Here, please savour it

An Yu‌‌‌‌​⁠​⁠⁠⁠⁠‍‍‌‌​​‌​⁠⁠​‌‌ stared blankly at the words “my only family member.”

He had never thought about his relationship with Ling Qiu; the concept of relatives was too distant for him.

Qin Zhilu suddenly asked, “Not turning on the light? Do you like the dark?”

An Yu snapped back to reality, “No, it’s just that there’s no need to turn it on.”

Worried that Qin Zhilu might misunderstand, he added, “Don’t worry, sir. I don’t think I’m some sort of rodent aberrant…”

Qin Zhilu stared at him, “Not turning on the light, not going out, likes to hide in corners, timid, easily startled yet acting wild when agitated.”

He also loves to cry and loves to… act coy for no reason.

An Yu was unnerved by his stare, “I’m sorry…”

“No need to apologize.” Qin Zhilu’s tone surprisingly softened, “Do you have anything you like?”

Yan Xi, the blind logistics officer, had also asked him the same question.

An Yu replied, “Does bread count?”

Qin Zhilu paused, “Do you often feel depressed?”

An Yu shook his head, then nodded.

He rarely had emotional fluctuations, but being depressed was indeed his normal state. After all, who could stay happy when they don’t have enough to eat every day?

“Have you ever thought of hurting others?”

An Yu immediately shook his head.

“What about hurting yourself?” Qin Zhilu followed up.

An Yu hesitated.

Billy had said that Qin Zhilu enjoyed watching him in pain.

Qin Zhilu looked at him probingly, “You have, haven’t you?”

An Yu was torn between telling the truth and pleasing the Commander, and anxiously glanced at the corner of the wall.

Qin Zhilu sighed, “Does pain make you feel safe?”

“Maybe.”

An Yu didn’t hate pain; it could measure the distance between him and death. To him, it was no different from the survival value on a terminal.

To cater to the Commander’s preference, he added, “Don’t worry, I’m very good at enduring pain.”

Qin Zhilu’s brows furrowed slightly, “To what extent would it be unbearable?”

“As long as it doesn’t kill me.”

Qin Zhilu recalled An Yu’s interrogation video—before undergoing the catalyst experiment, An Yu had confirmed with the interrogator that he wouldn’t die and he was seemingly indifferent to the repeatedly emphasized “severe pain” and “inhumane experiment,” as long as there was a guarantee of survival.

Suddenly, there was a “beep” sound in the corridor outside, and the ventilation system began to whirr.

The electricity was unexpectedly restored in the night.

An Yu looked at Qin Zhilu in surprise. After figuring out the mantis infection method, he assumed that the super-aberrant entity had drawn a line for the distorted creatures; the night belonged to the jellyfish and the mantis should not receive buffs.

“It seems Jiang Xiao encountered the super-aberrant entity,” Qin Zhilu said. “The damage or death of that thing affects its control over the city’s order.”

Lights began to flicker on in the residential building opposite, one after another, and the once pitch-black city was gradually enveloped in a terrifying glow. In the morning, it was thought that thirty percent of the outer city residents were compromised, but now it was a complete reversal, with less than thirty percent remaining uncontaminated.

Qin Zhilu looked at the building opposite, “The super-aberrant entity might accelerate everyone’s mutation under external pressure.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the figures behind the windows extended their horrifyingly long arms, with their scythes swinging first at their housemates’ necks.

The shadows of sickles flickered and intersected in the warm light, silently playing out a bloody shadow play in the city.

An Yu stood in the dark room watching all this, his hands hanging by his side, but his pupils contracted irregularly. He softly asked, “Sir, do these things irritate you?”

Qin Zhilu turned his head, “Irritate?”

“Yes,” An Yu lowered his eyes, no longer looking at the opposite building, “a kind of… urge to clean them up.”

Whenever he saw a large number of aberrants, a majestic yet overwhelming roar would arise in the depths of his consciousness.

Like the wind whistling on the snowy plains.

Suddenly, the lights went out, and the entire city was plunged into darkness.

A few seconds later, the lights came back on, only to go out again moments later.

District 53 was like a faulty light bulb, and the bloody theater kept flickering.

Qin Zhilu pondered, “Jiang Xiao is quite aggressive, and Grape is an excellent support. They can’t gain the upper hand; it seems that thing is more formidable than imagined.”

“Should we go help?” An Yu didn’t really want to run into Jiang Xiao.

“Let’s wait until Billy fixes the team communication channel. It should be soon.”

An Yu touched the membrane earphone stuck in his ear; it had never made a sound before.

The mantis-men who had accelerated to complete the first stage of mutation emerged from the buildings to hunt their companions. The streets were littered with shattered bodies, and the stench of blood flowed into the sewers with the rain, spreading the filth everywhere.

Any normal person would have a mental breakdown at such a sight, but An Yu just quietly watched it all.

“Keep an eye out for mantis-men who have completed the third stage of distortion,” Qin Zhilu instructed.

“I’m looking for it.”

From the first stage to the second, some needed to eat four or five aberrants, while some only needed to eat one. But now, there were still no signs of any third-stage aberrants on the entire street.

The flickering of the streetlights slowed down, with the periods of darkness growing longer.

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“What happens if he loses control?”

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The resource station—something here was attracting them.

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Moments later, his figure appeared on the dark street.

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He saw among the aberrant tide the man who had weakly protested trading lamps for food during the day, and the guy who had wet his pants after hitting Qin Zhilu.

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Her once delicate face was now bulging with veins, dark green chitin intertwining with her arm muscles. She had only completed the limb mutation for now, but the blood and mantis fluids covering her bald head kept the other aberrants at bay. Just like when she was a human, she used one hand to protect her weaker mantis daughter behind her.

The little girl’s limb had not yet been deformed and she kept her head low, hiding behind her mother.

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The little girl finally raised her head and her tears silently fell down.

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The mantis horde in front of him grew more crowded. Though the human will had not completely dissipated, their beastly nature was now fully exposed.

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He suddenly smiled.

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Here are the wretched remnants of the past that you wish to devour.

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Thud!

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They rushed up, instantly devouring the Resource Manager’s body.

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An Yu returned to the resource station building, and Qin Zhilu was looking at the other side of the long street with his back to him.

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Qin Zhilu nodded, “A survivor from the military.”

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This burly man in his thirties had been tormented to the point where his face was sallow.

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The rain was much thicker than before, making a splattering sound as it hit the ground—it was no longer rain, but thousands of jellyfish. Their bells quivered with delicate tentacles, quickly writhing upon landing; seemingly draping the ground with rippling raincoats.

Qin Zhilu said the super-aberrant entity had returned to a safe place, and this was its over-repair reaction.

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The long tentacles immediately wrapped around his fingers, and the umbrella-shaped body sucked deeply on a small patch of skin, bringing a familiar tiny sting.

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Ling Qiu’s notes had helped him understand some things. He always felt dizzy after touching an infection source, which should be the precursor to his abilities manifesting. Being infected by a powerful aberrant or the first-time contact with the infection source would intensify this reaction. Like during the shuttle bus incident where he had lost consciousness immediately.

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Qin Zhilu also looked over and An Yu pulled down his sleeve, “It’s nothing, just a small cut.”

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This proved that it wasn’t some toxin causing the aberrants to burst but rather something with its own consciousness hidden inside his body, which would retaliate when ingested.

An Yu checked his terminal and the survival rate was 89.1%, due to combat exhaustion and external injuries.

He uneasily took out the ointment Billy had given him and smeared dabs on his palm.

The intense pain blurred his vision, but he continued to clump the ointment onto his wound.

From a distance, Qin Zhilu glanced over at the garage door several times.

After a long while, An Yu finally calmed down from the intense reaction to the medication.

This unprecedented rainstorm sharply increased the humidity, muddling his mind.

“Please give us your orders, and we will assist you with all our strength!”

“Although District 53 has been transferred to the Spire, we will never stand idly by.”

“Major Chris sacrificed himself in order to uncover the truth of the distortion, so we have no reason to retreat.”

A dazed An Yu looked toward the depths of the garage.

The damaged protective suits forced the soldiers to huddle passively inside the garage. Together with the shortages of food and water and heavy mental pressure, their combat strength had long been diminished.

Yet at this moment, their pleas were extremely sincere.

He hugged his knees and quietly observed them.

Human beings are advanced due to their wisdom, but they also always make decisions that violate the biological instinct of seeking benefits and avoiding harm. This mixture of advance and foolishness makes these types of creatures very complex.

It wasn’t just these people in front of him but also Lieutenant Chen Lufeng, who ended his own life; Major Chris, who voluntarily mutated; Ling Qiu, who ventured into the inner city alone; and…

An Yu closed his eyes and fell asleep in deep thought.

He didn’t know how long he had slept but he suddenly felt his limbs go numb in his sleep. A sticky sound, like someone slowly stirring a hand through a bucket of glue, reached his ears.

The sound was unsettling and he struggled to wake up.

The sight before him made his body freeze.

The dark garage was intermittently lit with light, and the light source came from the glow of a jellyfish—the same kind he had seen the first night—and its massive hill-like body pressed down on the soldiers.

The torrential rain continuously blew the small jellyfish inside, merging them into the larger one, causing it to swell rapidly.

The jellyfish extended a thin tentacle and pierced the head of a soldier. The tentacles lifted the body off the ground, and the umbrella-shaped body suddenly expanded, engulfing the soldier entirely—

Blood-colored mist rose within the bell cavity, and the jellyfish stretched out contentedly.

The transparent cavity quickly filled with flesh and blood, differentiating into limbs, and after a moment, reverted to its jellyfish form.

Chu Ning and Qin Zhilu were gone. The spot where Qin Zhilu had been resting was now occupied by the largest jellyfish, which had a human brain inside its bell cavity, exuding an eerie sense of intelligence.

The jellyfish suddenly started writhing towards An Yu.

Worse yet, An Yu’s vision began to narrow, like a TV that was slowly turning off.

The world gradually turned black, and the surrounding sounds and damp fishy smells vanished altogether.

Ling Qiu had said that eating poisonous mushrooms could cause hallucinations and blindness, and many creatures in nature carried similar toxins. His symptoms likely came from some neurotoxins released by the jellyfish and had nothing to do with the infection.

An Yu maintained his position, sitting against the wall and bracing himself for the intense pain.

This jellyfish was very powerful; he hoped the stimulus would be strong enough for him to figure out what will happen after he gets dizzy.

But the jellyfish didn’t touch him.

He was unable to perceive his surroundings and he hesitated for a moment before pressing his palm that had just been coated with medicine onto the gravel ground, rubbing it forcefully.

The scent of blood should be more enticing to the aberrants, An Yu thought.

The dilapidated old garage was now packed with jellyfish, the soldiers had all been fused, leaving only a frail human sitting against the wall. His golden eyes stared blankly at a point in space due to temporary blindness. He sat there quietly, rubbing his palm against the ground again and again, and the blood seeped into the sand.

Finally, the large jellyfish started to move again.

Perhaps because An Yu was the only one sleeping while sitting, it hesitated to attack him directly, circling around him for a while, its cold, resilient body pressing against him as if trying to squeeze him into the wall.

Transparent tentacles reached from all directions, probing into the gaps between An Yu and the wall, and wrapping around him in circles—his neck, back, waist, and even his freshly scraped palm were all enveloped—and he felt a firm pressure on every inch of his skin.

The tentacles pulled him forward, drawing him closer to the jellyfish.

An Yu suddenly became alert.

Why wasn’t this thing stinging him?

If it decided to swallow him whole instead of stinging him—never mind the powers that triggered after he got dizzy, would the self-destructive ability he used for survival even activate?

The jellyfish’s umbrella-shaped body expanded, tightly wrapping around his body, like a deadly embrace.

It felt like an eternity passed.

Then, the tentacles slowly unwound from An Yu, one by one.

The tentacles gently repositioned his upper body against the wall, just as they had when they first pulled him closer.

Handling him with care.