Chapter 229 - 196: Let’s Catch One

Chapter 229: Chapter 196: Let’s Catch One

"Two hours of volunteer work?"

Huai Yu grimaced, torn. "That’s going to be really hard, isn’t it?"

If the Merit Bureau was that remote, the commute alone would eat up a lot of time. Not to mention having to go every single day... people had jobs to do. It would be incredibly difficult to keep up.

"Yes," Zhou Qian nodded. "The government did that on purpose.

"Take your Big and Second, for example. Once a domestic pet mutates, it doesn’t just protect the family in the early stages. Later on, when it can communicate basically with humans, it can bring in even greater benefits if it’s willing to go to the Wilderness—whether for exploration or to coordinate with the Guard Army.

"Correspondingly, once their Mutant Value breaks past the critical threshold, they become much harder to deal with. For every case that occurs, the government has to expend more manpower, resources, and funds.

"Under these circumstances, if a private citizen wants to keep a mutated animal, they’re taking on high risks for high rewards, so they have to give something back in return."

Things like Contribution Points, or their own time and labor.

"The Merit Bureau’s full filtration system is on par with a hospital’s. As long as mutated animals stay there and don’t go on missions for more than three months a year, they basically won’t cross the critical threshold.

"So... Little Yu, you have to be careful. After Big and Second grow up, unless you keep them from fighting entirely, they’ll eventually have to be sent there too."

The air, the rain, the soil... everything around them was saturated with pollution. Even with a simple breath, a creature’s Mutant Value would quietly increase. That was why, up until now, mutated creatures were still something only a minority of people could own. Without a solid financial foundation, one simply couldn’t afford to keep them.

Huai Yu frowned in thought and finally came to a conclusion. "I still need to train my abilities more—"

She held out her hand, turning it over and over to inspect it. Her skin was fair and soft, her fingers slender and lacking much flesh. "I wonder if my Purification Ability can be used on humans and animals?"

If she had known, she should have used that dangerous felon as a guinea pig when Lin Xuefeng caught him.

But now... Zhou Qian thought of Big and Second’s sea-urchin-like appearance, the barnyard grass tree that constantly filtered water, and the talking ginseng. He stared at her warily. "Don’t you dare use your ability on people!"

Huai Yu puffed out her cheeks. "I know, I know."

She wasn’t that clueless. But then she looked at Zhou Qian with expectation. "Brother Zhou Qian, are there any dangerous felons still on the run? The kind who could be handed the death penalty at any moment.

"If it’s convenient for you, could you catch one and bring them over?"

The frail little girl tilted her head up, pleading with absolute sincerity. But Zhou Qian just inhaled sharply, forcefully shifting the blame. "It’s all General Lin’s fault! What exactly did he teach you? How can you even say such things!

"That dead felon from before, you... you guys—"

"I didn’t do it! I didn’t do anything!" Huai Yu waved her hands frantically. "I’m so kindhearted and powerless, what could I possibly do?"

Zhou Qian stared at her, not believing a single word anymore. "A truly kind and weak person wouldn’t talk about catching a dangerous felon."

Just listen to that tone! Anyone who didn’t know better would think she was asking him to catch a wild pheasant.

Hmph.

"What an old fogey!" Huai Yu thought. "His thinking really isn’t as flexible as Lin Xuefeng’s!"

"Got it, Mr. Zhou Qian—" she dragged out the syllables to tease him about his age.

The next moment, Zhou Qian curled two fingers and gave her a hard rap on the head.

"Little Yu, can you really not remember what you used to do? Why do I get the feeling you weren’t exactly an upstanding citizen?"

Remembering Zhou Qian’s words right before going to bed, Huai Yu gloomily burrowed deeper into her covers. Lately, she often felt a dull ache in her bones at night. Out of necessity, she had to down another packet of nutrient solution before bed. After getting used to normal food, drinking that stuff again made her feel miserable by the time she brushed her teeth and lay down. Thinking about what he said only made her feel worse.

But perhaps because her body was growing, this little bit of annoyance vanished without a trace into sleepiness after she tossed and turned a couple of times.

In her dreams, it felt as if she were plunging down an endless cliff. Her body jerked suddenly. Rose branches from all directions caught and supported her. It clearly didn’t hurt, yet she saw dripping blood...

"...Are you okay?"

Huai Yu stood under a tree with a woven basket on her back. She was surrounded by a lush forest. The trees weren’t particularly tall, but the mountainous terrain was somewhat steep, quiet, and profound. The only sound was the chirping of birds in the distance. She stood there, staring at the base of the tree.

There used to be a tight cluster of small mushrooms there, but they had been forcefully scraped away by something. Now, they were a mashed-up mess, scattered all over the place. Following the trail of destruction downward, she saw a young man lying face down at the bottom of the sloping dirt bank, his fate unknown.

Instinctively, she rushed forward. She carefully checked for his breathing first, then gave him a gentle shake. Hearing a faint groan, she cautiously asked, "Are you okay?"

She went into the mountains often. With just one glance at his clothes and physical state, she could tell he had likely been hiking when he accidentally slipped and fell down the slope. However, there weren’t many rocks or shrubs in this part of the forest. In her experience, even if he fell from higher up, his injuries shouldn’t be too severe.

Seeing that the person was responsive, her expression relaxed completely, and she even gave him a smile. "Did you fall down?"

The young man lifted his head, revealing a youthful, handsome face. In the dream, realization suddenly dawned on Huai Yu. It was him! It was the charity case of her—and by her, she meant the *former* her—her absolutely atrocious ex-boyfriend!

Though her conscious mind knew who it was, the scene before her eyes continued playing out. A faint, bitter smile appeared on the young man’s refined, pale face. His brows were slightly furrowed in a way that exuded a trace of melancholy, making it hard not to feel a surge of pity for him.

"Yeah, I came hiking and accidentally slipped. Did you save me?"

The slightly tanned young girl had a pair of exceptionally bright, phoenix-like eyes. When she smiled, she looked incredibly candid. "No, I didn’t do anything. This hill isn’t that high anyway. You were probably just dazed from the fall."

His face flushed. Likely feeling a bit embarrassed, he struggled to prop himself up against the ground with his hands to sit up, letting out a sharp HISS and wincing in pain, baring his teeth. Given his soft, delicate skin, he was probably covered in bruises.

The younger Huai Yu stood up. The lighting in the forest wasn’t great, but the dreaming Huai Yu felt as if she could see her own appearance through the young man’s eyes: delicate eyebrows, bright phoenix eyes, and slightly hollowed cheeks. Her skin was a bit dark and rough, with a few sunspots scattered across her cheekbones. Though she was thin, when she extended her arm, the muscles in her forearm clearly flexed.

"Here, let me help you. Can you get up?"

He hesitated for a moment. "I’m afraid I’ll pull you down with me."

But the girl opposite him simply laughed. "I run around the mountains every day. I’m much stronger than you. Come on, there are bugs on the ground, hurry up and get up!"

The word "bugs" seemed to strike a nerve. The very next moment, a hot palm clamped onto her arm.