Chapter 28: You Saved Me

Xia Mi didn’t know why Lü Hongmei was still alive.

There were many possibilities.

Perhaps her will to survive was so strong that she managed to retain her humanity even under such circumstances.

Perhaps she had encountered some fortuitous event and unexpectedly became a Rong, though Xia Mi and Shield leaned more toward the human side, while Lü Hongmei leaned more toward the Zhuo.

The reason didn’t matter at this moment; what mattered was that Lü Hongmei was human.

When dealing with Zhuo-corrupted humans, Xia Mi’s process was to first subdue them and then absorb the corrupted parts to return them to normal.

Lü Hongmei’s level of corruption was too deep; forcibly cutting away the corrupted parts might endanger her life, but Xia Mi didn’t want to think about those problems.

What she had to do was let Lü Hongmei die as a human.

Ever since Lü Hongmei’s consciousness awakened, the actions of No. 7 Zhuo had been severely restricted.

It seemed to want to devour No. 4 Zhuo, but it couldn’t move properly. It would crawl toward No. 4 one moment, then run and smash itself against the wall the next, letting out mournful wails.

No. 4 Zhuo noticed this and tried to take the opportunity to devour No. 7.

No. 7 Zhuo wanted to gain the ability to control toxins by devouring No. 4, and No. 4 Zhuo wanted to gain the power of infinite proliferation by devouring No. 7.

They both feared each other’s abilities, and they both craved them.

No. 4 Zhuo glanced at Xia Mi. Simultaneously, Xia Mi’s legs went numb, and she slumped directly onto the floor. However, her nose was no longer numb, and she could once again smell that unbearable, fishy stench.

It seemed No. 4 Zhuo had transferred the anesthetic paralyzing her sense of smell to her legs to prevent her from launching a sneak attack from behind.

No. 4 Zhuo said, “You have fulfilled the agreement to help me deal with Y-057, but I never made any promises regarding the antidote. Once I devour Y-057, I will deal with you.”

With that, it controlled its host body to pounce toward No. 7 Zhuo.

The host bit down hard on a part of No. 7’s body. No. 7 Zhuo struggled violently after being bitten, appearing to be in immense pain; No. 4 must have bitten something equivalent to its heart.

Xia Mi couldn’t distinguish any vital points from that heap of rotten flesh, but the Zhuo shared a special resonance that allowed them to strike vitals with precision.

No. 7 Zhuo fought back as well, using its fluid-like tumors to wrap around No. 4’s body, swallowing half of it.

Xia Mi watched as the two sides engaged in a fierce battle.

Everything was going perfectly.

Neither No. 4 nor No. 7 knew of the existence of the Purification Grenade. Xia Mi hadn’t used the weapon since obtaining it on the Rooftop, so No. 4 Zhuo had stopped guarding against her after paralyzing her legs.

Neither of them knew that if Xia Mi simply threw the grenade now, she could eliminate both of them at once.

Xia Mi touched the grenade but still didn’t do it.

Supporting herself with her hands, she crawled toward the two Zhuo locked in their life-and-death struggle.

Xia Mi grabbed No. 7 Zhuo’s body, ignoring the soft, slimy, and disgusting texture. She shouted at the top of her lungs, “Lü Hongmei, help me!”

Hearing that name, No. 7 Zhuo froze again.

Xia Mi knew Lü Hongmei had heard her voice, so she continued, “I’m going to use Silkworm to devour both of these Zhuo in one go. We can’t let them escape. Help me hold them down!

“When this is over, I’ll clean your room! I’ll clear out all the sewage and blood, wipe the windows and tiles, and wash the sheets and covers, I’ll use disinfectant for everything!”

A blood-red human face slowly emerged on No. 7 Zhuo’s body. Xia Mi couldn’t make out the features clearly; she could only distinguish the Eye, nose, and mouth.

She saw the mouth curve upward, as if smiling at her.

Seeing that smile, Xia Mi’s heart settled.

Ignoring the increasing flow of blood from her nose, she channeled every bit of her power. White threads began to emerge from every pore of her body.

The threads were like spider silk, like a Silkworm cocoon, wrapping both No. 4 and No. 7 Zhuo inside.

Xia Mi felt a continuous stream of power surging into her body through the threads.

But at the same time, she felt things harmful to the human body entering her as well.

The tumors were being converted by No. 7 Zhuo into a kind of tumor factor that could transform a human body into something as disgusting as No. 7’s own form.

This tumor factor was absorbed along with No. 4 Zhuo’s biological toxins. Small, red, blister-like tumors began to sprout one after another on Xia Mi’s arms.

Xia Mi finally understood why the game had warned her not to eat just anything.

The Zhuo didn’t care about their human form; they could turn into all sorts of shapes. But as long as Xia Mi wanted to remain human, she couldn’t absorb these harmful abilities.

These powers were useful, but they weren’t suitable for her.

Unless she gave up being human and allowed her body to turn into a monstrosity like No. 7 Zhuo, she wouldn’t be able to survive this way.

“You really can’t just eat anything,” Xia Mi muttered.

She looked up and saw the bodies of No. 4 and No. 7 Zhuo growing smaller and smaller. The face on No. 7 Zhuo maintained its smile, while No. 4 Zhuo’s face was filled with rage.

Xia Mi heard No. 4 Zhuo cursing her frantically in her mind: “Rong! You will… die! You… have no way… to neutralize the toxin. In… five minutes, you’re dead!”

Xia Mi chuckled. “Then thank you very much. I’d rather die than turn into something like No. 7. If I really became that freakish, my parents wouldn’t even be able to collect my body.”

No. 4 Zhuo’s cursing grew more vicious, but unfortunately, its vocabulary was limited, and it could only repeat the same few insults over and over.

“I won’t… give you… the antidote! Die!” No. 4 Zhuo roared.

Xia Mi felt the energy inside her increasing, but she was reaching her limit.

She was like a broken wooden bucket filled with water. There was plenty of water inside, but the bucket was covered in cracks. If she kept adding more, the bucket would simply shatter.

Xia Mi coughed twice, spitting out a large mouthful of blood.

She wiped her mouth with her free hand and found it covered in blood. It wasn’t just the blood she’d coughed up or the nosebleed; the pores on her face were bleeding as well.

This body had been ravaged by tumor factors and biotoxins; it was already on the verge of collapse.

Xia Mi watched as the fluid tumors on No. 7 Zhuo gradually peeled away, revealing a human face. It was a woman in her forties who looked clean and delicate, though somewhat haggard.

However, only this face could still maintain a human form. Her body remained that same slushy, rotting mess.

No. 4 Zhuo was using a normal person’s body, so its physical form did not change. Only its eyes slowly returned to normal, the whites and pupils reappearing.

The curses and screams from No. 4 Zhuo were now negligible.

Surprisingly, Lü Hongmei actually spoke. She looked at Xia Mi with a hint of worry and said, “How are you supposed to help me clean the room looking like that?”

Xia Mi spat out a mouthful of blood and replied, “Don’t worry, I still have comrades. Even if I can’t help you clean the room, there’s still Xiao Liao.”

Her hand could still move. Xia Mi reached out to find her phone and with great difficulty sent a message to Xiao Liao: [You must clean room 701, and make sure to disinfect it thoroughly.]

After sending the message, Xia Mi lifted the phone to show Lü Hongmei.

Lü Hongmei closed her eyes, finally at peace.

As she closed her eyes, both No. 4 Zhuo and No. 7 Zhuo fell silent.

Two red tumors extended from No. 7 Zhuo’s body, firmly gripping the arm of No. 4 Zhuo’s host body.

It was Lü Hongmei who helped Xia Mi hold down No. 4 Zhuo, refusing to let it escape even in death.

The white Silkworm silk, unable to absorb any more energy, returned to Xia Mi’s body. But since Xia Mi’s body was occupied by toxins and tumor factors, much of the energy could not be reabsorbed, leaving some white silk floating on the surface of her skin.

Xia Mi lay on the ground, yet she felt no pain.

Despite the blood covering her entire body, she had been anesthetized by the biotoxins. Her body didn’t hurt; there was only a sense of fullness as power surged within her.

“Only I’m left alive,” Xia Mi whispered.

She tilted her head and saw the black mist outside the window above her gradually dissipating. Through the glass, she saw the red clouds of dusk.

It was already past six in the evening; the sun was about to set.

This nest had been unraveled.

The Zhuo were confirmed dead, meaning the escaped residents would no longer have latent eggs inside them.

Everything was perfect.

Xia Mi glanced at her phone and silently calculated the time. Twenty-nine minutes had passed since she was poisoned.

She had one minute of life left.

What else could she do?

Oh, right, she had to return her equipment.

The Protective Suit and machine gun she had obtained on the Rooftop were both trashed, but the Purification Grenade was still there. It could be left for other colleagues to use.

Xia Mi took the Purification Grenade out of her pocket and placed her hand in a prominent spot, palm open, so her colleagues would see the grenade as soon as they walked through the door.

“This is called protecting state property,” Xia Mi muttered.

She closed her eyes and quietly waited for death to arrive.

She did not see the floating white Silkworm silk that had failed to return to her body. The strands wrapped around the Purification Grenade in her palm, drawing out the energy from the grenade like unspooling a cocoon and channeling it bit by bit into Xia Mi’s body.

Xia Mi’s body was numb, so she couldn’t feel any of this. She only knew that in the moment before death, time passed very, very slowly.

She waited and waited, but her consciousness still hadn’t faded.

Does time slow down before you die? I feel like at least five minutes have passed, Xia Mi thought to herself. Maybe it’s only been five seconds, and it just feels long to me.

Xia Mi closed her eyes for a while longer.

After waiting a bit more, she suddenly snapped her eyes open.

Something was wrong!

Xia Mi reached up to touch her face. The small tumors on her hands and face were gone, and her nose had stopped bleeding.

She sat up and patted her legs. A sense of touch returned; the numbness was gone.

Xia Mi stood up and inspected her body, finding that the toxins and tumor factors within her had vanished at some unknown point.

She looked down at the Purification Grenade in her palm and saw a few strands of white Silkworm silk still stuck to it.

Xia Mi tapped the grenade and listened closely; it felt empty.

It had clearly been solid before, but now it was hollow.

Xia Mi pieced these clues together and arrived at an obvious answer.

She had unconsciously “Silkwormed” the energy inside the Purification Grenade, and that energy had neutralized the mess inside her body.

Xia Mi remembered that after she had hacked a gap in the Rooftop, Liao Tianhua told her that only Zhuo-corrupted items could be sent through the gap into the nest.

Therefore, the Purification Grenade was also a Zhuo-corrupted item. Just as the machine gun and axe could be absorbed by the Auntie, she could also absorb the grenade.

The grenade originally possessed the power to destroy and purify Zhuo, and the power within it had purified the various lethal substances in her body.

She hadn’t died.

If she had followed the original plan and used the grenade to blow up No. 4 and No. 7, she truly would have died without the purification energy to detoxify her.

It was because Xia Mi had treated Lü Hongmei as a human, choosing to let her maintain her humanity by stripping away the corrupted parts of her body, that a sliver of life had been left for Xia Mi.

Xia Mi walked over to Lü Hongmei. Her body had turned into withered, rotten meat, but that face was still lifelike.

Xia Mi went to the bathroom to find a relatively clean towel. After soaking it, she wiped Lü Hongmei’s face, cleaning away the stains and leaving her face pristine.

“You saved me,” Xia Mi said softly.

She had been shouting about saving the people in the building like a slogan, but now she had personally experienced the feeling of being saved.

There was the relief of surviving a disaster, the frustration of failing to save Lü Hongmei, and a burgeoning sense of responsibility.

She had survived. She understood the feeling of being saved. She would carry this feeling with her to save even more people.

Only by doing so could she soothe the sense of powerlessness from failing to save a life.

Xia Mi wiped away the tears that had fallen at some point and quickly sent a message to Liao Tianhua: [Xiao Liao, I want to join the team. I want to be on the front lines. I’m going to the pharmaceutical factory to save the Second Team!]

She received no reply.

The usually talkative Xiao Liao had not responded to Xia Mi’s messages for a long time.