Ch 182: The Cannon Fodder Won’t Play Along Anymore [QT]

When Mu Xing next woke up, he found himself lying in a hospital bed.

His body still felt that familiar soreness and weakness, but the sticky, fever-sweat discomfort from before had vanished. He felt refreshed.

It seemed someone must have cleaned him up after he had fallen asleep.

Looking around, Mu Xing realized this was a private ward. His fever was gone for now.

Every awakened person had to endure an awakening phase—during which they experienced repeated bouts of fever and exhaustion. For some it lasted a week, for others, months.

Later, medications were developed to help awakened individuals get through this period without being left completely defenseless.

Mu Xing had been burning on and off for a month now, and still had no idea when the torment would finally end.

He tried to sit up just as the door opened and a nurse came in.

Seeing him awake, she walked over, raised the bed so he could sit against it, and poured him a glass of water. “You’re awake? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?” she asked.

Remembering what he had overheard before fainting, Mu Xing asked, “I feel fine now. Could you tell me where this is?”

Far away, in another room, several people sat or stood watching a screen.

On the screen was Mu Xing’s hospital room.

Every reaction after he woke, every word spoken with the nurse, was under their observation.

So far, they had found nothing unusual about him.

The nurse chatted with Mu Xing, explaining that this was a military district hospital. While he had been unconscious, they had run some basic checks—his body showed no real problems, so he shouldn’t worry.

Clearly, she thought he was just an ordinary patient.

Mu Xing asked, “Who brought me here?”

Before she could answer, the door opened.

Smiling, the nurse said, “Here he is.”

Mu Xing looked up.

A tall man walked in. Even dressed in simple casual clothes, his bearing was upright and commanding, impossible to hide.

“I’d like to speak with him alone,” Mu Xing heard the man tell the nurse.

The door closed.

Mu Xing’s heart stirred with a guess. “Major Gu Zhao?”

Gu Zhao sat down in the chair beside him, studying the pale, frail young man before him.

His voice was gentle. “From your reaction, you truly don’t know me. Then how did you know my name? Why did you insist on seeing me?”

Mu Xing replied, “What I’m about to say is important. May I see your identification first, Major?”

With a faintly raised brow, Gu Zhao took something from his chest pocket and handed it over.

Mu Xing examined it, then returned it with solemn thanks. “I’m grateful that you came all this way based on a stranger’s word.”

He asked, “Can you guarantee the people monitoring the cameras right now, and the two standing guard outside, are trustworthy?”

Gu Zhao’s expression shifted subtly. He was certain Mu Xing had been unconscious since being found, watched under surveillance the entire time.

Guessing there were cameras wasn’t hard. But how did he know there were two people specifically outside the door?

The truth was, Mu Xing knew more than that. He had overheard the three conversing in the hallway. From their footsteps alone, he could tell their gender and even estimate their build and height.

Such was the sharpness of an awakened person’s enhanced senses.

Of course, Mu Xing’s perception was abnormally keen, strengthened further by the unusual power of his soul.

Meeting the clear, steady gaze of the young man before him, Gu Zhao said slowly, “I can assure you—they are all trustworthy.”

Mu Xing smiled. “Good. Then, Major, watch carefully.”

Gu Zhao looked at him, puzzled. Then suddenly his back chilled. The man who had been sitting weakly in bed was now right beside him, springing up with startling speed, his right hand snapping out like lightning to seize Gu Zhao’s wrist.

But the very instant he touched him—his palm grasped only air.

Right before his eyes, the figure vanished without a trace.

Gu Zhao jerked his head around.

Mu Xing was still sitting calmly in bed, smiling faintly, as pale as before, as though he had never moved at all.

“Major,” Mu Xing asked playfully, “surprised?”

The warmth faded from Gu Zhao’s expression. He asked suddenly, “When you slipped into your neighbor’s apartment that night, was it this trick you used?”

Mu Xing marveled at his sharpness, then nodded. “Yes. When I realized those two were already at my door, I was too weak to fight. My only option was to quickly transfer myself into the next apartment.”

Gu Zhao sat back down, his gaze burning into Mu Xing. “What was that just now? Some kind of ability?”

Mu Xing nodded. “You could say that.”

“You wanted to see me—because of this?”

Instead of answering directly, Mu Xing said, “A month ago, my body began developing fevers. On and off, never resolving. I went to the hospital several times, but no definite diagnosis was given.”

Gu Zhao didn’t speak; he had already read all of this in the investigation files.

Mu Xing continued, “It was from that time that I gained this ability. At first, I could only move a short distance, and every use left me completely drained. Gradually, as the fevers came again and again, my range expanded—and I no longer exhausted so easily.”

Gu Zhao’s expression grew solemn. He understood what Mu Xing meant.

This ability could grow stronger.

And if someone who could move freely at will decided to do something harmful, there would be no defense against it.

Suppressing the shock in his heart, he asked, “What is this—are you some kind of mutant? Then how did you know about me?”

Mu Xing thought for a moment, then said, “If I told you it was in a dream, would you believe me?”

Gu Zhao gave a little laugh, his meaning clear.

Mu Xing knew he didn’t believe him, but also knew he had no proof otherwise.

He spread his hands. “I know you probably won’t believe me, but that’s the truth. The night before I called the police, I had a dream.”

Gu Zhao realized that what he wanted to know might lie in this so-called “dream.”

Even though he had steeled himself, Mu Xing’s words still nearly made him lose composure.

“I dreamed that two months from now, all across the world, a large number of people would start to develop the same symptoms I did.”

Mu Xing fixed his gaze directly on Gu Zhao. “Do you understand me, Major? Many people will become superpowered.”

Gu Zhao’s throat went dry. “And then?”

“Then, the law will no longer restrain the lawless. Social order will collapse.”

“Global chaos.”

As for how he knew about Gu Zhao, Mu Xing made something up: “In my dream I saw many scenes of disorder. I heard someone shout ‘Major Gu Zhao.’ I wasn’t sure it was real. But since I had no other way, I tried, and unexpectedly it turned out to be true.”

He lifted his hands innocently. “Otherwise, how could a law-abiding citizen like me suddenly know about you?”

His story was too bizarre. Gu Zhao’s first instinct was that he was joking.

But this was the same man who had just disappeared right before his eyes.

He could be certain—it wasn’t some trick or sleight of hand.

His voice sank. “Then what’s the real reason you insisted on seeing me?”

Gu Zhao’s eyes on Mu Xing were filled with suspicion and curiosity. “With such an extraordinary ability, and foreknowledge of what’s to come, you could live comfortably even in chaos. Why turn yourself in like this… walking into a net?”

“Because in my dream, among all places, ordinary people in China lived the best.” Mu Xing calmly met his gaze, utterly forthright.

Gu Zhao froze.

Mu Xing smiled. “Though there was turmoil, this country had the resolve and measures to win its people’s trust, and in the shortest time, rebuilt order.”

“Is that reason good enough for you, Major?”

He could very well have hidden quietly after escaping Zero Organization, waiting out his awakening period.

When it ended, with his powers and his foreknowledge, not even Zero could touch him.

And once three months had passed, with empowered people everywhere, his abilities would be nothing rare.

But remembering the situations described in the story, Mu Xing thought—even if he wasn’t a good person, if he could do something within his ability, he was willing.

“If you believe me, I’m willing to cooperate. I’ll tell you everything I know about awakening in advance. You can even study my body data. All I want is for you to prepare beforehand for the awakening that’s about to begin.”

Mu Xing sighed. “Hopefully this world can suffer a little less from man-made disasters.”

Gu Zhao sat in silence for a long time. At last he stood, raised his hand, and gave a crisp military salute.

“This salute is for what you just said.”

Gu Zhao added, “I’ll report your words. For now, get some rest.”

Mu Xing waved cheerfully. “Goodbye, Major.”

—

In the monitoring room, the scene in the ward was replayed frame by frame. They still couldn’t detect any trace of Mu Xing’s movements.

One moment he sat on the bed, the next he was behind Gu Zhao.

Without the slightest sign.

Yu Wei rubbed his neck, feeling a chill. “With a power like that—if it were used for assassination, who could escape?”

He glanced at Gu Zhao. “Boss, facing him head-on like that, what went through your mind?”

Gu Zhao didn’t look up. “He had no killing intent toward me. Even if he did, with his skills, he couldn’t kill me.”

Yu Wei: “…It really is a superpower, isn’t it?”

Gu Zhao shook his head. “I don’t know. Whatever it is, his words must be reported.”

Yu Wei muttered, “If what he said is true, and in two months the public starts awakening… I wonder if I’ll have it too?”

—

Gu Zhao’s report was submitted. Unsurprisingly, a response soon came.

While waiting, Mu Xing had two more fevers.

This time, though, the ward had clearly been briefed—he could vaguely hear people speaking while he drifted in and out, monitoring his vitals in real time.

After his second fever broke, Gu Zhao came to take him away.

Sitting in the car, Mu Xing asked the driver, “Major, where are you taking me?”

“To the capital. Someone wants to meet you.”

Mu Xing asked, “So your superiors have reached a decision?”

Gu Zhao almost laughed at the word “superiors.” “You’ll know once you meet them.”

Mu Xing dropped the subject and finally raised a long-held request. “I don’t know how long my awakening period will last, but… can I not eat rice porridge with vegetables every day anymore?”

He wasn’t truly sick with a fever.

He was about ready to lose his mind.

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