Chapter 514: Double-edged Sword
Meanwhile, in the cafeteria, Cheng Rui and Cheng Yue were having their meal when they noticed the members of the Phantom Team.
Swallowing the food in his mouth, Cheng Rui nudged his brother and said, "Ah Yue, aren’t those people the ones who killed the mutant plant with us yesterday?"
Hearing this, Cheng Yue raised his gaze from his food and replied with a soft hum.
Narrowing his eyes, Cheng Rui pointed at Yin Yusheng and asked, "Hey, do you notice something different with that guy?"
This time, Cheng Yue followed the direction he was pointing at and replied nonchalantly, "He might have broken through. Judging from his aura, he should be a level-two ability-user now."
"A level-two wood-type ability-user. Even in the Facility, not many wood-type ability-users managed to reach level two in just a few months," Cheng Rui muttered with doubts.
"Did you forget that we didn’t find the mutant banyan tree’s crystal core?" Cheng Yue reminded him.
The moment he heard this, Cheng Rui slapped his thigh and exclaimed softly, "So that’s the reason. He must be using that crystal core to break through!"
After a moment of realization, he frowned and added, "But that was a level-four crystal core. Even if he used it, his body as a level-one ability-user wouldn’t be able to handle it. He would explode from the excess energy."
Cheng Yue glanced at Yin Yusheng’s smiling face and narrowed his eyes. He saw the little sunflower emerging from his body yesterday. Before that sunflower disappeared, it swallowed the crystal core.
Maybe the reason why he could absorb the level-four crystal core’s energy was due to that little sunflower’s help.
If that was the case, then how could he control that sunflower? Also, where did he hide the sunflower?
While he was lost in thought, Cheng Rui had already waved his hand and shouted, "Vice Captain Zhang Yuan, over here!"
Zhang Yuan heard someone calling out to him and turned around. When he saw that it was the brothers who had teamed up with them yesterday, he walked over and took a seat across from them.
Placing his tray on the table, he greeted them with a smile. "What a coincidence."
Cheng Rui grinned and said, "It’s hard to get a spot during meal time, so we came earlier."
Since most of the tables were full, the members of the Phantom Team didn’t refuse and sat at the same table with the Cheng brothers. While they were chatting casually, Fu Guai walked into the cafeteria and went to buy some food.
The moment Cheng Yue saw him, surprise flashed in his eyes. Even though the man looked different from what he had seen in the Facility, he was sure that he wasn’t mistaken.
He lowered his head to hide his surprise and thought, ’Why did Subject Eighty-Eight appear here? Also, wasn’t he half-zombie? How come he looked like a human now? Did the Facility really succeed in their experiment?’
Cheng Rui noticed his brother’s absentmindedness and kicked him under the table. Startled by his kick, Cheng Yue snapped out of his thoughts and looked at him.
"What are you thinking about?" Cheng Rui asked in a low voice.
Before he could answer, Fu Guai had already walked over to their table and sat beside Zhang Yuan.
"Comrade Cheng, this is my team member, Fu Guai. Both of you met him yesterday," he introduced them.
Hearing this, Cheng Yue nodded at him but said nothing. Yesterday, they hadn’t gone in the same car, and he hadn’t paid attention to the others since they were on a mission.
Recalling how Fu Guai fought yesterday, he glanced at his fingers and realized that even if he looked like a human now, he was still a mutant. Reaching this conclusion, the hope in his eyes faded away.
Since they had things to do, after they finished their breakfast, everyone dispersed and went to do their own things. After returning to their house, Cheng Rui couldn’t help but turn to his brother and ask, "Ah Yue, is something wrong with that Fu Guai?"
Cheng Yue hesitated for a moment before he replied, "If I remember correctly, Fu Guai is one of the Facility’s experimental subjects. I saw him half a year ago in the laboratory."
Hearing this, Cheng Rui’s eyes widened as he asked, "Ah Yue, are you sure? Those who were sent into the laboratory mostly became mutants. How can he look so normal?"
"I’m not sure either. But if he is able to recover, then there might be a chance for us to recover, too," Cheng Yue replied.
When he heard this, Cheng Rui went silent for a while before he said, "Ah Yue, I don’t want to recover."
Cheng Yue was stunned by his words and asked, "Ah Rui, what do you mean by that?"
Clenching his fists, Cheng Rui said, "If we recover, we will lose our abilities. I don’t want to end up as an ordinary person."
Raising his gaze, he looked into his brother’s eyes and continued, "Ah Yue, you know that in our current situation, only the strong can survive. If we lose our abilities, we will be bullied and might end up losing our lives."
"Ah Rui, you know clearly that our condition is not something you and I can control forever. We might have a strong ability, but it’s a double-edged sword," Cheng Yue said with a deep frown.
Seeing that his brother was stubborn, he tried to persuade him. "Ah Rui, with our skills, we won’t be bullied even without our abilities. But if we continue living like this, what if one day we are no longer able to control the power and turn into a mindless killing machine?"
Hearing this, Cheng Rui’s eyes reddened but he still gritted his teeth and replied stubbornly, "After what we experienced, it’s only right for us to use this power. If one day I am no longer able to control my power, I will take my own life. I will never let them control me like a puppet and harm you."