The next day
March 1, 2030, early morning
City Central Hospital
Lin Bai opened his eyes groggily. The first thing he did upon waking was to feel his body. The familiar sensation came back—thankfully, it was still there.
He only remembered that he had turned into a girl just before being split in half by that giant axe. How could something like that happen?
Lin Bai secretly rejoiced.
'Fortunately, it was just a dream.'
Strangely, Lin Bai found that he had no external injuries at all. Even the rope marks on his hands had disappeared.
"How is this possible? Could everything yesterday have actually happened? That voice in my mind—was the so-called price turning into a girl?"
Just then, a female voice came:
"You're awake?"
Lin Bai looked toward the voice in surprise.
"Chi Xiaoyu, why are you here?"
Chi Xiaoyu stood up, took out a police badge, looked at Lin Bai and said seriously:
"Call me Officer Chi now. Tell me what happened."
Lin Bai sincerely told Chi Xiaoyu everything he knew, but concealed the fact that he might have turned into a girl, and added.
"I was sleeping soundly in my dorm, and I don't know how I ended up there. …When did you become a police officer?"
"None of your business."
Chi Xiaoyu explained.
"That thing is called an infected. You probably became a carrier. Carriers lose consciousness and run to the infected's side. But you managed to kill him with just a handgun. You're really lucky—generally, infected beings can't be killed by firearms."
Chi Xiaoyu took out a contract and said seriously:
"You have two choices: join our E City Mutation Investigation Bureau, or sign this confidentiality agreement."
Lin Bai took the agreement without hesitation and chose to sign it.
"I'll sign the confidentiality agreement. I haven't lived enough yet, and I don't want to see that kind of monster again!"
Chi Xiaoyu nodded, indicating that she understood.
Most people wouldn't want to fight these kinds of monsters, after all, they could lose their lives at any moment.
After taking the badge and handgun that Lin Bai had picked up, Chi Xiaoyu said goodbye to Lin Bai and added:
"Next time you encounter something like this, tell me. I'll handle it."
"Hey, Chi Xiaoyu, you didn't reject me back then because you were doing dangerous work, did you?"
"N-no, of course not!"
Chi Xiaoyu's face turned slightly red as she walked out.
Lin Bai recalled his birthday yesterday. Thinking about it, he was just a college student who usually played games in the dorm. He hadn't done anything wrong, so how could he encounter something like this?
Just then, Lin Bai remembered something his good friend Li Mingzhe had said yesterday.
[Oh right, I still owe you 500 yuan from last month]
Lin Bai pondered the connection between the two: delayed project payments—would 500 yuan be considered project money? (tl/n: almost $70)
He felt his pocket. The 500 in cash was indeed gone. Could this be the cause...
After leaving the hospital, Lin Bai was wearing clothes that Chi Xiaoyu had changed for him. He felt his pocket.
'Damn, I just realized my phone isn't on me either. I can only walk back to school. I should have asked Chi Xiaoyu to lend me some money. I also missed today's classes.'
Lin Bai, with his athletic legs, ran for 2 hours back to the dormitory. He found his phone on his bed and saw a row of missed calls and countless messages from teachers and classmates...
Lin Bai held his head.
"I'm in trouble."
○
Walking into the classroom where a lecture was in progress, the balding teacher saw Lin Bai and angrily said:
"Look at what time it is! Yesterday was bad enough, and today you're late again. If everyone were like you, could we even have class? What kind of behavior is this? What a disgrace!"
After sitting down next to his roommates in the back row, Lin Bai sighed, "Haah."
Xiao Yang patted Lin Bai's shoulder and asked with concern:
"What's wrong, big bro Lin? Didn't you guys come back last night? You even forgot to bring your phone. We couldn't contact you at all."
Lin Bai waved his hand, remembering the confidentiality agreement he had signed, and said:
"It's nothing, just some family issues."
Xiao Yang quickly put on a sorrowful expression.
"Big bro Lin, my condolences. Everything will get better."
Lin Bai gave Xiao Yang a smack on the head.
"My family is safe and my parents are well. What condolences are you talking about?!"
"If you don't pay attention to the lecture, get out. Don't expect me to help you pass this semester."
Just then, the balding teacher said angrily.
The two immediately sat up straight and stopped talking. Xiao Yang whispered:
"Sigh, other teachers don't care, but this class just had to be with this bald guy."
Opening his phone, Lin Bai replied to the messages one by one. He saw a message sent by Li Mingzhe last night.
Li Mingzhe: 'Big bro Lin, my dad said a worker's house caught fire. I'm going to check it out. I won't be back to the dorm tonight. If the counselor checks the dorm, please cover for me.'
Lin Bai hurriedly called Li Mingzhe, thinking about his own encounter and the man with the stitched face and burnt skin wearing work clothes...
'Could something have happened to this guy?'
Seeing that no one was answering the phone and no one was replying to messages.
Lin Bai turned to look at Xiao Yang and asked in a low voice:
"Have you seen Li Mingzhe?"
Xiao Yang shook his head.
"No idea. I thought you two hadn't had enough fun and went to the internet café for an all-nighter."
After class, Lin Bai hurriedly found Chi Xiaoyu.
Coming to the top of the teaching building, on the rooftop, Chi Xiaoyu asked puzzled:
"What's wrong?"
Lin Bai told Chi Xiaoyu about Li Mingzhe, the cash, and the project payment. Chi Xiaoyu frowned slightly.
"His body wasn't among the corpses yesterday. If it's really because of this project payment, then it seems there's more than one infected person..."
Lin Bai hurriedly said:
"He might still be alive. I can help rescue him too."
Chi Xiaoyu shook her head.
"We'll go look for him. You just stay in the classroom and study. Besides, the source of infection is still not confirmed."
○
After listlessly eating dinner, Lin Bai found that the food he usually liked now seemed so difficult to swallow.
"Has the cafeteria lady's cooking gotten worse?"
With no appetite, Lin Bai returned to the dormitory and wanted to play some games to relax.
Xiao Yang and Wu Le walked into the room. Lin Bai was playing on the computer absent-mindedly when Xiao Yang came over to check Lin Bai's game record and commented:
"Just one day, and big bro Lin's skills have deteriorated quite a bit. 2-14?"
"Have you seen Li Mingzhe?"
Lin Bai asked listlessly.
Wu Le shook his head.
"No, I thought you guys went for an all-nighter together. I haven't seen him for a day."
Lin Bai called the two over and said regretfully:
"We might never see him again."
The two asked, confused:
"Why? Did he drop out?"
Lin Bai shook his head.
"He might... die."
○
At this moment, in a wooden cabin similar to where Lin Bai had been, corpses were continuously being moved out and put into the concrete mixer.
○
By 8 PM, the three left the dormitory, riding yellow bikes and wearing safety helmets. Lin Bai instructed the two:
"Stay in touch. Tell me when you find the location."
The two gave a military salute with serious expressions:
"Yes, sir!"
The three set off on their yellow bikes.
"My dear son, daddy is coming to save you!"