Lu Yao couldn’t describe how he felt.

The lingering heat of the other person’s intense, domineering breath on his lips—a fiery, searing warmth—was fleeting yet incredibly powerful… Wait, what

What kind of ridiculous emotional journey is this?  In reality, Lu Yao felt nothing but utter bewilderment at that moment.

Because the term had been changed to “forced kiss”—emphasizing the “forced” part—Lu Yao’s lips had even been bitten until they bled. But Lu Yao knew that Li Yu must be suffering even more than he was.

Tonight, he’d really made a lot of mistakes toward Li Yu—from mental torment to physical torment, and now this desecration. He could no longer just offer a hollow “I’m sorry.”

It would be better if…

Lu Yao said in a deep voice, “You’ve lost again, Da Li.” He might as well just stick to his public persona.

Li Yu took a step back, looking somewhat surprised—genuinely surprised this time—as he pressed his fingertip against his lower lip. A moment later, he interpreted this baffling situation in his own way: “Is this how you humiliate those you’ve defeated?”

Lu Yao:“……”

Lu Yao continued, his expression still somber: “Yes.”

He Junwen, standing nearby, took a step back—then another.

What a shock this was.

Even when he’d seen the zombies merging into one at the factory, he hadn’t felt such a powerful shock. At least the Flesh Factory had given some warning; Lu Yao, on the other hand, had hit him right in the gut without any build-up.

Li Yu seemed to want to say something else, but the good news was that the golden-red battle fervor in his eyes had finally vanished. Lu Yao didn’t have time to speculate on his thoughts, because a sudden wave of dizziness overwhelmed his mind.

Everything before his eyes began to spin and grow dark, and he passed out.

A split second before he lost consciousness, he felt a strong, warm arm catch him. He Junwen, standing nearby, asked excitedly, “Is he dead?”

Li Yu: “No.”

The faint glimmer in He Junwen’s eyes immediately faded, and he quickly resumed his usual demeanor as a meticulous doctor. Realizing he had lost his composure, he calmly took Lu Yao from Li Yu’s arms: “Let me warm him up and examine him.”

After a brief examination, He Junwen reached a conclusion. Lu Yao’s body was unharmed—in fact, he was in much better health than the average person—but his mental energy had been severely depleted. “Overuse of his abilities,” He Junwen diagnosed. “He’ll be fine after a good night’s sleep.”

Lu Yao was fast asleep.

In his dream, his powers were invincible, unstoppable—his words became law, and all beings bowed before him! Everyone was following him, and Da Li was so obsessed that he wanted to play rock-paper-scissors with him every single day.

But he was soon corrupted by power and began imposing his own whims on the entire world: he forced everyone to make jokes about poop, pee, and farts, as well as puns based on homophones, every single day—or else they weren’t allowed to speak.

In the end, he was overthrown by a rioting mob.

When Lu Yao woke up, he was drenched in cold sweat and sat bolt upright in bed.

Damn it, he wasn’t that lowbrow! “Boss, you’re awake!”

A guy with black hair and a blond mop on top came into view. Qin Ye’s voice was full of energy: “Boss, you’ve been sleeping for ages. It’s already noon. Want something to eat, boss?”

Lu Yao yawned and replied to one of the remarks: “Good afternoon.”

He stretched, shaking off the lingering fatigue, and then memories of last night came flooding back.

Lu Yao:……

He just wanted to fall right back asleep.

After what had happened, he didn’t have the face to look Li Yu in the eye.

Ah, never mind—life must go on.

He could also vaguely sense that last night’s blackout was caused by overexerting his superpower. The system hadn’t provided any clear rules or restrictions on its use; he had to figure everything out on his own.

Li Yu’s raw power currently far surpassed his own, which was why he’d been knocked out after using his ability twice. But he didn’t need to put himself down—his strategic skills were still quite strong.

Take the situation from a day ago, for example: if he’d coordinated with Qin Ye in advance so that Qin Ye would attack Li Yu the moment Li Yu forced a kiss on him, wouldn’t that have… Well, they’d probably have been chopped into a blood mist by He Junwen.

The immediate priority now is to thoroughly study his own ability. He focused his mind, trying to sense it.

Failed to sense it.

System! Give me a hand!

【Your humble servant is here!】

……How many online novels have you been reading lately?

【Decipher (Incomplete): 2/5】

【Modify (Incomplete): 2/5】

Is this the number of remaining uses? How do I recharge it? And what’s the cooldown?

Anyway, let’s give it a try.

Lu Yao said to Qin Ye, “I’m hungry. Take me out to eat.” 

“Sure,” Qin Ye replied.

【Decipher (Incomplete) Activated】

【Qin Ye happily walked with Lu Yao to the Torch Dragon Restaurant】 

Oh, that’s easy.

【Modify “walk” to “crawl”】 Command issued.

Then Lu Yao saw Qin Ye take two steps before suddenly dropping to all fours and starting to crawl. Next, Lu Yao crawled out of bed as well.

Huh… Huh? Huh???

Lu Yao let out a pathetic whimper as he crawled.

As Qin Ye crawled, he asked, “Boss, boss, what’s going on here?!”

Lu Yao replied as he crawled, “I’m so sorry!”

Because this sentence was modified to: 【Qin Ye happily led Lu Yao as they crawled together to the Torch Dragon Restaurant】, both of them had to crawl, and he, too, was affected by his own superpower.

Qin Ye was crawling along happily. He was on the verge of tears, but he put on a cheerful face: “Dude, why am I so happy?”

Lu Yao bluffed, “Because crawling together is a testament to our friendship.” He had intended to keep spouting nonsense, but when he looked up and saw a figure around the corner of the hallway ahead, he quickly shouted, “Move aside! Please move aside!”

【Decipher (Incomplete): 1/5】

【Modify (Incomplete): 1/5】

Sure enough, he used up one chance.

I used it twice on Li Yu yesterday, but it was deducted three times? It seems the energy consumption of this ability is closely related to the target’s strength.

At the other end of the hallway, He Junwen was walking toward the cafeteria while talking to his subordinate, Wu Yang.

Wu Yang was a sharp and capable young man; he used to be a SF Express delivery guy and was very quick on his feet.

Subordinate Wu Yang: “We’ve detected significant zombie activity lately. I asked the other members of my squad a few days ago if they’d encountered any… Holy crap, are zombies invading?”

What?

He Junwen immediately turned around and saw Lu Yao and Qin Ye crawling their way toward him.

He Junwen’s eyelid twitched uncontrollably. He quickly averted his gaze and said to Wu Yang with a calm expression, “By the way, Wu Yang, among the group of survivors who came last time, wasn’t there one who claimed to be a Taoist priest?”

Wu Yang: “Huh? Mr. He, haven’t you always been skeptical of that sort of thing? You once said that the only way to defeat zombies is with fists and science, not feudal superstition.”

He Junwen replied calmly, “What exists has its reason for being. If it has been passed down for thousands of years, it must have its merits. Perhaps I was a bit narrow-minded before.” He added nonchalantly, “Later, have that Taoist priest come over to take a look at the people who’ve recently arrived at Torch Dragon.”

Although Wu Yang was puzzled, he still agreed: “Okay.”

Just then, Lu Yao, who had been crawling along, struggled to lift his head and called out in He Junwen’s direction, “Junwen! Good afternoon! I’ll need to talk to you about something later!”

He Junwen didn’t slow his pace, as if he hadn’t heard a thing, and continued walking straight ahead with Wu Yang.

Lu Yao couldn’t crawl back, so he asked if he could crawl away.

Wu Yang hesitated before speaking up: “Um, Mr. He, that… that new survivor just now—it sounded like he was calling your name?”

He Junwen: “You must have heard wrong.”

Wu Yang felt a bit confused. Had he really misheard it? Well, probably. After all, Mr. He was a man of great wisdom—his judgment couldn’t be wrong.

……

Wu Yang: “Why are they crawling?”

He Junwen: “Let’s continue talking about the zombie activity.”

Meanwhile.

Halfway up, Lu Yao felt the force restraining him growing weaker and weaker, so he mustered his strength and gradually stood up, as if reenacting the history of human evolution.

Seeing Lu Yao stand up, Qin Ye immediately began to struggle as well.

But the restraint on him was even stronger; he had to crawl several more meters before he could barely stand up. Then Qin Ye said excitedly, “Boss, is that your superpower? That’s so awesome.”

Lu Yao felt a mix of emotions: “Hmm… it is pretty impressive.”

After this crawling test, he preliminarily summarized three rules:

1. When a superpower is activated, if the user is included in the target description, the effect will still take effect. 
2. The binding force of a superpower gradually weakens over time.
3. The stronger the target of the ability, the shorter the duration of its binding effect, and the weaker the effect may be. 

Since he was stronger than Qin Ye, he was able to evolve into a human first, while Qin Ye had to crawl for a little longer.

“Boss, shall we go eat?” Qin Ye asked when he saw Lu Yao standing motionless. “Sure, but let’s wait a bit,” Lu Yao replied.

Qin Ye nodded obediently: “Okay, are we going to walk there or crawl there, boss?”

As Lu Yao looked at Qin Ye like this, a strong sense of guilt and remorse welled up deep within him.

How had he let this kid end up like this…? “Walk or crawl”—is that even something a person should say? Feeling even more guilty, Lu Yao asked, “Can I crawl?”

Qin Ye: “It’s a little embarrassing, but since you’re willing to crawl with me, I guess it doesn’t matter.”

Lu Yao cleared his throat. “Then let’s crawl a couple more steps.”

So they began crawling again.

Lu Yao… Of course, Lu Yao wasn’t losing his mind. He was doing this… even though he’d said it many times before… but there really was a reason for it.

After Qin Ye crawled a few more steps, Lu Yao asked, “Qin Ye, what do you think is the difference between crawling now and crawling just now?” 

Qin Ye replied, “I was really happy when I was crawling just now, but now it feels a little embarrassing.”

Lu Yao thought to himself, Yeah, because the prompt was 【Qin Ye crawled happily】, so of course you’re happy.

Wow, this superpower can even control emotions—that’s way too powerful.

Yes, Lu Yao had Qin Ye assist with the comparative tests precisely to verify this point.

If the distinction between behavior controlled by supernatural abilities and voluntary behavior is so subtle, does that mean… certain tactical ideas are taking shape in his mind?

For example, if he encountered an enemy in the future, he could use 【Decipher】 on them. If he saw a description like “XX thinks this subordinate of his is dangerous; he must be careful with him,” he could modify “with” to “kill.”

“XX thinks this subordinate of his is dangerous; we must be careful to kill him.”

The logic is completely self-consistent.

The other party considers the subordinate dangerous, so they develop the intent to kill—it’s perfectly reasonable.

The person whose thoughts were modified might not even notice anything amiss; they’d likely believe it was a decision they’d reached after careful consideration—at most, they might think their thoughts were a bit extreme today.

This is nothing short of a masterful technique for killing without a trace and sowing discord.

As Lu Yao pondered these things, he said, “All right, get up. Let me take over.”

Qin Ye got to his feet: “Aren’t we eating, boss?”

Lu Yao: “Go borrow some iodine solution and ointment.”

Lu Yao took Qin Ye with him and headed back along the same path they had come.

They hadn’t gone far when they spotted He Junwen and his subordinate, Wu Yang, continuing the conversation that had been interrupted earlier. He Junwen’s tall, straight figure, set off by his gold-rimmed glasses and white lab coat, looked particularly aloof.

Hearing footsteps, He Junwen turned his head. When he saw that Lu Yao was walking upright normally, he let out a slight sigh of relief, and the tight line of his lips softened a little.

“Junwen!” Lu Yao jogged over. “Can I borrow some iodine and first-aid ointment?”

“What happened?” He Junwen asked.

Lu Yao: “Oh, I was crawling with Qin Ye just now, and I scraped my hand.”

He Junwen: “……” So, why did you two… Never mind…

The expression behind his glasses was complex and hard to read. “Wu Yang, take them with you… Never mind.” he shook his head, afraid his subordinates might mess things up. “Let’s go. I’ll take you there.”

He felt like he’d been saying “Never mind” at least 50% more often these past two days.

After hearing He Junwen’s words, Lu Yao felt an urge to have all three of them crawl together, but he managed to control himself. He was afraid He Junwen would kill him on the spot.

But then again, we don’t have to limit ourselves to crawling, right…? Wait, hold on, hold on… He Junwen led Lu Yao and the others to the infirmary, where he found some povidone-iodine in a cabinet. “It’s just a scrape—let’s disinfect it. Don’t put any ointment on it.”

Lu Yao took it and thought that made sense. He pulled Qin Ye’s hand over and began treating it.

Qin Ye had a healthy, tanned complexion, but his palm was red from the friction of crawling earlier—it was scraped and had sand embedded in it.

Lu Yao used tweezers to remove the foreign objects from the palm.

Qin Ye watched Lu Yao’s beautifully chiseled profile, so close he could almost touch it, and his ears turned slightly red.

He Junwen glanced at Qin Ye and thought to himself: “No wonder this kid’s name is Qin Ye—he actually finds this appealing. He’s so wild.” Then Lu Yao casually warmed his own hands and disinfected them.

Afterward, the three of them headed to the cafeteria together.

“By the way, where’s Jiang Xingrui?” Lu Yao asked.

He Junwen replied, “He failed the psychological evaluation. He’s been in quarantine for the past couple of days, resting and recuperating.”

Lu Yao: “Oh, so he still needs to be quarantined?”

He Junwen: “After all, there have been cases where people with special abilities lost control and hurt others…”

Lu Yao was startled: “Inside the Torch Dragon? Who?”

He Junwen didn’t answer right away; instead, he stopped in his tracks. Under the gaze of Lu Yao and Qin Ye, he removed the black wrist guard from his left wrist.

A grotesque, twisted burn scar marred his fair wrist, creating a stark contrast with his overall appearance. Qin Ye was taken aback: “Who did this to you? That’s so cruel! Dr. He, haven’t you taken revenge?”

He Junwen froze for a moment, then turned to look at Lu Yao, casting him a questioning glance: Is this guy that clueless?

Lu Yao nodded at him, his eyes saying: Yes.

He Junwen understood and put the wrist guard back on.

Lu Yao shuddered slightly: “Should I be grateful that Da Li didn’t beat me to death yesterday?” Even though, in reality, he’d already been beaten to death twice.

Qin Ye was taken aback once again: “So it was actually your boss who did it?”

He Junwen: “Yeah. Otherwise, why would everyone else be so afraid of Brother Yu? Lu Yao, where… where are you?”

Halfway through his sentence, he realized Lu Yao was no longer beside him.

He Junwen turned around and saw the wind blowing a soda can along the ground; Lu Yao was running after it.

He Junwen:“……”

He Junwen looked at Qin Ye: “What is he doing?” 

Qin Ye blurted out, “He’s losing his mind.”

He Junwen: “…Think about it carefully. Don’t answer so quickly.”

Qin Ye thought for a moment, then had a sudden realization: “The Boss saw some trash, so he’s going to do his part for the environment.” 

He Junwen felt that the whole thing was truly baffling.