Chapter 35.1 – Bloody Ferrara (7)
◎You’ve corrupted Xiaoxing◎
Song Ke was scolded.
“What are you looking at? Did I say something wrong?”
The beautiful sister not only scolded her but also demanded an answer to her question.
Song Ke nodded at first but quickly realized her mistake and shook her head vigorously under the other’s angry gaze.
Seeing her bewildered expression, the beautiful sister snorted coldly and turned her gaze away without causing further trouble. For a while, no one spoke in the room.
The atmosphere gradually fell silent, with occasional sobs from Liu Xiaohui and feeble attempts at comforting from her colleagues.
“Blocked at the exit,” Su Cha observed as he leaned against the window, speaking with an unusual pronunciation, enunciating words strangely, and pausing as if not very familiar with the common language of the Alliance.
“Can we break through?” asked the beautiful sister.
“We can, but it will expose us,” Su Cha replied.
The beautiful sister frowned. In the chaos earlier, they had acted quickly and retreated even faster. The awakeners on the other side couldn’t determine their identities without direct contact. But now, it was clear that the other side was on guard. Trying to force their way out aggressively might not be a good idea. She didn’t want to expose their identities here and needed to think of another plan.
…
Song Ke pushed Zhuang Qingyan to the other side of the room, keeping a distance from the two groups of people.
“You noticed some, someone here a long time ago?” she asked quietly.
“Yeah,” Zhuang Qingyan didn’t deny it. Liu Xiaohui and the others were ordinary people with no awakened abilities. It was normal for Song Ke’s attention to be focused on Zhang Lei at the time. But since the office door was locked from the inside, he figured that there must be someone in the room.
After hearing his explanation, Song Ke responded belatedly, not paying too much attention. She held the cold and heavy jagged blade in her hand, considering whether to find a place to hide it.
“Song Ke,” Zhuang Qingyan called her name softly.
“Yeah?” Song Ke raised her gaze, and she had just found a good place to put the blade down. Thinking that Zhuang Qingyan wanted to have a quiet conversation, she bent over and placed the saw on the floor against the wall.
Her uneven black short hair brushed over his shoulder, causing a slight tingling sensation.
Zhuang Qingyan moved his fingertip but didn’t avoid it.
“That person has the Rainforest mark on him.”
Zhuang Qingyan was referring to a young man named Su Cha.
The Rainforest, the E170 District, was the Alliance’s most mysterious ecological area.
Due to its humid and hot climate, as well as its rich and diverse species, the rainforest was considered the best breeding ground for special operations personnel such as mercenaries and assassins. It was said that the methods of training combat machines in the rainforest were brutal, harsh, and even sadistic. Many standards far exceeded the limits the human body could endure. Those who could survive and carve a bloody path out of such grueling training not only possessed exceptional individual combat abilities but had also become accustomed to dancing with death. Their empathy was almost nonexistent, and their mental fortitude was far from ordinary.
The Rainforest mark mentioned by Zhuang Qingyan was located on Su Cha’s nape, where there was a black serpent-like tattoo.
Recalling the details of her encounter with Su Cha, Song Ke slowly spoke, “His combat, combat skills were very stro, strong but he didn’t possess any, any awakened abilities.”
“You’re right,” Zhuang Qingyan agreed, “Su Cha’s awakened ability should be related to ‘poison,’ possibly at B-level or higher.”
Awakened abilities at B-level or higher, weren’t they as formidable as individuals like An Qiwen and Wu Juemin from the Azure Phoenix army? Such people could be a real headache if they turned into enemies.
“And there’s another one!” Song Ke informed Zhuang Qingyan of the recent interference by the beautiful sister’s singing, which had left her feeling exhausted.
Zhuang Qingyan pondered for a moment. “It’s either soundwave control or some kind of auditory awakened ability related to mysticism. Based on the current information, we can’t make an accurate assessment. This person only imposed side effects on you. If her singing has an effect on her companions as well, this person… will be a real problem.”
A powerful support who could debuff enemies and buff allies simultaneously?
Imagine a battle that was evenly matched at first, but as you fought, you grew weaker while your opponent became stronger. Anyone with even a slightly fragile will would easily have their fighting spirit crushed.
The beautiful sister’s strength was indeed not to be underestimated.
No wonder they dared to take on missions and act as the hidden oriole among so many awakeners. However, when it came to Su Cha and his companion, there was still one thing they hadn’t figured out.
Song Ke locked eyes with Zhuang Qingyan and asked another pressing question, “What are, are ‘crystals’?”
Zhuang Qingyan lowered his voice, “Do you remember when I explained the cause of the apocalypse to you?”
“I do.”
“Excessive solar radiation enters the human body, causing disruptions in the magnetic field and genetic mutations. Ordinary people would turn into zombies. However, if an overwhelming amount of external energy is absorbed at once and cannot be digested by the human body, it will crystallize.”
Song Ke fell silent for a few seconds, then reached into a hidden pouch in her backpack and pulled out several crystals.
This was something she had dug out from Song En and other senior brothers’ heads, and the one inside Zhang Lei’s body should be the same thing.
Zhuang Qingyan picked up the nearly transparent crystal and examined it closely.
“Crystals are not commonly found in ordinary zombie bodies because they are subjected to overwhelming radiation. However, in the bodies of awakeners, due to previous gene fusion, there is a certain degree of resistance, and the probability of crystallization is basically above 95%.”
“It can be said that whenever an awakened zombie is encountered, there will be crystals.”
Song Ke lowered her gaze, clenched her fist silently, and felt extremely downcast.
So Song En had already awakened his abilities back then? She had encountered awakened zombies so early.
While the two were talking, Xu Xing remained quiet in the middle, his eyes moving. Although he had awakened early, his theoretical knowledge was not much different from Song Ke’s. Hearing Zhuang Qingyan’s explanation in a gentle tone, he didn’t feel like arguing for the first time.
He hadn’t expected this person, who usually pretended, to know so much. Hmph.
“What are crys, crystals used for?” Song Ke calmed her emotions and asked.
Just thinking about where these things came from, dug out from zombie heads, sent shivers down her spine. What could they be used for that would make those two prefer them over an A-level task, no matter the cost?
“The official explanation is that crystals have a chance to trigger the awakening of abilities in ordinary people, and even allow awakeners to undergo a second evolution.”
Xu Xing’s eyes widened suddenly.
Song Ke was also surprised. Awakening and evolution? How did this thing cause evolution? Did they have to eat it?
Wait a minute, Song Ke suddenly realized a blind spot in Zhuang Qingyan’s words.
“What do you mean, mean by ‘official explanation’?” Did that imply the existence of unofficial and secretive methods? This was becoming more and more mysterious. Also, since awakening and evolution were both described as having a “chance,” did that mean there was a possibility of failure?
Song Ke grew more perplexed as she asked, “Do crystals really work?”
A subtle smile appeared on Zhuang Qingyan’s face. “No, this is a meticulously planned deception by the Alliance.”
“What?!” Xu Xing couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise, immediately attracting the attention of Su Cha and the beautiful woman.
Zhuang Qingyan knocked on his head, warning in a cold tone, “Shut your mouth.”
Xu Xing realized he had overreacted and covered his mouth with a small, pitiful hand.
Zhuang Qingyan placed the crystal that belonged to Song En back into Song Ke’s hand. “While there is still some residual energy within the crystal that can be activated through technological means, its structural form has solidified, and it won’t undergo a third mutation. You can think of it as a power bank that can only be charged once.”
A power bank, what a strange analogy. Song Ke stared at his smiling face, feeling extremely speechless. It turned out that the crystals were completely useless. She had said so! How could Zhuang Qingyan possibly suffer a loss? This was like using a knowledge gap to one’s advantage! How cunning.
However, she still had some uncertainty. “How do you know it’s useless?”
“Because this was originally Qingyan Institute’s research achievement, oh, it’s the one that Wu Yarou and Yang Bo wanted to steal. This achievement had ‘accidentally’ leaked before, but unfortunately, it was the incorrect part.”
“If it was incorrect, why did it circulate?”
“Because some people don’t care about right or wrong; they only pursue their interests. Most people nowadays have no idea about the true purpose of the crystals. The Alliance only needs to release a bit of information suggesting that they have materials that can promote awakening and evolution, and they can firmly control the awakeners, after all, this is a valuable strategic resource.”
“Oh,” Song Ke replied quietly for a couple of seconds but quickly asked again, “How do you know it’s incorrect?”
“Why do you have so many questions?” Zhuang Qingyan chuckled. “I’m out of explanations for today.”
He was about to tap Song Ke’s head as he did earlier, but as his arm reached halfway, he suddenly met her expressionless face. Awkwardly, he withdrew his arm, swerved, and tapped Xu Xing’s head once again.
Xu Xing exclaimed, “Hey!!”
