After Raising Monsters, I Was Loved by Everyone in the Wasteland – CH16

Chapter 16

Wen Xin chose to get up two hours early to exercise the next morning, just to avoid being accidentally hurt by Number One and the others.

—And he decided to drag the Canary along.

Initially, Wen Xin only planned to go jogging by himself and didn’t intend to bring Canary along.

But perhaps due to overthinking, despite being physically exhausted, Canary couldn’t sleep all night. Just hearing the slightest sound of the door opening outside, he would suddenly open his eyes and come out to check.

Seeing this, Wen Xin simply took the boy with him.

At this hour, the sky was still dark, enveloped in a hazy night. The streets were almost devoid of pedestrians and incredibly quiet.

Occasionally, one or two early vendors pushing carts would rattle across the street.

In the park, Wen Xin increased his speed, sprinting with all his might across the finish line.

He stopped, panting heavily, wiping the sweat from his face, and asked, “What was the time?”

Canary glanced at the stopwatch on the phone with a complicated expression. “11.37 seconds.”

He didn’t know what a normal human speed should be, but taking over 10 seconds to run 50 meters—in the base, you’d be devoured with not even bones left.

Wen Xin caught his breath and felt that this speed was a bit slow, sighing, “I haven’t exercised in too long.”

Noticing the indescribable look on Canary’s face, he suddenly became curious. “Ah Jiu, how fast can you run?”

Canary tactfully replied, “Probably a bit faster.”

Wen Xin was eager to learn and urged Canary to give it a try.

Not wanting to discourage him, Canary deliberately slowed down and ended up with a time of just over 7 seconds.

The young man smiled and said, “That’s impressive.”

…That could be considered impressive?

Canary pressed his lips together, thinking he might have run too fast earlier; perhaps he should have slowed down even more.

But Wen Xin didn’t seem discouraged as Canary had imagined. With a normal expression, he did a simple stretch and continued his training.

Since agreeing with Xiao Hei to work hard on his fitness, Wen Xin had purchased training sessions and started implementing them today.

Given that his goal was to avoid being accidentally hurt, he couldn’t just do leisurely morning exercises. He set a rather rigorous training intensity for himself.

To prevent overexertion, Wen Xin planned to sign up for a personal trainer at the gym after work that evening.

Canary always felt that Wen Xin was making futile efforts.

Ordinary humans have very weak physiques, even inferior to him—a C-class mutant—and compared to Number One and the others, it’s like the difference between clouds and mud.

It’s not a matter of going from walking to running; it’s like trying to fly when you can only crawl.

Yet, Wen Xin persisted in this futile effort for a whole week.

The difficulty he had in getting up, how tired he was after continuous training—Canary and the other mutants saw it all.

In fact, during the first three days, Wen Xin couldn’t adapt to the training intensity. His calves trembled when he walked, and he needed to hold onto the walls.

Even Xiao Hei couldn’t bear it anymore. He jumped onto the bed, looked at Wen Xin’s pale face, and nuzzled his palm with concern.

“Meow?” How about giving up?

But Wen Xin shook his head, gritting his teeth, and stubbornly got up from the bed. Neither Xiao Hei nor Ah Lü could persuade him.

*

After observing for several days, Canary finally confirmed that this human named Wen Xin had a tenacious spirit of not admitting defeat.

But when he insisted on doing something unattainable, this tenacity turned into foolishness.

A few days later, while accompanying him, Canary couldn’t help but ask, “Does training like this every day make any sense?”

After nearly ten days together, although it didn’t immediately dispel Canary and the others’ guard or make them intimate with Wen Xin, at least they were no longer as unfamiliar and restrained as when they first met, needing to add a respectful “sir” in every sentence.

“Why wouldn’t it make sense?”

Being questioned, Wen Xin wasn’t angry. He asked Canary to time his 50-meter run again.

As soon as he heard “start,” the young man shot out like an arrow from a bow.

Canary keenly noticed that he had become faster.

Wen Xin’s steps were no longer as clumsy and sluggish as they were more than ten days ago. He no longer got winded and flushed after just a couple of breaths. His arm movements were relaxed and controlled, and he even had enough energy to jog back after sprinting.

As if he already knew his own performance, the young man smiled and asked, “What was the time this time?”

Canary looked down, his pupils dilating slightly.

8.92 seconds.

An improvement of nearly 3 seconds.

For Wen Xin, he had merely gone from being a physically weak recluse to regaining the speed an adult should have.

He knew that every second of improvement from now on would be incredibly difficult. After all, the human record for the 50-meter dash is just over 5 seconds, achieved by those who have trained for over a decade from a young age and possess exceptional talent.

But Canary didn’t know these things.

He had witnessed Wen Xin’s rapid progress with his own eyes, and the entire experience left him shaken—especially when, at dinner that evening, Wen Xin made a joke.

“Ah Jiu’s time is just over 7 seconds, mine is almost 9 seconds now. Maybe after some more training, I can catch up to Ah Jiu.”

Swish—the gaze of all the mutants focused on Canary. Even the little fox couldn’t help but look at him oddly.

As a mutant—even if just a canary—to be surpassed by a weak human, how useless would that make him?

Canary: “…”

Now, whenever he turned his head, he could see Ah Lü’s undisguised disdain, Xiao Hei’s genuine confusion, and the little fox’s pity and comfort.

Just over ten days ago, he had looked at Wen Xin the same way.

Canary lowered his head, his face burning with embarrassment.

*

The next morning.

After finally waiting for Wen Xin’s training to finish, Canary mustered the courage to say he wanted to run the 50 meters again.

He knew this behavior was not only meaningless but also very childish, but he just didn’t want everyone to think he was a mutant inferior to a human.

Wen Xin readily agreed, not even asking why he suddenly wanted to do this.

Before starting, Canary held his breath.

He was nervous; his heart was beating faster than normal. This was completely different from when he faced threats from others. It was a kind of nervousness mixed with excitement and determination, and his palms were sweating.

When Wen Xin shouted “start,” he shot out like lightning. His slender body drew a sharp line through the air, reaching the finish line in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

“How was it? What was my time just now?”

Canary didn’t even pause to catch his breath. As soon as he ran back, he asked, and before Wen Xin could tell him, he eagerly craned his neck to look at the phone.

5.77 seconds!

This was a speed humans couldn’t possibly reach!

Canary immediately breathed a sigh of relief, unable to suppress the smile on his face.

The next second, he suddenly realized something was off and looked at Wen Xin in panic.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” Didn’t mean to hide my strength and deceive you!

But Wen Xin curled his index finger and lightly tapped him on the forehead, unable to hold back a chuckle. “When you ran before, you didn’t even stretch your legs properly. Do you think I’m that clueless?”

Not only was he not angry, but he was genuinely happy for him.

“This speed is really impressive. Ah Jiu, you’re amazing.”

After a moment of shock, the smile on Canary’s face faded. He asked hoarsely, “You knew, didn’t you?”

“Knew what?”

“Th… Those two cats are stronger than me.”

“More or less.” Speaking of this, Wen Xin couldn’t help but sigh. “Ah Lü once bit through a coffee table.”

He knew all along.

Originally, Canary thought Wen Xin didn’t understand the gap between mutants and humans, which was why he did such absurd things.

But since he knew, why did he persist?

Your training is meaningless; your efforts are meaningless. Do you think that by growing from a little rabbit into a big rabbit, you can withstand a tiger’s teeth?

He almost couldn’t help but speak out to wake Wen Xin up.

Wen Xin happened to be facing away from Canary and didn’t see the boy’s conflicted expression.

As someone who had to worry about being accidentally crushed by his own cats, to be honest, he felt quite helpless.

Fortunately, Wen Xin was relatively optimistic. “Actually, I know that even if I keep training like this, it might not be enough to withstand a single swipe from Xiao Hei. But as long as I’m a bit stronger than before, that’s enough.”

“Improving a little today, a little more tomorrow—it all adds up. In the end, I’m getting stronger.”

“Getting stronger?”

Canary didn’t know what he was thinking of but subconsciously chewed over these two words.

He repeated them three or four times, not knowing what he had tasted, but he couldn’t help letting out a low chuckle. “Can the weak become strong?”

Who says that’s not just a futile struggle?

As soon as he said this, Wen Xin couldn’t help but notice the abnormality in Canary’s tone.

He quickly turned around and saw the thin boy looking up, his pupils bloodshot. Extreme unwillingness and inferiority intertwined in his eyes, suppressed into a raging storm.

“Then, sir, do you think I can become strong? Can I become stronger than the black cat you keep?”

This was a question with a predetermined answer. No matter whom he asked, the answer could only be “no.”

But Canary didn’t mind hearing it again from Wen Xin, because Wen Xin’s affection for Xiao Hei was evident.

This way, even after being denied, he could comfort himself that it wasn’t because he wasn’t capable but because humans are biased and selfish.

Such was his limited ambition.

But after a brief moment of surprise, Wen Xin met his gaze directly, frowned, and enunciated each word clearly.

“Why not?”

Like a thunderclap exploding in his chest, Canary looked up in disbelief.