When Tu Sanqi returned, she originally planned to quickly finish building the conveyor belt, which would help lighten the therapists’ workload.
But as soon as she unpacked her toolbox, her vision suddenly went black, and her whole body fell straight backward.
When she woke up, it was already two days later.
Fei Yucheng was at the table sketching blueprints. Whenever he focused, it was difficult for him to notice anything else. At that moment, Tu Sanqi had gone to get some water herself and sat in front of him, pointing out a small flaw in his drawing—only then did Fei Yucheng suddenly realize she was awake.
“You’re awake!” he exclaimed, joyfully looking up and immediately running out to call a therapist.
“You overexerted your mental energy. Pay attention to rest in the coming days… your physical condition has declined. I’ll bring you two nutritional injections,” the therapist said, placing a hand on her forehead.
A faint green light glowed from her forehead, and Tu Sanqi instantly felt the tension in her brow ease.
She thanked the therapist, and Fei Yucheng followed them out to get the nutritional injections for her.
Tu Sanqi lay back on the bed, reaching into her inner pocket for her own stash of medicine, which she drank in one gulp, then fell into deep thought.
After entering the training camp, she and Fei Yucheng had spent most of their time studying materials and conducting research. During the two days of concentrated lectures, Teacher Li An also brought them into the training pods.
These training pods were different from the ones Tu Sanqi had used at school. All the projects inside were practical engineering exercises.
The helmet worn by the user connected the brain to the pod, allowing every operation to be performed directly with thought—a special training for mental energy.
Although the engineering team didn’t have time to awaken abilities, many tools required mental energy, so the department still emphasized mental strength training.
Now, however, the therapist said she had overexerted her mental energy.
Fei Yucheng spent longer in experiments each day, and even after arriving here, he hadn’t overexerted himself…
A sudden thought flashed through her mind: that brief daze when she had captured the mid-level zombie.
She took out her mirror and looked at her light brown eyes, suddenly feeling uneasy.
Could it be that her zombie ability was starting to awaken?!
She didn’t want it to awaken—not at all!!!
Three days later, with the overwhelming support of the ability bullets, Mei Jun’s forces advanced like a storm, capturing S City outright. The zombie horde to the south was pushed back tens of kilometers, and in the short term, S City would no longer be invaded by zombies.
The next day, Mei Jun applied for a permanent stationed team. Once the Fifth District ability team took over, Mei Jun withdrew his forces.
Fei Yucheng and Tu Sanqi still traveled as before, on the helicopter piloted by Yu Pan.
Mei Jun and the others took two vehicles, which were slower.
Upon returning to the Special Zone, Tu Sanqi immediately took the medicine to see Cheng Shi.
Cheng Shi initially thought something was wrong with her. After examining her, he held the report and looked at Tu Sanqi puzzled: “You’ve recovered really well… so why do you look like you’re on the verge of collapse?”
Tu Sanqi forced a smile and asked, “When can I stop taking this medicine?”
Cheng Shi paused, reviewing her report, then said, “At least three more months before you can return to full health.”
Tu Sanqi: “…”
In her heart, Tu Sanqi shouted.
She was already starting to awaken at her current recovery level. If she returned to full health, what would happen when her abilities could no longer be hidden?!
“Why the sudden question?” Cheng Shi asked casually. “You never resisted it before.”
Tu Sanqi nervously fidgeted with her hands, giving a dry excuse: “The medicine is quite expensive.”
Cheng Shi: “…”
He suddenly remembered that Tu Sanqi hadn’t officially joined the engineering department yet. She didn’t receive a living stipend, and sometimes she even spent her own money on missions.
Currently, most of her expenses were probably covered by her brother, Tu Yu.
Such a thoughtful child.
Cheng Shi, moved, returned to reality and reassured her: “I’ll apply for a subsidy for you. Next time, you won’t need to go to the pharmacy; I’ll just bring the medicine to you—free of charge!”
Tu Sanqi: “…”
She forced a smile. “Thank you, Doctor Cheng.”
After she left, Cheng Shi’s expression gradually softened. Scanning the three indicators on the screen, a trace of worry flickered in his eyes behind the lenses.
In just two or three months, the three abnormal indicators for Tu Sanqi, which had originally been at 1, had surged to around 700… The medicine had a huge effect.
If she continued for two more months… her zombie traits would probably be impossible to hide.
But if the medicine stopped, her body couldn’t withstand the virus’s effects.
Cheng Shi removed his glasses and rubbed his face expressionlessly.
Looks like he had to make a trip out.
Tu Sanqi gradually realized her dependence on the medicine.
At first, she only took it to complete the experiments. Once finished, she stopped taking it.
With her current condition, she felt she was fine. Her red eyes appeared occasionally, but she could suppress them quickly. Connecting tools in the lab with mental energy no longer felt exhausting.
She didn’t want to recover further—this state was perfect for her.
But a week later, she developed dizziness and blurred vision.
Tu Sanqi didn’t take it seriously… then another week later, she started experiencing temporary blindness.
Tu Sanqi: “!!!”
Tu Yu had just returned from a mission and brought teammates to check on her. As she walked out of the engineering building, she barely got out a “hi” before everything went black again, and she fell off the steps without warning.
Fortunately, Tu Yu reacted quickly… but that night, when she lost her sight again, she even started having nosebleeds.
During the day, Su Rumeng had used her ability to help, but the condition worsened at night!
Tu Sanqi’s heart tightened. She immediately realized what was happening and shakily climbed out of bed, dragging a box of medicine from under it, and quickly drank one dose—
A miracle happened.
The moment she drank it, she felt reborn.
Her vision cleared, the nosebleed stopped, and even the new tremor in her hands vanished!
Tu Sanqi: “…”
She was dumbfounded. She turned on the light, sat cross-legged on the bed, and stared blankly at the medicine for a long, long time.
This nutritional injection…
Something was definitely off.