She’s Already 40% Non-Human… And They Want to Push It Further

“Then I’ll be blunt—about Yue Chenlian’s situation!”
Lin Yuxuan raised her voice.
“How is Chenlian doing now?”
She directed her concerned question at Hadi.

“That’s exactly what I wanted to discuss.”
Hadi’s previously relaxed face immediately turned serious.
“First, physically, there’s no major problem.”

“Then what about that dazed, listless state she’s in?”
Lin Yuxuan asked, suppressing her displeasure.

“Regarding the amnesia, I believe I already explained it not long ago,”
Hadi said in an explanatory tone, then looked at the two of them.

Lin Yuxuan nodded firmly.
Ye Qing continued to look at Hadi, signaling [Go on.]

Hadi nodded in acknowledgment, then continued.

“First, Chenlian is unquestionably suffering from amnesia. Fuzi has already tested her.”

“Then surely the name Yue Chenlian was something you came up with for her!?”
Her tone still carried displeasure, though she didn’t express outright dissatisfaction.

“Yes,” Fuzi answered this time.

“Then how do you explain this condition?”
Lin Yuxuan skipped over the naming issue and demanded an explanation from Hadi.

“This is normal,” Hadi replied flatly.

Lin Yuxuan thought for a moment she had misheard, and repeated to Hadi, “You’re saying this is normal?”

“Yes,” Hadi answered, still flat.

Lin Yuxuan’s body trembled. Suddenly, she slammed the table and stood up.
“Is there something wrong with your brain? How exactly do you come to such a conclusion?”
Her angry voice rang through the living room.

“Yuxuan!”
Ye Qing finally couldn’t just watch anymore. He reached out and pulled Lin Yuxuan’s left hand.
“Calm down.”
His calm voice seemed to have some kind of magic. Lin Yuxuan quieted down in an instant, lowered her head, and sat back down.

“So, Dr. Hadi, may I ask the reason for your statement?”
Ye Qing’s still-calm voice brushed past everything that had just happened.

“Of course!”
Hadi nodded in affirmation, then leaned back on the sofa and looked up at the ceiling.
He calmly uttered a forbidden term.
“Regarding Variants—how much do you know?”

“Not much. Only the name, really,” Ye Qing replied.
Then, as if something had occurred to him, he paused.
“So those recent news reports—they’re all related to Variants, then?”
His mind connected to someone.
“You’re saying Yue Chenlian is a Variant?”

“Definitely. Yes,” Hadi confirmed.
He withdrew his gaze from the ceiling, smiled at Ye Qing, then turned slightly serious.
“This isn’t baseless nonsense. The two of you and Fuzi know this better than anyone, don’t you?”

The three fell silent. Of course, Hadi wasn’t expecting an answer either.
He continued.
“Variants, as the name suggests, are people whose bodies have undergone some kind of mutation that makes them different from ordinary humans.”

“The reason I say Chenlian’s current condition is normal isn’t simply because of the amnesia. It’s a negative side effect that the mutation brought along with the memory loss.”

“Let me mention another patient I treated. He was also a Variant, but there were no obvious physical changes. If I had to describe it—his body just got sturdier?”

“Dr. Hadi!”
A dangerous voice.

Sensing danger instinctively, Hadi immediately dropped to his knees in front of Fuzi.
“I’m sorry!”
He apologized with complete sincerity.

“Hmph! There really is something wrong with your brain!”
Lin Yuxuan said, annoyed.

“Yuxuan!”
Seeing Lin Yuxuan turn her head away, Ye Qing could only sigh. But her mood seemed to have improved, so it was probably fine!?
The atmosphere eased slightly.

“Ahem, ahem!”
Hadi cleared his throat twice and sat back down on the sofa.

“First, the early symptoms were vomiting, physical weakness, and fatigue, accompanied by a rapid heartbeat. The patient basically spent 12 days in bed. The mutation rate was 30% to 40%.”

“‘Mutation rate’?”
Ye Qing and Lin Yuxuan asked in unison.

“It’s the ratio of mutated cells to total cells. To put it bluntly, it’s the proportion of non-human components. In other words, at that time, the patient was already 30% to 40% not human.”
Hadi’s unchanged flat tone made the two of them turn pale with fright.

“When the mutation rate reached 40%—what we call the middle stage—the vomiting and weakness disappeared. The heart rate stayed around 110 beats per minute. But another symptom appeared—blindness!”

“Blindness!? Why?”
Lin Yuxuan asked, slightly anxious.

“The specific reason is unknown, but it was most likely caused by the mutation entity. Ah, I forgot to mention—the mutation entity is a collective formed by mutated cells when the mutation rate reaches 40%. At that point, the body begins to change. That’s what we call the start of the mutation.”

“The mutation happens very quickly, and it mostly occurs at night while the patient is asleep. Let’s skip the process and go straight to the results. Specifically, hmm~”
Hadi stroked his chin, thinking.
“Height increased by 0.06 meters. The body became quite sturdy. So I wasn’t joking earlier!”

“Don’t interrupt!”
Fuzi said sharply.

“Yes, Lady Fuzi!”
Hadi gave a salute.

“Anyway, the point is there were no visible changes. The blindness only lasted two days. When everything settled, the patient’s vision was good enough to peek from this building at girls changing clothes in another building 500 meters away. Wait! Fuzi, this is a fact—I’m not joking!”

His protest was unsuccessful and instead met with a reinforced punch to the stomach.
Holding the sore spot, he writhed in pain and knelt on the floor.
But his explanation didn’t stop. In a pained, bitter voice, he continued,
“By the way, cough… the patient was originally severely nearsighted. After the mutation, his physical abilities far exceeded the average person, though Olympic athletes were still slightly better. As for eyesight—undoubtedly the best in the world! The cell mutation rate exceeded 40%…”
Hadi rushed through the last part in three seconds, then collapsed onto the sofa in agony.

“What happened to that person?”
Lin Yuxuan asked with concern.

“He’s doing just fine. If anything, he’s doing too well?”
Hadi scratched his head, having recovered, and stood up.

“So can you answer the original question now?”
Ye Qing asked.

“This is just my speculation. I can’t guarantee accuracy, you know?”

“That’s fine.”
Ye Qing signaled for Hadi to continue.

“As I said earlier, when the mutation rate reaches 40%, the Variant is affected by the mutation entity and begins to mutate. At the same time, there is a negative side effect. But that side effect disappears once the mutation rate exceeds 40%.”

“And yesterday, we drew 150 ml of Chenlian’s blood for testing. The result was 40%. Right in the middle.”

Ye Qing suddenly understood and took over Hadi’s words.
“Meaning Chenlian’s current state is the negative side effect. So if we just push the mutation rate past 40%, she’ll return to normal!? Her memories will come back too?”

“That’s impossible,” Hadi immediately denied.

Ye Qing was momentarily stunned, then protested, “But didn’t you just say that once it exceeds 40%, she’ll return to normal!?”

“Yes,” Hadi affirmed again.

“Then you—”
Ye Qing’s retort was sharply cut off by Hadi.

“But I never said the body would return to its original state after the mutation. Memory—the changes in the brain—falls within the scope of bodily changes as well.”

Ye Qing was speechless. He could only clench his fists and lower his head.

Just before silence descended, Lin Yuxuan, also clenching her fists with her head lowered, stood up and spoke.
“What are you all talking about?”
Her voice lacked inflection, making it impossible to tell her current mood.

“Yuxuan!?”
Ye Qing looked at Lin Yuxuan in surprise, thinking she hadn’t understood. He was about to explain but stopped with the words caught in his throat—because he had sensed a hint of Lin Yuxuan’s true feelings.

“So! What nonsense are you all spouting!”
Her angry shout was filled with sorrow.
“Already 40% non-human cells, and you want to raise that 40% higher? Turn Chenlian into a non-human? Increase the mutation rate? Don’t be ridiculous! Isn’t the amnesia and physical transformation enough? Return to normal? This is already abnormal! Can a normal person see things 500 meters away clearly? And who can guarantee the mutation rate won’t keep rising? What if it reaches 50%!? That would be half non-human. Who can guarantee that no more abnormalities will appear once the rate goes up? Or maybe—”
At this point, Lin Yuxuan swayed, unsteady on her feet, and clutched her head with both hands. Her eyes had reddened.
“—die of a serious illness!”
Her last words were very quiet, but no one in the room missed them. That was the saddest possible ending.

The prolonged silence was almost painful.

Two minutes later, Hadi broke the silence.
“You’re right.”
Hadi spoke quietly, his eyes calm, showing no emotional fluctuation.

Everyone looked at Hadi, waiting for his next words.
“Even so, I have never given up the fight!”
No one could miss the resolve in his voice—the spirit of refusing to give up even if it meant defying the heavens.
“Because I have seen hope.”

Lin Yuxuan took a deep breath.
“Fine. Debating this now won’t get us anywhere, will it?”

“Then there’s another issue. I have no intention of handing Chenlian over to strangers like you.”
Lin Yuxuan’s tone was firm. This, at least, she would never allow!

～～～～～～

The drilling, heart-wrenching pain had somehow receded.
The ethereal melody had also faded from her consciousness.
Her heart, which had been pounding violently just moments ago, had calmed down.

Chenlian looked at the pitch-black room.
Her first autonomous thought emerged: [Where is this?]

She tried to sit up, but a sharp, stabbing pain kept assaulting her head. She couldn’t organize her thoughts properly.

[I’ll go out and take a look first.]
With that thought, Chenlian held her head and walked to the door.
Her left hand groped in the darkness for a while before finally finding the doorknob. She turned it and slowly walked out of the room.

The second-floor corridor was pitch black.
Only at the landing was there a faint light coming up from the first floor.
Chenlian felt as if she had seen hope. Instinct told her to walk toward the light source.
[Fuzi.]