After figuring things out, Xu Duoduo didn’t mind anymore. Although she was afraid he might kill her, she understood that as long as she remained conscious, he wouldn’t harm her.

If there ever came a day when she truly lost her mind, then she wouldn’t be herself anymore.

Just a walking corpse.

If he killed her then, so be it. Besides, whether it was the fledgling attachment theory or their old classmate relationship, the first person she saw after turning into a zombie was him. If he were the type to kill first and ask questions later, she would have been gone the moment—bang!—he pulled the trigger.

There wouldn’t be all this trouble now.

Xu Duoduo believed he wouldn’t kill her by mistake, so she no longer hesitated and simply decided to follow him.

She really didn’t like the research center.

The cold-toned lights, the hurried white-coated researchers—

It made her feel like she’d be strapped to an operating table and dissected at any moment.

Xu Duoduo would rather go out and fight, gather supplies, or rescue other survivors.

That felt far more meaningful to her.

After leaving the research institute, they once again took the special subway to their destination and finally arrived at a massive new residential complex.

Qin Luo led her inside, scanning his wristband to enter the community. They headed to Building A—coincidentally, the same building Xu Duoduo had lived in before the outbreak.

“The activity center is straight ahead. The first floor is the cafeteria, the second floor is a supermarket, the third floor has various shops, and the fourth floor has a cinema and gym.”

The residential area consisted of seven buildings, arranged in a circle from A to G.

At the center was the activity center.

Once inside, Qin Luo automatically became a tour guide, explaining everything to her.

Their apartments were on the 19th floor of Building A.

“My room is 1900, yours is 1901. Lao Wang is in 1905, Lao Bai in 1906, and Xiao Fei in 1907. The three of them are just next door.”

If Xu Duoduo hadn’t been pre-assigned to Qin Luo’s team, she wouldn’t have gotten such a good apartment.

She was grateful for that.

She followed him upstairs. Just like entering the community, they scanned their wristbands to unlock their doors.

Inside was a one-bedroom apartment—a bedroom, living room, kitchen, and bathroom.

It looked like a model unit. The four-piece bedding set on the bed was white, just like in a hotel.

Qin Luo leaned against the doorway, watching the little zombie wander around inspecting her new home. She looked pretty cute.

“I’m right next door. If you need anything, just come find me,” he said.

He knocked on the door twice to get her attention. Seeing her nod, he turned and left, closing the door behind him.

Xu Duoduo happily explored her new apartment. She liked it, especially the balcony. She liked the sunshine.

Too bad she didn’t know if she’d ever see a normal sun again.

Qin Luo hadn’t asked her for the canned food. He must have left it with her for now.

She checked her dimensional cube space in her mind. A few small compartments were filled with cans of food, giving her a strong sense of security.

After that, she started fiddling with her wristband. The device had small slots on both sides for inserting various chips and cards.

The screen was neither too big nor too small.

She could tap directly on the screen. It had a chat app and a personal info page, which served as her electronic ID.

[Name: Xu Duoduo | Gender: Female | Age: 22 | Height: 1.63m]

[Mutation Tendency: Zombie Virus]

[Abilities: None]

[Strengths: Speed Boost 1.5]

There was also a recently taken photo of her—an expressionless close-up.

Besides the chat app and personal info, there was also a barcode storage app.

When she opened it, she saw transportation codes, base entry/exit codes, and personal residence codes.

Pretty simple.

There was also a payment app. When she opened it, her balance showed: 100 points.

The transaction log indicated she had earned 100 points as a reward for participating in the rescue operation at Qingyuan Residential Area in K City.

Seeing this made her quite happy.

The wristband only had these functions. The rest of the standard-issue equipment included a tablet.

The tablet had only three apps: a camera, a gallery, and a forum.

She logged into the forum and found several sections.

The serious ones included: [Mission Board], [Mission Experience Sharing], [Database].

The casual one was simply [Chat Freely], full of gossip topics.

The top post caught her eye. Its title was:

[Discussion: The Role and Formation of Variant Cores]

Xu Duoduo clicked on it.

The post seemed to be the author’s speculation. It suggested that variant cores were derivative products of mutated organisms or even non-organic entities. They weren’t necessarily found in the brain, nor were they exclusive to living beings.

Author: “I participated in a rescue mission in C City yesterday. A computer mutated, and it actually had a variant core inside. It almost wiped us all out—the culprit was an AI software inside the computer.”

The author shared a database link containing a report they had written about the experience.

There was also a video showing the combat team prying a mechanical variant core out of the computer’s mainframe.

This discovery had shocked everyone, which was why the post was trending at the top.

– The world is really going insane!

– AI ruling the earth?

– It used to be a joke, but now it seems terrifyingly possible.

– Hahaha, no one stop me! Let’s just die together! We’re doomed! Everything’s over!

– How much crazier can this world get?!

…

There were countless replies filled with both panic and disbelief.

Xu Duoduo had eaten a variant core last night—the one from the mutated monkey king. Qin Luo had said it was the lowest-grade variant core. Though it was bloody and grotesque when first extracted, it was actually quite clean.

When she ate it, it was crunchy like candy, refreshing and sweet.

And it made her feel full.

Even now, after eating it, she still felt 70–80% full. It was definitely delicious.

She suspected that variant cores could enhance physical abilities, because after eating it, she felt noticeably more agile.

She could move as freely as a normal person now, no longer clumsy like before.

The post’s author had the same theory. They mentioned that one of their teammates had accidentally ingested a small amount, developed a high fever, and then suddenly gained enhanced physical abilities and a new power.

However, the author warned that consuming variant cores might be dangerous. They had already submitted a report on it and encouraged rational discussion.

The topic quickly became a frenzy.

Xu Duoduo browsed the database section and found a wealth of information.

That’s when she finally understood why Bai Shu and Chen Xiaofei had been recording the thunderstorm.

It was for this.

Among the top 20 most popular posts, two were authored by Bai Shu and Chen Xiaofei:

[Latest Thunderstorm Update]
[Mutated Monkey Troop]

Both posts were clear and concise, packed with field photos and videos.