Chapter 122: Making Bank!
Lin Jiayao tossed two more blood crystals into the [Zombie Loot Box] and “rolled” a familiar “friend”: a Nest Zombie, its extraction time three hours.
Seeing the familiar form, Lin Jiayao felt a sense of… inevitability.
Although not as strong as some other mutated zombies, probably just peak D-rank, not quite C-rank, Nest Zombies had a habit of… hoarding blood crystals. Their nests were usually filled with crystals and rotting corpses.
This meant that her investment of two blood crystals was unlikely to be a loss.
She could at least loot its nest, right?
Lin Jiayao was still experimenting with the optimal blood crystal investment strategy, like figuring out the perfect alchemy or crafting recipe in a game.
But she had no guide, no walkthrough, only trial and error.
She put the remaining nine blood crystals in the safehouse and then returned to the Training Grounds.
With a clear goal in mind, her motivation was higher.
Back in the familiar virtual space, looking at the head-Hive zombie’s territory across the street, she expertly materialized a blood crystal stone.
Blood crystals used in the Training Grounds weren’t actually consumed, so there was no cost.
She had Goldie’s tentacles crush the crystal, and something within it began to absorb the energy, rapidly expanding.
Guided by her will, the growing fungal mass climbed onto one of Goldie’s tentacles, its tendrils burrowing into the flesh, drawing nutrients.
Huayibai’s form slowly materialized.
“Mommy!” As soon as it appeared, it lunged at Goldie’s tentacle, hugging it and nuzzling it affectionately.
Although she knew it was just a simulation, Lin Jiayao still instinctively reached out with a tentacle and stroked its head.
She had simulated numerous attacks and infiltration attempts with Huayibai, but none had been successful.
Activating the head-Hive zombie would unleash an overwhelming swarm of insects, a numbers game she couldn’t win.
That head-Hive seemed to have converted most of the zombies in the area into… nutrients… a level of efficiency she hadn’t seen before.
But then again, considering its diverse and numerous insects, it made sense.
No wonder there hadn’t been as many zombies in that area as she’d expected.
But at least she had mapped the area, identified a less guarded entry point.
Perhaps because of its numerous tentacles and hives, the head-Hive wasn’t very sensitive to the tendrils at their extremities. That’s how she’d been able to infiltrate the sewer earlier.
Looking at the small Huayibai clinging to her tentacle, Lin Jiayao thought.
Her previous strategies had all involved Huayibai as support, Goldie as the main attacker, focusing on infiltration and decapitation. But they had all failed.
She hadn’t tried… giving Huayibai the ball.
Could it be trusted?
She used a tentacle to gently stroke Huayibai’s chin.
Huayibai’s only flaw was its… unusual thought process; its combat abilities, however, had always been reliable.
No, not just reliable, it had successfully completed every task she’d given it.
Should I… let Huayibai take the lead?
It was just a simulation; it wouldn’t hurt to try.
“Yibai, ah—” she said to the simulated Huayibai.
“Ah? Mmm—”
Huayibai looked up, and then its mouth was full.
A single tentacle was too slow.
Lin Jiayao wrapped a tentacle around Huayibai’s waist, pierced its belly, and injected the contents directly into its stomach.
Even with its body torn open, Huayibai wouldn’t be hurt; it didn’t even have the concept of pain, its entire body just… fungus.
Even if splattered on its skin, it could absorb it.
Then, she summoned her insects and severed almost all her tentacles, spraying the fluid onto Huayibai.
The viscous fluid coated Huayibai, the tendrils within rapidly absorbing the nutrients, seemingly without limit.
Soon, every tendril within Huayibai’s body was saturated, but the absorption continued.
Its back and body swelled grotesquely, blood-red mushrooms erupting from its skin like grotesque buds.
Similar swellings appeared on its face, threatening to bloom into more mushrooms.
Overloaded with energy, it could no longer maintain its human form.
But this… transformed Huayibai… radiated a terrifying aura.
“Mommy…”
“Pop—”
Before it could even finish the word, Huayibai’s body, unable to contain the excess energy, exploded.
The fungal tendrils spread uncontrollably, rapidly covering the entire hotel, a blood-red carpet as far as Lin Jiayao could see.
“Holy shit…” Lin Jiayao stepped out of the hotel, looking back. The first two floors were no longer recognizable, now resembling the maw and fleshy walls of a giant creature.
The pulsing fungal carpet reminded her of the building-trees.
Could she, evolving further, also cover a large area like that?
Suddenly, the fungal carpet began to writhe, the tendrils splitting and spreading, reaching Lin Jiayao’s feet.
And then, converging in front of her, they formed Huayibai’s upper body.
It looked the same as before, except its lower body, from the calves down, was now a mass of blood-red tendrils, connected to the fungal carpet on the ground.
“Let’s try this.” Lin Jiayao patted Huayibai’s head with a tentacle.
“Okay, Mommy.”
Huayibai nodded and crawled towards the street, the fungal carpet trailing behind it like a massive cape.
Lin Jiayao wanted to follow, using her four remaining tentacles, but tendrils extended from the carpet, wrapping around her and carrying her along.
At least the system’s simulation of Huayibai was accurate, its actions… disturbingly plausible.
Huayibai’s transformed state was intimidating, but it wasn’t exactly stealthy.
Several mutated zombies patrolling the perimeter noticed the movement from a distance and roared.
The roars echoed, and the ground and manhole covers in the area began to vibrate.
Lin Jiayao knew that within ten seconds, swarms of insects would emerge. If they couldn’t reach the head-Hive zombie before that, the battle was lost before it even began.
But she didn’t intervene, didn’t even give Huayibai any commands.
She wanted to see how it would handle this.
Huayibai, in this form, looked more powerful than even a B-rank.
Seemingly oblivious to the tremors, it continued towards the nearest manhole cover.
And the approaching zombies, the moment they stepped onto the fungal carpet, were instantly consumed, their bodies dissolving from their feet upwards, like sinking into quicksand, their forms disappearing into the blood-red mass, becoming nutrients.
Its devouring ability had been greatly enhanced…
With this enhanced ability, could it handle the insect swarm?
She didn’t have to wait to find out.
Looking at the insects swarming from the sky, Lin Jiayao set her pain receptors to 0% and watched.
“Buzz—”
A deafening roar as countless insects filled the sky, blocking the sunlight.
And the “sea of blood” beneath Huayibai began to churn, countless tendrils rising from the fungal carpet, writhing and twisting.
“Buzz—”
Led by a three-meter-long, gray insect, the swarm descended, like a wave crashing down.
“Splat—”
And then the fungal carpet below Huayibai reacted.
The edges of the massive carpet began to rise, like a rolled-up cloth unfurling, forming a giant, funnel-shaped maw.
Lin Jiayao and Huayibai were inside this maw, the tendrils within interweaving, like a net.
The insect swarm, diving downwards, slammed into the “net,” their bodies instantly dissolving as they were pulled into the fungal mass.
The giant funnel, instead of shrinking, expanded as more and more insects were consumed, those that missed the opening landing on the carpet and being absorbed.
Having consumed a significant amount of blood crystals, Huayibai’s devouring and transformation abilities were now incredibly potent.
The insect swarm, diving into the fungal carpet, like moths to a flame, only made the “fire” grow stronger.
“WOOO—”
The head-Hive zombie, sensing the unusual activity above, emitted a loud, mournful wail from the sewers.
The swarm stopped its attack and returned to the sky.
The Queen had realized its attacks were useless, just feeding the enemy.
“WOOO—”
With another earth-shattering wail, the swarm began to circle rapidly, forming a massive vortex above Lin Jiayao and Huayibai.
And then, dead insects began to fall from the sky, their bodies absorbed by Huayibai.
“Huh?”
Suddenly, Huayibai froze, its movements ceasing.
And the fungal carpet around Lin Jiayao also stilled, the “fleshy walls” as if paused.
A second later, the walls began to vibrate intensely. Lin Jiayao quickly scanned the surroundings, but found nothing unusual.
Then, a small, purple insect corpse, a red mushroom sprouting from its head, fell to the ground in front of her, and she realized.
Pheromones!
Although Huayibai seemed like a cute little girl, it was still a zombie, a mutated fungal entity, vulnerable to synergistic pheromones.
And after prolonged exposure to the head-Hive’s pheromones, Huayibai would become its puppet.
Are you seriously trying to NTR me right in front of my face?
Lin Jiayao took a few blood crystals from the safehouse and shoved them into her mouth. With a buzz, several red insects emerged from her eye sockets, their wings beating as they helped her spread her own pheromones.
No… not enough…
Goldie’s pheromones, both in quantity and potency, were no match for the head-Hive’s; she couldn’t wrest control of Huayibai.
She was glad this was just a simulation.
She didn’t know what effect the pheromones might have on Huayibai’s main body in China.
How do I counter this?
Lin Jiayao frowned, her mind racing, as the vibrating fleshy walls began to consume her remaining tentacles.
Huayibai was about to lose control…
Wait, which command had higher priority for a fungal zombie like Huayibai: synergistic pheromones, or its “mother”?
Time to test this.
She took another blood crystal from the safehouse. She didn’t have any of her own spores on her, but in the Training Grounds, she could… cheat.
She would pretend she had brought her spores.
A single spore, attached to the blood crystal, began to absorb its energy, growing rapidly. Soon, a smaller version of her main body, a miniature Lin Jiayao, materialized.
Being purely fungal, this clone only had her basic tendril abilities, none of her other evolutions.
And, crucially, it wasn’t crippled; it could stand.
The moment her spore clone appeared, the vibrations in the fleshy walls stopped.
And the vacant-eyed Huayibai, not far away, dissolved into the “pool of blood” beneath it.
Then, tendrils rose from the blood-red carpet, reforming into Huayibai.
“Mommy—” Huayibai, tears in its eyes, lunged at the miniature Lin Jiayao, its gaze now focused.
Perhaps because hugging like this was uncomfortable, it shrunk even further, now small enough to fit comfortably in her arms.
So… her presence and her pheromones could counter the head-Hive’s control…
Next time, I’ll have to bring my spores.
“It’s okay,” Lin Jiayao said, patting the simulated Huayibai’s back. “Let’s go underground.”
Fighting a Hive Zombie’s minions was pointless; she had to target the Queen itself.
“Okay!”
Huayibai, cradled in Lin Jiayao’s arms, controlled the pool of blood, carrying them towards the nearest sewer entrance.
The blood reached a manhole cover, pried it open, and then, carrying Lin Jiayao’s spore clone and Goldie, flowed into the sewer.
“Buzz—”
Seeing them enter the sewer, the insect swarm above descended like a frenzied cloud.
But Huayibai’s method of movement made them miss.
The fungal carpet moved like any other fungal mass.
To move forward, it retracted the tendrils at the back, concentrating the nutrients towards the intended direction, and then extended tendrils forward, covering the new ground.
“Splat—”
A large mass of fungal carpet, carrying Lin Jiayao’s spore clone and Goldie, landed at the bottom of the sewer. The soft landing cushioned the impact.
The translucent tentacles in the sewer tried to coil around the fungal mass, but their main function was storage, and upon contact, they were infected by the spores.
The red tendrils spread rapidly through the sewer, like ink on wet paper.
The uninfected tentacles retreated frantically, revealing the countless black holes lining the sewer walls.
But their retreat was too slow.
The infected tentacles remained, forming a red carpet beneath Lin Jiayao’s feet.
And Huayibai, materializing from the fungal mass beside Lin Jiayao, extended its hands and took both its mommies’ hands: Goldie and Lin Jiayao’s spore clone.
Holding both her “mommies” by the hand, Huayibai led them along the red carpet, through the twisting tunnels, towards the central chamber.
“Gurgle…”
Water still flowed through the sewer, but the previously translucent tentacles were gone, replaced by tendrils, the entire network stained red.
Emerging from the tunnel, Lin Jiayao looked towards where the massive head had been.
The bloated head, its gelatinous skin now covered in pulsing red tendrils, looked even more grotesque.
But…
It worked?!
Lin Jiayao was surprised by how easy it had been.
If Huayibai had faced the head-Hive alone, it would have been enslaved.
But with her support, countering the pheromones and decimating the swarm, Huayibai had easily infected it.
“Blood crystals…”
She murmured, then, squeezing Huayibai’s hand, said, “Kill it.”
“Shhh—”
The moment she gave the command, the head-Hive zombie’s eyes bulged and then exploded.
From the ruptured eye sockets, a flood of gore and brains, and two large, blood-red mushrooms, which began to grow rapidly.
“Pop—”
As if triggered by a chain reaction, the translucent tentacles throughout the sewer burst, their blood crystal fluid forming crystals of various sizes, which fell into the water below.
And the insect swarm above, having lost its leader, fell from the sky, a rain of corpses.
The insects, hitting the ground and the buildings below, shattered, their bodies dissolving into blood crystal fragments.
A true rain of blood crystals…
It worked!!!
Even the usually calm Lin Jiayao couldn’t contain her excitement. She hugged Huayibai and kissed its cheek. “We’re so strong!”
Although Huayibai had done most of the work, Lin Jiayao had also contributed.
She had…
Well…
She had provided the initial spores and… her body.
A significant contribution, nonetheless.
Pelted by the rain of blood crystals, Lin Jiayao exited the Training Grounds.
Perfect, the plan was viable. Log in as Goldie, transfer all the blood crystal fluid to Huayibai, and let it do its thing.
Just remember to keep a small amount of blood crystal fluid for her own spore clone.
Although not very powerful, her spore clone, like Huayibai, was essential.
Lin Jiayao opened her eyes. The sky outside was dark, the jeep’s headlights illuminating the road ahead, their speed reduced to about 80km/h.
Any faster, and they wouldn’t be able to see the obstacles in time.
She reached out, her left hand going behind her back, her fingers touching Huayibai’s lips.
“Ah? Mmm—”
Huayibai opened its mouth slightly, confused, feeling Mommy’s finger inside, a gentle tickle.
Even in the darkness, Lin Jiayao could see a few highlighted spores on her finger.
Then, a blood crystal appeared in her hand for a split second, long enough to collect the spores.
She repeated the process with her own spores, transferring both crystals to the safehouse.
The preparations for her “smuggling” operation were complete. Now, just a few more things…
“Sister, will we be passing through any cities?” she asked.
“Yes,” Lin Xiwan nodded, thinking her sister was worried, and reassured her, “Don’t worry, Sister will protect you.”
“Thank you, Sister.” Lin Jiayao leaned forward and kissed her sister’s cheek, then settled back in her seat. “I’m going to rest for a bit.”
“Oh, okay…” Lin Xiwan touched her cheek where her sister had kissed her, slightly dazed. It seemed her sister was already sleepy.
“Such a sleepyhead…” she murmured, then continued driving, her earlier driving fatigue forgotten, replaced by the warm fuzzies from her sister’s kiss.
She didn’t know that her sister was about to make bank.
And breed two B-rank zombies.
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