Chapter 115: The Blood Crystal’s Nemesis
“Jin?”
Monica paused, repeating the name, and after the girl nodded, confirming it wasn’t “Gin” or something similar.
An unusual name.
“Jin, you stopped us…?” Monica glanced at her team and shrugged slightly. “Is there something you need help with?”
Perhaps because of the Queen’s childlike appearance, Monica felt surprisingly little fear, speaking to it calmly.
It hadn’t ordered the zombies to attack them, and it had lowered its body to speak to her at eye level.
This suggested that the mysterious, powerful Awakened controlling it, Jin, had no hostile intentions, likely wanting to communicate.
And indeed, when she offered assistance, the Queen nodded.
“Yes.” Lin Jiayao looked at the woman and asked, “Are you from a camp?”
“Yes, we’re on our way back,” Monica replied cautiously, not revealing their camp’s location. “Jin, are you looking for supplies?”
“No.”
Lin Jiayao shook her head.
She just wanted to confirm they were from a local camp, so she could ask them for information.
“I have a few questions.”
“Ask away. If I know the answer, I’ll tell you,” Monica said, glancing at her teammates.
If the questions were about their camp’s location, they would have to risk their lives to warn them.
They couldn’t be sure if this powerful being intended to raid their camp; it was hard to judge intentions, especially since they couldn’t even see the controller.
“I need a map,” Lin Jiayao said, ignoring their silent communication. “A map marking all the Hive Zombie territories.”
“A map?” Monica frowned, thinking she wanted a map of their territory.
Then she realized. “You want a map of all the Queen’s territories?”
“Yes,” Lin Jiayao controlled Goldie and nodded slightly.
Although their phrasing differed, they understood each other.
“That’s easy… wait a moment, Li, a new map and a pen.” Monica turned and knocked on the driver’s side window.
A state map and a pen were handed out.
Monica unfolded the map and, as she marked it, explained, “This is Green Devil’s territory. The camp sent a team to eliminate it, but they failed. We haven’t figured out why yet…”
“This large area is Brain Demon’s territory. It’s the second largest Queen in Wisconsin. Its sonic attacks can even affect humans, making it almost impossible to approach…”
“No camp has been able to enter this area. We believe it has the highest concentration of mutated zombies, possibly even the strongest Queen in the state. It’s best to avoid this entire region…”
Monica carefully explained their accumulated knowledge of Wisconsin, essential for survival.
Safe zones, danger zones, territories claimed by Queens, routes for exchanging supplies… she marked and explained everything.
She didn’t dare withhold any information. If this powerful being knew the area, and she gave false information, she might anger it.
And this wasn’t classified information; anyone could tell her these things. Honesty was the best policy.
After years of exploration and mapping, the distribution of Queens in Wisconsin was relatively stable, the dangerous areas well-known. She handed the marked map to the child-like Queen.
“Mm.” Lin Jiayao took the map, scanned it, and then her gaze settled on a large area marked with a danger symbol.
After comparing it to the map, she looked around, locating the extraction point.
“We’re here, Jin,” Monica said, seeing her looking around, assuming she was disoriented, pointing to their location on the map.
Oh…
Lin Jiayao nodded.
So, based on the extraction point’s location, she was very close to that marked danger zone…
In other words… it was on her way…
Should I… check it out?
The thought took root in her mind.
She could send her insects and controlled zombies to scout while her main body remained near the extraction point.
If anything went wrong, she could extract immediately.
Even if she was pursued, it wouldn’t matter.
She would have already extracted. The system wouldn’t mind.
Thinking this, Lin Jiayao nodded, making up her mind.
And after seeing it, she could simulate the encounter in the Training Grounds.
Practice first, and then fight the real thing.
“This… is a shortcut?” she asked, drawing a line on the map with a tentacle.
“Well, yes, but…” Monica, who’d been nodding along, suddenly realized what the Queen had just marked. Wasn’t that the central zone, the area they’d avoided for years?
Could it be…
“You… you’re going there?” Monica stammered, incredulous.
If this powerful being, Jin, was really going there, then she clearly didn’t care about camps or settlements.
She was just… evolving her zombies… like other control-type Awakened, collecting blood crystals from similar types.
Lin Jiayao, ignoring the woman’s reaction, controlled Goldie and moved away from the jeep.
Extraction time was limited; she didn’t have time for this.
Having confirmed a large Hive Zombie territory near the extraction point, Lin Jiayao, her tentacles writhing, climbed onto a nearby abandoned car.
As the people in the jeep watched, bewildered, Lin Jiayao’s massive form settled onto the car, its weight flattening the tires slightly.
Then, several muscular, black Sprinters rushed towards the car, lifted it like a coffin, and ran towards the extraction point.
And behind them, a horde of Sprinters and Hunters, clearing the path.
After the zombies were gone, the people in the jeep could only stare, dumbfounded, at the direction they’d gone.
Lin Jiayao, feeling the wind on her face as she rode the car, nodded to herself.
Huayibai’s method of transportation was… surprisingly efficient.
She hadn’t thought of this before, while controlling Goldie, just slowly inching her way towards the extraction point with her tentacles.
I should be more creative with locomotion, especially with control-type zombies.
These controlled zombies were expendable anyway, no harm in exploiting them.
Inspired by Huayibai’s ingenuity, she was even considering the feasibility of zombie-powered generators.
It might actually work!
Just a few Sprinters per hundred kilometers.
It seemed the system hadn’t anticipated this mode of transportation, hence the generous three-hour extraction time for a mere 10-kilometer distance.
10 kilometers was nothing for a Sprinter.
Within twenty minutes, carrying the car, the Sprinters had covered the distance, even with detours.
Nearing the extraction point, Lin Jiayao saw the designated building.
A luxurious hotel—or at least, it had once been luxurious.
As long as she entered the lobby, the extraction would begin.
The Sprinters gently placed the car in front of the hotel entrance. Lin Jiayao took out the map, looked at the hotel’s location, and then across the street.
That Hive Zombie’s territory… was just across the street?
The system was definitely messing with her.
“Buzz—”
White Bone Mantises emerged from her eye sockets. With her increased blood crystal reserves, she could now create a large number of insects for scouting.
The mantises, their long, barbed tails dragging behind them, each carrying a Little Green Bee on its head, flew towards the opposite side of the street.
Lin Jiayao wasn’t looking for a fight; she just wanted to see the zombies in that territory.
A glimpse was all she needed to simulate them in the Training Grounds.
And several green insects flew towards some nearby Hunters, and Lin Jiayao issued a search command.
Although Sprinters were faster, in urban environments, Hunters were better at stealth and utilizing the terrain.
“Buzz—”
The mantises and the Hunters, crossing the street from different directions.
They were her suicide squad, their only mission to get a visual on the Hive Zombie.
The green insects’ vision and the white insects’ Bone Spike Lurker feedback filled her mind, like watching multiple security cameras simultaneously.
“Roar—”
Zombie growls from the other side; a mutated zombie had been discovered within ten seconds, a fight breaking out.
“Buzz—”
Lin Jiayao directed the white insects to spread out, exploring a wider area.
Suddenly, one of them stopped, its Bone Spike Lurker detecting a buzzing sound from underground.
Coming from the sewers, a deep, resonant vibration, like thousands of insects trapped in a metal can.
Flying insects underground.
And where there were flying insects… there was a Hive Zombie.
The bone insect flew to a sewer maintenance hole. It wasn’t strong enough to lift the heavy metal grate, but the green insect on its head could slip through the gaps.
“Buzz—”
The green insect detached and flew down into the sewer.
And on the other side of the street, a Hunter, pursued by a small group of zombies, slid across the ground, hooked its claws under a manhole cover, and, with a grunt, lifted it, squeezing into the opening.
“Splash—”
It landed in a puddle of viscous, transparent fluid, a sickening sound.
The green insect above, using its night vision, saw the scene below.
Was this… a sewer?
A dense mass of tentacles filled the space, almost like the inside of a giant creature’s intestines.
And beneath the layers of tentacles, countless blurry human brains.
“Gurgle—”
The tentacles near the green insect shifted, parting slightly, revealing a mass of black holes beneath.
“Buzz—”
“Thud—”
A flash of gold, and then the green insect’s vision went dark.
And then the Hunter below also lost control, several golden streaks piercing its body.
Golden insects?
This speed… she remembered Goldie’s golden insects, as fast as bullets.
I have to hurry.
“Buzz—”
Losing one insect, Lin Jiayao immediately directed another one, already inside the sewer, to take flight.
The green insect zipped through the narrow, tentacle-filled tunnels, the tentacles parting, revealing the holes within, as it passed.
Thankfully, Lin Jiayao had anticipated this, expertly maneuvering the insect through the twisting tunnels, dodging the slowly shifting tentacles.
But the tentacles were moving faster now, the holes already open in front of her; even dodging wouldn’t save her for long.
But just ahead, she saw a larger opening, seemingly with flowing water.
The convergence point of the sewers, the source of the tentacles.
Just a glimpse…
“Buzz—”
Using the last of the insect’s energy, she sped forward, its wings a blur. Time seemed to slow down – and she saw the Hive Zombie at the center of the tentacle mass.
Is… is that even a zombie anymore?
At the entrance to the underground river, a massive “head,” almost filling the entire space, its bloated form squeezed into the narrow sewer.
Countless tentacles extended from its thick neck, forming the intestinal-like network filling the tunnels.
The entire head, a semi-translucent, sickly green, like a grotesque, overinflated balloon, its two massive, meter-wide eyes slowly turning towards the green insect.
“Click, click—”
A large, dark green insect emerged from one of its eyes, its sharp legs seemingly tearing the soft eyeball, a “pop” as it burst.
“Plop, plop—”
Human brains spilled from the ruptured eye socket, the Hive Zombie frantically trying to retrieve them with its tentacles, but some were swept away by the current, towards Lin Jiayao’s insect.
“WOOOO—”
The Hive Zombie roared, enraged, and all the black holes in the sewer widened, a terrifying, claustrophobic sight.
“Buzz—”
“Roar—”
Countless insects swarmed out, their buzzing wings echoing through the sewer tunnels, a deafening roar.
Almost instantly, Lin Jiayao lost contact with all her insects in that area.
“Shit!”
She immediately severed the connections, not wanting to experience their deaths, and looked at the area from the edge of her detection range.
Then, she was stunned.
Swarms of glowing insects, a colorful tidal wave, poured out from the sewers, converging in the sky above.
As if having found their target, the massive swarm, like a tsunami, descended upon her.
An overwhelming, inescapable wave—
Run!
She turned and lunged towards the hotel lobby, the extraction countdown appearing.
[Extracting: 7.9]
Hurry, hurry, hurry!
The eight-second countdown seemed like an eternity. I should suggest to the system that they reduce the extraction time to one second!
“Boom—”
The insect wave slammed into the hotel’s glass doors, instantly overwhelming the Sprinters guarding the entrance.
The luxurious glass doors, which had somehow survived five years in the apocalypse, shattered, the insects flooding into the lobby.
Hold on!!!
Lin Jiayao quickly took out a Blood Crystal Combat Stimulant and injected it into her chest, hoping to buy Goldie some time.
Thankfully, she’d reacted quickly. Just before the largest of the dark green insects reached her, she was extracted.
“Hoo—”
Having nothing to transfer, she skipped the settlement screen and returned to her body, gasping for air.
She had even felt the cold touch of the massive mandibles on her skin just before extracting.
Good thing it wasn’t her or Goldie they’d bitten, but just… the system.
Lin Jiayao breathed a sigh of relief.
“Another nightmare, Yao?”
Lin Xiwan, seeing her sister’s panicked state, her rapid breathing, handed her a bottle of water, as if having anticipated this.
“Gulp—”
Lin Jiayao took the water, carefully took two small sips, and then closed the cap.
“You haven’t had anything to drink since yesterday morning. Drink more,” Lin Xiwan smiled, gesturing to the back of the car. “There’s plenty.”
Lin Jiayao looked and saw the boxes of water. “No nightmares, just… a dream about falling…” She then asked, changing the subject, “Where did all this water come from?”
She was just making small talk, trying to distract herself; she was still shaken.
Seeing a tsunami of insects coming for you… that would traumatize anyone.
She’d expected that zombie to be powerful, but not this powerful.
Not its individual strength, but its blood crystal reserves!
To summon such a massive swarm… it must have a huge stockpile… perhaps that entire underground sewer network was its… blood crystal storage system!
The initial fear had been replaced by a thrill of excitement.
She had marked that zombie; she could now simulate it in the Training Grounds!
Practice first, then fight the real thing.
And if she could kill it… the blood crystals…
Maybe she should upgrade the warehouse first? It might not be big enough.
She hadn’t even started the fight yet, and she was already celebrating.
“…and then I got all this! Hehe~ impressive, right?… Are you even listening, Yao?”
Lin Xiwan, having just finished her enthusiastic account of how she had cleverly acquired several boxes of water, noticed her sister seemed distracted.
“Yes, I heard you,” Lin Jiayao said, snapping out of her thoughts and smiling at her sister. “Sister is so clever.”
“Of course, I’m your older sister!” Lin Xiwan beamed, the praise warming her.
Lin Jiayao had indeed heard her sister’s story.
But then she looked at Huayibai.
She couldn’t defeat that zombie alone.
But with Huayibai…?
If she could transport Huayibai’s spores to America through the safehouse… and a small piece of Goldie’s tentacle… she could create a Huayibai clone there.
And with Huayibai’s help, the fight would be much easier…
“Mommy… what’s wrong?” Huayibai tilted its head, looking at her. “Your eyes… they look… strange…”
“Hmm? Do they?” Lin Jiayao stroked Huayibai’s head and then asked her sister, “Where are we now, Sister?”
“Almost at Liuzhou City, about a third of the way there. We’ll be there soon,” Lin Xiwan replied reassuringly.
The long journey, the battles, had exhausted her sister; but they still had a long way to go.
They would be in Kun City soon, they just had to persevere.
What they didn’t know was that, at the same time, the Voodoo Cult was undergoing a massive… re-education program.
Chongyu City, Voodoo Cult headquarters, the Boss’s villa.
Wu Hejun sat on the sofa, the other remaining B-rank Awakened beside her.
A long line of people waited outside, seemingly having been summoned, unsure when they would be called in.
“Anan, you haven’t forgotten who pulled you out of that… pathetic, spineless existence, have you?”
Wu Hejun smiled at the man beside her, his expression calm.
She was nothing like the frenzied lightning-wielding lunatic from before, her demeanor now composed and charismatic, her voice persuasive.
“Before the apocalypse, you were… what? Just an ordinary office worker,” she said, leaning closer to the man called Anan. “Nine to five, a meager salary, constantly looked down upon…”
“Do those things… your job, your salary, your background… do they define you? They did. But the apocalypse changed everything.”
“Your job defined you, your bank account defined you, the car you drove, your wallet, your clothes… everything defined you, you were just another face in the crowd!”
“But five years ago, everything changed. The Voodoo Cult accepted you, nurtured you, gave you countless opportunities, awakened your true nature! Made you truly free!”
“The Voodoo Cult gave you everything… I gave you everything. Remember the good times, the fear in their eyes, you are special, you are unique, you are above them…”
“And now, there’s a threat, trying to destroy everything, to take away the life you’ve built… Anan, think carefully. Don’t let that woman influence you.”
She patted his shoulder and sighed softly.
“I… I understand… Boss.” Anan took a deep breath and stood up. Her words had rekindled the fire within him, the reason he’d joined the Voodoo Cult.
After he left, more C-rank Awakened were brought in, then D-rank… Finally, Wu Hejun went to the plaza, where the remaining ordinary Voodoo Cult warriors were gathered.
Her speeches and indoctrination sessions had stabilized the cult, and after the final speech, returning to the villa, she collapsed, exhausted.
“You’ve worked hard… Xiaolian…”
“It’s fine… now it’s your turn, Junjun. Find her. While Anan is still… receptive… take him and kill her…”
“Okay, Xiaolian…”
“Wu? Are you afraid? Why are you trembling?”
“No… I won’t lose again. I’ll make her suffer…”
Inside a blood crystal-adorned room, Wu Hejun muttered to herself, lying on a specially made bed of sharpened blood crystals that pierced her back.
“Haa…” Her voice trembled from the pain.
“I’ll find her…” The power of the blood crystals flowed into her body, and she closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep.
No, not just her.
Other precognitive Awakened in the world, perhaps even powerful precognitive zombies, would also see the same vision.
A recurring nightmare, a vision that haunted their sleep, an inescapable premonition.
A woman, her back to them, sitting beneath a blood-red moon, all the blood crystals in the world shattering, drawn towards her like a vortex…
She must be eliminated—
The blood crystals within their bodies, like sensing a natural predator, urged them on, a constant, nagging reminder.
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