Chapter 27: Mutation

From within the massive body, countless supple tendrils extended, large ones splitting into innumerable smaller ones, their sinuous forms covering nearly the entire mail ship.

“Ha! Take your time waiting for death,” the man sneered with a strange smile. Just as he turned to walk back toward the cabin, countless tendrils wound themselves around his body. He gasped in shock, exclaiming, “You—I’m the one who gave you your power!”

“It doesn’t matter who you are. As long as you’re on this ship, I’ll show no mercy. No one will be spared.” With that, a long, slender tendril shot straight through his heart, while others bound his limbs and wrenched them apart, tearing him limb from limb.

Chen Zhuohao had become a merciless killer—a monster devoid of thought, his original self essentially dead, yet his cells still lived. His brain controlled his many limbs, making him a true bloodthirsty fiend.

“Run! That monster is coming!” Li Ping, sensing the danger, shouted a warning. But Chen Zhuohao moved with terrifying speed—many tendrils had already reached their way.

Li Ning fired her gun as she retreated, while Hu Guozheng, masking his terror, ran after her. Although some tendrils were wounded by bullets, they healed almost instantly. The three darted and dodged desperately, but a tendril struck fiercely at Hu Guozheng. In that moment, he felt both fear and an odd exhilaration—he swung his machete and hacked through one, but before he could react, another tendril ensnared him and hoisted him five or six meters into the air.

“Fatty!”

Li Ning reloaded her magazine, pressing herself against the wall as she watched the living vines snake out, even suspending corpses in the air.

“Everyone must die—every last one of you. Especially you!” Chen Zhuohao was out of his mind; as long as it was human, he would kill it, and even the dead would be used as food.

“Damn it, I’m afraid of heights!” Hu Guozheng, dangling in mid-air, his head hanging down, felt the blood rush to his face.

Many tendrils snaked into the cabins, and before long, countless people were dragged out.

“That bastard…” The captain, standing at the highest point, watched as no one was spared and couldn’t help but feel furious. All this was his partner’s fault—he was the one who, in his arrogance, had given Chen Zhuohao a taste of the latest experimental product from the overseas association, with deadly consequences.

“Hmph, another one up there. Come down!”

Chen Zhuohao spotted someone above and sent a dozen tendrils surging upward from all directions. The captain, responsible for monitoring the effects of the new product, was startled.

“This guy—!”

A tendril lashed out at him as he leapt for another pillar, but Chen Zhuohao would not let this airborne prey escape. Before the captain could reach another support, more tendrils shot toward him. “Come here. I want to kill you!”

“Damn!” The captain raised his hand and summoned up a force, punching out at the vines.

“What—?”

His attack had no effect. Instead, the vines coiled around his body, immobilizing him. Even as he realized he was up against an invisible force, it was too late—five tendrils spiraled together and pierced him from below, shredding his body into a gruesome mess. Li Ping could hardly imagine that Chen Zhuohao had become such a bloodthirsty monster.

Meanwhile, Du Bin and Yanyan wandered aimlessly inside the cabin. Suddenly, they noticed that the cyborgs had disappeared. Still on guard, Du Bin murmured, “I wonder how the others are. I’m a little worried.”

“They’ll be fine,” Yanyan replied without thinking. To Du Bin’s ears, her concern for Li Ping sounded a bit too much—was she rekindling old feelings for him? The thought startled Du Bin. She was a married woman now! Even if they loved each other, shouldn’t it be less obvious? But then he wondered, if he were faced with Fang Yilin, how would he choose?

“Someone’s coming.” Yanyan’s voice pulled Du Bin out of his musings. He peered ahead and saw several people running toward them. He raised his gun to aim, but suddenly, one after another, the runners were snatched away by something unseen, until only the two of them remained in the corridor.

The pair were stunned. “What’s happening? It doesn’t look like they’re here to help us.”

Back outside the cabin, Li Ning dodged an attack and fired several shots at the tendrils. They were riddled with bullets but quickly regenerated.

“Damn it, how do you kill this freak?”

Li Ping saw the tendrils stretching toward him again. To avoid being caught, he rolled forward and hacked at them with all his might, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t cut them all. The monster’s hatred seemed to endlessly regenerate through each tentacle.

“Aah!” Li Ning cried out in panic just as Li Ping’s attention was fixed on Chen Zhuohao. Tendrils had ensnared her feet, and others were now reaching for Li Ping.

Bloodshot veins filled Chen Zhuohao’s eyes. His attacks grew fiercer with his mounting fury.

“Brother! Watch out behind you!” Li Ning shouted anxiously. As he tried to rescue her, he was caught from behind. Before he realized the danger, he was hoisted into the air, the tendrils quickly constricting his body. The already-suspended Hu Guozheng could only sigh—they’d hoped for a rescue, but now it seemed there was no hope for anyone.

Chen Zhuohao, seeing his prey captured, laughed maniacally. “Hahaha…”

“It’s coming.” Du Bin heard something scraping across the floor. The two crept cautiously to a corner, and were stunned by what they saw: a host of tendrils slowly advancing.

Sensing the danger, Du Bin grabbed Yanyan and ran the other way. The vines seemed to sense their movement and gave chase at lightning speed. Du Bin fired as he ran, but the bullets did nothing to the tendrils.

“What the hell is this thing?!” Du Bin hurriedly shoved Yanyan around a corner. The two pressed themselves against the wall, gasping for breath.

“Do you think Li Ping and the others have been caught by those things too? Are they in danger?” Yanyan was so panicked she could barely speak, and her words made Du Bin’s heart pound with fear.