The matter of the two eyeballs still weighed heavily on Jiang Yue’s mind. The things were soft and springy, showing no signs of danger for the time being, yet no matter what methods she tried, she couldn’t do anything to them, and in the process, she had completely exhausted herself.
She had once considered soaking the eyeballs in strong acid, but then she realized that her gastric juice could corrode even steel nails; its potency was no less than that of strong acid. If the two eyeballs had stayed in her stomach for several days without harm, surely nothing would happen to them in acid either.
So strong acid was out of the question.
She had no choice but to carry a freezer box with her at all times, staying constantly alert to every movement of the two eyeballs.
When the two eyeballs were first placed in the freezer box, they were extremely displeased, often using their thin white tendrils to pry the lid open.
It was almost unimaginable that such delicate little tendrils could exert so much force.
Every time a freezer box was ruined, the two eyeballs would undergo a harrowing beating.
Amid Jiang Yue’s endless punishments, the freezer box had become the warmest refuge, the safest shelter for the two eyeballs.
It’s just cold, what’s the big deal?
The two eyeballs had come to terms with it and recently had become very laid-back, staying obediently in the freezer box.
Jiang Yue, well aware of the dangers of excess, would occasionally sneak out with the freezer box in hand, letting the two eyeballs out for a little fresh air.
Jiang Yue sneaked into the little grove in the rose garden. On the lush green grass, the two eyeballs sat obediently, basking in the sunlight, their white tendrils lazily stretching out, looking utterly content.
Jiang Yue sat on a large rock, watching them, holding a small branch in her hand and occasionally poking the eyeballs to make them tumble.
The eyeballs, teased by the branch, rolled around on the grass, playing so joyfully that they lost all sense of caution. At one point, they even hooked their white tendrils onto the branch and swung like little swings.
Jiang Yue: “…”
She had no choice but to shake the small branch, letting the two eyeballs swing even higher.
Human habits are a terrifying thing. Over these past few days, the two eyeballs had been so miserably bullied by her that Jiang Yue began to feel they were fragile, pitiful, and completely under her control.
Although she knew full well that these two eyeballs were connected to the mutated creatures in the base, and that compared to the enormous mutants she was just a tiny insignificant trash, her ego still swelled, she felt as if she could control everything.
Jiang Yue put down the branch and slapped her own forehead.
“Pah, pah, pah! Control everything? With your sorry self, who could you possibly control? You can’t even control yourself!”
“Did you catch up on the missed anatomy classes? Did you complete the second stage of practical drills in the holo-chamber? Did you finish the three major assignments for the ‘Current Affairs and Policy’ course?”
“You’re useless at everything, never satisfied with anything you eat, who gave you the illusion that you could swell up with self-importance and control everything?”
“Do you think you could defeat the mutated creatures? Do you think you can fool the people in the base? Among all the inexplicable things on you, which one have you actually figured out?”
“Don’t be fooled by the enemy’s appearance, we must see through the surface to understand the essence!”
Jiang Yue flung open the freezer box, grabbed the eyeballs that were happily playing, and viciously tossed them back inside.
Back in the dorm, her roommates were still asleep. The curtains were drawn, and the room was dimly lit, perfect for sleeping.
Jiang Yue glanced at the time on the terminal. Although it was Friday afternoon and there were no classes, it was already three o’clock, and they were still asleep. Wasn’t that a little too much?
The others didn’t matter, but how had even Xi Boyu fallen into this laziness? Normally, he would nap for at most an hour, always waking up around one o’clock. So why was he sleeping so long now?
Jiang Yue got out of bed without waking him.
It was completely baffling.
Her roommates were all Alphas with keen senses, so Jiang Yue didn’t want to disturb their sleep. After hesitating for a moment, she quietly slipped out of the dorm, closing the door gently behind her.
She returned to the little grove and, out of boredom, took the eyeballs out of the freezer box to study them.
The two eyeballs were overjoyed to see the sunlight again. They extended their eight white tendrils, crawling across the grass like tiny spiders. The afternoon sun glinted off their spinning silver irises, giving them an unexpectedly beautiful shimmer.
After crawling around for a while, the eyeballs rolled over each other a few times, hopping and bouncing about. Soon, they rustled through the grass together, pulling out a small branch and presenting it to Jiang Yue.
Jiang Yue, slightly bewildered, picked up the branch. The eyeballs wrapped their tendrils around it and, clearly delighted, began swinging like little swings.
Jiang Yue: “…”
They still hadn’t had enough fun, she was honestly exasperated.
She rolled her eyes in speechless disbelief and waved the branch back and forth.
A gust of wind blew through, rustling the leaves, and Jiang Yue’s sharp ears picked up a faint rustling sound.
It couldn’t be helped, her hearing was extremely sensitive, and in areas with so many trees, encounters with insects and mice were inevitable. Jiang Yue had long since gotten used to it.
Sure enough, a large gray rat darted out from the nearby grass, heading straight for the two eyeballs.
It’s worth noting that interstellar rats were extremely wild, they were huge and loved to bite. Compared to Earth’s rats, their bodies were roughly twice the size.
Jiang Yue had initially lived in the Blue Whale District, whose little groves were also full of big rats. Since the Blue Whale District was home to young, vigorous Alphas with overflowing combat strength, they often ran into the groves just to catch rats.
At first, Jiang Yue had been terrified of these giant rats, until one physical training class, when the instructor took them to the grove to catch rats barehanded, under the pretense of “training reaction skills.”
Since each rat counted as a credit, everyone put in maximum effort. Jiang Yue held back her tears and caught 53 rats, setting a new record in the military academy’s history.
After that class, the giant rats in the Blue Whale District were nearly exterminated. As a result, they became very cautious, scurrying far away at the sound of human footsteps.
However, the Rose District was home to fragile, timid Omegas. Even a tiny spider could make them scream for ages, let alone these giant rats, they were practically an Omega’s nightmare. Because of this, the rats here were extremely brazen, showing no fear of humans at all.
The two eyeballs were about to be swallowed whole by the giant rat.
To prevent it from taking the eyeballs on a world tour, Jiang Yue unfastened the 25-pound gravity ring strapped to her leg and hurled it.
A direct hit!
The slick, greasy rat was crushed under the shiny gravity ring, its four paws flailing helplessly.
Just as Jiang Yue was about to retrieve the gravity ring, the two eyeballs suddenly leapt onto the rat. Their white tendrils sank into its flesh, and in an instant, the fat giant rat shriveled rapidly. In the blink of an eye, what had weighed about five pounds was reduced to a limp layer of gray rat skin sprawled on the ground.
The harmlessness of these past days had been an illusion.
A chill ran through Jiang Yue’s feet. She quickly scooped up the eyeballs and locked them back into the freezer box.
Staring blankly at the rat skin on the ground, it took her a few seconds to snap back to reality. She immediately speared the rat skin with a branch, placed it on a rock, and took out a lighter from her pocket to burn it, erasing all traces of the corpse.
Once the rat skin had been burned to ash, Jiang Yue finally exhaled in relief. She brushed the ashes away with the branch and erased the scorch marks on the large rock before she could truly relax.
Thank heavens, since the grove was full of giant rats, it was rarely visited by anyone, so no Omegas had come by.
Jiang Yue opened the freezer box again.
It was time to give these two eyeballs a long-overdue lesson!
She picked up the eyeballs and placed them on the rock, then slipped off her running shoes and unleashed a furious beating on them.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Smack! Smack! Smack!
The two eyeballs were flattened into little discs again, their swirling silver pupils spreading out into the familiar spiral “mosquito coil” pattern.
With a pop, the sole of her running shoe came off.
Clearly, Putian’s knockoffs couldn’t withstand Jiang Yue’s violent tossing and pounding.
Truly a case of losing both the lady and the soldiers.1used to describe a situation where you not only fail at your goal but also suffer additional losses
Jiang Yue stared expressionlessly at the two little discs with her deadpan eyes. The flattened discs trembled and huddled together again.
Holding the shoe whose sole had come off, Jiang Yue pointed at them and scolded, “You are not allowed to do this without my permission! Understand?!”
The two eyeballs nodded like little pecking birds. Jiang Yue calmed down and locked them back into the freezer box, even turning the temperature down to the lowest setting.
All the way back, the gruesome image of the giant rat kept replaying in her mind.
What would happen if the eyeballs parasitized a human? That person would likely meet the same fate as the rat.
The more Jiang Yue thought about it, the faster her heart raced.
She turned a corner and rode the military academy’s small autonomous cart to the College of Agriculture.
The academy’s programs were all military-related. For example, most military nutritional supplements came from the College of Agriculture. In addition, the academy had a highly prestigious medical school, which had trained many top-tier medics for the Federation.
The College of Agriculture had breeding facilities specifically for raising lab mice and rabbits. When Jiang Yue arrived at the facility’s entrance, the security guard on duty recognized the celebrity.
The male Beta immediately tensed up: “This is a breeding facility! The animals here are for experiments, not for eating!”
Jiang Yue: “……”
Alright, so it turned out she had wanted a rabbit for experiments.
With no other option, Jiang Yue left reluctantly and returned to the little grove, catching a large rat instead.
She placed the eyeballs on the rat, and they watched her cautiously, as if wary of her next move.
Jiang Yue said, “Parasite it onto its body, but don’t consume it immediately.”
The eyeballs nodded. Six white tendrils emerged from the milky membrane around them and pierced into the rat’s body.
The rat didn’t struggle. Five seconds later, its gaze began to grow vacant.
Jiang Yue began recording the rat’s condition.
One minute later, the rat fell into a state of unconsciousness.
Two minutes later, its breathing rate began to slow.
Three minutes later, the breathing slowed further, and its heartbeat grew increasingly faint.
Four minutes later, the rat was completely dead.
The rat’s body showed no change in size, remaining plump and well-fed. Throughout its death, it displayed no signs of suffering. Jiang Yue speculated that when the eyeballs parasitize a living creature, they release a neurotoxin similar to bluestone toxin.
This was a fairly groundbreaking discovery.
Jiang Yue sighed and said to the eyeballs, “Now you can eat.”
The eyeballs were overjoyed. The giant rat quickly shrank, and in the blink of an eye, all that remained was a layer of rat skin.
After disposing of the rat skin and erasing all traces, Jiang Yue returned to the dorm, feeling heavy-hearted.
Her roommates had finally woken up. Jiang Sen yawned, “So, what should we eat tonight? Want to go out? My treat, how about that?”
Bai Wang leaned against the ladder, rubbing his temples. “No, I’m still sleepy. My brain feels all foggy.”
Jiang Yue was shocked. “Seriously? It’s already five o’clock! You’ve slept all afternoon and you’re still tired? Bai Wang, didn’t you ever sleep in your past life or what?”
Bai Wang squinted. “Something’s off. I usually get sleepy too, but not like this.”
Xiang Sui slowly stepped down the ladder.
Jiang Yue rubbed her eyes. “No way, Xiang Sui, you’re actually using the ladder? I thought it was going to sit idle until senior year!”
Xiang Sui stretched his spine. “I feel completely foggy. I haven’t even recovered yet.”
Kuri also stepped down the ladder and slowly sat on a stool.
Xi Boyu sat on his bed, head down in deep thought.
Jiang Yue walked over and tapped his bed.
“What’s wrong? What are you thinking about?”
Xi Boyu opened his icy blue eyes and, still weary, said, “I was thinking about whether to draw the curtains when I take afternoon naps from now on.”
Jiang Yue laughed. “You sleep lightly. If you can’t sleep without curtains, just close them.”
She glanced around and asked Xi Boyu, “Aren’t you guys going home today? Why is everyone staying in the dorm?”
Her roommates were all wealthy; whenever there was a holiday, they went off on trips. Only Jiang Yue worked part-time at a cosmetics counter, returning alone to the dorm at night to sleep.
It was Friday, and everyone had finally gathered. After splashing their faces with cold water, her roommates finally woke up.
The six of them went out for barbecue. After the meal, the others were picked up by private cars, leaving only Jiang Yue to take the subway back to the dorm.
The next day, Saturday, she got up bright and early. By five o’clock, she was running toward the little grove, carrying the freezer box.
At this hour, the military academy was very quiet. Everyone was asleep in their dorms, and hardly anyone was around. Jiang Yue unfastened her gravity ring and slipped into the little grove to catch rats.
She didn’t encounter any live rats, but she did come across several dead ones.
“How strange!”
She stepped over the grass and, turning her head, spotted another dead rat, its fur coated with a layer of white frost.
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Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152