Chapter 88 - 87: Mystery
’I still haven’t figured out what’s going on with the 105 HP, and now there’s a purple border...’
"By the way, there was a gas explosion in Building 24 earlier. Do we still have gas?"
Lin Fan was planning to observe Su Qing a little longer when he saw the pot of noodles in the kitchen and asked casually.
"Lin Fan... am I really okay...?"
Su Qing, still looking at Lin Fan in a panic, answered his question with one of her own.
It seemed she was truly frightened. Lin Fan had considered a few possibilities, but he had never imagined this situation.
He could only scratch his head and pull Su Qing into his arms, comforting her as he spoke:
"It’s okay. That ’Crystal Ball’ may have come from a zombie’s body, but it contains an incredible power... Even my own body might be related to this power..."
Since he couldn’t explain it clearly, he decided to just implicate himself to give Su Qing a sense of security. After all, Lin Fan’s strength was plain to see.
Hearing Lin Fan say this, Su Qing finally relaxed and rested in his embrace.
"That crystal... you needed it, didn’t you? Is it okay that it’s gone?"
Hearing that Su Qing still had the presence of mind to worry about this, he couldn’t help but hold her a little tighter, whispering into her ear:
"Needed it? I needed it a lot... You ate it, so you’d better think of a good way to repay me..."
"Mmm..."
Letting out a delicate, nasal hum, Su Qing wriggled out of Lin Fan’s embrace and ran to the kitchen, planning to heat up the noodles for him to eat.
She tried to light the gas stove, only to find there really was no gas...
"Ah... The gas is really out..."
She turned and told Lin Fan dejectedly. But as her eyes scanned the room, she remembered the scene from when she cooked the noodles that morning. A blush crept onto her face, and she avoided Lin Fan’s gaze.
"Let’s just use the induction cooker for now..."
Lin Fan’s mind was completely filled with thoughts of health bars, borders, and crystals, so he didn’t notice Su Qing’s embarrassment at all.
He simply reached out, moved the pot of noodles to the induction cooker on the dining table, and turned on the heat.
"Why is only half a pot of noodles left?"
He hadn’t noticed before, but looking closely, half of it was indeed gone. The high-water mark from the noodle soup was still visible on the side of the pot.
"Hehe, Zhaozhao ate it this morning..."
"...No wonder she was so eager to help when she went downstairs."
’Well, what’s eaten is eaten. It was a huge pot, so Su Qing probably made enough for her anyway.’
He’d been running around all morning, fought a huge battle, and had only eaten a few eggs. He hadn’t even had a proper meal yet...
As his body’s overall constitution grew stronger, Lin Fan’s appetite had also grown larger.
Although his appearance hadn’t changed much, when Lin Fan stepped on a scale, he discovered he was over thirty pounds heavier than before, weighing a total of 205 pounds...
He lifted his shirt in front of the mirror, looking at the faint, defined muscle lines on his body. He pinched his skin but didn’t feel anything unusual.
But this weight... it was no longer a matter of body fat percentage.
A normal person with this build would weigh 155 or 165 pounds at most, but him...
’My density is way too high. If I fell into water, I’d sink like a stone.’
"Lin Fan, come and eat... What are you doing...?"
Su Qing saw that the soup in the pot was boiling and came to call Lin Fan, only to find him admiring himself in front of the mirror.
"I don’t remember you being this muscular before..."
Su Qing came up behind him, slipping her hand under his T-shirt to feel the lines of his muscles.
"Is this also a change from after you woke up?"
"I guess so..." Lin Fan answered vaguely, walking over to the table to grab his chopsticks and fish out some noodles.
"These noodles have all broken down into soup..."
"And whose fault is that...?"
Su Qing’s pretty face flushed as she said it reproachfully.
"Mhm, mhm, it’s delicious. Noodle soup is great, easy to digest..."
Lin Fan said with an accommodating smile, ladling a bowl for Su Qing as well.
As he was eating, it suddenly occurred to him that Chu Zhaozhao shouldn’t get a free meal. He walked to the window, saw a few people busy making spears on the roadside, and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Chu Zhaozhao... get up here!"
"Coming, Big Bro!"
Hearing Lin Fan’s call, Chu Zhaozhao tossed the steel pipe in her hands to Xu Qian and scampered upstairs.
"What’s up, Big Bro?" But then she glanced into the living room, saw Su Qing slurping noodles, and then looked back at Lin Fan...
"Big Bro, I’m not hungry. I’m not done with my work yet, so I’ll be going..."
She turned to run.
"Get in here..."
He grabbed her and yanked her inside.
"Aiya, Big Bro, I was just thinking I need to eat my fill to have the strength to help..."
"I’m not asking you about that..."
Lin Fan patted her on the head, then pinched a polygonal crystal between two fingers and waved it in front of her eyes.
"You remember this?"
"A Crystal Stone? Ah! The one we dug out of that Mutant Dog!"
"Hold out your hand..."
Lin Fan placed the Activation Crystal onto Chu Zhaozhao’s palm.
"Do you feel anything strange?"
"Big Bro, you’re staring at me... it’s a little creepy..."
Chu Zhaozhao said, blinking her big eyes.
Lin Fan put the Activation Crystal away and, in turn, took out a round, transparent Crystal Stone, placing it gently in her hand.
’The Stealth Crystal was already eaten by Su Qing. The only one he could take out now was the Sharpening Crystal, which had 28 energy points left.’
’That way, if she happened to eat it, he wouldn’t feel too bad about it. He had a complete Impact Crystal now, anyway.’
Still, he watched her expression and movements nervously, trying to prevent her from swallowing it in one gulp.
’After all, Su Qing’s condition was unclear, so it was better to observe a bit more. Lin Fan had only called Chu Zhaozhao up for an experiment.’
The moment he took out the round Crystal Stone, even Su Qing, who was sitting at the dining table, widened her eyes. First, she was surprised that Lin Fan had another one. Second, it was a perfect chance to see what had happened to her just moments ago.
The two stared at each other for five or six seconds. The round Crystal Stone just lay quietly in Chu Zhaozhao’s palm, completely inert...
"Uh... Big Bro, what’s wrong? Didn’t I dig this one out too?"
Chu Zhaozhao asked, holding her hand perfectly still.
Seeing that Chu Zhaozhao truly had no reaction, Lin Fan very naturally put the crystal away.
"It’s nothing, just running an experiment... Didn’t you say you weren’t finished with your work? Go on, get back to it. Want to eat some more before you go...?"
"No, no, I’m full! Well, Sister Qing, I’m off..."
Chu Zhaozhao, completely baffled, said her goodbyes to Su Qing and turned to flee.
"Lin Fan... why was it only me...?"
Su Qing watched Chu Zhaozhao’s completely different reaction and was even more confused.
"...It’s okay. Let’s keep eating. Don’t worry, it’s not a bad thing..."
’"One step, two steps, three steps..."’
Lin Fan muttered to himself. ’Su Qing’s HP inexplicably breaking 100 was the first step, and eating the crystal was the second...’
’Perhaps there’s a necessary sequence to these events.’
Since Chu Zhaozhao had no reaction to either type of crystal, Lin Fan had no intention of stuffing one in her mouth to see how it tasted.
Just like how a sick cat or dog knows to eat grass, Lin Fan believed Su Qing’s spontaneous act of eating the crystal must have also been driven by some kind of instinct.
’Since Chu Zhaozhao showed no desire to eat one, it was best not to force it.’
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
A series of knocks came from the door, immediately followed by Chu Zhaozhao’s silver-bell-like, yet booming, voice.
"Big Bro!"
"The spears are ready!"
"Do you want to check them? That fat guy said Liu Bin is calling for him and needs to leave!"
"Alright, tell him to wait two more minutes. I’ll be right down..."
Lin Fan tilted his head back and downed the rest of the noodle soup in his bowl in one gulp. He then got up and put back on the jacket and pants he had tossed by the door when he came in.
"Sister Qing, once you’re done eating, change into some old clothes. We’re going downstairs in a bit. I’m going to have you guys get some practice..."