Chapter 73: Cornered Beast
“♫♫♫I’ve spent all my gold, I’ve spent all my power, I’ve spent all my remaining JUSTICE!♫♫♫”
“Spent your mother!”
“Bang—”
“Buzz—Zzzt—”
The hysterical singing under the tarp was interrupted by a curse and a gunshot.
With a burst of static and a puff of smoke from the speaker, silence fell over the factory courtyard.
Everyone stopped and looked towards the source of the gunshot.
A tall, thin, shaved-headed man, his body covered in a swarm of red moths. Even with his mask, his displeasure was evident.
The moths crawled across his body, their fluttering wings scattering a red powder.
“What’s wrong, brother?” A man in a full-face gas mask cautiously approached the moth-covered man. If Lin Jiayao had been there, she would have recognized him as the one who had spoken to her earlier.
“You’re asking me what’s wrong? Huh?” The moth-controlling man’s voice was tight with anger. He grabbed the masked man by the throat, the moths around him swirling into a frenzy.
“What kind of fucking person did you let in here?”
“Do you know what I just fucking saw? Fucking mushrooms! Mushrooms, do you understand?!” He released his grip and kicked the masked man to the ground.
He was still agitated, unable to calm down.
He tried to think, to plan his next move, but he couldn’t.
What had he seen?
Through the eyes of his insects, he had seen himself, over and over, being drained of life, a bright red mushroom sprouting from his head.
Exactly like the fungal zombies the Boss had described.
And everyone had dismissed it as another one of her delusions!
He’d thought the fungal zombies were another figment of the Boss’s paranoia, an imaginary enemy, another excuse for her to impose ridiculous rules.
Like that time she’d dreamed about a neck-snapping zombie and ordered everyone to wear the neck braces from the medical supplies, even demanding the craftsmen reinforce them with metal.
Neck braces! They looked ridiculous, and now she wanted metal ones?
Fortunately, they had managed to talk her out of it, convincing her it was just a dream. Otherwise, the Voodoo Cult would have been the laughingstock of China.
They’d all thought the masks and protective gear were just another one of her paranoid episodes, but now… these fungal zombies were real?
There were actually zombies that could mimic humans and turn people into mushrooms?
It wasn’t just the Boss’s fantasy?
This was a serious problem. They had no way to distinguish who was infected.
But one thing was clear: there were two fungal zombies disguised as humans inside the warehouse right now.
They had fooled everyone, almost even him.
He had lingered at the warehouse, hoping to make a grand entrance and perhaps even spend the night with one of the two pretty women inside.
It was worth a shot, right?
But then, he’d discovered they weren’t with the Voodoo Cult, and they seemed to be connected to the two “lambs” they’d captured.
This had excited him. He could take them by force now.
They weren’t with the Cult, and he wouldn’t even have to hand over the two lambs.
But just as he was about to act, his insect swarm had been… annihilated by the black-haired woman.
He hadn’t even been able to resist.
Perhaps because his insects were weak, lacking consciousness, easily drained of their life force.
Whatever the reason, one thing was clear.
His Awakened ability had been completely countered by the fungal zombie inside.
Utterly defeated, unable even to get close.
Except for the few moths tracking the other woman with curly hair, his entire swarm had been wiped out by the woman with straight black hair.
He looked at his dumbfounded men, standing in the rain, and knew this wasn’t the time for explanations.
He raised his pistol and fired three shots into the air. “Everyone, grab your weapons! Bring the gasoline! Burn the warehouse down! Don’t let a single speck of dust escape!”
“And don’t go inside!”
The moths on his body, defying the rain, took flight, their blood-red wings fluttering above the crowd.
The red powder on their wings rained down, washed by the rain, inhaled by the Voodoo Cult members.
Their eyes turned bloodshot, the interruption from the gunshots and his words forgotten, their frenzy returning.
“Wooooo!”
“Ohhhh!”
They roared, rushing towards the factory to retrieve their weapons.
Another group ran towards a different building, carrying out jerrycans of gasoline.
They didn’t question his orders, didn’t think about the fact that burning the warehouse would also destroy their vehicles; they simply obeyed, driven by their frenzied excitement.
They opened the jerrycans, pouring gasoline along the warehouse walls, some even throwing the entire cans inside.
Those who had retrieved their weapons opened fire on the warehouse entrance, some even firing wildly into the air, completely missing their targets.
But the effect was still a storm of bullets.
“Boom—”
Someone threw a lighter. With a roar, the gasoline ignited, flames engulfing the warehouse.
“Burn!!! Burn!!! Burn, motherfuckers!!!”
The bald man roared, his fists clenched, as if the intensity of the fire, even in the rain, somehow reassured him.
…
“Pitter-patter—”
The swarm of moths fell to the ground like raindrops, lifeless, leaving behind only hollow husks with mushrooms sprouting from their heads.
Like Cordyceps, a strange and unsettling sight.
Cordyceps itself was a fungus that parasitized insects. It was normal for Lin Jiayao’s fungus to have a similar effect.
She wondered if these “Cordyceps moths” were edible.
After eliminating the swarm, Lin Jiayao realized she and her sister had been discovered.
An Awakened, controlling flying moths, had evaded her Bone Spike Lurker and been watching them from the sky.
If it hadn’t revealed itself, she wouldn’t have known she’d been observed the entire time.
Too careless… too careless…
But she couldn’t be blamed; this was completely unexpected.
“Thump—”
A soft thud from beneath her.
She looked down and saw the two little girls, huddled together at her feet, their eyes filled with tears.
Lin Jiayao paused, retracting her bone spikes.
She placed a finger to her lips, signaling them to be quiet, and looked towards the back of the warehouse.
“Sister—!”
She shouted, no longer bothering to whisper.
There was no response.
The shattering windshield should have been loud enough, but even that hadn’t brought her sister.
Something was wrong.
She couldn’t hide her abilities any longer.
She had gained these abilities to protect her sister, concealed them to avoid scaring her.
But if she couldn’t even protect her sister, what was the point of hiding them?
“Rip—”
Bone spikes pierced the skin on the back of her neck.
“AAAAH—”
The two little girls screamed as terrifying bone spikes erupted from behind Lin Jiayao’s head.
The spikes lifted her, hooking onto the seat back and the broken windshield, pulling her out of the car.
This was Lin Jiayao’s version of Doctor Octopus’s movement method, designed specifically for her.
Like Mask, the bone spikes generated from her neck were the most agile and durable, because Mask only had a head and neck.
So, she couldn’t use a more convenient method, like generating bone spikes from her waist to support her legs.
Using the bone spikes, she quickly crawled towards the source of her sister’s heartbeat.
Her sister’s heartbeat was abnormally fast, so fast Lin Jiayao was worried it might explode.
Using the parked vehicles as anchor points, she moved rapidly. As she climbed, she felt her control over the bone spikes improving.
Her proficiency was approaching that of Mask.
It seemed that the experience gained while controlling a zombie’s abilities carried over to her main body, something the system hadn’t mentioned.
“Click—”
Nearing her sister’s location, Lin Jiayao took the “Christmas tree” M4 from the warehouse, its many attachments making it look like a festive weapon, and chambered a round, her bone spikes expertly manipulating the charging handle.
“Click, click, click—”
Reaching the last corner, holding the M4, Lin Jiayao hesitated.
She was afraid of the fear and suspicion she might see in her sister’s eyes.
Using a bone spike to anchor herself to the A-pillar of a nearby monster truck, she cautiously peered around the corner.
Her eyes widened.
A few moths were circling above her sister’s head, their fluttering wings scattering a “blood mist.”
Looking closer, the “mist” was a fine, blood-red powder.
Lin Xiwan, her head tilted back, her eyes unfocused, was staring at the moths, her body frozen, inhaling the “blood mist” deeply.
As she inhaled the red powder, her mind seemed to unravel, her eyes turning bloodshot, her heart racing.
A thick bone spike erupted from Lin Jiayao’s back, extending over her head, and aimed at the four moths.
“Thud—”
Four barbed bone spikes, trailing chains, shot out, impaling the moths mid-flight.
She wasn’t confident she could hit such small targets with a rifle, but she could guarantee a hit with her bone spike hooks, even while the moths were moving.
After eliminating the moths, Lin Jiayao held her breath, rushed to her sister’s side, and dragged her away.
“Sister? Sister, what’s wrong? How are you feeling? Can you hear me, Sister?”
Lin Jiayao held her sister, shaking her gently and patting her face.
Lin Xiwan’s unfocused eyes seemed to regain some focus, her breathing becoming rapid, her gaze fixed on her sister.
But Lin Jiayao couldn’t sense any recognition in her eyes.
Her sister hadn’t regained her senses; drool trickled from her lips.
“Gah—”
Suddenly, Lin Xiwan lunged at Lin Jiayao, her body trembling, trying to tear at her clothes.
The sudden attack surprised Lin Jiayao, but her bone spikes instinctively blocked her sister’s hands.
No… the red powder had driven her sister mad, amplifying her negative emotions.
She was even attacking her own sister.
“OOOOOH—”
A sudden roar from outside startled Lin Jiayao. She realized the music had stopped.
More and more footsteps within range of Bone Spike Lurker; a large group was approaching.
“Damn it…”
The Voodoo Cult had reacted…
Lin Jiayao used her bone spikes to hook onto her sister and dragged her towards the monster truck.
Using her bone spikes to climb, she moved between the vehicles like a giant jumping spider.
In the blink of an eye, she was back at the monster truck. Just then, a bullet hit one of the tires, tearing a hole and causing it to deflate with a hiss, the vehicle tilting to one side.
The two little girls in the passenger seat screamed.
There wasn’t time to comfort them. Lin Jiayao hooked her bone spikes onto their clothes, grabbed them, and quickly retreated towards the back of the warehouse.
“Clang—”
A metal paint can hit a car behind her, splashing gasoline onto her back, soaking her clothes, a chilling sensation against her skin.
“Boom—”
“Burn!!! Burn!!! Burn, motherfuckers!!!”
A roar from outside, followed by an explosion at the warehouse entrance.
The explosion illuminated the entire warehouse. The entrance was blocked by flames.
Lin Jiayao saw a wall of fire, and beyond it, Voodoo Cult members firing wildly at the warehouse doors, their bullets merely chipping away at the concrete, raising dust. They were in a frenzied, almost mindless state.
There was no escape…
Trapped.
She couldn’t infect so many people with spores; their combined memories would overwhelm her.
She had to fight her way out.
Lin Jiayao moved away from the edge of the building, avoiding stray bullets.
I have to find a way out… before the entire warehouse collapses…
She understood now why the Voodoo Cult members were in such a frenzy. Like her sister, they had inhaled the blood-red powder.
There was an Awakened among them who could induce this state, increasing their pain tolerance and combat effectiveness.
She placed her rifle aside, took a bulletproof vest from the warehouse, and forcibly put it on her sister, restraining her arms, the vest acting like a straitjacket.
To be safe, she put another, larger AVS vest on top.
Only when her sister could do nothing but roll around did she stop.
Using her bone spikes to stand, Lin Jiayao looked at the two little girls, huddled together in a corner, trembling.
“If you want to live, stay here. Don’t move. Understand?” she said to the older girl.
Picking up her rifle, ignoring their reaction, Lin Jiayao crawled towards the front of the warehouse.
Reaching the roof access, she took a vest and helmet from the warehouse, retracted her bone spikes to put them on, then extended the spikes again and stood.
Using the bone spikes to support herself, she slowly walked to the edge of the roof and looked towards the main entrance.
More people were gathered there than anywhere else, each with a few blood-red moths circling their heads, providing constant mental stimulation.
But even in the chaos, Lin Jiayao instantly spotted a bald head without any moths.
His shaved head stood out.
And he wore a cloak of moths.
That must be the Awakened.
Lin Jiayao, supported by her bone spikes, raised her rifle, her cheek against the stock, the crosshairs in the 4x scope settling on the bald man.
The moment she aimed at him, as if sensing danger, the moths around him erupted in a frenzy.
The moths completely obscured her vision. She could only fire blindly at his last known location.
“Rat-tat-tat—”
The bullets disappeared into the swarm. She didn’t know if they hit.
But the rapidly moving swarm suggested she’d missed.
And her position was now exposed.
She took out all her rifles and sprayed the area with bullets.
“Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat—”
But the barrage didn’t last even two seconds. She heard a sharp whistling sound.
“Whoosh—”
She looked towards the sound and saw a bright light with an orange trail, heading straight for her.
A rocket-propelled grenade.
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