Chapter 703 - 574: Admit Your Mistakes, Stand at Attention When Punished

"Mr. Zhang, I was wrong about this matter, but I’m not crazy. Both of you, please don’t worry..."

Fu Weijun shook his head slowly and took a ziplock bag out of his pocket: "This is what they’ve been eating."

Everyone’s eyes focused on a pale gold slice the size of a broad bean lying in the ziplock bag. From the appearance, it didn’t look like anything poisonous.

"Weijun, what is this?"

Xie Yanshan adjusted his glasses, and since the prescription wasn’t right, he almost pressed his eyes against the ziplock bag, but unfortunately, he couldn’t identify what was inside.

Zhang Su had a hunch but wasn’t sure, so he said, "Just tell us everything at once. I want to see how convincing your reason is!"

"This isn’t some random thing."

Saying this, Fu Weijun handed the ziplock bag to Zhang Su. After the latter accepted it, he continued, "This is a thalamus extracted from a liquefied gas zombie brain!"

"Wh-what..."

"Oh my god!"

Upon hearing that they were eating a thalamus, Liu Tianji and Ke Zhiyu’s faces turned pale. Liu Tianji had attended a first-tier university, and Ke Zhiyu, a slightly lesser one. Both of them knew what a thalamus was, and even eating pig brains was disgusting enough. This was a zombie’s thalamus!

Instantly, their stomachs churned, and they exchanged a glance, suppressing their nausea as their faces turned green.

"Don’t panic, don’t panic. It’s not what you think... Brother Zhang, can you tell them?"

Duan Wuhu noticed the odd expressions on Liu Tianji and Ke Zhiyu’s faces and quickly comforted them.

Zhang Su nodded, signaling Duan Wuhu to speak.

"Here’s the thing, Dr. Fu discovered a long time ago that zombie thalamus has a super healing ability. The medicine we used to treat severe injuries was made from zombie thalamus. We didn’t disclose it earlier because we were afraid you would react strongly."

The fewer people who know these secrets, the better, but now it was clearly impossible to keep it under wraps.

"Oh? So that’s how it is..."

After hearing Duan Wuhu’s words, Liu Tianji suddenly understood, recalling many past scenes. The feeling of nausea eased somewhat, and his mood calmed down, still remembering to give Ke Zhiyu a reassuring look.

"I knew it, I thought something was missing. So that’s it, now it makes sense!"

After hearing Fu Weijun’s words, Xie Yanshan patted his head, feeling enlightened.

Fu Weijun had previously left the lab, leaving him to check the liquefied gas zombie. He found the thalamus missing and thought Fu Weijun had casually thrown it away since the zombie had been dead for a long time, and the thalamus should have lost its activity, rendering it ineffective. Therefore, he didn’t pay attention to it.

Zhang Su looked closely at the pale gold thalamus, its intricate patterns far more complex than the ordinary dull gray ones. Both in terms of color and pattern design, it was clearly more advanced.

"Even if the thalamus has been validated for its healing effects, shouldn’t such a clearly special thalamus be handled carefully? How could you casually feed it to others? What did you tell Old Duan back then? You said you disapproved of Liao Youzhi experimenting on live humans and wanted to leave the Survivor Alliance. What happened? The dragon-slaying youth became the evil dragon himself?"

Zhang Su shook the ziplock bag in his hand, continuing to question. Previously, Fu Weijun was just fooling around with his own life, but now it escalated, turning people in the camp disorderly. If not stopped, it would only get worse in the future!

"I guessed the special thalamus might have some enhanced effects, so... I was wrong in this matter, and I am willing to accept punishment."

Fu Weijun didn’t argue further, lowering his head to admit his mistake. He’s not a child anymore, and there’s no point in making excuses.

"Punishment? Fine, then hand over all of these things first!"

Zhang Su shook the ziplock bag in his hand, determined that the other party had been withholding some.

As soon as he said this, Fu Weijun’s body trembled, revealing his thoughts very quickly. He’s bold, but not deeply calculating.

"Weijun, did you really hide some? Hand them over!"

Duan Wuhu got anxious upon seeing this, rushing forward and shaking Fu Weijun’s shoulders, visibly agitated.

"I didn’t, I, I... sigh."

Fu Weijun still wanted to continue lying, but facing Zhang Su’s gaze, he quickly admitted defeat, reaching into his inner pocket and pulling out a piece about the same size as the pale gold thalamus in the ziplock bag. His face was full of reluctance, and finally, he closed his eyes and handed it over.

"Is there more?"

Zhang Su unhesitatingly took the pale gold thalamus from Fu Weijun’s hand. Since the other party handled it without gloves, so could he. It felt like a piece of bouncy putty in his hand.

Fu Weijun spread his hands, with utter sincerity: "No more."

Zhang Su seriously assessed Fu Weijun’s emotions, which shifted from nervousness to regret. The nervousness was out of fear of being discovered, and the regret likely meant he indeed had no more.

Fu Weijun wanted to stash away more, but unfortunately, the entire thalamus was somewhat small. According to past calculations of dosage, it would require at least this much to be effective. He didn’t dare to divide it too small, since it would be a shame if it didn’t work because the quantity was insufficient.

So he could only hide one.

Zhang Su looked at the visibly frustrated Fu Weijun and asked, "If I’m not mistaken, this piece was meant for yourself, right?"

Fu Weijun nodded; there was nothing worth hiding there.

"Do you think that after you hand everything over and apply to me, I would be reluctant to approve it for you?" Zhang Su asked with a peculiar expression.

"No, I didn’t think that." Fu Weijun quickly denied it, then paused and said, "I really want to stand up again. The desire is so strong that it made me make the wrong choice, but I... I really want it."

Liu Tianji looked at Fu Weijun despondently, no longer angry at him for randomly giving others things to eat. Instead, he felt a bit sorry for this wheelchair-bound researcher.

But he didn’t dare to plead, as the air felt too oppressive.

Duan Wuhu furrowed his brow, clearly aware of Fu Weijun’s determination. He had never given up on the possibility of walking on his own two legs again, but doing it this way... It would’ve been fine if not noticed, but unfortunately, he was caught.

"Sigh..."

Xie Yanshan sighed, feeling regret for Fu Weijun. Perhaps he had saved another piece? Who knows...

"Will you do this again in the future?"

Zhang Su suddenly asked, opening the ziplock bag to put the pale gold thalamus inside.

Fu Weijun’s eyes suddenly brightened. This kind of question, this tone—growing up, whenever he made a mistake, his parents would ask like this. Once they received the answer they wanted, his mistake would be forgiven.

Thinking of this, he immediately shook his head, "No more, Mr. Zhang. I will definitely follow the rules in the future!"

"Then prove it with your actions. Accept the punishment first, and after some observation, if there’s no problem, I’ll give it to you!"

Zhang Su put the bag into his pocket.

As the pale gold thalamus was put away, the light in Fu Weijun’s eyes faded as if it too was stored away by Zhang Su.

When you make a mistake, you must admit it, and take the punishment standing tall. Acknowledging his mistake, Fu Weijun looked up at Zhang Su, waiting for the punishment he would propose.

"Since you came to Celestial Horse Island, you’ve been busy all the time. It must be tiring, so take a break for a while—ten days, let’s say. Rest for ten days, let Old Duan take you to climb mountains and see the view from above. Don’t worry about the lab for now!"

After Zhang Su said this, Fu Weijun was not pleased at all.

He spent more time in the lab than at home, practically heading there right after waking up and working there a bit more after dinner before going to sleep. Strictly speaking, the lab felt more like home to him. Suddenly pulling away from it felt very uncomfortable.