Chapter 17: The Forum
Once Xu Duoduo understood, she didn't mind at all. Although she feared he might kill her, she also knew he wouldn't harm her as long as she didn't lose consciousness.
If there ever came a day when she lost her sanity, she wouldn't be herself anymore.
Just a walking corpse.
Then if he killed her, so be it. Besides, whether it was imprinting or their relationship as former classmates, when she turned into a zombie, he was the first person she saw. If he had been someone who would rather kill wrongly than let go, with a "bang!" of the first shot, she would have been gone.
How could there be so many things happening now?
Xu Duoduo believed he wouldn't mistakenly kill her, so she stopped being coy and just wanted to follow him.
She really didn't like the research center.
The cold-toned lighting and the white-coated researchers hurrying about.
It felt like she might be tied to an operating table and dissected at any moment.
Xu Duoduo would rather go out to fight, collect resources, and rescue other survivors.
This seemed much more meaningful to her.
After leaving the research institute, they again took the special subway to their destination, finally arriving in front of a huge new residential complex.
Qin Luo led her, swiping his wristband to enter the complex, then to Building A. Coincidentally, Xu Duoduo's previous residence was also in Building A, and now here too.
"Straight ahead is the activity center building. The first floor is the cafeteria, the second floor is the supermarket, the third floor has various shops, and the fourth floor has a cinema and gym."
The complex had seven residential buildings, arranged in a circle as ABCDEFG.
The activity center building was at the center point.
Qin Luo automatically became a tour guide once they entered the complex, explaining everything to her.
Their residences were both on the 19th floor of Building A.
"My room is 1900, yours is 1901. Old Wang is in 1905, Old Bai is in 1906, and Xiao Fei is in 1907. Those three are right next door."
If Xu Duoduo hadn't been predetermined to join Qin Luo's team, she wouldn't have been assigned such a nice apartment.
She was very grateful for this.
All the way up, like entering the complex, they swiped their wristbands to enter the room. It was a one-bedroom apartment with a living room, kitchen, and bathroom.
It looked like a model home, with white bedding just like a hotel.
Qin Luo leaned against the doorway, watching the little zombie spin around looking at her new home. It was quite cute. "I'm right next door. Come find me directly if you need anything."
He knocked on the door twice after speaking, gesturing for Xu Duoduo to look over. Seeing her nod, he then turned to leave, closing the door behind him.
Xu Duoduo happily wandered around on her own. She quite liked this little apartment, and it even had a balcony. She loved sunlight.
It's a pity that she didn't know if she could see normal sunlight again in the future.
Qin Luo hadn't asked her for the canned food, so it must be staying with her for now?
Xu Duoduo checked the multi-faceted Rubik's cube space in her consciousness. Several small grids were filled with canned food, which gave her a sense of security just looking at them.
Afterwards, she began to explore the wristband. It had small card slots on both sides for inserting various chip cards, with a medium-sized screen.
She could tap directly on the screen. There was a chat application and a page displaying personal information, which was her electronic ID card.
[Name: Xu Duoduo, Gender: Female, Age: 22, Height: 1.63m]
[Mutation Tendency: Zombie Virus]
[Ability: None]
[Strength: Speed boost 1.5x]
There was also a recently taken photo of her, an expressionless headshot.
Besides the chat application and personal information, there was also an application for various barcodes.
Opening it showed transit codes, base entry/exit codes, and personal residence codes.
This was simple too.
There was also a payment app, which showed a balance of 100 points.
The income notification showed she had just participated in the K City Qingyuan Community rescue operation, performed well, and thus received a bonus of 100 points.
Xu Duoduo was quite happy to see this. These were the main functions of the wristband for now. The remaining standard equipment was a tablet, which had only three simple apps: one for taking photos, a gallery, and a forum.
After logging into the forum, she found several sections. The serious ones were [Mission Release Board], [Mission Experience Sharing Board], and [Information Database Board].
The casual one was just a [Free Chat] board, full of gossip topics.
Upon entering, she saw a post pinned at the top with the title: [Discussion on the Function and Formation Speculation of Mutation Cores].
Xu Duoduo immediately clicked on it. It seemed to be the poster's own speculation that mutation cores were derivatives of mutated organisms or non-living things, not necessarily in the brain, and not limited to living beings.
OP: I just participated in a rescue mission in C City yesterday. A computer actually mutated, and it even had a mutation core inside. We almost got wiped out. The culprit was an AI software in the computer.
She shared a link to the information board, which was her experience sharing written just yesterday.
There was also a video showing the combat team prying out the mutation core from the computer's mainframe. It was actually a mechanized mutation core.
This discovery shocked everyone, which is why this post topped the board.
- This world has really gone mad!
- AI ruling the Earth?
- It used to be a joke, but now it's very possible.
- Hahaha, don't stop me, let's all die together! It's over! Everything's over!
- How much crazier can this world get?
...
There were many similar replies, with everyone feeling both devastated and terrified.
Xu Duoduo had eaten a mutation core just last night, from the mutant monkey king. Qin Luo had said it was the lowest-level mutation core. Although it looked ugly and bloody when first taken out, the core itself was very clean.
Eating it was like candy, crispy and refreshing with a sweet taste.
It also gave a feeling of fullness.
Xu Duoduo still felt about 70-80% full from that one core, and it was indeed delicious.
She also suspected it could improve physical qualities, as she clearly felt more agile after eating it. She could now move almost as freely as a normal person, no longer as clumsy as at the beginning.
Sure enough, the original poster was also speculating about its effects. She said her companion accidentally ate a bit and developed a high fever, then suddenly enhanced their physical qualities and even developed a new ability.
But she warned that consuming mutation cores might be dangerous, and reminded everyone not to try it lightly. She had written a report, and those interested could go read it. She also welcomed rational discussion.
Everyone became excited about this.
Xu Duoduo also went to check the information database section and found a lot of information. She finally understood the purpose of Bai Shu and Chen Xiaofei's video recording of the lightning storm earlier.
Among the top 20 newest and hottest posts, there were ones posted by Bai Shu and Chen Xiaofei, titled [Latest Lightning Storm Dynamics] and [Mutant Monkey Group].
The introductions were very simple and clear, interspersed with various on-site photos and videos.