Chapter 52: Dog Brain: I Want to Be Human

Has anyone ever eaten an ice cream pop in one huge bite?
Just a vicious, deep bite, followed by that piercing sensation that gives you a splitting headache.
Right now, Zhou Mo was wearing sunglasses and holding his forehead. He genuinely felt like his brain was about to freeze solid!
Wearing sunglasses was an absolute necessity because his eyes currently looked like those of a dead fish, and his eyelids were practically on the verge of freezing shut!

Soon, Zhang Huaian limped over, looking at the lifeless killer on the ground, then at Sun Zhongwen’s peeled-back skull, and let out a depressed sigh. "Are you alright? Was his brain stolen after all?"

Zhou Mo rubbed his temples. "I'm mostly fine, just feeling a bit emotionally conflicted."
"When I got here, Sun Zhongwen's head was already like this. The guy saw me chasing after him and ended up like this..."

No matter how incompetent Zhang Huaian was, he could still figure out roughly what had happened at the scene. He sighed. "Forget it, what's done is done. Do you want to go rest for a bit?"
"I've already called an ambulance, and I'm about to notify the Captain and the others to come over."

Zhou Mo forced a weak smile, feeling as though his skull and his brain had frozen into a single block of ice. "I won't wait around. I'm feeling a bit unwell and want to go back and rest."

Zhang Huaian was momentarily stunned, suddenly remembering the gruesome state of Liu Tianyou's corpse that Zhou Mo had witnessed earlier. Thinking about it, as a younger brother, seeing his older brother reduced to such a state must have been devastating.

With a sympathetic nod, Zhang Huaian said, "Alright then, head back and rest. Leave things here to me."

Zhou Mo dropped the ax and left the funeral parlor without looking back. He pulled out the safety helmet that he usually hated wearing, clapped it onto his head, hopped onto his little electric scooter, and zoomed away in a flash.

Brainy, who had been hiding in the bushes preparing to hitch a ride, widened his eyes. Watching Zhou Mo rapidly speed away, he hurriedly gave chase.
What about me?
I haven't gotten on yet!
Hey! You forgot your brain!

…………………………………………

Fortunately, Zhou Mo hadn't been frozen into a complete idiot. Halfway home, he remembered he had left Brainy behind. By the time he returned home with Brainy tucked safely inside his coat, the stitches on Zhou Mo's skull had already been pried open by the furious Brainy.

Once inside and with the door locked, Zhou Mo quickly opened the refrigerator and summoned Doctor Brain and Dog Brain.
"Hurry and help! My brain is frozen!"

Dog Brain was still floating upside down in the fridge, dozing off, when Doctor Brain smacked it awake with an eyeball. The three brains perched on Zhou Mo's shoulders, staring down at the brain inside his skull, which was now coated in a thin layer of frost.

The wrinkles on all three of their bodies transformed into question marks.

Fortunately, Zhou Mo had made it back in time. While the interior of his skull had suffered minor frostbite, he successfully managed to extract Sun Zhongwen's stubborn brain.

Only after pulling out the stubborn brain did Zhou Mo finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Doctor Brain pondered for a moment, rummaged through a drawer to find a few heat packs, opened them up, and stuck them inside Zhou Mo's skull.

Zhou Mo let out a long, blissful sigh of relief. "That almost froze me to death..."
Feeling the gentle warmth radiating from inside his skull, Zhou Mo shivered with pleasure.

Right through his eye sockets, he could clearly see the little cartoon figure printed on the heat pack. It looked as if two tiny people were living inside Zhou Mo's eyes—whether Doctor Brain had done that on purpose remained a mystery.

"I'm just glad I got back in time. If I'd delayed any longer, things really would have gone south."

Wiping away the sweat caused by the sudden warmth, Zhou Mo turned his attention back to the stubborn brain. Once he calmed down, his expression unraveled into sheer frustration.
"Why on earth did I bring this piece of junk back?!"

He poked it with a finger. Despite the journey, the skull remained icy cold and rock hard. At least for now, Zhou Mo couldn't detect the slightest sign of reactivation.

Zhou Mo pinched the bridge of his nose hard. "Liu Tianyou, you absolute menace of a brother!"
"Just how powerful was the psychological suggestion he planted?!"

Zhou Mo looked at Brainy, then down at his own hands, and angrily slapped the back of his hand. "Why can't I ever control these hands of mine?!"

Then Zhou Mo glared at Brainy. "You're the one who made me bring it back. Tell me, what are we supposed to do with this situation now?"

Brainy froze for three seconds, then slowly averted its eyes to gaze at the ceiling, acting as if there was something endlessly fascinating up there.

Zhou Mo put on a stern face and forced Brainy's gaze back. "Give me an explanation, or your glucose ration for today is canceled."
Brainy: ?

Though somewhat doubtful of Zhou Mo's thick-skulled nature, Brainy figured it should at least save face for him and not bicker with a brainless human. Its eyeball gestated a gesture in mid-air:
No particular reason. Pure instinct, you know?
I can't tell which brains can revive anyway, but bringing it back doesn't cost anything.
Might as well give it a try.

Because the heat packs were placed inside the skull, moisture could now be seen turning into vapor and drifting up from Zhou Mo's eyes and head.

"Is that the point?! The point is how we're supposed to handle it if it doesn't revive!"

Doctor Brain crossed its eyeballs in a wise, sage-like manner and slowly pointed toward the bathroom: Flush it down.

As for Dog Brain, it ran straight over to the refrigerator, pulled open the lower freezer compartment, and gestured: There's still space in here.

Zhou Mo's eyelids twitched. "You guys... you really know how to come up with brilliant ideas..."

Brainy completely gave up and slumped to the side, abandoning all thought. It was only truly smart when it was inside Zhou Mo's head; once it crawled out, its intellect simply turned into physical force.

"Fine."
"A whole house full of brains and not a single solution. Looks like we'll just have to soak it in glucose for now."

Zhou Mo fetched a basin of glucose, dropped the stubborn brain into it, and let out a soft sigh. Suddenly, he felt a bit dizzy and lightheaded, likely due to the earlier chill followed by the heat packs.

Rubbing his empty-feeling forehead, Zhou Mo told the three brains, "Keep an eye on it. Wake me up the moment it shows any signs of waking up."

With that, Zhou Mo collapsed onto the bed and fell fast asleep shortly after.

Brainy had been working for two consecutive days and was quite exhausted. It gestured a bit to Doctor Brain and Dog Brain, then crawled onto the bed, lifted Zhou Mo's skull off to use as a blanket, and fell asleep beside the pillow.

Doctor Brain stared into the pot for a while, noticing that the stubborn brain had already formed an icy crust—meaning it probably wouldn't revive anytime soon. With a yawn, it folded its eyeballs and doized off nearby.

Only the energetic Dog Brain looked with dissatisfaction at the sleepyheads scattered around the room.
Since nobody else is going to do the work, I'll handle it.

Dog Brain hopped onto the table, picked up both the pot and the brain inside, carried them into the kitchen, placed them on the gas stove, and turned on the flame while staring at the frosted stubborn brain inside.

Dog Brain scratched the wrinkles on its body with an eyeball: Should I use high heat or simmer this thing?