Apartment Building No. 5 (9)
The next day.
Xiao Qing sat up in the blanket nest, surprised to find she had actually slept quite well.
She woke up feeling refreshed and fully alert.
Xiao Qing energetically got up and noticed that Jiang Zhan and Luo Chenyi were already awake.
One Bing sat in the chair by the desk.
The other stood by the wall, looking down at his wristwatch with a stiffness that seemed somewhat unnatural.
Hmmm… the atmosphere felt a bit strange?
Noticing that Xiao Qing had woken up, Jiang Zhan spoke: “Captain Luo, what time is it now?”
Luo Chenyi answered, “Seven o’clock and some fog.”
Jiang Zhan nodded slightly.
Last night, after she earnestly answered Luo Chenyi, the man’s expression was indifferent; he lowered his eyes to avoid hers.
Then he simply took off his clothes and turned his back to her.
…It seemed like she had said the wrong thing??
The dog next door started howling again.
Jiang Zhan observed it—it sometimes made soft chirping sounds, sometimes loud barks.
It had a perfect sense of timing, never making a sound during rest hours.
Breakfast was still a plate of canned food with a salty taste for Jiang Zhan, but in the blink of an eye, Luo Chenyi and Xiao Qing took out a pack of… crackers?
Jiang Zhan ate what was on her plate, eyeing theirs.
Who could feel at ease eating when being stared at like that?
Luo Chenyi was taken aback for a moment, then took out another compressed cracker and tentatively placed it on the table, pushing it in front of Jiang Zhan.
Jiang Zhan lowered her head, flipping over the square cracker in her hands, then looked up and mimicked Luo Chenyi’s action by tearing open the packaging.
“Mom, food is precious.”
The Degenerate: “…7”
“We should respect every single piece of food, right?”
The Degenerate’s murky eyes slowly shifted toward Jiang Zhan, body and mind exhausted. “…Can I say that’s wrong?”
Jiang Zhan’s lips curved slightly; not answering was tacit consent.
She finished the compressed cracker in a few bites.
Xiao Qing’s expression shifted from surprise to pity—this girl eats only a few leaves every day, so thin she’s practically skin and bones…
So the free time after 7:30 became Jiang Zhan’s snack time.
After finishing the compressed cracker, Jiang Zhan accepted the chicken feet and dried tofu Xiao Qing handed her, ate another compressed cracker, then modestly waved her hand: “No more, thank you.”
Xiao Qing rummaged through the bag for leftover snacks.
Besides a few crackers for filling her stomach, she gave everything else to Jiang Zhan.
“Once we get out of here, it’ll be fine.” Xiao Qing encouraged.
Jiang Zhan agreed: “I’m really looking forward to it.”
Indeed, letting them in was a wise choice.
The constant hunger was eased little by little.
“Jiang Zhan, your body is severely depleted—perhaps it’s related to your abilities.” Luo Chenyi spoke from the side.
His eyebrows furrowed, expression serious as he handed Jiang Zhan a medicine bottle.
“Before you fully understand your abilities, try not to use them lightly.”
Jiang Zhan took the bottle—it was the cough medicine from before.
Compared to the food, she was more envious of Luo Chenyi’s medicine; medicine eased her hunger far better than food.
“Captain Qian, is this whole bottle for me?”
“Just take one pill if you feel unwell.”
The medicine was effective; after taking it, her exhaustion slightly decreased.
Jiang Zhan finally stopped eating.
Although she still didn’t feel full.
Eleven o’clock, after disinfection time.
Luo Chenyi left 524 alone.
The elevator couldn’t reach the seventh floor, so he planned to take the emergency stairs.
Xiao Qing and Jiang Zhan stayed at home.
For some reason, Xiao Qing always felt the Degenerate in the room was following her with hungry, greedy eyes, like a shadow.
She had to do something…
Trying to ignore the presence of the Degenerate, Xiao Qing racked her brain and suddenly had an idea. She pulled out a detector from her bag.
Jiang Mo said, “Still want to go out and see if there are any living people?”
Jiang Zhan stood up from the sofa and paddled over beside Xiao Qing.
Xiao Qing pressed her lips and smiled, “No, I want to put the detector in the hallway… I’m curious about what ‘disinfection’ really means.”
At 12:13, the door of 524 was knocked.
Jiang Zhan peered through the peephole and saw Luo Chenyi’s figure.
His silver-white hair, tied up on top of his head, had come loose and flowed down his shoulders like water.
After Jiang Zhan opened the door for him, he quickly entered, slamming the door behind him with a backhand. Raising his eyes, the silver, moon-like pupils reflected Jiang Zhan’s face.
Jiang Shui was stunned: “You…”
Jiang Zhan: “Shh…”
Jiang Qing quietly asked Xiao Qing, “What were the original traits of the Degenerates?”
“A portion of people experience physical mutations; some show no visible changes externally.” The voice answering was a soft male voice, melodious, carrying an unusual rhythm.
Though Luo Chenyi’s voice was always pleasant, Jiang Zhan sensed a certain change in it.
Luo Chenyi’s silver-glimmering eyes swept over her: “Don’t worry, I haven’t become a Degenerate… the changes in appearance are manifestations of my abilities.”
Xiao Qing’s suspicion about the other being contaminated was overheard by the person himself, and she laughed awkwardly.
Luo Chenyi looked tired, rubbing his temples with long fingers as he sat down slowly, speaking: “The seventh floor is indeed the mother bug’s lair. According to the materials, the mother bug in Apartment Building No. 5 belongs to the chaotic psychic type.”
“It is in a dormant state; I didn’t disturb it. Even just approaching it you can feel a strong contamination.”
Jiang Shui’s gaze, like a swimming fish, moved over Luo Chenyi without restraint, yet without malice.
Luo Chenyi’s translucent, lifeless eyes turned to her again: “Jiang Zhan, I haven’t been contaminated.”
Jiang Zhan: “I know.
You were quite bothered by my earlier doubt, right?”
Jiang Zhan withdrew her gaze. “Sorry, Captain.”
Luo Chenyi shook his head quietly, looking at her: “My ability is Mutation Merman.”
He pronounced each word slowly and deliberately, “Currently, abilities are divided into six categories: Chaos, Elemental, Summoning, Mutation, Order, and Omniscience.”
“My ability belongs to the Mutation category. The deeper the mutation, the stronger the power manifested.”
Xiao Qing’s expression changed; what Luo Chenyi said was information only known to insiders.
Jiang Zhan was still an ordinary person.
Unspoken was the fact that Jiang Zhan’s mental value and abilities made her definitely worth recruiting…
Suddenly, Xiao Qing felt a surge of danger.
She had planned to report to their unit after they left, then propose recruiting Jiang Zhan.
Luo Chenyi wouldn’t have the same thought, would he?
They were not from the same organization.
Based on all the known rules of Apartment Building No. 5, to get out of the white fog barrier, one must obtain a special flashlight.
The flashlight was in the property service center on the seventh floor.
But the property service center was now occupied by mother bugs, who were dormant.
“Is the flashlight really the only way?” Jiang Zhan asked.
Xiao Qing: “There’s another way—find the eggs.”
“The eggs are the energy core of the nest and its power source. Without eggs, the nest will slowly collapse. But the eggs are always guarded by the mother bugs.”
Jiang Zhan: …hmm.
“If you get the eggs, the nest will collapse.”
“No, you need to either take the eggs out of the nest or destroy them. Even if destroyed, the nest won’t collapse immediately… but it will anger the mother bugs and provoke their retaliation.” Xiao Qing said.
“So basically, no matter what, you have to confront the mother bugs head-on?”
Xiao Qing: “…It seems so.”
Jiang Zhan blinked, and Luo Chenyi’s voice entered her ears: “Mother bugs in a B-level nest have at least B-level capabilities, so the danger is high.”
“I’ll go get the flashlight alone.” He said calmly.
As soon as he said this, the living room fell silent.
Jiang Zhan smiled slightly, saying nothing.
Xiao Qing furrowed her brow, hesitating: “Captain Luo… although your ability is at level A, may I ask…”
“You’re in the field operations division.”
“Why are you doing monitoring tasks?”
Monitoring has always been recognized as a task with relatively low danger.
There’s no need to enter the nest—only to observe and record from outside.
Being caught up in a nest incident like this was extremely rare; only this one case.
Observing tasks are usually assigned to powerless or low-ability personnel.
Besides that, there’s another kind of person—
High ability level but low mental value.
For example: ability level A, mental value B.
If the mental value cannot match the ability, that person should be prohibited from entering the nest.
Studies show that humans gaining abilities are closely linked to “corruption” — in other words, ability users are very likely to be conscious Degenerates.
If mental value is lower than ability level, entering the nest carries a certain chance of ability backlash, leading to consciousness degradation and becoming a Degenerate.
Ability and mental value are not fixed; many evolve and improve after frequently entering nests.
After clarifying her doubts, Luo Chenyi fell silent for a moment: “My ability level is 5.”
Xiao Qing gasped and immediately understood: “Captain Luo, your previous data was A.”
Luo Chenyi: “During the last nest camp rescue mission, my ability evolved.”
Jiang Qing’s expression turned unpleasant, and she closed her eyes.
Jiang Zhan had almost figured it out. “So… Captain Luo, your mental value is now lower than your ability level.”
“That’s why I can’t let you face the mother bug alone.”
“Otherwise, we might gain another enemy.”