Right now Captain Zhang felt wronged, as if his own teammates had mistaken him for the villain. It soured his mood. Then he thought back on what happened. The team was probably more upset than he was. With that thought, his mood lifted a little.
The accident had revealed something he had not known before: Lan Jin's ability. "Tell me, when did your power become this strong?"
It had been strong before, but compared to now it was on a different level entirely.
Lan Jin explained, "After that injection, my ability suddenly grew stronger. Since then, every time I use it, it increases a little. Without noticing, it reached this level. I feel like this is the limit. It is already very strong. Could it really get even stronger?"
Then Lan Jin added, "Speaking of that, I want to ask you. What exactly did you inject me with? Why would it boost an ability? If other ability users got the same shot, would they see the same effect?"
Captain Zhang laughed dryly inside. He could tell Lan Jin was dodging. Everyone had secrets. Surviving the apocalypse was hard enough already. But that power of hers…
"Lan Jin, things happened too fast just now. Before I could say anything, you showed that overwhelming ability. Remember this. Never, absolutely never show that kind of power in front of others again," Captain Zhang warned, face grave.
Lan Jin didn't understand. "Is overwhelming strength a bad thing? And I already showed it to a lot of people."
"That does not matter. In this forest, it is fine if more people know. The most important thing is to live. After we make it out, the ones who go back are what matter. So be careful. If you can avoid revealing that level of power, don't reveal it."
Lan Jin asked, "Captain Zhang, give me something solid. How difficult is this mission? How many of us can return together? I have not even asked what the mission is. Can't you even answer this?"
Captain Zhang smiled lightly. "There is not a single question there that I can answer. What I can say is that the people scattered at the fork will not be coming back."
Back at the fork, if it had been before, he would have sent help no matter what. This time, it was not that he didn't want to save them. He could not.
Dozens were dragged away in all directions. They had no way to find where those people had gone in a short time. With the dangers on the road, the ones who remained might not make it back either, let alone complete the mission.
"So what is this mission, really," Lan Jin said, frustrated. "We followed you because we trust you. Before and after we set out, we never pressed you for details, because we knew you might not be allowed to say anything and asking would put you in a tight spot. But right now it feels like everyone else knows what the mission is. Only the four of us know nothing."
Captain Zhang said, "It is not that I don't want to tell you. The less you know, the better. Everyone else is from the base. It is normal they know a little. Last time you said you didn't want to be dragged into this. I thought you didn't want to know."
"I still feel that way. I truly don't want to know what lies behind all this. But this is so dangerous. At least let us die understanding why. Right now the four of us feel like little fools, walking toward danger without knowing what it even is. Like we are just going to die. It doesn't feel good."
Saying that, Lan Jin tangled herself up again. Did she want to know or not? If she learned the truth, could she still step away? If she could not return, then dying like that would be too unfair.
Captain Zhang hesitated, then said, "If you can know less, know less. And who would see you four as little fools. Besides, I am counting on you four to take what we find here back to the base."
Lan Jin asked honestly, "Can we really make it back?"
Captain Zhang answered with the same honesty. "We can. All you need to know is this. Our mission is an effort for the survival of humankind."
There was no point asking more after that.
Just then, piercing screams rose from inside the cabin.
Aside from Pei Xin, no one else could scream so shrill and panicked.
The three outside rushed back in. The floor and the spaces around them were crawling with insects. A familiar stench filled the room, the same reek bedbugs released before the apocalypse.
Looking closely, the bugs were simply giant bedbugs.
They were larger, but not so strange once observed for a moment.
In the same instant, Ling Jiang released her ice ability. Skirting the areas where they had been sleeping, she froze every insect on the floor into hard, rigid lumps.
The stench lingered and would not fade. No one could keep sleeping. They grabbed their packs, and almost everyone surged out of the cabin.
At that moment, one person didn't move at all. It was Professor Pei, who before bed had entrusted Lan Jin with what to do next.
Seeing he didn't move, Pei Xin, who had already reached the doorway, ran back in. She rushed to Professor Pei's side and touched his cooling body. She could not believe her grandfather had left her like this.
"Grandpa, Grandpa, wake up. Grandpa."
Pei Xin shook Professor Pei again and again, but he could no longer respond.
Sensing something was wrong, Captain Zhang returned and examined Professor Pei. There were no wounds. No signs of poisoning. Perhaps the recent strain had been too great. Perhaps it was simply that Professor Pei was very old.
He had fallen asleep. He would never wake again.
To pass away in sleep was gentler than dying to mutant beasts.
But without Professor Pei, many parts of this mission could no longer proceed smoothly.