skin condition had not worsened.

It was effective.

Finally, the other half of her breath was also released.

The end of the year was approaching, and the research institute was about to have a holiday, for a period of eight days. Before the holiday, the projects that could be suspended would be suspended. But teams like the fungus and fish breeding teams couldn’t be left alone, so they arranged for shifts during the period.

Cheng Ming voluntarily stayed on duty and took the time to confirm the time and responsible area with Jiang Dexin.

“Just come and have a look at noon during the day, and come back to check every two days at night. You don’t have to stay here all the time… Learn to give yourself a break, Xiao Cheng. This is not good for your mental health,” Jiang Dexin said, half-jokingly and half-reproachfully, as she signed the document.

Cheng Ming had no choice but to agree repeatedly.

Although she had almost forgotten how a normal person should spend their holidays.

In the past, she could still have a New Year’s Eve dinner with Qu Ying, but now that she was gone, it was more realistic to rescue Xiao Ming to accompany her first.

“Didn’t that classmate of yours come to see you a few times? I’ll leave the pass for you here. You can go out with her on the first and second day of the new year.”

This referred to Han Xuhua.

She had forgotten to leave her contact information last time, but she knew that Cheng Ming was at the research institute, so she would run over whenever she had time. If she couldn’t find her in this building, she would try the next one, catching one at a time, and asking everyone she met.

In a few days, she had found Cheng Ming.

At that time, after hearing about her great achievements, Cheng Ming was dumbfounded, as if she were listening to a ghost story—how could a person be so extroverted?

It was just that she had been busy with a new project these days and had no time for old classmate gatherings, so she had repeatedly postponed Han Xuhua’s invitation.

If the research institute had shifts during the New Year, then the Security Department had rotational leave—the border line couldn’t be left alone. Strictly speaking, they had no New Year’s holiday at all and couldn’t go home.

She could ask the other if she was free then… A teacher’s order was hard to disobey. Cheng Ming nodded, “I know.”

Jiang Dexin had more to say, “Consider finding a partner. It’s fine if they’re from the department. I’ll barely allow you to have a relationship in the laboratory. Don’t be so lonely all the time…”

Cheng Ming: “…”

Cheng Ming: “Teacher Jiang, you’re not married yet, I don’t know…”

“But then again, a relationship in the laboratory is really not a good thing,” Jiang Dexin said seriously. “It’s better to make more friends.”

Cheng Ming: “…”

A truly harmonious teacher-student relationship was to love and hurt each other like this.

At the end of the twelfth lunar month, the Defense Center was deserted, but faint sounds of firecrackers could be heard from the more distant cities.

After the last person had left for the day, the building was much quieter.

With no one watching, Cheng Ming came and went more freely. At least she was free from the discomfort of being constantly watched by a certain Ms. Song.

This time, she brought out three tubes of immunoglobulin from the laboratory.

The operation was the same, and after repeated verification, there was a certain degree of safety, but she was even more nervous than the first time.

Although she couldn’t say clearly who she was nervous for.

The dose was increased, and the body’s reaction was more intense.

She wrapped herself in a blanket and measured her temperature before going to bed. It was 38.3 degrees.

It was a bit high, no longer in the low-grade fever range.

But the fever at this time was a natural process of the body fighting the virus. Unless the temperature continued to rise, sleeping was the best choice.

While she still had the strength, Cheng Ming got up and filled a basin with cold water, placed it next to her, and put a towel within reach. She also set an alarm, deciding to measure her temperature again in two hours. Then she turned off the lights, curled up in the fleece blanket, and fell into a deep sleep.

Her body went from cold to hot. Her immune system was greatly mobilized, and every pulse tore at her brain with a needle-like pain.

She gradually couldn’t sleep, but she couldn’t wake up completely either.

It was uncomfortably hot, but her forehead was cool. She didn’t know when the wet towel had been placed there.

Her throat was sore, and the breath she exhaled was like a flame, making her lips dry and chapped. She was very thirsty and wanted to raise her hand to pull off the towel and drink some water, but her hands and feet were weak and unwilling to move.

At this moment, a drop of water fell on her lips, and as more accumulated, it slowly moistened them.

Cheng Ming opened her mouth in a daze and swallowed unconsciously.

Until the cool and smooth sensation was belatedly transmitted from the sensitive soft tissues of her mouth to her brain nerves, she woke up.

She opened her eyes and saw a large expanse of darkness. The weakly glowing wall clock opposite her showed that it was past midnight.

The alarm she had set had not gone off.

Cheng Ming sat up, and the towel fell from her forehead onto the blanket.

Her five senses returned, and the rumbling noise from outside came in. A colorful light was reflected on the small window, briefly illuminating the room.

Countless dark mycelia surrounded her. Some of them flowed down the recliner like a waterfall and soaked in the basin, and some were right in front of her eyes.

It swayed at her, soaking wet, “Cheng Ming, you’re awake?”

Outside the building, fireworks were blooming in the low sky.

The research institute was basically empty, so it could only be the people from the Security Department celebrating.

It was the New Year.

Inside the building, she gradually came to her senses amidst the colorful lights. A little dazed, she let out a soft “mm.”

She was awake.

It was also awake.

The discomfort in her body seemed to have disappeared at this moment. She couldn’t help but smile, “Welcome back.”

The derivatives that grew from her scalp swayed in response, like undulating waves. After a life-and-death race with the virus, they seemed to be more active after their comeback.

But the next second, Cheng Ming felt that something was wrong.

She looked at the basin of water on the floor, then at the mycelia that were asking for credit. Her brow furrowed, and she grabbed them—

“What water did you feed me?”