Players, Please Board the Train

”Have you ever tried bringing things back with you?” Xu Huo asked casually.

Master Tu fell silent.

Xu Huo set down the test tube and looked at them. ”You haven’t eaten the contaminated food from the cleanup area, you haven’t lost your voice, and you haven’t shown any infection symptoms. Why haven’t you returned to Clown City?”

None of them spoke. Xu Huo provided the answer himself. ”Is it that you can’t, or that you don’t dare?”

”What do you mean, ’don’t dare’!” the young man who had spoken earlier retorted. ”We’re staying here solely to collect data and find a permanent solution to the cleanup area’s problems!”

Xu Huo glanced at him. ”That line about not eating people was quite convincing.”

The young man choked on his words. Behind him, Zhuo Wangsun spoke up. ”There’s no point talking to them. They probably stole someone else’s supplies, barely made it here, and are too scared to go back for fear of running into a Mutant tide, so they’re just hiding out. Hiding here requires food too. After eating Mutants, how would they dare go back? Clown City definitely wouldn’t accept people who’ve eaten Mutants, considering those Mutants were once their fellow citizens.”

These words struck a nerve with Master Tu and the others. Their expressions darkened, but they offered no defense.

There were also glass tubes marked with the character ”Tu” in the box. Xu Huo glanced at them before looking away.

Just then, Fish Ball walked over and pointed at the protective suit covering his head. Xu Huo said, ”Take it off.”The two children quickly removed the head-covering protective suits. Zhuo Wangsun’s face changed. ”They’re infected too?”

”Don’t be so tense,” Xu Huo said, pointing at Master Tu and the others. ”They’ve eaten Mutants and are fine.”

Only then did Zhuo Wangsun understand, his face twisting with disgust. ”Besides tricking people into coming here, they even eat Mutants?”

But he paused, then added, ”Since they’ve eaten Mutants, why aren’t they infected?”

”That’s the strange part,” Xu Huo said, looking at Master Tu.

Master Tu couldn’t bring himself to look at Fish Ball and Ice Cream, lowering his voice. ”My hypothesis is that the Mutants living underground haven’t reached a certain infection threshold. After high-temperature sterilization, they no longer possess infectious properties.”

”The Mutants that come out to the surface are different,” Xu Huo continued. ”They undergo rapid mutation within a few hours. That’s why Gao Peng and the others go underground to hunt Mutants.”

”There’s a difference between underground and above-ground mutation?” Zhuo Wangsun pondered. ”Could it be related to the high temperatures here?”

”Perhaps that’s the reason,” Xu Huo said, gesturing for Master Tu and the others to remove their goggles.

”No!” the men following Master Tu reacted vehemently. ”The light in the cleanup area damages the eyes!”

Xu Huo pointed at Fish Ball and Ice Cream. ”Do they look blind to you?”

He hadn’t worn goggles for long after entering the cleanup area either, and his eyes showed no discomfort so far.

The younger men still wanted to make trouble, but Master Tu seemed to grasp his intention and pleaded, ”I’m old, it doesn’t matter for me. But they’re still young. Don’t make them remove the goggles.”

Xu Huo showed no emotion, simply making a ”please” gesture.

Master Tu and the others were angry but didn’t dare speak out. In the end, they could only follow his instruction and remove their goggles.

Ice Cream and Fish Ball were curious about the goggles. One of them ran over, picked one up, and started playing with it.

Without the goggles, the Mutants were no longer just thermal images but living people. Especially these two children—aside from the infection symptoms on their faces, they were no different from normal people. They could smile, play, and also stare at them with intense hostility.

One of the men turned away, retching.

On the other side, Zhuo Wangsun prepared to remove his goggles, but Xu Huo stopped him.

Zhuo Wangsun was confused. Xu Huo explained, ”I want to run a few small experiments. Once the goggles come off, they can’t be used again.”

Zhuo Wangsun wasn’t sure what he intended to do but complied anyway.

Afterwards, Xu Huo distributed the water and dry rations Master Tu’s group had stockpiled to Ice Cream, and gave the clean food and water he brought himself to Fish Ball. He then drew blood samples from both children and injected them into two of the adult men.

He didn’t fully disclose his thoughts, only telling them there might be a way to save these two children who hadn’t fully mutated yet, and asked for their cooperation.

Whether out of fear or guilt, the young men stopped making a fuss. They did whatever Xu Huo instructed.

Master Tu had collected some plants brought over from the Jungle Area. He brought them out and, along with the contaminated water Zhuo Wangsun had collected, gave them to the third young man.

Only half an hour had passed when the young man who ingested the Jungle Area plants and water showed symptoms first: hoarse voice, bloodshot eyes, and violent tendencies.

Xu Huo tied him up, fed him an antidote, then asked Zhuo Wangsun, ”Any changes now?”

”Subject Three has turned into a thermal image,” Zhuo Wangsun reported. ”Subjects One and Two show no change for now.”

Xu Huo nodded, then looked back at Fish Ball and Ice Cream. The two children’s conditions had altered slightly. Fish Ball became highly agitated, while Ice Cream’s breathing grew heavier.

”They’re mutating!” Master Tu exclaimed.

His voice provoked Fish Ball, who grabbed something nearby and hurled it at him, emitting a low, threatening growl.

Xu Huo went over, subdued him, drew blood, then administered another antidote. Fish Ball kept making muffled ”woofing” sounds, refusing to settle down.

Xu Huo simply tied him up too.

After tossing him aside, Xu Huo walked over to Ice Cream, who was lying on a chair. ”Can you understand what I’m saying?”

Ice Cream nodded, gesturing with his hands to ask: Am I going to die? I still want to eat candy.

”You won’t die,” Xu Huo said, removing the blood-drawing syringe. He fed Ice Cream both an antidote and a healing potion, smiling slightly. ”You can eat as much as you want once we get out.”

Ice Cream immediately fell into a deep sleep.

Xu Huo then injected the blood from both children into Subjects One and Two respectively. He walked over to Master Tu and gestured for him to extend his arm.

”I’ll take Master Tu’s place!” the hot-tempered young man hurried over.

”No need for you!” Master Tu barked.

But the young man ignored him. ”Master Tu is old. If you want to experiment, do it on me. I can take it!”

”This has nothing to do with age!” Master Tu tried to push him away, blocking Xu Huo. ”I’ll do it!”

Touched by their mutual protectiveness, Xu Huo made incisions on both their arms.

”No need to argue. There’s enough for everyone.”

The two men stared at each other, speechless.

Zhuo Wangsun chuckled at the apt scene. But when he turned his head back, Master Tu and the other man had both turned into thermal images in his vision!

”Why is this happening!” he exclaimed, jumping to his feet.

Xu Huo wasn’t surprised and asked about the status of Subjects One and Two.

”They’re still the same,” Zhuo Wangsun said, even more confused. ”They were directly injected with deeply infected blood but weren’t judged as Mutants. Instead, two normal people turned into Mutants. Could the pathogens really be transmitted through the air?”

”Wait a little longer,” Xu Huo said, checking the time, his gaze settling on the two children.

Soon after, Fish Ball regained consciousness. Although his face had grown paler, his mind was clear.

Astonished by his recovery, Master Tu blurted out, ”What kind of antidote did you just give him?!”