Yuan Li caught her breath, gritted her teeth, and got back up, rushing toward Hong Yuan.
Hong Yuan moved effortlessly. With a simple pull and push, Yuan Li plopped back onto the ground.
“Again.”
Yuan Li charged forward.
She fell flat.
Hong Yuan said calmly, “Again.”
She charged. Fell.
Over and over. Repeated several times. Yuan Li felt her entire body ache from head to toe. After flopping around on the ground twice, she couldn’t get up at all. Tears streamed down her face.
Hong Yuan looked at her with a flash of disappointment in her eyes.
“What’s the matter? You can’t get up? Do you know how long this has been? Five minutes. If you didn’t come here with a determination to die trying, I advise you to stop struggling. If you survive now, fine. Once the Cleaning Department stops protecting you, then you can just die sooner.”
“Cowards are always like this.”
It hurt enough already, and now this mockery made Yuan Li’s tears fall even faster.
“How can you say that?” she whispered through choked sobs.
“Why can’t I say it?” Hong Yuan enunciated each word, “You don’t even need to suffer. With your face, you could become a pet. Plenty of people would like you. Just pick a kind-tempered master and please them well—that’s all you need.”
Why?
Why did a worthless man die, only for an innocent woman to be buried with him?
Why could Hong Yuan, a woman, be so indifferent to such things, as if it were commonplace?
Why was this world so terrifying?
“Shut up!”
Yuan Li dragged herself to her feet, staring fiercely at Hong Yuan. “I said shut up!!”
“I know a few wealthy people. I could introduce you to someone with a good temper. He just likes people to learn to bark like a dog. Don’t worry, you’d survive…”
“I SAID SHUT UP!!!”
Her black pupils seemed to widen, her lower back muscles tensed for a moment, and then went still.
She clenched the dagger in her hand and lunged at Hong Yuan.
She was not a coward.
She refused to live on others’ mercy without dignity.
In that moment, Hong Yuan seemed to move in slow motion. Yuan Li surged forward, dagger aimed at Hong Yuan’s shoulder.
She even saw Hong Yuan’s initial expression of disdain shift into surprise.
Then Hong Yuan dodged.
The dagger aimed at her shoulder missed, only slicing her clothing.
The force of Yuan Li’s lunge had been so great that after dodging, Hong Yuan saw Yuan Li tumble forward, collapsing to the ground.
She lay flat.
The previous exertion had drained every bit of her strength.
She didn’t even want to move a finger.
Footsteps approached. Someone squatted beside her, then effortlessly lifted her into a classic princess carry.
Yuan Li closed her eyes and played dead.
She didn’t want to see Hong Yuan. Every glimpse of her reminded her of those words, filling her chest with a heavy frustration.
“Oh, she seems not to want to see you, Hong Yuan. Shall I help you bring her over?”
Fang Zhou’s cheerful voice rang out.
Hong Yuan ignored him. “Come back tomorrow.”
Fang Zhou watched Hong Yuan leave with a cold expression, clicking his tongue.
“People like us… why bother with kindness?”
Besides, could a young girl who had clearly never faced hardship even recognize such “kindness”?
Yuan Li, unaware of Fang Zhou’s grumble, had been pretending to sleep. But in less than ten minutes, all her strength was spent, and she truly drifted off.
Even during the subsequent series of examinations and being placed in a strange bath, she remained unconscious.
Outside the door, Hong Yuan crossed her arms, looking at the sleeping Yuan Li, and asked the doctor beside her,
“How did her medical check-up turn out?”
The doctor rolled her eyes. “How could it be? She has multiple external injuries. Though no bones are broken, take it easy. I already told you, she hasn’t even started experiments yet. Her body is still that of an ordinary person—it can’t take your treatment.”
The doctor wished she could just say, this is cruel.
Yesterday, she had examined Yuan Li. Aside from mild malnutrition and weakness, she was fine.
Today, she had been sent over so roughly.
The doctor scolded gently, “If you don’t follow medical advice, fine, but don’t mess with the poor girl. She’s already pitiful enough.”
Hong Yuan asked, “She really isn’t an evolved, is she?”
The doctor frowned. “Nothing in the tests suggests so. Did you sense something?”
After a pause, the doctor said, “If someone has sufficient control over their power, theoretically, they could disguise themselves as an ordinary person. But…”
“From her muscle mass, she still doesn’t seem like an evolved human.”
Mutants were naturally stronger than humans.
Humans survived this long partly because of firearms, but more importantly, they evolved.
Evolved humans were called “Evolvers” or “New Humans.”
They had greater strength, faster speed, superior physical abilities, and accelerated healing.
Their extraordinary power gave them the ability to fight back against Mutants.
In truth, the bodies of Evolvers and ordinary humans could no longer be considered the same species.
Hong Yuan asked, “What if she evolved mentally?”
The doctor was momentarily stunned, then shook her head. “I didn’t detect any exceptional mental abilities.”
“But just now, I felt a surge of pressure that slowed me down for a second. This slash on my clothes—it was her.”
The doctor peeked inside.
In a gray-green liquid, the girl lay pale and fragile.
But Hong Yuan suspected—could she be a mental evolver?
Mental evolvers were rarer and more precious than ordinary Evolvers.
Ordinary Evolvers could still be enhanced with chemical aids, but mental evolvers relied entirely on themselves.
The doctor clapped her hands. “Isn’t that good? If she awakens her mental power, she won’t have to worry about surviving!”
When Yuan Li awoke, she saw the doctor smiling cheerfully at her.
She couldn’t help tilting her head, nearly slipping to the bottom of the bath.
“Who are you? Why am I here?”
Her face was not only fearful but also fierce, as if ready to fight.
The doctor, charmed, softened her voice. “Don’t be afraid. I’m a doctor from the Cleaning Department. Hong Yuan brought you here. This is a special medicated bath. Does your body feel less painful now? That scratch on Hong Yuan—it’s nothing serious.”
Yuan Li froze. She peeked past the doctor and saw Hong Yuan at the door.
Her feelings were complicated.
Hong Yuan had scolded her, but Hong Yuan was also taking care of her.
Before she could sort out her thoughts, the doctor asked with a smile,
“Do you want to consider joining the Cleaning Department? We need talents like you.”