Chapter 4: A Not Entirely Unexpected Accident.
The elevator doors closed.
A voice that had been silent for a long time quietly spoke up. “That person just now, an acquaintance of yours?”
Cheng Ming noticed its weakness and raised an eyebrow slightly. “Why?”
They had finally reached an agreement after all.
To be on the safe side, before the Investigation Department’s inspection began, it had initiated programmed cell death, retracting all the “tentacles” that had spread to the surface of her body. The core entity hibernated deep within to evade system scans and avoid detection by technical means such as blood tests.
It was a survival tactic of sacrificing its tail, at the cost of damaging itself.
“Stay away from her,” it said.
“I’ve known Qu Ying for over a decade. No matter what, I definitely know her better than you.” A slight smile touched Cheng Ming’s lips. She seemed a little surprised, a little mocking, but her tone was calm, her voice low and soft. “What’s wrong? Can she threaten you?”
“She can threaten us.”
“Why?”
“Instinct.”
“…”
This conversation was going nowhere. Cheng Ming narrowed her eyes and said no more.
Qu Ying’s work was of a confidential nature; she never discussed it much with her.
She only knew that the other woman had joined the Logistics Security Department early on, and that it was her mother, Professor Cheng Ran, who had recommended her for the job back then.
Later, when both Cheng Ran and Cheng Jin went missing, aside from their old comrade-in-arms, Professor Jiang Dexin, it was this “Big Sister Qu,” who had been indebted to her mother, who took care of her the most.
Mainly in terms of daily life.
For example, she would come over every ten days or half a month with meat, eggs, and vegetables, cook her dinner, ask about her studies, and listen to her troubles… During the most difficult period after Cheng Ming lost contact with her family, it was Qu Ying who accompanied her.
But they weren’t close.
Knowing that Qu Ying was acting out of gratitude to Cheng Ran, that they had no real blood ties, and that she had no responsibility or obligation towards her, Cheng Ming had always consciously maintained a sense of propriety.
Later, after she finished her studies and joined the institute, Qu Ying also became visibly busier, and they interacted even less. It was normal for them not to see each other for months, or even half a year.
The Logistics Security Department had several subdivisions. Only the Investigation Department was commonly seen by the public; the names and functions of the others were unknown.
To run into her during an Investigation Department operation this time… what exactly did Qu Ying do?
But in the end, compared to Qu Ying, the threat this parasite posed to her was real, something that had been laid out before her in blood.
Although they were now in symbiosis and it had shown some sincerity, she still didn’t dare to trust it too much.
Being parasitized was a not entirely unexpected accident.
That day, she was assisting with the transport of experimental materials as usual, supervising the subsequent disposal of consumables. Due to a minor equipment malfunction, she put on protective gear to inspect it before reporting it for repair.
At the time, there was nothing obviously wrong. It was only after she returned to her apartment that she discovered a puncture wound on her finger.
She had wanted to immediately call the Defense Center’s emergency line, but her immune system reacted violently. Her body temperature soared, and within a mere ten seconds, she lost consciousness and went into shock.
When she woke up, she had this “roommate” inside her.
And, it could evade detection.
Although she hadn’t been able to make the call immediately, on the second day of her unexcused absence, the Security Department had sent a medical team. They examined her body with professional equipment and diagnosed her with a bacterial cranial infection.
After being hospitalized for surgery, she was granted an additional four weeks of leave—and it was within these four weeks that Cheng Ming painstakingly reached a cooperative agreement with it.
The Security Department had not discovered its existence.
Perhaps it had hidden itself well enough and was lucky enough, or perhaps it was still too weak, and the few abnormal cells were not enough to raise alarm. And if she had reported it voluntarily, the consequences would have been unpredictable.
So in the end, she concealed its existence.
But, being unable to control her own body was, without a doubt, an unspeakable horror and despair.
Her hair that had fallen out, her detached fingernails, her lost sense of taste, the remaining scars… were all proof of their past tug-of-war.
Her thoughts raced. Cheng Ming stared at the jumping numbers on the floor display, her gaze gradually deepening.
The monster residing in her body, the friend with an unclear stance—which one was more dangerous?
…
With Wang Qi missing, the promotion defense was postponed.
Although a promotion and a raise were temporarily out of sight, the workhorse still had to toil diligently.
After another day of running data in the lab, just as it was getting close to dinnertime, Jiang Dexin pushed the door open and waved her hand grandly. “Let’s go, everyone stop what you’re doing for today. I’m treating you all to dinner.”
Instantly, the room erupted in cheers—
“Boss, you’re the best!”
“Teacher Jiang, I want to be your dog!”
“You brat!” Jiang Dexin rapped each of them on the forehead.
The mutation of marine life was accelerating, and experimental subjects were difficult to control. Although various facilities and equipment had been improved over the past decade, greatly enhancing stability, it had to be admitted that the Defense Center was the most dangerous frontline in the world today. To some extent, researchers had also become consumables, and their average age had noticeably decreased.
The interns who had just joined this year were only seventeen, part of a joint program between universities and the institute. They would be hired directly upon graduation.
When it was Cheng Ming’s turn, Jiang Dexin patted her on the shoulder. “How are you feeling, Xiao Cheng? If you’re not feeling well, you must say so. I’ll grant you leave.”
“It’s nothing serious, just a cold,” Cheng Ming said with a smile.
After packing up and going downstairs, Cheng Ming noticed that several adjacent labs were also empty. She reasonably suspected that the Investigation Department was still active and had notified the heads of each research group to clear the area.
It was a half-hour drive to the mall where they were having dinner. The seven of them packed an SUV to the brim.
The bustling city center was over thirty kilometers away from the Defense Center.
To prevent mutated marine creatures from coming ashore and causing panic and casualties, the area from five to ten kilometers from the coast was a sealed-off restricted zone, equivalent to a small checkpoint. All entry and exit procedures had to be completed, and both people and vehicles were inspected.
Of course, compared to outsiders, the procedures for institute personnel were not as cumbersome.
The ten to twenty-kilometer zone was a transitional area. All residential buildings had been evacuated as early as 2143, during the first oceanic nuclear radiation outbreak.
As the car drove past, wild grass grew haphazardly on the roadside. It was a truly vast and desolate landscape, with nothing but bleakness in sight. Sometimes a gust of wind would sweep by, bending the cogon grass and revealing the ruins of abandoned buildings. The whistling wind sounded like the gasps of a dying, wounded beast.
Then, from twenty to thirty kilometers, sparse human settlements began to appear. In the twilight wilderness, the lights grew from scattered dots to large, connected patches.
The short journey of a few dozen kilometers felt like re-experiencing the evolution from nature to human society. It was a journey from the primitive to the modern, a tangible representation of humanity’s transformation of the land.
The two intern girls from inland universities were quite excited. Faced with this rare scenery, they chattered and asked questions all the way.
Dr. Jiang, nearing retirement age, could still mingle with the young people. She chuckled as she drove and explained:
“It wasn’t like this before. This used to be one of the five most famous coastal tourist cities. Everyone loved to come here to play, but the environmental damage was also severe… Back then, I was still at the research institute. I came here on an inspection with the two Professor Chengs. We’d go on a boat and catch nothing but dead fish, all because of plastic bags…”
Hearing her parents’ titles, Cheng Ming didn’t interject, but quietly looked out the window.
The setting sun carved deep and shallow ruts on the road, as if one could trace back in time and see the footprints left by the younger generation of her mother’s peers as they rushed about for scientific research, shoulder to shoulder.
With fewer people on the coast, there were naturally fewer businesses. Even in the most prosperous mall nearby, the choices were limited, perhaps not even as abundant as the institute’s cafeteria. Jiang Dexin chose a barbecue restaurant. The place was small, but bustling with customers, filled with a much more lively, human atmosphere than the perpetually orderly Defense Center.
The seven of them sat around a table.
The youngest intern, named Huang Chengcheng, was also the smallest, but she had taken the largest plate of river delicacies, piling the plates in front of her into a small mountain. As she flipped the sizzling fish and shrimp, she smacked her lips with regret. “Sigh, I heard seafood is super, super fresh, but it’s a pity we can’t eat it now even though we’re by the sea. We can only grill some freshwater stuff to satisfy our cravings…”
After grilling it, she enthusiastically distributed it to everyone. “Hehe, Teacher Jiang, you try the first one.”
Jiang Dexin teased, “Are you asking me to be your poison tester?”
Huang Chengcheng immediately cried foul. “How could I? I just wanted you to see if it’s cooked through—”
The table was filled with laughter and cheerful noise.
Cheng Ming was absent-minded. She picked up a clam and put it in her mouth before she realized what she was doing.
The moment the earthy taste surged up, she felt nauseous. She dropped her chopsticks, covered her mouth, and, ignoring the astonished looks from the group, rushed to the restroom.
When she returned, faced with a table full of concerned and caring eyes, Cheng Ming felt as if the yellowhead catfish on the grill were all staring at her with a strange glint in their eyes.
As her lab mates, everyone was very concerned about her—
“Are you allergic to river fish?”
“Did you throw up because it tasted bad?”
“Are you pregnant?”
Cheng Ming: “…” Thanks, not pregnant. Although, it was indeed somewhat similar—being parasitized by another life form, having her hormone levels, physical condition, and appetite altered by another life form.
Smack!
Unsurprisingly, the girl who had uttered the shocking words received a crisp slap on the back of her head from Teacher Jiang. “What are you saying!”
Then, Jiang Dexin turned to her with a serious and solemn expression. “It really wasn’t cooked through, was it?”
Cheng Ming: “…”
She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She waved her hand helplessly. “It’s fine. It’s just that after my last surgery, my sense of taste seems to be a bit off, and I’ve had a cold these past two days… Um, you guys go ahead and eat. I’ll just have something light.”
It was nearly nine o’clock by the time they finished dinner.
The car reached the checkpoint, still five or six kilometers from the institute, but less than two kilometers from the collective apartments.
Cheng Ming asked Jiang Dexin to drop her off before the quarantine line, saying that since it was a rare outing, she wanted to walk around and digest her food.
“Hold on to your ID. If you lose it, you won’t be able to get back in. Don’t go too far, and don’t be too late…” Jiang Dexin couldn’t help but nag a little more.
It wasn’t that she was worried about danger. The area outside the quarantine line was a safe zone. While one might worry about a girl walking alone at night in a residential area encountering bad people, this area was a place where marine monsters couldn’t reach and human criminals didn’t dare to approach—a true vacuum zone.
It was just that there would be no shuttle buses late at night, and walking alone without protection inside the quarantine line after dark still posed some risks.
Away from the brightly lit main road, blades of grass with indistinct features brushed against her pant legs. Cheng Ming stepped on the gravel, following the signs and walking further and further off the beaten path.
“Are you sure there’s a mutated species nearby?” she asked.
Back at the barbecue restaurant, this starving roommate of hers had suddenly spoken up while she was in the restroom, alerting her that it had sensed the presence of food—although at the time, Cheng Ming was resentful that it was preventing her from eating meat, and the two of them had almost gotten into an argument in front of the mirror.
Mutated creatures could detect each other through chemical signals dispersed in the air, with a sensitivity that no modern high-precision instrument could match.
“It’s not moving. It should be a plant,” it replied faintly.
The Logistics Security Department conducted regular patrols within a certain range of the coast. However, it wasn’t impossible for wild plants, due to their stationary nature and lack of aggression, to go undiscovered and uncleared.
Seawater intrusion contaminating the land had a high probability of causing mutations. According to past data, tsunamis could penetrate up to five kilometers inland, which was a factor considered when setting up the quarantine line.
It sounded foolproof… but Cheng Ming always felt that something was not quite right, though she couldn’t put her finger on it.
She paused her steps and frowned. “I thought you were only interested in marine life?”
