Chapter 539: Infection Experiment
"Have you ever tried taking things back?" Xu Huo asked casually.
Master Tu fell silent.
Xu Huo put the test tube down, looked at them, and said, "You haven't eaten contaminated food from the Cleanup Zone, you haven't lost your voices, and you haven't shown any infection symptoms. Why haven't you returned to Clown City?"
None of them spoke. Xu Huo provided the answer, "Can't, or don't dare?"
"What do you mean 'don't dare'!" the young man who had spoken earlier retorted. "We're only staying here to collect data and completely solve the Cleanup Zone's problem!"
Xu Huo glanced at him. "Your line about not eating people is pretty convincing."
The young man choked. Behind him, Zhuo Wangsun said, "There's nothing worth discussing with them. They probably grabbed someone else's supplies and barely made it here. Now they're afraid to go back because they might run into a mutant tide, so they're just hiding out. But hiding here means they need food too. After eating mutants, how could they dare to go back? Clown City definitely wouldn't accept people who've eaten mutants, especially since those mutants were once their own kind."
These words struck a nerve with Master Tu and his group. Their expressions soured, but they didn't offer any defense.
Inside the box, there were also glass tubes marked with the character "Tu." Xu Huo glanced at them and then looked away.
Just then, Fishball came over and pointed at the protective suit covering his head. Xu Huo said, "Take it off."
The two children quickly removed the head-covering protective suits. Zhuo Wangsun's expression changed. "They've been infected too?"
"Don't be so tense," Xu Huo said, pointing at Master Tu and the others. "They ate mutants and they're fine."
Zhuo Wangsun finally understood and showed disgust. "Besides the people who were tricked into coming here, they even eat mutants?"
But then he paused and added, "Since they've eaten mutants, why aren't they infected?"
"That's the strange part." Xu Huo looked at Master Tu.
Master Tu didn't dare look at Fishball or Ice Cream. He said in a low voice, "I speculate it's because the mutants living underground haven't reached a certain infection threshold. After high-temperature sterilization, they no longer have the conditions for infection."
"The mutants that come up to the surface are different. They undergo rapid mutation within a few hours. That's why Gao Peng and the others went underground to hunt mutants." Xu Huo picked up the thread.
"Mutation is different underground and above ground?" Zhuo Wangsun thought for a moment and said, "Could it be related to the high temperatures here?"
"Maybe that's the case." Xu Huo gestured for Master Tu and his group to take off their glasses.
"No!" The few people following Master Tu reacted strongly. "The light in the Cleanup Zone will damage our eyes!"
Xu Huo pointed at Fishball and Ice Cream. "Do you see them blind?"
He hadn't been wearing glasses since entering the Cleanup Zone, and his eyes hadn't experienced any discomfort so far.
The younger ones wanted to cause trouble, but Master Tu seemed to understand Xu Huo's intention. He pleaded, "I'm old, so it doesn't matter. But they're still young. Don't make them take off their glasses."
Xu Huo showed no emotion. He made a "please" gesture.
Master Tu and the others were angry but didn't dare speak up. In the end, they could only follow his instructions and remove their glasses.
Ice Cream and Fishball were curious about the glasses. One of them ran over, picked up a pair, and started playing with it.
Without the glasses, the mutants were no longer heat signatures but living human beings. Especially these two children—aside from the infection symptoms on their faces, they were no different from normal people. They could laugh and play, but they could also be filled with hatred toward them.
Someone turned away and started retching.
On the other side, Zhuo Wangsun was about to take off his glasses, but Xu Huo stopped him.
Zhuo Wangsun was confused. Xu Huo said, "I need to do a few small experiments. Once the glasses are off, they can't be used again."
Zhuo Wangsun didn't know what he was planning, but he followed the instructions anyway.
Then Xu Huo distributed the water and dry rations Master Tu had stored to Ice Cream, while giving Fishball the clean food and water he had brought himself. He also drew blood from both children and injected it into the two adults.
He didn't fully explain his thoughts, only telling them that there might be a way to save the two children who hadn't completely mutated yet, and asked them to cooperate.
Whether out of fear or guilt, the younger ones stopped making a fuss and did whatever Xu Huo told them.
Master Tu had collected some plants brought over from the Jungle Zone. He took them out and, along with the contaminated water Zhuo Wangsun had brought, gave them to a third young man.
Half an hour later, the young man who had ingested the Jungle Zone plants and water showed the first symptoms—hoarse voice, bloodshot eyes, and violent tendencies.
Xu Huo tied him up and fed him an antidote before asking Zhuo Wangsun, "Any changes now?"
"Number Three has turned into a heat signature," Zhuo Wangsun said. "Numbers One and Two haven't changed yet."
Xu Huo nodded, then turned back to look at Fishball and Ice Cream. The two children's conditions had changed slightly. Fishball had become very agitated, while Ice Cream's breathing was heavier.
"They're mutating!" Master Tu exclaimed.
His voice triggered Fishball, who grabbed whatever was nearby and threw it at him, letting out a low, threatening growl.
Xu Huo went over, pinned him down, drew blood, and gave him another antidote injection. Fishball kept making whimpering sounds and refused to calm down.
In the end, Xu Huo tied him up too.
After tossing him aside, Xu Huo walked over to Ice Cream, who was lying on a chair, and asked, "Can you understand what I'm saying?"
Ice Cream nodded and gestured to ask: Am I going to die? I still want to eat candy.
"You won't die." Xu Huo took out a syringe, drew blood, then fed him an antidote and a self-healing agent. He smiled and said, "Once we get out of here, you can eat as much as you want."
Ice Cream then fell into a deep sleep.
Xu Huo injected the blood from the two children into Numbers One and Two, then walked over to Master Tu and gestured for him to extend his arm.
"I'll take Master Tu's place!" the hot-tempered young man quickly walked over.
"None of your business!" Master Tu barked.
But the young man ignored him. "Master Tu is old. If you want to experiment, do it on me. I can take it!"
"This has nothing to do with age!" Master Tu pushed him away and stood in front of Xu Huo. "I'll do it!"
Xu Huo was touched by their mutual protection. So he made cuts on both their arms.
"Don't fight. There's enough for everyone."
The two stared at each other, speechless.
Zhuo Wangsun let out a fitting laugh, but when he turned his head and looked back, both Master Tu and the young man had turned into heat signatures in his field of vision!
"Why is this happening!" He stood up in shock.
Xu Huo wasn't surprised. He asked about the condition of Numbers One and Two.
"They're still the same." Zhuo Wangsun was even more confused. "They were directly injected with deeply infected mutants and weren't judged as mutants, but two normal people turned into mutants. Is the pathogen really airborne?"
"Wait a little longer." Xu Huo checked the time, his gaze falling on the two children.
Before long, Fishball woke up. Although his face had become even paler, his mind was clear.
Master Tu was surprised by his improvement and blurted out, "What kind of antidote did you just give him?!"