Mutants - Chapter 12
Chapter 12: Lingzhi!
The amount of antidote was plentiful, enough for all of them. Even the disliked Sui Xin was given a vial.
"You're not poisoned anyway…" Huang Ye walked up to Sui Xin, intending to take this vial as well, but Ye Chen stopped him.
Sui Xin couldn't be bothered to watch their little act and said, "I'm really not poisoned. Why don't you take it, Captain Ye?"
This product from that stupid ad was something she had produced and marketed herself, yet these people were treating it like a treasure. It didn't matter to her whether she took it or not. As long as she didn't offend them, giving it away was fine. If she really needed it, they had some on them anyway.
Ye Chen said, "I already have one. Besides, what if you get poisoned later? But you don't have to fight, so we can protect you…"
His fingers were about to open his small pouch to put this vial away as well, but.
"You're right. I'll keep it then. If something happens, I'd have to trouble you, Captain Ye, to protect me. I can't be that kind of annoying person."
Ye Chen and Huang Ye: "…"
Afterwards, seeing that everyone had taken the antidote and remembering the live broadcast, Sui Xin deliberately said, "Since the toxin has been suppressed, shouldn't we go explore the ruins zone? The company's mission is very important. We can't just worry about our own lives and forget the company's mission."
"Everything for the company."
Wait a minute. You were the one slacking off to the extreme before, with all your "we're going to die, we're going to die, we're going to die." What's the meaning of this now? So you're the only loyal one here?
No wonder she could climb to the mid-level. She really has a few tricks up her sleeve.
Ye Chen glanced at Sui Xin and said, "It seems there's no conspiracy here. We were overthinking it. Those people have probably retreated. Let's go to the ruins zone."
Sui Xin said, "They didn't even take the antidote. It seems that group failed to breach this place in the end. Maybe they couldn't take the things from the energy vault either—I remember the pharmacy and the energy vault are behind the research lab, and behind that is the sealed ruins excavation zone. What exactly happened here? We need to report to the company immediately. Is anyone's signal still working?"
Her words served as a reminder to everyone.
Ye Chen, Huang Ye, and the others quickly exchanged glances.
The energy vault!
There were many valuable energy bars there, and possibly Deep Red Marine Fossils excavated from the ruins zone.
Inside the Marine Fossils were precious rare marine energy mineral crystals of extremely high value. A single rare mineral crystal extracted from one fossil could often produce 100 units of energy bars.
If a 1-unit energy bar sold for 1000 Alliance Credits on the black market, then a single raw, unextracted Marine Fossil could sell for 80,000 Alliance Credits. Once successfully extracted, the price could increase significantly.
After all, these energy bar resources were monopolized, and the black market price for such resources was bound to be inflated.
For these frontline combat personnel, if they had the chance to seize these vast resources, it would be worth it even with a corporate kill order on their heads. Most of the traitors who had defected in the past did so for this reason.
Take a gamble, and a bicycle could become a sports car.
Ye Chen glanced at his device, then asked the others about theirs.
No signal.
"The signal is blocked here."
"We've lost contact with the company. No wonder the previous squads all went missing."
No one was particularly surprised, as there were precedents. However, they never imagined that the hidden surveillance devices on their bodies were broadcasting their every move on a higher-level network.
In the M City Strategic Operations Department, some of the management were puffing clouds of smoke, mockingly watching Ye Chen and his team head for the energy vault.
"These ungrateful bastards really can't be tamed."
"Most of the previous scout teams were like this."
"Tsk tsk, so greedy. They all want to collect their company salary while making a fortune on the side."
These people maintained their superior, condescending attitudes, never mentioning the corporation's cruelty towards these frontline personnel. In their eyes, human lives were worthless. These people, dreaming of getting rich and escaping the corporation's control, deserved to die.
However, they also saw the out-of-place consultant rummaging through her clothes.
"I've used up my medical pouch. Does anyone have extra? I just need some anti-inflammatory medicine. The wound on my hand might get infected."
Naturally, no one had any to spare. They were all hoarding their medical supplies and wouldn't share. No one responded. Taking the opportunity, Sui Xin could only say awkwardly, "Can I go to the pharmacy then?"
Their minds were on the wealth in the energy vault, so still, no one was willing to go with her.
Jenny said, "Sis, I'll go with you."
Ye Chen said, "It's not safe for the two of you. I'll escort you, but we need to be quick."
Sui Xin showed a touched expression, and the group of three soon split off from the others.
As they separated, Ye Chen and Huang Ye exchanged a look. Huang Ye's gaze was meaningful, the corner of his mouth curling up slightly as he glanced at Sui Xin as if looking at a dead dog.
The little rookie, wearing that stupid-looking helmet, didn't seem to notice. She was bobbing her head, still thanking Ye Chen and Jenny.
From the live broadcast's perspective, the cameras on the three of them were pointed at each other, and the people in M City watched them head towards the pharmacy.
The door to the pharmacy was tightly locked. Ye Chen kept his gun drawn, wary of the surroundings, as did Jenny. They had Sui Xin open the combination lock.
This meant that as soon as the door opened, she would be the one to directly face whatever danger lay inside.
Sui Xin knew this perfectly well, but for now, she was willing to play dumb for the live broadcast, all while remaining extremely vigilant inwardly.
She was currently dancing on a tightrope; everyone was an enemy.
"You know how to make anti-inflammatory medicine?"
"No, but I gathered some information before I came. I know which medicinal herbs correspond to which effects. Although it's not as effective as a finished potion, it's fine for a temporary emergency. You two should grab some later as well. We can report it to the company afterwards; it counts as an emergency measure, which is within the regulations."
"Alright, we'll be troubling you then."
This consultant was very by-the-book, with no violations whatsoever. Ye Chen glanced at the pistol she still had hanging at her waist, untouched.
The door unlocked. Sui Xin didn't push it open immediately. The three of them listened for any sounds from inside. Silence. Then, pressing themselves against the sides of the doorway, they pushed the door open at an angle…
A strong medicinal smell washed over them.
Combat was common in the ruins zone, making medical resources a necessity. To ensure the local garrison had an adequate supply of medicine, the corporation would store extra medicinal herbs here. Since the research lab was capable of producing medicine, they could simply use these herbs to make it on-site. This also prevented finished products from being targeted and stolen by other organizations—as those organizations lacked the production technology.
The first thing the three of them did was look at the floor.
There were no bloodstains; it was clean. There was no smell of blood either, but that could be because the medicinal smell in the pharmacy was too strong, overpowering any scent of blood.
"Is it safe, Captain?"
She moved closer to Ye Chen to ask about the situation.
Ye Chen moved away slightly, subtly taking a more advantageous offensive position. "It's safe for now," he said. "Jenny, are you getting any thermal readings on living organisms?"
"No, the glasses aren't picking up anything. It's all just medicinal herbs. Sister Sui, hurry up and pick what you need. We're short on time."
The muzzle of Jenny's gun also happened to point in Sui Xin's direction from time to time. It seemed coincidental, but in reality, she was tacitly coordinating with Ye Chen, locking onto Sui Xin's position.
She could be killed at any moment.
As soon as she was no longer useful, and since there was no surveillance here (or so Ye Chen and Jenny believed).
A seasoned frontline combatant would have realized they were being targeted, but this rookie consultant had zero combat experience and didn't seem to sense anything was wrong at all.
"Alright."
Sui Xin knew these two also wanted to hoard some medicinal herbs, so she began to choose carefully, verbally instructing them on the effects of the herbs so they wouldn't take the wrong ones.
But as her hand picked up some calendula flowers, she saw some translucent shell fragments with faint, vivid blood-red streaks inside. She recognized them at a glance as the molted shells from an insect's developmental stage.
There were insects here.
Moreover, the blood streaks on these shells were a sign that the Ironworms had gone through three developmental cycles and entered their metamorphic stage—which meant the insects had a flesh-and-blood host here.
It also meant there was a corpse here.
The color of the blood streaks was so fresh; it didn't seem to come from a rotting corpse.
Was there a living person here? But didn't the thermal sensors see nothing?
The most troublesome part was that after three developmental cycles and entering their metamorphic stage, Red Corrosive Ironworms could grow air-breathing lungs. This meant they no longer needed a body of water and could survive by breathing air. This was a late-stage mature Mutant Ironworm, and it would grow centipede-like appendages under its body to increase its crawling speed.
Their lethality was much greater.
Sui Xin's scalp tingled with fear.
Her original intention was to split up the group, reduce the threat, and then find an opportunity to escape. She had already thought out the plan, preferably by faking her death or something. But now, with a real danger present…
Sui Xin deliberately looked for bags of herbs with more insect shells and picked out some useful ones for them.
To be honest, looking at these shells was making her head spin; she felt nauseous and nervous. But Ye Chen and Jenny didn't understand this. They were getting excited about the medicinal herbs, because as Sui Xin explained the categories and properties of the herbs, she didn't forget to mention their prices.
For frontline personnel who lived on the edge and only earned a few thousand Alliance Credits a year, this was an enormous temptation.
Ye Chen and Jenny were both focused on collecting these herbs, stuffing them into their backpacks. They didn't forget to leave space for energy bars, nor did they forget to ask Sui Xin, "Consultant Sui, you know so much about medicinal herbs? Does your environmental science degree cover this stuff?"
In fact, the live broadcast audience was also paying attention to this, and even the people from the corporation were surprised.
In this era, all kinds of knowledge were controlled. For her to have learned this, she must have paid for educational resources in one of the corporation's study rooms.
Sui Xin's gaze was actually drawn to the bags of herbs ahead. She was a little nervous, because the molted shells here not only had blood streaks inside but also had small specks of blood stuck to the outside. Mixed in with the piles of herbs, an inattentive person wouldn't see them.
She guided the other two towards different herbs to prevent them from discovering it.
"In environmental science, there's a subfield of plant ecology, which is related to some… Alright, the truth is I was short on money. I occasionally had to take on some herb identification jobs to earn extra cash. The people who hired me were mostly frontline combat personnel like you."
Ah!
Ye Chen and Jenny were surprised, as was the live broadcast audience, but they quickly got used to it.
It was quite normal.
At this moment, in the Strategic Operations Department, they pulled Sui Xin's file from the personnel records and found her account.
"There are indeed some miscellaneous earnings here, but they were all made after her work hours. It doesn't violate any regulations."
This kind of thing was commonplace. It was just that she had exposed it herself. If anyone in the company wanted to report her and falsely accuse her of taking private jobs during work hours, it could actually affect her future prospects.
Looking at it this way, this Sui Xin really trusted Ye Chen and Jenny. But she didn't know everything was being broadcast live.
Everyone knew now.
The other analysts nearly died laughing.
This quiet one was finished.
At this moment, Sui Xin had already seen something in the gaps between the bags of herbs ahead.
She saw densely packed mushrooms.
"Huh, why are there mushrooms over there? Could it be lingzhi? Such big lingzhi! This stuff is crazy expensive, more expensive than all the other things we've seen."
Before she even went over, she started shouting excitedly, pretending to rush towards them.
And as a result!
Like hungry dogs spotting a steak, Ye Chen and Jenny shot forward.
The two of them had gotten used to grabbing herbs without any danger. Upon hearing it was priceless lingzhi, they threw all caution to the wind and rushed forward to grab the "supposedly lingzhi" mushrooms.
Through the camera perspectives on them, everyone could clearly see the lingzhi mushrooms getting closer and closer.
Only then did they see that the caps of the blood-red mushrooms were as crimson as blood.
At first glance, they really did look like blood lingzhi.
Snap. The long-legged Ye Chen grabbed and broke the stem beneath one of the mushrooms.
Sap splattered everywhere, spraying all over his hand. He instantly felt a stinging pain, the kind that came from a corrosive burn.
He looked down and saw it, and so did the audience.
"Ah, it's insects!"
"So many insects!"
As they shouted, Jenny also screamed. She had also broken a mushroom, and Red Corrosive Ironworms, still in their molting incubation period, swarmed onto her arm. Their corrosive fluid sizzled, rapidly eating through her protective suit.
Both were seasoned combatants and quickly tore off their protective suits. But the Red Corrosive Ironworms had already swarmed out in dense numbers, crawling over the bags and other herbs with a rustling sound. They moved very quickly, climbing with serpentine twists. Ye Chen was fast and had quick reflexes. Realizing shooting was useless against such numbers, he turned and ran.
Jenny wanted to run too, but her ankle was entangled. The Ironworms had corroded her protective suit, crawling up her pant leg and eating into her flesh. In agony, she stumbled and fell to the ground.
"A'Chen, save me!"
Hearing her cry, Ye Chen turned back. He saw Jenny on the ground with a dense swarm of insects behind her. He decisively drew his gun!
But he probably wasn't aiming at the insects behind Jenny.
What good would bullets be against insects? But they could kill people.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out. Sui Xin, who was also entangled by the insects and stumbling away, ran in a panic towards a pile of herbs as the bullet flew towards her.
In the chaotic camera view, she was seen crying out once before collapsing into the pile of herbs.
She had been shot and killed by Ye Chen.
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