Zhou Shanshan shot her a glare, wanting her to shut up, but the other woman was too engrossed in gossip to notice.
"What kind of relationship?"
"The kind they're talking about, that kind." The girl spoke cautiously, unsure if Zhou Shanshan was genuinely ignorant or feigning it.
"Lovers? Or siblings?"
The girl froze, and Zhou Shanshan was momentarily speechless.
With Xiao Chongyan gone, Zhuo Yin had no reservations. "He's a child-bride my parents raised for me. Is there a problem with that?"
The two of them: "..."
"No, no problem." Zhou Shanshan felt her social anxiety flaring up.
Was this the classic "as long as I'm not embarrassed, it's others who are embarrassed" situation?
The term "child-bride" perfectly explained everything. For instance, they had indeed grown up together. Xiao Chongyan belonged to the Xiao family, so calling them siblings wasn't wrong. Simultaneously, he was her fiancé, making "boyfriend" and similar terms perfectly acceptable.
She pulled the girl up. "Well, we're leaving now. We have to go out tomorrow. Miss Xiao, if you need anything, you can find Professor Shen or Professor Yang. And this," she gestured to Zhuo Yin, "this is mine, it grants passage."
Those two were currently under special protection, and ordinary people couldn't see them. For the sake of convenient communication, the research institute had specially made a few identification cards.
Zhuo Yin took it and casually placed it aside. "Be careful when you go out."
"Yes, thank you, Miss Xiao."
With that, they quickly pulled the girl away.
They said they would be out the next day, but it ended up being a three-day trip.
When they returned on the third day, there were casualties.
It was Yang Lianyi who came looking for her, disheveled and anxious. "Miss Xiao, some of them are injured. Can you save them?"
Zhuo Yin didn't want the people she had trained to die like this, so she followed Yang Lianyi to take a look.
Three of the "seven-man team" were on their deathbeds, Zhou Shanshan was unconscious, and the other three were also injured.
As she examined them, she asked, "What did you encounter?"
"Some kind of monster. I took pictures, they're here." Yang Lianyi frantically pulled out the photos.
In the pictures, a zombie-like monster stood facing the wind. At first glance, there seemed to be nothing amiss. But looking at the surrounding vehicles for scale, the zombie was much larger. Moreover, something was moving behind it.
Zhuo Yin gave them a few pills. "Tell me when you encountered this monster and its other characteristics."
Shen Qianjiao entered, followed by several high-ranking officials from the safe zone.
"Two days ago, by a river on the outskirts. Initially, we thought it was a corpse, and we wanted to burn it. But as soon as someone touched it, they were corroded by the toxic substance it released and died. Then it started to grow, expanding to seven meters tall. It was very strong but clumsy. A filamentous substance grew from its back; it was sticky and poisonous. We analyzed its composition and found a strong acid. The cause of its mutation is yet to be determined."
Shen Qianjiao spoke with a serious and calm expression, but Zhuo Yin detected a hint of strangeness in his tone.
This wasn't the first time he had seen such a thing.
Or rather, he hadn't encountered such a bizarre monster for the first time.
Karmic retribution of the mortal realm.
Zhuo Yin looked at the others and said sternly, "Put everyone on high alert. If anyone exhibits strange behavior or moral corruption, report them. Detain them and keep a close watch. If they start to mutate, kill them immediately!"
The group exchanged glances with varied expressions, but none responded.
Only Shen Qianjiao asked, "Is it a virus?"
"No."
"Then it's more terrifying than a virus."
Shen Qianjiao's expression grew grim. He turned to the others and declared decisively, "Listen to her!"
He had many questions for Zhuo Yin, but he was too busy verifying his own conjectures and dealing with this unexpected crisis. He could only postpone everything else.
The others didn't pay much attention to Zhuo Yin's words. Perhaps ordinary people were deliberately concealing something. On the second day of the cooling weather, a minor crisis erupted in the city.
A young daughter was desperately seeking shelter for her disabled parents. Not only did no one offer help, but they also verbally abused them. Some even directly humiliated and attacked the daughter.
As a man taunted the daughter with a steamed bun, her disabled parents transformed into monsters with telescoping bones before everyone's eyes. A long bone whip struck and killed four people. Subsequently, over sixty bystanders were attacked, resulting in severe casualties. The culprit, however, vanished.
"What exactly are they?!"
"Monsters." Monsters born of resentment, feeding on resentment.
"How do we deal with them?"
Zhuo Yin gave a knowing smile. "Perhaps, truth, goodness, and beauty."
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Shen Qianjiao said wearily, "I'll talk to Miss Xiao. Everyone else, please go back. As she said earlier, investigate everyone. Take care of the ordinary people in the city as much as possible."
Those people left grumbling and puffing.
Before they left, Zhuo Yin felt a peculiar gaze.
Shen Qianjiao closed the door and took out a device. After turning it on and placing it on the table, his attitude suddenly became respectful. "Senior, hello. My name is Shen Qianjiao. Thank you for taking care of my system and me, along with Senior 007."