"Are you also planning to follow me?"
Xu Lun was a bit confused; given his violent display, normal people should be afraid, just like the fat guy and the pink-haired girl who didn't dare to follow him.
"Xu Lun's performance just now was very domineering," Saeko Busujima said with a smile.
"It was just like an invincible swordsman from samurai legends, who went into a rage for a woman."
"For a woman?"
Xu Lun looked at Shizuka Marikawa helplessly; she didn't seem to realize what had just happened and appeared to be carefree and happy.
"I just simply felt annoyed."
It was normal not to want the school nurse to leave, but he shouldn't have done it by belittling Xu Lun. Especially since Xu Lun had just been inexplicably dragged into trouble, he was in a terrible mood and didn't want to waste words with him. Taking direct action would save a lot of trouble.
The car key Shizuka Marikawa picked was for an SUV. According to her, it belonged to a certain sports teacher. Xu Lun had already gotten the teacher's permission, after all, he was the one who personally smashed his head.
The commotion was still ongoing below, but they didn't pay it any more attention. Xu Lun sat in the back seat, and Shizuka Marikawa drove, rushing out of the school.
"It's almost dark. To prevent zombies from mutating at night, let's first find a place to rest."
Xu Lun had to guard against nightfall, as he remembered that many zombies had enhanced combat power at night, and he was genuinely hungry.
"Let's go to a detached house over there. The population density is lower, and housewives usually hoard some food," Saeko Busujima suggested.
Shizuka Marikawa naturally listened, but the road conditions were too bad, with zombie hordes and accident scenes everywhere, which greatly hindered driving. For some road conditions, the SUV could only detour.
After running over many zombies, they finally found a suitable place before dark. It had a nearly two-meter high courtyard wall, and as long as they didn't make too much noise, ordinary zombies wouldn't break in.
There was also a lot of food in the refrigerator, and Saeko Busujima took on the important task of cooking.
"Xu Lun, you should go rest first. You look very tired. You can rest assured that I will take care of the cooking."
Xu Lun found a room, lay down, and finally had time to look at the pendant on his chest.
It was a two-centimeter side-length, dull gray cube with a Curly-haired Baboon carved inside, squatting and scratching its head.
Before, Xu Lun had studied it many times, but it never reacted, and he didn't know what material it was made of. However, after killing that Chameleon, it suddenly reacted and absorbed the Chameleon's corpse.
As his consciousness sank into it, the scene before Xu Lun's eyes changed.
"This is, an internal space?"
It was a room about five hundred square meters, dimly lit, with walls covered in various strange graffiti.
From the looks of it, they seemed to be various Curly-haired Baboon emojis?
Xu Lun's body floated in the air; he was currently in a soul state, but he felt as if he could also pull his physical body from outside into here.
But he didn't do that; he wanted to see what this space was all about first.
He didn't know if it was an illusion, but Xu Lun always felt that the things here had a humorous and absurd quality.
For example, the top and bottom of this room: the ground was painted with a starry sky pattern, while the dome was painted pitch black.
Soon, Xu Lun was drawn to a huge device located on the right side of the room. It occupied roughly one-third of the entire space and was the most striking feature.
It was entirely steel-black, covered with various Victorian-style metal pipes and futuristic optoelectronic interfaces, all converging into several glass chambers.
"It feels like a device that would appear in movies for some evil human experiments," Xu Lun muttered, looking at the glass chambers. Fortunately, there were no people inside, otherwise it would look even more similar.
"This Workshop is a legitimate Workshop registered with the Baboon Empire and protected by the Sacred Baboon Law. Please do not slander the Workshop."
A mechanical voice appeared from behind, and he only then noticed a Banana had appeared behind him at some point.
That's right, a flying Banana, also with a strange single eye.
"Who are you? And what is this place?" Xu Lun asked curiously.
"I am a trainee assistant at Darwin Workshop."
"This is Darwin Research Workshop."
"This Curly-haired Baboon, your hair loss seems to be quite severe. I recommend regular maintenance."
The Banana chattered a bit, its mechanical voice somewhat stuttering, as if it hadn't spoken for a long time.
"I am not a Curly-haired Baboon, nor do I have any hair that needs maintenance," Xu Lun replied, somewhat speechless.
He then asked the Banana, "Have you seen a Chameleon, a green one? That was my trophy, but it got sucked in here."
"There is no Chameleon in the Workshop," the Banana replied with a mechanical voice, then flew towards Xu Lun, circling around him, seemingly observing something.
"This Curly-haired Baboon, please do not fear doctors. This Workshop has extensive experience in treating alopecia."
"I already said I'm not a Curly-haired Baboon."
This room wasn't large, so Xu Lun quickly found his target: the Chameleon's corpse was lying on a pristine white operating table.
"Isn't this a Chameleon? You actually dared to lie to me and say there wasn't one," Xu Lun questioned the Banana, somewhat speechless.
"But this is a Lizard," the Banana replied mechanically.
"It has some intelligence, but not much."
Xu Lun confirmed the Banana's attribute. Although Xu Lun had misidentified the species, how could a talking Banana be so stubborn? It felt even less intelligent than the one lying down.
"I am a Workshop assistant personally researched by the great Darwin. Please do not insult my intelligence."
"Aren't you a trainee assistant?"
Xu Lun was thinking about what was going on here. The necklace he had worn for seventeen years was actually a Workshop, and it belonged to a Curly-haired Baboon named Darwin.
"You, you, I won't help you treat your hair loss anymore."
The Banana's mechanical voice became slightly chaotic, perhaps this was its way of expressing anger.
"A threat with no deterrence."
He wasn't actually losing hair, so this threat just made him want to laugh.
"How were you researched?"
"According to Mr. Darwin, I am a hybrid product of Banana and machinery," the Banana replied honestly.
"Banana and machinery hybrid?"
Xu Lun looked at the Banana with a strange expression.
"No wonder you're an artificial idiot."
"You wouldn't happen to be an accidental product, would you? Like that Curly-haired Baboon named Darwin wanted to research something like infinite Bananas."
Upon hearing Xu Lun's words, the Banana's floating height lowered a bit, making Xu Lun wonder if he had guessed correctly.
"Banana, since you said this is Darwin's Workshop, where did Darwin go?"
"I don't know."
"Then can I control this Workshop?"
Xu Lun curiously looked around and asked. Since there was even black technology like Banana and machinery hybrids, this place should have many uses, and if nothing else, it could even be used as storage space.
"To become the owner of the Workshop, you must master the Workshop's core. Only a pure-blooded Curly-haired Baboon recognized by Darwin can do it. You look a bit mixed-blooded," the Banana replied to Xu Lun, then added, "And you're losing hair."
Clearly, it was still holding a grudge.
"Where is the Workshop's core?"
Although he wasn't a Curly-haired Baboon and didn't know any Darwin, since the Workshop had been on him for so long, he had to try. Maybe it would work out, just like in the novels of his previous life.
The Banana led him to a small room that looked like a bedroom, containing only a bed, a table, and a bookshelf. Only one book was placed on the bookshelf.
Xu Lun took it down and wiped the dust from its surface. That's right, his soul could interact with matter here, for some unknown reason.
"Darwin's Research Workshop"
This was the name of the book. Its cover depicted a Curly-haired Baboon squatting and scratching its head, identical to his pendant.
"By the way, who is this Curly-haired Baboon? Why are there pictures of him everywhere?" Xu Lun asked the Banana.
"This is the appearance of the great Mr. Darwin."
"Then it's probably a bit narcissistic."
Xu Lun thought of the entire wall of emojis outside.
"Mr. Darwin is greater than anyone…" the Banana kept muttering.
Xu Lun stopped listening. He opened the book with little effort, making the Banana's eyes widen.
The first page of the book read:
I am researching evolution, not blaspheming life.