Chapter 80: Jackpot Sisters p2
“Aagh—”
The Sprinter, devoid of instinct, followed the command.
Without further instructions, it would run straight until it crashed into something and smashed its own head.
Fortunately, the brain damage hadn’t affected its mobility.
“Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat—”
Lin Jiayao, clinging to its back, fired at the approaching Hunters.
Hunters were slower than Sprinters; even with her inaccurate fire, the long-haired Sprinter easily outran them.
After passing the Hunters, she gave the command, “Turn left.”
The Sprinter obeyed instantly, turning and sprinting towards the extraction point.
“Hoo…”
Lin Jiayao breathed a sigh of relief, extended a tentacle to tie up the Sprinter’s long hair, preventing it from whipping her face, and then reloaded her rifle with her last magazine.
The Sprinter was incredibly fast. If there were no obstacles, they would reach the extraction point soon.
If a vehicle blocked their path, she would simply command the Sprinter to jump.
Like playing a game.
More Sprinters were chasing them, but they were about the same speed as the one she was riding, unable to catch up.
“Thump, thump, thump—”
The Sprinter’s heavy footsteps made the ride bumpy, but seeing the extraction point drawing closer, Lin Jiayao relaxed slightly.
Dozens of insects buzzed around her.
Besides the two scouts sent ahead, this was all she had left. After summoning so many, she could feel Goldie’s body was depleted; she couldn’t create more indefinitely.
And then, her worst fears materialized.
The Hive Zombie’s red insects.
“Buzz—”
She heard the distinct buzzing of their wings, different from her green insects.
Her insect vision showed dozens of them rapidly approaching.
Although fewer in number, they were individually far superior to her green insects.
Her insects stood no chance.
“Rat-tat—Rat-tat—”
She fired a few shots at the approaching swarm and then gave up.
Hitting those fast-moving targets while bouncing on a Sprinter’s back was impossible.
If she’d had access to the [Training Grounds] and honed her marksmanship, it might have been possible, but not now.
And to access the Training Grounds, she needed to transport these blood crystals to the warehouse…
Leaving two insects for vision, Lin Jiayao sent the rest towards the red swarm.
The suicidal attack only took down two; the rest continued to close in.
“Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat—”
She emptied her last magazine, killing only two more, purely by luck.
Taking a deep breath, she tossed the empty rifle; it was dead weight now, not even as useful as a crowbar.
The red insects were less than ten meters away. Gritting her teeth, Lin Jiayao climbed from the Sprinter’s back to its front.
“Hold me tight!” she shouted, the urgency evident in her voice.
The Sprinter stopped its low-running posture, raised its hands, and hugged Goldie tightly.
One of Lin Jiayao’s insects flew into her hair, using it as cover, acting as her eyes to guide the Sprinter and prevent it from crashing.
Another insect perched on the Sprinter’s shoulder, observing the approaching swarm.
Within five seconds, the fastest red insect latched onto the Sprinter’s neck, its mandibles tearing at the exposed flesh.
Before the others arrived, Lin Jiayao extended a tentacle, grabbed the insect, and ate it.
The insects were made of blood crystals, surprisingly clean and nutritious despite their appearance.
But she could only do this for one.
The Sprinter’s back was now covered in red insects.
Lin Jiayao felt the Sprinter slowing down.
0.8km… just 800 meters to the extraction point…
“Crunch, crunch—Crack—”
The sickening sound of tearing flesh and bone. Lin Jiayao, huddled in the Sprinter’s arms, recalled the insect on its shoulder, counting down the distance.
0.2km… 200 meters…
Suddenly, the Sprinter stumbled. She looked down; its Achilles tendon had been severed.
Insects had bypassed the Sprinter’s back and were now buzzing around her, their attention on the small figure in its arms.
And because of the Sprinter’s slowing speed, the other zombies were catching up.
It’s over…
“Throw me!”
Lin Jiayao issued her last command.
“Aagh—”
The Sprinter, using its remaining strength, flung her forward. She landed about seven or eight meters away, two blood crystals rolling out of her vest pouches.
Before she could even recover from the dizziness, she grabbed the two crystals and stumbled towards the extraction point.
She could see it, even guessed what it was.
A sewer maintenance hole, its cover removed, a dark opening.
If I can just reach it…
Clutching the blood crystals, she ran with all her might.
“Roar—”
“Buzz—”
A searing pain in her neck and thigh; Hive Zombies, with their stronger mental fortitude, were more sensitive to pain than other zombies.
She could feel the insects swarming her back, biting and tearing at her flesh.
Fortunately, they weren’t very intelligent and didn’t burrow into her orifices.
The maintenance hole… just a few meters away…
“Roar—”
Just as she lunged forward, about to jump into the hole, her legs were grabbed.
“Thump—”
Her momentum gone, she was dragged back and slammed onto the ground.
The two blood crystals slipped from her grasp, rolling into the sewer with a splash.
An insect flew from her eye socket and looked back.
A Sprinter… it had pounced on her, pinning her legs with its hands.
“Roar—”
“Crack—”
The Sprinter yanked her closer and bit down on her small foot, ripping it off.
As easily as a panda biting bamboo, a sickeningly crisp sound.
“ARGH!!!”
The agonizing pain of bone and flesh being crushed almost broke her; she bit her lip, stifling the scream.
A Hive Zombie’s pain receptors were similar to a human’s. She could barely endure it.
She clawed at the asphalt, trying to reach the maintenance hole, but the Sprinter’s grip was too strong.
“Crack—”
Her left foot was also gone.
Her fingers, bloody from clawing at the ground, the maintenance hole now agonizingly out of reach.
More Sprinters would arrive soon; she would be torn apart.
With a desperate lunge, her left tentacles, extended to their limit, hooked onto the metal ladder inside the maintenance hole, stopping her from being dragged any further.
She was far from the Hive Zombie now… she couldn’t hear its wailing… I can try…
Try to control it.
Her last two insects returned to her eye sockets, their wings buzzing.
“Buzz—”
The faint buzzing and the pheromones weren’t enough to control the Sprinter completely.
But it was enough to disrupt its thinking.
“Snap, snap—”
The Sprinter, having devoured her feet, grabbed her legs, intending to bite into her waist, but its aim was off; its jaws closed on empty air.
The unintelligent Sprinter, not pausing to think, simply opened its jaws wider and bit down on her thighs, snapping them like twigs.
“Aagh!!!”
Now!
The Sprinter was only holding her lower legs. With her thighs severed, the grip was broken, blood gushing from the wounds.
Her left tentacles, fueled by the pain, pulled her towards the maintenance hole, her right hand clawing at the ground.
She could feel an insect crawling into her ear.
Finally, before the Sprinter could react, she reached the edge of the hole and tumbled in.
“Splash—”
She landed heavily in the shallow, dirty water, her blood staining it red. She floated there, completely drained, unable to move, the insects feasting on her body.
【Extracting in: 7.8】
The ten-second countdown seemed like an eternity, her face upturned, floating like a corpse.
And in a few more seconds, she would be one.
4.3…
2.1…
0.1…
Finally, before losing consciousness, the countdown ended.
Darkness, the pain vanishing, replaced by the black void of the asset transfer space.
Lin Jiayao remained there for a long moment, still disoriented.
I actually extracted…
She stared at Goldie’s holographic projection, its legs severed and bleeding, lost in thought.
I’m not logging into Goldie again anytime soon… this was a bit too much.
She could still feel the phantom pain in her legs, the insects crawling on her, the terror of insects burrowing into her ears…
And the oppressive presence of that brain-tower Hive Zombie.
She didn’t know if Goldie would survive.
Besides the larger Sprinters and Hunters, and that monstrous brain-tower, the other zombies should be able to fit into the sewer maintenance hole.
She couldn’t think of any way Goldie could possibly survive.
Unless the system intervened.
She quickly transferred the ammo vest to the warehouse, confirmed the blood crystals were still inside, and breathed a sigh of relief.
Twenty-three in the vest initially, one in her tentacles, four in the safehouse. She’d used two to generate insects, and two had fallen out when she’d been thrown by the Sprinter, though she’d retrieved them; the two that had rolled into the sewer didn’t count towards her extracted assets.
This time, she’d brought back twenty-four blood crystals. From zero to twenty-four…
A sudden windfall.
She took the blood crystals from the vest and arranged them neatly in two rows in the warehouse grid.
Looking at the neatly arranged crystals, she felt that the pain and suffering had been worth it.
A huge profit.
After a moment of thought, she took one crystal and placed it in Goldie’s mouth in the holographic projection.
Whether Goldie survived or not, she deserved it… she had brought Lin Jiayao a fortune. It was worth trying to save her.
Maybe Goldie was just incredibly lucky?
With nothing else to transfer, Lin Jiayao left the space and returned to her body.
“Hiss—”
Leaning against the sofa, she abruptly opened her eyes, sat up, and gasped.
Phantom pains shot through her legs.
She hadn’t felt her legs in years, but after controlling Goldie, she occasionally experienced these phantom pains.
As if her legs were still there.
“Hoo…”
She exhaled deeply and rested her hand on the sofa.
She’d lost track of time, but her sister hadn’t returned yet. This was a good opportunity to check the available evolutions from Goldie’s extraction.
Hopefully, Vigor Lv.2.
「Please retain your evolution」
「1、【Hive Skin Lv.1 (Purple): Generates honeycomb-like holes on your skin for insect incubation】」
「2、【Blood Crystal Synergist Lv.1 (Gold): Releases pheromones that attract blood crystal entities, allowing you to issue commands. The level of obedience depends on your mental strength and distance from the target】」
「3、【Vigor Lv.2 (Gray): Increases your mental and physical recovery speed】」
Hive Skin, as expected. Vigor Lv.2, also expected.
And the second, a gold evolution…
Lin Jiayao’s eyes lit up.
A control ability similar to the fungal tendrils, though perhaps not as potent, contagious, or long-range.
But its advantage was the ability to issue mental commands invisibly, controlling both humans and zombies.
Although limited by distance and mental strength, and the duration probably short, it didn’t force her to experience the target’s memories like the spores.
The perfect zombie skill for a human, with no visible mutations.
Without hesitation, Lin Jiayao chose [Blood Crystal Synergist].
As she accepted this new power, a sharp, needle-like pain shot through her head, forcing her to deactivate Bone Spike Lurker and clutch her head.
After a long moment, the pain subsided, replaced by an unprecedented clarity.
Her mental strength had also increased slightly.
Leaning back against the sofa, taking a few deep breaths, Lin Jiayao smiled.
She hadn’t smiled like this, while alone, in a long time.
Today’s gains were truly something to celebrate.
She and her sister were now safer.
And all those blood crystals…
Just as she was about to open the Hideout and start spending, she heard the click of the door opening.
Lin Xiwan, a bright smile on her face, rushed towards her.
“Yaoyao~”
Ignoring the two little girls, she sat down beside Lin Jiayao excitedly.
“What is it?” Seeing her sister’s smile, Lin Jiayao finally relaxed completely.
“Guess how many blood crystals I found?” Lin Xiwan whispered conspiratorially, leaning close to her sister’s ear.
“How many?” Lin Jiayao asked, curious.
“Two!” Lin Xiwan patted her new waist pouch, her eyes crinkling into crescents. “To be precise, two and thirty-five grams~”
“How about that? Impressive, right?” She knew her sister would praise her.
“Very impressive, Sis,” Lin Jiayao gave her a thumbs-up. “You earned more in one day than we’ve collected in a year. As expected of you.”
She wouldn’t skimp on praising her sister.
“Hehe, of course.” Lin Xiwan pinched her sister’s cheeks playfully. “With you as my lucky charm, how could I not be impressive~”
“Right, I’ve packed everything. Let’s go before it gets dark,” she said, patting her sister’s back.
“We’re going through Fuzhou City, north, to Qing City.”
“West?” Lin Jiayao paused, then remembering the germplasm bank was in that direction, nodded.
They didn’t know that on the road from Qing City to Kun City, they would encounter the Voodoo Cult’s sweep team from Chongyu City.
Because the Voodoo version of a “captain’s log” didn’t mention the location of their headquarters.
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