Chapter 19

Ma Le asked Lauren for some newspapers and cardboard boxes, wrapped the crossbow, and left the gun shop. After all, this was a dangerous item, and carrying it directly on the street would attract a lot of attention.

Anderson's memory was not very clear, so Ma Le asked around and finally found St. Paul's Hospital. The doctors and nurses were quite busy, as many people rushed to the hospital for fever and headaches, fearing infection, unaware that if they were truly infected with the Blacklight virus, there was no cure.

After asking a nurse, Ma Le went to the underground morgue and finally met the pathology expert, whose name, according to the nurse, was Lagrange.

Doctor Lagrange was studying a zombie's corpse. He heard Ma Le's footsteps and, without looking up, said, "Back already? Dana hasn't woken up, but her condition is stable. No signs of infection, and no danger to her life..." As he spoke, Lagrange put down his work, turned around, and saw Ma Le, exclaiming in surprise, "Who are you?"

There was no mistaking it. The old expert had graying short hair, wore large-framed glasses, and looked to be in his sixties. He wore a blue-green uniform. Moreover, the Dana he mentioned was Alex's sister's name. In the game, there was a plot where Alex took the injured Dana to the expert for treatment. This must be the expert who helped Alex in the game! Ma Le, excited, said, "Doctor Lagrange, I heard you have a lot of research on this infection virus..."

Before Ma Le could finish, the old expert shouted, "Enough, I know nothing!" Clearly, he mistook Ma Le for a Blackwatch informant. Lagrange had been arrested for researching the Blacklight virus and, although later released, was restricted from revealing any information about it. Helping Alex was a significant risk, so he was very wary of anyone probing about the Blacklight virus.

"Doctor, don't worry, I'm not suspicious. I came to you because..." Ma Le hesitated but decided to trust the old expert, as he had always firmly supported Alex in the game. "Because I found this!" Ma Le handed the CD to Doctor Lagrange.

The CD had the Gentek logo, clearly related to the "Blacklight Project." Lagrange looked at Ma Le with suspicion and asked, "Where did you get this?"

Ma Le saw no need to hide it and spoke frankly, "I'm a survivor who escaped from the infected zone. I found a research team that had been wiped out in a building. The last survivor gave this to me before dying!"

"Why didn't you give it to the military? Why bring it to me?!" Lagrange still didn't trust Ma Le.

Ma Le took a deep breath, pointed to his head, and said slowly, "Because this guy's memory tells me you are more trustworthy than the military!" As he spoke, Ma Le's face contorted into many small black tissues, then quickly returned to Anderson's appearance.

Doctor Lagrange's eyes widened in shock. Although Ma Le didn't transform, his reaction was identical to Alex's. His voice trembled as he asked, "Have you perfectly evolved? Are you also... a Prototype?"

Ma Le shook his head in confusion, "I'm not sure. I came to you for another reason, hoping you could give me a physical examination to figure out what I am!"

Sweat appeared on Lagrange's forehead. After a moment's thought, he nodded, took the CD, and said to Ma Le, "Follow me to my lab!"

In the lab, Ma Le underwent a series of tests—blood draws, urine tests, temperature checks, and hair samples—throughout the morning. Doctor Lagrange, however, frowned deeply, staring at the computer screen with the test results, silent and troubled.

Ma Le, who struggled to read even ordinary English newspapers, couldn't understand the medical report filled with technical terms. But from Lagrange's expression, he had a bad feeling. He tentatively asked, "Doctor, is there a problem? You look so worried..."

"No problem!" Doctor Lagrange shook his head, "But no problem is the biggest problem!"

"What do you mean?" Ma Le was confused. The English wasn't difficult, but he felt a barrier in understanding...

Doctor Lagrange took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, sighed, and turned to Ma Le, "Your physical examination data is all normal. Apart from superhuman strength, you are completely like an ordinary person, with no signs of Blacklight virus infection!"

"Impossible!" Ma Le exclaimed. He had been infected by Alex and later gained absorption abilities; how could he not have the Blacklight virus in his body! "Doctor, did you make a mistake, or... am I a special infected, different from those zombies?"

"I understand, but the results are definitely correct. I've examined other perfect evolution bodies and even mutated creatures, but none of them, like you, have gained the abilities granted by the Blacklight virus without any signs of infection!" Doctor Lagrange said.

Ma Le was thoroughly bewildered. If his body showed no signs of the Blacklight virus, what was he? Could it be due to his adventurer status? Or related to his "Unknown Constitution" talent? Or influenced by a certain skill? Ma Le suddenly realized that if he couldn't be detected for the Blacklight virus, then the virus detector at the checkpoint must have been triggered by Alex, and he was the one who got caught up in it...

At that moment, the lab door opened, and a man rushed in, "Doctor Lagrange, how is Dana?"

Ma Le recognized the man in a hoodie, black leather jacket—none other than Alex! Alex was also surprised to find someone else in the lab and asked Ma Le warily, "Who are you?"

"Don't be hasty, Alex. He is also a perfect evolution body and just brought me the latest research data from Gentek!" Lagrange quickly explained to prevent Alex from acting rashly.

Alex saw the CD on the table and asked, puzzled, "Isn't this the data I was looking for four days ago? How did you get it?"

Four days ago, Alex had absorbed a Blackwatch commander and learned that the CD contained important data. He also saw the logo and number on the CD in the commander's memory. Each CD had a unique number for easy identification, and Alex recognized it immediately.

Ma Le hadn't expected Alex to recognize the CD and could only say he found it by chance. However, Alex had searched the building thoroughly and found nothing, and with his superhuman senses, he shouldn't have missed anything. The only explanation was that the CD had been taken by a few "people with strange abilities."

Doctor Lagrange also looked puzzled. Ma Le had told him he got the CD from a dying Blackwatch member, but when Alex arrived, all the Blackwatch members were already dead. This meant Ma Le had obtained the CD before Alex arrived, which must have been related to those "people with strange abilities."

Ma Le knew those "people with strange abilities" referred to the senior adventurers. Under the suspicious gazes of Alex and Lagrange, Ma Le explained half-truthfully, "I am indeed an ordinary survivor, accidentally discovered and forcibly taken by those strange people. I just got the CD that day, and you appeared right after... Remember the guy who almost got absorbed and then self-destructed? That was me!"

Alex was surprised. He remembered Ma Le, who seemed like an ordinary human at the time, but he couldn't absorb him. In the end, this unabsorbable guy detonated a grenade with great resolve...

"You're still alive... No, that guy should have been a Blackwatch member, you..."

Ma Le thought the illusion by Xia Yingying was indeed effective and explained, "I saw the dead soldier's equipment was sturdy and warm, so I took it. I didn't expect you to grab me..."

Alex thought about it and found it reasonable. At the time, he thought Ma Le was a genetically special Blackwatch member. Now, considering he couldn't be absorbed and successfully integrated the Blacklight virus, it made sense that his genes were special.

Alex still harbored resentment towards those senior adventurers. In this sci-fi world, Xia Yingying's summoning ability was too bizarre and conspicuous, and Zhou Rui and Jiang Dahu's physical abilities were far beyond normal. He asked Ma Le about the whereabouts of those people, and Ma Le could only tell Alex that he wasn't with them.

"Later, I was infected by your virus. They thought I was doomed and left me behind. I don't know where they are." Ma Le wasn't lying; he indeed wasn't with the senior adventurers and had been abandoned.

Alex nodded, agreeing, "Indeed, among the four people, only your strength was similar to an ordinary person, clearly different from them!"

Ma Le felt like crying. At the time, he had dozens of extra attributes, and his strength was five times that of a normal person. How could he be considered the same as an ordinary person in Alex's eyes!

But Alex's next words reassured Ma Le, "I left some virus tissue on the short guy who ambushed me as a tracking marker, but later I couldn't sense it. It's as if that guy disappeared from the world, which is strange..."

Ma Le secretly breathed a sigh of relief. They probably didn't disappear but returned to Miracle City. Since they were a team, they likely left together. This meant those senior adventurers were no longer in this world, which was good news for Ma Le!

However, he then thought that if those guys hadn't left, they would also come to Doctor Lagrange, and his sudden appearance here could put him in their crosshairs. Cold sweat trickled down his back. Now that he confirmed the senior adventurers had left, he realized that coming to Doctor Lagrange without careful consideration was a dangerous move. Ma Le reminded himself to be cautious in this perilous environment.

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