Chapter 198: Chapter 165: Armor Breaking
Zhou Qian followed her over. His sharp eyes scanned the area briefly before locking onto the flat, smooth hole, not even missing the debris scattered across the floor. However, it had been six years since the apocalypse. In most cases, plant and animal mutations followed a certain logic. Take this goose, for example—it was a goose, right? Since it was a herbivore, its combat power should have been relatively weak. Yet, looking at this hole...
"Big and Second..." The name was long and awkward. He paused. "It pecked this?"
Huai Yu laughed awkwardly. "How could it be a peck? It just poked it... just a light poke."
As they spoke, Big and Second assumed the gentle tones meant they were being praised. While the humans were distracted, they took another poke at a brittle shard on the floor. Coincidentally, the ceramic fragment shattered completely. Unfortunately, the beak went straight into the floorboards. It sank in just like a hot knife cutting through butter.
Huai Yu hurriedly pulled the culprit up. Zhou Qian noticed that the sharp spikes covering its body instantly retracted backward, completely avoiding pricking its owner. At the same time, its flat, smoothly contoured beak didn’t seem to have suffered any damage.
Zhou Qian squatted down. "Has its beak been this formidable since it was little?"
Huai Yu nodded. "It pierced through glass right after hatching. But it’s very well-behaved."
The last part lacked persuasion due to the two holes beside her and on the floor. Yet Zhou Qian believed her, even reaching out a finger to touch Big and Second’s flat beak. It was indeed smooth and rounded.
He nodded. "This mutated animal has been raised well. If I’m not mistaken, its mutation direction should be Armor Breaking. It’s not that its beak is incredibly sharp; rather, this is its Superpower. Initiating an attack through any part of its body will yield this effect. Is the other one like this too?"
"Huh?" Huai Yu was bewildered, then nodded. "Yes, the two of them are the same."
Now it was Zhou Qian’s turn to frown. "Even for identical twins, it’s virtually impossible for them to have the exact same mutation direction..."
Huai Yu, however, recalled the moment she had imparted her Superpower to them. Because the eggshell had looked incredibly hard and the two goose pups might not have been able to break out successfully, she had to admit that she had been solely focused on that specific outcome when applying her Superpower. But... could it really be?!
Huai Yu stared at her palms, Lin Xuefeng’s past words suddenly echoing in her mind.
"How are you Huai Yu? You are clearly Huai Bi."
She instantly hugged Big and Second tightly and asked nervously, "How... how am I supposed to pay for this?"
Zhou Qian thought for a moment. "Go to the hospital’s main gate and look for the security guard. I remember he should have an Earth Ability. His mutation direction is Extreme Compression.
"It should be fine if he compresses some brick and stone to patch it up."
He made it sound very simple, and Huai Yu instantly breathed a sigh of relief. "Can he compress earth into ceramic?"
Zhou Qian shook his head. "If he had that capability, why would he apply to be a security guard? He’ll just botch together a temporary fix for now, because the head nurse on the day shift is very fierce.
"You can discuss compensation with the night shift nurse later."
Huai Yu was rendered speechless.
Having absorbed too much energy yesterday, the Virginia creeper vines on Zhou Qian’s leg were mostly still dormant, so he soon lay back down on the bed.
Meanwhile, Huai Yu held Big and Second, nagging them for a good while and instructing them not to destroy public property anymore. Then, she pulled a raw sweet potato from her woven basket to pacify them. As she fed them, she continued to lecture.
"Don’t poke the floor... Take small bites... Ah! Come here, let me just feed you..."
After quite a while, she finally let out a sigh of relief and stepped away, checking the time.
"I brought you a super luxurious dinner today. We can eat it a bit later."
Zhou Qian had already seen the fresh sweet potato she took out earlier, thinking to himself that it was indeed luxurious enough. But right now, he was only curious about one thing.
"Where did you get Big and Second?
"If they have a specific mutation direction, any eggs acquired through official channels would have been detected." He placed heavy emphasis on the words "official channels."
Huai Yu stammered, "I bought them... I just bought them..."
Zhou Qian didn’t press the issue. After all, Huai Yu was quite defenseless; whatever she could share, she would eventually blab about on her own, and there was no point asking about what she didn’t want to say. So, he changed the subject. "If one day you don’t want to raise them anymore, domesticated mutated creatures with a specific mutation direction like this can be handed over to the authorities.
"Their Armor Breaking mutation is highly useful in the Wilderness.
"The state will compensate you with a large amount of points—ranging from one hundred to five thousand."
Huai Yu shook her head. "I would never stop raising them."
Big and Second were so well-behaved and sensible. They even poked bamboo and barnyard grass, and intercepted the ginseng to vent her frustrations for her. With such considerate pups, how could she possibly abandon them? Still, Armor Breaking sounded so classy! Her pups were just too sweet, and Huai Yu decided that when she returned home tomorrow, she would treat them to a feast!
Zhou Qian checked the time. "The nurses change shifts at six o’clock. Once they swap, remember to ask for some bedding. There’s an escort bed that can be pulled out from under this hospital bed.
"Get to sleep early tonight."
"Mhm!" Huai Yu nodded, speaking as if it were a matter of course. "I’m still growing, so I’ll go to sleep at seven later and wake up at twelve-thirty in the night..."
She calculated it again with satisfaction. "That’s five hours of sleep. It should be about right."
If she got sleepy, she would just drink some ginseng tea to refresh herself!
Zhou Qian remained silent for a moment. "...Alright, early to bed, early to rise."
After all, there was indeed no entertainment nowadays. Having stayed in the hospital for so many days, he had practically borrowed and read every magazine available at the nurse’s station.
However, before going to bed, the most important thing was naturally the luxurious dinner.
Huai Yu had brought four sweet potatoes. They were thick, long, and perfectly proportioned—the kind where a single one could fill you up. She handed the two raw ones to Zhou Qian. "Keep these for extra meals tomorrow. After checking the highway station tomorrow, I’ll head straight home."
After thinking for a moment, she handed him the two cooked ones as well. "If you get hungry during the night, eat these."
The fresh sweet potatoes felt heavy in his hands. Their skins were purplish-red, clearly having been dug out of the ground not long ago, still carrying an earthy, raw scent. Judging by their appearance and size, the variety shouldn’t be anything rare; they weren’t a mutated strain. They were likely an old-fashioned variety that farmers used to plant regularly...
But for sweet potatoes to be this large and perfectly ripe in early May... For some reason, Zhou Qian found himself numbly accustomed to such impossibilities.
He placed the sweet potatoes into the drawer alongside the peaches Huai Yu had given him earlier, of which only five were left. When he turned back around, a massive lunchbox suddenly appeared in front of him!
Huai Yu opened the lid triumphantly.
Inside was a feast: smashed cucumber, eggplant stir-fried with green peppers and minced meat, salted boiled peanuts, and sautéed sweet potato vines with green peppers. Alongside it all was a solid, heaping bowl of rice.
Breathing in the mouthwatering aroma of the vegetables, Zhou Qian absentmindedly realized something—it felt like it had been six years since they last ate such a normal meal.
"Well? How is it? Luxurious enough, right?"
Huai Yu’s expectant gaze pulled his thoughts back to the present. At the same time, she let out another sigh.
"Where on earth can I buy eggs? Or some good meat?"