"Ah..." Bleta was startled by the emotion in his eyes, hurriedly took a step back, then quickly turned and ran away, carrying the beverage box on her chest.
"Captain, Captain? Why are you staring at that kid? You've scared him away!" Cheng Cheng asked, puzzled.
Lin Dao's hand, which was holding the beverage bottle, clenched nervously for a moment before releasing it. He turned around and ordered in a deep voice, "Investigate. There was a man in a gray tweed here just now. He just took some of the corrosive residue left over from the fight with the aliens."
"Ah? Yes!"
After Lin Dao finished speaking, he turned and left, his black combat boots clicking as he added, "Also, get me a boxed lunch."
Cheng Cheng: "?"
Didn't you just say you weren't hungry?
Lin Dao ate a couple of bites of the two dishes and soup in front of him, finding them tasteless; the hunger he felt when facing the boy had vanished. He stared at the food before him, picked up his chopsticks, and continued eating, as if performing a task.
Following the biological mutation, this was an era of extreme food scarcity. Because large areas of arable land were occupied by mutated organisms, plants and animals became extremely dangerous, and humans could only use greenhouses to isolate pollution and grow food.
Therefore, food is very precious.
After escaping death that time, Lin Dao's body was infected and mutated, but this had one advantage: he was able to withstand hunger. He once tried to go without food for up to half a month and still survive.
He had conducted a special study on his own body and discovered that he had acquired many snake-like attributes. His senses were enhanced to dozens of times that of an ordinary human. He was not only highly sensitive to sound but also to vibration frequencies and air fluctuations. Furthermore, his movement speed had increased to the limit, allowing him to teleport. His physical functions were also several times stronger than before.
Similarly, there are uncontrollable effects after the mutation, such as chronic insomnia at night, poor mental state during the day, and often looking listless.
Today, however, is the first time that such an intense, devouring appetite has appeared towards that boy, a dangerous sign of things spiraling out of control.
He had to use his human reason to fight against the snake's nature and bestiality. If one day he really lost control and became a monster, he would eliminate himself first.
After finishing his food, Lin Dao stood up, threw away the trash, and strode towards the noisy, celebratory post-apocalyptic dungeon outside.
Now, he still has one last mission as a human being.
"Captain, the surveillance camera in that corner was destroyed yesterday because of the fighting between the alien species. The person you mentioned is like an eel, almost avoiding the other surveillance cameras. We have no idea when he left," Cheng Cheng reported to Lin Dao.
Lin Dao had anticipated this outcome and remained calm.
"Also, we've found out about the man who mutated into a mutant. His name is Maurer, and he's of Southeast Asian descent. He frequents the underground city, including but not limited to boxing rings, casinos, bars, and clubs. However, after checking his interpersonal relationships and unusual contacts, I discovered that he frequently contacts some boxers and... a man who, based on the description, seems to be of British descent."
"British? People from the Empire?" Lin Dao frowned upon hearing this. He was well aware that in such a chaotic place as the Underground City, people from both the Federation and the Empire would likely want to get involved and grab a piece of the pie.
Cheng Cheng frowned deeply, as if thinking of something: "This Maurer is a slippery eel running away with goods. He has too many connections; I'm afraid it's related to the previous Ashan base, which would be too dangerous, and we would almost certainly have no chance..."
Lin Dao's expression was cold: "Nothing is impossible."
"But you also—" Cheng Cheng thought back to the trap during the rescue mission more than a month ago, still feeling lingering fear. Just when he thought the colonel was really going to die there, the fear and despair still made his heart tremble. He looked at the man in front of him again with a sense of relief, thinking: Thank goodness, thank goodness the colonel came back safely.
He sighed, "Sigh, those boxers have been interrogated, but there's no useful information. And if the level of the foreign hormone injected was too low and so much time has passed, it's undetectable with current technology. This lead has run its course."
"Who said that?" Lin Dao stood upstairs in the boxing ring, glanced at a blond, curly-haired boy selling drinks in the noisy stands below, and said, "Go down and bring that kid up here so I can interrogate him."
"Huh? Wasn't he tested and found to be fine?" Cheng Cheng asked, puzzled.
Lin Dao's gaze was icy as he stared at the boy's fair and handsome face. "He may not be infected, but how do you know he might be the one who attacked Maurer?"
Cheng Cheng was taken aback. He glanced at the innocent-looking child below, wiped the sweat from his brow, and suddenly realized that in the few minutes after Maurer's mutation, he had managed to emerge unscathed from the opponent's frenzied and intense attacks, even though the damage to the building in that corner was quite significant at the time.
He dared not delay any longer and immediately called two mercenaries to go down with him.
Bretta had just bought a bottle of "Alien Coke" and was standing next to others, watching them twist open and drink it with longing eyes. She could smell the aroma and satisfy her craving, so she smacked her lips and swallowed her saliva.
When Cheng Cheng came down with two tall and burly mercenaries, this is what he saw: a child who was craving a drink but had none.
"..." For a moment, he felt ashamed of himself for having imagined him to be so dangerous and evil.
He couldn't help but adopt the expression of a strange uncle coaxing a child, and deliberately bowed slightly to Bryta in a friendly manner, saying, "Hello, my name is Cheng Cheng, we met this morning."
Upon hearing this, Britta turned around, blinked her beautiful eyes, looked up at him with a puzzled expression, and nodded timidly and politely: "Hello, Mr. Cheng Cheng."
In that one glance, Cheng Cheng was completely captivated by this handsome and adorable young man. This tall, heavily armed man, over six feet tall, softened his tone several degrees as he explained:
"I need your cooperation in investigating yesterday's human mutation incident. Please recount the entire process from when Maurer was with you until the mutation occurred."
The other two mercenaries who witnessed the vice-captain's change: "..." Vice-captain, what was with that apprehensive look on your face before you arrived?
Bryta understood and nodded cautiously: "Okay. How long will I need to be away? I may need to ask Mr. West for leave."
"No need, no need, it's upstairs, it'll be ready soon." Cheng Cheng smiled, overflowing with fatherly love as if he were treating a cute and fragile little kitten. However, he felt as if he had seen this boy somewhere before, but he was somewhat face-blind to faces other than those of Chinese descent.
Cheng Cheng arranged a separate room as a temporary interrogation room. The room was dark, with only a lamp hanging above the table. It had a very retro feel, reminiscent of the interrogation rooms of the San Francisco era before the apocalypse.
When Bryta went inside, he saw his neighbor sitting calmly in the chair opposite him, still wearing a black hat that covered most of his face. Bryta recognized him almost entirely by his unique and attractive scent.
After he sat down in the chair opposite him, he greeted him softly: "Good evening, sir."
"Well, tell me, how did you meet Maurer, that deformed, tall, thin man from yesterday?" Lin Dao's voice was indifferent, devoid of any extra emotion.
After thinking for a moment, Bryta confessed honestly: "We don't know each other. He said he would buy my roses if I accompanied him to the underground boxing ring."
"Really? You went with him for just one rose? I bought you five, why didn't you come with me then?" Lin Dao raised an eyebrow and asked.
Bryta asked in confusion, "But you didn't ask me to play with you too."
"..." Lin Dao choked for a moment, then calmly changed the subject, "And then?"
Britta honestly replied, "After that, we were watching the match, and then something happened in the boxing ring, and you came out and fired a shot... I remembered that the flowers hadn't all been sold yet, so I stood up to leave."
Lin Dao caught the evasiveness in his words, stared sharply into Bletta's eyes, and asked in a deep voice, "Why did you suddenly rush to leave Han Ge'er to tidy up after I came out and fired the shot? Did you do something that you're guilty about? Or are you afraid of exposing something?"
Bryta, her secret exposed, turned pale and tried to deny it: "I...I didn't do anything, I'm just...I'm just scared."
"What are you afraid of?" Lin Dao's voice was calm and unhurried, yet it carried an imposing pressure that left no room for refusal.
Bleta shuddered, not daring to look him in the eye, and quickly lowered her head, replying, "I'm scared... scared of you."
Seeing that the boy in front of him was indeed trembling, Lin Dao felt a strange sensation rise in his heart again. He clenched his hands at his sides, his Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice unconsciously lowered as he asked, "Why are you afraid of me?"
“No, I don’t know… I’m just scared.” Bleta was telling the truth; his fear of this man seemed to be an innate instinct.
Lin Dao didn't want the interrogation to get stuck, so he had to stop there and continued to ask, "And then, why did you go to the bathroom with Maurer?" His voice was as calm and steady as possible.
Bryta felt a sense of relief, then slowly raised her head and recalled, "Because that gentleman wanted me to play with him, saying he would give me something delicious."
Lin Dao narrowed his eyes: "So you went?"
“Mmm.” Britta nodded slightly, then, as if remembering something, said in a resentful, almost accusatory tone, “But he took me to the bathroom, and I told him I couldn’t eat shit with him…”
"Pfft—" Cheng Cheng, who was watching the surveillance camera outside the door, spat out the drink he had just taken a sip of!
Meanwhile, Lin Dao, whose face was hidden under the black brim of his hat, didn't look much better either.
"Later," he urged coldly.
Bryta, unaware that something was amiss in her words, thought for a moment and continued, "Then he pulled out a really good drink, like the Coke I sell. I... wanted to drink it, but he didn't want to give it to me and ran out. Then he tripped and broke the drink, and when I went over, he suddenly changed..."
"You're saying he ran out and fell, which led to him being infected and mutated by the foreign substance?" Lin Dao simplified his words.
Bretta thought for a moment and nodded: "Yes, sir."
"How can it be so simple? It's obvious from the surveillance footage that Maurer saw something and was extremely frightened and terrified, which is why he ran out in a panic." Cheng Cheng retorted in front of the surveillance camera.
Lin Dao carefully observed the expression on the boy's face. He couldn't even hide his own fear, and the boy's words, so full of loopholes, came out so naturally that even Lin Dao himself didn't doubt them. Either he had an extremely strong ability to disguise himself and think logically, or he had a completely different set of logical principles—similar to how a child never doubts that what he sees and says is false, and speaks with absolute certainty.
"And one last thing, how did you manage to dodge all of the alien's attacks 100% of the time, remaining completely unharmed until I made my move?" Lin Dao stared straight at him, seemingly trying to find a flaw in his demeanor.
Bletta thought about it seriously for a moment, then frowned slightly and asked, "Just... dodge it. Is that so difficult?"
"..." Cheng Cheng stood outside the door.
Lin Dao stared at the boy for a moment, then opened the virtual data interface, preparing to retrieve the boy's personal information registration, and asked:
"What's your name?"
The boy's voice was gentle and obedient: "Breta."
“Breta Easton”.
The man reached out and typed in what he was saying, then suddenly stopped, realizing something. The data had already been retrieved, and he stared blankly at the data interface in front of him.
On the screen, a boy with golden curly hair looks at the camera with innocent, beautiful eyes.
Name: Britta Easton
[Source: Rescued from Easton Laboratory by Colonel Klindall of the Asia Alliance on September 7, and specially transferred to the Mix Base safe house.]
He looked away from the screen and saw the boy in front of him, who looked exactly like the one in the picture, blinking at him.
“What’s wrong, sir?” Britta asked, puzzled, then remembered something and explained, “Oh, right, Colonel Klindall gave me this name.”
He smiled sincerely and said, "He's such a good person."
Author's Note: Tata: "The 'good guy card'—everyone gets one—don't rush—"
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2022-01-09 20:22:06 and 2022-01-10 16:11:59!
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: 1 bottle of sphagnum moss;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com