Chapter 5 – Different Physique
Yu Zhi was now certain that JJ Literature City really had a problem. From [My Abilities] to [My Items] and now [My Titles], not a single one was normal.
Whose powers are like this?! he thought, exasperated.
He expressionlessly looked at the cockroach egg sac in the hand sanitizer bottle and shook it vigorously. The reddish-brown egg sac rolled around, finally coming to rest in the farthest corner, pressed against the bottle wall. It trembled slightly, making a faint sound, as if shivering.
It seemed a bit afraid of him.
Yu Zhi felt a slight sense of relief. It shouldn’t hatch anytime soon.
He found a fire extinguisher on the wall near the restroom and extinguished the still-burning remains of Dr. Chen before taking the egg sac to find Lu Liming.
It was seven in the evening, an hour after the main quest had begun.
The outpatient building was even quieter than before. There were no voices, no rustling sounds, nothing at all. A deathly silence hung in the air.
As he entered the consultation area, just a few meters away from Room 1, Yu Zhi heard Lu Liming chatting with the viewers in the live stream.
“Where am I unlucky? If I were unlucky, how could I meet Brother Yu?”
“Useless? I’m very useful!”
“Look at my plastered leg, and then look at my plastered arm. I can act as bait to lure the enemy, or I can take a hit for Brother Yu.”
“…”
Yu Zhi paused. It’s good enough that he’s still alive.
He stepped forward and knocked on the door. “Open up.”
“Brother Yu!” Lu Liming shouted excitedly from behind the door.
The lock turned, and just as Yu Zhi thought it would open, it clicked shut again.
A moment later, Lu Liming’s tentative voice came through: “Are you… really Brother Yu?”
Yu Zhi patiently responded.
Lu Liming: “What’s your full name?”
Yu Zhi: “Yu Zhi.”
Lu Liming: “What’s my full name?”
Yu Zhi: “Lu Liming.”
Lu Liming pressed on: “What do I like to eat the most?”
Yu Zhi lost his patience and expressionlessly spat out four words: “Eating, drinking, gambling, and whoring.”
Lu Liming: “…”
He quickly opened the door, apologizing profusely. “I didn’t mean to keep you out! I was afraid something might disguise itself as you. That’s how it goes in movies…”
Yu Zhi didn’t mind. It was good that Lu Liming was cautious and smart.
He nodded and handed over the hand sanitizer bottle.
Lu Liming took it and continued explaining, “And Brother Yu, I do like eating and drinking, but I absolutely don’t gamble or whore—”
His words were cut short as he looked up and saw the finger marks on Yu Zhi’s neck. Yu Zhi’s skin was porcelain white, and the red and purple marks stood out starkly, eerie and terrifying.
Lu Liming quickly pulled him into the room and locked the door. “What happened to your neck?” he exclaimed. “Did someone ambush you?”
“Something like that,” Yu Zhi replied. Dr. Chen could hardly be considered human at that point.
Lu Liming was tense, bombarding him with questions: “What happened? Where is he now? Is he still alive? Do you need me to act as bait to lure him out? Together, we can definitely take him down…”
The situation with the pollutants couldn’t be explained in a few words, so Yu Zhi didn’t elaborate. He tilted his chin towards the hand sanitizer bottle. “Hurry up and kill it to complete the task,” he said.
Only then did Lu Liming notice the large, red bean-like object inside the bottle. He twisted off the cap and poured it onto the table. Initially intending to crush it with his hand, he found it too large and instead used the computer mouse to grind it down.
“Crack—”
The red bean shattered.
[Kill the mutant: 1/1.]
[You have completed Main Task One.]
[Kill the mutant: 8/1.]
Seeing this, Lu Liming couldn’t help but ask, “What is this thing? The system says I killed eight mutants.”
“Cockroach egg sac,” Yu Zhi answered honestly.
Lu Liming’s smile froze. He was thankful he hadn’t crushed it with his fingers.
“Keep smashing,” Yu Zhi reminded him. “There are quite a few inside.”
Following his instructions, Lu Liming continued grinding until the system prompts stopped, his mouth agape.
“How many did you kill?” Yu Zhi asked, curious.
Lu Liming stared at the system prompt in disbelief. “Over a hundred,” he breathed.
“Did the system reward you with any titles?” Yu Zhi asked.
Lu Liming shook his head. “No. It only rewarded a hundred universal coins for completing the task. Hey, it says these universal coins can enhance physical fitness?”
Yu Zhi looked at the panel. The bottom right corner displayed his balance.
[100.1 universal coins. (Universal coins can be used to enhance physical fitness or upgrade props, etc., please use them wisely.)]
His gaze fell on the keyword “etc.” It implied that universal coins must have other uses.
“Fifty universal coins for one enhancement,” Lu Liming said. “Have you tried it, brother?”
“No,” Yu Zhi replied.
“Then I will…” Lu Liming began, but then he saw the latest comments in the live stream and changed his tone. “Brother Yu, the people in my live stream say enhancing physical fitness might grant abilities. Should I give it a try?”
Yu Zhi hesitated, considering Lu Liming’s broken limbs. Even if fifty coins didn’t awaken any abilities, it wouldn’t be a loss if it could heal him a bit. “Go ahead,” he finally said.
Lu Liming acted quickly. Before Yu Zhi could finish his sentence, he excitedly grabbed his arm.
“What the hell!” Lu Liming exclaimed. “The system says I have healing abilities! What the hell!”
Yu Zhi couldn’t help but be surprised as well. Healing abilities were definitely a good thing.
Awakening abilities… is it that simple?
He blinked and told the overly excited Lu Liming, “You should heal your foot first. It’s not safe here.”
“Oh, oh,” Lu Liming responded, looking up in confusion. “How do I use the ability, brother?”
“Didn’t the system tell you?” Yu Zhi asked.
Lu Liming shook his head.
“Then ask it,” Yu Zhi said. His own abilities were useless, and he didn’t know the proper way to use real ones.
Lu Liming was a bit afraid of the system, but he obediently asked. Then, focusing on the system’s response, he reached out to cover the plaster on his right foot.
Yu Zhi watched him for a moment, then glanced at his own balance, feeling increasingly tempted. If Xiao Ming can do it, I should be able to as well.
After a few seconds of hesitation, he took a gamble.
[System, I will spend fifty coins to enhance my physical fitness.]
The universal coin balance instantly changed to: 50.1.
Yu Zhi patiently waited for two seconds, but the panel showed no response.
He opened “My Abilities.” There was only that same useless ability.
He tried moving his arm. It seemed to hurt even more.
Yu Zhi: “?”
“Is this a joke?”
[This is called enhancing physical fitness?]
System: [Yes.]
What a load of crap! Yu Zhi’s face darkened. [Then why does my arm still hurt?]
System: [Everyone’s physique is different.]
Yu Zhi: (…?)
[Refund!]
The system didn’t respond.
Yu Zhi wanted to argue further, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something was off with Lu Liming’s expression. He turned to look.
In just thirty seconds, a layer of cold sweat appeared on Lu Liming’s forehead. His lips lost their color, and he looked haggard, as if his vitality had been drained.
Yu Zhi frowned slightly. “What’s wrong? You don’t have to force it.”
“I’m fine,” Lu Liming said, wiping his sweat. He tried to move his right foot. “I feel better; my leg doesn’t hurt anymore,” he said excitedly. “But my head hurts, like there are needles poking me.”
“Ask the system what’s going on,” Yu Zhi said.
Lu Liming was taken aback. “Can I?”
“It teaches you how to use abilities, so it should be responsible for you,” Yu Zhi said matter-of-factly.
That made sense. Lu Liming fell silent for a moment, then immediately asked the system.
After getting a reply, he said to Yu Zhi, “It said it’s because of overusing the ability; I just need to take a break.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a deafening boom echoed through the air.
“Boom—”
The ground shook, and the entire outpatient building trembled. The glass windows cracked into spider web patterns, and debris rained down.
Fortunately, the explosion didn’t originate from their building.
At that moment, Yu Zhi didn’t care whether Lu Liming had fully recovered. He grabbed him and ran downstairs.
In this apocalypse, something that could create such a commotion right from the start could only be Fu Suxi.
The two ran from the fourth floor to the first. As they rushed out of the outpatient building, they realized they weren’t the only ones fleeing.
Cockroaches of varying sizes, all pollutants, were pouring out of the building. The white hospital was spewing out a tide of insects; the smallest were the size of a fist, and the largest were bigger than a human head. They crawled from every corner, clawing their way towards Yu Zhi and Lu Liming.
“What the hell is this?!”
Lu Liming was terrified. His legs nearly gave way; if Yu Zhi hadn’t been pulling him, he would have already fallen into the swarm of cockroaches.
The more scared he got, the more he babbled. “Is this the legendary ‘little strong’ from the south? They won’t eat people, right? What the hell, I saw their mouths! How can cockroaches have teeth? Ah ah ah ah ah!”
Two-legged humans couldn’t outrun six-legged mutated cockroaches.
Just five meters from the outpatient building, they were caught.
Lu Liming watched helplessly as the long, black antennae of a cockroach whipped across the plaster on his right foot. It felt like a hard lash, and the bandage on the plaster tore apart.
Just when he thought he was doomed, the nearest cockroaches suddenly stopped. They seemed to sense danger, their antennae swaying, and turned around to retreat back into the shadows.
Lu Liming instinctively turned to look at Yu Zhi, only to see that he hadn’t even glanced at the cockroaches. He was running forward without looking back.
In the few seconds Lu Liming was stunned, Yu Zhi had already gained several meters.
“…”
Lu Liming hurriedly chased after him, panting, “Brother Yu, the ‘little strong’ didn’t follow us!”
Hearing this, Yu Zhi glanced at the panel.
[Title “Cockroach Slayer” has automatically taken effect.]
Although the title has a serious illness, it’s still somewhat useful, Yu Zhi thought.
Lu Liming couldn’t contain his curiosity. “Did they stop chasing us because of your ability?” he asked.
Yu Zhi didn’t want to admit he was a “Cockroach Exterminator,” so he vaguely explained, “It’s not an ability; it’s a title rewarded by the system. Cockroach-type pollutants don’t dare to approach me.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Liming immediately moved closer to him, wiping the sweat from his face with lingering fear. “This title is awesome! I really thought I was going to die just now.”
At that moment, another loud bang erupted from a nearby hospital building.
“Boom—”
Several buildings were engulfed in flames, and one even collapsed. Walls shattered, black smoke filled the air, and burning cockroach pollutants fell with sickening thuds.
Amidst the thick smoke, a tall figure gradually emerged.
He didn’t run; he walked calmly through the flames, as if taking a leisurely stroll.
Yu Zhi’s pupils constricted, and he yanked Lu Liming by his braid. “Run!”
Lu Liming, still catching his breath, stumbled forward in confusion. “W-what’s wrong?”
“Something scarier than cockroaches is coming,” Yu Zhi said, not looking back.
Not far away, a man in a black coat calmly lit a cigarette, his gaze indifferently watching the pollutants crawling towards him.
As long as the source of pollution doesn’t die, the pollutants will continue to emerge.
Four buildings had exploded, and five remained.
Fu Suxi crushed a pollutant that crawled at his feet with one foot, and his phone suddenly rang. The signal had been cut off since the system appeared.
He answered the call. “Your new ability?” he asked straightforwardly.
The voice on the other end was unfamiliar; it was a young man, speaking quickly but nervously. “Hello, Team Leader Fu, I’m an intern from the command center. This is indeed my newly awakened ability, but it can only last for three minutes. May I ask how the situation in City H is now?”
Fu Suxi looked at the burning hospital building and casually replied, “It’s okay.”
“Really?” the intern asked excitedly.
As soon as he finished speaking, another building exploded.
Only four buildings remained.
Fu Suxi raised an eyebrow and continued walking.
The intern suddenly realized something and quickly changed his report from “okay” to “not good. Team Leader Fu is suspected to be unwell.
“Has the system appeared in City H as well?”
“Yes.”
“Is the main quest one to kill a mutant?”
“Yes.”
The intern asked several more questions related to the system and tasks, receiving similar confirmations. “Team Leader Fu,” he finally said, “this ‘system’ has appeared globally; the reason is still unclear. According to current data, the tasks across the country are the same. It is currently speculated that Main Quest One is related to restricted areas and the number of people within them. If there are more than five people, a closed area will automatically form, and the ‘mutants’ can include any living beings, including plants and animals. Time is tight, and the situation is critical. The bureau hopes you can eliminate the pollutants while doing your utmost to save the citizens of City H.”
“Boom, boom—”
The sound of explosions rang out again, making the intern’s heart race. His tone became increasingly cautious. “Team Leader Fu, did you hear that?”
There was no response.
Fu Suxi casually tossed the phone into the pile of cockroaches, letting the massive one at the front devour it. He lifted his eyelids, watching the two figures running out of the hospital, and leisurely exhaled smoke rings. “Ah, the phone is broken,” he said nonchalantly.
