Thursday afternoon.
Yu An got into the car, with a little butterfly and a little mushroom in her pocket. Xie Chiyuan sat next to her, with Chongchong and Duoduo sitting on their laps respectively.
This time, Chongchong didn't hide himself. He was overjoyed that Duoduo was back.
"Uncle, can both Chongchong and I go to kindergarten?"
Duo Duo blushed and tugged at Xie Chiyuan's arm, asking a question. Chongchong, sitting on Yu An's lap, also looked nervously at Xie Chiyuan.
Under the watchful eyes of the two misfit children who hadn't yet started school, Xie Chiyuan cleared his throat: "Ahem, you two really want to go to kindergarten?"
Chongchong and Duoduo nodded in unison.
The two little ones were full of longing for kindergarten. Seeing their expressions, Yu An suddenly had a plan in mind.
If his two cubs disguised themselves as pitiful, weak, and deformed little creatures, could they also sneak into kindergarten?
Yu An thought about it more and more and it seemed feasible.
While they were interacting with Chongchong Duoduo, Bai Xia silently observed from the sidelines.
Halfway through the journey, Bai Xia stared at Xie Chiyuan and suddenly asked, "Have you thought about the consequences of harboring mutants? And aren't you afraid I'll report you to the United Organization for harboring mutants?"
Xie Chiyuan remained silent for two seconds.
Two seconds later, he looked Bai Xia straight in the eye and replied, "I don't think you'll report this."
He lifted Duoduo from his lap and gestured for Bai Xia to see.
Duo Duo shyly hid her little face in his neck. These past few days, Yu An had been taking good care of Duo Duo's health. Yu An seemed to be very experienced in taking care of cubs. Duo Duo, who was pitifully thin after being brought back from the underground field, has now gained a lot of weight, and her complexion has recovered to be rosy and cute.
"You're planning to report this brat, whose biggest dream is to go to kindergarten, to the United Organization so I can kill him?"
Upon hearing this, Duoduo boldly interrupted, "Hello, Uncle. Uncle won't kill Duoduo."
Bai Xia looked down at Duo Duo's rosy cheeks, then at Chong Chong sitting on Yu An's lap, and after a while, looked away.
soon.
The car drove out of the North District and back outside.
The usual zombies started appearing on the road again. Duoduo and Chongchong were not afraid of the zombies. They were mutants and the zombies did not eat them.
Looking at the vast, still ravaged land, Yu An couldn't help but ask Xie Chiyuan, "Xie Chiyuan, do you think humanity will ever recover?"
Xie Chiyuan glanced out the window and replied briefly and firmly, "Yes."
Yu An smiled and agreed, "I think so too."
After traveling for a few more days, they sent Bai Xia back, then boarded a plane and returned to the island.
Before they even reached the island, Yu An and Xie Chiyuan noticed something was wrong with the waters outside the island. There were many dead fish and rotten shrimp floating on the surface, and they didn't look like normal fish or shrimp.
This scene looks like they've already had a fight.
Chapter 50
Yu An was squatting by the sea, about to reach out and catch a small fish, when Xie Chiyuan stopped him.
"These fish and shrimp have all been infected. You're going to touch them without wearing gloves?" Xie Chiyuan grabbed Yu An by the back of his collar and pulled him behind him to stand.
Yu An glanced at the fish and shrimp and argued, "They won't bite me."
The dead fish and shrimp floating on the sea surface were completely dead. They weren't large, but their appearance had deviated from the category of ordinary fish and shrimp.
Xie Chiyuan wouldn't let Yu An touch it, but he himself squatted down and picked up a fish.
The fish's body is dark red and covered with many bumps. When the bumps are pricked, a pus-like substance oozes out; it is viscous and has a foul odor.
Xie Chiyuan lowered his head and studied it carefully.
Yu An squatted down again, behind him, and reminded him, "You're not wearing gloves either."
Xie Chiyuan didn't even look up: "I don't need to wear it."
The two stared at the water for a long time, but couldn't figure it out. Just as Yu An was pondering and trying to explore the water quality, the sound of a boat came from not far away.
It's a boat on the island.
Upon seeing Xie Chiyuan and his group, the people on the boat immediately changed direction and sped towards them.
The first person to jump off the ship was Dr. Tang Yi. As soon as he got off, he stared straight at Yu An and his pockets.
Yu An: "..."
Yu An: "Cough!"
With so many people watching, he's not going to take the little butterfly out now!
When Dr. Tang Yi treated Xiao Hudie before, she promised Yu An to keep it a secret. Xiao Hudie is a Class I protected animal in China and is also the rarest butterfly species in the world.
Tang Yi assumed that Yu An didn't want others to discover that he was secretly raising the national butterfly, so she readily agreed.
Xie Chiyuan turned around and caught a glimpse of Tang Yi staring at Yu An.
His brows immediately furrowed.
"Why are you here?" Xie Chiyuan calmly separated the two and continued to shield Yu An behind him.
Tang Yi is socially awkward, and he doesn't usually go out easily.
Xie Chiyuan's question made Tang Yi reluctantly look away from Yu An.
He casually replied, "I came with Song Jun."
Upon hearing this, Yu An's eyes lit up immediately: "Is Lord Song alright now?!"
Before Yu An left with Xie Chiyuan, Song Jun was still lying in the ward, and his condition was still unclear.
Tang Yi pointed to the boat and was quite patient with Yu An: "He's on the boat, you can go up and see him."
"Um!"
Yu An agreed and eagerly boarded the ship.
Sure enough, Song Jun was standing on the boat.
Yu An wondered if it was just her imagination, but after not seeing him for so long, Song Jun seemed to have become colder. It wasn't that his temperament or personality had become colder, but rather that the air around him seemed to be cold.
"An'an".
When Song Jun saw him, a hint of a smile appeared in his eyes.
Yu An looked him up and down and found that he had no signs of infection and looked no different from before, except that he was a little thinner.
The two met and greeted each other.
Yu An asked curiously, "Song Jun, were you not infected? You seem to be recovering very well, just like before."
Song Jun raised an eyebrow and showed him the bite wound.
"I've been infected."
"ah?"
Yu An was bewildered: "Are you infected? Why didn't I notice?"
Yu An had also been bitten. Although he didn't turn into a zombie with a bluish-purple face and bite anyone he saw, he was clearly aware of his abnormality.
And, his identity as a little zombie.
When Song Jun met Yu An's puzzled look, he stretched out his hand and pointed to a water glass placed on the boat.
The next second.
The water in the glass suddenly froze into ice.
Yu An: "!"
Yu An stared wide-eyed in shock.
Song Jun manipulated the water, and the water that had frozen into ice changed shape again, becoming sharp icicles. The icicles pierced the cup and fell to the ground.
Yu An remained in shock.
After demonstrating his control over water, Song Jun explained to Yu An, "Being bitten can be considered an infection, but it can also be seen as another form of evolution."
"Dr. Tang examined me and found that the virus in my body had mutated."
Song Jun rattled off a string of professional terms, but the final result of his explanations was only one thing: "I wasn't turned into a zombie; I'm now a somewhat special human being."
Song Jun's specialness refers specifically to his ability to manipulate water.
After Song Jun finished explaining, Xie Chiyuan, who had arrived at some point and had been listening for an unknown amount of time, leaned against the cabin and asked in a low voice, "Are these fish and shrimp corpses at sea related to you?"
Although Song Jun had acquired some special abilities by chance, he still immediately cowered in front of Xie Chiyuan: "Instructor Xie, a few days ago, a group of aquatic mutants came to the sea near the island. They wanted to break into the island. At that time, my condition was a bit better, so I came out and drove them away."
Recalling the scene, Song Jun still feels confused: "The leader of these aquatic mutants was a very large fish. That big fish was very ugly, and they seemed to be possessed and wanted to go to the island."
The leading fish was lucky; all the other fish and shrimp rolled belly up, and the leading fish even managed to escape.
When Yu An and Xie Chiyuan heard him talk about the big fish, they both thought of a fish they had seen before.
Xie Chiyuan found paper and pen and sketched a quick sketch.
He handed the finished drawing to Song Jun: "Is this the fish leading the way?"
Song Jun examined it carefully and nodded in confirmation: "It is this one. It is very powerful, but its brain is not very sharp."
Yu An pursed her lips and exchanged a glance with Xie Chiyuan.
Both of them had a guess in their hearts—
This fish was probably targeting him.
Yu An racked his brains for a long time, then muttered, "I don't remember ever having a grudge against a fish. Why does it always seem to want to make things difficult for me?"
Yu An's name contains the homonym for fish, and his father and close relatives, such as Selina, call him "Little Fish" when they are comforting him.
He still quite likes fish.
Xie Chiyuan recalled the time when the big fish almost drowned Yu An, and a shadow crossed his eyes.
"Don't be afraid."