BFET Chapter 26

Evolution

In the nearly seventy years since the Great Disaster, many impressive things have happened.

Most of these events were concentrated in the early post-disaster period, slapping humanity in the face one after another, making it hard not to be impressed.

Later, with the stabilization of the ecological environment, aside from some early attacks on safety zones fifteen or twenty years ago, the only event clearly etched in the minds of the main team was the city-wide mobilization mission filled with bloodshed a year ago.

And now there’s one more – the explosion of an A-level dangerous Enclosed Zone.

When the news reached them, it unsurprisingly alarmed the General Commander of the Kui City Security Defense Team.

However, more than investigating the cause, the urgent task was to deal with the aftermath.

Therefore, Xie Yi and the other two, who were escorted back several days after the explosion, were temporarily forgotten.

Even if they hadn’t been forgotten, no one could have gotten any information from them.

After all, when the main team’s rescue team picked up the three involved, one was unconscious, and another was delirious with a high fever.

The only one who seemed to be awake had a half-mutated face, maintaining a “stay away” aura from beginning to end.

No matter who came, he wouldn’t utter a word, quietly watching them with his light-colored eyes, standing silently in the corner, looking like he’d mutate at any second.

The rescue team members, faced with the frantically red-lit and vibrating alarm and those eyes, didn’t dare ask anything else, not even daring to administer the tranquilizer they had prepared. Not daring to stay a second longer, they sped back to the main team in fear and trepidation.

…

When Xie Yi opened his eyes from the bizarre scenes in his mind, he was still a bit disoriented.

The beeping sounds beside him hit his mind for a while before he seemed to gather his scattered thoughts, feeling the faint pain in various parts of his body. He then turned his head to look outside through a transparent glass panel.

And he happened to meet a delicate face.

Jiang Li, who had stayed up for several nights, finally let out the breath she had been holding in her chest when she met his gaze. She raised her eyebrows at him and said, “Yo, you’re awake.”

Xie Yi opened his mouth, and after a long while, he managed a hoarse voice, “How long have I been unconscious?”

“If you count from when the Second Branch found you, about five days.” Jiang Li checked the quick test results displayed on the treatment pod’s screen, then rubbed her temples. “I think I should congratulate you, your Awakening level has increased, although the results are still unstable, breaking 50% shouldn’t be a problem.”

Awakening level is a symbolic indicator of an Awakened’s potential and strength.

The higher the initial Awakening level, the greater the potential, and the subsequent increase space will be higher. Of course, the difficulty of the increase will also rise accordingly. 50% is a watershed, and 80% is extremely difficult to reach.

Currently, the highest Awakening level in the entire Kui City Security Defense Team is Fei Yuelan, the captain of the Third Branch, at 77%.

However, Xie Yi didn’t care about that. “What’s the situation now? What about Shen Shu and You Xue?”

His memory was still stuck at the moment when the explosion had just occurred.

“Curse Gu? There are Curse Gu in Jiangbei?” Jiang Li frowned upon hearing this. “Although I’m not very clear about the specific situation there, from when the Second Branch found you, to when the rescue team brought you back here, there has been no news of discovering any Curse Gu.”

“As for You Xue and Shen Shu, You Xue is currently fine. She woke up a few times in between, but her fever hasn’t gone down yet. You know her situation, the side effects of an overdose of ELE-14 plus the sudden exposure to a surge in pollution concentration, she can’t recover for a while. Shen Shu…”

Jiang Li paused before continuing, “He was taken away by the professor. I don’t know either.”

Xie Yi closed his eyes. “Help me give Captain Fei a reminder, and have her relay the message.”

“Okay.” Understanding that Xie Yi was talking about the Curse Gu, Jiang Li didn’t hesitate and sent a message to Fei Yuelan using her Smart Terminal.

After sending the message, Jiang Li knocked on the treatment pod. “Xie Yi, there’s something I’d like to know.”

Xie Yi looked at her upon hearing this.

Jiang Li’s gaze fell on the lingering traces on his body, scrutinizing and probing. “Besides the injuries from the explosion and some abrasions, the most serious is your arm. The surface flesh contains a high concentration of toxins. According to the extracted tests, the biological genome sequence of the toxin that overlaps the most with records in the database is the Spider Puppet.”

“60%, basic similarities, but the evolutionary sequence is very different. It’s an evolved Spider Puppet.” Jiang Li’s tone was calm, as if she were making a summary statement, then she changed the subject. “But none of this is the main point.”

“Your injuries look very serious, and even the external mutation is severe, but in reality, after my examination, I found that all your injuries are just on the surface. The body mutation index is also a small issue compared to the last time you came back from Fengjiang.” Jiang Li stared at him intently. “I drew your blood for testing. Besides finding that your Awakening level has increased, I also discovered some problems with your blood cells.”

Xie Yi, whose consciousness was still somewhat drifting, seemed to focus at this point. He met Jiang Li’s gaze. “What problems?”

Jiang Li pursed her lips. “Their activity is increasing, at least a hundred times more than before, and it’s been increasing for three consecutive days, every day.”

Seeing the rare look of confusion on Xie Yi’s face, she added, “To put it simply, your cells are treating the toxins and pollution that invaded your body as nutrients, not only devouring them completely, but also amplifying and strengthening themselves.”

After saying that, she hesitated for a moment before continuing, “I don’t know if it’s appropriate to describe it this way, but it’s like your body has Awakened a second time, Xie Yi, your ability has evolved.”

Xie Yi subconsciously recalled his previous actions, but didn’t feel anything special. He was silent for a long while. “I don’t know, but when I was in Jiangbei, the only one I had a head-on confrontation with was the Spider Puppet. It triggered my Release state.”

Jiang Li was stunned, never thinking that the Release state, which she had repeatedly warned Xie Yi was not easy to master, would become the answer to her question at this time.

“Some abnormal reactions did occur in my body afterward.” Knowing what Jiang Li was concerned about, Xie Yi gave a rough explanation, “But the situation at the scene wasn’t good at the time, so I didn’t pay attention to it and always thought it was the effect of the Spider Puppet’s poison.”

“I understand.” Jiang Li nodded. “Afterward, I still need you to cooperate with me for some tests.”

Xie Yi: “Okay.”

Perhaps it was because of the influence of the secondary evolution, Xie Yi recovered quickly. Besides the external wounds on his hands that hadn’t healed, he was approved to leave the treatment pod the day after he woke up.

At the same time, an investigation order from the General Command, bypassing the Third Branch captain, went directly into Xie Yi’s Smart Terminal.

At three in the afternoon, Xie Yi had barely stepped out of the treatment pod when he was already standing at the door of the General Command office on the top floor of the Security Defense Team.

He reached out and touched the sensor on the door with his Smart Terminal.

A moment later, the door in front of him opened automatically.

What came into view was a bright and open floor-to-ceiling window. At this time, a tall man was standing in front of the window with his back to him.

Xie Yi walked in and stopped not far behind the man, his figure straight and tall, his gaze fixed on the person’s back. “General Commander Fang.”