Chương 182: Chapter 86: A Taste Test

"Claire, look at this..." Taking off his blood-stained jacket and tossing it by the door, Vince sat on the sofa. He reached into his pocket, and a transparent, multifaceted crystal slightly larger than a fingernail appeared in his hand. It was the [Revitalization Crystal]...

"Wow! What a beautiful crystal... is it real?" Seeing the crystal, Claire's eyes lit up. She sat down next to Vince with a smile, rubbing against his arm as she asked,"Is it for me?" As she spoke, she reached out and took the crystal from Vince's hand, holding it up to her eye to examine it.

"Wow, there's even a glow inside..." Hearing Claire's question, Vince couldn't help but chuckle, but he still told the truth:"Not exactly. This isn't for you..."

"Oh..." Claire's face suddenly turned away unnaturally. She muttered, "Is it for Zoe then?" Hearing this, Vince knew her imagination was running wild. He leaned back on the sofa and slowly explained:"It's not for her either... I found this inside a zombie's body..."

"Ah?!" Hearing this, Claire paled in shock and immediately threw the crystal onto Vince's stomach.

"Inside a zombie's body? A... a gallstone?!"

"What do you mean, gallstone... When you were holding this crystal, did you feel anything special?"

"..." It was like talking to a brick wall... However, it seemed Claire genuinely didn't have any special reaction to touching the crystal. Had his guess been wrong? Putting the [Revitalization Crystal] back into his inventory, he triggered a mental command, and another crystal was taken out. Vince had two types of crystals in his possession. Besides the multifaceted ones, there was another kind dropped by mutated zombies with non-round HP numbers—these spherical crystals...

And what he took out this time was exactly the [Stealth Crystal] he had obtained initially.

"Claire, take a look at this one..."

"Was this also taken out of a zombie's body?" Claire didn't immediately reach out to take it, asking suspiciously instead.

"... Sort of. Ah, don't worry about it, look how pretty it is..." Vince said, stuffing the crystal into Claire's hand. Claire carefully pinched the crystal—which was completely different in shape from the previous one—with two fingers. She held it up to the sunlight to examine it. It was crystal clear, without a single impurity. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

She brought the crystal back to her face, sniffed it, then turned her head and asked:"Vince, why do you keep making me look at these crystals? What is this used for? Gulp..." While talking, she casually tossed the crystal into her mouth and swallowed it...

"...?"

"..." The two of them stared blankly at each other for three whole seconds... Whoosh. Vince abruptly bolted upright from the sofa, staring dead at Claire's face, his eyes filled with absolute horror. Looking at Vince's shocked gaze, Claire was deeply puzzled. She twisted open a bottle of water, took a sip, and asked in confusion:"What's wrong, Vince? Why are you looking at me like that..."

"... What... did you just do?" Vince asked hesitantly, his brain spinning at lightning speed. Claire! Had actually taken that crystal! And eaten it! And she did it in such a completely unguarded, casual manner!

"Didn't you tell me to look at that crystal?" Claire wiped her mouth and asked back.

"Where is the crystal?" Vince looked into her eyes. The black and white were still distinct, her bright pupils filled with genuine confusion. But right above her head, along the edges of that [105/105] green Health Bar, a halo of purple light was wrapping around it, dying the entire Health Bar purple...

"The crystal? I ate it... Ah?!" As if finally realizing what she had just done, Claire abruptly stood up from the sofa, reaching her fingers straight down her throat!

"Blergh...! Blergh...!" Stimulated by her fingers, she hunched over until she was practically touching the floor, constantly dry heaving, but unable to throw anything up.

"Blergh...! Oh my god! Vince... what do I do! Blergh...!" Vince patted her on the back.

"Stop heaving, you're not going to be able to throw it up..." Since her Health Bar had already undergone certain changes, it meant the crystal had already taken effect. It was likely impossible to vomit it out now... Thank goodness the one he had taken out was that incomplete [Stealth Crystal]. Vince already had a Level 1 version of it now. Otherwise, having it eaten by Claire in such a baffling way would have been a massive loss... He helped Claire sit back down on the sofa.

After heaving for a while, tears were squeezing out of the corners of her eyes.

"No... what do I do? Am I going to turn into a zombie... I can't throw it up... Did you need that for something... Should I take some laxatives..." Claire was rambling in a panic. The more Vince listened, the more ridiculous it sounded. He quickly interrupted her:"Alright, alright, Claire, don't panic. Do you feel any discomfort anywhere? It's fine, it's fine..."

The purple flowing light in her Health Bar gradually solidified around the edges, slowly forming a thick border that seemed to contain some sort of texture. Although an unexpected change had occurred, Claire's Health Bar finally stabilized. Vince also let out a heavy sigh of relief. As long as she didn't turn into a zombie... Vince had been incredibly worried just a moment ago. Given the kind of terrifying energy this thing contained, was it something you could just casually eat?

For a split second, he had genuinely feared that Claire would transform into some sort of purple Health Bar zombie or monster. Vince had subconsciously equipped the [Armor Crystal]... But seeing that the purple hadn't invaded the core of her Health Bar, merely forming a bizarre border, and that her physical appearance remained completely unchanged, he slowly relaxed. He pulled her into his arms, comforting her softly.

That purple border was slightly different from Vince's own golden border; his own was noticeably more solid and heavier.

"I... I just wanted to look closely to see if there was a glow inside... and then, I just ate it?" Claire's eyes trembled constantly, as if she was trying hard to recall exactly what had just happened, but her memory remained entirely blurry.

"It just felt like... that thing was like a piece of candy or a vitamin pill I usually take. I was holding it in my hand, and I just casually tossed it into my mouth... I don't know why either..."

"It's fine, it's fine. What's eaten is eaten, it might not be a bad thing..." It was true that it might not be a bad thing, or to be more blunt... As long as she didn't turn into a zombie, there was an eighty percent chance it was a good thing. From the moment Claire's Health Bar hit 105, Vince had a certain intuition that some changes were occurring—occurring to everyone around him, and perhaps to everyone in the entire world... This purple-bordered Health Bar was merely a link in that chain of changes...

"... Do you really not feel anything right now?" Vince asked, looking seriously into her eyes as she gradually calmed down.

"Discomfort... no, none at all, except that my throat hurts from dry heaving..."

"Sigh..." Looking at Claire's purple-bordered Health Bar, Vince couldn't help but let out a long sigh. The mysteries wrapping around his head were only growing more numerous.