"What's wrong?"

Zhou Ziqi put down his hand and walked quickly forward. When he reached the end of the long corridor, he found that Ruan Qing'an and the others had arrived at the elevator. It seemed that they were about to get on the elevator and leave, but an unexpected change had occurred.

The petite girl's drooping hand gripped the long sword. She closed her eyes, leaned back in Shi Yi's arms, her brows furrowed, and looked very uncomfortable.

Zhou Ziqi quickly stepped forward: "What happened?"

"When we got to the elevator, Qing'an suddenly fainted. I only had time to catch her and didn't have time to check on her condition."

Shi Yi frowned. Since it concerned Ruan Qing'an's physical condition, he could only move the girl into Zhou Ziqi's arms first. He then squatted down, raised his mechanical arm, and a dark blue screen appeared. After the rays radiated Ruan Qing'an's body, dense data quickly appeared on it.

Zhou Ziqi held her close to prevent Ruan Qing'an from slipping to the ground due to exhaustion, and asked, "How are you?"

"Come on, I haven't installed any medical-related modules."

Eleven rubbed his temples with a slight headache, then waved his hand, turning the screen in front of Zhou Ziqi: "You're better at this part."

Zhou Ziqi did not refuse, but immediately slid the light screen, pressing his fingertip against Ruan Qing'an's carotid artery while checking the various physical indicators of the girl displayed on the screen.

After a long while, he finally let go of her hand, frowning. "Notify the research institute immediately. We need to take her to the infirmary right away."

“The various numerical reactions in her body may be related to the zombie virus. I need to check the research lab. Xiao Ruan just told me that she smelled a strange odor, which is probably related to her current reaction.”

Eleven was slightly taken aback: "Zombie virus? My reaction to viruses is always sharper. She shouldn't have been infected along the way."

"It must be for some other reason."

Zhou Ziqi pinched the bridge of his nose: "Take her to the infirmary first. Her heartbeat, breathing, and even hormones are all undergoing abnormal mutations. This is very similar to the process of zombification. I'll be there in a bit."

...

An hour later, in the cramped medical room.

After the researchers brought in a lot of equipment, they almost filled the entire infirmary, leaving only a narrow single bed. The petite girl lay on the single bed, her delicate face turning pale.

Her body trembled uncontrollably, the pain causing her to almost curl up, her slender hands unconsciously clenching.

Shiyi sat on the edge of the bed and stretched out her arm for Ruan Qingan to hold. Even though her rounded nails were almost digging into the artificial skin, he did not pull his hand back, but looked at her with a hint of heartache.

"A zombie virus..."

Eleven frowned and murmured softly.

On the single bed, Ruan Qing'an's fair and jade-like skin was now dotted with bluish-purple scars, somewhat similar to the color of a rotting zombie—her body was turning into a zombie, but it was being forcibly suppressed by her powerful soul, and she was tormented as if she were caught between ice and fire.

Her delicate face turned pale, and a single, glistening tear, tinged with crimson, seemed to well up in the corner of her eye from the pain. Her lips, bitten until they were as red as plum blossoms in the snow, emitted a pitiful, soft moan, like that of a small animal, carrying a broken and fragile beauty.

Her lips were so raw from biting them that they were almost bleeding...

Shi Yi sighed softly, her movements gentle yet firm as she parted Ruan Qing'an's tightly clenched teeth, her mechanical fingertips pressing against them: "If you bite any harder, you'll bite your mouth off, Qing'an."

Feeling the warm, human breath in my mouth, even the teeth touching my fingertips and the barely visible little tongue seem incredibly cute.

Shiyi's breath hitched, a surging lust in his dark green eyes. He instinctively leaned down, her painful, broken moans ringing in his ears: "If... if we become zombies..."

Does that mean we don't need to worry about Qing'an leaving?

There's no need to fear how someone who is not human could covet humanity.

In that case—

"Am I here at the wrong time?"

A chilling sneer came from the doorway of the infirmary. Shi Yi paused, turned around, and saw Zhou Ziqi leaning against the door, his narrow phoenix eyes looking at him coldly.

Shi Yi stood up: "Since you're here, let's get started."

Zhou Ziqi smiled enigmatically and walked past Shiyi, leaving behind only a light, dismissive remark: "Stop those disgusting desires in your eyes, and don't do anything unnecessary, you inhuman 'thing'."

"Otherwise—I'll kill you."

Upon hearing this, Shiyi merely twitched the corner of her lips and stepped aside, saying, "You shouldn't be so modest either; come and see for yourself, she's not feeling well."

Zhou Ziqi then sat down by the bed, gently pried open Ruan Qing'an's hand that was gripping Shi Yi's arm, and pulled her into his arms: "Really, Ruan is naughty. Girls shouldn't be pulling and tugging at each other."

"Hey, why is Xiao Ruan crying because of the pain?"

He raised an eyebrow slightly and injected a vial into Ruan Qing'an's arm, the transparent substance slowly flowing into her veins: "Sure enough, I still don't want to see my little Ruan cry because of something like this..."

Soft and dull.

It's more suitable to be held in someone's arms and kissed while crying uncontrollably.

Beside him, Shiyi impatiently tapped the bedside table with her fingers: "Get down to business, Zhou Ziqi, don't go too far."

"I've already been given a viral inhibitor, and it will take effect soon."

Zhou Ziqi paused, then asked, "How was she just now?"

"The zombification process keeps repeating. Her body is very weak, but she is very capable and can suppress the zombification process. However, this recurring process is intensifying. In other words, if the zombification process is 1% at the beginning, it will be 10% after being suppressed and then recurring."

As Shi Yi spoke, she looked at Ruan Qing'an, who was lying unconscious on the bed: "Moreover, Qing'an is in a lot of pain. Did you find any problems in the research lab?"

Zhou Ziqi nodded slightly: "The smell she smelled was probably purified supernatural energy. She came back from a place with a high concentration of zombie virus, which clashed with the supernatural energy. Xiao Ruan's body doesn't have any supernatural abilities; she just has the constitution of an ordinary person, so she is easily affected."

"However, the zombie virus is transmitted through mother-to-child transmission, blood, etc., not through air or respiratory tract, so it can be suppressed quickly."

"In short, just let her get some rest."

After receiving an injection of a virus inhibitor, Ruan Qingan's condition visibly improved, but because his mental energy was greatly depleted in suppressing the zombie virus, he remained unconscious for a long time.

After confirming that Ruan Qingan's condition had not worsened, Zhou Ziqi stood up, but his steps suddenly faltered, and he reached out to hold onto the bedside table.

Only then did Shiyi glance at him.

Zhou Ziqi was not in good condition either. He seemed to have exhausted himself, looking tired and haggard. He even leaned against the bedside table, pinched his brow, closed his eyes, and waited for a while before he could catch his breath.

Shi Yi paused, then said, "I will stay here in Qing'an."

"As for you, if the symbiotic relationship is severed, I would be more than happy for you to die here suddenly; otherwise—you can leave now."