novelzi Chapter 198 : Chapter 198
Chapter 198 : Chapter 198
"Wow, Little Xuechao, you're even more cruel than I am." Yuan Lan made a surprised face.Bai Xuechao looked at him expressionlessly, waiting for his next piece of nonsense.
Sure enough, nothing good came out of Yuan Lan's mouth: "I was thinking of giving them a quick death, but you want to keep them to torture repeatedly. How scary~"
His tone was so casual it was almost cheerful. The trailing sound at the end was slightly drawn out, with a hint of teasing, completely devoid of any fear.
Bai Xuechao immediately retorted, "You, who can think of draining human blood to extract lure-pheromone, are far more terrifying."
The emergence of special abilities had been kept secret for years. Ordinary people couldn't access them, and even if they knew, they wouldn't need lure-pheromone. After all, they'd only heard of pepper spray for defense, not "wolf-attracting spray." What was the difference between ordinary people attracting mutated species and prey delivering themselves to be devoured?
As for special ability users, they could secrete lure-pheromone themselves to attract mutated species; they didn't need anyone else's at all.
So, aside from perverted idlers like Yuan Lan, who would bother to extract lure-pheromone from a special ability user's blood for no reason? It wasn't even a good thing.
Thinking of this, Bai Xuechao then asked, "Why did you suddenly think of this?"
He didn't think Yuan Lan had thought of it on a whim.
"The X-bracelet is almost finished; it's time to start preparing for the next project." Yuan Lan finally extended his left hand, which had been hidden behind his back. In his large palm, he held two white fruits, about the size of an egg. He then handed these two fruits to Bai Xuechao, "I brought these for you~"
Project??
This guy was really a workaholic, seamlessly transitioning from one thing to the next.
If special abilities were an academic discipline, Yuan Lan was beyond a top student; he should be given the position of professor.
"What project?" Bai Xuechao asked, taking the two white fruits.
Yuan Lan revealed a smile: "Artificially synthesized lure-pheromone."
"...Huh?" Bai Xuechao was a little confused. He thought it was possible, but unnecessary.
Unless Yuan Lan truly intended to throw the lure-pheromone into ordinary crowds as he said, then it would be a terrifying act of revenge against society.
He lowered his head, looking at the white fruits in his hand, and simultaneously asked, "Why are you synthesizing this? To attack ordinary people? Or to synthesize someone's lure-pheromone scent to frame them?"
The two white fruits in his hand were roughly the same size. As he spoke, Bai Xuechao casually weighed them a couple of times and found their weights were also similar. Additionally, they were entirely creamy white, with smooth skin devoid of even a single blemish. Even their stems had strikingly similar, uniformly six-lobed petals, making them appear like perfect copies at a glance.
"You're thinking so complicatedly, and am I really that bad?" Yuan Lan wasn't angry at all, his eyes curving into an arc as he said something unbelievable, "Can't I do something beneficial for others?"
Bai Xuechao lifted his eyelids and glanced at Yuan Lan, his eyes seemingly saying, "Good or bad, don't you have a clue in your heart?"
His thin lips parted, stiffly uttering two words: "Such as?"
"For example, when we've taken X8 to stop secreting lure-pheromone, and we encounter a situation where we need to use lure-pheromone," Yuan Lan spread both his arms, making a grand gesture, smiling at him, his tone light and pleasant, "Ta-da—isn't that when it comes in handy~?"
Bai Xuechao met Yuan Lan's gaze, his face devoid of any expression: "Any other examples? Is that all?"
Yuan Lan, without a moment's hesitation, maintained his open-arm posture and continued, "Of course, for example, there are special ability users who dislike the smell of their own lure-pheromone. In the future, they can take X8 and then use the artificially synthesized lure-pheromone scent they prefer. By doing this, I can save many special ability users who hate the smell of their own lure-pheromone."
At the end, he showed a perfect and benevolent smile, with an attitude that implied, "This is a good deed that benefits people."
Bai Xuechao fell silent for a moment.
This use, in his opinion, was a bit like a chicken rib. Although the scent of lure-pheromone, like special abilities, was like scratching a lottery ticket when awakened—what you got was what you had for life—those who happened to scratch out a scent they disliked shouldn't be too—
He suddenly remembered Ji Chuanze.
Ji Chuanze's lure-pheromone was milk chocolate-flavored. Although chocolate had a hint of bitterness, the lure-pheromone was overall sweet, especially with a very fragrant and rich milk taste.
But Bai Xuechao had only smelled this lure-pheromone almost exclusively during their first meeting. Soon after, X8 pills appeared. From then on, every time they met, unless it was a mission requiring the use of lure-pheromone, Ji Chuanze was always in a state of suppressed lure-pheromone after taking X8, and not a trace of sweetness could be smelled.
One must know that there were only a few special ability users in the Dark Organization. Normally, when not on missions and not needing to hide their lure-pheromone, they didn't even need to take X8. Moreover, Ji Chuanze took it every day, like clockwork.
It wasn't until one day, he overheard his subordinates gossiping and realized that Ji Chuanze hated sweets, and even hated his own lure-pheromone.
Well, this artificially synthesized lure-pheromone was probably prepared for Ji Chuanze, wasn't it?
"Alright, I wish you success and an early benefit to mankind." Bai Xuechao said perfunctorily, sniffing the fruit in his hand.
He remained silent for a full two seconds before speaking: "It only smells of cream."
Initially, Bai Xuechao didn't smell the fragrance of fruit, only a faint creamy sweetness. He thought it was because Yuan Lan had been holding them in his hands, causing them to absorb Yuan Lan's lure-pheromone scent. However, the whiff he just took shattered his guess.
This fruit, it emitted the exact same creamy scent as Yuan Lan's lure-pheromone!
"Yes, it's cream-flavored." Yuan Lan put his hands behind his back and winked at him, "Give it a try, it's super delicious and highly praised within the Apocalypse Society."
Bai Xuechao: "..."
He didn't know where to start complaining.
Did the Apocalypse Society have this kind of hobby? Eating mutated species that tasted like their boss?
After eating, and then looking at Yuan Lan, if Yuan Lan hadn't taken X8 like now, would they not feel hungry when smelling the scent? Oh no, would they feel awkward?
Bai Xuechao asked with a blank face, "Where did this come from?"
Are the species in the South so diverse? He had seen so many mutated species in the Apocalypse Society that he had never seen in the North.
"I got these two from A-Qing," Yuan Lan answered obediently.
"Don't play dumb." Bai Xuechao weighed the fruit in his hand, staring at him, and asked, "You know what I'm asking."
He thought, had Yuan Lan just gone to see Lin Changqing?
"Alright, alright, I'll tell you." Yuan Lan looked helpless, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender, "This mutated plant has no smell at all before its fruiting period. What its fruits taste like depends on what the mouth that grows out before the fruiting period eats."
When Yuan Lan said this, Bai Xuechao had already guessed what would happen next.
In fact, Yuan Lan's words were exactly what he had thought: "After it grew a mouth, I poured some of my blood into it."
Bai Xuechao was speechless with dismay.
To him, this fruit was now like a blood and flesh substitute for Yuan Lan, a true substitute.
Who could bring themselves to eat this? Oh, except for the members of the Apocalypse Society.
To be honest, he was starting to doubt whether Yuan Lan's claim of it being "highly praised within the Apocalypse Society" was true, after all, it was just Yuan Lan's word, and he hadn't seen it with his own eyes.
But why was this thing with Lin Changqing? Could Lin Changqing really eat it? Or was taking it from Lin Changqing a lie?
"Little Xuechao?" Yuan Lan's handsome face enlarged in his vision, his brilliant golden eyes gazing at him, and his gentle voice spoke, "Aren't you curious about the taste of this fruit? Does it really taste exactly like me? I said it's highly praised within the Apocalypse Society, and it's true."
Bai Xuechao looked at Yuan Lan suspiciously, weighing the truth of his words in his heart.
Yuan Lan swung his arms back and forth, his body swaying with them, like a coquettish child: "Don't you believe me? It's non-toxic and harmless."
The way he said it made it sound as if Bai Xuechao not eating it was because he suspected Yuan Lan of poisoning him.
In fact, Bai Xuechao wished that Yuan Lan or Mu Xinyue would successfully poison him, so he could proceed to the next step.
Seeing that Bai Xuechao was still unmoved, Yuan Lan sighed deeply, his eyes cast down, as if he had been wronged: "I even specifically snatched this from A-Qing."
Bai Xuechao found it a little funny: "Is this fruit the last of its kind, that you had to snatch it from Lin Changqing?"
"Yes, there are only these two edible ones left." Yuan Lan's brows curved slightly, and he said as if seeking praise, "I saw it and remembered you hadn't eaten it yet, so I snatched it for you."
Bai Xuechao noticed the key point in that sentence: "Edible ones?"
"Yes." Yuan Lan spread his hands, "There's still one plant in Mu Xinyue's room as a potted plant, so the fruit it bears naturally belongs to her."
Mu Xinyue!
Didn't that just present a perfect opportunity to be poisoned?
However, placing a mutated plant that smelled of Yuan Lan in one's room as a potted plant—what kind of magical operation was that? She truly was a love-brained person.
"...Then I'll try it." Bai Xuechao was about to bring one of the white fruits to his mouth when he suddenly thought of something, and handed the other fruit to Yuan Lan, "You eat it with me."
With two people eating, it would be faster.
"Is this considered acting cute?" Yuan Lan smiled as he took the fruit. "Alright, I'll eat it with you."
Bai Xuechao sniffed the fruit again, trying his best to ignore the identical smell in front of him, and put it to his mouth, taking a bite to try.
He was a little surprised.
It turned out that what Yuan Lan meant by "what the fruit tastes like" referred to the smell, not the actual taste when eaten.
The overall structure of the white fruit was a bit like a tomato. When bitten into, the pulp inside was soft and mealy, and the juice flowed out, emitting a sweet and fresh herbaceous aroma, somewhat like sugarcane. The creamy taste, identical to Yuan Lan's lure-pheromone, was just a thin outer skin.
Bai Xuechao also understood why it was "highly praised."
Because the pulp and juice of this fruit both had a faint vanilla flavor, and combined with Yuan Lan's creamy scent, it was simply perfect, turning into a vanilla cream flavor.
How should he put it, it was more acceptable than Bai Xuechao had imagined, after all, Yuan Lan's creamy taste was only on the outer skin, and it tasted better than expected.
Seeing Bai Xuechao eat, Yuan Lan also took a bite of the fruit in his hand.
The two of them stood face to face, strangely eating the fruit. Basically, Bai Xuechao would take a bite, and Yuan Lan would follow suit, their eating progress being completely identical.
"How is it?" Yuan Lan asked when he was halfway through.
Bai Xuechao truthfully replied, "Better than I thought."
"I told you it was highly praised~" Yuan Lan's golden eyes curved into a smile, and he said cheerfully, "When this mutated species was first brought in, all of us tried it. My lure-pheromone scent was the most compatible with this fruit, followed by Little Yu and Mu Xinyue. The least compatible was A-Qing."
Bai Xuechao almost choked on the fruit.
Did the Apocalypse Society play match-making? And were they quite active about it? Dedicated to painlessly letting everyone taste their own lure-pheromone?
He remembered that Yu Ruolan's lure-pheromone was the scent of violets, a floral scent. If Mu Xinyue was ranked alongside her, her lure-pheromone might also be a floral scent.
But least compatible...?
Bai Xuechao was curious about this and didn't hold back, directly asking, "What does Lin Changqing's lure-pheromone smell like?"
"Him," Yuan Lan curled his lips into a smile, seemingly recalling something amusing, "Mala Xiang Guo."
Bai Xuechao: "..."
After two seconds of silence, Bai Xuechao slowly tilted his head: "What?"
The expression on his face was undisguised, completely conveying a sense of "Did I hear that correctly?"
Yuan Lan nodded, as if confirming it: "Mala Xiang Guo."
Bai Xuechao couldn't help but "pfft" out a laugh.
Lin Changqing must have been maliciously trying to get revenge on others, right? No fruit paired with a Mala Xiang Guo skin could be suitable.
Yuan Lan continued to smile and said, "Moreover, A-Qing doesn't eat spicy food and hates the taste of it."
Bai Xuechao really couldn't hold back his laughter.
How could there be another person like Ji Chuanze??
To keep himself from laughing out loud, he took bite after bite of the white fruit, using the act of eating to silence himself.
"X8 was originally developed because of A-Qing," Yuan Lan said to Bai Xuechao while eating, "He couldn't stand the smell of his own lure-pheromone and asked me if this stuff couldn't just stop being secreted. I thought it was a good question, so I spent some time figuring out which organ of a special ability user secretes lure-pheromone, and sacrificed four toys for it."
Hearing this, Bai Xuechao felt a little choked up.
This guy really didn't treat himself as an outsider, or rather, he didn't care if this information leaked.
The implied meaning in Yuan Lan's words just now was that he had brutally dissected four special ability users or conducted human experiments to figure out where lure-pheromone was secreted.
At the same time, Bai Xuechao also finished the white fruit in his hand.
He said, "Hmm... I still want to eat more."
As soon as he finished speaking, a fruit with only a small piece left was handed to him.
Bai Xuechao glanced at the fruit Yuan Lan offered, then looked at him expressionlessly, and said coldly, "Take that last bite and roll as far as you can."
"Just kidding—" Yuan Lan's head leaned closer.
Bai Xuechao raised his hand and pushed his head away.
Yuan Lan leaned back again.
Bai Xuechao pushed him away again with a look of disgust: "You finish eating quickly."
"Okay." Yuan Lan stuffed the remaining fruit into his mouth, looked at the calm-faced Bai Xuechao, and suddenly said, "Little Xuechao, do you really still want to eat?"
Bai Xuechao stroked his chin, not directly telling Yuan Lan, but speaking somewhat cryptically. He didn't want to make his intentions too obvious, as that would make Yuan Lan realize he was being manipulated: "Hmm... I wouldn't say I desperately want to eat it. But I wouldn't say I don't want to eat it; I actually do want a little more."
Yuan Lan, wearing a mask-like gentle smile, reached out and touched the top of his head: "I was going to say I'd get you one, but your attitude is too vague."
This was it!
Yuan Lan could only ask Mu Xinyue for a fruit.
Bai Xuechao raised his hand and grabbed Yuan Lan's hand that was on top of his head, his long, dense eyelashes drooping, as if he was a little embarrassed.
He whispered, "I want one."
"Eh? I can't hear you." Yuan Lan leaned closer, his sweet voice sounding nearby. Even though he was the one being asked, his tone was very much like someone acting coquettishly. "Speak louder."
Bai Xuechao could only cooperate with this childish ghost, raising his voice slightly: "I want to eat."
Seeing that Yuan Lan seemed about to speak again, Bai Xuechao directly interrupted his "spell-casting," otherwise he felt this guy could get even more out of hand: "Forget it, I don't want to eat anymore."
He used a tactic of retreating to advance.
"What's wrong? I didn't say I wouldn't help you." Yuan Lan's eyes held a smile, and his hand on Bai Xuechao's head stroked it twice. He sighed, "Ai, next I'll have to shamelessly ask Miss Mu for something, all for you. Shouldn't you thank me?"
Did he still need to be shameless? He was already shameless enough.
He complained inwardly, but Bai Xuechao appeared very cooperative on the surface, asking, "How do you want me to thank you?"
"I want to hear you call me—" Yuan Lan's lips curved slightly, his brilliant golden eyes gazed at him, and his voice was soft, "Brother."