Chapter 18: Mosquito

That word could absolutely not be pinned on her. If the organization misunderstood, what would she do if she failed her political background check¹?

Xia Mi had often heard of people who passed the written exam, the interview, the physical fitness test, and the medical exam, only to fall at the final hurdle of the political screening. The mere thought of it was terrifying.

She had gone without sleep for a day and a night, fighting with her life on the line. She could not lose her chance at a Bianzhi position just because of a misunderstanding by the public.

Xia Mi asked seriously, “Say that again. What do I look like?”

She pulled off her glove and warmly grasped Spider-man’s hand, expressing her respect for the masses and her “one of the family” sentiment.

Spider-man recalled the scene just moments ago where Xia Mi had used her bare hands to absorb three large bags of Zhuo-contaminated parts. Looking at his hand being gripped tightly by her, he was so scared he nearly burst into tears.

He stammered, “You, you are a fine soldier of the people, rescuing us from fire and water.”

Only then did Xia Mi release her grip, relieved. She instructed him, “Thank you. If anyone asks for your impression of me in the future, please be sure to say exactly that.”

Spider-man nodded repeatedly. “Of course, of course.”

Xia Mi’s gaze fell upon the others huddled together. Taking the hint, they also nodded and said, “We’ve got it too, Fine Soldier Xiao Xia!”

Xia Mi finally felt at ease.

She took a moment to head to Room 1127 alone. It was only three floors between the 8th and 11th, a quick one-minute sprint would allow her to make the round trip without wasting much time.

The wardrobe in Room 1127 was empty now. Xia Mi saw two dusty footprints at the bottom of the wardrobe, proving that Spider-man hadn’t lied, someone really had been hiding there earlier.

There was also a shattered bottle in the bathroom, but it no longer contained any water.

There were four eggs in total. She had now found three of the bottles that held them. The last one should be in either 710 or 416.

The three people from 1127 and 803 were currently missing. It was unclear if they had been parasitized by the Zhuo or if they had been killed.

After Xia Mi sent this information to Liao Tianhua and received a reply telling her to “wait patiently for the Second Team’s investigation results,” she put it out of her mind.

Next, she continued leading the absurdly well-behaved crowd downstairs.

The 7th floor was where she and Sister Li lived. Through her previous actions, Xia Mi had gained a full understanding of the combat power of the Zhuo-transformed. Most were quite average, simply growing an extra layer of armor compared to normal people.

Compared to the Zhuo-transformed on other floors, however, the neighbors Xia Mi had encountered on the 7th floor were ridiculously strong.

The mother and son in 704 alone had caused “Xiao Mi” to die twice in the game.

Among the stronger Zhuo-transformed she had met so far, everyone except Sister Li had come into contact with the white eggs. Yet, despite there being no eggs on the 7th floor, everyone there was incredibly powerful.

Before reaching the 7th floor, Xia Mi held up the bottle she had found in 1127 and asked Sister Li, “Sister Li, did you have something like this in your room?”

Sister Li looked at it and said, “That bottle is actually quite pretty, but I don’t buy such impractical things.”

Room 710 was very close to the stairwell. To verify Sister Li’s words, Xia Mi made it her first stop upon reaching the 7th floor. She did a thorough check and indeed found no bottle.

However, she noticed that the float ball in Sister Li’s toilet tank was broken. The water wouldn’t stop running once the tank was full, it just kept flowing.

“Sister Li, when did your toilet break?” Xia Mi asked.

Sister Li replied, “About two months ago. I tried fixing it a few times but couldn’t get it right. It’s too much trouble to find someone. I’m busy with work and can’t stay home waiting for a repairman, so I just ignored it.”

“Wasting so much water every day, even if it’s not fixed, you should have turned off the valve,” Xia Mi said.

Sister Li frowned and said, “You’re right. Why didn’t I turn off the valve? I have to pay so much in water bills every month.”

Xia Mi’s room layout was identical to Sister Li’s. Knowing the water valve was in the meter box outside the door, she stepped out and opened the box to check the valve.

To her surprise, as soon as the meter box opened, over a dozen mosquitoes the size of dragonflies flew out. Each was plump and sturdy with a rounded belly, diving straight for Xia Mi’s face.

Xia Mi dodged in time, but there were many mosquitoes and she had been caught off guard. One mosquito slammed heavily into Xia Mi’s helmet, actually cracking the sturdy material.

“You call this a mosquito?!” Xia Mi cried out in shock, staring at the crack in her helmet.

Shield: [Seeking death!]

Shield, who had been watching the show while following Xia Mi, was furious.

The Protective Suit was her weapon. She had promised that as long as she could still be called “human,” she would always protect the soldier wearing the suit.

Just now, both Xia Mi and Shield had been caught unprepared by the mosquitoes’ attack. Shield hadn’t been able to concentrate her power at the point of impact, allowing the sturdy helmet to crack.

The helmet appeared to have only a small fissure, but a breach in the Protective Suit meant it lost its ability to prevent Zhuo-contamination.

If it had been any other team member, this tiny crack could have led to them being parasitized by the Zhuo.

Once parasitized, the only future awaiting them was death.

Or even being killed by their own teammates.

This was a failure on Shield’s part.

Even though Xia Mi, this freak of nature, had removed her helmet and gloves multiple times during the operation, meaning if she were going to be contaminated, it would have happened long ago, and the crack wouldn’t actually accelerate the process, Shield still could not tolerate such a thing happening.

Shield: [Don’t resist.]

Xia Mi didn’t understand what Shield meant at all. Don’t resist what?

But in the next second, she understood.

The Protective Suit on her body suddenly moved on its own.

Hidden blades as long as forearms were mounted on the outside of the suit’s sleeves, and they snapped out automatically.

Simultaneously, Xia Mi was launched into the air like a superhero, spinning like a top. Her limbs bent at various incredible angles, performing moves that even wuxia² novels wouldn’t dare to write.

Xia Mi’s speed became terrifying. She floated, spun, elbowed, slashed diagonally, and hacked horizontally through the air. One strike for every mosquito, she instantly slaughtered all seventeen of them like a whirlwind.

The entire process took less than ten seconds.

Once the mosquitoes were dead, Xia Mi landed on the ground, clutching her joints and gritting her teeth. “Did you even consider my joints?”

The movements just now weren’t so much Xia Mi’s as they were the Protective Suit’s.

It was the Protective Suit that manipulated Xia Mi to fly, the Protective Suit that executed the flurry of combos, and the Protective Suit that wiped out all those mosquitoes.

Rather than saying Xia Mi was wearing the Protective Suit, it was more accurate to say Xia Mi was merely a vehicle for it!

Xia Mi never imagined that Shield’s control over the Protective Suit could reach such an extent.

If Shield wanted to, she could completely control the suit to make team members kill each other, or simply use the suit to kill a member directly.

No wonder Shield had been hiding the fact that she could perceive events within the Domain through the Protective Suit. What she was hiding wasn’t something that simple at all, but rather her absolute manipulation of the gear.

Shield: [Stop whining. I made sure to protect your joints and muscles, it shouldn’t hurt that much.]

Xia Mi rubbed her joints and found that it was exactly as Shield said. It had only hurt intensely while she was performing those exaggerated movements, but she felt much better now.

“What would happen if I resisted the suit’s control?” Xia Mi asked.

Shield: [The speed would be a bit slower.]

This meant her full resistance would only cause the Protective Suit’s movements to lag slightly.

Xia Mi: “…”

Shield: [If you don’t trust me, take off the suit and let the mosquitoes sting you to death.]

Shield: [You’re full of secrets too. We’re two of a kind, so don’t even think about selling me out.]

Shield: [You’ll definitely trust me, right? After all, I’m part of the Bianzhi, a warrior of the people.]

Xia Mi: “I haven’t even said anything yet. Why are you panicking?”

Shield’s emotions seemed quite agitated, given that she had even typed out “warrior of the people,” a phrase Xia Mi usually reserved for herself.

Shield: [What do you want to say?]

Xia Mi asked, “If there wasn’t a ceiling above us, how high could you jump? Can you help me fly?”

Shield: [That’s what you’re worried about?]

Xia Mi asked, “Isn’t it important? Flying! All those extreme rides at amusement parks were designed by humans just to experience the feeling of flight, weren’t they? Isn’t flying important?”

Shield: [I haven’t tried, but don’t be too optimistic. I’m still subject to Newton’s laws, just a little less so.]

Xia Mi said, “Let’s try it when we get the chance.”

The matter was dropped just like that.

Xia Mi felt that since these mosquitoes were fast and had high attack power, her own physical fitness wasn’t strong enough to kill so many at once. Shield had exposed her ability at this moment to protect her.

If she stopped trusting Shield because of this, she would be a real piece of work.

Shield: [If I undergo Zhuo-transformation, I might end up hurting you.]

Xia Mi said, “Can’t you write? When you transform, your consciousness and body will change, and your handwriting will definitely show subtle differences. It won’t be too late for me to doubt you then.

“Besides, I’ve already worked with the truly transformed Sister Li and Liu Yunxia. You’re still maintaining your sanity, so why should I be on guard against you?

“You’re a talent selected by the state. Even if you don’t believe in yourself, you should believe in the country’s judgment, right? So many people fail the civil service exams, the state’s screening mechanism is incredibly strict.”

Xia Mi’s tone was filled with longing for the Bianzhi and envy for Shield’s status as an official employee, which actually managed to talk Shield into feeling confident.

Shield: [Just charge forward. I’ll be responsible for guarding you against any emergencies!]

Xia Mi successfully established trust with her colleague, laying the foundation for their cooperation. She secretly gave herself a mental thumbs-up.

Keep it up, Xia Mi! If you don’t become Director Xia, who else is fit for the job?

Once her joints and muscles didn’t hurt as much, Xia Mi quickly checked the other water meter boxes on the 7th floor. Aside from the box for 710, the boxes for rooms 702, 703, and 704 all contained mosquitoes.

Xia Mi’s own water meter box was the worst. Not only were there large mosquitoes, but there was also a cluster of unhatched mosquito eggs.

Her skin crawled at the sight. She really wanted to burn those eggs to a crisp.

Xia Mi sent a message to Liao Tianhua to report the news, asking: [Why are there so many mosquitoes? The Zhuo-transformed people on the 7th floor are ridiculously strong, does it have anything to do with these mosquitoes?]

Liao Tianhua: “…”

Liao Tianhua had no way to answer Xia Mi’s question.

The situation Xia Mi was facing was too unique. The massive nest, the artificially cultivated “Zhuo,” and the absurdly transformed mosquitoes were all phenomena they had never seen before. There were no cases to reference.

Liao Tianhua could only reply: [Wait a little longer. I’m maintaining constant communication with the Second Team. I believe our brother unit³ will definitely find the key intelligence.]

Xia Mi: [Stalling, passing the buck, doing nothing productive.]

Liao Tianhua: [Xia Mi??!!!]

Xia Mi wanted to cry. That message wasn’t sent by her, it was Shield using the Protective Suit. Shield must have wanted to curse at Liao Tianhua for a long time.

Xia Mi: [Captain Liao, if I said that last message wasn’t from me, would you believe me?]

Liao Tianhua: [Mm, I know. A mosquito must have flown into the phone screen and accidentally typed those words.]

Xia Mi: [Yes! That’s exactly it!]

Captain Liao really was an understanding and considerate leader who sympathized with his subordinates.

Translator’s Notes