Players, Please Board the Train

”You’re just a new player. Don’t mistake the limits of your own experience for the limits of the game world. There are plenty of things you don’t know,” Yue Weiping said.

”We’ve seen the corpses of Mutants,” Liang Song added. ”Although their external signs of degeneration aren’t obvious, their bodies are severely contaminated. They can also use their appearance to lure warriors. If they fail, they might even resort to suicidal attacks. Once a person gets contaminated with the pathogens, they can be infected very easily.”

”So, you’re facing two main difficulties. First, direct contact with Mutants risks pathogen infection. Second, removing the glasses injures the eyes,” Xu Huo summarized briefly. ”For the first issue, as long as you avoid direct contact with Mutants, the infection risk decreases. Your mouths and noses are exposed, which suggests you aren’t worried about airborne transmission. In that case, the risk of infection from examining a corpse shouldn’t be high.”

”As for the second point, the light from the High-Intensity Lights on the Protective Wall is harmful to the eyes. We are far enough from the Protective Wall here, and there are no lights nearby, so the naked eye should be able to adapt to the light levels in this area.”

”You’re suggesting certain lights might harm the eyes imperceptibly, but the glasses we’re using don’t seem to be made from special materials. In other words, they aren’t specifically designed to block particular light. Other types of blindfolds could achieve the same effect.”

The other three exchanged glances. Yi Mao said, ”Fine, you make a reasonable point. But forcibly damaging the glasses might cause the identity verification to fail. That would mean forfeiting the government reward.”

”That is indeed a problem,” Xu Huo said. As he spoke, he suddenly turned to the right. Immediately after, there was a sound of a bullet striking metal!

Seeing fragments fly from his face as he jerked his head back, Yi Mao and the others instinctively crouched and took cover behind the withered trees, simultaneously firing their guns in the direction the bullet came from!

None of them had actually spotted a target. They just saw Xu Huo get ”shot” and, fearing a repeat of the earlier incident, decided to open fire first and ask questions later. So, a few seconds later, a ”person” leaped out from beneath the mud. Facing the hail of bullets, it didn’t flee but instead charged towards them!

”It’s a Mutant!” Yi Mao was the first to see clearly and couldn’t help but shout. But the creature was ferocious. With one powerful leap, it pounced at him. He barely managed to dodge, almost falling, and was only saved because Liang Song beside him pulled him aside in time.However, failing its first attack, the Mutant then pounced towards Xu Huo, who was standing to the side.

Yue Weiping had already broken free from Xu Huo’s grip and escaped the moment he was ”hit.” Seeing him still standing now, the four of them were somewhat surprised. But they soon realized their earlier judgment was wrong—Xu Huo hadn’t been hit at all!

Xu Huo wasn’t the least bit surprised the creature would charge at him. As it closed in, he crossed two fingers. The piano wire floating in the air promptly hoisted the creature up.

Suspended in mid-air, the ”Mutant” clutched its throat with both hands, struggling continuously and emitting intermittent, choked gasps. Xu Huo then removed his shattered glasses and addressed the hanging mud-covered figure. ”Can you still speak?”

The ”mud person” didn’t respond. Its bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at him, drool trickling from the corner of its mouth.

Xu Huo took out some of his own carried rations and tossed them over. The creature completely ignored the wire still around its neck, lunging desperately to catch the dried meat with its mouth. It struggled fiercely while clamping down on the meat, refusing to let go.

”You’d better not make a move,” Xu Huo said, looking back at Yue Weiping.

In the eyes of Yue Weiping and the other three, he was now without glasses. His warning gaze made them pause, and they belatedly realized his vision wasn’t impaired.

Yue Weiping, who had just raised his gun, slowly lowered his hand. He and the other three retreated a few steps.

Only then did Xu Huo lower the ”mud person,” still using the piano wire looped around its neck, though not tightening it. However, the creature showed no interest in attacking him. It chewed the dried meat in large bites, its eyes watching him warily.

It didn’t seem to have completely lost its mind.

Xu Huo tossed his canteen over. This time, the ”mud person” caught it, managed to unscrew the cap, and poured water into its mouth. Choking, it desperately thumped its chest. Before even swallowing the food completely, it stretched out its hand again.

Xu Huo gave it a few more pieces of dried meat. The ”mud person” simply sat down, tearing at the meat and drinking water, completely ignoring the people present who intended to kill it.

In the eyes of Yi Mao and the others, Xu Huo was ”feeding” a Mutant. But this human-shaped figure on the thermal imaging was acting exactly like a normal person, utterly unlike a Mutant with degenerated intelligence.

”Mutants can mimic humans,” Yue Weiping said. ”Besides, they were originally human. It’s not strange for their behavior to resemble humans.”

”You have extra water, right? Give me some,” Xu Huo said, turning to Liang Song.

”Our water might not be sufficient for all of us,” Wan Xiao whispered as a reminder.

Nevertheless, Liang Song didn’t hesitate to bring out a bucket. Xu Huo thanked him, took it, and splashed the water over the Mutant. After washing away some of the mud from its body and observing for a moment, he said, ”There are reddish-black patches on the skin. It’s likely infected with pathogens.”

”That must be the pathogens carried by the Mutants themselves!” Yi Mao’s expression changed dramatically. He grabbed a scarf to cover his mouth and nose, his voice muffled as he said, ”Don’t get too close!”

Liang Song and the others also changed color, hurriedly increasing their distance.

Only Xu Huo remained squatting in front of the person, unmoved. After a careful look, he said, ”I think I’ve seen this type of pathogen before.”

With that, he searched through his personal panel, took out a bottle of potion, and tossed it over.

The other party didn’t care at all what he threw. Anything edible or drinkable went straight into its mouth. It bit through the bottle, swallowing both the potion and blood.

After a while, it stretched out its hand for food again. This time, Xu Huo didn’t give any. Instead, he tightened the piano wire, lifting the person up, though only enough to make it stand.

The person seemed to fall into brief confusion again, beginning to struggle and kick, but not with the previous frenzy. Eventually, it probably tired itself out from struggling and slowly just stood there motionless. Not long after, it actually started dozing off on the spot.

”What is he doing?” Yue Weiping couldn’t help but ask in a low voice. ”Is he actually trying to restore the Mutant to normal?”

”Should we leave?” Wan Xiao suggested.

”Let’s watch a bit longer,” Liang Song said, frowning, and patted Yi Mao’s shoulder reassuringly.

Having no choice, the group waited. Another hour passed. Xu Huo suddenly spoke. ”Awake?”

He wasn’t asking Liang Song or the others, but the Mutant in front of him.

The Mutant, whose eyes had been red and demeanor frenzied, now seemed to have a glimmer of light return to its eyes. It observed its own situation, glanced at Yi Mao and the others whose gun barrels were pointed straight at it, then pointed at its own neck and shook its hand.

Xu Huo casually broke off a dry branch and handed it over, retrieving the piano wire. ”If you can’t speak, write.”

The person squatted down and wrote on the damp ground: ”What is the date now?”