MASG chapter 61

 

Before he could figure it out, Xia Yu had already started rolling around.

The soil softened inexplicably, right under his feet. The world spun around him. He felt as if he had returned to the day he escaped the research institute, tumbling and crawling into the sewers while drones chased him. His surroundings remained pitch black, and his ears rang constantly after he landed. The sounds of collapse echoed around him.

Xia Yu slammed heavily to the ground, and his rolling finally ended.

The transition from light to darkness was too sudden; he couldn’t see clearly for a moment. After the rolling stopped, Xia Yu didn’t dare move immediately. He checked his limbs for serious injuries and his core for damage. He needed to make sure he was all right before saving others. After checking himself, Xia Yu rolled over and sat up. “Mi Dou? Mi Dou!”

“I’m here.” Mi Dou’s voice was nearby.

However, after experiencing a collapse, Xia Yu couldn’t see him at once. Mi Dou wasn’t the injured child who couldn’t move anymore. He identified Xia Yu’s location and gave his coordinates: “I’m at your two o’clock! There’s a fault line under your feet. Be careful!”

“Okay! Don’t be afraid! I’m coming!” Xia Yu quickly changed directions and crawled across the ruins.

When he got close enough to see Midou, he realized something was wrong. Midou was pinned under a large piece of the ceiling. He stood on the ground with his arms raised high, holding up a giant steel plate heavy enough to crush over a dozen people. Thanks to Midou, Xia Yu wasn’t crushed to death. Although Xia Yu had poison and could turn invisible, once faced with such overwhelming force, he had no chance of winning.

“I’m here! I’m here!” Xia Yu exclaimed, still shaken. Only Mi Dou could withstand something so heavy. “Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m not hurt. I was just startled and tripped.” Mi Dou stood firmly. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine!” Xia Yu found a comfortable position.

“Don’t worry. I can still hold on for now.” Mi Dou’s arms trembled slightly. As a little bear, his strength came in handy once again. “Take that thing from my backpack!”

The ground was already cracked and broken. Xia Yu searched for stable ground and jumped to Mi Dou’s side. He unpacked Mi Dou’s always-present backpack and took out an ordinary-looking metal rod.

“Press the button on top!” Mi Dou shouted.

Xia Yu immediately searched for the hidden button, which was almost impossible to find without careful observation.

“After pressing it, put it on the ground and step back!” Mi Dou continued to shout.

Xia Yu pressed the button and placed the rod on the ground. A triangular support immediately extended from the bottom of the metal rod as if it had grown legs—a perfect blend of mechanics and bionics. The support frame helped the rod stand upright, and green lights illuminated the space. Xia Yu hastily retreated, watching as the green light instantly shone brightly and cast a straight line between the ceiling and floor.

The line unfolded into a large green umbrella that covered nearly 10 square meters in an instant. At that moment, Mi Dou released his grip and took off running, charging straight at Xia Yu. The two of them fell to the ground. They got up and didn’t care about anything else, continuing to run forward until the space behind them completely collapsed.

Dust, mud, metal, and air mingled together, leaving no room to escape.

Having escaped death once again, Xia Yu did not dare be careless. He pulled Mi Dou along and continued jogging forward. “You really figured it out?”

“Lao Gui and I figured it out together.” Mi Dou rubbed his wrist. He was very strong, but he knew from experience that he couldn’t hold out for long. Besides, he had to escape that place quickly.

“What’s the principle? Have you named it yet?” Xia Yu also rubbed his wrist.

Mi Dou was quite proud. “Lao Gui said I should name it. How about ‘Power Umbrella’? I haven’t decided yet. It can alter the gravitational field in a small area for only five or six seconds. If I learn more, maybe I can extend its usage time.”

“That’s already amazing. Although it’s only five or six seconds, in a critical moment, that’s a golden window.” Xia Yu patted his shoulder. “You always carry good stuff.”

“That’s right. My mom said that I don’t have the height or courage of a bear-man, so I need to learn to protect myself. Seriously, it’s all Muroute’s fault. My cousin is already two meters tall, and I’m much shorter than him.” Mi Dou clenched his fists resentfully, having accepted his tiny size. “What do we do now?”

He was used to seeking help from Xia Yu because Xia Yu had solved all sorts of problems over the years. But this time, Xia Yu was making a fuss, too. “Let me think. How could it have collapsed? The geological structure shouldn’t be that loose, right?”

“If there were a problem with the geological structure, Nuwa would have definitely reminded us,” Mi Dou replied.

Xia Yu remained silent. Nuwa was powerful, but whether she would warn him was another matter. If she was upset about his interrogation yesterday, then today’s events could be an act of revenge.

“Jingwei, are you there?” Fortunately, Xia Yu still had a way out.

Jingwei: [The signal is weak, but I am here. I just accessed the cameras with Ling Shi’s permissions. Why did you and Midou fall?]

“I don’t know either. Let’s just assume it was an accident. I need a map of this place right now.” Xia Yu took an emergency light from Mi Dou’s bag. They had to leave immediately. Setting aside the possibility of a secondary collapse, if the safety structure failed, they would be trapped with a bunch of cultists.

The leader of these cultists was none other than Ma Jiayuan, whom he had beaten up yesterday.

Jingwei: [Give me two seconds.]

Jingwei: [Map retrieved. The air-raid shelter was built 23 years ago. The collapsed areas are E and G, and escape routes exist in areas A, B, and F. The shortest route has been calculated. Turn right at the first intersection ahead.]

“Thanks.” Xia Yu wasn’t familiar with the situation below. “Check on the cultists for me.”

Jingwei: [Retrieving surveillance footage.]

Jingwei: [Retrieving footage complete. The cultists’ detention locations have been lost. You must leave here quickly and grab your weapons.]

“Don’t worry. I never let my weapon out of my sight. That’s what Silver Fang taught me.” Xia Yu reached for his holster. “How’s Ma Jiayuan? Was he crushed to death?”

Jingwei: [Ma Jiayuan is still alive. He looks like he’s meditating in a strange posture. The cultists are sabotaging the surveillance cameras. Xia Yu, I probably can’t help you much. I’ll send you a map with an escape route. You and Mi Dou, be careful!]

“They even sabotaged the cameras.” Mi Dou took out his gun, too. “Wait, why are they all working together like this?”

“It’s as if they knew in advance that we were going to fall.” Xia Yu looked at the bracelet.

The bracelet retained most of its previous functions and added a new projection feature. The small screen wasn’t large enough to clearly see the map and route, but the floor plan that Jingwei had successfully transmitted was clearly visible on the dark wall. Xia Yu quickly memorized the route and continued running eastward with Mi Dou, their footsteps echoing.

There was no time to consider why it had collapsed; survival was the priority.

“I think… I can hear them,” said Mi Dou, twitching his bear ears. His hearing was far more acute than that of an ordinary person.

“Are they very close?” Xia Yu immediately stopped and held his breath to conceal their presence.

Mi Dou remained silent, pointing to the wall on his right. Just a wall away, people were gathered in the corridor.

They had destroyed all the surveillance cameras, so this area was now a blind spot for the artificial intelligence. Neither Nuwa, Ling Shi, nor Jingwei could serve as eyes for Xia Yu and Mi Dou. This place had become a killing field. They could only pray for survival. They could either fight their way to the safe exit and open the keypad door or simply wait.

Mo An and the rest of the team would fight desperately to save them, but it was a gamble whether they would have enough time.

After a brief deliberation, Xia Yu decided they couldn’t wait. Just as he finished thinking this, the wall to their right collapsed!

“Run!” Xia Yu grabbed Mi Dou and sprinted forward. How did the cultists know their location and attack from across the wall?

Mi Dou ran while looking back to see how far away the cultists were. All of the cultists were dressed in white robes with their hands outstretched forward and their eyes darting around abnormally.

Their eye rolling wasn’t normal; every second, their black pupils completed a full rotation within their sockets without pause. It was as if a hand was inside their eyes and heads, playing with their eyeballs like marbles and spinning them endlessly.

The cultists ran much faster than normal people; they used all four limbs and even scaled walls.

“They’re so fast!” Mi Dou drew his gun and aimed behind him.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Gunshots rang out. The cultist who had sprung up to the ceiling and was hanging upside down was hit immediately and fell to the ground. Xia Yu’s ears rang from the gunfire. The enclosed space amplified the sound. As Xia Yu rounded a corner, he saw the man on the ground, convulsing.

However, his white robe lacked the blood a normal person would have.

Xia Yu immediately understood why there was no blood. During his convulsions, the man vomited a milky white liquid that splattered onto the walls and ceiling. For some reason, there was no longer any red blood in his body. It had all turned milky white… juice?

Xia Yu’s immediate thought was that this man’s body contained only juice.

“Great, I hit them!” Mi Dou was elated by his accuracy. As long as these people were afraid of bullets, he and Xia Yu would have a much better chance of survival. But his good fortune didn’t last long. What they feared most came to pass. The two men he shot spat out a few mouthfuls of thick white fluid. They stood up, paused for a few seconds, and then roared as they charged again.

They seemed enraged and were running even faster!

“Looks like ordinary bullets are useless against them!” Xia Yu resolutely abandoned conventional weapons and pulled a semi-transparent gun from his inner jacket pocket. The gun was small, and when he pulled the trigger, his entire arm trembled violently several times. A chilling, blood-drawing sensation spread from his fingertips.

This time, more than a dozen bullets were fired, like stars scattered across the sky. The small, triangular bullets struck the walls, sparking and embedding themselves in the stone’s cracks, but many also hit the closest cultists squarely in the face!

Their facial features were instantly obscured by the scattering bullets, and thick white liquid gushed from holes half a meter away. They didn’t collapse immediately after being hit. Instead, they stumbled and chased after the bullets for another five or six meters. Then, they slowly stopped, clutching their necks as if they didn’t understand what was happening.

Then, the cultists bent over and began vomiting violently. Their vomit was still white. The one at the front collapsed, vomiting uncontrollably. His body rolled on the ground: one second he was curled into a ball; the next, he was stretched out; then he arched his back into an inverted bow shape, with his toes and head meeting behind his back.

All of the cultists who had been hit were in the same state. The scene was chaotic and bizarre, as if Xia Yu had just rushed over with a can of insecticide and killed a bunch of cockroaches.

However, Xia Yu’s blood was indeed “insecticide” to them. Even though their bodies had mutated and deformed, they couldn’t escape the Blue Jellyfish’s venom.

“Great! The gun worked!” Mi Dou gasped, bending over to rest.

“It’s just that drawing so much blood is excessive.” Xia Yu suddenly leaned against the wall, feeling dizzy and cold. This was Mi Dou’s newly invented gun, the “Blood Bullet Gun.” A blood-drawing needle was hidden in the trigger. The moment he pulled the trigger, the needle would prick his fingertip and pierce his skin deeply.

In just a fraction of a second, his blood would be drawn and soak into dozens of bullets, turning them into blood bullets.

“Next time, I’ll improve it,” Mi Dou gasped, “but at least I’m heading in the right direction. Your body is a biological weapon, and your toxicity is growing stronger.”

“Yes, stronger and stronger.” Xia Yu touched his finger; it didn’t hurt. Before him lay a mass of convulsing cultists, all incapacitated, on the verge of death, and unable to fight. Survival seemed impossible. But why were their bodies like this? Xia Yu went to examine them, flashlight in hand. They were perfectly fine when they were captured yesterday, so this shouldn’t be happening.

“Their bodies are so limp that it’s as if all their organs have melted into liquid,” Mi Dou observed, noticing the problem. “This phenomenon… reminds me of something that happens to insects in nature.”

“Never mind that. Let’s get out of here.” Xia Yu put away the emergency light and led Mi Dou back to the escape route. To get out, they needed to pass through five keypad doors. When they reached the first one, Jingwei had thoughtfully opened the keypad lock.

Jingwei: [Run!]

Xia Yu and Mi Dou didn’t waste any time and headed towards the next keyless exit. As they ran, a figure suddenly appeared ahead. Xia Yu recognized him from behind: White robes, white hair, white beard—it was Ma Jiayuan.

“Damn it, Ma Jiayuan!” Mi Dou recognized him, too.

Xia Yu took out his Blood Bullet Gun, but the magazine indicated low ammo. This gun was Mi Dou’s experimental prototype, so many parts were imperfect.

Ma Jiayuan, who had blocked their escape route, turned around at that moment. He had clearly changed. Six arms had sprouted from his stomach—two pairs arranged vertically—and his legs had grown thicker, rendering him immovable. His eyes were spinning rapidly as if they would pop out of their sockets if they spun a few more times.

He had mutated.

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