Chapter 17: Niu Boyi Has Mutated

The person on the ground curled into a ball one moment, then violently stretched out their limbs the next, only to fold up again as if being collapsed...

Niu Boyi rushed over, pushing against Liu Mu with his head in worry, but his mask buckle had somehow come loose, and with his large range of motion, a gap opened up directly.

Liu Mu, in agony, wanted to push Gouzi away, but it was already too late; the floating Red Mist drilled into Gouzi's mask, and there was simply no way to stop it.

"What's going on, Master, you smell so bad, what's wrong with you? Master, are you going to die?" Niu Boyi hadn't realized he had been hit yet, whimpering frantically. Although he couldn't express himself clearly, he instinctively felt that something major had happened to his Master, and as a dog, the hardest thing he had ever seen to accept was the little flower dog on the street being run over and killed.

"Go away, don't, don't," Liu Mu's face was flushed red, cold sweat streaming down, her chest feeling so tight it was about to explode, her mouth agape but unable to let air into her body.

"Oxygen!"

She tried her best to control one arm to reach for the oxygen tank on Niu Boyi's back, but her arm bent like the branch of a gnarled old locust tree, always missing the mark by a hair's breadth. Fortunately, Niu Boyi understood her meaning immediately; he hugged his head with his front paws and shook it, pulling his own mask off, then used his sharp teeth to tug at Liu Mu's mask and bit open the oxygen tube, sticking it into her twitching mouth.

"Bite it, Master, don't die!"

Just as Niu Boyi finished doing this, his body suddenly began to shake, and then, as if struck by an invisible, massive force, his body flew out and smashed into the ruins nearby.

Seeing this scene, Liu Mu was extremely anxious; it didn't matter if something happened to her, but this damn Red Mist daring to touch her dog was even more detestable than taking her life!

"A, medicine, anything, scan, administer medicine!" As she spoke, her oral muscles were out of control, and her teeth bit her tongue several times.

In fact, she didn't need to say it out loud, but in her desperation, she shouted subconsciously, "Administer medicine, Niu Boyi, keep him alive!"

【Heitao A at your service. Scanning the bodies of the host and Niu Boyi. The scan detects that both bodies are undergoing Mutation. It does not currently pose a life threat; the use of resistance or suppressant drugs is not recommended. The system has activated life monitoring and is ready with booster agents. Administering, taking effect...】

"Damn you!" Liu Mu cursed. This system, she asked it to save someone, and it was actually administering booster agents—wasn't it afraid of getting her and Niu Boyi killed!

The Mutation intensified, and the human and dog lay stiffly like spinning tops, shaking at high frequency, as if they were about to start smoking the next moment.

Li Gang, who had watched the whole thing, almost stood up to run away and shouted a few times, but the human and dog were rolling around in place with high-difficulty maneuvers like acrobats, and he didn't know how many of their bones had broken.

"Hey, hey, don't scare me, are you possessed by ghosts? Damn it!"

Li Gang propped himself up against a broken wall, wanting to go over and help; if this continued, they would surely kill themselves by crashing into things.

He had been a soldier for ten years, eight of which were spent in special forces executing secret missions, and he had heard of many mysterious events in between, most of which made one's spine chill.

But all those stories combined were not as shocking as the scene before his eyes. It wasn't that he wasn't afraid, but a man who had handled a rifle had a bit more courage, not to mention that the human and dog had saved his life.

But before he could get close, enduring the excruciating pain of his fractures, he saw the human and dog suddenly stop moving amidst the rising dust, their stiff bodies suddenly relaxing, lying there limp like two warm corpses.

"Ma'am, ma'am? Are you alright?"

It had been no more than a quarter of an hour since this woman ignored his advice and went into the cave, yet it had suddenly become disturbingly quiet.

For a moment, Liu Gang had even thought about burying them on the west side of the factory; there was a hillside there, and a small river at the foot of the hill—the environment was quite nice.

Just then, the short-haired woman on the ground suddenly opened her eyes and sat bolt upright, her chest heaving violently; she was alive.

Liu Mu certainly hadn't died, nor had she even gone into shock; the booster agent had intensified the effect of the Mutation, squeezing out almost all the potential in her body for a concentrated burst, essentially giving her body a strengthening overhaul in terms of strength and physiology.

As for how much she had been strengthened, she couldn't evaluate it herself, only waiting for the system data.

However, the moment she regained control, Liu Mu picked up the oxygen tank, stumbled toward Niu Boyi, and connected the mask to the oxygen, pressing it onto the dog's nose.

If nothing else, the air with its unknown composition now contained a fair amount of heavy metal toxins.

Almost all of Liu Mu's strength had been drained; at this moment, she not only lacked strength but was also famished, and the only thing keeping her from passing out was her sincere love and concern for the dog.

The system gave a recommendation for nutritional supplements and booster agents at this time; the agents stored inside in her previous life finally had a chance to be put to use.

Liu Mu didn't hesitate to give herself an injection, and just as she wanted to give one to Niu Boyi, the dog under her hands began to change.

Her most intuitive feeling was that the mask in her hand was getting smaller, but upon closer inspection, she realized it was Niu Boyi who was getting bigger.

His bones emitted dense, crackling sounds, and his muscles bulged along with them, as if strands of steel were stretching and crawling beneath his glossy fur!

"Gigantism? You little guy, you've become something else!" Liu Mu immediately realized what was happening. Her hands moved, and without time to worry about the person not far away, several large crates of Nutrient Solution appeared out of thin air, and she simultaneously took out a large funnel.

"Niu Boyi, open your mouth!"

The three-finger-thick Nutrient Solution bottles were like toothpicks in front of Niu Boyi now; Liu Mu poured them into the dog's mouth while chugging a few bottles herself.

"Hey, you over there, come over and help!"

Although she felt her speed was very fast, it still wasn't enough to replenish Niu Boyi; this guy really had a bloody maw now, the funnel was redundant, and the Nutrient Solution flowed directly into his throat.

Seeing that Liu Mu was rational, Li Gang, who had managed to move over with difficulty, didn't quite dare to get close to Niu Boyi. "Miss, what's going on?"

His hometown accent even slipped out from the fright. Liu Mu glanced at him and said bluntly, "That thing in the cave is problematic; it caused Niu Boyi to undergo Mutation. His growth now requires a massive influx of energy. Hurry up and help break open the Nutrient Solution; if he gets too hungry in a moment, he'll eat both of us as a meal."

Trouble? It was far more than just trouble; how could it be merely trouble?

The two of them, not wanting to be eaten by the dog, sat down in front of the ever-growing dog; Liu Mu broke the caps, and Li Gang poured them into the dog's mouth, like old farmers diligently watering crops.

At this point, they couldn't worry about much else; seeing the Nutrient Solution running out, Liu Mu continued to take more out, not caring how astonished the stranger was.

"This is a secret. If you dare to tell anyone, I'll let Niu Boyi eat you!"

Facing the giant dog undergoing Mutation, this statement clearly had plenty of deterrent power.

Li Gang thought it over and still asked, "Is it really the end of the world?"

"It is. Can't you see it?" Liu Mu had no patience to explain. "Don't hold onto any delusions; it's even worse outside than it is here. You must have felt it while hiding underground; a few days ago, the ground was hundreds of degrees, and many people were burned away directly. You know, staying in your own home, and suddenly everything just ignites... forget it, try to reconcile it yourself."

Liu Mu had no heart to care about anyone else's mental health; the world was already like this—if you can accept it, accept it; if you can't, then go crazy.