Chapter 108 Zerg
When Wen Le woke up, he saw Xu Dongdong's magnified face: "Xiao Lezi, you finally woke up. You've been sleeping for three days. I thought you were not going to make it."
Li Zhenzhen punched him and said angrily, "What nonsense are you talking about? You are the one who can't wake up." Then she looked at Wen Le with concern, "Wen Lele, do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?" She asked while pressing the call bell beside the bed.
Wen Le felt aches all over his body, his head groggy from too much sleep, and he was momentarily unable to react to his friends' concern. He remembered nearly dying in the hunting grounds after encountering a mutant mantis. Was he saved now? What about Big Cat, Seven, and the others?
Before he could figure it out, a group of doctors rushed in. The nurse behind them came over and drove Xu Dongdong and Li Zhenzhen out: "Go out for a moment. The patient needs to be examined now. Don't interfere with the doctors' work."
The doctor examined Wen Le and asked a few more questions, finally breathing a sigh of relief after confirming he was fine. The patient was a prominent figure, and as the attending physician, he felt immense pressure. He would be hard-pressed to report any harm to his superiors. He also felt a strange sense of pride. Healers, too, sometimes get hurt and fall ill, and they need help from ordinary doctors like us. Who says ordinary doctors are inferior to therapists? They play a much greater role.
Xu Dongdong and Li Zhenzhen waited anxiously outside. When the doctor came out, they hurriedly inquired about Wen Le's condition. Only when he gave them a positive answer did their hearts finally settle down, and they all breathed a sigh of relief. This was a truly horrific incident; if he hadn't received timely treatment, the consequences would have been disastrous. They also had a video of Wen Le being rushed to the hospital. Not only had his stomach been ripped open, but he was also missing arms and legs, looking like a vandalized rag doll. They both doubted he would survive, given his severe injuries.
Fortunately, Wen Le was lucky enough to survive, and today's advanced medical technology can support human regeneration. Otherwise, even if Wen Le survived, he would become disabled.
Since Wen Le wasn't seriously ill, he could no longer remain in the intensive care unit and was quickly transferred to a regular ward. During this time, Xu Dongdong and Li Zhenzhen meticulously cared for him, serving him tea, water, and making his bed. The doctors watching were envious, thinking, "This is what friends are all about! Those so-called friends who only think about their future after getting married and their children are a month old can't compare to these two."
"Lily was on a mission, and her instructor didn't allow her to ask for leave, so she didn't come. But she recorded a video for you, and I'll show it to you later." Xu Dongdong rambled on while helping Wen Le clean up with a body cleanser. "Cancan is fine, too, but something happened and he was taken back by his family."
Wen Le immediately became nervous: "What happened?"
Xu Dongdong smiled and said, "That's great! Cancan has successfully awakened his bloodline power for the second time because of the stimulation he received. Once he returns, he only needs to complete the awakening ceremony to officially become an adult. You won't have to worry about him anymore. Don't you suddenly feel relieved?"
"Oh, by the way, that mercenary group you hired earlier is fine. A few of them were seriously injured and are currently undergoing human regeneration treatment. The others were transferred to the general ward that day. You don't have to worry."
Wen Le breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that Seven and the others were all fine, but he couldn't help feeling depressed when he thought about Big Cat being taken away. The cub he had raised for many years suddenly left, and he felt mixed emotions. He didn't want to say anything for a while because of the pain, and his nose was so sore that he wanted to cry.
Seeing this, Xu Dongdong quickly comforted him, "This is a good thing. Think about it, Cancan will get a better education when he returns. After all, he's a professional. No matter how hard you try as a human, you can't teach a tiger. Can you teach him to read or hunt? It's his instinct. Can you compare? Besides, that kid is so naughty that he wants to tear the house down. It's so quiet when he's not around, don't you think?"
Wen Le didn't want to pay attention to him. He wanted to say that Big Cat wasn't annoying, but he was afraid that if he opened his mouth he would burst into tears. That would be too embarrassing, as if he couldn't let go.
He would never let go of that stinky cat. The heartless guy left without even saying goodbye. He at least left him a farewell video or something, but just left like that.
At that moment, he finally understood his parents' feelings when he first enrolled at university. No wonder they insisted on sending him to school; the fundamental reason was worry and reluctance. Then think about what he did back then? He seemed to be happy to finally be free from his parents' control, right? He didn't even consider his parents' feelings, happily heading off to university. He even threw a tantrum and refused to let his parents send him, fearing that others would think he was immature and needed his parents' support.
Thinking about this makes me miss home even more and feel even more uncomfortable.
Now thinking back, I felt quite heartless at that time, and I guess my parents were as sad as he was.
Seeing Wen Le's distress, Xu Dongdong felt bad too. After all, they had watched Big Cat grow up, from a small, fluffy ball to this size. Although he had been spoiled a little by them when he was little, he was now well-educated. He might have been a little naughty, but what boy isn't? His sudden departure was truly difficult to adjust to.
So both of them felt lost.
Li Zhenzhen walked in with the freshly cooked soup and saw the two of them playing there. She frowned immediately: "What are you two doing?" Then she glared at Xu Dongdong and said, "Why are you still standing there? Come and help me carry the pot." I knew that you guys are not easy to deal with. You must have said something to upset others again.
Xu Dongdong felt that he was even more wronged than Dou E. He hadn't said anything, just briefly explained the situation. Aren't these all things that Wen Le urgently needed to know? Even if he didn't say it, Wen Le would have asked later. He said it first to prevent his friends from asking.
Even though she was complaining in her heart, Xu Dongdong still ran over to help Li Zhenzhen take the pot. She took a breath and said loudly, "It smells so good! Zhenzhen's cooking skills have definitely improved. Xiao Lezi, you're in for a treat. Drink more later."
Then he was very attentive and served Wen Le a bowl of soup. Wen Le didn't want to drink it at first because he had just woken up and had no appetite, but he didn't want to refuse his friend's kindness, so he had to drink the bowl reluctantly.
"Don't you want to drink anymore?" Xu Dongdong asked while holding the bowl.
Wen Le waved his hands: "I really can't drink any more."
Xu Dongdong's face lit up. "In that case, I'll drink all the remaining soup. Otherwise, it would be a waste to throw it away." He then scooped a bowl of soup from Wen Le's bowl and slurped it down. As he drank, he commented, "I think God is indeed fair. Although he didn't give you a stunning appearance, your soup-making and cooking skills are truly amazing. That's it." He gave Li Zhenzhen a thumbs-up.
Li Zhenzhen rolled her eyes at him. She really wanted to cover the fat man's mouth with a rag. Is that even human? What do you mean by "I didn't give her a stunning appearance"? Is he saying she's ugly?
Fatty! I don't even want to give him any soup.
As soon as Xu Dongdong said it, he knew he had said the wrong thing. Seeing Li Zhenzhen looking at him with a bad face, he immediately backed off. He made a zipper-like gesture to seal his mouth, then took the bowl and hid beside Wen Le in shame.
Wen Le was speechless. Even in this state, he still couldn't let go of his bowl of soup. His attitude of risking his life for food was exactly the same as that of a certain big cat.
Thinking of the big cat, Wen Le sighed and said, forget it, don’t think about it anymore. There’s no point thinking so much.
After calming down, Wen Le thought about the system. He wondered if it had come along. So he tentatively poked the system: "Is it there?" Although it was unreliable at critical moments, at least there was still a virtual classroom to use. After all, it was better than nothing.
"Here..." the system responded weakly. Mr. Tiger beside it wiped his neck and threatened, "You know what to say, right?"
System: QAQ
Come on, it's just a child, why do you treat it like this? Why does it have to bear all the blame? When the host was in danger, it also wanted to save people, but it was this old tiger who didn't let it save people. But the blame for not saving people was put on it.
The system feels particularly aggrieved. After this mission is over, it may have to change its name to the Super Blame System. The auxiliary system is just a cloud and does not exist at all.
"Don't you have anything you want to say to me?" Wen Le patiently asked the system. Who was it that had promised to keep the host safe? And yet, when danger struck, they ignored him? Why give him hope if they couldn't?
The system… The system didn’t want to say anything more, and simply knelt down and begged for forgiveness: “Host, I’m sorry, please don’t abandon me~”
Wen Le saw a row of emojis of people kneeling and crying for forgiveness appear on the system interface. Even though Wen Le had a good temper, he couldn't help but get angry: "Don't you have anything to explain to me?" What did it mean to send him a few emojis after something happened? Did he think he was easy to fool?
The system also sensed Wen Le's anger and cast a pitiful glance at Teacher Hu beside him. Teacher Hu showed no remorse for having tricked the system and continued to threaten him with a smear. The system felt so wronged it almost cried out, but it didn't dare tell the truth. It racked its brains to come up with a lie: "I was trying to stimulate the young master's potential. There's a similar example in the Winged Tiger Tribe before, where a cub, in an extremely dangerous situation, activated its bloodline power and successfully awakened a second time, so I wanted to give it a try."
"But don't worry, I will definitely not let anything really happen to you and the young master. I'm always watching!"
Although he said so, he couldn't accept it emotionally. Wen Le felt that he didn't want to talk to the system for the time being. Suddenly, he remembered something and asked hurriedly, "Didn't you say that you would take you back with you when Big Cat came of age?" So why are you still here?
The system replied, "Because the young master has awakened his bloodline power on his own, he doesn't need the auxiliary system to help him activate it. So it doesn't matter whether I go back or not."
Wen Le: "Then what use are you?"
Feeling the host's dislike for it, the system had no choice but to hide back in its own space crying. It was just bad guys who knew how to bully it, sob...
Teacher Hu offered a few token words of comfort and assured him, "Don't worry, I will definitely give you an award when you return.
As soon as the words fell, the system stopped crying and asked expectantly: "Really? You're not lying to me?!"
Teacher Hu: “…” As expected, there is no rabbit before the eagle is released. All the systems are the same.
…
Wen Le's healing ability allowed him to heal faster than an average person. He also used healing magic on himself, and after just three days in the hospital, his injuries were mostly healed. Meanwhile, Seven and the others were still lying in bed, unable to get up. He wanted to use healing magic on them, but the hospital stopped him, saying it wouldn't be good for the patients' recovery. After all, Seven and the others were just ordinary people, and it was best for them to recover on their own.
Wen Le had no choice but to do as he was told. After all, this was a hospital, and he had to follow the doctor's orders. The only thing he could do was to help Seven and the others settle their medical bills when they were discharged, and he left his account number with them: "Subsequent treatment fees will be deducted from this account."
After all, the people had come with him, so he had to help clean up the mess. Seven and his team would likely be unable to work for a long time after this incident, and the cost of regenerative treatment was not cheap, so it would probably be a huge burden for them. Wen Le didn't need the money, so he helped out. Although the contract originally stated that the employer only had to pay 30% of the expenses in the event of an accident unrelated to the employer, he still wanted to help out if he could, as he didn't know if he would ever see each other again.
After saying goodbye to Seven and the others, Wen Le followed Xu Dongdong and the others out of the hospital. When he returned to the hotel, Xu Dongdong sprayed him in the face with water from a spray bottle.
Wen Le dodged and asked, "What are you doing? What are you spraying on my face?" Why is there a smell?
"Water boiled with pomelo leaves," Xu Dongdong explained. "I specially asked the hotel kitchen to boil a large pot of it in a large soup pot. You can use it to take a bath later to get rid of the bad luck."
"Dude, I'm not saying anything mean to you, but you're just too shameless. You just went out for a trip, and your ship was hijacked and chased by Zerg, and you almost got yourself killed. Not many people are as unlucky as you."
"Wait a minute!" Wen Le caught a sensitive word from the fat guy's words, "Did you say Zerg just now?" Could it be what he thought?
The Zerg that Xu Dongdong was referring to were completely different from ordinary mutant insects. Mutated insects were, by definition, just like ordinary bugs on Earth—although they'd been mutated by radiation, they were still native to this planet. The Zerg, however, were different. They were a product of outer space. Not only were they incredibly powerful and destructive, they also possessed a remarkably strong reproductive capacity, and the Zerg were particularly ferocious during their reproductive period.
They lay their eggs inside any living thing, allowing them to absorb the flesh and blood of the creature to hatch and reproduce. Wherever these Zerg swarms strike, nothing grows, leaving nothing alive. The interstellar horror of Zerg is no joke. Knowing how to promptly eliminate and report Zerg swarms is the responsibility of every interstellar person, a crucial lesson even in kindergarten. Even universities conduct annual spot checks, and failing these tests can impact your overall score and, in serious cases, prevent you from graduating.
Wen Le had been randomly inspected several times before he graduated from Shaohua. Each time, he was informed of the harm posed by the Zerg, so he was deeply impressed by these ferocious creatures.
But he had seen the video images of the Zerg before, and this mutated mantis looked nothing like those Zerg.
"Didn't the database say that those mutated mantises were secondary mutations? How come they turned into Zerg again?" Wen Le expressed his confusion.
"The second mutation is the external statement to prevent people from panicking. In fact, it is just the lowest level of Zerg. But it is not a complete Zerg. It can only be said to be a semi-finished product that has not yet fully evolved into the Zerg. Once these bugs are fully evolved, they will be real Zerg, and the harm will be greatly increased. What you encountered this time is the evolving Zerg. It is said that one of them has successfully evolved into a Zerg. Fortunately, the rescue team arrived in time, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable." Xu Dongdong explained.
"So how did these bugs appear?" Wen Le's scalp tingled with fear. They were almost wiped out. If Big Cat hadn't activated his bloodline power in time, they would probably be in great danger now.
"Aren't these official hunting grounds supposed to be cleaned regularly by dedicated personnel?" Wen Le couldn't understand how these bugs had managed to find their way in. And how could they have appeared in such large numbers? Were the inspection team blind? Could they not see anything?
"As for the cause, the experts are still looking. I heard from my grandfather that it was very likely man-made, but we don't know what the trigger was." Xu Dongdong said with a look of fear, "Luckily, we discovered it in time. Otherwise, once those bugs have fully evolved, Tianmei Star will be finished, and other nearby planets will probably suffer as well." How many people would die? Just thinking about it makes people shudder.
Wen Le was also terrified, and the thought of those bugs laying eggs in a human body gave him goose bumps. He couldn't help scratching his face, swallowing his nausea and saying, "Then I... don't have any bug eggs in my body, right?" The thought of those ugly creatures laying eggs in his body made him so nauseous that he almost vomited the food he had eaten the previous night.
"No!" This time Xu Dongdong answered very straightforwardly, "If they had really laid eggs, you would have been quarantined long ago. But then again, you're lucky to have encountered a group of bugs that were in urgent need of evolution, rather than those in their breeding season. Otherwise, you would have been dead."
Wen Le was still frightened and patted his chest: "Thank goodness." But it still made people feel sick, "I won't talk to you anymore, I'm going to take a shower." This topic really couldn't be talked about. In just a short while, he felt his heart was creepy and his whole body was itchy. It turned out that he still needed to soak in grapefruit water more to get rid of the bad luck.
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