Fang Yaori’s situation had completely spiraled out of control. Shen Ge now faced only two choices. The first was to let him try to tough it out with willpower alone, but that possibility was almost no different from telling Fang Yaori to “go ahead and die in peace.”
The second choice was to attempt injecting him with the antibody agent brought from the dream world—a Hail Mary pass!
Shen Ge didn’t hesitate. He took an antibody agent from his Bloodskin Backpack and then had Little Qi control his body to administer the injection.
Naturally, Little Qi handled the injection. First, as an AI, it had already digested various research reports on aberrants and had a more precise understanding of the human body than Shen Ge. Plus, with the Red Mist Battle Suit, it was as if Little Qi also possessed a “body”—the rotten blood tentacles were its fingers.
After Little Qi secured Fang Yaori with a tentacle, it used another to wrap around the antibody agent and inject it into the blood tumor on his neck.
Once the aberrant cells inside Fang Yaori lost control, the blood tumor had spread to most of his neck, and black-veined blood vessels covered the area from his neck to his face, looking extremely terrifying.
But after injecting the antibody agent, the blood tumor, which pulsed like a heart “thump-thump,” didn’t stop. Instead, it beat even more violently.
This made Shen Ge break out in a cold sweat for Fang Yaori, and he prepared to restrain him at any moment. If Fang Yaori completely lost control and turned into an aberrant creature, the best solution for him would be to kill him.
“De… Detective…”
“Shen…”
“I’m… about to…”
“…suffocate.”
Fang Yaori’s face was bright red, choked. The blood tumor on his neck seemed to turn into a giant hand strangling him, making it impossible to breathe normally.
Meanwhile, the black veins on his neck and face writhed like worms, bulging with tension, hideous and terrifying.
Just as Shen Ge thought Fang Yaori might not be able to hold on, he noticed faint red streaks appearing beside the black veins. These red streaks rapidly spread throughout Fang Yaori’s body at a visible speed, and as the red color expanded, the agonized, suffocating expression on his face gradually eased.
“Fang Yaori, the antibody agent is taking effect. The rest is up to your willpower. If you don’t want to stay the Fang family’s deadbeat and be a burden to your sister, then use your will to suppress the aberrant cells’ spread. I promise you, if you survive this aberration, our Rong City branch will definitely reserve a spot for you as an elite aberration agent. Whether you want to be on the front lines or join the research department, the choice is yours.”
“Our Rong City branch’s status is no worse than headquarters, which has already split into three divisions. The identity and status of an elite aberration agent will be enough for you to walk back into the Fang family with your head held high. Fang Yaori, isn’t this what you’ve always wanted? Believe in yourself, believe in the antibody agent!”
Truth be told, Shen Ge had no idea if the red streaks meant the antibody agent was working or if Fang Yaori’s aberrant cells were deteriorating further. But for Fang Mingyue’s sake, he wanted to do his best to help her save this foolish brother of hers who agreed to aberrant experiments.
Although Fang Yaori was stupid, and Shen Ge had only known him for a day, their brief time together showed him that aside from being dumb, the guy wasn’t actually bad.
After all, with Old Man Fang presiding over the family, at worst they’d raise a single-minded paramecium like Fang Mingyue, not some major villain threatening society.
Fang Yaori was gradually duped by Supervisor Chen into taking the path of aberrant live-human experimentation, his ultimate goal merely to prove himself and return to the Fang family.
“Detective Shen, I…”
“It hurts so much.”
“Kill… me.”
“Kill me.”
Fang Yaori struggled in agony. He felt like his body was splitting apart, especially his neck, as if it were already severed, his head long separated from his torso.
Just then, Shen Ge noticed the blood tumor on Fang Yaori’s neck seemed to be shrinking—a clear sign the antibody agent was actually working. He said excitedly, “Fang Yaori, hang in there! The tumor on your neck is receding. It proves the antibody agent is taking effect. Giving up now means only death!”
Fortunately, Shen Ge had been prepared and had Little Qi restrain Fang Yaori with the rotten blood tentacles. Otherwise, the pain and itching on his neck would have made him want to claw his skin off. And once the blood tumor was scratched open, it would stimulate the aberrant cells to spread faster.
“Master, according to my readings, Fang Yaori’s physical activity is decreasing, his vitality is dropping. Although the antibody agent is working, his body cells seem unable to withstand the erosion from the new type of aberrant cells,” Little Qi reminded.
Shen Ge found this quite troubling. He rubbed his forehead, thinking of ways to effectively suppress the spread of aberrant cells inside Fang Yaori.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t on the researcher path. Otherwise, someone like Li Xiang, who specialized in aberrant experiments, might come up with a solution.
For Shen Ge, suppressing an aberrant undergoing first-tier aberration was far harder than killing a Tier 5 aberrant.
“The antibody agent is already injected, no turning back now… Since his vitality is dropping, we need to restore his vitality.”
Shen Ge still had plenty of recovery items from the system lottery. The most valuable was naturally the “infinite mana” bug, but Fang Yaori wasn’t Shen Ge; he didn’t possess “traits” internally. So even giving him infinite mental energy would do nothing.
Fortunately, aside from that “treasured item,” Shen Ge had loads of F-tier recovery potions. So he stuffed whatever “Internal Injury Healing Pills,” “Wound Healing Agents,” and other recovery meds into Fang Yaori’s mouth, and even wrapped “Recovery Bandages” around the blood tumor on his neck—basically flaunting his wealth and willfulness.
“For your sister’s sake, I’m really pulling out all the stops. If even this doesn’t save you, kid, and you do turn into an aberrant, I’m sending you to the research department for live dissection…” As Shen Ge applied the medicine, he vividly described the process of live aberrant dissection.
Fang Yaori nearly cried. First, the aberrant cells eroding his human cells made him wish for death, and now he had to endure psychological torment. He figured he might as well just die.
“Master, although the recovery meds have temporarily slowed the aberrant cells’ spread due to the influence of aberrant energy, a large amount of medication has released various toxins. At this rate, even if we control the aberrant cells’ spread, he won’t be able to resist the various toxins eroding him,” Little Qi reported, having continuously monitored Fang Yaori’s physical data since the aberration began.
Most of the recovery agents in Shen Ge’s possession were related to aberrant flesh and aberrant energy. While they could quickly heal internal injuries, they were also affected by the aberrant cells.
Moreover, these aberrant cells were dominated by Progenitor Aberrant cells. Their powerful aberrant energy intensity naturally couldn’t be resisted by ordinary low-tier medicinal aberrations.
For example, the “Internal Injury Healing Pill,” now influenced by the Progenitor Aberrant’s aberrant energy, awakened aberrant worms that released toxins, causing a purple-blue patch to appear from Fang Yaori’s neck to his chest.
“Sigh.”
“What a hassle.”
Shen Ge’s head throbbed. He had used almost every resource available, but it only slowed Fang Yaori’s aberration rate without stopping the aberrant cells’ spread.
Treating symptoms, not the root cause—Fang Yaori would eventually die anyway.
“Wait!”
“Toxins?”
Shen Ge suddenly thought of something, then opened his Bloodskin Backpack and rummaged around, finally finding a crumpled bag in a corner.
[Expired Castor Beans x1 jin (F-tier): Consume only 50g to quickly expel internal toxins. Effective against all non-immediately fatal poisons. (Takes effect in 1 minute)]
He’d used the antibody agent, used the recovery meds—what’s a little castor beans!
With that thought, Shen Ge directly pried open Fang Yaori’s mouth and poured the already foul-smelling “expired castor beans” down his throat.
“…”
“…”
“…”
A brief silence lasted a minute. Then, accompanied by a burst of “crackling” like firecrackers, the stench drove Shen Ge nearly ten meters away from Fang Yaori.
Luckily, Little Qi lacked human emotions; otherwise, even defying orders, it would have withdrawn the “fingers” binding Fang Yaori’s hands and feet.
The “firecrackers” continued for over ten minutes. The sound didn’t diminish but grew more intense, echoing long in the pitch-black night sky.
“Master, I detect Fang Yaori’s vitality gradually recovering. The toxins in his body are completely expelled. The aberrant cells inside him have, for unknown reasons, fallen dormant again. The blood tumor on his neck has fully receded, and the black veins on his face and body have returned to normal…”
“Fang Yaori’s entire body is oozing black substances. It seems that… excretion alone can’t keep up with the toxin expulsion rate, so his pores have also started detoxifying.”
“Fang Yaori…”
Little Qi continuously reported Fang Yaori’s condition. The more Shen Ge heard, the more astonished he became. This wasn’t expired castor oil at all—it was clearly a Marrow-Cleansing Pill!
Looking at the remaining half-bag of expired castor beans in his hand—truth be told, ever since Shen Ge drew this item, it had been destined to be tossed into a corner.
But later, Shen Ge realized the recovery items drawn from the system were no “ordinary things,” especially combined with the system lottery’s “transfer” characteristic. He understood these recovery items either came from the “future” of the aberration space or were products researched by the aberrant organization lurking in the shadows.
As for whether this bag of “expired castor beans” came from the aberration space or the aberrant organization, Shen Ge didn’t care. Its effects alone meant he’d never use it. Initially, he stuffed it under the bed. Later, after giving the “Recovery Pills” to Li Xiang for research, he remembered this recovery item and meant to hand it over to Li Xiang, but got too busy and forgot.
Moreover, during his usual battles with aberrations, Shen Ge almost never encountered “poisoning” situations—until Little Qi mentioned toxins, and this item surfaced from the depths of his memory.
Shen Ge stuffed the remaining half-bag of expired castor beans back into his Bloodskin Backpack, deciding he must remember to have Li Xiang and the others research it. Meanwhile, looking at Fang Yaori’s miserable state not far away, he immediately made a certain resolution and said firmly to Little Qi: “If someday in the future I’m poisoned, please let me die from the poison. Whatever you do, don’t feed me this stuff. Remember, this order takes priority over my life!”
“…” Fortunately, Little Qi’s intelligence hadn’t advanced to the level of making sarcastic comments; otherwise, Shen Ge’s remark, full of points to mock, would have been enough for several language system upgrades.
“De… Detective Shen.”
Just then, Fang Yaori in the distance gradually regained consciousness. He immediately felt as if he’d bathed in sewage—the stench was so strong it made him see stars.
He slowly stood up, staggering, trying to walk toward Shen Ge.
“Stop right there! If you don’t come closer, we’re still friends. Otherwise, don’t blame me for treating you as a high-threat aberrant!” Shen Ge quickly said.
“…”
Come on, man, you just went all out to save me, and now you’re reacting like this?
Shen Ge took out a set of aberrant combat uniforms and some toiletries from his Bloodskin Backpack, tossed them at Fang Yaori’s feet, and pointed to the washing area by the playground in the distance. “Please go clean yourself up first before coming back.”
“Th… thanks.” Fang Yaori was nearly passing out from his own stench too, but strangely, aside from feeling incredibly smelly, he had almost no negative effects.
No pain, no fatigue—it was as if they’d never existed. He felt like he’d just woken up from a nap, refreshed and full of energy.
Consider this: as the Fang family’s “deadbeat,” Fang Yaori’s physique was worlds apart from Fang Mingyue’s. Fang Mingyue, as a woman, could beat Fang Yaori senseless with one hand.
But now, Fang Yaori felt brimming with power. Even if a aberrant showed up, or even if his sister Fang Mingyue came personally, he’d dare to boast about “taking on ten.”
Of course, that was just Fang Yaori enjoying the feeling of power in his head. If Fang Mingyue actually showed up, he’d probably cave instantly.
Fang Yaori picked up the clothes on the ground and ran to the distant washing area. An hour later, he returned with the scent of dish soap: “Detective Shen, uh.”
He started to speak, but as he stepped forward, Shen Ge had already appeared several meters away, his disdain so strong he even used “Bullet Time.”
“Detective Shen, I used three bottles of body wash and two bottles of dish soap, soaked in the sink for forty minutes. I really don’t smell anymore,” Fang Yaori said with a pitiful expression.
Shen Ge asked skeptically, “Alright, I guess your stench is nothing compared to the smell inside an aberration’s stomach.”
“… If you weren’t backing away as you said that, maybe I’d believe you,” Fang Yaori replied speechlessly.
Shen Ge cleared his throat to cover his embarrassment and changed the subject: “How do you feel now? Any part of your body still feel off?”
Fang Yaori shook his head, a bit excitedly saying, “Not only no discomfort, I actually feel full of power. It’s like… well, when I first started the aberrant live-human experiment, it was like taking a few Viagra—full of power, but only temporarily. Now it’s different. It’s like I’ve been training my whole life, and this strength and physique were always mine!”
As he spoke, Fang Yaori lifted a huge rock with both hands, raised it overhead like a weightlifter, then tossed it several meters away.
“That effective?” Shen Ge estimated Fang Yaori’s current strength was at least double that of an ordinary person, and he’d only completed his first aberration.
“System, scan Fang Yaori!”
