"Are you afraid of dying?"
The question Li Qianfan asked was rather foolish.
Even more unsuitable to ask Dai Paipai at this moment.
Dai Paipai froze, the flames in her eyes visibly diminished.
Was she afraid of dying?
Yes!
Not only was she afraid, but she was terrified.
In the more than half a month Li Qianfan had been away, the first thing Dai Paipai did every morning upon waking was to look in the mirror.
Her beauty was improving by a notch each day.
Visibly so!
She actually knew very well that her beauty wouldn't progress during the day.
Her beauty progress bar only quietly advanced while she slept.
If it were any other terminal illness, even if Dai Paipai's heart were a hundred times larger, she would suffer from insomnia due to the unbearable mental pressure of a countdown to death.
But 209—
In order to allow the host to remain beautiful indefinitely, it not only made her eat without gaining weight but also ensured excellent sleep quality.
Actually.
Dai Paipai only slept for four hours each night.
Yet, Dai Paipai's four hours were equivalent to eight hours for a normal person.
Especially during these four hours, she was completely immersed in dreams.
In her dreams—
She didn't have even a second of downtime, constantly doing the things she most wanted to do with Li Qianfan.
And she only dreamed of Li Qianfan!!
Dai Paipai didn't know that this was the primitive 209's magical and terrifying exclusivity, making her disdain other men.
But she knew very well that it was precisely these four hours each night that made her irresistibly beautiful, little by little.
"I, I am becoming more and more beautiful."
Dai Paipai pressed her lips together firmly and quickly walked into the bathroom.
A few minutes later, she said in a low voice, "Come in."
Li Qianfan walked into the bathroom.
Before the large mirror stood a flawless statue of white jade.
Dai Paipai asked, "Can you see the change in me?"
Li Qianfan wasn't blind, nor was he foolish. How could he not see Dai Paipai's changes?
Her hair was becoming more lustrous and black.
Her skin was becoming more delicate and smooth.
Her waist was becoming more alluring and slender.
Her—
Dai Paipai was a woman who had merged with 209, and Li Qianfan was one of only two people in the world carrying the primitive 209.
When both underwent qualitative changes, there were essential differences.
Li Qianfan would become more handsome, more mature, and would soon face aging and eventually death.
But Dai Paipai was not like that.
Not only would she become more beautiful, but she would also become younger.
Her age would decrease from thirty to the prime age for women, twenty-two.
At twenty-two, her age would "freeze," neither increasing nor decreasing, only climbing to the peak of human beauty, eventually reaching a point where she couldn't bear it and would explode into ashes!
Li Qianfan walked behind her, raised his left hand, and gently stroked her hair.
Listening to what she would say next: "I'm afraid of dying, I don't want to die."
"But I have to die."
"I will reach the peak of beauty within a year, as my grandmother said."
"But I also yearn to die—"
With her back to Li Qianfan, looking in the mirror, Dai Paipai slowly bent over, resting her elbows on the washbasin.
Her figure slowly became alluring.
As the saying goes, one can understand the elegant intention by hearing the zither's music.
Li Qianfan immediately knew what he should do.
He was very gentle.
She was very happy.
Even though Dai Paipai was afraid of dying, why did she yearn to die?
Because she knew very well that after she activated Li Qianfan's primitive 209, his life progress bar had also moved forward at a one-to-eight ratio.
If she was "lucky," she and Li Qianfan might really die on the same day, or even at the same moment.
To leave this world together with the man she loved the most, wasn't that also a form of happiness?
"You clearly know, know, that I am, am the kind of woman who is terribly afraid of dying. Why, why do you still ask me, ask me this question?"
Dai Paipai, with her alluring figure, turned her head and asked.
"Because I don't want you to die."
Li Qianfan said softly, "Not only do I not want you to die, but I also want you to become a mother."
Dai Paipai was stunned.
Yang Xiao had told her many things the night he hoped she would activate Li Qianfan.
One of them was whether Dai Paipai could become a mother.
If she could conceive after being with Li Qianfan, she would avoid death!
Because—
The pregnancy she conceived was the gene inheritance of the primitive 209, which would absolutely not allow the mother to explode into ashes at a certain moment.
But unfortunately.
One in a million hosts (where genes and the virus merge) could not conceive.
From the moment Dai Paipai contracted 209 until the moment she reached the peak of human beauty, Dai Paipai's menstrual cycle would not visit.
Because she was reversing her age, her inheritance cells could not keep up with this speed.
Even if Yang Xiao was a master of traditional Chinese medicine, he couldn't solve this problem.
Li Qianfan naturally knew that Dai Paipai could no longer be a mother.
Yet, he was mentioning it now.
Thus—
In Dai Paipai's somewhat dazed eyes, pure joy slowly appeared.
She opened her mouth—
Li Qianfan quickly covered her mouth, stifling her ecstatic scream.
"Calm down first."
"Listen to me. What I say might not be right."
"These past few days, whenever I have nothing to do, I've been pondering how we can avoid dying in a year."
"For my own situation, my grandmother is helping me think of a way, but she doesn't have the energy to research your situation anymore."
"When I was outside, one day I suddenly thought of something."
The thing Li Qianfan suddenly thought of was related to the dark web.
The dark web could develop an improved version of 209 (actually the Rhode family), and after deliberately plotting against Dai Paipai through Wang Mingshuai, they must have already known she was one in a million who could merge.
"So I thought."
Li Qianfan released Dai Paipai's mouth and said, "You would be considered a valuable commodity by the dark web. The dark web must want to study you, to decipher more 209 codes from your genes."
Dai Paipai understood.
She asked with a trembling voice, "You, you mean, the dark web might have a way to make my period come? Or, a way to extend my lifespan?"
Li Qianfan answered ambiguously, "I suspect that all those frog-leaping masters in the dark web, like you, might be able to merge with 209."
There were many frog-leaping masters in the dark web.
And people who merged with the 209 gene were one in a million.
This probability was very low!
It was like buying a lottery ticket for two yuan and winning the grand prize.
"But what if the dark web collected gene samples from its members and experimented with merging with 209 one by one?"
Li Qianfan said, "This way, the dark web could easily find people who could merge from millions of people. This also requires the dark web to control a large-scale gene sample bank."
Dai Paipai nodded.
Her figure slowly became alluring.
Li Qianfan continued, "I also suspect that the reason for the uneven skill levels of the dark web's frog-leaping masters might be that the genes of some individuals have different degrees of compatibility with 209."
Simply put—
The higher the compatibility, the higher the skill.
The most skilled in the dark web were undoubtedly the six presidents of the dark web.
If Li Qianfan's analysis was correct, then the current six presidents of the dark web were all women whose periods didn't come!
But their lifespans were not constrained by the peak of beauty (the threat of death).
What did this represent?
"It can only mean that the dark web has a solution to curb, or rather, to slow down the speed of unlimited replication of 209."
Li Qianfan said, "But they can't solve the problem of why they have to be like frogs."
Dai Paipai suddenly realized, "You mean, for me to join the dark web?"
"You don't have to actively join, the dark web might come to find you."
Li Qianfan smiled and said, "If your compatibility is high enough, maybe the dark web will even bestow the position of a president upon you. Perhaps, the dark web already possesses the technology to make your period return."
As long as Dai Paipai's period returned.
Then!
After Li Qianfan made her a mother, she might become a normal person who neither had to frog-leap nor die!
Dai Paipai looked at him quietly.
After a long while, she asked with difficulty, "If that's the case, will I become your enemy?"
"Of course, you have to join."
Li Qianfan said with certainty, "Anyone, including myself, has the right to do anything as long as they can survive."
Although what Li Qianfan said were all speculations.
Even if there was only a one percent chance, Li Qianfan wanted Dai Paipai to strive for it!
For this.
He would withdraw Zhuo Yue, who was responsible for Dai Paipai's safety, from her side.
With Zhuo Yue by Dai Paipai's side, it would be difficult for people from the dark web to act.
If Dai Paipai actively approached the dark web and said, "I want to join you," it would be nonsense.
"If that's really the case, will I become your enemy?"
The question Dai Paipai asked was one Li Qianfan could not evade.
If she didn't obey the dark web, why would they save her?
Li Qianfan countered, "Do you want to live?"
Dai Paipai looked at him foolishly.
After a long time, she said hoarsely, "Yes. I am a woman who is terribly afraid of dying."
"Boss Paipai, live well."
Li Qianfan patted her, "Remember what I said, you have the right to do anything as long as you can survive."
The title "Boss Paipai"—
Li Qianfan had stopped calling her that after Wang Mingshuai's death.
Now, he used it again.
Dai Paipai immediately became alluring!
Dad—
This was also the address Dai Paipai used to call Li Qianfan before.
More than ten minutes later.
Dai Paipai asked breathlessly, "Will I turn into a frog?"
"More or less?"
Li Qianfan said uncertainly, "But I don't know how the dark web actually turns someone infected with 209 into a frog-leaping master."
Dai Paipai suddenly asked, "If I really accept the dark web's technological modification, will I also squat in a corner to sleep like a frog when I sleep?"
This question—
Gugu gag!
As a weird cackle of a night owl drifted from the woods behind the Liushui Pavilion in the provincial capital,
Jiao Yin, who was sleeping soundly, squatting in a corner like a frog, slowly opened his eyes.