Leng Lin was dead, and the mechanical voice in their ears let the two men know that they had completed the task. Despite this, Shi Qing felt no excitement in his heart; his head was only filled with the scene he has just witnessed.
It was a Qin Mo he had never seen before…Smiling while tormenting the loser, not only physically but also psychologically, had totally crushed Leng Lin. They watched him go from timid, to crazy, to collapsing and desperate until his last breath.
Shi Qing knew something like this would happen from very early on, and had made countless psychological preparations for himself. Qin Mo’s experiences were destined to make his psychology completely different from ordinary people. He regarded human lives as if they were weeds and killed people like a scything flax <sup>1</sup> . He even tortured people for fun…He had long repeated these words in his heart, but once he came face-to-face with the real thing, he discovered in that moment how savage and formidable the reality behind the words truly was.
A person with that type of nature could truly fill people with dread.
Shi Qing was lost in thought; it was difficult for him to calm down the roiling emotions within his heart.
Qin Mo had killed Leng Lin. The first thing he did after was to bend over and take the damaged dagger out of Li Su’s hand. He lightly stroked the injured dagger’s handle, his actions gentle and meticulous. However, in the next moment, he suddenly gripped the dagger in the palm of his hand, tightly and without any gaps.
The knife handle was fractured in places when it was struck by the bullets, exposing the sharp and hard steel. Qin Mo gripped it vigorously and caused the sharp areas to pierce into his palm. As it cut into his skin, the strong iron smell of blood permeated the air.
Qin Mo felt no pain. On the contrary, the smell of blood and the feeling of having full control over the dagger in his hand gradually calmed down the raging beast inside his mind. He was finally able to quell the flames in his heart that threatened to destroy everything, and returned to being calm.
Shi Qing stayed in his palm, unable to say a single word. He just quietly watched Qin Mo’s actions.
What Leng Lin had extracted before was not the antibodies. It was actually the original virus that resided within the experimental subjects. The virus was not only highly infectious, it could change the human physique, stimulate it to achieve its full potential, and improve combat effectiveness by several times.
That was precisely what happened to Li Su.
If the system had not issued a mission, they may have assumed that there was no antibody.
That was not the case, since the main mission from the system was to ‘escort the serum antibodies back to the camp’. The mission itself very clearly pointed out that there were serum antibodies.
So, that kind of thing must exist.
When Leng Lin died, the notice of completion of their sub-task clearly indicated that he was an experimental subject. At the same time, he was still the most special experimental subject. He did not have the horrible appearance that the other two experimental subjects did, but due to that he also lost the power that was usually granted by the virus.
The reason for this was because he “cured” himself and turned himself back into a human being.
So, the real antibodies were in his body.
Qin Mo had long ago observed, and figured out, how to use the sample collector. This time he carefully operated it based on what he had learned.
The overall process was not difficult, but required the operator to be careful and calm. Those were both qualities Qin Mo possessed, so the collection process was very smooth.
After the sample acquisition was completed, Qin Mo swept a side glance at Li Su, who was passed out nearby.
Then, he did something that caused Shi Qing to be completely taken aback!
He injected the serum antibodies into Li Su’s body!
When Li Su received the serum antibodies he began to tremble violently, as if he was shocked with electricity. He shivered and his body was deformed. It was definitely not comfortable, but the effect was very obvious. The wounds on Li Su’s body healed miraculously, and a powerful healing ability quickly restored his body to its prior state.
After more than ten minutes passed, Li Su sat up and opened his eyes in confusion…
The entire dagger was struck dumb!
However, Shi Qing soon felt a great joy that almost made his heart burst. The haze of the past was almost totally swept away, and he instantly saw a future that was, once again, bright.
Qin Mo saved Li Su!
This realization suddenly opened up a wide panorama for Shi Qing. It felt like he was stranded out on the ocean, but he encountered driftwood; he was trapped in a tower and suddenly he found stairs that led to the ground; his little heart suddenly healed itself, and he successfully untied the knot his emotions were tied up in.
Qin Mo’s earlier behavior was indeed terrible, but that was aimed at Leng Lin. Leng Lin was a ‘100% authentic’ villain. He had calculated from the beginning until the end, trying to seize the opportunity to destroy the world. The treatment of that kind of bastard should be as cold-hearted as the autumn gale that sweeps away the fallen leaves.
It was just that Qin Mo’s behaviour was a little extreme… <b>cough, cough</b> …the point was that Qin Mo saved Li Su. Although this was normal for a regular person, when Qin Mo did it, Shi Qing was able to see some hope. This event let him think things over again, and his host did not seem as bad as he imagined!
Li Su woke up and surveyed the current situation. After half a day, his dark eyes gradually regained their focus. He was able to shake the chaos and confusion from his mind, and quickly restored his memory. It would probably only take him a few moments to make the right connections and figure everything out.
He quickly searched around, and with his first glance he saw the dead Leng Lin. He frowned a little and many of the emotions that flashed through his heart were withdrawn and tucked away unspoken. In the end he only sighed weakly.
Who would have thought that the savior lifted up by all of their expectations turned out to be the true devil.
Qin Mo stared at him throughout and when he saw him recover, he asked, “How do you feel?”
Li Su knew that Qin Mo saved him. Although he was still depressed after Leng Lin’s betrayal, he was still able to put on some spirit and thank the mercenary, “Good, thank you brother!”
On the sidelines of this exchange, Shi Qing was very excited. Look, look, our host was close enough to someone to exchange greetings . Was this the rumoured brother that came after fighting on the edge of life and death ? Sure enough, his host could be treated!
Shi Qing was in a good mood as he watched Qin Mo.
Qin Mo was calm from beginning to end. His eyes were slightly critical as he carefully scrutinized Li Su. He was satisfied that there were no problems, withdrew his gaze, and in turn looked down at the sample collector in his hands.
It seemed that this time they had no doubt collected true serum antibodies.
The next step was to escort the antibodies back to the camp.
The other four team members did not die—perhaps Leng Lin had intended to use them for some other purpose afterwards. It was also possible that his weapon was not actually powerful enough to kill them; in short, they were just unconscious.
Li Su efficiently roused the four, and then told them what happened.
After learning the truth of the matter, they could not help showing dark and gloomy expressions for a little while. Although the experimental subjects died, the zombies were still pervasive and would continue to spread rapidly. Without the antibodies to counteract the virus, mankind’s future would remain uncertain.
At that moment, Li Su was suddenly struck by a realization. He quickly looked over at Qin Mo and inquired, “You…what did you use to save me?”
“Serum antibodies.”
“What?” Li Su abruptly raised his voice as he asked.
Qin Mo ignored him, stood up, and spoke coldly, “Return.”
Although Qin Mo ignored him, Li Su was not angry at all. The joy on his face had never been as obvious and difficult to hide as it was now. The other four players also had bright eyes and wore surprised expressions.
Their eyes shifted down to the cylindrical container in Qin Mo’s hand. In their hearts they all came to understand that it contained the all-important antibody that could save mankind. Although Qin Mo was still indifferent towards them, at this moment they all looked at him with eyes full of worship and respect!
If there was no Qin Mo, not only would they all have died here, all of humanity’s survival would be in jeopardy.
Sensing everyone’s eyes on them, as he waited within Qin Mo’s hands, Shi Qing could not help feeling a bit honoured. Ai, he was truly proud. Even though he was not the hero, being the hero’s dagger was not a bad feeling!
Compared to their journey in, the road back to camp was simply too easy. Although they encountered several zombie swarms, the scale was much smaller and the zombies were more scattered about. Compared to the hardships the members of this group have suffered, this was simply child’s play and not even worth mentioning.
When they left the City of Terror and returned to the human camp, Qin Mo and Shi Qing were promptly returned to the system space.
Shi Qing said excitedly, “The task is complete, so you get the basic reward of 1,000 points. For completing the assigned sub-task, you receive a reward of 5,000 points!”
One mission netted them 6000 points; they really made a bundle of cash! Although Shi Qing was a novice system, he truly felt that Qin Mo was efficient at earning points!
Although he only received 3000 points, he was still extremely happy. After all, he did not really exert any strength; he just had to follow along blindly. He considered himself very fortunate that they were able to successfully trigger and complete the sub-task.
Shi Qing was very content with the 3700 points he had accumulated. His thoughts were all focused on the body he would soon obtain.
However, in the next second, he suddenly recovered his thoughts—he almost forgot! The system space would be closed and Qin Mo would return to his own world to suffer in the medicinal bath for three hours!
Based on their last experience, Shi Qing had a good idea of how things would transpire. He knew that Qin Mo only had a one minute grace period.
He promptly reminded him with due diligence, “Qin Mo, you have one minute before you are sent back to the real world!”
Qin Mo had long been prepared. He quickly opened the system store and selected a teleportation scroll.
Then he took out the dirty jade pendant, stared at the black fog floating in front of him, and ordered, “Come here.”
Shi Qing froze for a second, and then in the next moment he understood Qin Mo’s meaning. Without any further hesitation, he quickly occupied the jade pendant.
In fact, it went without saying that he would go with him. He needed to monitor his host in order to ensure that Qin Mo’s psychopathic tendencies were not aggravated.
This one is a smidge shorter than usual so I was able to complete it faster. Not only that, another arc is complete!! We are soon approaching the moment everyone has been anticipating…I think!
Next chapter of PUP is way longer than usual since it is the final chapter of Volume 1, so we shall see what that means as far as releases goes.