Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Some people emerged from the tent, suddenly letting out sharp cries. It seemed they had encountered danger. According to the marked location on the map, the area they were in was not considered high-risk, but the native creatures nearby could still pose a life-threatening threat to this group of inexperienced recruits.
They rushed towards the scene and soon spotted a giant Scorpion struggling to emerge from beneath the sand. If these individuals had not been moving so slowly, they would likely have already fallen into the Scorpion's jaws. It wasn't until someone with sharp eyes pointed this out that several female soldiers, who had never seen such a thing before, gasped and cried out in fear.
Some were retreating to the side as the Scorpion's eyes turned blood-red with anger. The pupils of the infected creatures were dilated and filled with fungal threads, indicating that the Amoeba protozoan virus had already invaded their brains. As a result, these beings, aside from moving like Puppets, hardly ever ate. However, upon encountering new organisms, they would pass on their toxic spores to their offspring.
This was a black Scorpion. Although it had been transformed into a Puppet by the virus, the textbooks did not provide any further names for them; they were collectively referred to as Parasite Beasts. Whether resembling humans or wild animals, once infected by the pathogen and losing all consciousness, they would become single-celled organisms with only fleeting memories. They were Puppets that continued to exhibit behaviors from their previous lives, but their minds had completely perished; only their bodies remained under viral control, surviving purely on instinct.
"Freyr, I can't see anything; I can't even detect any brainwave signals around me. Is it a dead thing? Tell me what you see!" Nosty exclaimed.
Freyr hesitated for a moment before calmly replying, "It's Indigenous Creatures or predators that originally thrived in this desert. Unfortunately, they have been completely transformed into Parasite Beasts by infection. They were once predators; if we can break its limbs and inflict injuries that prevent it from moving, we might be able to escape safely for a while. But dealing with Parasite Beasts is difficult—they are nearly impossible to kill unless we deal a fatal blow to their brains. No matter how much damage they take, they can still temporarily recover thanks to their cellular regeneration abilities."
"No wonder," Nosty gasped in shock.
At that moment, another group of people emerged from the tent and witnessed the horrifying scene before them. One young man at the forefront was so startled that he fell to the ground. Some behind him did not come out but looked on with expressions filled with despair and terror as screams erupted from women's mouths.
Meanwhile, the Scorpion's claws struck like black whips, swiftly lunging toward several fleeing individuals in the sand. One man pushed aside a woman as he ran and shouted, "I'll stop it; you run!" This Afro-haired man showed courage as he shoved her aside and reached for a black object protruding from his backpack—a 4A1 carbine.
Initially, everything seemed fine until he raised the gun to shield his chest just as a black stinger lunged at him. The young man let out a cry of anguish as he rolled into a nearby sand pit with his weapon. A young girl barely managed to run a few steps before she saw a shadow rush past her; terrified and losing her balance, she fell into the sand pit without caring about her companions' shouts. At that moment, she could hear nothing—like a soulless doll standing frozen in place.
The remaining few called out but did not look back; they hurried toward areas with more people. In their worldview, only crowded places were safe—even though they knew those there might not have any fighting capability either—but deep down, they believed that being among many could bring them courage.
Freyr felt anger rising within him at what he had just witnessed. He didn't despise these people's selfishness but rather their lack of awareness of the bigger picture; they had led that Scorpion toward where more people were gathered. Once targeted by a Parasite Beast, unless one fled to the ends of the earth, it would infect every creature it encountered.
People behind Freyr urged him to hurry over. He adjusted his revolver; while its power was not very high, when he finally used it, he realized its weight could only be described as heavy—after all, it was a modified weapon designed for use on mechs; every piece was incredibly destructive.
The revolver's destructive power was evident as flames erupted from its muzzle. A powerful recoil surged through his arm rapidly; his muscles twitched as his body leaned back and he fell onto the sand. Fortunately, his shot did not miss—it struck true and embedded itself into the Scorpion's back with a sharp bullet hole piercing through its hard shell.
"Oh my, what a heavy recoil."
Freyr's face turned a deep shade of purple as he stood up from the ground, quickly grabbing his revolver with both hands to stabilize himself. He aimed once more at the Parasite Beast, ignoring the fallen Target, and fired again, hitting the creature squarely in the mouth. A spray of purple, acid-like blood erupted.
The Strong Acid blood splattered onto the sand, causing it to smoke like sand in a Hot Pot. Tension filled the air as suddenly an arm shot out from beneath the sand where Scorpion had been standing. It was the same young man who had previously collapsed in the sand pit, now jolted awake by the gunfire, looking up just in time to see the belly of the Parasite Beast.
As the young man prepared to raise his weapon and fire, Freya shouted angrily, "The blood of the Parasite Beast is corrosive! Look at how the sand has turned black from it; you must be careful!"
"Why didn't you say that earlier?" he yelled back without turning his head. Meanwhile, the Parasite Beast seemed to notice something as well. Its mouth dripped with dark red saliva that corroded the sand beneath it. It shifted its belly, its two crimson eyes locking onto its target—indeed, it had found him.
The young man quickly adjusted his grip on the gun and ducked low, slipping through a gap as the Parasite Beast's neck was not very agile. The creature struggled to regain its balance and adjust its posture. Its barbed tail seemed to lock onto its prey as a sudden black arc flashed through the air.
The attack from the Parasite Beast's tail contained Deadly Poison. Freyr could clearly see that the shadowy target was the young man who had turned away. The youth wore a smile at the corner of his mouth, seemingly still reveling in having narrowly escaped death moments before.
After all, he was unaware of how fast a Human-faced Black Scorpion could strike; it took less than a second for its venom to be injected into a victim's body. In that brief moment, it could pierce even a heart if it truly wanted to.
"Damn it! If only someone could help him, he might be saved. I can't believe this is happening right after joining the army; what a disastrous start—he's going to die!"
Freyr closed his eyes, unable to bear watching any longer. Before he could open them again after just a second, he saw a figure being flung away by the tail. However, since the Parasite Beast was quite far from him now, it was no longer within his advantageous line of sight for shooting. Even if he fired with all his strength, he doubted it would inflict damage like that of an exploded mouth.
On another side, through the scope of a sniper rifle, a figure focused intently on the image reflected in the lens. He spat out bitter saliva and then grinned widely as he forcefully pulled the trigger—the Sniper Rifle roared to life.
In an instant, a bullet struck directly at the rushing black shadow. Moments later, a chunk of severed limb fell from above; the barbed tail had been shot in half. The remaining piece landed right at the young man's feet. As he processed what had just happened behind him, his gaze fell upon a still-twitching tail. Terrified, he fumbled with his gun; it wobbled in his hands as he fired wildly at the severed tail without thinking twice.
"Where's that gunshot coming from?"
"I notified another good buddy of mine; he's a hunter."
But the good times didn't last long!
The Parasite Beast struggled, and at that moment, Freyr opened his eyes. He felt nothing amiss, just like the young man Nosty had moments ago. It seemed the young man had been saved, as the rookie hunter's help had broken the deadly tail, effectively disarming the opponent.
"Shaka, let your buddy assist in the attack. Let's try to take down this Parasite Beast. Don't worry, the bullets in your weapons are special sacrificial ammunition, which has a strong lethal effect on pathogens. The Self-Healing Ability is no longer valid. Those guys already knew we would encounter this kind of situation and prepared this sacrificial ammunition in advance."
Nosty's voice continued to echo in his mind. Suddenly, another voice broke through, a slightly hoarse man's voice said, "That last shot drained my focus too much. I need to rest for a bit, but I'll have my buddy replace me as the new fire support."
"Aeros, calling, calling!"
At that moment, another person sighed lightly and said, "Buddy, I can hear you. No need to shout all the time; my head hurts. It's really a headache. If I miss and you get killed instead, so be it."
"Uh, hello there," Freyr tentatively greeted.
"Hey there! Your performance was amazing earlier! I'm glad to meet a skilled person like you. I'm just a full-time hunter; Frothleaf Abraham is my name."
Another voice chimed in with friendly sarcasm: "Don't listen to this idiot; he's just a shepherd who occasionally uses a slingshot to shoot birds for fun. I'm Aeros, his big brother."
"Hey, don't undermine my reputation; give me some credit here, my big brother Aeros."
"Not happening! Who told you to always brag about being a hunter? This is karma for killing my pet timekeeping bird; it's your punishment."
Suddenly, the serious voice of another host echoed, and Freyr clearly recognized it as Nosty's voice. "Ahem, if you’re going to argue, at least choose a better time. The main objective right now is that Parasite Beast over there is still a threat. Its ability to spread disease is extremely strong. We are just a few people, and the others are too scared to act. We need to strike directly at the Parasite Beast's weak point—its brain. Destroying the brain is all we need to do."
As soon as this voice was heard, the arguing stopped abruptly. Aeros said, "Alright, it's just a matter of firing a few shots; that's not a problem for me."
Froth's voice chimed in again, "That's a different story. I only need one shot; that's the difference."
"Enough! Once you kill the Parasite Beast, I'll be interested in arguing with you. For now, let’s focus on the task at hand."
Suddenly, Nosty's voice became anxious. Although he couldn't see them, he managed to connect their consciousness in a peculiar way.
"Alright, leave it to me!"
At that moment, silence fell on the other side before someone responded. The muzzle flash of a gun lit up as bullets struck the body of the Parasite Beast, leaving a patchwork of bullet holes. In the next instant, with a series of explosive sounds fading away, the back half of the Parasite Beast was blown apart. Just seconds later, another gunshot rang out, piercing through its rear head and splattering corrosive blood onto the sandy ground.
"Done."
As the voice echoed in his mind and he opened his eyes again, he saw that the Parasite Beast lay motionless in a pool of blood, no longer able to move. However, the bickering resumed.
"I could have handled it! Why did you take such a cold shot?"
"If I hadn't fired, you would have wasted all the bullets in your gun, idiot! What would we do then?"
Comment 0 Comment Count