Wei Tianyang returned to his room to find Kacha waiting for him at his door, holding a small tray with two slices of black bread and a cup of richly roasted black coffee.
Wei Tianyang felt somewhat uneasy about Kacha’s servant-like treatment as he took the tray. He wanted to say something, but Kacha just smiled slightly and bowed before leaving.
Watching his retreating figure, Wei Tianyang felt a bit melancholic, but at the same time, laughter came from behind him.
Turning around, he saw a girl from the next room. She was short and chubby, with pigtails and a round face full of freckles. She was a bit older than Wei Tianyang—in fact, it seemed everyone here was older than him. He was the youngest among them.
"Ishmael? I didn’t get your codename wrong, did I?" she chuckled.
Wei Tianyang nodded, saying, "Hello, if I remember correctly, you are Xianxian?"
He remembered this girl. Last night during dinner, she had been directing the few people without superpowers as they carried dishes out from the kitchen.
"I can’t believe you actually remember me!" Xianxian seemed pleasantly surprised.
"It’s because Yaha mentioned you during the induction ceremony; I don’t remember the others that well," Wei Tianyang explained.
"I’m one of the earliest people who followed Yaha. My superpower isn’t very useful, but he thinks I’m quite important," Xianxian said with a laugh.
"Not very useful? Why do you say that? What is your superpower?" Wei Tianyang asked curiously.
"I... don’t laugh, okay... My superpower is making all food salty... That’s why Yaha gave me this codename, and also, put me in charge of the kitchen in the Black House," Xianxian said somewhat embarrassedly.
Making all food salty? That meant the saltiness of last night’s dishes was all due to Xianxian’s superpower!
That was by no means a useless ability! Her power wasn’t just about making dishes salty but producing salt!
Wei Tianyang couldn’t help but look at Xianxian with newfound respect.
In wartime, that was a miracle skill, capable of solving huge logistics problems.
"Don’t underestimate yourself; Yaha is right. By the way, where does the water here come from?" Wei Tianyang asked further.
"That’s done by Fountain who lives on the second floor. His ability is to produce water. However, Yaha says his ability has limitations," Xianxian told him.
Wei Tianyang’s hair stood on end.
He could no longer underestimate the Black House’s small team...
Salt and water, two major strategic resources were tackled by just two individuals. If another person popped up who could generate electricity with love, this team would truly become a perpetual motion machine with no need to consider logistics.
"What does Yaha mean by limitations?" Wei Tianyang asked, puzzled.
"Fountain can only produce water on odd-numbered days of the month, plus, the water he generates isn’t hydrating if drunk directly and can only be used for making beverages or for daily washing," Xianxian explained.
Looking at the coffee on the tray, Wei Tianyang finally understood why the Black House had such a strong coffee aroma.
Of course, there were other brewed beverages too.
"That’s pretty impressive..." he remarked.
"You definitely don’t want to know how he produces the water," Xianxian said with a mischievous grin.
"..." Wei Tianyang’s expression grew stern.
"Right, are you finding it hard to get used to Kacha? Do you think he’s too enthusiastic?" Xianxian changed the subject.
"Yeah, yeah..." Wei Tianyang was still thinking about how Fountain produced water.
"We’ve all been treated like this by him, but don’t take it personally... that’s his Black Medicine symptom," Xianxian explained.
"Black Medicine symptom?" Wei Tianyang heard the term for the first time.
Time to take notes!
"We all have them, but the symptoms vary depending on the Black Medicine you’re injected with. I’ve heard that the Superpower Special Department experiences this too."
"Kacha’s condition makes him periodically assume the role of waiter and servant, unable to resist serving others."
"Sometimes I think... it’s actually quite nice to have a handsome guy willingly serving you... Unfortunately, his condition is focused on one person, and at least for now, he only serves you."
It appeared Xianxian was a little jealous.
"Hey, right! What’s your condition?" Xianxian’s eyes shone as she asked.
Wei Tianyang looked at her, and unexpectedly, a murderous intent began to stir within him.
Asking your mother? Kill you! Kill you! Kill you!
His condition, how to describe it? Extreme violent tendencies... bloodlust?
He took a deep breath and shook his head. "I... sometimes I talk to myself."
Seeming to find this condition unimpressive, Xianxian appeared somewhat disappointed.
"To be fair, I’ll tell you my condition too, when I have an episode, I crave sweets..." Xianxian said.
Is that really because of the Black Medicine?
Wei Tianyang smiled.
"I’ll secretly tell you Yaha’s condition, okay? Don’t say I told you~" Xianxian said mysteriously.
She glanced around the corridor before leaning close to Wei Tianyang’s ear and whispering, "Yaha likes to self-harm, and it happens quite frequently."
Self-harm, huh... Wei Tianyang thought back to what Du Yan from the Liberation Front had said, describing Yaha as a "white-furred freak who loves self-mutilation and killing mice"...
Connecting it with the dead mice thrown out of Yaha’s room that night.
He suddenly understood.
After self-harming, Yaha would transfer the wounds to a mouse, then throw it out the window.
And there would be people specially assigned to clean up the dead mice.
All of these behaviors were witnessed by the dead.
"Yaha is really popular among us girls! He’s that kind of brooding, self-destructive, dark and attractive young man." Xianxian looked lovesick.
"Handsome young man? He’s male? You sure?" Wei Tianyang asked.
"It doesn’t matter, he’s beautiful, and that’s enough~ Is sex so important?" Xianxian laughed.
At that moment, Kacha pushed the door open, casting a cold look at Xianxian.
"Xianxian, Yaha’s coffee is getting cold." Kacha’s voice held a hint of reproach.
Xianxian laughed, said goodbye to Wei Tianyang, and went downstairs.
Returning to his room, Wei Tianyang hastily ate breakfast then once again practiced retracting and releasing weapons from his right arm.
Yaha had emphasized that using superpowers too much would build up toxins in the spinal cord, which had to be neutralized with an antidote.
But Wei Tianyang had come this far without feeling any discomfort, which was clearly not normal.
He didn’t feel fortunate about this; after all, when you’re different from everyone else, the problems tend to be bigger...
He needed to quickly find a way to translate the documents, then spend some time using his poor literacy skills to figure out exactly what "091" was.
By noon, Wei Tianyang heard the sound of a car engine starting downstairs.
Starbucks knocked on his door.
Wei Tianyang knew it was her from the familiar scent of coffee.
After opening the door, a striking woman stood before him.
Starbucks had changed into a black jacket and blue jeans, her hair pulled back into a ponytail, and she wore sunglasses.
Without any pleasantries or preamble, she handed Wei Tianyang three syringes of the antidote.
"This is prepared by Yaha for you if you feel uncomfortable, just jab it into your neck and press the red button at the back," Starbucks said.
Then, she gave a thumbs up and pointed towards the staircase.
"Well, it looks like you’re about ready, so let’s set out."