Who Wants to Be the Affectionate Cannon Fodder?! [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 35

The woman appeared to be in her thirties, wearing a white lab coat with her long hair falling loosely around her shoulders. The ends of her hair curled slightly, and her sharp eyes were full of aggression.

A robotic arm behind Yu Lin handed her a white porcelain bowl. She took it and leaned back into a soft chair. Yu Lin watched her movements expressionlessly, standing still like a wooden puppet.

“Come closer, you need to take your medicine.” The woman patted her thigh. Yu Lin moved toward her with mechanical obedience.

A wooden spoon filled with a pitch-black liquid was fed into Yu Lin’s throat. He couldn’t taste anything, swallowing it down as easily as plain water.

“Getting sick is a good thing; it means the modification wasn’t entirely successful, and there is still hope for you.” The woman fed him spoon after spoon. “Is it bitter?”

Yu Lin blinked innocently, tilting his head to look at her with confusion.

“Bitterness is a taste; it usually feels like an astringency in the mouth that clears the brain.”

The bowl of medicine was soon empty. The woman grabbed a box of dried fruit from the table and picked out the largest one. Without caring if Yu Lin was willing, she stuffed it directly into his mouth.

“This is sweetness. It is the excitement and satisfaction that connects the taste buds to the brain.”

Yu Lin still didn’t quite understand. He chewed a few times and swallowed, his face showing no change at all.

The woman gently reached out to touch his cheek, her fingertips tracing the stiff muscles of his face. She sighed with melancholy and cursed indignantly: “A bunch of uncivilized paramecia, doing such garbage work.”

Yu Lin didn’t know what she was cursing about and stared at her blankly. Something about his appearance must have touched a chord in her, as her tone grew calm again: “But it’s okay. I will make you like a normal person.”

An electronic “beep” sounded in the background, followed by a “click.” The light-computer on the woman’s hand emitted a voice distorted by static: “Dr. Gu, I am a member of the AS Intelligence Branch. Our commander believes that as the only successful experiment in your institute, that child possesses extraordinary combat talent. We hope you will hand him over to us. We believe he will become”

“Dream on! Get lost!” The woman cut the communication and hurled the bowl straight at the door.

In the next moment, the world spun. The roaring thunder and the shattering of the porcelain bowl merged. Yu Lin’s head was pressed into damp soil. He struggled and resisted as torrential rain beat down on him, yet an unnatural fire burned within his body.

A person leaned down close to his ear and said viciously: “I heard you feel no pain and never tire? But there are a thousand ways to torture someone in this world. We can take our time; eventually, you will beg for death.”

Yu Lin’s struggle gradually lost strength. The person finally let go, preparing to leave.

Gaining access to fresh air, Yu Lin took a large, quick breath. He pushed off the ground and exerted all his strength into a leg-lock on the unsuspecting man, dragging him down into the mud by his neck.

Yu Lin panted heavily, the scorching heat making his head throb, but his grip grew even more ruthless. He spat out a mouthful of salty mud and said coldly: “Do whatever you want. But I am the only one walking out of here alive.”

After an unknown amount of time, Yu Lin pulled his hand away and pushed the man’s limp body aside. He stood up shakily, casually wiping the filth from his face.

He was a mess. His hair was plastered to his head in wet clumps, some matted with mud, looking like a beggar from the Eighth Galaxy slums. His face and body were covered in bruises and open cuts from the beating, but he stood tall as if he felt no pain, gazing at the small patch of sky above him.

A clap of thunder exploded, and heavy rain fell. Yu Lin twitched violently. When he opened his eyes again, he saw a burnt-out campfire and the curtain of rain outside the cave.

The images from the dream shattered into thousands of pieces instantly, vanishing from his mind without leaving a trace. He didn’t even have the desire to recall them.

The jacket draped over him carried a clean, soft scent. Yu Lin pulled the collar close to sniff it, and sure enough, he found that familiar fragrance again.

“Little baby, you look like a total creep doing that.”

Yu Lin looked up at the sound and saw Tang Mo huddling on the other side of the stone wall, looking at him with hesitation, along with her new partner.

Yu Lin: “?”

Before he could let go of the clothes, a set of approaching footsteps paused. Then, Ning Jinghe walked to his side with a calm expression and knelt down. He took the jacket from Yu Lin’s hands and briefly touched the back of his hand to Yu Lin’s forehead before pulling away.

“The fever has broken. How do you feel? Want some water?” As he spoke, he pressed a soft water bottle into Yu Lin’s arms.

Yu Lin gave him a puzzled look and replied: “I’m alright. Why is your jacket on me?”

Ning Jinghe’s hand stiffened as he folded the jacket. His gaze fell slowly on Yu Lin’s face.

“You were shivering and crying out that you were cold last night, so Senior Ning held you to keep you warm,” Tang Mo said. “We were startled when we first found you here. We were wondering where this random couple in the wilderness came from”

Before Tang Mo could finish, Ning Jinghe shot her a look. She felt a sudden, silent warning.

However, Tang Mo pretended not to notice and continued willfully: “The cameras recorded everything. You wouldn’t kill me to keep me quiet, right?”

“That’s not for certain, sister Tang Mo should speak a bit less. But Brother Xingzhuo’s physical condition is really poor; it’s only been a few days of filming and something is always going wrong.”

The tone was smooth, but the words sounded a bit strange.

Yu Lin: “Who are you?”

Li Yao’s face instantly darkened. On the first day when he had greeted Shen Xingzhuo, he had received the exact same response: “Who are you? Do we know each other?”

Tang Mo was also curious: “Aren’t you two from the same company?”

“Are they?” Yu Lin climbed out of his sleeping bag and took a small sip from the water bottle while summoning 007 to check this person’s data.

In the original plot, Li Yao was an insignificant minor character. The world-line only mentioned that he had received some guidance from Ning Jinghe while filming, creating a tiny bit of connection. As for Shen Xingzhuo, his senior at the same company, Li Yao had always been unwillingly overshadowed by him despite having more talent and working harder, simply because of Shen Xingzhuo’s family background and arrogant personality. However, after Shen Xingzhuo was sent abroad, Li Yao’s luck seemed to turn around, and he became quite successful.

Li Yao tried to save face: “Maybe it is because I’m always out training and in classes, so I rarely run into Brother Xingzhuo. It’s normal not to know me.”

Yu Lin said expressionlessly: “Then you sure are hardworking.”

“Li Yao is so pitiful. Everyone introduced themselves at the start; Shen Xingzhuo is being so rude.”

“Even without an introduction, he should know a junior from the same company. I was starting to change my mind about Shen Xingzhuo, but now I see he really is just like the rumors: a sightless young master.”

“Hilarious. Maybe it’s just that Li Yao isn’t famous enough? After all, he calls Brother Shiyan and Brother Ning very sweetly.”

“Is the person above sick? Li Yao was the one who insulted Shen Xingzhuo’s physical health first. Is he not allowed to hit back?”

“Is it not a fact that his health is poor? He got a fever just from some rain and he’s afraid of people saying it?”

Yu Lin drank his water thoughtfully. He really hadn’t paid much attention to this person over the last few days.

“Is it possible you haven’t remembered more than a few people?” 007 exposed him heartlessly.

Yu Lin countered: “I remember her and the dish her original partner made.”

Yu Lin put down the water bottle and asked Tang Mo: “Where is your original partner?”

“We ran into their team on the road and lost a challenge to the program crew, so we were forced to swap partners,” Tang Mo said brightly. “Then last night at the designated spot, we got screwed by the crew again. We were forced to challenge your group and lost again.”

Yu Lin asked: “When did this happen?”

Tang Mo explained: “While you were down with the fever. Senior Ning absolutely annihilated the two of us by himself.”

Yu Lin looked up at Ning Jinghe. As if sensing his gaze, the other man looked down and met his eyes.

“What was the challenge this time?”

Ning Jinghe touched the bridge of his nose and looked away: “Gomoku.”

Tang Mo added: “Brother Ning’s skills are incredible. The two of us took turns but couldn’t beat him once.”

“Oh. Brother Ning is really amazing.”

“I hope you can be more sincere with your praise next time,” Ning Jinghe said coolly. He rescued the water bottle that Yu Lin was squeezing into an odd shape and shook the remaining water. “Want more?”

Yu Lin nodded and asked back: “Am I not sincere?”

He then began to read like a heartless robot: “Brother Ning is so great, Brother Ning is so thoughtful, I wouldn’t know what to do without you, oh my leg hurts again it must be because Brother Ning is so handsome it reached my bones. Is that okay now?”

From the moment he spoke the first word, Ning Jinghe knew nothing good was coming, but it was too late to stop him. Yu Lin finished the long string of nonsense quickly and looked up at him with a gaze that begged for praise.

Ning Jinghe didn’t know that Yu Lin had seen all of this in novels in the school library during his first world.

Ning Jinghe tapped the water bottle against Yu Lin’s forehead and said: “Still perfunctory. I’m going out to get water.”

“Affection points +10. Contributor: Tang Mo.”

Yu Lin turned his head in confusion only to see Tang Mo leaning her head on her hand and smiling at him, her round eyes bright.

“Ah, Young Master Ning hasn’t laughed like that in a long time,” Tang Mo teased, her eyes full of mischief.

Yu Lin didn’t understand: “Did he just laugh? I don’t think so.”

“Maybe he was laughing on the inside. The young master has never been this close to anyone before.” Tang Mo lowered her voice, sounding like a butler from some CEO web drama.

However, “Can I gain affection points even if it isn’t from Jiang Shiyan? Or is your system bugged?”

007 played dead and did not answer.

“Sister Tang Mo, it’s about time for us to leave. We have a lot of ground to cover today. Plus, we lost a fragment to Brother Ning last night, so we are far behind.” Li Yao, who had been ignored for a long time, spoke up again. As he stood, his gaze swept over Yu Lin, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, his tone carrying a hint of gritted teeth and dissatisfaction.

Tang Mo gave a regretful reply and stood up with him, preparing to say goodbye to Yu Lin and the others.

Unexpectedly, before she could speak, Ning Jinghe returned with the water, looking troubled. He raised an eyebrow and said in a heavy voice: “I just received word from the program crew. A typhoon is making landfall in three days. We need to prepare for evacuation.”

Yu Lin blinked.

This was the variable he had been waiting for; the reason it would be impossible to reach the “Final Destination.”

And the end of the filming also meant, he could finally break up with that bastard Jiang Shiyan!