Chapter 525 – The Perverse Virus

Lucy looked at Jianqi and suddenly felt he seemed a bit unfamiliar.

Although Jianqi’s expression appeared just the same as usual, Lucy distinctly felt that his heartbeat had sped up a bit and his breathing had become slightly more rapid just moments ago.

The mutation of her body had made Lucy’s senses increasingly similar to those of a Zombie…

At such a close distance, Lucy keenly captured Jianqi’s breathing, heartbeat, and even the pulsations of his blood vessels.

She could even imagine herself reaching out and breaking into his body in an instant…

“No wonder the Zombies are so lethal. To them, humans are nothing but pure prey… Especially when they’re close, this instinct is really hard to suppress. Luckily, my will is still completely clear; otherwise…”

Lucy pinched herself gently. It didn’t hurt much, but it was somewhat stimulating…

“This masochistic constitution must be necessary too… After regaining the sense of pain, not only is one unaffected by severe pain, but one becomes even more frenzied because of it… What an incredible virus… But…”

Lucy glanced at Jianqi again, “What was he thinking just now?”

Both of them were old members of Fire, but if one were to count carefully, Jianqi had joined a bit earlier than she had.

In fact… thinking about it carefully, it seemed no one had joined Fire earlier than Jianqi…

However, as the oldest member of Fire, Jianqi had never mentioned when Fire was founded or who had founded it…

Lucy had previously suspected if it had been Jianqi himself, but he had flatly denied it.

If it wasn’t him, then what about the earlier members of Fire?

Where had those truly old members gone?

Since Fire had no real leader, no one paid attention to these matters usually.

After all, they gathered together just for a bit more survival assurance.

But suddenly thinking of it now, Lucy found herself somewhat unable to understand this companion.

Fire should have had members before, right? Where had those truly old members gone?

These things, Jianqi had never mentioned…

“Thinking about it this way, I really don’t know Jianqi at all! Although he uses a fake name and no one asked him what he did before, most people reveal a bit about themselves in conversations. But this guy… He gets along with many people, yet no one truly knows what he does…”

Realizing this, Lucy’s gaze toward Jianqi changed instantly.

He seemed to be like Ling Mo, hiding many secrets…

But compared to Ling Mo, Jianqi felt even more frightening to her.

They had been in the same Survivor Base, yet today was the first time she felt she had some understanding of this companion.

However, these thoughts were quickly overshadowed by her own pressing issues.

The mutation was the most urgent matter she faced…

“The idea of researching the virus actually came up a long time ago…”

Jianqi leaned against the wall and spoke in a low voice, “But it was only after joining Fire that I had the conditions to conduct real experiments. Before that, I was just doing small, insignificant experiments by myself, without any satisfactory results. The process was also very troublesome… Haha…”

He let out a cold laugh, brushing off the topic, but Lucy had already caught the momentary acceleration of his heartbeat.

What experiments? Lucy frowned slightly but didn’t dwell on it, as Jianqi continued speaking.

“Being able to fully utilize my skills in Fire is really great for me…”

“From the first time I researched the virus, I was deeply fascinated by it. However, I didn’t have any specific research direction back then; I was just trying to understand it. My ideas only started to take shape after joining Fire.”

Jianqi’s voice remained gentle, but his tone sounded as if he were describing a lover: “Not just understanding it, but truly mastering it…”

Lucy felt a shiver run up her spine, a sudden chill creeping in.

A normal human talking about the virus in such a tone could only make one’s skin crawl and feel a sense of “horror”…

“But mastering it isn’t something just anyone can do, even if…”

Jianqi paused mid-sentence, then shook his head. He reached out, slowly waving his hand in the air as if touching the virus itself: “The more you research it, the more you realize how little you understand. It’s like a beautiful woman wearing countless layers of clothing. You peel off one layer, only to find an even more beautiful outfit underneath. Who knows how many layers you have to peel off to see her true form…”

“Ugh… There’s no such woman anywhere. Actually, that wouldn’t even be called a beautiful woman anymore…” Lucy muttered to herself.

“She is so unattainable, yet she treats everyone equally.

The virus infects the entire human race, and no one can say for sure when this invisible, untouchable entity was born.

But everyone knows that the day it emerged from its shell, the entire world changed because of it!”

Jianqi’s tone remained calm, but Lucy could clearly feel that his body was trembling slightly…

He was very excited!

Describing the virus in such a bizarre way, yet he was enjoying it!

This kind of discovery was something she had never encountered before…

Lucy frowned, bracing herself to continue listening.

“Moreover, it continues to evolve. Its power is already immense during its growth phase, so I’m really curious, what kind of creatures will it create once it matures?

The evolution of Zombies and the strengthening of superhumans can both be seen as the evolution of the virus within them. The original virus, after mutating, has acquired entirely different characteristics.

Zombies have had their bodies altered but have deficiencies in their psychic power and intelligence;

Superhumans seem to have no side effects, but their combat strength is closely tied to their physical and psychic power. Some people possess great superhuman abilities but have bodies no different from ordinary people…”

Jianqi paused here, slowly stepping out of the shadows. In the sunlight, his expression appeared quite calm:

“Have you ever thought about it? If both could be combined, wouldn’t that be the truly perfect creature?”

“Pfft!”

Combining Zombies and superhumans? He actually thought of that!

By his logic, wouldn’t she be the perfect creature now?

But soon, she would completely mutate!

“I know you don’t believe it, because it does sound incredible. But what if it succeeds?” Jianqi rubbed his hands together and said.

“How is that even possible…” Lucy looked at Jianqi in shock.

“Heh, the virus is so complex, what isn’t possible?”

Jianqi’s expression remained calm as he spoke, “Besides, I’m just hypothesizing.”

However, in Lucy’s sensing, she could capture every subtle change in Jianqi’s emotions.

“Of course, if given the chance, I would like to try it.”

After saying this, Jianqi smiled and looked at Lucy.

But being stared at by Jianqi like that, Lucy suddenly felt a chill creeping up from her feet.

His gaze was clearly calm, yet it felt very dangerous…

This feeling was something she had never experienced before. It seemed that the closer her body got to becoming a Zombie, the sharper her senses for danger became.

“By the way, before you ask me, I’d like to ask you something first.”

Jianqi tentatively began, “What’s your relationship with Ling Mo?”

Thump, thump.

When Jianqi mentioned Ling Mo’s name, his expression seemed natural, but his heartbeat quickened slightly.

A terrifying thought suddenly popped into Lucy’s mind. She looked at Jianqi, her eyes widening with an expression of disbelief:

“You… you…”

“What’s the matter?” Jianqi looked at Lucy in confusion and asked, “Don’t overthink it, I was just asking casually…”

Lucy stared at Jianqi for a while, then suddenly asked, “The elixir in Zhen Zhiyuan’s hands, where did it come from?”

The air instantly grew tense.

Lucy’s question came so suddenly that Jianqi had no time to react.

By the time he collected himself, what he saw was Lucy’s angry gaze.