“Who are you?” Lian Bingbing didn’t care who he had come with and asked without the slightest courtesy.
“Starting today, I’ll be your instructor.” Chu Tian smiled brightly, wearing an exceptionally insincere smile.
Lian Bingbing instinctively felt that she didn’t like this person very much. However, since he was someone Xiao Ziran had brought along, his words certainly weren’t just casual remarks.
Fine! I’d like to see what skills you have that qualify you to teach us!
Chu Tian quickly sensed the girl’s displeasure, but he continued smiling. He wasn’t in the habit of arguing with children. Instead, he swept his gaze across the room and carefully observed the children whose appearances had undergone severe mutations.
“What are you looking at!” shouted a child with wings growing out of his back.
They were different from ordinary people. Although the adults at the base had told them it didn’t matter and that their differences were a symbol of their strength, deep down, they knew that wasn’t true.
They were different from ordinary people, and they were different from ability users, too. As soon as they stepped outside the base, everyone would treat them as monsters. And they hadn’t chosen to become like this.
Faced with the children’s sensitivity, Chu Tian thought for a moment. In an instant, his skin began to mutate, and thick scales rapidly spread across his entire body. Before long, an armored monster covered from head to toe in scales appeared before everyone.
Apart from Quan Xiaoyu, everyone else was stunned.
Even Bai Mingxi, who had just walked through the door, was so startled by the sight that he dropped the things in his hands.
“Xiao… Xiaotian…” Bai Mingxi was shocked. What exactly had happened to Chu Tian during his disappearance that had turned him into this?
Chu Tian hadn’t brought up what had happened during the three months he was missing, and Xiao Ziran and Ouyang Jing hadn’t deliberately questioned him about it. Consequently, this scene had taken them by surprise as well.
However, Chu Tian’s mutation allowed Lian Bingbing to understand the situation almost immediately.
“Did you also come out of that laboratory?”
Chu Tian shook his head. Under everyone’s astonished gazes, he returned to his original appearance.
“I’m not quite the same as you, but I believe that laboratory must be conducting the same kind of experiment based on this principle.”
“You underwent natural mutation?” Lian Bingbing was also somewhat surprised. So far, they hadn’t encountered anyone else who had undergone beast-like transformation apart from themselves.
“That’s right.” Chu Tian nodded. “So I might be able to help you hide these mutations while retaining the abilities they give you.”
“You mean I’ll still be able to fly, but other people won’t be able to see these damn wings?” The boy who had just shouted at Chu Tian eagerly pressed him for an answer.
Chu Tian shook his head. “They’ll only be invisible when you aren’t using them. Just like what happened to me earlier, when you use your abilities, you’ll still appear in your mutated form. That’s why I came to see you today. I’m going to teach you how to control your mutations.”
“Then can you teach us today?” It was still the same boy. He was already impatient to get started.
Lian Bingbing glanced at the boy, then said coolly to Chu Tian, “I’m afraid it won’t be that simple, will it? You only need to teach us how to control them?”
Chu Tian smiled. “It really isn’t that simple. We’ll need something to assist us, and I don’t have that item with me right now. I’ll have to go and retrieve it.”
Disappointment immediately appeared on the boy’s face.
The girl, however, continued asking seriously, “Is that item difficult to obtain?”
“It shouldn’t be too difficult. We’ll probably have to go out again.” Chu Tian’s first sentence was an answer to the girl, but his second was directed at Quan Xiaoyu.
Quan Xiaoyu nodded. He understood what Chu Tian meant.
“Will it definitely work?” the girl pressed him once more. She wanted a guarantee. She didn’t want to see everyone’s faces fall with disappointment after they had finally been given hope.
Understanding what she meant, Chu Tian immediately smiled and nodded.
“I guarantee it!”
At that moment, the girl felt that Chu Tian’s smile wasn’t quite so insincere or irritating anymore.
“You’re going out?” Xiao Ziran asked Chu Tian with a slight frown.
Chu Tian nodded. “I’ll also pick up some things for you while I’m at it.”
Xiao Ziran immediately understood what Chu Tian meant and nodded without saying anything further.
“The things we brought back this time—I’ll have Xiaoyu deliver them to you later,” Chu Tian added.
Although the words were ambiguous, the few people involved understood what he meant. They all nodded in response, and nobody said anything.
“Perfect. I was actually planning to ask you to go with me to retrieve some things anyway. I’m coming with you. In any case, don’t think you can leave me behind this time.” Bai Mingxi interrupted at that moment.
He really had come looking for Chu Tian about something. Since the opportunity had presented itself, they could settle that matter together. He would also have a chance to interrogate Chu Tian about what had happened during those three months.
He wasn’t like Xiao Ziran, who hesitated to ask about anything Chu Tian didn’t volunteer to explain.
“Fine, fine. Understood, Young Master Bai.” Chu Tian pretended to answer respectfully. He had already planned to bring Bai Mingxi and Li Nan along this time. The four of them would be together again.
He might not need to explain everything to Xiao Ziran, but Xiaobai and Xiaonan were family. He needed to explain what had happened to them so they wouldn’t keep worrying.
“Then I’m going too!” Li Nan quickly chimed in, afraid that he would be left behind.
“Xiaonan is coming too.” Chu Tian smiled. “It’ll still be the four of us.”
“Great!” Li Nan clapped his hands, looking delighted.
However, in his excitement, Li Nan failed to notice the trace of disappointment in Lian Bingbing’s eyes when she realized he would be leaving.
Even though Li Nan hadn’t noticed her disappointment, he turned around immediately after his initial excitement and said to Lian Bingbing, “Bingbing, I’m going with my brothers to get something that can help everyone. Wait for me to come back!”
His last sentence was directed at all the children.
The moment she heard those words, Lian Bingbing felt somewhat comforted, and her sense of loss diminished. She smiled at Li Nan.
“Mm. I’ll wait for you.”
“Mm!” Li Nan nodded firmly.
The group then said their temporary goodbyes. Xiao Ziran had always kept the residences reserved for Chu Tian and Quan Xiaoyu available, so the two returned there, tidied up a little, and prepared to set out again.
On the way, while there was nobody else around, Quan Xiaoyu asked Chu Tian, “Did the doctor take the wrong medicine today, or did he forget to take it?”
He was referring to Xiao Ziran’s sudden decision to call him into the meeting.
Hearing this, Chu Tian burst out laughing. Without even thinking, he immediately slandered Xiao Ziran with complete abandon.
“Maybe it was both.”
Li Nan and Bai Mingxi also returned to their respective residences to gather a few belongings before quickly coming out again. The four of them met up at the vehicle.
After four months apart, the four of them were once again sitting in the same car. The scene felt as though a lifetime had passed.
However, their feelings this time were completely different from the tragic, desperate mood of their previous departure. They were filled with the joy of reunion and hope for the future. Once again, they were together.
Bai Mingxi first explained the purpose of the trip, then handed each person a small communication device. It was clearly a modified version of an ordinary mobile phone.
As it turned out, after Dawning Base had been successfully established, Xiao Ziran hadn’t forgotten his original promise. He had built a mechanical laboratory for Bai Mingxi, which was currently devoted to researching communication devices.
Aside from managing the warehouse, Bai Mingxi spent most of his time immersed in the laboratory. Over the past few months, he had deliberately kept himself busy so that he wouldn’t keep thinking about Chu Tian.
All the relevant supplies that could be found within the base had been gathered in Bai Mingxi’s hands. And over the past few months, his efforts hadn’t been fruitless.
Bai Mingxi had successfully developed a communication device that could transmit signals without interference within a radius of two hundred meters. The problem now was that improving its performance or producing enough units to meet the team’s needs would require more components and equipment.
The base had already handed over practically everything it possessed to him. To obtain more, they would have to search the other abandoned cities outside the base.
Ten days ago, a team responsible for gathering supplies outside the base had discovered a small electronics factory in an abandoned town two hundred kilometers away. However, when they entered, they found that monsters had taken over the place. Three people had lost their lives as a result.
“According to the reports, spiders have occupied the place and turned it into their nest. There’s also some kind of vine-like plant. The two species cooperate and live symbiotically. The plants use their own bodies to build nests that protect the spider larvae, while the spiders feed the plants with leftover food. They support each other,” Bai Mingxi explained, recounting the information his teammates had brought back.
While Bai Mingxi was speaking, Quan Xiaoyu, who was driving, started the vehicle and headed in the direction Bai Mingxi had indicated. They soon left the city without a hitch.
They hadn’t used the city gate they had taken when they first arrived. Dawning Base had a passage reserved exclusively for teams affiliated with the base to enter and leave.
“We later sent another team to investigate. There are a huge number of spiders, and the plants attack unexpectedly, so they’re difficult to deal with. But the factory contains materials we desperately need. If you hadn’t returned, the doctor was planning to find time to personally lead another team there.”
“Speaking of which, is it really okay for just the four of us to go? Xiaonan and I don’t have much combat ability,” Bai Mingxi said worriedly. He had suggested taking a team of people with them, but Chu Tian had rejected the idea.
“You’re the only one without combat ability.” Chu Tian pointed at Bai Mingxi with an ill-intentioned smile, then pointed at the roof of the car.
The two creatures lying on the roof seemed to sense something and immediately let out a couple of low howls.
Bai Mingxi nearly burst into tears.
He had forgotten about the two gluttons on the roof. Under Li Nan’s effective direction, the two little food lovers had now become mainstays of the combat team.
Naturally, they had to follow Li Nan whenever he went out. Since the two creatures had grown too large to fit inside the car, they had simply been told to lie on the roof instead. Two enormous cats sprawled across a car as it drove along made quite an impressive sight.
“It’s fine. Brother Xiaobai’s spatial ability is the best. Without his space, we wouldn’t be able to transport anything out,” Li Nan kindly comforted him.
Bai Mingxi hadn’t even had time to lift his chin proudly before Chu Tian sneered again.
“Xiaoyu has a spatial ability too, and his space is even bigger. People can live inside it, too.”
Li Nan and Bai Mingxi had both been inside Quan Xiaoyu’s space before. Hearing Chu Tian put it that way, Bai Mingxi immediately deflated again.
“Brother Chu Tian… you…” Li Nan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Why had Brother Tian started bullying Brother Xiaobai the moment he returned?
Quan Xiaoyu chuckled as he watched the cheerful scene in the car through the rearview mirror. He thought to himself that this was truly wonderful. Everyone was alive, and they could still laugh happily together.