[There are many kinds of pink eye diseases in this world]
Chi Ying fell silent.
Lu Yunfei wanted to speak, but Gu Chi subtly stopped him. The rest of the team members also took a breath, then held it.
“Give them some supplies. We need to move on—it won’t take long,” Gu Chi said.
The old man looked embarrassed. “Why not stay for a meal? It’s not convenient for you to travel constantly. We still have electricity here—enough to cook something hot.”
Just as Gu Chi was about to refuse, the old man had already turned and ordered people inside to prepare food. Gu Chi closed his mouth and gave a silent sigh.
He turned to Mu Yu.
“Mu Yu, give them the supplies.”
Mu Yu, ever cold-faced, nodded and took out the food and water they’d collected from the supermarket the night before.
“Any progress at the institute?” Gu Chi asked.
The old man sighed. “Still no answers. We haven’t identified the cause of the zombie virus, and we can’t make a proper medicine yet. The only thing showing any progress is the research on zombie crystal nuclei.”
“What about them?” Gu Chi pressed.
“Well… comparing the early zombie samples to current ones, we’re finding at least 30% less energy stored in their crystal nuclei.”
Gu Chi frowned. “Thirty percent… My team and I have been growing stronger, so we haven’t noticed the zombies weakening.”
Boom.
The round metal door opened again. This time, several people entered carrying zombie corpses, all dressed in protective suits.
The old man gestured toward them. “They usually go out to collect samples. The dead zombies outside are our best subjects. Sometimes, if we’re lucky, we pick up a few still clinging to life.”
Gu Chi and the others barely gave the scene a glance. It was nothing new to them.
None of them noticed that one of the people carrying a body had a stiff gait and jerky movements.
“Sigh… These days, we have to use almost twice the energy to kill the same number of zombies,” the old man muttered.
Gu Chi’s eyes narrowed. “It’s not just us evolving—they are too.”
“Yeah. We just don’t know how far they’ll go.”
“What about the Ability Research Institute?” Gu Chi asked. “Any updates?”
The old man shook his head. “Not much. But I’ve heard they’re experimenting with alternative methods.”
Chi Ying quietly absorbed the information.
According to the system, there were two institutes—the one Gu Chi worked with was the Virus Research Institute. That meant the Ability Research Institute they just mentioned… was the one Ye Wuhan was in.
“Why are you telling them so much? They’re not virologists—they won’t understand a thing!” a young man suddenly snapped.
“Xiao Ren! Shut up!” the old man snapped, red-faced.
Chi Ying, overhearing the name, blinked. “Xiao Ren?” she echoed silently. That was a bit much. Curious, she peeked at the speaker.
Big mistake.
The moment she looked, the so-called “little man” froze in place, staring straight at her with bulging eyes and puffy eyelids.
Chi Ying shuddered under his gaze and ducked her head away.
The man suddenly dropped his confrontational tone toward Gu Chi and just stared. Song Shi, watching from the side, felt a flash of satisfaction. She had initially felt insecure around Chi Ying’s beauty, but now she felt oddly at ease.
Beauty, without power, was just a curse.
Her own appearance, tempered by capability, was more practical.
Gu Chi, of course, noticed the man’s shift in behavior. He glanced at Chi Ying, and the coldness in his eyes deepened.
“Lu Yunfei,” he said curtly, “pack up. We’re leaving.”
“Hey—wait!” the old man said, flustered. “Didn’t you say you’d stay for a meal?”
Gu Chi rolled his eyes. “I’m afraid your food is too heavy for our stomachs.”
“Wha—”
“Yeah, just one meal!” Ren chimed in, his gaze still locked on Chi Ying with naked desire.
Gu Chi sneered. If not for Ren’s usefulness in virus research, he’d have already dealt with him.
“We’ve got meat,” Ren offered, voice smug. “Lab-grown chicken—you can’t get that outside anymore. All the frozen meat’s long gone.”
Gu Chi ignored him and moved toward the metal door, unlocking it with his authority.
Seeing they were serious about leaving, Ren rushed up to Chi Ying. “What’s your name? It’s safer staying here with us than running around with them.”
Chi Ying tilted her head, didn’t answer, and asked instead, “You said there’s meat?”
Ren’s eyes lit up. “Yes, yes! There’s plenty! Stay, we even made you a portion!”
“Hmm…”
Gu Chi, halfway up the ladder, paused. His mouth tightened into a straight, cold line.
“You should eat our share then,” Chi Ying said sweetly. “You need to eat more.”
Ren blinked. “Why?”
Chi Ying gestured with her hand at several different heights. “Look—you’re not even as tall as me.”
“You’re scrawny and short. Eat more, maybe you’ll grow.”
Pfft.
Lu Yunfei burst out laughing. “Yeah, eat more meat. Who knows—maybe you’ll get a growth spurt.”
Mu Yu joined in, casually hooking an arm around Chi Ying’s shoulders. “You over twenty yet? Better hurry—it won’t work much longer.”
“You—!” Ren’s face flushed pale.
Ignoring him, Mu Yu and Chi Ying turned and climbed the ladder.
The rest followed quickly, bags on their backs.
Gu Chi was last. He turned back to Ren with a cold smile.
“Come on.”
Just as Ren opened his mouth to shout, the heavy metal door slammed shut.
Outside, Chi Ying noticed something strange: everyone was looking at her with oddly proud expressions.
Mu Yu and Lu Yunfei looked downright grateful.
Even Gu Chi looked… pleased?
Chi Ying: “…”
What?
[Because of their positions, they can’t say much to their colleagues. But you helped them shut that guy up, so they’re thankful.]
Chi Ying: Oh~
She smiled unconsciously. She hadn’t even thought that far ahead—she had just found Ren annoying and thrown out some casual sarcasm.
The system watched her with emotion.
The host might not always understand the reasons behind their actions—but her instincts were razor-sharp.
Later, as they prepped to leave, Mu Yu offered with a grin, “You want to ride with us?”
Chi Ying glanced at Song Shi, who didn’t look thrilled, and shook her head.
“Aww,” Mu Yu said, disappointed.
Her longing gaze made Chi Ying’s scalp tingle.
Once the cars were on the road again, Chi Ying sat in the back cutting a cross, while Lu Yunfei gossiped nonstop to Gu Chi, recounting everything from the lab. Every now and then, he’d praise Chi Ying for standing up to evil.
An hour passed. Finally, they were out of the city.
Sizzle…
Lu Yunfei looked down at the communicator.
“Captain, it’s HQ.”
Gu Chi tapped it on.
“Virus Research Institute, Commander Gu Chi.”
“Captain Gu! We’ve detected an invasion at the base near your location. They just sent a distress signal!”
Gu Chi’s expression darkened. “Coordinates and base number?”
“Downtown area—Base 36.”
Lu Yunfei slammed on the brakes.
Gu Chi’s eyes narrowed.
Base 36… the one they’d just left.
Gu Chi instantly switched devices. “Lin Xun—turn back now!”
But even with both cars speeding at full throttle, it still took half an hour to return.
Gu Chi’s face remained dark the entire ride. No one spoke. They all knew the reality—even without saying it out loud.
Half an hour…
In that much time, Base 36 was likely already gone.
Gu Chi turned to Chi Ying. “You don’t have any powers. Stay in the car. If anything happens, use this…”
He pointed to the communicator on the dashboard.
Chi Ying nodded. “Okay.”
But just as he finished, they spotted zombies already surrounding the car, eyes glowing faintly.
“…Forget it,” Gu Chi muttered. “You come with me.”
“Got it.”
When they reached the underground garage of Base 36, the once tightly sealed round metal door stood wide open.
The number of zombie corpses had more than tripled. The group had to step over layers of decaying bodies just to move forward.
After clearing out the still-active zombies, they approached the entrance to the lab.
“Captain! Over here.”
Lu Yunfei pointed to a section of wall where an attack point had been blocked by grotesque, mangled flesh.
Gu Chi walked over and pushed away the meat, revealing a muzzle still reeking of smoke.
There were over thirty such automated defense points scattered throughout the underground garage, each connected to ample ammunition stores.
They had always been more than enough to hold off zombies. But not this time.
Now, every single one of them had been intentionally blocked.
Gu Chi stared at the scene in grim silence.
It wasn’t hard to deduce what had happened.
The zombies had launched a coordinated assault—some sacrificing themselves to block the attack points, others slipping in through the blind spots to overrun the lab.
They were willing to sacrifice their own kind to overwhelm human defenses.
Gu Chi clenched his fists, his knuckles whitening.
“They’ve gotten smarter,” he said through gritted teeth.
Loveguy On CFRFGC Chapter 1