"So, may I ask, are those Brain Beads used to mutate your pets?"
Yang Zhang held his breath as he heard this question because he wasn't sure how to tackle this question without giving away too much information about the use of Brain Beads.
He knew that he was holding a big secret, and he should've been more careful while he was searching for more Brain Beads, but since his secret was about to be uncovered it was time to decide how to respond.
Yang Zhang stared at the teen boy in front of him. He was articulate with his words and very observant of his surroundings and had easily determined that Yang Zhang was using the Brain Beads to mutate plants, showing that he was also clever.
Yang Zhang could've shared the idea of using Brain Beads with a select few, but he couldn't trust this teen boy.
It might not be his fault, but he had hatred towards ability users because of the ones who had killed his little sister.
'I'm worried that he will use this power to hunt ability users, even though not all of them are bad,' Yang Zhang thought.
Thus, after a minute of consideration, Yang Zhang got an idea and approached this in a different way, "What if I say that I have an ability to mutate plants?"
"To mutate… plants?" The teen boy tilted his head.
"It's my ability. I am an ability user that can mutate plants and animals."
The teen boy suddenly looked reluctant. Yang Zhang secretly thought that this was understandable due to the traumatic experience he'd had with ability users. Now that he was claiming to also be an ability user, it was only to be expected that the boy's attitude would change.
But Yang Zhang did this as a test and a way to avoid unnecessary conflict.
If the teen boy kicked him out because he was an ability user, then at least he would be able to keep the secret for himself.
If the teen boy tolerated him, he wasn't that hateful towards ability users and could think logically rather than be simply driven by emotion.
"I thought that you're just a regular human with immunity like me, and you use that mutated plant to protect yourself," the teen boy said suspiciously. He still couldn't believe Yang Zhang's claim of being an ability user.
"Well, that's right and also wrong," Yang Zhang lied. "I use plants and animals to protect myself, but that doesn't mean I have no power. I created my pets with my ability."
"And how about the Brain Beads? Why are you collecting them? Didn't you hear from the radio that you should destroy the Brain Beads that come out of zombies?"
"Well, that's because I need to consume Brain Beads in order to mutate plants. You see, my ability is quite unique. After I consume the Brain Bead, I will pick a plant and mutate it overnight. Just like my Little Ivy, I have to eat a Brain Bead and then hug the plant. Then it will turn into a mutated plant in the morning."
'Oh Buddha, I hope I sound convincing enough,' Yang Zhang wished in his heart. He was thoroughly bullshitting his way through this, hoping the teen boy would believe him.
The teenager stared intently at Yang Zhang, reluctant to trust him after discovering that unlike what he'd assumed, he was an ability user.
But…
"So you can use your ability to transfer a Brain Bead to a plant, right?"
"W—Well, sort of," Yang Zhang replied.
"Then, can you help me?"
"Um… what kind of help?"
"Stay here," the teen boy said as he got up and went deeper inside the cave. He picked something and returned to Yang Zhang with a small wooden box.
Inside the box was a shiny Brain Bead with a smooth surface, a sign that it had been taken care of and treasured by this teen boy.
"This is the Brain Bead of my zombie sister. After she got decapitated by those ability users, this is the only part that didn't rot within her," the boy explained. "I've been keeping this as a memory of my dead sister, but when I saw your Ivy and how you collected Brain Beads, I was thinking maybe… you can help me with this."
Yang Zhang quickly understood what this teen boy wanted, "You want me to transfer the consciousness of this Brain bead to a plant?"
"Yes…" the teen boy smiled bitterly as he looked at the Brain bead of his dead sister. "I just want to take care of my little sister again. She is my only companion, and I can't let her go…."
"That's why, can I request your help?" The teen asked cautiously. "I—I might not have something for a barter right now, but I'll think of a way to reward you if you can help me here."
"I will help," Yang Zhang replied. "And you don't need to reward me. It's just a small favor anyway."
"R—Really?! Thank you so much!" The teen boy handed the box to Yang Zhang so that the latter could inspect it.
Yang Zhang carefully picked up the Brain Bead of the dead little sister. He looked it over carefully and smiled, "What kind of flower does your little sister like?"
"Uh… she likes Peonies. She had a Peony in a small pot that she kept. Taking care of that Peony was her only source of entertainment before she slowly turned into a zombie."
"We can use that. Bring the small pot here," Yang Zhang instructed.
The teenager went out and brought back a pink Peony in a small pot, "I'm the one who has been taking care of this Peony since my little sister's passing. She loves this Peony so much, Mr… Uhm…"
"Yang Zhang, just call me Brother Zhang," Yang Zhang smiled warmly.
"B—Brother Zhang, can you help me? I want my little sister back…."
Yang Zhang took a deep breath. This seemingly independent teen boy showed such a childish side as he begged Yang Zhang to bring his sister back to life.
Yang Zhang was lucky that he didn't have any close connection with anyone, unlike this boy who had been living alone in this cave for almost a year, grieving for the death of his zombie little sister.
He wasn't exactly a saint or anything, but to be able to give the dead little sister back to her brother…
"Okay, I will help," Yang Zhang nodded. "But the process will take the whole night, so let me stay here until tomorrow morning."