Revived as a Mutant in the Apocalypse

Pins and Needles

"F-Father." The clerk meekly called out like the defeated dog he was.

"Back off, do you want to die?!!" Roared the middle-aged man, Master Zhang, who also happened to be the one in charge of the pawnshop.

Master Zhang, upon coming to this scene, was almost frightened to death. He quickly pushed the troublemaker away to take over, ordering his useless son to scram as far as he could before turning to face Xie Yi with a flattering smile.

"This esteemed Young Miss here, this old man deeply apologizes for the negligence. Are you perhaps, Miss Xie Yi?"

Xie Yi nodded whilst handing the middle-aged man the proof of her identity.

Master Zhang carefully took the badge into his hands, meticulously examining the item's authenticity before handing the teenager a fully-loaded gym bag that looked exactly the same as what Xie Yi had brought back to the Xie residence last night.

"These are the things that had been entrusted to be passed over to the esteemed Young Miss." Master Zhang said, before timidly adding, "Miss, I apologize if I were to offend you but, may I know why you haven't picked up your phone yet?"

This 'phone' he's talking about, it didn't take more than a second for Xie Yi to realize what he's referring to.

Contrary to the uneasiness within her, Xie Yi showed a calm and indifferent front to the middle-aged man who was sweating all over his body.

As he waited for the Young Miss' 'benevolence' to enlighten him, Master Zhang silently wiped off the cold sweat drenching his forehead.

God knows just how many calls and threats he and his team had been receiving from that one scary 'entity' as the esteemed Young Miss hadn't answered her phone since the day she left the military base.

Little did Xie Yi know that in fact, her Captain had been calling her since she stepped foot into the first train. Alas, the girl who never used a smartphone before had unknowingly left her phone in the train station, therefore completely missing the N number of calls from her overly-worried Captain.

"Oh, I lost it." Xie Yi nonchalantly said, faking her calm as she demanded, "I am here for that matter as well. Do you perhaps have another spare phone?"

"..."

We've been walking on pins and needles every second thinking that the relationship had been estranged due to the far distance and yet, it turned out to be nothing but a misunderstanding????

Master Zhang and his team didn't know what to say.

Fortunately, Master Zhang had long been prepared for that. He handed the teenager a brand new phone when the girl suddenly asked him, "Do you perhaps know Cang Hai's phone number? Can you add him for me?"

"..."

Master Zhang was rendered speechless. Wordlessly, he entered the numbers and placed the contact in the first number of priority, before handing the phone back to the teenager, not forgetting to urge her in the process.

"Here's the phone. And Miss, please make a call as soon as possible. That Shit Hai– I mean! Captain... He's waiting for you."

Master Zhang felt like slapping himself to death when he nearly slipped. Fortunately, the girl seemed to have not heard him.

"Yes, thank you for the hard work." Xie Yi nodded, "If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving then."

"Ah, please wait for a moment!" Master Zhang quickly stopped her. As he hesitated for a while, he finally resolved himself to hand her a vial filled with suspicious bubbling green liquid.

Upon the ominous sight, Xie Yi asked with furrowed eyebrows, "Is this from the Captain as well?"

"What? No! The Captain absolutely cannot know about this!" Master Zhang blurted out in a state of panic.

At his reaction, Xie Yi's frown deepened as she heard the middle-aged man continue, "This is from Doctor Xue. You know the rules. Anything that comes from the Doctor and the organization should be kept top-secret."

"The liquid in this vial... Consume it if you happen to feel any discomfort. Or, if you suddenly feel as if you're going crazy like... like there's strange voices clamoring inside your head! Whatever it is, it'll alleviate the pain, soothe you, and save you from a life-threatening situation. Once you run out of it, you can come back here and ask for another. I will get it for you, Miss."

"O-Of course, if there's anything else that I can help you with, I'll be happy to comply," Master Zhang quickly added, hands wrapped together to keep his stance straight against the tremendous invincible pressure.

Fortunately, the change in the girl's face was subtle as she merely nodded and didn't say anything else. Keeping the vial secure in her pocket, Xie Yi turned around to leave the pawnshop.