Chapter 26: Yu Yan realized he had been tricked
The three people inside and outside the observation window fell silent at the scene.
The people from the Kang family had left after dealing with the situation, but what were they supposed to do now?
012 had now been released from the isolation box; would he go back?
Yu Yan also wondered if this guy’s last arrogant remark had been a joke.
012, you were joking, right?
Forced to chuckle awkwardly, Yu Yan tried to stand straight and said, “Yao’er, put me down, I can walk on my own.”
012 didn’t let go. He reached one hand through Yu Yan’s chest and supported him below the waist, lifting him up.
Yu Yan yelled, “Hey! Hey!”
Through the glass, Lu Qiufeng crossed his arms and asked, “Should we go in and rescue him now?”
Su He was unsure, “I don’t know. Let’s wait until he calls for help.”
012 held Yu Yan close to his chest and carried him into the isolation box.
Lu Qiufeng asked, “Is this allowed? Shouldn’t we do something about it?”
Su He replied, “It shouldn’t be a problem. Anyway, the isolation room needs to be thoroughly disinfected. Let them move to another room first and disinfect it.”
Yu Yan had hoped the two people outside would get him out, but they just watched as 012 stuffed him into the isolation box.
He couldn’t help but reflect if he had offended them recently.
He felt uncomfortable. If not for the breathing mask, he wouldn’t have been able to breathe, let alone struggle. Yu Yan considered whether struggling was necessary, then relaxed and leaned against 012.
012 settled in the isolation box, holding Yu Yan tightly in his arms. Still feeling that it wasn’t enough, he folded his wings forward, wrapping most of Yu Yan’s body within them.
Wrapped so tightly, the small isolation box, which held two people, still had enough space for one more person.
Not sensing Yu Yan’s struggle, 012 suddenly asked, “Aren’t you afraid?”
“Afraid of what?” Yu Yan couldn’t even be bothered to lift his eyelids.
This guy—if he dared to overstep, he’d get sterilized tomorrow.
012 observed him for a moment, noticing his unflinching demeanor, then leaned close and whispered something in his ear.
Yu Yan felt a tightness at the back of his head and instinctively straightened his waist, moving a bit away from 012’s abdomen.
Moreover, after speaking, 012 leaned closer and rested his head on Yu Yan’s shoulder.
After a moment, noticing no further movement from him, Yu Yan realized he had been tricked.
Alright, so this guy is smart and has learned how to deceive him.
Looking up, Yu Yan saw that 012’s status displayed “asleep.”
Yu Yan: “…”
After so many days without sleep, he fell asleep in seconds. If he needed to be like this to sleep, then he’d be facing insomnia for the rest of his life.
Yu Yan couldn’t help but doze off as well. When he felt unwell, he often had nightmares. He dreamed that he had turned into meat filling inside a dumpling, was kneaded into a ball and wrapped in dumpling skin, then thrown into water to be boiled. The water remained cold despite boiling for a long time.
Waking up, he found his situation was not much better than being meat filling in a dumpling. 012 kept wrapping him up, repeatedly, perhaps thinking he wasn’t round enough.
Yu Yan coughed and tried to look outside the isolation box. The isolation room had been disinfected, Su He was sorting through previously stored documents, and Lu Qiufeng was watching him from outside the box.
“You’re just watching like this, not planning to get me out?” Yu Yan asked.
Lu Qiufeng replied, “You seemed to be sleeping soundly, so we didn’t disturb you.”
“Alright, it’s about time. Let’s move them to the disinfection room,” Su He said, clapping her hands.
The isolation box was sent to the disinfection room, where white mist filled the air and cold water was sprayed down.
It was a novel experience for Yu Yan, who got to feel what it was like to be a test subject.
The sensation wasn’t pleasant.
The special disinfectant smelled awful. It washed away some of the substances on 012’s skin, temporarily disrupting his skin’s ability to secrete pathogens.
The substance felt irritating, similar to using an allergy-causing cosmetics.
This was for the virus in 012’s body, and while it had less impact on humans, it still stung the eyes. Yu Yan covered his eyes with one hand to block the mist from getting into them.
Yu Yan had a sudden thought: “012, have you ever been caught in the rain?”
“…”
“Definitely not. When you’re out, you should try getting caught in the rain once.”
Rain on the skin shouldn’t be painful.
Outside the disinfection room, Su He was a bit nervous. Lu Qiufeng wasn’t sure of the situation, but she had experience struggling to pull her senior from 012’s embrace, so she was concerned that 012 might be reluctant to let Yu Yan out.
What 012 was thinking or planning was entirely inscrutable.
Before Kang Zai arrived, Yu Yan had suggested asking 012 for help, but Su He wasn’t very supportive. The more advanced the experimental subject, the less controllable they were.
But in the end, there was no other choice but to follow Yu Yan’s advice. Su He hoped Yu Yan’s trust had not been misplaced.
Yu Yan emerged from the disinfection room wearing protective clothing.
Su He breathed a sigh of relief and approached, “Senior, are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” Yu Yan sighed, “I thought you guys really weren’t concerned about me.”
Lu Qiufeng replied, “I’m not worried.”
Su He asked, “So, did 012 pass out?”
It would be easier for Yu Yan to slip away if 012 was unconscious.
“No, he’s awake. Actually, he’s been quite well-behaved this time,” Yu Yan said.
After the disinfection, he was considering how to extricate himself when 012 voluntarily let him go.
It was a bit surprising, but not entirely so.
He returned to his bed and stretched lazily, his bones cracking. 012’s sleeping habits were terrible, always folding people up and nestling them.
“So, can we talk now? What’s going on with your family?” Lu Qiufeng asked.
“It’s probably Zhou Xiangcheng’s doing again. He must have offered the Kang family some irresistible benefits, so they were eager to sell their son. What I don’t understand is why Zhou Xiangcheng’s target shifted to me,” Yu Yan explained.
Su He speculated, “I got some data on him from Sheqing during the early stages of his infection. He might have obtained your infection data through some channel.”
“Your situations have many differences. He might have seen a potential for saving himself through you, which is why he wants to study you. You know Zhou Xiangcheng is an inhumane research madman.”
Lu Qiufeng listened in confusion, “What? How did the Zhou family and Zhou Xiangcheng get involved in this?”
“Did I not tell you?” Yu Yan thought for a moment and realized he hadn’t.
Lu Qiufeng only knew about 012 being drugged by an assistant, which led to Yu Yan’s infection.
Hearing about Zhou Xiangcheng’s various mad antics from them, Lu Qiufeng’s expression darkened. He crossed his arms and sat down, lost in thought.
When he was truly enraged, he stopped ranting and cursing.
“Not long ago, my fourth brother contacted me suddenly, and I suspected something was wrong,” Yu Yan said.
Lu Qiufeng asked, “When did the Kang family contact you?”
“Last night, while you were resting,” Yu Yan replied.
Fourth Brother Kang had reached out to invite him to some banquet. In the past, Yu Yan wouldn’t have thought much of it, assuming this fourth brother was just idle and looking for an excuse to humiliate Kang Shi, the genetically inferior brother.
But after what happened with Xiao Gao, he couldn’t help but think more deeply about any anomalies. As the old saying goes, “A lesson learned from a stumble is wisdom gained.”
He wasn’t going to fall into the same trap twice.
When he refused Fourth Brother Kang’s invitation under the pretext of being ill, Fourth Brother Kang didn’t give up but instead insisted on bringing him back to the Kang family for treatment. This made the situation particularly suspicious.
So, last night, he had discussed it with Su He, and sure enough, today, Second Brother Kang came to “invite” him in person.
“I didn’t expect you, Xiao Lu, to be so enthusiastic in helping me block them. It seems you really consider me a friend,” Yu Yan said, touched.
“Who considers you a friend?” Lu Qiufeng retorted.
“Who considers you a friend?” Yu Yan echoed.
“Yeah, I knew you’d say that. You’re really saying one thing and meaning another,” Yu Yan said.
Lu Qiufeng felt like there was a lump in his throat, unable to spit it out or swallow it down.
“Zhou Xiangcheng keeps targeting us repeatedly and probably won’t give up easily. We’re in a very passive position right now,” Yu Yan said with a suddenly serious expression.
Lu Qiufeng had intended to argue and mock about the “friend” issue, but sensing the suddenly serious atmosphere, he found himself at a loss for words, his face darkening.
Yu Yan turned to Su He with a serious look, “Junior, so the agent I mentioned yesterday, you’ll need to develop it as soon as possible.”
Su He also looked serious, “I’ll do my best.”
Lu Qiufeng couldn’t help but interrupt, “What agent? What are you discussing behind my back?”
Yu Yan replied seriously, “I want Junior to research an agent for the A0 virus and the α-series viruses.”
“These are the most infectious viruses?” Lu Qiufeng asked, puzzled. “But right now, the most destructive virus in your body is the tree-shaped T-virus. If we’re going to research, we should start with that.”
Yu Yan explained, “The agent we’re developing isn’t for me; it’s for 012. 012 can coexist with these viruses. What he needs isn’t to eliminate these viruses but to reduce their high infectivity.”
“That way, even if he leaves the lab, there won’t be a significant risk of widespread infection.”
Lu Qiufeng, sharp as ever, immediately understood the implication, “You want to let the experimental subject 012 leave?”
Yu Yan didn’t hide the truth, “Yes. Zhou X iangcheng’s various schemes are all aimed at 012. Once 012 is outside the Zhou family’s influence, things will settle down.”
Even if it weren’t for Zhou Xiangcheng, Yu Yan had long considered letting 012 go.
Viruses evolve within the human body. Most of the viruses in 012’s body were cultivated by his initial researchers and then evolved within him to their current state.
In the original plot, after 012 fell into Kang Shi’s hands, he was injected with various new viruses, making the virus within him even more complex and significantly increasing the difficulty for the protagonist, Su He, to research an agent.
But now, simply changing a few highly infectious viruses and intervening in their evolutionary direction became much simpler.
After learning that Yu Yan intended to let 012 go, Lu Qiufeng fell silent and, once their discussion ended, left immediately.
As soon as he was gone, the two who had maintained serious expressions broke into smiles, and the atmosphere lightened.
“Senior, your personality is really something. Don’t deliberately tease Lu Qiufeng next time; his face was practically red just now,” Su He said.
“Teasing someone with a strong reaction is always more interesting,” Yu Yan replied with a grin.
During his time working in the hospital, Yu Yan had grown accustomed to the oppressive atmosphere of witnessing life and death around him. In such a somber environment, humor became a welcome escape, so everyone had learned to crack jokes.
Su He was smiling when she suddenly locked eyes with 012 in the isolation box, and her smile froze inexplicably.
Yu Yan noticed something was off as well and glanced over at 012, his gaze lingering for three seconds.
Yu Yan thought to himself, ‘…You seem to have quite a few little emotions?’
“There’s no time, we need to get back to work,” Su He muttered to herself and returned to her workstation.
Yu Yan rested by the bedside for a while, pondering how to contact Zhou Sheqing and find a way to outwit Zhou Xiangcheng’s surveillance to get 012 out.
Lu Qiufeng returned.
Sitting down next to Yu Yan, the person with a lingering smell of smoke said, “I can help you contact people in the outer districts. As long as there’s money involved, they have their own channels to get 012 out.”
“Beyond the human-inhabited areas, there are the underground cities and even more extensive wastelands. That’s where mutants belong.”
Yu Yan guessed, “Have you used this method to move high-level experimental subjects before?”
Lu Qiufeng’s expression suddenly darkened as he stood up, “Forget I said anything.”
