32: Colorful three flowers, a lot of merits are about to be recorded

The room was a mess.

The refrigerator lay on the marble floor, its door open, but there was no trace of food inside.

A rustling sound came from the trash can.

Upon closer inspection, there were indeed several thumb-sized cockroaches gnawing on a plastic bag.

Besides this, the coffee table, sofa, chairs, dining table... and even the walls.

Everywhere were traces of Mutated Cockroaches crawling and gnawing.

The entire house was dilapidated.

Except for the lack of dust, it was just like an old house that hadn't been lived in for decades.

Bedroom, kitchen, bathroom... As rooms inside the house were continuously cleared, the number of Mutated Cockroach larvae in Yang Dian's snakeskin bag grew.

However, the Changmao Sanhua that the Ya and Qian sisters mentioned was nowhere to be found.

Turning to look at the window, which had an anti-theft door installed, Yang Dian subtly frowned.

'Did it run outside?'

'I wonder if any of those Mutated Cockroach larvae ran outside as well...'

As he pondered, Yang Dian opened another door.

The next moment, a black shadow flashed past Yang Dian's feet with a 'whoosh~' and directly pounced into Chen Wenqian's arms.

"Meow meow meow meow meow~~~"

Looking at the Changmao Sanhua meowing in Chen Wenqian's arms, seemingly complaining about something, Yang Dian couldn't help but show an expression of surprise.

"What a big cat."

"And the fur on this little fellow is so beautiful, did you take it to get its fur dyed?"

The two sisters exchanged glances, then simultaneously shook their heads:

"No."

After shaking her head, Chen Wenqian hesitated for a moment, then finally stroked Sanhua's head and said:

"When we left this morning, Xiaohua wasn't this big."

"Back then, it was only the size of two palms."

"Its fur also only had three colors."

"If it weren't for it being as affectionate as usual, and its coquettish actions unchanged, I wouldn't dare to believe it was Xiaohua."

Saying this, she lifted the Changmao Sanhua in front of her head, shaking it with some effort:

"Are you my Xiaohua?"

"How did you get so fat all of a sudden?"

Withdrawing his gaze from the Changmao Sanhua, Yang Dian exchanged another look with Lin Mo.

"Captain."

"Does it look like a secondary mutation to you?"

Lin Mo shook his head:

"For now, we can only say its growth rate is too fast."

"Some animals do change the color of their fur after Awakening."

"So I can't confirm if it has undergone a secondary mutation."

"This is not something we should be considering."

At this point, his tone shifted:

"However, for it to grow from the size of two palms to this big in one day, there must be a reason."

"Wenqian just said that this morning they wanted to take it with them, but it refused to leave no matter what."

"It's likely because there might be some kind of Heaven And Earth Treasure beneficial to it in the room, which is why it was unwilling to leave."

Yang Dian nodded thoughtfully, then turned and walked into the room from which the Changmao Sanhua had darted out.

Turning on the light and scanning the room, Yang Dian found that this room was the utility room the two sisters mentioned.

The small room was piled high with old items.

Old televisions, old computers, old desks, and even foot-pedal sewing machines and Great Wall brand fans, which are rarely seen in this era.

'The sisters' parents must also be nostalgic people.'

While muttering to himself, Yang Dian also began to meticulously search the utility room.

Then, to his surprise, although the utility room, like the outside, had traces of Mutated Cockroach larvae crawling and gnawing everywhere.

He couldn't find a single cockroach in the utility room.

Not even a cockroach leg.

'Could they all have been eaten by that Changmao Sanhua?'

As he pondered, Yang Dian felt as if he had overlooked some detail.

He frowned and thought carefully.

When his gaze swept across the corner of the wall, Yang Dian suddenly showed a look of realization.

"There are also the oothecae laid by the Mutated Cockroaches."

"What, what did you say?" Yang Dian's voice was too soft, and Lin Mo, who had also entered the room, didn't hear clearly:

"What 'pry'?"

"Oothecae." Yang Dian repeated:

"Cockroach oothecae."

Saying this, he also pointed to the corner of the wall:

"Wenqian said earlier that there were oothecae laid by Mutated Cockroaches in the corner of the utility room, about the size of a cola bottle."

"But after we entered, we found neither Mutated Cockroach larvae nor the oothecae laid by Mutated Cockroaches."

Lin Mo came to his senses:

"You mean the reason that Changmao Sanhua could grow so large in one day is because it ate cockroach larvae and oothecae?"

Yang Dian shook his head:

"I'm just guessing, but I'm not sure if that's specifically the case."

Saying this, Yang Dian tapped the sewing machine with his finger, making a "thump-thump" sound:

"Besides that, I think we should take over this room..."

"No, I think we should take over this entire building, and even this entire residential area."

Facing Lin Mo's curious gaze, Yang Dian stomped on the ground beneath his feet:

"In one house, two Awakened and two mutated creatures were born."

"I don't know if this is the first case since the Qi Revival."

"But I always feel that the probability of Awakening talent in this place is slightly higher."

"Perhaps it should be thoroughly investigated."

Lin Mo tilted his head, thought for a while, then nodded:

"You make a good point."

"But this is not something we can decide."

"How much manpower and resources would it take to relocate an entire residential area?"

"Tomorrow I will submit the relevant report, and whether or not to do as you suggested is something for the higher-ups to consider."

With that, Lin Mo rummaged through the utility room for a while longer.

After confirming that there were indeed no cockroach larvae in the utility room, he took his detector and went to other rooms, beginning a meticulous search... Time flowed by, minute by minute.

About half an hour later, Professor Shen Fei drove the Research Institute's convoy into the residential area.

As soon as he reached the sixth floor, before even entering the room, he saw the Mutated Cockroaches frozen inside through the doorway.

"Hiss~"

"What big cockroaches!"

After an exclamation, he waved his hand behind him.

The next moment, a group of researchers in protective suits filed in, taking out various tools to begin detecting the environment inside the room.

"Indoor air quality is good, no traces of viruses or bacteria found..."

"Temperature 26.5℃, habitable, also suitable for cockroach reproduction..."

"Special energy fluctuation source found, no, many special energy fluctuation sources found!"

Saying this, the researcher who had just spoken looked at the old snakeskin bag in Yang Dian's hand with fervent eyes:

"Are those cockroach larvae laid by the Mutated Cockroaches in the snakeskin bag?"

Yang Dian nodded:

"A total of 137 Mutated Cockroach larvae, all in the snakeskin bag."

"Of course, we are not sure if there are any overlooked Mutated Cockroach larvae in the room, or if any larvae have escaped."

"We'll still need you all to check."

The researcher wiped his hands, wanting to take the bag from Yang Dian.

But then, suddenly remembering something, he waved his hand:

"Don't give it to me yet."

Saying this, he pulled out his walkie-talkie again:

"Team Two, Team Two, bring up a special-grade constant temperature box; 137 Mutated Cockroach larvae have been found upstairs, extremely valuable for experimentation."

"Repeat, extremely valuable for experimentation!"

After putting down the walkie-talkie, he again looked at the snakeskin bag in Yang Dian's hand with shining eyes:

"Later, I'll trouble you to put those Mutated Cockroach larvae into the constant temperature box; please be sure not to harm them."

Saying this, a hint of a smile appeared in his eyes:

"Every intact Mutated Cockroach larva is worth considerable merit."

Yang Dian's eyes immediately lit up.

Even if a single Mutated Cockroach larva was only worth 1000 merit points.

The 137 Mutated Cockroaches in his hand would be worth 137,000 merit points.

And judging by the researcher's tone, it was clear that the merit value of Mutated Cockroach larvae would far exceed 1000.

'This is going to be a windfall...'

Just as Yang Dian was feeling pleased, an uncertain voice suddenly came from outside the door:

"Um... who are you?"

"Why are you in my house..."

...