Chapter 66: You're an Idiot
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
Marcie could see a small hill-shaped figure moving toward her in the dark. She immediately paused as she observed it cautiously. It was slowly edging forward. The figure was very large, but it was extremely slow. Marcie placed her medical kit down and crossed her arms.
After she waited for some time, the large shadow finally got closer and revealed its true form. When Marcie got a clear view of what it was, she raised one of her brows. “What are you doing?”
The person that approached her was actually Hu Changzai. He was pulling on a rope (god knows how he got it) propped on his shoulder, and an unconscious Hai Tianqing was secured on the other end of the rope. He struggled with each step as he continued dragging that man behind him. The scene was like a chick trying to drag a camel. Hu Changzai was exhausted. He panted heavily, and he could almost feel his eyes popping out. “Huff… Ah… Help… Help me…”
When he looked up, he was instead astounded, “Marcie, how did you end up like this?”
There wasn’t a single part of her body that was unhurt, it was either bandaged or covered with ointment. He almost couldn’t tell what her original skin color was. Marcie sighed in resignation, “I received too many cuts just now, so I went to the infirmary to treat my wounds first. I also took some items that I think will be useful. Don’t worry, they’re all superficial wounds… But you… I killed Chen Jinfeng but what are you doing, dragging your opponent around like that?”
Hu Changzai spotted the medical kit and immediately lay on the ground with a “plop”. He waved his arms and said, “Tend… tend to his wounds first… he’s on our side… I'll tell you more… more details later. Let me catch my breath…”
Since he said that, Marcie took out a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a set of thread and needle. She dealt with Hai Tianqing’s wounds quickly and fed him some antibiotics. After all that, she wiped her hands with a cotton cloth and mumbled self-deprecatingly, “Since I came to Oasis, I'm almost becoming a doctor… Alright, he can sleep here. Whether he survives is up to him.”
Anyway, with Hai Tianqing’s body frame, it was difficult to move him anywhere else, so Hu Changzai nodded. Just then, they heard a cough not far from them and a quiet voice: “Is that you Marcie?” Both of them looked up and saw a person stumbling toward them, it was Fang Dan.
Fang Dan’s body was covered with large patches of bruises. She didn’t have many open wounds, but she looked rather sickly. “Great, I finally found you both—” Before she could finish her sentence, she nearly fell to the ground. Hu Changzai realized and quickly helped her up while Marcie immediately checked Fang Dan’s injuries.
“You have at least three broken ribs! How can you still move around? It’s too dangerous… what about your opponent?” Marcie exclaimed.
Fang Dan managed a weak but proud smile, “Since I’m alive, he’s definitely dead.”
With that, she turned and spotted Hai Tianqing and was shocked, “Ah! But why?”
After Hu Changzai explained the situation hurriedly, Fang Dan looked at him skeptically but did not say anything else. Marcie provided Fang Dan some first aid treatment. Seeing that Fang Dan should not move in her current condition, Hu Changzai and Marcie helped her over and let her rest beside Hai Tianqing.
“We’ll go and see how Xiao Jiu is and return shortly. Even though there is no one outside now, you better hide beside Executive Hai for now…” Marcie said softly.
Fang Dan nodded and leaned on one of Hai Tianqing’s arm which was as almost as thick as the trunk of a small tree. She gradually relaxed. After seeing Fang Dan closing her eyes, Marcie and Hu Changzai sped for the Executives’ Building without delay.
“Who’d have guessed? I didn’t know Fang Dan was… was so powerful! I wonder what’s her ability,” Hu Changzai commented between breaths as he tried to keep up with Marcie’s speed.
Marcie paused for a second and turned to look at him curiously. “I don’t know. Haven’t you two been here in Oasis for a long time? I thought you knew…”
Hu Changzai didn’t know how to respond, but he did not take it to heart. He thought to himself that when Fang Dan was feeling better, they still had plenty of chance to ask her. After running at that speed for one minute, they could see the Executives’ Building just ahead. By then, the dust that they had stirred from the ground had attracted the attention of the people standing at the Executives’ Building.
“One, two, three… That’s weird. Why are there three people standing in front of Xiao Jiu? There is also something in Xiao Jiu’s hand…” Marcie crooked her head, puzzled.
[What the hell is she holding anyway?] Marcie could see that Lin Sanjiu was facing the three people alone, but Lin Sanjiu did not look nervous. Lin Sanjiu saw Marcie and even waved at her, shouting, “Marcie, Hu Changzai, come here!”
With a trail of dust behind her, Marcie stopped beside Lin Sanjiu, unable to comprehend the current situation. She looked at the three people. There was a girl with braids and an attractive woman, and she remembered that she had seen them once. The last person was a middle-aged woman with cropped hair and was wearing a white coat. Marcie had no idea who that woman was and realized that she had never seen her before.
After some considerations, Marcie asked the question that she was most concerned about: “Where did you catch that rabbit? Can we eat it?” She couldn’t be blamed for that since it was a question prompted by the fact that she had not eaten fresh meat in 28 months.
“I’m not your goddamn food! You sh*tty f*cker!” even though his ears were still firmly in Lin Sanjiu’s grip, the brown rabbit regained its former vulgar tone after he was reassured by the presence of his allies (Xu Xiaoyang’s group). “Don’t stare at me! Get away from me!”
“What… what’s the matter?” Marcie asked, flabbergasted. This was also the first time Marcie had seen a talking rabbit. As if she suddenly remembered the others, she added, “Who are they?”
While they were talking, Hu Changzai ran toward them, breathlessly. Lin Sanjiu did not answer Marcie but instead asked in a serious tone, “Is everyone alright? What happened to the other three Executives?”
The people in Xu Xiaoyang’s group immediately showed interest when they heard her question.
“Other than Hai Tianqing, the other two are dead.” Marcie tilted her chin upward as she tossed a sideward glance the three people, whose purpose were unknown to her. After seeing their expressions changed, she continued softly, “Fang Dan’s injuries are quite serious. She is resting with Hai Tianqing now.”
When Hu Changzai noticed Lin Sanjiu’s slightly perturbed expression, and he quickly interjected, “I’ll explain it to you later… What about you, Xiao Jiu? Aren’t there two more Executives?”
“Well, one of them is here…” Lin Sanjiu lifted up her arm and shook the rabbit, “Hey, say hello.”
The rabbit scowled and kept quiet.
“So the rumored Mr. Rabbit Executive is really a rabbit!?” Hu Changzai said in shock.
“As for the other Executive, she is unconscious.” Lin Sanjiu shrugged as the two people looked at her with astonishment.
Before Marcie and Hu Changzai could respond, Xu Xiaoyang gasped in disbelief, “I don’t understand how you all could defeat the Executives. With the few of you, and some of you still haven’t developed physical enhancements…”
“Uh, that’s right,” As if Xu Xiaoyang’s comment finally reminded Lin Sanjiu about their purpose of gathering, she jutting her chin at Xu Xiaoyang and said, “Team Leader Xu said that she has a request. Since all of you are here, let’s hear her out.”
When Xu Xiaoyang heard her, she lowered her eyelids, showing a dispirited expression. At that moment, she did not look like a child at all. She looked at the middle-age woman beside her for a moment and tugged the corner of the woman’s shirt. She couldn’t help sighing as she said, “I hope… you won’t hurt my mom.”
“Your mom?”
Xu Xiaoyang nodded as her French braids slid to the side of her cheeks, “I am Professor Bai’s daughter.”
All of them immediately looked at the middle-aged woman. Xu Xiaoyang’s voice was now so soft that it was barely audible, “My mom is also one of the people who ate the medicine which provides Heat Resistance Adaptation. She has zero Potential Growth Value, so she doesn’t have any other abilities. But if all of you intend to hurt her, even if I’ll die, I’ll—”
“So, she is Professor Bai?” Lin Sanjiu interrupted just as Xu Xiaoyang was about to show her resolve, “Actually, we had no idea who Professor Bai is… If you didn’t say that just now, I would have just let her go.”
Xu Xiaoyang lifted her head, as regret filled her face
“Since we know this now, I am not going to just let her leave like this. At least, she needs to explain everything.” Lin Sanjiu nodded at Xu Xiaoyang slightly apologetically, as she turned to ask, “Why are you rearing duoluozhongs here?”
Xu Xiaoyang was startled by the question and wanted to say something; however, Professor Bai patted her daughter’s shoulder, indicating that she shouldn’t. The rabbit in Lin Sanjiu’s hand froze for a moment before he sneered, “What rubbish are you talking ab—”
“When I chose this path, I knew I’d be alone,” the middle-aged woman interrupted the rabbit. The brown rabbit could only look at her in a daze.
Professor Bai cast her eyes at the dormitories and looked at them for a moment before she continued, “Yesterday, it was the first time that some of the kids around Xiaoyang’s age entered the greenhouse.”
Lin Sanjiu was unsure what the woman meant.
“They were starting on Biology, so the teachers brought them to the greenhouse to plant some carrots. Tomorrow, next week… After they wait for a while, they’ll see the carrots grow… just like these children.”
Professor Bai smiled faintly as a few wrinkles appeared at the side of her mouth. Then, she turned to look around. “There are currently 1600 people living in those five buildings. There are men and women, most of them are young and vibrant. They still have many years ahead of them… And Oasis is a great model to start rebuilding a civilization again. These people are the future hope for mankind.”
Professor Bai inhaled deeply, and a gentle smile appeared on her face, “To protect this hope, for mankind’s survival, I will continue down this dark path. I won’t complain.”
Hu Changzai was stunned, he looked to his companions and nodded. “She is saying all these from the bottom of her heart,” he concluded quietly.
“What… what does this have to do with the duoluozhongs?”
Professor Bai looked at them each, “What if I tell you that Oasis could reach such a scale all because of the duoluozhongs?”
Lin Sanjiu’s group and that one rabbit were shocked and dumbfounded.
“Why would people evolve? This has bothered me for a long time. Does this mean that Posthumans are better than normal people? Does it mean they deserve to survive? But that shouldn’t be the case… Posthumans only make up a very small population. The people who truly need to live and survive are those 1600 normal people. Whatever I’m doing is just to sacrifice a few lives to save the majority.”
Xu Xiaoyang pursed her lips tightly and lowered her head.
“I’m quite ashamed to say this, but most of the technology used to save the people here in Oasis wasn’t my creation. A duoluozhong shared with me the technology to produce heat resistant crops, he gave me the medicine for the heat resistance adaptation and also the methods to get water… And what the duoluozhong and his companions needed were just a few natural Posthumans.
“Apparently, duoluozhongs need to evolve as well. And they do this by consuming Posthumans,” the woman continued in a mild tone, her gentle smile showed some resignation. However, there was a glint of insanity in her eyes which was getting obvious by the minute.
After some time, someone finally spoke.
“You mean… you used Oasis’s living conditions as bait to attract natural Posthumans. Then, you treated them like what you did to us? You sent them to the duoluozhongs! You sent them to their deaths?” Lin Sanjiu sounded crestfallen as she said this.
“The details were always arranged by Executive Chen. So, all of you actually came back from one of those missions…” Professor Bai nodded before she said sincerely, “On behalf of all the members of Oasis, I am truly grateful for each and every Posthumans’ sacrifice.”
Lin Sanjiu had been looking downwards all this time. Suddenly, she erupted, “You idiotic woman!” She clenched her fist and went in for a punch.
At the same time, Fang Dan, who had been lying beside Hai Tianqing, suddenly moved. She seemed to have heard a noise, so she slowly opened her eyes. Under the night sky, she saw a person walking toward her. “It’s you. I knew you’d be alright. Is everything going well?” she asked with a smile on her face.