Chapter 18: Lab Rat

Ruerke City’s winters are always gentler than elsewhere.

Its coastal location ensures the biting cold winds are subdued by the gentle sea waves, and when spring finally arrives, all living things here shed their winter defenses, letting the dancing blossoms flutter freely through the air.

If one must pick a flaw in Ruerke’s winters, it would probably be the cheerful howling of the countless “good brothers” echoing through the mountains and fields, occasionally disturbing the peace.

Of course, they’re not the only things causing a disturbance…

The cold backrest pressed against her bare skin. 

Lu Dongnuan wriggled gently, searching for a slightly more comfortable position within her restraints.

The ropes still dug deeply into her flesh, but thankfully, her underwear remained—Lin Mo had at least had the decency to preserve the last bit of dignity for a beautiful, single woman.

She quietly watched as Lin Mo expertly drew her blood, then, as if out of thin air, produced a test tube. 

He injected the dark red liquid, then added a drop of some unknown transparent reagent, giving it a gentle shake.

The blood spun inside the glass tube, gradually radiating an eerie glow.

Staring at that glow, Lu Dongnuan silently sorted through a few clues about herself in her mind: First, zombies wouldn’t attack her.

Thinking back to her trip to the mall, it wasn’t so much her agility that got her through, but rather that the wandering infected simply ignored her, just as they did that schoolgirl in uniform she’d once seen.

Second, her blood could induce zombie evolution, and at the same time, would turn ordinary people into infected—but once transformed, those people were completely uncontrollable.

Sister Jing was a living example. 

She had long since sensed something wrong—throughout the entire building, only the first floor had zombies, and that unique infected called the “Blind Monk” became noticeably stronger after licking her blood.

Third, her self-healing abilities were astonishing.

There was no doubt about this; it had saved her life in almost every crisis—her arm, her abdomen, she didn’t know the upper limit, but it had to be high.

Fourth, the so-called cancer diagnosis was faked. 

The report was a complete forgery. 

Yet, no matter what, she was a Doctor, and she had been completely fooled.

This went back to a year ago, but no matter how hard she tried, many of the details from then were lost to her.

Fifth, she could influence zombie behavior to a certain degree.

It wasn’t precise control, more a subtle influence. 

She’d noticed long ago that zombies’ movement patterns would unconsciously follow her wishes—even the “Blind Monk” would sometimes obey her will without realizing it, until Sister Jing’s death, after which it had completely lost control.

Lu Dongnuan glanced at Lin Mo again, a trace of fear in her eyes, ‘This man had killed the Blind Monk with ease.’

That was why she so willingly played the lab rat.

After calculating a few more parameters, Lin Mo turned and slapped her across the face.

Lu Dongnuan lifted her head, dazed, “You…”

“I made a mistake. Needed to vent.”

Tears pooled in her eyes, full of pitiful grievance.

Of course, it was all an act.

Lin Mo gave her a scornful look, then turned away and resumed his research.

He kept mocking her as he worked.

Stuff like, “You used this trick in your past life so many times,” or, “Your crying’s so fake.”

Lu Dongnuan sighed. 

In this man’s hands, she really didn’t have any moves left.

“I’m thirsty.”

“Hold it.”

“I want to use the bathroom.”

“Digest it.”

“The rope’s too tight.”

“If you say one more word, I’ll shove an electronic egg in your mouth.”

“…”

“Ugh.”

“Truly, a crane fallen among chickens gets bullied by dogs; a heavenly fairy descends and gets bullied by dogs; the clever and capable… bullied by dogs… Bullied. By. Dogs.”

“If you keep muttering,” Lin Mo said without turning, his voice icy, “I’ll let you experience what it really means to be bullied by a dog.”

This time, Lu Dongnuan was genuinely aggrieved. 

She didn’t quite cry, but her nose stung.

“Not even allowed to talk…” she muttered quietly, “chauvinist pig.”

“Ugh, I really—” Lin Mo made as if to rise again.

“Not saying anything, not saying anything!” she hurried to beg for mercy, “I’ll shut up… shutting up right now.”

Seeing Lin Mo sit back at the lab table, brows furrowed, Lu Dongnuan secretly let out a breath and flexed her numb fingers within her bonds.

Outside the window, the faint howling of the “good brothers” drifted in, while inside, only the crisp clink of test tubes and her suppressed breathing remained.

After a while, daylight began to seep into the room.

Seeing the sun rise, Lin Mo put a collar around Lu Dongnuan’s neck, then untied her ropes.

“Go make breakfast. Doesn’t have to be fancy—use the milk in the fridge, there’s still some bread from yesterday, but I want braised pork, sweet and sour ribs, and nine-turn large intestine.”

“You…”

Lu Dongnuan sighed, “There’s not even a knife in my house—do you think I usually cook?”

“Don’t you have a Level 3 chef certificate?”

“How do you know that? Did you go through my drawers?”

“Hurry up, they’re all your specialties.”

“Who eats such greasy stuff for breakfast? Just go die.”

Lu Dongnuan rubbed her reddened wrists. 

The collar on her neck felt icy cold.

She glared at Lin Mo, but still resigned herself and walked to the kitchen.

Opening the fridge, she found it almost empty. 

The few remaining items made her eyes twitch: half a bottle of milk, some dry bread slices, and a single can of luncheon meat.

“Master Lin,” she picked up the can of luncheon meat, sarcasm dripping from her voice, “are your braised pork, sweet and sour ribs, and nine-turn large intestine supposed to be conjured from this?”

Lin Mo didn’t even look up, still fiddling with his test tubes said: “That’s your problem.”

Lu Dongnuan took a deep breath, telling herself to endure. 

She rummaged through every cupboard, finally finding a dusty frying pan in a corner.

‘No knife.’ She stared at the can, then at her own fingernails.

“Ugh.” Resigned, she began prying open the can with a key.

The kitchen was filled with clanging sounds, mixed with Lu Dongnuan’s occasional low complaints.

When she finally brought the fried luncheon meat and toasted bread to the table, Lin Mo was already seated, waiting. 

He poked at the charred edge of the luncheon meat with his fork, dissatisfied.

“It’s overcooked.”

“Eat it or don’t.” Lu Dongnuan snapped, sitting down and biting into a slice of bread.

“I suggest you check your phone. Your Community Group is about to explode. Everyone’s tagging you.”

“?”

“Not all dead yet?”

“The apocalypse has only been a few days. No one’s run out of food at home yet.”

Lu Dongnuan, confused, pulled out her phone. 

The moment her screen lit up, message notifications flooded in like a tidal wave. 

The Community Group showed 99+ unread messages, and the top few were spamming the chat: “@Lu Dongnuan: Are you there? Wang Daye from Building 3 has a fever!”

“@Lu Dongnuan: My kid got scratched, do you still have alcohol?”

“@Lu Dongnuan: Are you still there? Can you share some food?”

She scrolled through the names—so familiar—feeling dazed for a moment.

The apocalypse had only begun less than a week ago, and out of this 700-person Community Group, over a hundred people were still alive.

“So many still hanging on?”

Lin Mo calmly sliced his burnt luncheon meat and said, “Human resilience is always beyond imagination.” 

He glanced up at her, “Especially when they have a Doctor to rely on.”

“I’m a Psychologist. Don’t they know that?”

“Heh, they probably just know you’re a Doctor.”

Just then, a new message popped up: “@Lu Dongnuan I saw you on the balcony! I’m so glad you’re okay! Can you spare some food? I’ll trade you an LV bag!”

Lu Dongnuan walked to the window, cautiously lifting the curtain’s edge.

On the opposite building’s balcony, a woman in pajamas was waving frantically, a conspicuous red handbag in her hand.

“Madam Liu…” Lu Dongnuan recognized her—her neighbor, always bragging about the luxury goods her son bought her.

She looked back at the pitiful luncheon meat on the table and shook her head with a bitter smile.

“Looks like your status in this community is higher than I thought.” Lin Mo appeared behind her at some point. 

“This will be very useful for our next plan.”

“What plan?”