After Being Parasitized by a Monster 44

Chapter 44: Is it possible that you’re actually called ‘Fungus Fish’?

A few meters away, the dense mycelia spread across the wall, like a spider’s web quietly waiting for its prey.

Cheng Ming looked up in a daze, feeling a phantom pain in her abdomen, and her nerves were faintly tense to the extreme—

Even though several months had passed, the encounter in her apartment bedroom that night was still fresh in her memory. The degree of nightmare was definitely in the top three of all her experiences.

If it weren’t for Xiao Ming’s slow comment, “It hasn’t formed a neural network, it’s just an ordinary fungus,” she might have overreacted.

Even so, her pupils couldn’t help but dilate, and she subconsciously took a step back.

Swish. The exquisitely beautiful woman opposite her took out a scoring sheet from somewhere—

“Entering the laboratory without self-protection awareness, minus ten points.”

“…” Huh?

Cheng Ming was stunned.

“Oh, right, I almost forgot to introduce myself.”

Seeing her confused eyes, the woman tucked the scoring sheet under her arm, beamed, and extended her hand, which was wearing a thick rubber glove, to her. “Hello, Deputy Researcher Cheng~ I’m your chief examiner, Zhou Jia.”

…

Damn it, no one had told her that the first test was an entry assessment!

Two hours later, the new deputy researcher, who had been thoroughly tormented, walked out of the air shower, took off her protective suit, and sat down in the break area in a daze, her soul seemingly not in her body.

Zhou Jia, who followed closely behind, did not let her go. The pen in her hand never stopped, and her voice was full of joy. “Congratulations, your final score is negative six!”

The few people in the outer area, who were obviously members of Zhou Jia’s team, stretched their necks when they saw the door open. Hearing this result, there was a chorus of “wow,” and they echoed one after another:

“Congratulations, congratulations!”

They were all smiling very happily.

Only Cheng Ming had a numb expression.

What are you all so happy about?

A good student who had never scored so low, from the initial disbelief at the deductions, to the shame during the process, and now to a heart as calm as still water, without any ripples.

Heh, she finally knew what these people were laughing at when she first came in.

It turned out to be the excitement of waiting to see a joke.

Yes, she even owed points.

So what?

What were they going to do next?

Confiscate her deputy researcher qualification?

“Really, cheer up!” Zhou Jia patted her arm like a good sister. “Your score is already in the top tier. There was someone who had a hundred points deducted before!”

Cheng Ming tiredly looked up at her, “…”

“Alright, alright, I won’t tease you anymore.” The chief examiner put away the scoring sheet, and swish, she took out a manual from somewhere. “Now let’s happily start the training~”

Cheng Ming, whose soul was wandering, paused for a moment before she understood what she was saying.

Wait a minute?

Entry training now?

“Then what were we doing for the past two hours?” she couldn’t believe her ears.

Zhou Jia was unconcerned, “Oh, just think of it as a baseline test!”

…

“Cheng Ming,” the unobservant Fish-Fungus brought up the sore subject. “You seem to have been played.”

She wasn’t wrong.

But it wasn’t “seem.”

She had been played.

Cheng Ming was sure.

Room 25013 was a laboratory specially set aside for entry training, and Zhou Jia was the safety instructor. That is to say, she was responsible for guiding the newcomers who had not been in a high-level laboratory, explaining the key points, and standardizing their operations step by step.

According to the normal process, the assessment was at the very end, after all the training was over.

So, the high difficulty at the beginning, at least nine out of ten points, was purely because the examiner wanted to see some fun.

“I know you probably want to hit me, but you can’t. I still have control over your score,” Zhou Jia waved the scoring sheet in her hand and smiled very specially… a very punchable smile. “You can choose to put a sack over my head on a dark and windy night after you’ve passed.”

How could she say such punchable words with such a beautiful face…

Cheng Ming really didn’t know what expression to put on, so she just pretended to have a paralyzed face.

“Let’s start.”

As she spoke, she raised her hand and gathered the few strands of hair that had fallen, tied her hair up again, tucked it into her hat, and zipped up her protective suit.

There was no other reason, just that Xiao Ming was sharpening its “mycelia” and was eager to go. “What sack, I just need one conidium…”

And then it was forcibly muted.

Cheng Ming: “Shut up.”

Five days of classes, and a live test on the sixth day.

After nearly a week, this inhumane torture was finally over.

On the last day, after a full five hours of high-intensity assessment, when she took off her protective suit and changed back into her regular white lab coat, Cheng Ming felt that she had not just taken off a piece of clothing, but had been skinned.

In the office cubicle of the laboratory, Zhou Jia was scrolling down a form on the computer, summarizing the final results.

“Oh?” she said in surprise. “You actually passed on the first try, congratulations!”

…This congratulations was really insincere.

Cheng Ming stood by and watched her enter the data, her temper long since worn away.

Remembering the part of the test that had the highest score, she asked, “Can a deputy researcher enter a level four laboratory?”

Zhou Jia was printing the transcript and said without looking up, “Of course not!”

Cheng Ming was stunned, suspecting that she had been played again.

Then what had she been learning for the past few days?

“You can’t enter alone,” this chief examiner added with a smile, speaking with a long pause. “You have to go with your senior researcher.”

Smack. A red stamp was pressed, and the entry training was passed.

Next, Cheng Ming still needed to read through the rules and regulations, sign new contracts and agreements, and rebuild her work file.

After completing the above series of procedures, the last step was to find Jiang Dexin and be assigned new work tasks and research directions.

Taking all the documents with her, before leaving, she looked at the huge glass wall inside and asked, “What’s its name?”

Zhou Jia was also the administrator of the experimental creatures. For the past few days, she had not hidden from her when she was changing the culture medium for the fungus in the laboratory.

“It?” she glanced at the window of the small cubicle and said, “Oh, the Black-Green Cunning Algaefungus.”

Cheng Ming almost tripped over the threshold and turned her head, “Huh?”

“Your naming method is really interesting,” Xiao Ming silently complained.

“That’s right,” Zhou Jia snapped her fingers. “This fungus is the most cunning. It especially likes to play dead, and then, when you’re not paying attention, it will slip out of the experimental area… If Group Leader Jiang lets you choose your own direction, listen to me, avoid the large algaefungus!”

She said with the heavy tone of someone who had been through it.

Cheng Ming thought for a moment and asked again, “Does it have any practical application value?”

She was probing. Did the people here know that the strains they had cultivated were being used to create monsters?

Zhou Jia looked up in surprise and showed an indescribable smile.

Then, she gestured with her chin to her hand. “The confidentiality contract, page twenty-one, article one hundred and forty-one, do you see it?”

Cheng Ming was holding a thick stack of documents. She struggled to free her hand, lowered her head and flipped to the corresponding page, and took a look—

It is prohibited to obtain the relevant research secrets of other laboratories by any means such as prying, stealing, or buying. Violators will be subject to criticism, administrative punishment, or dismissal, depending on the severity of the circumstances. Those with particularly serious circumstances will be investigated for criminal responsibility according to law.

The specific legal provisions were also attached below, and the sentencing was directly equivalent to leaking state secrets.

She might accidentally be sentenced to life imprisonment.

Cheng Ming: “…”

Was this a labor contract or a deed of sale?

Walking out of the office, the air mixed with the unique chemical reagents of the experimental area brushed against her face, slightly stimulating her nasal cavity and making her cranial nerves clearer and more active.

It was only recently that she had suddenly realized that she had been misjudging the relationship between the research institute and the Security Department.

If the research institute was called the “theory institute,” then the Security Department could also be called the “practice department.”

The research institute conducted basic and applied research, doing exploratory and creative work. The Security Department, on the other hand, used the results and knowledge of basic and applied research to conduct development research, and the products obtained could be directly put into production and use.

On the surface, they each had their own duties and were relatively independent, but in reality, they were of the same lineage.

The intricate connections between the two sides ultimately formed the integrated defense center, and the network was far deeper and wider than imagined.

This behemoth, supported by reinforced concrete, stood so blatantly in front of everyone. But besides the tangible materials, how many secrets were still hidden under the lacquered bone frame?

Looking at the experimental strain that had once brought her infinite fear, Cheng Ming already had a completely different feeling.

It turned out that only at the deputy researcher level and above could one be considered to truly belong to this place…

Many secrets that she couldn’t even have imagined in the past were now laid bare before her.

…

It took another three days to complete all the procedures, discuss the upcoming projects with Teacher Jiang, and also have a brief contact with the new team members.

A deputy researcher needed to lead their own team.

Of course, Jiang Dexin was still her direct superior, and all applications still had to be reviewed by the other.

But overall, her authority was much greater than before, and her freedom was of course correspondingly much higher.

To put it more bluntly, she had more room for under-the-table operations.

After everything was settled, Cheng Ming adjusted her shift and returned to her apartment to rest for half a day.

Sitting at the head of the bed, she picked up her phone, preparing to send a text message to Qu Ying.

There were many unread messages piled up in front.

The other had been gone for almost half a year, and there was still no news.

The characters popped up and were deleted, deleted and re-entered… In the end, only a lonely cursor was flashing in the input box.

“What are you hesitating about?”

“…”

Cheng Ming simply turned off the screen, threw the phone aside, and fell back into the soft bed.

“If you weren’t staring, I probably wouldn’t be so hesitant.”

Xiao Ming: “…”

The difficulty was a bit high.

It thought for a moment and provided an idea, “Why don’t you close your eyes and type?”

So, what was it that it couldn’t see?

The Fish-Fungus was aggrieved, but the Fish-Fungus didn’t say it.

“I have a question…” After a long silence, Cheng Ming slowly said, “Are you essentially a fish, or a fungus?”

She was too curious.

Perhaps the fish was the main body, but because the mycelia were too prominent, she had subconsciously named it Fish-Fungus.

“Is it possible that you should actually be called ‘Fungus Fish’?”

Xiao Ming: “…It sounds so ugly.”

The monster from the deep sea once again ruthlessly criticized the art of human naming.

But it still didn’t understand what Cheng Ming wanted to do.

Her thinking was too erratic. Perhaps even complete fusion would not be able to instantly understand the thoughts that flashed through another person’s mind in a second.

“I want to test your DNA sequence,” Cheng Ming said.

—This was something she had wanted to do a long time ago, but couldn’t due to the conditions at that time.

Now, she finally had the opportunity. She had made up her mind and asked, “Will you cooperate?”

She had said many times that she wanted to find out its origin.

At first, she had treated it as a necessary to-do item, with no room for maneuver. But now, she was asking for its consent.

Mainly, she might not be able to distinguish which part was the most original it.

The fungus was it, and the fish was also it, but who was the main, and who was the secondary, was truly related to the way it had come into her body.

It was related to its most primitive appearance before the parasitism.

It was related to what her mother had done.

“Do I have a choice?” Xiao Ming asked back.

It was very concerned, “You said that after confirming, you would seriously consider our relationship.”

“…Alright,” Cheng Ming couldn’t help but laugh.

She turned her head, and half of her body was pressed against the black, water-like hair. She smiled and squeezed its mycelia. “Happy cooperation.”

It was the same place, but her state of mind was already completely different.

Last year, they were still at each other’s throats here, wanting to drive each other out of their bodies, with false feelings and hypocrisy… Now, they had both accepted the undeniable fact that the other was their intimate other half.

They had accepted reconciliation and compromise, accepted sharing and sharing, and accepted working together with one heart.

Life’s encounters were truly wonderful.

Their bodies were one, but their souls were still an unsolved mystery.

They didn’t know each other’s weights, but they were on opposite ends of the balance, and they had both put their all on it.