...
Before Shen Tang arrived at Jia Lan’s place, she knocked on the door and called out several times, but heard no response.
Could he not be home?
She turned the doorknob, but it was locked from inside.
Even if Jia Lan didn’t want to see her, he wouldn’t outright ignore her. Given the sarcastic nature of that merman, he would at least come out to mock her a bit.
Feeling uneasy all of a sudden, Shen Tang disregarded formality and used her Female Master authority to open the door with a facial scan.
As soon as she entered the living room, Shen Tang saw a brown-haired boy collapsed on the floor not far away, with an alarming wound on his wrist still oozing blood. The blood trailed all the way from the bathroom, where the water faucet had been left open, and the water was about to inundate the living room floor.
Damn.
Shen Tang’s pupils contracted; she almost thought the boy was trying to kill himself.
She quickly rolled up her pant legs and dashed to the bathroom to turn off the faucet.
Luckily, she arrived in time, and the water on the floor quickly drained away.
Shen Tang then returned to the living room and retrieved the Healing Potion that Xiao Jin had given her last time from her Light Brain Space, applying it to Jia Lan’s wrist wound.
When her fingers accidentally touched his skin, she was startled by the burning sensation.
This was really serious.
Jia Lan’s exquisitely beautiful face was as red as a cooked shrimp. Kneeling beside him, Shen Tang felt his forehead touch hers and thought this pampered Mermaid Prince might have a fever; just being in heat shouldn’t be this bad.
She immediately got up to look for some fever reducer and inhibitor.
She hadn’t taken two steps when she heard the boy behind her mumbling nonsensically, as if in delirium, intermittently saying, "So uncomfortable... pain..."
"This damned place... disgusting..."
"Bugs and rats... filthy..."
"It’s all that damned fat woman’s fault... If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have come to this hellhole..."
Turning around, Shen Tang saw Jia Lan still lying like a corpse on the floor, eyes shut tight, unmoving, and even in his stupor, he didn’t forget to curse.
The corners of her mouth twitched, finding it utterly speechless that this dead fish would dream of her in his nightmares. Just how much did he dislike her?
Oh well, oh well, she wouldn’t stoop to the level of this brainless fish.
In the drawer, Shen Tang found some fever reducers; the nearby drawer contained a few inhibitor vials, but they were all left with empty syringes.
The system spoke in irritation, "Host, why are you looking for inhibitors when you are the best ’inhibitor’? Now’s the time to seize the opportunity and take his genetic sample while Jia Lan is weak!"
Listening to the system’s unusually excited tone, Shen Tang felt odd and suddenly widened her eyes, "Your constant mention of genetic samples, surely you don’t mean... that part of these men?"
Her chubby face blushed fiercely.
This perverted system!
Okay, she liked handsome guys, but she definitely wasn’t some creepy pervert taking advantage of the situation.
No way, she couldn’t do it, Shen Tang, resisting her burning cheeks, quickly mixed the fever reducer with warm water and fed it to Jia Lan.
In his unconsciousness, the boy seemed to sense someone approaching, frowning in rejection, instinctively trying to push Shen Tang away. But he was too weak, so he was forced to let her pry open his mouth and swallow the fever reducer.
The brown liquid trickled down his lips, staining the collar of his white shirt.
Remembering how this Mermaid Prince was a stickler for cleanliness, Shen Tang fetched a clean towel from the bathroom to gently wipe his mouth.
Apocalyptic-era potions worked extremely fast; Jia Lan’s body temperature dropped a little, but his face remained remarkably red, his body increasingly enveloped in a dark aura.
In Shen Tang’s palm appeared a pure white spiritual power that slowly dissipated the black aura from his body.
The black aura gradually faded, and the boy’s abnormal symptoms subsided.
It worked!
Shen Tang beamed with joy, increasing the output of her spiritual power.
The boy’s tightly knotted brow slowly relaxed, as if falling into a deep sleep.
By the end, Shen Tang was exhausted, wiping away the cold sweat from her forehead, but at least she had stabilized the current situation.
This couldn’t eradicate Jia Lan’s heat period, but delaying it was still fulfilling the system’s task—after all, the system only required her to help Lan Cang through this heat period.
Shen Tang spread her hands and asked, "System, where’s my reward?"
The system, having failed to obtain its coveted genetic sample, responded listlessly, "Why didn’t the Host take advantage and pin him down?"
"...Look at his limp state. What could I do?" Shen Tang was speechless.
The system was silent, acknowledging her point.
"Ding! Congratulations to the Host for completing the side mission: helping Jia Lan through this heat period. Reward: Survival Equipment! Reward has been automatically delivered to the system backpack; please check it yourself, Host!"
Shen Tang, cautious of her life, immediately took out the survival equipment from the system backpack. Unlike the bulletproof vest she imagined, the system-produced survival equipment resembled a thin, cicada-wing-like energy body.
After reading the system’s accompanying manual, she activated it with a thought, and the equipment transformed into a stream of light, donning itself on her.
The transparent survival equipment clung to her skin, appearing as if she wore nothing, yet Shen Tang could distinctly sense a layer of durable material protecting her skin’s surface.
Not bad at all.
After so many days in the apocalypse, she finally felt a long-lost sense of security.
Before leaving, Shen Tang covered Jia Lan with a blanket and, seeing his condition stabilize, left with peace of mind.
Many passersby saw Shen Tang leave Jia Lan’s residence and began to chatter.
"Wasn’t that female who just walked by Shen Tang?"
"Weird, why did she leave Jia Lan’s house?"
"Rumor has it they’re not on good terms. Jia Lan’s disdain for that fat woman is obvious; he doesn’t even pretend. He avoids her as much as possible. How could they secretly meet?"
"I heard Jia Lan recently bought a lot of heat inhibitors on the black market, and hasn’t left his house for days, probably due to his heat period. Now Shen Tang came out of his room, did they mate or something..."
Some females felt indignant and envious, "Impossible! Even if that fat woman isn’t that ugly anymore, she’s still pretty plain, not as good-looking as I am. How could Prince Jia Lan possibly take a liking to her!"
"Heh, when a male’s in heat, it doesn’t matter what she looks like. Turn off the lights, and any female will do."
The females, jealous and unwilling, thought if only they had gone too; if that fat woman could do it, then surely they could too.
This news quickly reached Gu Lian’s ears.
Initially, she was confident Jia Lan would come to her, already planning how to humiliate the proud Mermaid Prince. But hearing the news, she couldn’t stay calm and almost fainted from anger.
No, she couldn’t believe Jia Lan would mate with that damned fat woman; she wasn’t even prettier than herself. Jia Lan couldn’t possibly have taken a liking to that ugly wench!
Desperately anxious, she sent her Beast Husband to investigate, and many beastmen had indeed seen Shen Tang leave Jia Lan’s place, where she stayed for over an hour.
Shortly after Shen Tang left, some witnessed Jia Lan stepping out, seemingly past his heat period.