Index Casualty (BL)

2. human

"Contact the ship. I've recovered the artifact."

The words rang in Gu Yuzhi's head as he took in his surroundings.

Twelve—no, fourteen people. Two more that pose a higher threat than the rest and we're currently stranded at sea.

An icy breeze ruffled his damp locks, making Gu Yuzhi subconsciously tremble. The shock of suddenly emerging from the water had numbed him to the cold until this instant, and his eyes took in the distant landscapes of glacial shores and ice seas with resigned acceptance. At the very least, his healing abilities made him an asset for any groups of survivors in the apocalypse. Although he'd failed to find a stable unit that lived long enough to count as family or even friends, he never had to worry about being labeled as expendable.

So. Staying put it is.

A flicker of light caught his attention and his gaze swiveled left to see a burning hulk in the water nearby. That must have been the ship he came from, though it didn't answer the question of how he got here in the first place. He wondered what other ships were around for them to contact when a shadow fell across his face. Looking up, he saw the man carrying him peering down intently.

Strong jaw, dark hair, blue eyes. Sturdy physique and stance, most likely a combat type. type. Clean shaved, so pays attention to personal grooming. Height should be 180cm...at least.

"Are you cold?" the man asked.

Gu Yuzhi's eyebrows creased. Seeing the man talk was like watching a badly dubbed movie—his words didn't match the movement of his lips. That was weird.

The stranger frowned slightly and tried again. "Can you understand me?"

"Boss, are you sure that thing can even talk?"

Gu Yuzhi followed the sound of the voice back to the eyepatch-wearing man, who had finished speaking to his wrist to stare at them both. Wow, rude.

"He has a mouth, Argent," the man carrying him pointed out the obvious.

"Yeah, but does he have a brain? Lemme see!" Argent bounded over in leaps and strides, his visible violet eye gleaming with excitement. "You don't get many examples of sentient artifacts, even if they look like people. If we run a scan on him here—"

Gu Yuzhi saw the world shift as his carrier deftly sidestepped his eager companion.

"Boss!" Argent complained.

"We need to be decontaminated first," his leader replied.

"Geh...! Well Boss, you be careful too. Your radiation readings are normal, but you'll need a full checkup later."

"Noted."

Gu Yuzhi grew puzzled. From what he sensed, none of the people here were carriers of the infection. Even the ocean waters had been harmless, or else he would have hesitated before breaking out of his coffin. As for radiation exposure, well—human physiology had never been quite the same after the end of the world.

Still, Argent backed off to give them room and once again, Gu Yuzhi felt a stare. He looked up to meet those now familiar blue eyes.

"Artifact," the man spoke, and Gu Yuzhi witnessed more badly-synced lip-dubbing in real life. "I am Major General Veoc of the Delta Division Imperial Army. You are hereby claimed on behalf of the Aphelion Empire and will be temporarily granted rights under the Limited Sentience Act 11.24B. Do you comprehend?"

"Boss," Argent looked almost embarrassed as he peeked at the soldiers around them who were pretending they were blind and deaf. "He's not really human, he only looks like on—"