Chapter 27: Vital Signs

Xia Mi had no time to check her phone. Her life had entered its final countdown, and every second was precious. She wasn’t about to waste time chatting with Xiao Liao.

From the moment No. 4 Zhuo opened its nest, Xia Mi had gone to Room 701, prepared for a final stand.

The sight of the three corpses on the floor made her heart suddenly heavy.

She had saved over ninety percent of the residents, yet several had still been killed.

These people were just like her. Though they had their flaws and some might not have had the best personalities, they had all been trying their best to live.

They just wanted to stay alive.

Xia Mi first picked up the girl from the young couple in 803 and carried her body out the door.

No. 4 Zhuo asked, “Where… are… you… going?”

“I’m afraid the fight will damage their bodies,” Xia Mi said. “I want to find a clean place to lay them to rest.”

The only place in this building that could still be considered clean was Xia Mi’s own home, Room 703.

703 and 701 were very close, just a few steps away.

No. 7 Zhuo was still biding its time, not daring to show itself. Xia Mi laid the girl on her bed, then returned to 701 to pick up the body of the man from 1127.

He looked to be about thirty-five years old with a bit of a beer belly, weighing around 160 pounds. The corpse was dead weight, yet Xia Mi lifted him with ease.

The man didn’t get the same treatment as the girl, however, Xia Mi placed him on the floor.

In truth, whether they were on the floor or the bed, such trivialities no longer mattered to them.

If anything, Xia Mi placing corpses in her own room was a rather macabre thing to do.

Had it been the version of her from before today, she never would have dared to do such a thing.

But now, Xia Mi could only think about how she had failed to protect their lives, the least she could do was preserve their remains.

When she went to pick up the third body, the young man from 803, the body opened its eyes.

His eyes had no whites or pupils, only a murky cloudiness, as if smoke were swirling within them.

“Don’t touch me,” the “boy” said.

From his tone, Xia Mi guessed he was No. 4 Zhuo.

No. 7 Zhuo had taken over the body of the cancer patient from 701, while No. 4 Zhuo had taken the boy from 803.

Just as Xiao Liao had said, the Zhuo could not exist independently, they had to parasitize human bodies.

“It’s okay. Once I kill No. 7, I’ll help collect your remains,” Xia Mi silently promised the dead boy from 803.

Xia Mi checked her watch. Fifteen minutes had passed since she was poisoned. She didn’t have much time left.

Her nose was bleeding constantly, not a heavy flow, but a slow trickle. She only needed to wipe it away with her hand occasionally, and it didn’t hinder her movements.

Her body didn’t feel weak because of it, instead, she felt stronger.

Xia Mi felt this was a final surge of strength before the end.

She should have been afraid of death, but as she carried the cold corpses back to 703, she found she was no longer afraid.

Now, she only wanted No. 4 and No. 7 to be buried alongside the dead.

If only she could include Zhang Xun, the pharmaceutical factory, and the people from Etornit.

Perhaps because it had been trapped in a bottle for too long, No. 7 Zhuo was more patient than expected.

Even as all the prey left the nest, No. 7 still hadn’t made a move.

No. 4 was growing restless.

It controlled the boy’s body to sit up, but it couldn’t move properly, the body just trembled.

Xia Mi asked, “Where are you hurt? How did No. 7 injure you?”

Seemingly afraid that No. 7 was lurking in the drains listening to their conversation, No. 4 continued to speak directly into Xia Mi’s mind: “It… implanted… tumors… into… this… body…”

No. 4’s speech was fragmented. To help her understand, it showed Xia Mi images of its battle with No. 7.

No. 7’s tumor-like, fluid body was incredibly fast. It could multiply rapidly and was unafraid of injury. It had flowed over and enveloped the parasitized boy, implanting tumors into the host through the respiratory tract of the mouth and nose.

That was how No. 4 had lost its mobility.

“Can’t you switch bodies?” Xia Mi asked.

No. 4 told her, “The tumors… are absorbing… my power. I… cannot… change… bodies…”

Xia Mi checked the time. Only twelve minutes left. If she kept waiting like this, she would be dead soon.

She asked No. 4, “Why hasn’t No. 7 eaten you like it ate No. 6? You look like an easy meal right now.”

No. 4 said, “I… have mosquito… poison… It would die…”

Xia Mi understood.

No. 4 and No. 7 were two variants of Zhuo that were vastly different from the traditional ones. Both had the ability to manipulate living organisms. No. 4 controlled mosquitoes, while No. 7 controlled Zhuo-fied humans who had come into contact with its water.

Mosquitoes had very low intelligence, allowing No. 4 to control them completely. It could even use mosquito venom to establish information channels, transmitting signals or items like language, patterns, video, and toxins.

Zhuo-fied humans had high intelligence. No. 7 could only intimidate them through the threat of death, it couldn’t fully control them. However, if No. 7 were given a few months to grow, it might evolve the ability to manipulate them.

In addition to manipulation, No. 4 and No. 7 had evolved two distinct abilities based on their unique characteristics.

No. 4 possessed biological toxins, while No. 7 was an infinitely multiplying tumor. Both were biological attributes.

These two abilities were related to the first person they had devoured.

The first person No. 4 devoured was an alcoholic man living in Room 416, which was why its ability manifested as toxicity.

No. 7 had devoured a cancer patient, so its ability was related to tumors.

The Zhuo themselves weren’t inherently strong, they became powerful by absorbing humans.

Xia Mi walked into the bathroom of 701. The bathroom was very clean. There was no limescale on the tiles, the faucets were polished to a shine, and the toilet was spotless. The room smelled faintly of disinfectant.

The cancer patient of 701 had been a person who loved cleanliness. Despite her illness, she had fought bravely against the cancer, enduring round after round of chemotherapy while keeping her home impeccably clean.

For a person like that to be dragged into the sewers by No. 7 Zhuo after death, she must have been miserable.

Xia Mi tapped on the exposed water pipe and said, “Y-057, I’m going to die in ten minutes. Are you still going to wait?”

The final burst of lucidity before death made Xia Mi’s five senses exceptionally sharp. She heard a dragging sound inside the pipe, identical to the one she had heard in the hallway earlier. As it turned out, that was the sound made by No. 7 Zhuo.

Sensing that No. 7 could understand her, Xia Mi spoke up loudly. “The fact that you haven’t devoured Y-054 proves you fear its toxicity and know how powerful that poison is. I’ve been poisoned by No. 4, and it will take effect in ten minutes.

“I don’t think No. 4 will just watch me die. It must be waiting for me to grow weak.

“Even though I’m poisoned, I’m still in great shape. I could eat two Zhuo in one bite. No. 4 is so weak right now that it wouldn’t dare touch me.

“The moment I’m at my weakest, right before I die, that’s when No. 4 will devour me.

“Once it gains strength from me, it will still be the master of this nest. Will you have any way to survive then?

“If you don’t take this chance to kill No. 4 now, what are you waiting for?”

No. 4 transmitted its words with fury: “I… can… hear you!”

Xia Mi replied, “Of course I know you can hear me, but am I wrong? Isn’t that exactly what you’re planning?”

No. 4: “Yes…”

Xia Mi said, “There’s nothing that can’t be said openly. If you’re already thinking it, why can’t I say it?”

No. 7 Zhuo: “…”

It felt like something was wrong, but it couldn’t put its finger on what.

Xia Mi continued with clear logic, “Y-057, either you wait for me to die and be eaten by No. 4, or you come out now and eat No. 4. Then you’ll have its poison control abilities before you devour me.”

Xia Mi turned back to No. 4 and said, “I know what you’re thinking too. You can’t move right now, and you’re afraid No. 7 will eat you. That’s why you’re using poison to control me, hoping I’ll kill No. 7 first so you can devour me once I’m weakened by the toxin.”

Xia Mi threw open the bathroom door and announced loudly, “The three of us are all thinking the same thing: waiting for the other two to exhaust themselves so we can reap the benefits. But let me tell you, I won’t let you have your way.

“No. 7, I’m giving you ten seconds. If you don’t come out and fight No. 4 within ten seconds, I’ll let No. 4 eat me right now, and then it’ll go after you.

“No. 4, if you don’t fight No. 7 to see who’s superior, I’ll let No. 7 eat me right now, and then it’ll come for the immobile you!”

No. 4: “…”

No. 7: “…”

How did the situation turn out like this?

They vaguely felt that things shouldn’t be going this way. Why was a dying Rong threatening them instead?

Xia Mi was emboldened by having nothing left to lose.

A Zhuo would never understand that once the people in this building had escaped unharmed, Xia Mi had nothing left to fear.

If she took this gamble and survived, it was a win. If she died, she would be awarded a second-class merit. Either way, she didn’t lose.

How could a Zhuo, born with the instinct to devour its own kind, ever understand Director Xia’s noble ideals?

The two Zhuo, whose logical reasoning was severely lacking, were finally led astray by Xia Mi.

A mass of red, foul-smelling matter began to drop slowly from the bathroom faucet.

It surged out in clumps, spilling onto the floor and writhing rapidly.

Xia Mi pinched her nose and stepped back, rolling her eyes toward the ceiling.

The way Hani Apartments censored this stuff with mosaics was truly thoughtful!

She nudged No. 4’s host body and said, “Let’s make a deal. Can you use your poison to numb my nose? This smell is absolutely revolting. I’m about to throw up my dinner from last night.”

She had only said it in passing, but No. 4 Zhuo actually nodded.

Xia Mi saw the face of No. 4’s host blur for a moment, and then its mouth transformed into a mosquito-like proboscis.

No. 4 Zhuo pricked her hand with the proboscis. Instantly, Xia Mi’s nose went numb, and she could no longer smell anything.

No. 7 Zhuo left a trail of filthy water wherever it crawled. Looking at it, Xia Mi felt a pang of sympathy for the resident of 701.

She had been such a clean person.

Xia Mi looked at No. 4 Zhuo with its mosquito mouth on the left, then at No. 7 Zhuo crawling all over the floor on the right, and couldn’t help but grit her teeth.

Have you two shown even a shred of respect for the original owners of these bodies?

Now that both Zhuo had revealed themselves, Xia Mi didn’t plan on hiding her intentions anymore. She slid one hand into her pocket and gripped the Purification Grenade.

Once these two started fighting, she would blow them both to kingdom come.

By this point, Xia Mi had been inside 701 for over a minute. During this time, No. 7 Zhuo had remained within a two-meter radius of her.

Xia Mi’s watch gave a faint beep.

That beep was a notification that the object being monitored by the watch still possessed basic vital signs.

Who? Who still had vital signs?

Xia Mi raised her hand. The needle on the watch was pointing directly at the crawling No. 7 Zhuo.

“Lü Hongmei?” Xia Mi spoke the name of the resident of 701.

She had seen the name for 701 on the property management’s list when she was picking up the cockroach bait.

Xia Mi shouldn’t have remembered a name she had only glanced at, but at this moment, the memory surged up involuntarily, and she blurted it out.

No. 7 Zhuo froze. Its body contorted several times.

It seemed to be observing its surroundings, it seemed to be confirming its current state.

Immediately after, Xia Mi heard No. 7 Zhuo let out an inhuman howl. It writhed and rolled on the floor in agony, its body slamming heavily against the walls.

She still had a heartbeat and breath. Xia Mi had awakened her consciousness. She could feel pain and she could cry. She wasn’t just a host body, she was still a person.

Xia Mi put away the Purification Grenade.

The thing in front of her wasn’t a Zhuo, but a Zhuo-transformed human.

When dealing with the Zhuo-transformed, Xia Mi had her own set of procedures.

She couldn’t use the Purification Grenade on No. 7 Zhuo.