Apocalypse: I’m the Landlady of the Refuge
Chapter 143 Half-infected

Chapter 143: Chapter 143 Half-infected

To be precise, it wasn’t Zhan Yu who moved, but a faint greenish glow that emerged around him.

Ji Wanwan recognized it at a glance; this was Wood Element Energy.

Upon closer inspection, she noticed the Wood Element Energy wasn’t pure. It was tinged with a faint crimson.

The energy beam revolved around Zhan Yu, picking up speed until abruptly Zhan Yu’s eyes snapped open and the energy wave finally returned to his body.

Ji Wanwan was stunned.

What on earth was that?

She had never seen anything like it before!

The moment Zhan Yu opened his eyes, Ji Wanwan even held her breath subconsciously.

After opening his eyes, Zhan Yu lay motionless on the ground for a long time.

Ji Wanwan even wondered if Zhan Yu might be experiencing his last burst of energy when suddenly he sat up abruptly, startling Ji Wanwan so much that she gasped sharply and nearly teleported away.

Hearing the noise, Zhan Yu turned his eyes toward her.

Seeing that his eyes were still crimson but his pupils had returned to their normal size, Ji Wanwan tried calling out, "Brother Zhan?"

Zhan Yu responded faintly, "Don’t worry, I haven’t mutated."

Caught out, Ji Wanwan chuckled awkwardly, "Haha, that’s good."

The air fell into an eerie silence, and with Zhan Yu sitting there not leaving, Ji Wanwan’s toes curled up.

Licking her lips, Ji Wanwan broke the silence first, "Um, what are you planning to do next?"

Zhan Yu replied indifferently, "Wait for you."

Ji Wanwan: "?"

Seeing her confused face, Zhan Yu added, "Xu Siming doesn’t look at you with clean intentions, so he’s unlikely to leave you alone. You can sit here calmly, there must be some plan between you two, and I, plan to wait until your plan starts and then act with you."

This made Ji Wanwan blush. What did he mean by ’unclean intentions’?

After the embarrassment, she couldn’t help but give Zhan Yu a thumbs up, "Brother Zhan, you’re pretty direct!"

Zhan Yu snorted with laughter, "Too kind, too kind."

Ji Wanwan: "..."

Unsaid but said; after being infected by the virus, Zhan Yu spoke quite bluntly, without a shred of human warmth, just like Xia Li.

Wait, Xia Li...

Right, Xia Li became a Zombie Hunter because of the virus infection.

After a moment’s thought, Ji Wanwan looked at Zhan Yu outside the cage, "So, Brother Zhan, can I touch you?"

Zhan Yu: "?"

He gave her a meaningful look, as if silently accusing her of being a hooligan.

That look...

Ji Wanwan: "..."

Forget it, ignorance is not a sin.

Ji Wanwan: "Don’t get me wrong, I study life sciences. I think you might be showing signs of Corpse Transformation, so I wanted to touch your skin to see if it’s different from a normal person’s."

With that explanation, Zhan Yu looked a bit more relieved, although there was still a smidgen of doubt and wariness.

Ji Wanwan, who was usually indifferent to men, couldn’t help but feel amused and frustrated.

She never expected that she, a career-driven woman, would one day be mistaken for a hooligan.

Seeing Zhan Yu hesitating, Ji Wanwan’s face hardened: "Bro, hurry up! I’m locked in a cage; even if I wanted to do something to you, I’m powerless, all right!"

"Cough..." Zhan Yu felt embarrassed after his intentions were revealed, "Don’t get me wrong, I just wanted to make sure the surroundings are safe. I really don’t want to get ambushed again!"

Despite saying that, the steps he took underneath quickened a bit.

He stretched out his hand awkwardly.

Ji Wanwan didn’t say much, and immediately grabbed his wrist to check while observing with Equivalence Healing.

[The other party’s spiritual power is at 90%, life force at 90%, a half-infected individual; Equivalence Healing is ineffective on the subject.]

The voice of the System rang in her ears.

Ji Wanwan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Indeed, although Zhan Yu’s skin still had its elasticity and warmth, the color had become a sickly pale gray, similar to those recently mutated zombies.

Ji Wanwan: [What’s the difference between a half-infected individual and a Zombie Hunter?]

System: [Zombie Hunters can be considered as virus fusion entities, while half-infected individuals are virus symbionts.

In other words, the virus’s genetic sequence has perfectly fused with Xia Li’s, evolving Xia Li into a Zombie Hunter, which is also why Xia Li can upgrade indefinitely.

As for half-infected individuals, it’s a delicate balance between the body’s immune abilities and the virus’s infection strength, where both are in a symbiotic state. As a result, half-infected individuals retain some human intelligence and gain some zombie abilities; therefore, they can only maintain their current state and are unable to evolve further.

There’s one more thing that’s crucially important, the delicate balance inside a half-infected is both resilient and fragile. Once that balance is broken, the half-infected will instantaneously mutate into a zombie—a ticking time bomb, if you will. Please, host, be careful not to get too close to or employ these individuals.]

The System’s explanation was quite professional, and Ji Wanwan understood the differences immediately.

She let go of his hand, "Brother Zhan, do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"

Zhan Yu shook his head, "Nothing uncomfortable, but everything looks red to me, which is a little hard to get used to."

"Ah, that..." Ji Wanwan stumbled over her words, "As long as you’re not feeling uncomfortable, that’s good."

No sooner had she finished speaking when the entire Corpse Refining Factory shook violently, showering down dust and pebbles, followed by flickering lights twice then a "zzzt" as they went out completely, plunging the Corpse Refining Factory into darkness. Panicked shouting came from all directions.

"What’s going on?" At this moment, Ji Wanwan was still inside the cage, and instinctively grasped the iron bars of the cage.

Seeing this, Zhan Yu raised his fist and smashed the lock open, "I’ll go out and have a look."

Ji Wanwan followed as she opened the door and walked out.

The Corpse Refining Factory was pitch dark, only the faint glow of the small energy storage devices in the zombie pits flickered.

Those who were still screaming and running stopped in their tracks the moment they saw Zhan Yu emerge.

Now that Ji Wanwan had a stronger physique, she noticed at a glance that those who had run to the entrance of the Corpse Refining Factory had desperately turned back.

It seemed they had locked the gates of the Corpse Refining Factory.

Zhan Yu also noticed this and immediately strode to the blast-proof door.

When the underlings saw him, they started trembling with fear.

But Zhan Yu didn’t show a bit of regard for these people and didn’t even spare them a glance.

He reached out to touch the door, then threw a forceful punch at it.

The door didn’t budge.

Zhan Yu’s eyebrows furrowed deeply, but Ji Wanwan remained calmly unsurprised.

After all, even though Zhan Yu was a half-infected with a physique several times stronger than an average person, he was still made of flesh and blood; how could he possibly contend with an object of steel?

Seeing that Zhan Yu couldn’t do anything to the door, the underlings became even more desperate.

However, Ji Wanwan soothingly looked at Zhan Yu, "Don’t worry, wait for Old Xu’s news."

A day had already passed, Old Xu must be close to arriving by now.

Wood Element Energy rapidly surged within Zhan Yu’s palm, healing the hand he had injured from hitting the door.

He looked meaningfully at Ji Wanwan, "Can you tell me what your plan is?"