Chapter 65: Your Life Is Mine

At first there was no movement, but five seconds later, the two types of blood suddenly churned violently.

Her blood was like a rapidly spreading virus; in less than a minute, it drove out the greenish-black color, and while restoring the red, the blood did not settle, instead thrashing about in the glass bottle as if it had gone mad.

Then, the glass bottle cracked.

Liu Mu retrieved the bottle into her space for isolation and crossed her arms in thought; this was clearly a case of the medicine being too potent.

The few poisoned individuals were already delirious, able only to sense someone moving around them, but unaware of what she had actually done.

After separation by the system, it quickly provided the result that the red blood cell growth rate was too fast.

Liu Mu did not have much medical knowledge, so she only asked the system if she could recover on her own if this infection were in her body.

【Of course you can; a virus with this basic structure cannot even infect you at all, even if you were to expose your own wounds directly to the source of infection.】

"That means as long as I reduce the dosage of my blood, I can detoxify them, right?"

【Who knows? Why don't you try it.】

The system was clearly avoiding the question, which was a bit infuriating.

Liu Mu tried threats and inducements to no avail, so she asked directly, "Will there be diagnostic and treatment functions after the next upgrade?"

【A treatment function is impossible; I am a Scrap Collection System, not a medical system.】

"Useless!" Liu Mu had just cursed when she immediately caught the subtext, "You mean that continuing to upgrade will provide disease and injury diagnostic functions, which means you could then propose treatment plans, right?"

【Who knows? You aren't exactly proactive about upgrading.】

"Don't say that; it's clearly because you are timid as a mouse, saying there's risk here and you can't go there. Even the Anti-matter Engine was something I risked my life to get, hmph!" Liu Mu understood the implication and threatened, "Tell me how much of my blood I need to add to that tube of blood from earlier to make it return to normal. Speak properly, or I'll pull out that damn engine and throw it away."

At this moment, the system really wanted to say that this host knew how to pinch its lifeline. But it could not answer directly, as that would violate system principles, so—【Please look at the analysis table.】

Liu Mu quickly browsed through it, and after confirming the ratio, she used a clean syringe to draw 3ml of blood, then injected it in varying amounts into five IV bottles.

The IV bottles were connected to transparent plastic tubes, and the nearly colorless liquid flowed from the needles into the blood vessels of the few people.

When Li Gang entered with the First Aid Kit, he saw that the greenish veins on the necks of the people receiving the IVs had already faded significantly.

He had seen Liu Mu make large steel ingots disappear with a touch. So, conjuring a few IV sets out of thin air was nothing to be surprised about; of course, he still wouldn't ask.

In these times, knowing other people's secrets was not necessarily a good thing.

"Boss, let me tend to their wounds," Li Gang took out his tools.

"Good," Liu Mu had originally wanted to observe the treatment situation, but now that Li Gang had come in, she handed the matter over to him.

"I'll come to relieve you in two hours; call me if anything happens."

Before Liu Mu left, Li Gang called out to her, "Boss, do you think the poison they have might still be there?"

"It's possible," Liu Mu thought for a moment, "I will go down into the mine shaft myself tomorrow, go a bit further, and plan the future mining operations after confirming the situation inside."

"If I weren't injured..." Li Gang stopped himself in time, "Once my leg is better, maybe I could help you."

But he meant his arm; he was once a top-tier sniper, but now he struggled even to carry a rifle.

It wasn't that Li Gang hadn't tried rehabilitation training, but the best rehabilitation therapists in the military had ended up shaking their heads.

They only told him to live a good life after changing careers and not to think too much.

Liu Mu saw that when he spoke of his injury, he wasn't looking at his leg, but at his right hand, which had quite a few scars, and she understood a little.

"You can't help me," Liu Mu decided to tell the truth, lest they really think they could help her and end up in danger instead, "The others can't help either. My body is different from yours; you saw it at the Steel Rolling Mill, didn't you? Niu Boyi and I are of the same kind."

Li Gang recalled that experience, and the bitterness in his heart vanished instantly; he tentatively asked, "Boss, can I use that substance you mentioned?"

This hit the nail on the head; Liu Mu had long wanted to find someone to test it on, though it wasn't very ethical to deceive people, but it would be a different matter if someone volunteered.

"If..." she feigned difficulty, "I'm just saying if, ha, if you aren't afraid of death, you can try."

This—was there anyone under the heavens who wasn't afraid of death?

But hiding behind a girl so spinelessly, he wasn't the type of person with a particularly agile mind to act as a military advisor, nor was he an experienced Merchant like Liu Fugui.

That's right, the current situation was more painful for him than death.

"I'll try."

"Good, wait until we go back."

Liu Mu agreed, and seeing the instant spark of spirit in Li Gang's eyes, she felt quite moved.

Their growth circumstances were different, but they all equally did not want to be useless people.

Outside, the people had already been arranged clearly by Liu Fugui, and under his arrangement, He Qizheng was explaining the situation outside to them.

Whether they could accept it or not, this information was told to them directly; if they didn't believe it, they could go out and see for themselves.

Once fed and satisfied, some could not hold back and wanted to leave.

Liu Fugui looked at Liu Mu, and having received instructions, he spoke bluntly to a few young men with yellow hair, "You can go, but we will not provide extra food and water."

"Also, a reminder: there are Mutated Animals active outside at night, there are also Mutated Plants along the way that feed on animals, and furthermore, the water from the Black Rain is poisonous..."

Before he could finish, a yellow-haired man interrupted, "Have you been watching too many short videos, old man? The apocalypse is all made up. I think you guys are just like that Boss Ma, just wanting to keep us pressed here to mine for you. Hmph, I won't be fooled again, you black-hearted coal boss, may you die a horrible death!"

Liu Fugui sneered, "Whether I die a horrible death is uncertain, but if you leave now, you can experience for yourselves whether you can die a good death. Those who want to leave can go now!"

Among the few youths, some were from the town, and some had been tricked by black intermediaries; they had long since not wanted to stay at the mine.

Now that the mine had suffered a disaster, they could leave without fulfilling their contracts or paying damages; where else would they get another chance?

They were convinced that Liu Mu and the others were not legitimate, and perhaps there was someone in the shadows holding a camera for a livestream, making money off the traffic from clueless people like them.

The few of them made a scene and left, braving the Black Rain.

Liu Mu stopped He Qizheng, who wanted to intervene, "They aren't your family; respect the fate of others."

He Qizheng clenched his fists, "Boss, when I was a child, my parents were gone, and when I was in my teens, my grandparents were gone too; it was the villagers who raised me until I could work... Please show mercy and let me follow them from a distance. If they want to come back, I'll set conditions with them and bring them back."

Since he was small, he had always considered himself not smart, and this approach was already the best he could think of.

Liu Mu thought for a moment, gave him a rifle, and took out another Flashlight, "Although they are fellow villagers, they aren't from your village. Don't value others over yourself; your life is mine."

Although the words didn't sound pleasant, He Qizheng was still somewhat moved; this was clearly a preferential condition the Boss had given him.

Seeing He Qizheng chase after them, Liu Fugui sighed and cursed, "Idiot."