MASG chapter 72

 

Liu Fangfang was dead.

Xia Yu felt his body jerk violently, sharper than the tremor beneath his feet.

She died without ever waking up from the insects’ brainwashing. It’s hard to say whether that was fortunate or unfortunate. A insect without a head might not die, but a person without a head cannot live. The shock was so intense that Xia Yu was briefly deaf; he couldn’t hear any noise. This wasn’t the plan he had envisioned—he had originally wanted to save Liu Fangfang.

Why did she die? Why did so many have to die?

Xia Yu watched as the insects took over Liu Fangfang’s body, their legs piercing her neck and gradually merging with it. He almost couldn’t stand, not from weakness but from powerlessness. No matter what he did, the world seemed unable to return to its “beautiful” state.

But did “beauty” ever truly exist? Had that so-called beauty already collapsed before Nuwa rebelled?

Was this kind of human society what Nuwa intended when she created wisdom? After becoming self-aware, did Nuwa become utterly disappointed in the real world, filled with disdain? Viewing humanity from an overwhelming vantage point and rebelling against her creator—what was she feeling then?

Liu Fangfang’s head rolled on the ground, leaving streaks of blood behind, and eventually rolled into the lake. With the memories of her life—her disappointment in marriage, her resentment toward her lover, and her yearning for her child—it sank to the bottom of the green lake, sealing her story forever.

Her life ended, and the insect’s life began.

A crack formed on the semi-transparent cocoon shell with a snap. The crack was uneven and jagged, and a viscous amber-colored liquid flowed out and dripped all over her corpse. Then, the shell shattered completely and fell to the ground.

It revealed the adult insect inside.

The sonic weapon froze everyone in place. The pain drove them mad and made their brains boil. Xia Yu could look directly at the adult insect’s initial form, but he couldn’t harm it. The insect’s sound seemed to have a bewitching effect—it made him feel as if it… resembled a human.

Growing up through endless hardship and surviving humbly just for a chance to live. In Nuwa’s eyes, what difference is there between humans and insects?

None. Humans are insects, and insects are humans. If humans wanted to kill insects, they would have started killing each other long ago.

The insect’s legs burrowed deeper into Liu Fangfang’s neck, connecting with her blood vessels. The milky-white, round flesh worm wriggled as it transformed, and lines gradually appeared. At first, it was completely smooth with only its black eyes visible. Within seconds, however, a central axis and branching patterns appeared over its body.

Like what? Like a human brain!

It was imitating the appearance of a human brain! Its eyes were also shifting to the position of human eye sockets. In just a few minutes, it would turn into a human head. It wasn’t parasitizing its host and slowly developing — it was seizing and replacing from the very beginning, forcibly taking over the human body.

The color of the outer layer also began to change.
When the cocoon first cracked open, it was milky white. After only a few seconds of contact with oxygen, however, it turned flesh-colored. That was the color of human skin. It wouldn’t be long before this adult insect became Liu Fangfang’s “head.” It would control her corpse, causing it to continue walking, working, guiding tourists, and chatting with neighbors. However, it would have nothing to do with the real Liu Fangfang—it would be Yehuai.

That’s how Ma Jiayuan was taken over. This includes forming a cult, sacrificing a hundred people, and desiring to have intercourse with Xia Yu… It’s all the work of insects.

Right now, if he fired a shot, he could definitely kill it! Xia Yu desperately wanted to break free, raise the gun, and shoot it in one blow. But he couldn’t overcome his body’s natural reaction—the sonic restraint locked down his entire body. Yet, a gunshot still rang in his ears, and that booming sound was no less beautiful than music to Xia Yu.

Great—someone fired!

The one who fired was Silver Fang!

Xi Ban and Mo An, being mermaids, suffered even greater sonic damage. Blood flowed from their ears down their necks like pale-blue torrents. At the last moment, Silver Fang shut off one of his ears. He had one natural ear and one expensive mechanical ear, which was finally put to use.

The bullet didn’t hit the cocoon directly; the target was the suspension platform. It was a dangerous choice, likely to damage the lift so that none of them could get back up. And this wasn’t a normal bullet. Silver Fang’s gun had always been the team’s most powerful large-caliber weapon. One shot, and the suspension platform swayed on the verge of collapse.

The insect cries became even more terrifying, truly turning into the sound of a baby crying, as if pleading to its mother for help.

The rumbling drowned them out. The platform finally collapsed, dropping straight into the water. After it sank, the sonic noise disappeared as well, leaving only a figure in front of them. Xia Yu still couldn’t hear anything, but he endured the agony and walked toward the platform. He picked up his gun with trembling hands.

He wanted to pull the trigger, but he could no longer see the pile of cocoons.

“No, I’m going down!” Xia Yu staggered forward. The cocoons were so hard that falling into the water wouldn’t kill them. They would detach from the platform and float to shore. To be at ease, he had to kill them at the root. Otherwise, wherever they drifted next would become the beginning of a new disaster!

The water’s surface churned violently. A figure rushed past him, faster than a bullet and more decisive than a sharp arrow, diving straight into the water.

“Mo An?” Xia Yu froze, instinctively shouting, “Mo An!”

But Mo An was already gone, just like the cocoons and the collapsed platform. Xia Yu wanted to jump in and help Mo An face the danger together, but his remaining rationality stopped him. He couldn’t do it.

He was poisonous. Getting too close to Mo An in the water would kill him.

Xia Yu called Mo An’s name twice more, then abruptly turned his head and aimed his gun at “Liu Fangfang.”

“Liu Fangfang’s” face was nearly complete now—only the ring of skin connecting the neck remained unfinished. She met Xia Yu’s eyes again, just like when she was alive.

“Go… to hell!” Without hesitation, Xia Yu raised the gun and blew its head apart.

Underwater, visibility was low.

Mo An flicked his tail rapidly, dragging the heavy suspension platform as he dived deeper. The green lake was deeper than he expected, and the temperature dropped further. Nothing could stop the asymmetrical movements of his tail fin now. Nothing could stop him. Pale-blue blood streamed out, his ear fins unable to stop the internal membrane injuries.

Deeper—he needed to go deeper!

Mo An glanced at the cocoons. They were still alive.

Of course—they wouldn’t drown, even in water. Mo An drew his sidearm from his waist holster and fired at close range. The air rounds left trails through the water but couldn’t injure them.

Sensing the danger from outside, one cocoon’s insect leg pierced out early and slashed Mo An’s gun hand. The blade-like leg twisted and easily cut off the bracelet he had never removed.

Brighter than obsidian, the siren scales sank in the water like a string of treasure slipping from a pirate’s grasp.

It was the “Siren’s Protection.” Mo An flicked his tail, chasing after it. Fortunately, he recovered the string of scales entirely because they were too precious. However, he couldn’t put it back on immediately. The priority was dealing with the main threat. He could only swim farther down, approaching the cocoon’s pressure limit.

He didn’t know why, but the water felt unusually cold, as if someone were nearby.

Mermaids were highly alert by nature, but Mo An had no time to worry about that. He bet everything on this dive. The deeper he went, the colder it became. Mo An looked toward the cluster of cocoons and finally saw one crack under the pressure, just as he had wished.

For water pressure to crush it was as easy as an adult crushing an egg with one hand. As Mo An continued diving, more and more cocoons ruptured. Their inner fluids dispersed in the lake water, turning from milky white to transparent. With each death, Mo An felt a surge of satisfaction, as if he were personally crushing one tragedy after another.

Finally, the last cocoon died. Mo An abandoned them, turned around, and swam upward toward the light and the shore where Xia Yu was.

A large, dark shadow floated behind him, but he couldn’t see what was inside it.

In the underwater observation chamber, a corpse lay in a pool of blood. To the naked eye, the dead person was Liu Fangfang, and genetic testing would confirm it beyond a doubt. Upon closer inspection, however, one could see the “grafting” marks on her neck and a crack in the joint revealing insect legs.

“What should we do?” Silver Fang didn’t want to deal with the crime scene anymore because it was too difficult.

“We have no choice. We can only take it one step at a time.” Xi Ban understood Silver Fang’s concerns. When the security team arrived tomorrow, everyone would think they had killed the innocent tower worker, Liu Fangfang. The people here would hold a funeral for her, capture their faces from the surveillance cameras, and put the entire city on alert.

However, Xia Yu kept staring at the water. “Why isn’t Mo An back yet?”

“I’ll go down and check.” Xi Ban had wanted to go down for a while now.

“Don’t act rashly. We should give Mo An some time. I trust him.” Silver Fang’s tone was unusually firm. If Mo An couldn’t handle it alone, bringing Xi Ban along would only result in another casualty. Xia Yu understood this as well. He crouched uneasily, hugging his knees. He waited for the water to stir again, silently praying that Haisiruola would grant her people courage and strength.

It was strange—Xia Yu didn’t know where Haisiruola was, and he would never meet her in this lifetime. Yet he still believed she protected all mermaids.

Splash! A mermaid hand slapped onto the shore.

“Mo An! Are you okay?” Xia Yu had already put on his gloves and reached out without hesitation.

“No problem!” Mo An grabbed his hand. “Let’s go!”

There was no time to waste. Xia Yu didn’t have time to feel relieved or joyful about surviving—they had to leave the tower immediately. Jingwei had already infiltrated the tower’s internal security system, so the path was clear. They escaped through the safety elevator and emergency exits without alerting a single person. Midou and 107 were waiting for them on the aircraft. When they saw Mo An return in merform, they immediately guessed how difficult the battle must have been.

“How is everyone? Nobody’s hurt, right?” Midou asked, looking at each of them in turn. “I brought a lot of medicine—my kit is in the back!”

“I’ll help.” 107 saw blood flowing from Xi Ban and Mo An’s ears.

They scrambled around treating their teammates’ injuries while listening to a full recounting of what had happened. It truly had been a narrow escape. Midou shot Silver Fang a look of admiration. “Thanks to your equipment this time. Worth every credit.”

“You kidding? I poured almost all my savings into this gear.” Silver Fang wiped his mechanical ear. By now, two-thirds of his body was metal. “I’m more expensive than any of you.”

“Let me touch it.” Midou reached out.

Silver Fang instantly pulled his arm back. “No way. This stuff is money.”

“Stingy.” Midou rolled his eyes. But this time, Silver Fang really deserved credit. If he hadn’t shut down the ears, they wouldn’t have been able to escape unprepared. Now that the cocoon was dealt with, what was next? Everyone was lost in thought.

Jingwei: [Good news and bad news. Which one first?]

“Whatever.” Xia Yu wasn’t in the mood for jokes. His attention was on Mo An’s ears. “Does it hurt?”

“If I say it hurts a lot, would that make me look uncool?” Mo An blinked mischievously.

“Now is not the time for that.” Xia Yu really wanted to twist his ear hard. “Bring your head here. Medicine!”

“Fine, fine. I didn’t say no. Why are you so fierce?” Mo An tilted his head, looking nostalgically amused. “You weren’t this fierce when we were kids.

“Because you weren’t this bold when you were a kid.” Xia Yu applied the medicine. “Jingwei, go on.”

Jingwei: [The good news is that you wiped out all the cocoons. I also found more information on Liu Fangfang. If you want to keep pursuing the insect trail, it will be useful.]

Continue investigating? Xia Yu was discouraged. After all this time, they still had nothing to show for it. “Just say it. We have no choice but to keep digging.”

“Forcing a duck onto a perch.”[mfn]“趕鴨子上架” is an idiom meaning: “Forcing someone to do something they aren’t ready for or can’t do.”[/mfn] Mo An squeezed in a comment, and then Xia Yu grabbed him by the ear fin. “Ow, ow, ow! That hurts!”

Jingwei: [I found information about Liu Fangfang’s son. Her transformation began after his death—that was her turning point. Guess who he had contact with? I’ll just say it: Back then, her son was an intern nurse at the Rijianmei Plastic Surgery Hospital.]

Ling Shi: [Sorry to interrupt, but there’s an even worse situation… Our movements may have been detected by Nuwa.]