When Qin Luo arrived, the little zombie immediately stuck to him. The more lucid zombies wouldn’t just grab him outright but would follow closely behind instead.

As he got closer, his scent became noticeable—a fresh, sweet fragrance, like a mix of mint and fruit candy.

Whenever the little zombie craved something, her teeth would start itching. She’d then pull out a teething stick and start gnawing on it. These things were originally meant for kids.

They were made from flour, sweet potato starch, and mashed carrots—baked until they were extremely hard.

She didn’t even know which baby store she had scavenged them from, but as long as she had them, it was fine.

Growing little fangs was really uncomfortable. Her gums itched terribly. Most of the time, it was bearable, but when the itch hit, she just had to bite something.

Xu Duoduo wasn’t in the best mood. Normal people would never chew on something like this, so she didn’t get any sense of joy from growing up. Instead, she just felt an abnormal sense of frustration.

“What’s wrong with you? Grinding your teeth so hard you’re getting all moody? Not happy?”

Qin Luo found it amusing. He had been keeping an eye on her. The little thing had been happy to see him at first, but then, while walking, she suddenly pulled out a teething stick and started chewing on it.

He had even slowed his pace, worried her little legs wouldn’t keep up.

Honestly, taking a slow stroll with a little zombie wasn’t too bad.

Normally, the moment he got back to base, he’d just dart straight into his room to rest.

Since when did he have time to take a leisurely walk with her?

But now, she was grinding her teeth so hard she was getting pissed off. Qin Luo didn’t quite understand, but when the little zombie looked up at him, a streak of blood suddenly trickled from the corner of her mouth, leaving him completely dumbfounded.

“Wait—holy shit—what happened to your mouth?! You’re hurt?! Internal injury?! Did your space overload and backfire on you?!”

Qin Luo panicked and grabbed her, prying open her mouth. Looking closely, he realized her gums were bleeding—from grinding her teeth too hard. But Xu Duoduo, wide-eyed, just stared at him and sniffed.

Oh no.

Her emergency food source smelled even better up close!

She had no intention of eating him, but this sweet scent was intoxicating!

She was getting dizzy from how good he smelled.

Qin Luo saw her blank expression and panicked even more. He scooped her up, threw her over his shoulder, and sprinted toward the subway entrance. In less than two minutes, he burst into the research center, yelling as soon as he saw Xiao Qiao, “Quick! Quick! Her gums are bleeding! Can you stop it?!”

Xiao Qiao thought something serious had happened and hurriedly pointed. “Over here! Emergency ward!”

One minute later—

Xiao Qiao stood with her hands on her hips, laughing. “Qin Luo, are you for real? The little zombie is just teething! There’s a new research report on this—hasn’t been uploaded to the database yet, but according to the study, some infected organisms go through a secondary growth phase. Congratulations! Your little zombie has grown up a bit!”

Qin Luo looked utterly speechless as the emergency doctor tended to Xu Duoduo, stopping the bleeding. The little zombie had her mouth wide open, but her eyes were still locked on him.

She was really something else.

He knew she liked him, but did she have to stare at him all the time?

It was making him feel a little embarrassed.

Qin Luo’s face heated up, and he snapped his fingers in front of her. “Look at the doctor. What are you looking at me for?”

The doctor, wearing a mask, smiled and was about to say something when Qin Luo cut her off. “I know she’s teething, but why did she bite so hard she started bleeding?”

Xiao Qiao, still sorting through some documents, didn’t even look up. “You know the saying ‘caring too much makes you dumb’? That’s you right now. She just bit too hard.”

Her newly grown fangs were sharp. The teething stick was hard. Hard against hard—of course, it would make her bleed.

The doctor spoke gently. “If possible, give her something softer to chew on. After all, she’s not a rodent; biting things that are too hard isn’t good for her.”

Babies had teething toys too, but Xu Duoduo’s teeth were fully developed. A soft teething toy wouldn’t last a single bite—it would be destroyed instantly.

Qin Luo asked seriously, “Can she just not grind her teeth?”

The doctor said she’d be uncomfortable if she didn’t. If she could endure it, then it wouldn’t be a problem.

Xiao Qiao, however, called him out. “You’re evil. Not grinding her teeth? Do you know how unbearable that would be? Do you even know how to take care of her? No? Then hand her over to us—we’ll take good care of her.”

“For real, not everyone’s like you and your devil squad, trained to endure suffering.”

Xiao Qiao kept grumbling but didn’t get in the way of the doctor. Seeing that Xu Duoduo was fine, the doctor gently ushered them out.

And called for the next patient.

Since she was little, the zombie girl had been a good child. She naturally had a sense of respect and fear toward doctors and teachers. At first, she worried she might scare the doctor, but as she followed Qin Luo out the door, she caught sight of the next “patient.”

A child came in with their mother. They had a little leaf sprouting from their head—pretty cute, probably around seven or eight years old. But when the doctor asked them to open their mouth—

Oh dear god.

Their mouth stretched all the way to their ears, filled with countless sharp teeth.

Xiao Qiao grinned and started explaining. “Pretty cute, right? This kid’s mutation is a man-eating plant! They have devouring-type abilities.”

“If trained well, their ultimate move could swallow a bunch of mutated creatures whole! Though, uh, their diet is a bit too… varied, so they end up in the hospital a lot.”

Xiao Qiao seemed delighted. “And you know what? The seeds from this kid are interesting. That little leaf on their head will bloom and bear fruit, and inside those fruits are seeds! If planted, the little man-eating plants can guard homes!”

The only downside? Sometimes they couldn’t recognize their owners. A little dumb.

…

Oh god.

This world had gone completely insane.

“All right, that’s the end of the Xiao Qiao commentary show. You two, go do whatever you need to do. Oh, and make sure to read the new research report—it’s important. For now, go get your ability monitoring done.”

Xiao Qiao stuffed Qin Luo and Xu Duoduo into the elevator, sending them straight to the second floor. She waved at them cheerfully before bouncing off, her lab coat fluttering behind her.

She seemed to really enjoy her job.

The little zombie was envious.

Qin Luo, meanwhile, had already forgotten about the sanity-breaking sight from earlier. Instead, he glanced at Xu Duoduo—who, unable to help herself, was biting her lip again. Clearly, her gums were still itching.

He hesitated, then cautiously extended his wrist to her.

Xu Duoduo’s eyes instantly brightened, and she swallowed hard.

Heavenly broth overlord!

Was he really offering her a bite? Was this real life?

But—

She didn’t bite.

She was too shy.

Qin Luo quietly withdrew his hand, feeling an odd sense of disappointment. But a clear-headed little zombie really wouldn’t bite people—she was a good kid.

He sighed.

Just then, as they reached the second floor, they spotted Wang Weihu and the others, who had just finished their ability monitoring. Unlike Qin Luo, their abilities weren’t as unique, so they didn’t have to do routine checkups unless they felt unwell.

Qin Luo’s thunderstorm-based ability was special, though—he had to get checked every time he returned from a mission.

This time, Bai Shu and the others had come for monitoring because of the recent battle against the mutated serpent-men.

As expected, Wang Weihu and Chen Xiaofei had gotten stronger. Bai Shu, who hadn’t been injured, remained about the same.