Chapter 53: From a little bat to a little white bird (End)
Feeling the restraints on his body, Yu Yan stirred awake in his sleep. The pain that radiated from his shoulder and legs in that moment completely brought him to consciousness.
Several days had passed since the injury. The wounds, having been treated with medication, began to heal, but movement still caused pain.
A healing patch was stuck to his shoulder. To prevent the wound from rubbing against anything, he wasn’t wearing any clothes. At this moment, something cool and damp kept approaching and licking the area around the wound.
Yu Yan hadn’t opened his eyes yet, but 012, who was holding him, knew he was awake and began today’s bird partner’s tasks.
After successfully evolving, 012 was much more aware and normal, but hadn’t entirely abandoned his bird-like instincts.
He always wanted to lick his wounds, but unfortunately, the waterproof healing patch covered them, so he could only lick the skin around the wounds, which was better than nothing.
A couple of days ago, Yu Yan still had some scratches where 012 could indulge his instincts, but by today, those small scratches had healed, and the redness had nearly disappeared. There was nothing left to lick.
Thus, 012 focused all its attention on the two large wounds.
Yu Yan felt 012 sniffing the wounds, trying to detect the blood scent through the healing patch to estimate how much longer it would take for the wounds to heal completely.
After sniffing the shoulder, 012 lifted Yu Yan’s leg.
Yu Yan finally opened his eyes, moved his leg away from 012’s hands, and joked, “You can sniff, but don’t lick my leg.”
As soon as Yu Yan opened his eyes, 012 instantly covered him. His new wings, more like a bird’s than a bat’s, were fluffy and enveloped him completely.
The explosion hadn’t frightened 012, but Yu Yan, covered in blood and having “accidentally” fallen from upstairs, seemed to have genuinely scared him. Even now, he was still nervous and exhibiting some residual effects.
Whenever Yu Yan opened his eyes, 012 would come over and affectionately nuzzle him.
He would nuzzle his hair for a while, then look at him, and nuzzle again. While his expression didn’t reveal much, his actions laid his feelings bare.
012 also constantly tried to hide Yu Yan with his new wings.
The new wings were larger than before, like a small blanket that could cover him completely.
So, even when Yu Yan woke up, he kept his eyes closed due to 012’s persistent affection. This routine went on for the entire morning.
A couple of days ago, Yu Yan had patiently indulged 012’s concern, but today, he was no longer willing to cooperate.
Wrapped up like a corpse, unable to do anything, was unbearable.
Su He had been busy in the laboratory next door for three days, and Yu Yan hadn’t even stepped outside his room.
He firmly rejected the little bird’s affection and slowly put on his clothes.
Finally grabbing the cane Su He had thoughtfully prepared for him, Yu Yan made his way outside, moving step by step.
“Hey, don’t come over and nuzzle me; I’m going to fall.”
Having finally managed to get outside, the musty, damp air of the underground city felt much fresher.
“Yao’er, I want to sit outside for a while. Could you help me bring a chair out?” Yu Yan asked.
In the past, 012 would have obediently gone to do it, but now, he didn’t move a step.
Yu Yan understood the reason and reassured, “Don’t worry, I’ll just stay by the door. It’s not dangerous.”
As soon as he said that, 012’s eyes turned blue with alertness, scanning the surroundings. People walking by in the distance noticed 012’s menacing gaze and quickly retreated into alleyways, avoiding the doorway.
Then 012 said to Yu Yan, “No.”
012 scooped Yu Yan up, carrying him back into the room. He took him along to fetch the chair, holding one in each hand—one for the chair and one for Yu Yan—as he stepped back outside.
He set the chair down and then carefully placed Yu Yan on it.
“I can’t leave you alone; you might be in danger.”
This was one of the side effects—012 couldn’t bear to have Yu Yan out of his sight, even for a moment. So, for the past few days, even while Yu Yan was cleaning himself, 012 stood by.
It was fine when Yu Yan needed help with his back due to the injury, but for the restroom, 012 insisted on keeping watch. At first, when he wasn’t allowed inside, he even dismantled the bathroom door upstairs.
“Senior, are you feeling better today? Can you come outside now?” Su He greeted Yu Yan from the lab.
She looked a bit worn out but still mustered a smile for Yu Yan.
Since the day she cleaned up and personally buried Zhou Sheqing, Su He had been like this. Xiao Ye, now in human form after his evolution, peeked from behind, looking as if he had been scolded and dared not approach.
Yu Yan noticed her expression, had a brief chat with her, and, seeing her re-enter the laboratory, tapped 012’s arm.
“There are still many deformed and sick children in the nearby neighborhoods. Find some and bring them here.”
012 patted his head and asked, “Do you want to play with them?”
Yu Yan smiled, “No, let them play with junior sister.”
The children in Golden Light District had already been treated by Yu Yan; aside from being a bit frail, they appeared quite normal. Su He hadn’t yet seen the untreated children in their natural state.
When those deformed and sick children started moving around the area, Su He took notice almost immediately. Unable to resist, she asked Yu Yan if she could help address their issues.
Yu Yan told her, “Of course. I’ve treated the children in the underground city as well, but unfortunately, the diseases caused by long-term radiation pollution can’t be resolved.”
Su He pondered this and threw herself into helping the children, temporarily forgetting the betrayal and death of her friend.
Yu Yan’s wounds began to scab over, and he no longer used healing patches. Every night before bed, 012 would linger over those two wounds for a long time.
Pushing the little bird’s head buried in his chest up, Yu Yan said with a smirk, “Do you have to do this? Think about it, you have more scars than I do. I could do the same.”
In terms of strength, Yu Yan was no match for 012 before his evolution, let alone after, but Yu Yan was more shameless.
Whenever 012 struggled or resisted, Yu Yan would clutch his shoulder with a pained expression, gasping, “It hurts so much, the movement is tearing it apart.”
This successfully subdued 012, who was now too scared to move too much. Yu Yan used this opportunity to give 012 a taste of his own medicine.
With 012’s hands restrained behind his back, Yu Yan pinned him down and asked, “Do you feel itchy now?”
012 trembled uncontrollably, turning his head to look at Yu Yan with eyes that resembled a blue, shimmering lake, full of aggression.
Although 012 didn’t speak, his eyes conveyed everything he wanted to do.
Yu Yan lay back beside him, deliberately teasing him while weakly clutching his shoulder, “It really hurts, the wound might tear.”
Occasionally, 012’s breathing would pause. After a long while, he finally leaned over, resting his head gently and breathing slowly, waiting for the intense blue in his eyes to soften to a pale sheen without making any move.
When returning to the underground city, Su He had mentioned that she wanted to return to the Central District to check on the situation after resting for two days. However, half a month had passed, and she had not brought up the topic again, completely absorbed by helping the deformed children.
One day, Su He came to Yu Yan and said, “I want to make evolution liquid here.”
“Evolution liquid is a frightening substance to the nobles in the Central District, but to the people in the underground city, who suffer from pollution, it’s a lifesaving medicine.”
“I’ve received information from the Central District that humans who mutate due to the evolution liquid, like the mutants and mutated creatures, can resist the pollution from the outside.”
People in the Central District fear developing any non-human traits, while those in the outer districts are not afraid.
“I’m improving the evolution liquid, incorporating gentler mutated creature genes to minimize rejection reactions,” Su He explained.
“Senior, do you think I’m doing the right thing?”
Yu Yan smiled and replied, “I think you’re doing great. Besides, I also want to use the evolution liquid.”
Su He was surprised. It had only recently dawned on her that for those in the underground city, who were already suffering from poor health and pollution, the benefits of the evolution liquid outweighed the drawbacks. However, it was still unacceptable for most people in the residential districts who were in good health.
“Senior, are you serious? Why?”
“Because I believe it’s an inevitable trend for the future. Human genes will integrate with mutated creature genes, and more people will leave the residential districts and return to live in the outside world,” Yu Yan explained.
“However, I need a special version of the evolution liquid. One that integrates 012’s genes.”
Perhaps this way, he would better understand his partner.
In that year, a terrible chaos erupted in the Central District of the residential area. Several major families were torn apart, and ultimately, the Central District was merged with other districts.
A new type of evolution liquid became popular in the underground city. The once deformed and sick children found in the dark corners were now growing up healthily, like healthy sprouts.
Most of them developed various mutated creature traits on their bodies. However, the people in the underground city were accustomed to this, and many who couldn’t afford the evolution liquid even envied them.
They all knew that there was a small hospital in Golden Light District where younger children could always receive treatment.
After the situation in the residential districts stabilized, Yu Yan returned to Fifth District.
He met with Lu Qiufeng, who had been promoted to the director of the Evolution Research Institute and had established a pharmaceutical factory. The low-cost evolution liquid available to the underground city was provided by his factory.
“Su He has gone back to the underground city again. You two are something else. You tricked me into starting a company and building a factory, but now you both just talk big and refuse to help. I’m left doing everything alone,” Lu Qiufeng complained bitterly.
Yu Yan responded with typical platitudes about how those capable should take on more work, once again brushing off Lu Qiufeng’s complaints.
“If you don’t plan to return to the research institute, I’ll clear out all the junk from your lab,” Lu Qiufeng warned.
So, Yu Yan made a trip to the residential district and retrieved a truckload of the experimental subjects he had kept.
“Since they’re of no use, let’s release them back into the wild.”
Yu Yan and 012 drove the truckload of small animals to the wilderness for release.
These low-level experimental animals were quite hardy. They had been captured from the wild before and were resilient. Upon being released back into their natural habitat, they didn’t need any special conditions—once set free, they quickly scattered and disappeared.
One of the firebirds remembered Yu Yan and approached, flapping its wings against his leg.
Yu Yan smiled, “What’s this? Are you saying goodbye?”
012 lifted the firebird’s wing and tossed it away, “Go.”
The firebird, accompanied by its family, flew off.
Eventually, only the dragon snapping turtle and the rock turtle Yu Yan had once kept for companionship remained.
The dragon snapping turtle was more troublesome and needed to be released in a high-temperature, water-rich environment.
After driving through the wasteland for three days, Yu Yan finally found a suitable place.
The dragon snapping turtle and the rock turtle were placed on a mudflat. The temperamental dragon snapping turtle raised its head, perhaps sensing the taste of freedom, and quickly crawled into the water, leaving the slow-moving rock turtle still scratching around in the mud.
Yu Yan watched this scene and bent down to tap the rock turtle’s shell.
“Leaving as soon as it gets freedom and forgetting you here, really not a good companion.”
The rock turtle raised its head, its black bean-like eyes staring at him.
Yu Yan waited for a while with it and then picked it up, “In that case, I’ll take you to a place more suitable for you.”
As he walked a short distance, he heard the faint sound of clacking from behind.
The dragon snapping turtle returned with a fish in its mouth, looking fierce. It climbed to Yu Yan’s feet, spat out the fish, and started biting and tearing at his pant leg.
“Oh, so you went hunting. I thought you didn’t want your companion anymore,” Yu Yan said with a smile. “If you don’t want it, I’ll just take it with me.”
The dragon snapping turtle tore a large hole in his pant leg.
“Haha, don’t be angry, I’ll give it back to you,” Yu Yan said as he set down the rock turtle he was carrying. He watched the dragon snapping turtle climb onto it, raising its head and making threatening noises at him.
Yu Yan smiled, picked up the fish the dragon snapping turtle had caught, and walked away, waving back at them. “Goodbye, little ones.”
012 was nearby, cooking food on a stove and observing Yu Yan’s antics.
Yu Yan returned with the muddy fish and said, “We’ll roast this fish later.”
“If you want to eat, I can catch one for you,” 012 said.
“Don’t be jealous of a turtle,” Yu Yan replied, nudging 012’s shoulder.
012 stopped talking and watched as Yu Yan sat down and began eating.
“It’s rare to be out like this. Shall we explore a bit further?” Yu Yan suggested.
“Sure,” 012 agreed.
Deep in the wasteland, there was no trace of humans, not even the ruins of old-era buildings.
Yu Yan sat by the car, enjoying the cool night breeze and gazing up at the starry sky.
A cool body pressed against him from behind, soft touches on his neck, and the collar was pulled down.
Yu Yan leaned back lazily and did not move, so the person behind became increasingly bold. They lingered on an old scar on his shoulder, then moved to the shoulder blade.
After injecting the evolution liquid, the only change in Yu Yan’s body was the growth of two small wings on his shoulder blades. They were as large as those of ordinary birds, white in color, and virtually invisible when he wore clothes. They were usually of no use, neither painful nor itchy.
But 012 was very concerned about them. He would occasionally pull down his partner’s collar to take a look, and even touch them when sleeping.
At this moment, 012 bit the tip of the wings and explored to the base.
Feeling an unbearable itch on his back, Yu Yan turned and pinched 012’s chin, moving his face away from his back.
012 did not pick and choose where to show his care. He paid special attention to those small wings simply because they were newly grown and fragile, wanting to take good care of them. When his partner was unwilling, he took careful attention to other areas.
The night breeze was a bit chilly, so Yu Yan pulled 012’s large wings over him.
012’s new evolution had abandoned the mutated white bat genes artificially selected in the lab and leaned more towards avian traits.
This was a completely different direction from the original world line.
Thus, he transformed from a little bat full of poison into a white little bird.
Yu Yan leaned against 012’s chest, pulled down his head, and tilted his own slightly to kiss him.
The wind blew across the wilderness, faintly bringing a “chirp” sound.
