After seeing the male mutant's hairy limbs outside, Luo Ning gradually calmed down. This was a mutant who was still in the "atavism" stage, which was why his animal characteristics were so obvious.
The atavism period is an inevitable stage in the early stages of a mutant's awakening, but Luo Ning did not experience it. When she woke up, all she had left was a rabbit tail, which was her only animal characteristic. Once she put on clothes, no one knew that she was a mutant who had undergone gene interaction between humans and animals.
In the early stages of awakening, the consciousness of mutants is similar to that of normal people, but their mobility is only slightly stronger than that of ordinary mutants. They will gradually become stronger after the ancestral period ends, so she is confident in dealing with this mutant. What she is most worried about now are those ordinary mutants that do not move.
She knew these couldn't be mind control or some kind of supernatural miracle, because everything incredible in the post-apocalyptic world of the novel was related to science and genes. She worried that these ordinary mutants might be undergoing some kind of genetic change, and that it might cause some uncontrollable consequences.
The male mutant walked excitedly toward them. Luo Ning shoved another iron spike into Lu Xinghe's hand: "I'll take care of what's outside. You protect Xiao Ruo."
Lu Xinghe gripped the iron spike and watched her open the car door and jump out, but to him, Luo Ning's protection was merely a protective reaction to safeguard her food.
Luo Ning stopped five or six meters away from the male mutant: "Sir, this is my place. Please go find food elsewhere."
She was very cautious, and it would be best if the other party could leave on their own initiative. She had never killed a mutant because killing a mutant made her feel like she was committing murder.
The male mutant brazenly sized up Luo Ning. This woman was slender and fair-skinned, with lips as delicate as flower petals, and she had a pleasant scent. She was exactly the kind of woman he liked.
During the year he regained consciousness, he could do whatever he wanted with other female mutants, but they were all like wooden dolls and didn't interest him. So he always hoped that a female mutant who had regained consciousness like him would appear, and together they could build their own kingdom.
“Little beauty, don’t be so nervous. Look, we are all the same kind, we are family, there’s no need to distinguish between you and me,” the male mutant said, at the same time he also saw Lu Xinghe and An Xiaoruo in the car.
The smell of humans immediately whetted his appetite, especially the little girl; she must taste delicious. However, the boy made him uneasy. He looked too much like the humans he had eaten in the ruined city a few days ago. Their eyes were filled with hatred when they died, but so what? In the end, they still became his food.
"We're not family. If you don't leave, I won't be polite." Luo Ning noticed the man's hostile gaze and adopted an aggressive stance.
The male alien continued walking towards her. He could see Luo Ning's hostility. He had little patience and decided to subdue this little beauty first. Once she became his tonight, she would know how good he was.
"It's okay, we'll be together after tonight," the male mutant said with a confident smile.
Lu Xinghe was stunned when he heard this. Mutants actually have desires? But the base had never mentioned this in its monitoring reports on mutants.
He subconsciously looked at Luo Ning. Was she the same way?
When the male mutant was less than three meters away from Luo Ning, he suddenly saw a blur before his eyes. The little beauty had disappeared. Then he felt something stabbing towards his head. He instinctively used his arm to block it, and immediately a sharp pain pierced through his arm and went straight to his temple.
Luo Ning had originally planned to kill with a single blow, as the longer the fight dragged on with a power-type mutant, the more disadvantageous it would be for her. However, the mutant's arm was too strong and blocked her iron spikes.
Enraged, the male mutant swung his arm and flung Luo Ning away. Luo Ning flipped in mid-air and landed lightly on the ground, then continued to attack the male mutant using her speed advantage.
Lu Xinghe watched all this nervously. Currently, Luo Ning still had the upper hand. Her movements were too agile. As expected of a variant that had exchanged genes with a rabbit, her slender body and lack of strength were also her weaknesses. He wondered how long she could last.
Just as he was thinking about how to help kill the male mutant, he suddenly noticed that his companion Du Ming, who had also become a mutant, moved and staggered toward him. Not only this companion, but the other mutants did the same.
"Uncle, they're coming." An Xiaoru hid behind Lu Xinghe, who told her to hide in the closet first.
After An Xiaoruo hid inside, Du Ming, who had lost half his head, walked to the window. He looked at Lu Xinghe with his icy blue eyes, and suddenly his lips moved.
Although Lu Xinghe couldn't hear what Du Ming was saying through the glass, it seemed like he was calling his name from the mouth movements. But how could that be? Du Ming was already a mutant. Mutants don't speak or have memories, and besides, he only had half of his head left.
"Lu Xinghe," Du Ming called out again.
Lu Xinghe was certain that Du Ming was calling him, so he immediately opened the window a crack: "Du Ming, you remember me?"
But Du Ming didn't answer. He suddenly reached out and grabbed at Lu Xinghe, making a wheezing sound in his throat, like a bellows. Fortunately, Lu Xinghe was prepared and immediately closed the window, but Du Ming and the other aliens continued to frantically scratch at the car body, leaving streaks of blood.
Seeing the car surrounded, Luo Ning desperately unleashed her power. She kicked the male mutant's leg, breaking it and forcing him to kneel. She then thrust the iron spikes toward his temple, but just as they were about to pierce him, she saw the pleading in the male mutant's eyes, and her hand involuntarily paused.
Although she had killed many animal-type mutants, she had never killed a humanoid mutant. Although she had only seen a few humanoid mutants in the past two years, she always avoided them because she still felt that they were human, just without consciousness.
The male mutant now, apart from having limbs like bear claws, still had a human face and body. Especially when his eyes showed human emotions, she suddenly couldn't bring herself to kill him. If she killed him like this, she felt like she was committing murder.
But this moment of hesitation gave the male mutant an opportunity to grab her neck and lift her off the ground. The male mutant laughed cruelly, "I didn't expect you to be so powerful. I originally wanted to keep you around for a bit of fun, but it seems I can't keep you around now."
Luo Ning suddenly couldn't breathe, but she also immediately came to her senses. She shouldn't have any sympathy for the mutants; they had already lost their humanity, leaving only their appetite and lust.
The male mutant clenched his fist and slammed it down on Luo Ning's head. Luo Ning's supple waist arched instantly, and she used her legs to kick He Yang's stomach to break free from his grip. At the same time, a sharp knife pierced deeply into He Yang's fist, preventing him from killing Luo Ning.
Although the knife belonged to Luo Ning, she had already given it to Lu Xinghe. When she looked back, she saw that Lu Xinghe had climbed onto the roof of the car at some point. The knife he had used to stab the male mutant was the one he had used to save her.
Having learned her lesson, Luo Ning showed no more mercy. She leaped up again and charged at the male mutant even faster, driving the iron spikes deep into his head.
The male mutant collapsed to the ground with a thud. Luo Ning pulled out the iron spikes, but she didn't have time to catch her breath before rushing towards the ordinary mutants and quickly taking them down as well.
After the danger was over, she looked at Lu Xinghe on the roof of the car and said sincerely, "Thank you for what you did earlier."
Lu Xinghe remained wary. In his eyes, Luo Ning's hesitation towards the male mutant stemmed from her own mutant nature, which was why she felt sympathy for him.
He jumped off the car roof, walked past her, and came to Du Ming's side. Luo Ning also noticed this mutant who could still move even though he had lost half his head, and he was wearing the same clothes as when she rescued Lu Xinghe.
"He's your companion, isn't he?" she asked.
Lu Xinghe closed Du Ming's still-open eyes: "When you saved me that day, did you see anyone else?"
“I didn’t see them, but I smelled blood. Your companions… must have been killed,” Luo Ning said softly.
Lu Xinghe silently looked at Du Ming without saying anything more. Luo Ning also went to the car to get clothes to wash the bloodstains off her body by the stream. Thinking of Lu Xinghe's companion, she felt uneasy. With half of his head gone, he should be dead. Why could he still move?
An Xiaoruo had already come out of the cupboard, staring blankly at the corpses on the ground: "Mom, are they really dead?"
Luo Ning nodded: "Dead."
"Do they have the same disease as those animals?" she asked innocently.
Luo Ning replied softly, "Yes."
An Xiaoru stared blankly for a while before saying, "They are all so pitiful."
Luo Ning felt inexplicably sad. An Xiaoruo should be a carefree first-grade student at this age. She should be reading fairy tales, not this bloody scene. She drew the curtains and said softly, "Don't look anymore. Go and get some sleep. I'll call you when dinner is ready."
"Okay." An Xiaoruo obediently climbed into bed.
After Luo Ning finished washing up, she returned to find Lu Xinghe burning the corpses of his companions. She wanted to go over and comfort him, but he seemed unwilling to let anyone get close, so she had no choice but to give up. Instead, she dragged the corpses of the other humanoid aliens together and prepared to burn them.
But while doing these things, she noticed several large backpacks. She remembered that these backpacks were brought by the aliens. The aliens did not do these things on their own initiative; it must have been the one named He Yang who made them carry them.
Upon opening the backpack, one finds it filled with black plastic boxes, emanating a faint smell of gasoline. A sniff confirms it is indeed gasoline. He Yang had the alien carry these, undoubtedly because he also intended to use them after finding a vehicle.
"Lu Xinghe, there's gasoline here!" she exclaimed in surprise. Gasoline meant they could leave.
Lu Xinghe looked back and immediately recognized the backpacks as theirs, as were the gasoline they had brought. They had brought not only gasoline but also an off-road vehicle, but in the end, they hadn't used any of it.
“It’s gasoline, isn’t it?” Luo Ning looked at him.
Lu Xinghe wanted to say no, because he wanted to leave secretly, but after seeing the horrifying strangulation marks on her snow-white neck, he nodded as if possessed.
"Great, I'll go see if I can start the car." Luo Ning immediately added gasoline to the tank and tried to start the car, but the RV did not respond at all. She tried several more times, but it still didn't work.
Just as she was feeling frustrated, Lu Xinghe suddenly leaned down from behind her, reached out and pressed a switch on the car before starting the engine. This time, the engine started.
"Ah, so I have to press here first." Luo Ning said somewhat awkwardly.
However, Lu Xinghe was extremely close to her at this moment, his arm was already touching her body. Why wasn't he keeping his distance from her now?
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