Chapter 51 Knockout

Chapter 51: Knocked Out and Taken

Like a soft sigh, or perhaps a whispered…

Shen Yu covered his eyes with a hand, saying wearily, "I can't be bothered to listen to your incoherent, contradictory nonsense anymore. Get lost. Even if I can't beat you, if you keep pestering me, I'll fight you to the death with what's left of this worthless life."

Lin Xue frowned slightly, finding the situation tricky. "Shen Yu, don’t act on impulse. Think about your family. We checked your file before coming..."

Shen Yu laughed self-deprecatingly. "I don’t have any family left." His only family’s body was still lying not far away.

Shi Yunzheng glanced at Lin Xue, his eyes clearly conveying: *The art of speaking?*

Lin Xue sighed helplessly, rubbing her forehead.

Shen Yu half-sat up, sighed, and conjured a fireball in his palm, muttering, "I’m just so tired..."

*Pfft—*

The sound of a needle piercing skin.

Shi Yunzheng withdrew the hand holding the tranquilizer gun, his voice cold. "If you’re tired, then sleep."

Lin Xue stared at him in shock. "Captain? Isn’t this against protocol?"

Shi Yunzheng stepped forward and picked up Shen Yu. As he passed the petrified Lin Xue, he calmly said, "It’s fine. I’ll write the report when we get back."

...

Bai Suizhi and the others were already seated inside the helicopter, peering out the windows to see what was happening. When they saw Shi Yunzheng carrying Shen Yu on his back, they grew restless.

"Is Shen Yu okay? Was he beaten so badly he can’t even stand?"

"He must have passed out. Otherwise, with his personality, there’s no way he’d let himself be carried like that."

"How did he pass out? From hunger or exhaustion?"

"Probably hunger. Who told him to act all mysterious every day, thinking he’s some fairy who can survive on dew? And still refusing to come with us."

"It can’t be from hunger... passing out from hunger during a fight would be so lame."

"Then he must have been beaten."

"Why are such obvious facts leading to so many ridiculous guesses?"

"Because we just want to trash-talk him a bit more."

"..." At times like this, they were unusually in sync.

Even so, as soon as Shi Yunzheng boarded, everyone crowded around with concern. "What happened to him?"

Shi Yunzheng replied, "He’s unconscious."

Everyone: "...Was that so hard to figure out?"

Shi Yunzheng seemed to finally understand what they were asking. "Tranquilizer dart."

So he was knocked out. How... unsurprising.

Oliver hesitated for a moment before asking, "What about the zombie that was with him?"

Shi Yunzheng settled Shen Yu down and turned to answer. "Eliminated."

Oliver let out a meaningless sound. "Ah..."

The others’ expressions darkened. It wasn’t that they thought Shi Yunzheng’s decision was wrong—on the contrary, it was the most correct choice. But deep down, it felt like a weight was pressing on their chests, leaving them uneasy.

"Take your seats. We’re leaving," Shi Yunzheng said solemnly.

The rotor blades began to turn slowly, stirring up faint gusts of wind. As the landing gear gradually lifted off the ground, the helicopter rose higher and higher. Like a giant steel bird carrying hopes, it sped toward the distant, faintly glowing horizon.

The flowers and grass left behind swayed gently, and the lingering dust spun in the wind, mingling with the fading roar of the engine. It was like a soft sigh, or a whispered blessing, silently bidding farewell to this journey into the future.

...

On the helicopter, Bai Suizhi and the others were seated together, while Shen Yu was taken away to be "specially cared for" somewhere.

The group chatted idly, the feeling of being rescued still surreal. Though their bodies were utterly exhausted, no one felt like sleeping. The lingering fear of having narrowly escaped death weighed heavily on their hearts. They were afraid that if they closed their eyes, everything before them would vanish like a dream.

Before long, Lin Xue came over carrying a large bag. She smiled and said, "Hungry? Have something to eat." She placed the plastic bag on the floor and let them choose for themselves.

None of them were particularly hungry, but they still picked out a few items to eat. After experiencing days where meals were uncertain, they clung tightly to any opportunity to eat their fill.

After setting down the food, Lin Xue didn’t leave. Instead, she stared at Chen Yi for a moment before asking uncertainly, "Are you Chen Yi?"

Chen Yi’s cheeks were stuffed with bread. He pointed at himself and looked up in confusion. "Huh? Me?"

Lin Xue was sure now. "That clueless look—I definitely didn’t mistake you."

Chen Yi grabbed a bottle of water nearby and took several large gulps to wash down the bread before saying, "Miss, do we know each other?"

The others also looked at Lin Xue curiously.

Lin Xue said meaningfully, "Lin Manman is my younger sister."

Chen Yi’s expression instantly turned horrified, as if he’d seen a ghost. "Holy shit!" He had indeed heard Lin Manman mention she had an older sister, but he’d never met her. He never expected to run into her here.

Lin Xue gave him a faint glance, and Chen Yi immediately covered his mouth.

Oliver’s eyes darted between the two. "Who’s Lin Manman?"

Gu Ze said quietly, "His ex-girlfriend."

Oliver suddenly understood. "The one who used Chen Yi as a human tripod, mercilessly forcing him to hold a four-pound camera for three hours straight to take pictures of all her little boyfriends? That devil ex-girlfriend?"

Chen Yi couldn’t stop Oliver from speaking up righteously, not even with an Er Kang hand.

Bai Suizhi, Kahn, and Gu Ze stifled their laughter. Oliver’s Chinese always became oddly fluent at the most unexpected times.

Lin Xue drew out her words. "Oh—so that’s what you think of Lin Manman... Devil ex-girlfriend? I’ll be sure to pass on your dissatisfaction to her."

Chen Yi clasped his hands together, almost kneeling to beg for mercy. "Sis, I was wrong. Spare my dog life."

Chen Yi rubbed his head and began to vent. "Gu Ze and I ran into Brother Sui and the others on the rooftop of a mall. They found a helicopter and planned to fly straight to the base. After taking us along, we had a bit of an accident—the helicopter crashed into the sea. That’s how we ended up at this resort."

"A helicopter? Crashed into the sea?" Lin Xue sounded like she was listening to some far-fetched story.

Chen Yi, afraid she’d misunderstand, added, "It wasn’t because Brother Sui’s piloting skills were bad. We ran into a flock of mutated birds—they surrounded and attacked us, forcing us to make an emergency landing on the sea. Brother Sui is amazing. He stayed calm even in such a dangerous situation and brought us down safely."

Lin Xue’s expression tightened as she caught the key phrase. "Mutated birds?"

Bai Suizhi noticed something was off and asked, "You didn’t know animals could mutate too?"

Lin Xue realized the situation was more complicated and said gravely, "Wait here for a moment." She then got up to get Shi Yunzheng.

Shi Yunzheng soon followed Lin Xue over. His expression remained mostly unchanged, though his voice carried a hint of gravity. "You said you were attacked by a group of mutant birds?"

Bai Suizhi replied, "Yes. Before that, Kahn and I also encountered a mutant ant attack."

Shi Yunzheng asked, "Could you please tell us exactly what happened in those incidents?"

Bai Suizhi nodded. "The first time was on a remote path near Zone A. We came across mutant ants. They appeared in swarms, their bodies about ten times larger than normal ants, with noticeably altered mandibles and significantly increased movement speed. However, they weren't much stronger one-on-one." He deliberately avoided mentioning their earlier inferences, sticking to the facts to prevent influencing Shi Yunzheng and Lin Xue’s analysis.

Seeing that neither of them spoke, Bai Suizhi continued, "The second encounter with mutant animals happened near the airspace above the resort’s sea area. We were viciously attacked by White Robins and had no choice but to make an emergency landing on the sea."

At this point, the others still felt a lingering fear. Chen Yi muttered under his breath, "I really thought we were going to drown back then."

Shi Yunzheng suddenly remarked to Bai Suizhi, "You have nerves of steel." He left unsaid the follow-up thought—you’d be a good fit for our team.

Unaware of Captain Shi’s ulterior motive to recruit him, Bai Suizhi took the compliment in stride and went on, "The White Robins’ size and appearance didn’t change as drastically as the mutant ants. Their abnormality lies in…"

Shi Yunzheng cut to the chase, "Swarming behavior and flight altitude."

Surprised by his sharpness, Bai Suizhi said, "Exactly. The White Robins suddenly gathered outside their breeding season and broke through their usual flight ceiling, surrounding us at high altitude. This clearly contradicts their normal habits and physical capabilities."

Lin Xue frowned slightly. "They’ve evolved."

Chen Yi and Oliver were totally blown away by Shi Yunzheng and Lin Xue. With just a few words, they had pinpointed the key issues, making their own earlier cluelessness seem dumb.

Bai Suizhi arched an eyebrow. Their reactions, in a way, confirmed the group’s earlier suspicions.

Only then did he share their previous hypothesis. "Based on these observations, we’ve drawn a rough conclusion: the mutant ants and White Robins have evolved different abilities according to their inherent traits. Also, possibly because the virus gets weaker up the food chain or due to other reasons, their attack power is noticeably weaker than that of zombies. That’s why they tend to appear in swarms."

Lin Xue and Shi Yunzheng looked at them in surprise. "You figured this out on your own?"

Oliver and Chen Yi waved them off modestly. "It was mostly those three. We didn’t contribute much."

Lin Xue shrugged. "We never counted you two in the first place." Smarts tend to show sometimes.

Oliver and Chen Yi bit their tongues, not daring to speak up. It was Kahn who stepped in to defend them. "Oliver kept his cool and kept watch despite his fear when the helicopter was under attack. Chen Yi also took many photos of the White Robins, which provided a key reference for our later discussions."

Hearing about the photos, Lin Xue and Shi Yunzheng’s eyes lit up. "Could we take a look at the photos?"

Chen Yi pulled out his phone, opened the album, and handed it to Lin Xue. "They’re all here."

After examining the photos, both fell silent for a moment before asking with difficulty, "Did you shove the camera right in those birds’ faces?" Everyone had the same reaction upon seeing the photos.

They were incredibly clear, with every feather visible in detail.

Chen Yi gave Lin Xue a dirty look. "If I have any photography skills, it’s all thanks to your sister."

Putting two and two together, Lin Xue roughly guessed the backstory and gave Chen Yi a sympathetic glance. "Rough time, huh?"

Chen Yi seized the opportunity. "So, could you not tell her what I said earlier? Otherwise, I’m so dead T_T."

Lin Xue played along. "Say what now?"

Chen Yi clasped his hands gratefully. "You're the best, sis!"

After the banter, Lin Xue and Shi Yunzheng pored over the photos of the mutant White Robins and asked, "May we keep these photos?"

Chen Yi replied, "Of course! But how should I send them to you?"

Lin Xue said, "You can send them when we get back to the base." She added, "By the way, you’ll be issued new communicators at the base. They only have basic functions like communication, so forget about surfing the web or anything fancy."

Everyone exclaimed sincerely, "Sweet!" As modern youths, smartphones were as essential as three meals a day. Even just being able to see the time on a screen felt incredibly satisfying now.

The topic of mutant animals was dropped for now. After all, the specifics would need to be left to the experts. Any further discussion on their part would remain speculative, with all conclusions needing more proof.

Bai Suizhi suddenly said, "Actually, we had another hypothesis earlier."

Shi Yunzheng asked, "What is it?"

Bai Suizhi locked eyes with Lin Xue. "Could this kind of evolution occur in humans?"

Lin Xue smiled and spread her hands. "You already have your answer."

Bai Suizhi’s eyes sparkled with interest. "Wild."

Seeing the conversation finally touch on this topic, Chen Yi jumped in, "Hey, sis, what was that cool thing you were holding earlier?"