"Isn't it good to be alive?" Sun Hang asked.

"It's good... It's really good to be alive," Wang Xiyi murmured, "but I don't know how long it'll last this time. A year? Two years? Or just a few months?"

"Why worry about the future? You weren't like that before," Sun Hang laughed, "What's that frequently mentioned phrase in motivational talks? Oh, right, 'live in the moment.' You should learn to live in the moment!"

"Yes, indeed." Wang Xiyi silently nodded, "After experiencing it once myself, I've developed a sense of fear... Isn't that ridiculous?"

"What's so ridiculous about that? You only appreciate things after losing them. You understand the value of life after facing death," Sun Hang flicked her forehead hard, "The way you are now is normal—your past self had something a bit off up there."

"Ow, that hurts," Wang Xiyi immediately covered her forehead with her hand.

"Even human-shaped black dragons feel pain?"

"Isn't that normal?" Wang Xiyi glared at him, and it was clear her emotions were gradually returning to normal.

"Oh right, the way you are now... I think it's... hmm, how should I put this..." Sun Hang pondered for a few seconds, then said, "much cuter than before."

"What are you... what are you saying?" Wang Xiyi froze, and her cheeks, the part not covered by scales, turned slightly red.

It was just like the times she lay on Sun Hang's sofa, drunk on alcohol.

"I'm saying you're cute like this right now," Sun Hang circled around Wang Xiyi, "Tsk tsk tsk, dragon girl, such a rare species..."

"You perv! Where are you looking?" Wang Xiyi feigned a strike, but at the moment when her hand was about to chop Sun Hang, she stopped abruptly.

"It's not that I want to look, I want to find you something to wear, but everything here has been burned down. There's not even a scrap of cloth left to cover you... You didn't care about this before, did you?" Sun Hang muttered.

"I didn't mind... but you... why are you still looking?"

"It's a rare opportunity, so I'll take a few more glances," Sun Hang glanced at the surrounding flames—the range of the fire was gradually shrinking, and it wouldn't be long before this last 'cover' disappeared completely.

"You... fine, you can look if you want, looking won't take a piece of meat," Wang Xiyi said begrudgingly.

"The fire is about to go out," Sun Hang suddenly said.

"What did you say?" Wang Xiyi was stunned for a moment, clearly not understanding what Sun Hang meant.

"I said, the fire is about to go out," Sun Hang pointed outside the glass cover, "There are probably hundreds of people out there, including the research staff, Hunters maintaining order, field operatives, and the army... Do you mind showing yourself to them?"

"At worst, I'll activate my ability and go fully beast mode," Wang Xiyi said nonchalantly, "I feel the memetic state has become much more stable now, and the restrictions on ability use aren't as many as before."

"Let's not do that," Sun Hang shook his head, "If the fire goes out and they see a dragon inside the cover instead of a person, who knows what chaos that might spark... Keeping a low profile is better."

"So what do you suggest?"

"I'll get you some clothes," Sun Hang said.

"You?" Wang Xiyi looked at Sun Hang's tattered protective suit, "You're in that state yourself, where are you going to get clothes for me?"

"Simple," Sun Hang snapped his fingers, and countless mycelium strands spread over. The threads, as thin as hairs, wove themselves into a loose gown draped over Wang Xiyi's bare body.

"Didn't think your ability could do that?" Wang Xiyi curiously touched the dress, feeling it had a texture similar to silk, but the memetic energy flowing within the mycelium gave her, being also infected, a peculiar sensation, as if the dress wrapped around her wasn't an object but some sort of living being.

Though this notion wasn't wrong—the gown woven from Taishan mycelium was indeed 'alive.'

"There are many things you hadn't thought of," Sun Hang said.

Yet he did not clarify to Mr. Wang one little thing.

That was, the gown was not just alive, but it shared various sensory capabilities with Sun Hang... It's an extension of his own body, one could say, and from a certain perspective, they're essentially embracing closely without any barriers.

He could clearly feel the warmth and texture of her skin, the chilly and somewhat sharp edges of her scales... and the powerful heart beating vigorously.

Wang Xiyi got one thing wrong; the most noticeable mutation on her wasn't the horns on her head or the tail behind her.

It was her heart.

That wasn't a human heart anymore, but a dragon heart.

...

Inside the glass cover, the fire finally went out completely. Just as Sun Hang said, about a hundred people crowded at the glass cover, eagerly looking at what was revealed after the flames.

"Night Slayer... Night Slayer is still alive!" a researcher exclaimed under his breath, "She seems to still possess human rationality! She appears to be conversing with Sun Hang... Damn, I can't hear what they're saying!"

"What's that on her head? Are those horns?" another researcher said, scribbling quickly in a notepad, "And a tail... Is this because she hasn't fully reverted from her beast form, or is this her default state from now on?"

"I think 'dragon form' might be a better term, as the black dragon is hardly just a beast..." an older researcher murmured, "That's the embodiment of catastrophe, capable of triggering cataclysmic disasters wherever it appears."

"Luckily, a new black dragon wasn't born this time, or I can't imagine what would have happened next..."

Yang Qi stood among the researchers, relieved, taking a deep breath, then shouted, "What are you gawking at! No professional standards at all! Get back to work! The experiment isn't over yet! Analyze and compare the memetic frequencies of both of them immediately! I want results in five minutes!"

"The results are out!" the researcher previously eager to run away came over, handing a tablet to Yang Qi, "The memetic strength of 'Night Slayer' has increased nearly sixteen-fold compared to the Chimera 17 incident... However, its stability has significantly improved—it's unbelievable! Normally, the strength of memes should be inversely proportional to stability..."

"There's nothing surprising about that," a familiar old voice came from behind, and everyone turned to find the elderly director in a wheelchair who had unknowingly arrived on site, "She was a 'failure' from the start, which is why she was sent to Tianfu City... But just now, Sun Hang helped her mend those fatal 'flaws' in her memetic segments... If there were ever to be a perfect 'specimen' born from the human fusion experiment years ago, it would be in her current state."

"The human fusion experiment back then..." Yang Qi looked at the director, "Sir, are you referring to the black dragon meme fusion experiment?"

"What other experiment could it be... That experiment, from its onset to cancellation, left only nineteen survivors, yet none could be considered 'successful' or 'perfect'—each had various flaws... Wang Xiyi's flaw was that using her ability would exacerbate the instability of memes... Just like she said herself, she's a consumable item, a 'limited-use' consumable."

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