MASG chapter 65

 

Before Xia Yu could even sit down, the news almost shocked him right off the seat.

“Seatbelt.” Mo An pointed at it, his voice carrying a hint of command.

“I know.” Xia Yu quickly pulled on the bright red seatbelt. Mo An really did copy the style of the officers in the control center—his tone carried authority. The aircraft rose steadily, and Midou opened the projection screen. “Lao Gui, how’s it going on your side?”

Lao Gui connected the feed. ”Let’s be clear first—this is our last job. Don’t come to me again for anything this dangerous. Xia Yu, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I really dragged you all down this time.” As he spoke, the mycelium on Xia Yu’s face began to fall off. The flesh-colored, clay-like substance hardened and could no longer support the outline of his face.

“We don’t have much time left. Ling Shi won’t last much longer. Once Nuwa discovers our plan, we’ll each be facing decades in prison.” Though Lao Gui said this, his hands never stopped working. “I’ve already sent all the dissection data of the insect body to Midou. Midou’s estimation was correct—the insect that Mo An killed was fully mature with a fully developed reproductive system.”

As he finished speaking, the screen switched from Lao Gui’s face to the insect corpse.

“Ugh…” Mo An couldn’t help but vomit.

“What are you disgusted for? You’re the one who killed it. Feeling sick now?” Lao Gui shot back.

“When I killed it, it wasn’t this disgusting. Now it looks like rotten bread.” Mo An hurriedly took a drink of water to calm himself. Midou’s expression twisted in pain. “Stop talking. My midnight snack was Mom’s carrot bread. Mo An, shut up!”

“Alright, alright. Enough arguing.” Lao Gui frowned. How could these people have no will to survive, like desperadoes?

Midou and Mo An immediately sat up straight and looked serious. The three of them—Midou, Mo An, and Xia Yu—stared at the screen. Lao Gui continued, “Midou and I have dissected many strange species over the years, including parasite hosts and mutants. This insect is clearly fully sexually mature.”

“Are the insects on the ground its offspring?” Xia Yu asked.

“No. I’ve seen the dissection records and genetic reports of those insects. They’re just mutants—things summoned by this insect. It hadn’t started breeding before Mo An killed it.” Lao Gui said.

“I’m so awesome,” Mo An said, patting his chest.

Xia Yu couldn’t help but smile. Mo An was still the same—he hadn’t changed at all. Lao Gui continued: “Mo An really did stop a disaster. The biggest threat this insect poses isn’t its ability to reproduce, but the viruses inside its body.”

“What do you mean?” Xia Yu’s smile faded.

“This insect carries twelve dangerous viruses. Nine of them can be found in level-five isolation labs. These are viruses that are classified as ‘extinct from circulation and long beyond human immunity.’ If they spread again, humanity could face extinction. Aside from unaffected mutant species, parasite hosts, and fully mechanical beings who are completely immune, at least two-thirds of humans would die. The remaining three viruses have no trace in human history, meaning…”

Before Lao Gui could finish, Xia Yu asked, “Are they man-made viruses?”

“Possibly. Or they could be viruses that existed in other life forms but couldn’t infect humans due to genetic barriers until a mutation occurred, allowing them to infect humans.” Lao Gui’s tone grew heavier. “This insect’s danger level is the highest in nature—’plague level.'”

Plague…Mo An, Xia Yu, and Midou froze at the same time. The word felt distant to them.

Wasn’t that from a thousand years ago? Or at least several hundred years ago? In modern times, aside from genetically defective diseases, nothing could threaten human survival. But the appearance of this insect shattered their fragile reality. Its presence was akin to a massive weapon of destruction—a hammer blow from nature to human civilization.

The thunderous hammer was already raised high, waiting to fall.

Once it fell, life and death would be decided in an instant. No matter how resilient life is, it is fragile to the core.

Seeing them speechless, Lao Gui continued, “Midou told me the details about Ma Jiayuan. He said you destroyed Yehuai’s food, right? This insect must be the ‘Yehuai’ he mentioned.”

“Yes, that’s what he said.” Xia Yu patted Midou’s knee. Dou Dou had really grown up—he’d accomplished so much in a single afternoon.

“I used to catch spiders with Midou. Spiders eat like this,” Lao Gui explained. “Before eating, a spider injects special digestive enzymes into its prey. The prey liquefies under the effect of the enzymes, turning into meat juice, which the spider then sucks up. I suspect those cultists were Yehuai’s food, prepared by Ma Jiayuan. Their bodies had already liquefied into a milky-white solution of protein and fat.”

“Ugh…” Mo An felt the urge to vomit again. What exactly had he killed?

“I know you want to throw up, but hold it in.” Lao Gui stopped him. “Luckily, you acted fast and killed the food first. If the insect had hatched and eaten immediately, not even you could have killed it in one strike. Wherever it went, plague would follow—ruin and devastation.”

“Wow, so I saved the world?” Mo An cleared his throat deliberately.

“Good job,” Lao Gui immediately praised. “Xiayu, do you have any other ideas? We can discuss them.”

“My ideas… I think I’ve figured out why Ma Jiayuan had such an intense desire for intercourse. It was the insect affecting him. The adult insect had been in his body, silently incubating for the past year or two, and it had also influenced his consciousness. He and the adult insect merged into one entity.” Xiayu shuddered. “Lao Gui, help me investigate the girls he assaulted. See if their bodies show any abnormalities.”

“No problem, leave it to me.” Lao Gui said. “Midou also brought up a viewpoint that I think is very scientific. Let him explain.”

“I’ll say it.” Midou took a sip of water. “My line of thinking is simple. The insect couldn’t have undergone its form transformation in Ma Jiayuan’s body because the required energy is too great. Ma Jiayuan, as a human, couldn’t provide that energy. So, I have a bold guess: This ‘Yehuai’ insect might not have incubated entirely in one person. It may have undergone four natural changes in different human hosts.”

Mo An rubbed his chest again. As a mermaid, he really hated insects!

“Egg, larva, pupa, adult.” Midou explained clearly. “Yehuai” was in the adult stage inside Ma Jiayuan, waiting to break out. So where are its other forms? If this is a huge conspiracy, I’d bet there isn’t only one Yehuai.”

Mo An snapped his fingers. “Let Ling Shi check who Ma Jiayuan interacted with before establishing the church. He used an implanted body chip, so everything about him can be traced.”

Ling Shi: [Okay, checking. Give me half an hour.]

“Ling Shi, be careful,” Xiayu reminded her repeatedly. “If Nuwa discovers anything, withdraw immediately.”

Ling Shi: [Don’t worry. Jingwei has given me some of its space — my traces will be covered by its traces.]

Jingwei: [The downside is that once Nuwa finds it, she’ll find me too. Ah, I’m doomed as well.]

“Everyone, relax. We’ll speed things up,” said Xiayu, not daring to waste any time—his freedom was now built on everyone’s danger. “Lao Gui, help me check what ‘blooming’ means. Also, ‘Apocalypse’ and ‘Knight’ definitely imply some crucial information. And…”

“Why do you have so many ‘ands’?” Lao Gui took notes one by one.

“Because I have too much information in my head, but it’s all scattered. I need to find the key thread to string everything together. Also, Ma Jiayuan mentioned ‘that day.’ The fishmen who tried to dissect me also mentioned it. Back then, they wanted my lungs. Could ‘that day’ be related to my lungs?” Xiayu felt like his brain capacity was no longer enough. Too many scattered pieces were pushing outwards. He wished he had a mechanical brain with an invincible algorithm to quickly straighten everything out.

“I’ll look into these. But your next checkpoint is the inspection station. Did Milian give you a pass?” Lao Gui checked the time.

“She did.” Midou took out the pass.

“Your mother really went all out to help you. Good luck. Contact me once you’re on the ship.” Lao Gui ended the call, and the screen went black. Only the three of them remained inside the aircraft—they had truly pulled off a world-shaking job.

“Midou, let me see the pass. Now that my disguise is gone, how will I pass through later?” Xiayu took the pass, glanced at it, and froze. “It only has information for you and Mo An.”

“Yeah, just the two of us. As for you…you have a special way.” Midou said, then exchanged a look with Mo An. Clearly, they had planned this long ago.

The aircraft flew along the designated route. When it stopped again, a red light lit up at the checkpoint ahead, denying passage. The cabin door opened. Mo An stepped out first and handed the work badge and pass to the inspector.

“Hello, Officer Mo An.” The inspector saluted upon seeing the badge. “How many people are on board?”

“Two, me and my friend,” Mo An replied. “Thank you for your hard work.”

“As long as we can protect Qingyao City and its residents, it is our duty.” The inspector placed a finger on the pass, and the special chip reacted to his touch. Then, he looked at Mo An and Midou again, now fully aware of their personal data.

“Please proceed to the security gate. We will inspect the cabin.” The inspector followed procedure.

Mo An and Midou walked toward the security gate. Midou passed through without triggering anything. However, when Mo An stepped through, the alarm sounded.

“Sorry, it’s my bracelet. It’s metal.” He quickly raised his left wrist, revealing a silver metal section of his bracelet.

“Please remove it and pass again.” The security officer pointed to the tray beside him. Mo An didn’t resist. He carefully removed the bracelet, placed it in the tray, and passed through the gate again without issue. The security officer reviewed the body scans on the screen. Then, he focused his gaze and noticed that one person’s weight stood out as unusually high.

“Officer Mo An?” the inspector called out.

“Ah? Me?” Mo An turned around and apologized. “Sorry, I forgot to report it in advance. I’m a fishman, so my body density is very high. My weight is equivalent to that of two or three people.”

As he spoke, he looked toward the ground. This was the inspection station, and the floor was made of a special material that would leave footprints and depressions when pressure was applied. Right now, there were two sets of footprints, one belonging to Mo An and one belonging to Midou. However, his footprints sank much deeper — about twice as deep as Midou’s.

“Is that so? All right, I’ll input that.” The security officer didn’t think much of it. If it were an ordinary person, he would have needed to inspect it more carefully. However, the control center wasn’t under their authority, so they didn’t have the right to confront them physically. Besides, all of their documents were in order, and the inspection station hadn’t received any restriction orders from Nuwa.

All departments operated under Nuwa’s supervision. It was everywhere and capable of everything.

“All right, inspection complete. Enjoy your flight.” The officer nodded and stamped the pass electronically. Mo An and Midou waited for the cabin check to finish, then casually boarded the aircraft again and sat back down in their seats.

“Have a pleasant flight,” the inspector said as he waved at the door.

“Thank you for your hard work.” Mo An nodded. The cabin door slowly closed before their eyes. The aircraft took off smoothly and continued toward Port C of Qingyao City. Neither Mo An nor Midou spoke for half a minute, both feeling the lingering luck of having escaped danger.

“You scared me to death,” Midou finally said after a while.

Meanwhile, Mo An, sitting beside him, gradually turned red. A phantom appeared in his arms, half real and half illusory, hazy like smoke and mist. It was none other than Xiayu, whose body color was returning.

After he turned completely transparent, he couldn’t quickly return to normal. The process had also consumed most of his strength. He didn’t even want to move, hanging limply in Mo An’s arms completely naked. Mo An was fully covered — his training suit’s collar was raised high to protect his Adam’s apple and the lower half of his mask pressed tightly against his jawline, outlining his clean, sharp face.

Even though his hands weren’t touching Xiayu, Mo An felt like they were burning hot!

Xiayu’s legs were wrapped around Mo An’s waist, and he was holding himself up with his own strength. He was drenched in sweat and his face was red to the ears. The first things to reappear were his internal organs. Mo An felt like he was looking at a transparent little jellyfish with its organs exposed.

His heart beat, blood flowed through red vessels, and his lungs expanded. Every organ was functioning properly. Next came his bones—the ribs formed and wrapped around the organs. A few minutes later, the blue venom glands and poison ducts appeared. Yet, even then, Xiayu’s skin remained semi-transparent, fragile, and defenseless.

Exhausted, he trembled constantly, and his fingers and toes cramped tightly. Still, he remembered not to touch Mo An and clenched hard. Neither Mo An nor Midou dared to touch him — at this stage, Xiayu was too weak, and anyone who touched him would cause him to feel a numbing pain.

But… he was holding on so tightly.

Mo An silently laughed. Xiayu needed him so much that he couldn’t leave him.

After about half an hour, Xiayu had fully recovered. Midou hurriedly took out some clothes and draped them over Xiayu. Wrapped in the clothes, Xiayu gathered enough strength to leave Mo An’s arms. First, though, he covered his face with his hands. “Ugh, embarrassing…so embarrassing…”

“What’s embarrassing about that?” Mo An’s arms felt empty, and he felt a bit disappointed. “We used to be like this when we were kids.”

“When I was a kid, I didn’t hug you while I was naked.” Xiayu used his clothes to cover his lower body. “I didn’t touch you just now, did I?”

“No.” Mo An answered calmly.

Xiayu let out a sigh of relief. “Good.”

“But you hugged me really tightly.” Mo An pretended to be calm.

Xiayu covered his eyes again. “Stop talking…”

Twenty more minutes passed. They arrived at their destination, Port C.
Before leaving the aircraft, Xiayu changed into his clothes. Even when boarding the ship, his steps were weak. Silver Fang quickly started the engine. A medium-sized mechanical ship left Port C under the morning light, heading toward Frozen Island.

But none of them noticed the massive shadow beneath their ship — large enough to overturn the entire vessel.