Pain. The kind that made his whole body twitch.

Zhou Heng heard the crisp clang of metal, along with a few muttered words full of confusion.

“This body structure… it’s already changed into this?”

“Amazing. This isn’t the body structure of the Insect Race. Though some of its genes have been mixed in, the human body’s structure is still dominant.”

“And these auxiliary organs… According to that little girl Su Mo, she can sense fluctuations in psychic energy. The Insect Mother is said to possess the most perfect psychic ability. Could some of that be thanks to these inhuman organs?”

“And this physiological trend… I hope I’m just imagining things…”

Zhou Heng slowly opened his eyes. The bright lights reflected in them, and he squinted against the glare.

“Oh, you’re awake.”

The words came easily, with a warm, friendly air.

Zhou Heng turned his gaze toward a foreigner in a mask, who was nodding at him like they knew each other.

“How did I…”

Was this a hospital?

His gaze followed the foreigner’s body downward—and immediately caught sight of something horrifying.

His abdomen had been cut open, and the organs inside were pulsing.

Worse, the open abdomen belonged to Zhou Heng himself.

Zhou Heng’s eyes flew wide open.

But before he could even cry out in fear—

—his eyes rolled shut.

He fainted.

Mu Yuan shook his head.

“Kids these days can’t handle anything. So what if I opened your abdomen without anesthetic? So what if I checked your organs? What’s so hard to accept? You even fainted. You really have no idea how tough life can be.”

Despite what he said, Mu Yuan put Zhou Heng’s organs back in place. After carefully disinfecting the area, he stitched up the abdomen.

By now, Mu Yuan had more or less figured out what was going on with Zhou Heng.

Mu Yuan stepped out of his medical room and lit a cigarette by the door. He pulled out his phone with his other hand. A number was displayed on the screen.

It belonged to the top leader of China’s official organization for managing Mutants.

An ordinary Mutant awakening didn’t warrant the attention of the organization’s top leader. But Zhou Heng was different.

Exhaling smoke, Mu Yuan stared at the treatment room door. Through the thick glass, he could almost see the young man lying on the bed.

No. He should be called an Insect Mother now.

A Mutant classified as an Upper-Tier Taboo Species in both threat level and combat intensity.

Once it matured, nearly every King Species human in the world would have to be mobilized just to stand a chance against it.

For a monster like this, the best solution was obviously to hand it over to a special government agency. If anything happened that they couldn’t control, the agency would have enough power to destroy it.

But Zhou Heng was still just a kid.

Clatter, clatter. A racket came from inside the medical room.

Mu Yuan put the cigarette between his lips, turned around, and pushed open the door.

The Zhou Heng who’d been unconscious on the bed just moments ago was now standing on a table, repeatedly hammering at the window’s iron bars.

Mu Yuan grinned, spat the remaining half of his cigarette onto the floor, and stamped it out before saying,

“That’s enough. Quit messing with my window. It’s made of A2 artificial alloy, only a hair less hard than diamond, but as flexible as steel. It’s top-notch against pressure, tension, and shearing. Even I, an Upper-Tier Gold Species, can’t rip it apart by force. What do you think you’re going to do with those puny arms?”

Zhou Heng kept trying for a little longer. Only after he realized the bars in front of the window wouldn’t budge did he turn around stiffly.

The boy gripped a scalpel blunted by the iron bars and shouted with more bravado than confidence.

“Don’t come any closer! I—I have a weapon! It’s really sharp! One slash and you’re dead!”

Mu Yuan drew a pistol from his waist and pointed its dark muzzle at Zhou Heng.

Zhou Heng crumpled to the floor, cold sweat breaking out all over him.

“Y-you don’t have to do that.”

Zhou Heng pleaded in a weak voice.

“If you want money, or anything else, just say so. I’ll give you whatever I can. Please, let me live, okay?”

Mu Yuan put the pistol away, went over to a chair, and sat down.

“I really don’t get it. Why are you so afraid of me? Look at the wound on your chest, then take a moment to feel how your body’s doing. I did my job and treated your injuries properly. And you? You don’t even thank the person who saved your life. Instead, you start making all these empty threats.”

Mu Yuan sighed.

“Honestly, it’s hard to be a good person these days.”

You wake up and find someone in a doctor’s coat dissecting you. Do you think you’d feel fond of them?

I almost thought you were Professor Hannibal, for crying out loud.

Suppressing the complaints churning inside him, Zhou Heng forced a faint smile onto his face.

“If you’re a good person, then letting me go should be…”

Mu Yuan jerked a thumb toward the door.

“If you want to leave, go ahead. I won’t stop you.”

Zhou Heng’s expression tightened. He asked in disbelief,

“Y-you’re not lying to me? You mean that?”

Mu Yuan replied,

“Believe whatever you want.”

Keeping well away from Mu Yuan, Zhou Heng edged along the wall all the way to the door.

But just as he was about to open it, Zhou Heng hesitated.

He’d seen far too many things today that shouldn’t have been possible in his worldview.

Zhou Heng didn’t know whether he should play dumb and pretend none of it had happened, or…

…try to learn a little more.

Mu Yuan’s voice drifted over to him.

“Go on, then. Why’d you stop? Go through that door and keep following the hallway. There’s an exit at either end. Once you’re outside, just grab a cab and you’ll be home in no time.”

There was something Mu Yuan didn’t say aloud.

If Zhou Heng really did leave, Mu Yuan would call the government’s Mutant oversight department as soon as he was gone.