Chapter 110: Lightning Strike on Voodoo p2
Huayibai, seemingly exhausted, was lying against the wall.
Only Lin Jiayao knew it wasn’t asleep, but controlling its spores, its mind focused.
Unlike bone spikes or pheromones, which were like controlling puppets or issuing commands, the spores were more like creating clones.
Clones that inherited the host’s memories and habits.
But these memories and emotions, useless to the non-human Huayibai, didn’t affect it; it could control these “clones” perfectly.
For Lin Jiayao, however, using spores to control humans was mentally exhausting, the more she controlled, the greater the risk of mental breakdown.
It wasn’t an ability meant for humans, more for plants and fungi.
Not wanting to disturb Huayibai, Lin Jiayao shuffled closer to her sister.
Lin Xiwan had taken out half a blood crystal, the remainder from their shopping trip, and was crushing it with one hand. She picked out a small piece, about 3g, and offered it to Lin Jiayao.
“Give some to her…” she said, nodding towards Huayibai.
Lin Jiayao and Huayibai had exerted themselves the most and needed blood crystals to recover.
But low-rank Awakened couldn’t directly absorb blood crystals; their absorption rate was too low. The blood of an Awakened, infused with blood crystals, was more effective.
If they had to use crystals, then only a small amount. A few grams was enough for a D-rank Awakened like Huayibai.
And for a newly Awakened E-rank like Lin Jiayao, consuming blood crystals was still risky.
Lin Jiayao took the small crystal and put it in Huayibai’s mouth.
She knew her sister had mistaken Huayibai for a low-rank Awakened; this amount was barely a snack for Huayibai, but it was better than nothing.
Turning back, she saw her sister was about to put a piece of blood crystal into her wound.
“Sister.” Lin Jiayao stopped her.
Solid blood crystals weren’t the same as the serum; their absorption rate was too slow, too taxing on the human body. That’s why the system’s Blood Crystal Serum was so expensive.
It wasn’t price gouging; it was genuinely more effective.
And shoving a blood crystal into a wound… that was painful!
Ignoring her sister’s confused look, she took the blood crystal fragment and put it in her own mouth.
“Hey! Yao?!” Lin Xiwan instinctively tried to stop her, raising her left hand, but it was still too painful to move.
The blood crystal dissolved in Lin Jiayao’s mouth, transforming into a liquid, absorbed by her tongue.
Lv.1 Liquid Blood Crystal Veins, liquefying blood crystals.
Although less efficient than the system’s Medical Station, she didn’t need a whole blood crystal right now.
“Sister, hold me,” she said, looking at her sister.
“Hmm? Oh…” Although confused, Lin Xiwan wrapped an arm around her sister’s waist, pulling her close.
Lin Jiayao looked down at her sister’s bleeding shoulder wound, bit her tongue, and licked it.
“Hiss… haa—”
Lin Xiwan hadn’t known what her sister was doing until she felt something warm and wet on her wound. She’d gasped, but the stinging pain quickly subsided, replaced by a warm, tingling, almost itchy sensation.
Not unpleasant… and the soft, writhing… thing… on her wound was surprisingly… arousing…
A jolt of electricity shot down her spine, making her shudder, her teeth sinking into her lip to stifle a moan.
The painful wound, now rapidly healing, the sensation strangely… pleasurable…
Her sister’s tongue stopped, and Lin Jiayao’s hands pushed against her shoulder.
Lin Xiwan, her left arm regaining some mobility, understood.
She supported Lin Jiayao’s back with her left hand, her right hand on her bottom, lifting her slightly so she could reach the wound on her shoulder.
After healing the wound on her back as well, Lin Jiayao sat up.
The exit wound was larger, so it had taken a little longer.
Her tongue felt numb, lolling out slightly.
Lin Xiwan flexed her left hand.
The wound wasn’t bleeding; it had closed completely.
Although the underlying muscle would take time to heal, she could use her left arm now, as long as she didn’t exert herself too much.
So powerful… my sister…
She flexed and extended her fingers, amazed.
“How… how did you do that, Yaoyao?” she asked, looking at her sister.
“Sister, put me down first,” Lin Jiayao said, her tongue still slightly numb, her words a little slurred.
Lin Xiwan realized she was still holding her sister’s bottom and quickly placed her on her lap.
If she’d had any doubts about her sister’s healing ability before, she was now a true believer.
But seeing the wound on her sister’s tongue, she frowned.
She now understood how her sister had healed her.
Blood…
She must have bitten her tongue, or even cut her mouth… and she had… sucked… quite a bit of it…
How much blood had she lost to achieve such a potent healing effect?
As for liquefying or solidifying blood crystals, that was a basic skill for any healing-type Awakened.
Looking at her sister’s blood-smeared face and lips, Lin Xiwan felt a pang of guilt and affection.
She pulled her sister into a hug, nuzzling her head. “It’s okay now… they’re not chasing us…”
The jeep and their supplies were gone… Lin Xiwan bit her lip, a wave of helplessness washing over her.
Why… every time they found a glimmer of hope, the Voodoo Cult appeared, shattering it?
Like a persistent curse…
But she had to keep going, to survive…
She stroked Huayibai’s hair and then patted her sister’s back gently. “Get some rest. I’ll keep watch.”
Her sister and Huayibai were exhausted; they couldn’t do anything for now. They would figure things out tomorrow.
Her hand lingered on her sister’s, a silent promise.
No matter what, she would get them out of this city, her sister and Huayibai, safely.
No matter the obstacles, as long as her sister was with her, she had the strength to keep going.
And Lin Jiayao, nestled in her sister’s arms, felt the same.
The same desire to survive, to protect each other.
But their approach to the Voodoo Cult differed.
Her sister wanted to run, because that was their only option.
But Lin Jiayao was thinking of… retaliation, and she had a plan.
No more running.
She remembered her sister, covered in blood, lifting the car roof amidst the chaos and smoke.
The memory of her sister’s pain made her heart ache.
She had reached her limit.
You forced my hand…
She had never wanted to destroy the Voodoo Cult as much as she did now, and she was already putting her plan into action.
Although Lin Jiayao and Huayibai appeared to be resting, their eyes closed, they were communicating telepathically.
Just now, at the cost of half the Voodoo Cult convoy, Huayibai had taken control of the entire group.
A single, spore-coated bullet, hitting the C-rank Awakened, had turned the tide of the battle.
Having gained control of the remaining Voodoo Cult members, Huayibai had asked its Mommy what to do with them.
Huayibai had wanted to execute them on the spot, leave a clone to collect the blood crystals, and then have the clone self-destruct.
But Lin Jiayao had other plans.
Right now, the Voodoo Cult was in the open, while she was hidden.
And she knew the location of their headquarters.
Ignoring Huayibai’s repeated questions for now, Lin Jiayao asked the system mentally, “If a logged-in zombie dies after extraction, is there any… compensation?”
「If the zombie has extracted, the system will preserve its state as it was at the time of extraction.」
As if piqued by her implied doubt, the system added, 「Its condition will only improve, not worsen.」
The system’s confidence was… reassuring. It seemed confident that even a dying zombie, after extraction, would be stabilized until the next login.
“Impressive,” Lin Jiayao said, then continued, “And will my logged-in zombies attack me, or each other?”
「No」
Perhaps pleased by the compliment, the system finally answered this long-standing question.
“Then, let’s say, hypothetically, other zombies approach a logged-in zombie, what will it do?” Lin Jiayao paused, adding, “A completely non-threatening horde, even friendly ones.”
「As long as the system detects no threat, the zombie at the extraction point will remain in standby mode and will not activate.」
Hearing this, she didn’t ask any more questions.
After a while, a system prompt popped up.
「What are you planning?」
But the system wouldn’t get an answer.
Lin Jiayao was busy giving Huayibai instructions.
“Yibai, control them, have them drive,” she said, nuzzling her head against her sister’s chest, a small smile playing on her lips. “To Fuzhou City, to pick someone up.”
If the Voodoo Cult wanted to play dirty, then so could she.
So, a B-rank Awakened was too powerful for her, huh?
Then let the system deal with it.
She would have Huayibai use the Voodoo Cult members, now friendly units thanks to the spores, to drive A4 to the Voodoo Cult’s headquarters.
A4, having consumed spores, considered the infected to be allies and wouldn’t attack them.
There wouldn’t be any danger, and A4 wouldn’t be activated.
Once A4 reached the Voodoo Cult’s headquarters, she would have Huayibai’s clones attack the Voodoo Cult from within, making them think A4 was also an enemy, provoking them to attack and activate it.
A system-controlled, practically unkillable A4, unleashed within the Voodoo Cult’s headquarters…
Even if it couldn’t destroy them, it would cause chaos!
She hadn’t been able to do this before, without Huayibai.
Now, with Huayibai’s help, her plan could finally be put into action.
「Friendly reminder: Such malicious exploitation of the system is akin to shooting oneself in the foot. Please reconsider.」
“And if A4… breaks out of the Voodoo Cult’s headquarters, what will it do?”
「It will run back to its extraction point, which could be hundreds of kilometers away. And if the host logs in, they will also have to extract from that location within a few hours.」
「Please consider the implications.」
“Oh… then I won’t log in. I’ll just wait for it to return.”
「The system strongly condemns such malicious non-login behavior.」
“Yes, yes, I’m sorry,” Lin Jiayao apologized casually.
Sorry, but she wasn’t changing her plans.
This would effectively waste a zombie slot, and she couldn’t log in during that time.
Logging in meant an extraction point hundreds, even thousands, of kilometers away.
Certain death.
But she didn’t care.
There was a price for everything, and if she wanted to mess with the Voodoo Cult, she had to be willing to pay it.
A few days without access to A4, in exchange for crippling the Voodoo Cult… worth it.
They had hurt her sister too many times; she would destroy them.
After finalizing her plan, Lin Jiayao fell asleep.
She’d barely rested these past few days, mentally and physically exhausted, the recent battles having taken their toll.
And Huayibai’s control over the spores was even more refined than she’d anticipated.
It hadn’t chosen to drive; controlling so many people while driving was too difficult.
After collecting the blood crystals, it had a Voodoo Cult member drive the crystals towards Wuchuan City.
The other spore-infected were gathered around the massive, dying insect.
Cultivating one of these “planes” was costly, so the C-rank Awakened had only crippled it, leaving it barely alive, waiting for a Voodoo Cult pilot to retrieve it.
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