Chapter 95: Fingers Intertwined p2
The direction of the Voodoo Cult sweep team’s annihilation was almost the opposite of the extraction point.
Considering the round trip, searching for the diary, and then the run back, even if she skimmed the diary while running, she wouldn’t have much time to spare.
But first, she had to test if the spores had been successfully transported through the safehouse.
Earlier, while her sister was exercising, she’d pretended to yawn, exhaled some spores onto her hand, taken a blood crystal from the warehouse, coated it with the spores, and put it in the safehouse.
She retrieved the potentially spore-covered crystal to see if the spores were still there.
But then she realized a problem.
Blood Orb spores were practically invisible to the naked eye, only highlighted in her main body’s vision, a unique visual ability.
And the fourth zombie didn’t have that ability.
Even with Blood Crystal Vision activated, the crystal just glowed red; she couldn’t see any spores.
Whatever… I’ll just try…
She put the blood crystal in her mouth and licked it, turning it over and over, ensuring every surface was covered.
Then she put the crystal back in the safehouse and waited.
Soon, she felt a burning sensation in her throat.
There it is…
The spores had successfully been transported!
This familiar burning, she’d felt it before, during her first spore-related evolution; the memory of that sensation was still vivid.
But this time, perhaps because of the small number of spores, the burning was brief and localized.
But she knew the fourth zombie had successfully absorbed the spores.
Perhaps because of this new body’s unique absorption ability, it didn’t fully mimic the consumed entity but only integrated beneficial traits.
She could sense that the ability to infect with spores hadn’t been inherited, but her own devouring ability had evolved.
“Haa…”
Lin Jiayao opened her mouth, extending her tongue and revealing the dark depths of her throat.
Something was forming within.
“Shhh—”
A blood-red mass emerged from her mouth…
Or rather, partially emerged.
The “blood mass” unfolded into a net-like structure of tendrils, still connected to her throat, seemingly a sort of prehensile tongue for consuming larger prey.
Anything caught in this tendril net would be trapped, its life force drained.
Lin Jiayao retracted the tendrils and sighed softly.
Unfortunately, she hadn’t gained the infection ability; she couldn’t access memories that way.
As for consuming them directly?
She wasn’t eager to try that again unless absolutely necessary.
Better find that diary.
The Voodoo Cult’s crash site was 21 kilometers away. She had to hurry.
It took about half an hour to reach the crash site.
This speed was equivalent to a world-class sprinter maintaining a 100-meter dash pace for 21 kilometers.
Thankfully, this was a zombie body; a human, even an Awakened, would have collapsed from exhaustion.
The strong scent of blood and flesh, lingering after half a day, had attracted numerous Hunters, who were now feasting on the remains, their bodies unaffected by the sunlight.
Lin Jiayao ignored them, heading straight for the wrecked vehicles, thankful they hadn’t exploded.
After about two minutes of searching, she found two notebooks in the glove compartment of a jeep.
The handwriting was neat and elegant, clearly someone who had practiced calligraphy before the apocalypse.
Both were logbooks, even the handwriting was the same, but the writing styles differed, each entry from a different perspective.
Like someone doing homework for multiple people.
Finding what she needed, Lin Jiayao didn’t waste any time. She ran towards the extraction point, skimming the notebooks as she ran.
Reaching a certain page, she stopped abruptly.
“Holy… shit…”
Reading the entry, she felt a wave of revulsion, goosebumps erupting on her skin, a rare curse escaping her usually calm and polite demeanor.
Those Voodoo Cult soaps… they were made from zombie and human fat…
“Hoo…”
She exhaled shakily, forcing herself to continue running.
Don’t think about it… don’t think about it… I’ll just throw them away when I get back…
I’ll tell Sister they were probably laced with drugs or something… I’m not telling her the truth…
If she knew the soap she’d been using… it would probably scar her for life…
Lin Jiayao continued running and reading, quickly finishing the first notebook.
Besides numerous inhumane inventions and recipes, nothing useful.
But shortly after opening the second notebook, she found what she was looking for.
A name signed in red ink, in a different handwriting, followed by a note.
“Fucking hell, can’t find a single pack of hot pot base in all of Chongyu. I don’t want to stay here anymore, Boss, please send me to Chengzhou, I beg you.”
Chongyu City… Chongyu City?!
The Voodoo Cult’s headquarters was in Chongyu City?
Chongyu was almost as far as Donghai City; why had the Voodoo Cult traveled so far to Guangdong Province?
Just because of the Boss’s strange dream?
These two diaries, combined with the one she’d found in Fuzhou, gave Lin Jiayao a new understanding of the Voodoo Cult.
No, not understanding; it was still incomprehensible. She couldn’t understand their motives, their logic.
With nothing else in the safehouse, she put both diaries inside.
Each book occupied a single grid, leaving only one slot free.
Unburdened, Lin Jiayao increased her speed, entering a monotonous rhythm of running.
And as she ran, she experimented with her new abilities.
Trying to generate tendrils from other parts of her body.
After several attempts, she finally managed to extend blood-red tendrils from her feet.
These tendrils, though not for combat, provided better grip and stability while running.
She could even use them to climb buildings vertically, running across the glass in any direction, as if defying gravity.
Being able to use the tendrils this way satisfied Lin Jiayao.
She was subconsciously developing this fourth zombie’s abilities towards an A-rank style.
Stylish and practical.
The extraction point was on the rooftop of a skyscraper. Lin Jiayao ran towards the building, her tendrils gripping the walls like bloody vines, pulling her upwards.
Nearing the top, however, she could feel the tendrils weakening, about to give way.
She was still about ten meters from the roof.
“Slash—”
Before losing her grip, her right hand transformed into a blade, shattering the glass window ahead, and she climbed inside.
Better take the stairs.
Reaching the rooftop, she arrived at the extraction point twenty minutes before the deadline. Besides the information about the Voodoo Cult’s headquarters, she hadn’t gained anything this time.
But the information alone was valuable.
And she was running out of zombie slots.
She needed one for Kun City, one for Chongyu City to investigate the Voodoo Cult.
And now, only her second slot was available, the extraction points of the other zombies unpredictable.
Either increase her Vigor and upgrade the Control Center, or “sacrifice” another zombie.
Deleting a zombie and restarting was painful. Mask had been with her the longest, Goldie was incredibly lucky, and the fourth had great potential and strong combat abilities; none were expendable.
She would log into Goldie a few more times and try to evolve her Vigor, hoping to meet the requirements for upgrading the Control Center.
[Extracting: 7.9]
On the rooftop helipad, after the countdown ended, Lin Jiayao returned to the small dormitory room.
The sky outside was a dusky yellow. Opening her eyes, she heard heavy breathing beside her.
She turned and saw her sister lying on the floor, her legs propped up against the bunk bed, using it for resistance training.
Her sister was drenched in sweat, the floor beneath her damp.
“Yao?” Seemingly hearing her sister stir, Lin Xiwan lowered her legs, carefully placed the bed back on the floor, and stood up.
“Did you sleep well?” She reached out to pinch her sister’s cheek, as usual, but then, seeing her sweaty, dirty hands, hesitated and pulled back.
But Lin Jiayao seemed unconcerned. She sat up, grabbed her sister’s hand, and placed it against her cheek.
“It’s fine, we’re going to shower anyway,” she said casually.
“Hmph…” Seeing her sister’s initiative, Lin Xiwan didn’t hold back, using both hands now to playfully rub her sister’s cheeks.
After smearing dirt on her sister’s face, she finally stopped, patted her shoulder, and said with a smile, “Alright, bath time~”
She lifted Lin Jiayao, placed her in the wheelchair, and pushed her towards the door.
Her sister had also worked up a sweat; a shower would do them both good, washing away the grime and fatigue.
“I asked earlier. They have a bathhouse here, like the resort camp, but it’s not separated by Awakened status, just male and female sections…”
Lin Xiwan explained as she pushed the wheelchair out of the dorm.
Lin Jiayao listened attentively, nodding occasionally, but her mind was still on the zombies.
Goldie…
Before even reaching the bathhouse, she had already chosen her next zombie.
She now knew the “giant corn cob’s” territory; just getting close would be enough to lure it out.
After the simulations in the Training Grounds, she was no longer as afraid of it.
As long as she could resist its mental attacks, it was just a larger version of the “green fatty,” and its insects weren’t that fast.
After a few more practice sessions, she would attempt a decapitation strike. In fact, she had already figured out how to kill it in the Training Grounds.
By eating it.
She had disabled her sense of taste and pain receptors in the simulation, broken through the corn cob’s outer layer, and burrowed inside.
The insects and other zombies couldn’t penetrate the dense layers of brains; as long as she could stomach it, she could grind it down from the inside.
It couldn’t possibly taste worse than that Lurker… and Goldie didn’t have a sense of taste anyway.
But it was still… so disgusting… Was there a better way…?
Perhaps she could revisit the battlefield and find a rocket launcher or some grenades… that would make things much easier…
Lost in thought, Lin Jiayao looked at the evolution retention interface.
「Please retain your evolution」
「1、【Hunting Rhythm Lv.1 (Gold): You are always in optimal hunting condition】」
「2、【Safehouse Lv.2 (Red): Upgrades your 2×2 Safehouse to 3×3】」
「3、【Blood Rage Lv.2 (Blue): Rage consumes your mind, doubling strength and speed, granting temporary immunity to ultraviolet light, duration 20s, with moderate side effects】」
A Lv.2 Safehouse?
From 2×2 to 3×3?
This was a rare system upgrade; there was no reason not to choose it.
The larger the safehouse, the more she could carry.
Zombies could die unexpectedly, but the safehouse wouldn’t; it was, as its name suggested, safe.
After selecting the upgrade, her 2×2 safehouse expanded to 3×3, more than doubling its capacity.
She wondered if the next level was 4×4.
If so, she could store a short-barreled rifle or a submachine gun inside.
The thought of a zombie suddenly pulling out a rifle was… amusing.
“Hey… hey!”
A hand waving in front of her face snapped Lin Jiayao out of her thoughts.
“Why are you so distracted?” Lin Xiwan, crouching in front of her, asked, a puzzled frown on her face.
Lin Jiayao blinked and looked around.
She was in the women’s bathhouse changing room. Her sister, already in a bathrobe, was about to help her change.
“Mm.”
Lin Jiayao raised her arms, and her sister helped her remove her shirt and bra.
After undressing her, Lin Xiwan wrapped her in a clean bathrobe, lifted her, and carried her into the bathhouse.
Universities in southern China usually didn’t have bathhouses; this one had been converted by the camp.
Inside, she rinsed the sweat from Lin Jiayao’s body with clean water, washed her with the camp’s soap, and then, carrying her naked sister, walked towards the large bath.
“We can even take a bath here.” Lin Xiwan’s eyes lit up at the sight of the steaming bath. It wasn’t quite time for the camp residents to finish work yet; the bathhouse was empty. They had the entire place to themselves.
In her excitement, she didn’t notice the bar of soap on the wet floor until she stepped on it.
“Ah—!”
She slipped, losing her balance.
But her Awakened reflexes kicked in.
Twisting her body mid-fall, she regained her footing, her right leg shooting out, her toes landing on… the same soap, which seemed to be… stuck to the floor.
“Thump—”
She couldn’t fully recover her balance and fell backwards, her head hitting the floor with a thud.
Thankfully, her Awakened physique protected her, and Lin Jiayao, who had been in her arms, landed on top of her, unharmed.
“Who… who put soap here…?” Lin Xiwan rubbed her head, looking at her sister lying on top of her. “Yao… are you okay?”
“I’m fine…” Lin Jiayao, startled by the sudden fall, hadn’t yet realized her legs were still immobile. She instinctively placed her left hand on the tiled floor, trying to push herself up.
Their current position was… compromising.
And, as luck would have it, her hand landed on the same bar of soap.
But this time, the soap didn’t hold; it slid away.
Losing her support, and her legs failing to respond, she fell, her lips colliding with her sister’s. A faint click of teeth, and blood welled up on Lin Jiayao’s lip.
They stared at each other, a moment of awkward silence, a thin strand of saliva and blood connecting their lips. Lin Jiayao, pulling away, this time using her sister’s shoulders for support, looked away, her face slightly flushed. “So slippery…”
“Yes…” Lin Xiwan also nodded, wiping her lips. “And… moisturizing…”
“Moisturizing?”
“Uh, I meant… the floor is wet…”
Lin Xiwan’s quick explanation only betrayed her embarrassment.
Hearing the sliding door of the bathhouse entrance open, she quickly sat up, still holding her sister, and then, carrying her, walked towards the steaming bath.
Only after settling her sister in the hot water did Lin Xiwan relax slightly.
Good thing no one saw that…
Other women were entering the bathhouse now. She carefully placed her sister beside her.
“Does it still hurt?” Lin Xiwan asked, touching her sister’s bleeding lip. “Should I get you some medicine?”
“It’s fine, just a small cut…” Lin Jiayao said, touching her lip.
With two levels of Robust, it would heal quickly.
They sat side-by-side, silent, the atmosphere slightly awkward.
Then, without conscious thought, their hands, beneath the water’s surface, found each other, their fingers intertwining.
These small accidents, these awkward moments, didn’t weaken their bond, but strengthened it, drawing them closer.
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