What?! I Became the Zombie Beauty in the Villain’s Arms – CH172-174

Chapter 172| Chapter 173| Chapter 174

Chapter 172: Losing Soul

Pei Xiqing took two cautious steps forward, looking up at the colossal installation.

Suspended within the glowing green liquid, a massive, grotesque parasite was deep in slumber.

Its terrifying body was covered in countless scuttling legs and writhing black-and-red tentacles that swayed gently in the suspension fluid. Its flesh was heavily textured with disgusting, densely packed pustules. Each blister seemed to be throbbing, stretching the skin to its absolute limit, as if billions of microscopic cells were frantically scrambling to burst outward and spawn more offspring.

She couldn’t even begin to imagine the catastrophic horror if hundreds of millions of infectious cells violently exploded into the air.

Seeing such a colossal parasite up close was truly staggering.

Nearby, one of the civilian survivors immediately vomited onto the floor.

Pei Xiqing firmly pursed her lips, forcing down the nauseating churn in her own stomach.

Long Yan and her elite squad had already set up their portable equipment, frantically running diagnostic scans on the parasite. After securing classified authorization from headquarters, they began transmitting all the raw telemetry data.

Ten minutes later, the comms unit crackled with the urgent voice of the central commander. “One hour.”

“You only have one hour left,” the voice continued grimly. “In exactly one hour, the host parasite will fully awaken. Once it breaches containment, the resulting viral contamination and structural damage will be completely devastating.”

“What?!” Long Yan yelled into the comms. “We don’t even have enough time to organize a full retreat! Before we deployed, the analysts guaranteed it would take at least three days to wake up! If we had 24 hours, we could easily administer the sedatives and force it back into hibernation!”

“Someone forcefully triggered a massive parasitic reaction down there, drastically accelerating its awakening cycle. Have your people damaged any of the frozen corpses? The analysts just discovered that over the past five years, the host parasite has slowly woven a microscopic, viral mycelium web beneath the entire glacier. Every single ice sculpture is connected to it. If the web is violently disturbed, the resulting chain reaction instantly awakens the host.”

“…” Long Yan slowly turned around, shooting the trembling group of civilian survivors a furious, murderous glare.

Ling Lang scoffed loudly. “One hour is one hour. It is what it is.”

As he spoke, he quickly stripped off his heavy combat jacket and began pulling on a specialized, high-grade diving suit.

Securing his reinforced goggles and underwater breathing apparatus, he turned to the squad. “I’m going into the tank to manually inject the sedative. Hand me the payload box. The rest of you, evacuate immediately.”

Long Yan grabbed his arm, pulling him back. “Ling Lang, don’t be an idiot! If you get exposed to the suspension fluid in that tank, your entire body will rot away in seconds! That diving suit won’t do a damn thing against the corrosion! Besides, the host is on the verge of waking up. Even if the acid doesn’t melt you, the disturbance will alert it, and it will eat you alive!”

Calling it a mere parasite didn’t even do it justice anymore; it was more accurate to describe it as an apocalyptic sea monster.

It looked exactly like a grotesque biological weapon that had been submerged in highly radioactive nuclear waste for a thousand years—constantly mutating, endlessly parasitizing, and aggressively reproducing.

“There’s no time to argue. This is the only viable solution we have left,” Ling Lang snapped, checking his gear. “We only have an hour. I’ll buy you as much time as I can. Get out of here right now. The further away you get, the better your chances.”

“Ling Lang!”

“I’ve made my decision.” Ling Lang pulled his arm free and walked over to the massive tank. He pressed his palm against the reinforced glass, a strange, dark obsession gleaming in his eyes.

My life is already tied to this monstrosity’s fate, he thought grimly. I’ll plunge it into eternal sleep. Then, I won’t lose anything.

“Toss me the C4 charges,” Ling Lang ordered the squad. “If the sedative fails, it won’t be easy to kill this thing from the outside. I need a backup plan.” He took the heavy bandoliers of explosives and began strapping them tightly around his chest.

Long Yan lunged forward, grabbing him in a desperate bear hug. “You stupid brat! Just wait for Brother Duan to get here! We have an hour! There is absolutely no way we are going to let you throw your life away like this! Our mission was to sedate the host, not orchestrate your suicide! Brother Duan will figure out a better solution!”

“Then you haven’t been paying attention to the intel,” Ling Lang shot back, lowering his voice. “This isn’t the only host parasite down here anymore. My brother is currently dealing with the second one. That operation is infinitely more dangerous, which leaves me as the only one capable of handling this target. He isn’t going to make it here in an hour. You guys have to leave.”

“You—!”

Ling Lang ignored her protests. His gear was fully prepped. He was locked and loaded.

But just as he took a step toward the containment access hatch, someone firmly grabbed his sleeve.

He looked back, mildly surprised. “W-what do you think you’re doing?”

Pei Xiqing glanced sideways, gesturing toward the back of the room. “What are you doing? The designated savior of the world is standing right over there. If you want to play the hero, you’re going to have to get in line.”

Ling Lang followed her gaze and spotted Xiao Yue looking pale and exhausted. He let out a harsh sneer. “Him? Please. We’re lucky that loser hasn’t pissed his pants yet.”

Expecting the severely injured Xiao Yue to accomplish anything useful right now was pure wishful thinking.

“Xiao Yue,” Pei Xiqing called out smoothly. “This is an apocalyptic parasite on the verge of endangering the entire world. Why aren’t you stepping up to save the day?” She tilted her head, blinking with a heavy dose of open mockery. “If only someone happened to possess a miraculous, heaven-defying crystal core… say, one that could negate a fatal blow from the parasite? Or perhaps one that could temporarily sever the parasite’s senses? Now would be the perfect time to use it.”

Xiao Yue’s hands clenched into tight fists. A moment later, they slowly loosened.

He subconsciously brought his hand up to rest against his chest. Hidden beneath the layers of his clothing rested a unique, glowing crystal core. Despite being concealed, he could almost feel its immense power pulsing against his skin.

But before he could even reach into his jacket to retrieve the item, Pei Yanting quickly grabbed his wrist, holding it down.

She shot him a frantic, desperate look, slowly shaking her head.

Xiao Yue frowned, struggling slightly to pull his hand free.

Pei Yanting tightened her grip, looking up at him with tear-filled eyes.

No.

Absolutely not.

You will die.

Xiao Yue looked at her desperate, tearful face and fell completely silent.

Slowly, his grip loosened, and he pulled his hand away from his chest pocket.

—This was his absolute last trump card.

He decided to wait. If things truly devolved into total disaster, he would still have time to act. There was still an hour left on the clock.

Watching the exchange, the surrounding survivors hurriedly backed away, terrified of getting caught in the crossfire or alerting the parasite.

Ling Lang hadn’t harbored a single shred of hope for the protagonist’s group anyway. He gently grabbed Pei Xiqing’s hand, trying to pry her fingers off his sleeve.

Pei Xiqing looked slightly stunned for a moment. But as she snapped back to reality, she quickly stepped forward and grabbed his arm with both hands.

“Hey, let go.” Ling Lang hadn’t expected her to grip him so tightly. He didn’t want to use his enhanced strength to forcefully pull away, terrified he might accidentally bruise her. He could only stare at her with wide eyes, looking suddenly nervous. “Don’t do this. I’ll be fine. Or… wait, are you actually worried about… me?”

Pei Xiqing looked up at him. “I finally understand exactly why I was brought into this world.”

“What are you talking about?”

Pei Xiqing turned her gaze up toward the monstrous, slumbering parasite.

“What is the actual success rate of the sedative injection?” she asked Long Yan.

“One hundred percent,” Long Yan answered grimly. “Once the chemical payload is successfully injected into its core, the host will fall into a deep hibernation state for at least seventy years.”

The host parasite cannot die.

If it did, Duan Xiaolin would suffer a devastating, potentially fatal backlash.

And Ling Lang couldn’t be allowed to die here either.

She, however, was fundamentally different. She was entirely immune to the standard zombie virus, and by extension, she was likely immune to the hyper-mutated parasitic strain as well.

The host simply needed to be put to sleep. But she… she truly, desperately wanted Duan Xiaolin to live a long, healthy life, free from the tragic doom mandated by the original plot. Even if he was the designated ‘villain,’ his existence held profound meaning to her.

The death of the villain shouldn’t be the inevitable conclusion of this story. The true core of the narrative should only end when the so-called ‘protagonist’ acts so completely out of character that he loses the very soul that made him the hero in the first place.

That was why she was here.

She had just deliberately tested Xiao Yue. By forcing him to choose between saving the world and preserving his own trump card, she had confirmed his selfishness.

She absolutely refused to let Xiao Yue or his squad anywhere near the parasite linked to Duan Xiaolin’s life.

Realizing she was plotting something reckless, Ling Lang quickly grabbed her arm. “What exactly are you planning to do?”

Pei Xiqing snapped her fingers playfully and gave him a bright wink. “I want to test my physical limits and get a little exercise.”

“You’re out of your mind.”

“You’re the one who’s crazy,” she shot back smoothly. “Don’t forget, I’m the one who can casually take selfies while taking a stroll through a horde of rabid zombies. Can you do that?”

“…”

“Are you seriously comparing the two?!” Ling Lang yelled. “The suspension fluid inside that tank is highly, lethally corrosive! If you even brush against it, your flesh will melt off your bones!”

“How will I know if I don’t try?”

She had been carefully observing the glowing liquid inside the tank. The light green hue was strikingly similar to the visual manifestation of the Qiong Snake’s supernatural energy chain. Moreover, she could smell the exact same base viral signature she possessed emanating from the tank.

If her intuition was correct, the liquid inside was highly corrosive to normal humans, but not necessarily to her…

The Qiong Snake’s immense vitality could at least neutralize a significant portion of the damage.

It wasn’t a 100% guarantee, but the situation was critical. In less than an hour, the host would break out, and everyone in the cavern would die.

She could only take the gamble.

Pei Xiqing picked up a sharp, jagged stone from the floor and struck it firmly against the edge of the reinforced glass containment tank. She didn’t use an overwhelming amount of force, but the sharp edge of the stone managed to gouge a small, deep scratch into the weakened seal. A thin stream of the glowing green liquid began to seep out, splashing directly onto the back of her hand.

Chapter 173: I Will Do It

The members of S1 shouted in unison, “Are you out of your mind?! Smashing the containment tank with a rock—what happens if it shatters and the parasite inside escapes?!”

“Isn’t that thing on the verge of breaking out anyway? We haven’t even evacuated yet! If that tank shatters now, we’re all dead!”

Long Yan shot them a cold, piercing glare.

“Shut up.”

“Why shouldn’t we speak?! We’re telling the truth!”

“If you want to run, then run,” Long Yan said flatly. “Stop wasting breath making a fuss here. You don’t have much time.”

The survivors were momentarily stunned. After pondering their dire situation for a few seconds, sheer panic took over, and they turned and sprinted toward the exit.

The entire group of civilian survivors rushed out of the underground experimental base. Not a single one of them looked back.

In the end, only Xiao Yue and Pei Yanting remained behind.

Long Yan completely ignored them, turning her attention back to the tank. “This containment vessel was specially reinforced. An ordinary person using a rock couldn’t possibly crack it. But an attack infused with supernatural energy is a different story.”

“I noticed that too,” Pei Xiqing said, casually tossing the sharp stone aside.

Under the anxious, wide-eyed gazes of Ling Lang and the squad, she calmly wiped the splash of glowing green liquid off the back of her hand.

The drops of liquid that fell to the floor instantly corroded the solid concrete, emitting a hiss of toxic black smoke.

Ling Lang frantically grabbed her arm, inspecting the perfectly intact skin on her hand. He let out a massive sigh of relief. Dropping his usual nonchalant, arrogant attitude, he looked at her with genuine seriousness. “You! You are way too impulsive.”

“Look who’s talking,” she retorted smoothly.

Her skin was perfectly fine. However, she could still feel the sheer, lethal toxicity of the liquid burning faintly against her supernatural defenses.

She secretly breathed a sigh of relief as well.

Thank God I won the bet.

If she hadn’t, she honestly didn’t know what her backup plan would have been.

“Don’t try to change the subject,” Ling Lang scolded. “Even if the suspension fluid doesn’t immediately melt your flesh, you can’t take a risk like this! And with that crack you just made, the containment seal is compromised. It won’t hold for long. It’s going to shatter.”

“I want it to shatter.” That is the only way to force the protagonist’s hand at the critical moment.

Xiao Yue and Pei Yanting wanted to hide and horde their trump cards while others died? She absolutely refused to let them.

Pei Xiqing continued, “But don’t worry. I will do my best to put the host into a deep sleep before the glass completely fails. You guys will just have to handle replacing the containment unit afterward.”

“That’s not a problem,” Long Yan assured her. “The containment tank was scheduled to be updated anyway. Whether it shatters now or later isn’t a major issue, as long as the host is sedated.”

“Good.”

“I will administer the sedative before the glass breaks,” Pei Xiqing stated firmly.

Even though Ling Lang was desperately unwilling to let her take the risk, he had to face reality. Right now, she was literally the only person capable of entering the toxic fluid unscathed.

Ling Lang gripped her hand tightly, reluctant to let go, but she gently pulled away. When he instinctively stepped forward to stop her, Long Yan held him back.

“Don’t try to stop her,” Long Yan said quietly. “This is the path she chose for Brother Duan.”

Long Yan could see an unshakeable, absolute resolve burning in Pei Xiqing’s eyes.

There was no more time to waste. Pei Xiqing quickly stripped off her heavy coat and shoes. Before anyone else could react, she climbed the access ladder and dove directly into the massive containment tank.

She had a naturally slender figure, and the thin fabric of her dress clung tightly to her curves as soon as she hit the water. The incredible density of the suspension fluid severely hindered her movements, but she kicked hard, swimming steadily down toward the slumbering parasite.

Fortunately, during her previous life as a struggling actress, she had been cast in a grueling scene that required extensive underwater filming. She had played an underwater banshee—a minor cannon fodder role whose only purpose was to be effortlessly kicked away by the protagonist beneath the waves.

Before that role, she had been a complete landlubber. But the director was a perfectionist, forcing her to shoot the underwater sequence over and over again. As long as he wasn’t satisfied, she had to dive back in. By the end of the shoot, after being repeatedly ‘kicked’ by the lead actor, she had barely been able to drag herself out of the pool.

That miserable experience was currently saving her life.

Biting down hard on the specialized rebreather mouthpiece, Pei Xiqing calmed her racing heart. She steadily adjusted to the crushing pressure and the suffocating, viral density of the fluid. She continued her descent, getting closer and closer to the grotesque, ferocious monstrosity dormant at the bottom of the tank.

Ten meters… five meters… three meters… the final half-meter!

Once Pei Xiqing reached the optimal position, she glanced back through the thick glass at Ling Lang and Long Yan.

Long Yan raised her hand, gently tapping a specific spot on the exterior glass to indicate exactly where the sedative needed to be injected.

Pei Xiqing pulled the specialized injector from her belt. The chemical payload was already primed.

Following Long Yan’s guidance, she carefully aligned the injector with a soft, fleshy cluster of tissue located just beneath one of the parasite’s massive primary tentacles. She tightened her grip.

The injector wasn’t a standard needle syringe; it was a high-pressure, pneumatic launcher shaped like a handgun. The parasite’s outer carapace was incredibly dense and heavily armored, rendering standard needles completely useless.

Outside the tank, the squad held their collective breath. Ling Lang’s fists were clenched so tight his knuckles were stark white as he stared unblinkingly at the woman inside.

Just shoot.

Make it sleep.

Pei Xiqing repeated the mantra in her head.

Despite her resolve, the hand holding the heavy injector trembled slightly. The atmospheric pressure at the bottom of the tank was immense, making every breath through the rebreather a grueling effort. She felt as though her entire body was being crushed from all sides, as if she were on the verge of imploding.

Any normal human being would be paralyzed with terror facing such a colossal, apocalyptic monstrosity alone in the dark—even seasoned veterans who had fought countless mutants.

Pei Xiqing brought her free hand up, gripping her wrist to steady her aim.

She forced herself to calm down, suppressing the primal fear screaming in her brain.

Focus.

Three… two… one!

She pulled the trigger.

The pneumatic launcher didn’t produce a loud gunshot. With a dull, heavy thud, the pressurized payload was fired directly into the soft flesh beneath the parasite’s tentacle.

The slight physical recoil was entirely insignificant compared to the brutal battles they had survived recently, but to everyone watching, that muffled impact was enough to finally put their hearts at ease.

But…

The sudden, invasive injection had startled the parasite.

This was completely beyond everyone’s expectations.

The massive tentacle, easily over ten meters long, suddenly convulsed and violently whipped toward Pei Xiqing.

“Xiqing!” Ling Lang screamed.

His supernatural energy erupted instantly, but the blast was completely isolated by the reinforced glass and the dense fluid, harmlessly sparking against the exterior of the tank.

Pei Xiqing couldn’t dodge. The density of the water made swift movement impossible. She could only cross her arms over her chest to brace for the impact.

The massive tentacle slammed into her, brutally pinning her against the glass wall of the tank.

Another sharp crack echoed through the chamber as the weakened glass spiderwebbed under the immense pressure of the blow.

Pei Xiqing violently coughed up a mouthful of blood into her rebreather.

The blood quickly seeped out of the mouthpiece, instantly swallowed and diluted by the glowing green fluid.

The colossal parasite slowly opened its eyes. Its massive, cloudy, blood-red irises locked onto her, radiating pure, primal murderous intent.

Fortunately, the incredible density of the suspension fluid seemed to hinder the monster’s movements as well. It couldn’t launch a full-body attack, relying solely on its thrashing tentacles.

Pei Xiqing desperately kicked off the glass, dodging a second strike and swimming frantically toward the surface. But the tentacles relentlessly pursued her. They easily caught up to her ascending form, forcefully coiling around her ankles and violently yanking her back down into the depths.

…!!

The violent jerk knocked the rebreather from Pei Xiqing’s mouth. Her emergency oxygen bubbled away, and she choked on the toxic fluid.

But a second later, the sedative finally took effect.

The crushing grip on her ankles rapidly loosened and went entirely slack.

When she managed to turn around, coughing violently, the monstrous parasite had already fallen back into a deep, immobile slumber.

Outside the tank, Pei Yanting had found herself unconsciously holding her breath in worry for Pei Xiqing. Seeing her succeed, she let out a shaky exhale and turned to look at Xiao Yue.

Xiao Yue was staring fixedly at the tank. His gaze seemed completely glued to Pei Xiqing, unable to look away.

The pale-faced girl drifted gracefully in the green water, her long black hair billowing wildly around her like dark smoke. Having completed her near-suicidal mission and forced the parasite into hibernation, she managed a weak, triumphant smile through the glass at Long Yan and Ling Lang, signaling them not to worry.

“Get her out of there! Now!” Long Yan shouted, the veins on her forehead pulsing with stress.

“I don’t even want to know what Brother Duan is going to do when he finds out about this,” Ling Lang muttered, frantically climbing the gantry to open the top hatch. “This is completely messed up.”

“Then we just won’t tell him,” Long Yan ordered quickly.

Moments later, Pei Xiqing was hauled out of the hatch and carefully lowered to the ground with Ling Lang’s help.

She was completely soaked. The toxic suspension fluid smelled abhorrently of blood and chemicals, a stench she deeply despised.

But fortunately, all her limbs were still attached. Aside from the agonizing, bruised pain in her chest from the tentacle strike, she was intact.

Long Yan immediately rushed over, scanning her vitals and performing a rapid physical examination.

“We can’t hide this,” Ling Lang muttered darkly, staring at the spiderwebbed crack in the glass. “Once he sees the tank and realizes what happened, who knows what he’ll do.”

“No need to hide it.”

Shadow stepped forward. He was still wearing his tactical mask, so his expression was completely unreadable, but his voice was unnaturally stiff and tinged with undeniable dread. “He already knows.”

Pei Xiqing, who was in the middle of drying her hair with a towel, froze. “?”

Shadow’s Adam’s apple bobbed heavily. “Brother Duan… I just received a ping. He already knows.”

Shadow slowly turned his head to look at the massive containment tank, a terrifying realization settling over him.

If anything permanent had happened to Pei Xiqing just now… the enraged man on his way here would have likely butchered this apocalyptic parasite himself.

Chapter 174: Soft, Yet a Bit Cold

There was dead silence for a few seconds.

The atmosphere instantly stiffened following Shadow’s ominous words.

Pei Xiqing paused for only a brief moment before casually resuming drying her wet hair. “It’s fine. I’ve already done what needed to be done. He won’t be hurt by it.”

“Are you okay?” Shadow asked tensely.

“I’m fine… cough, cough…“

Pei Xiqing suddenly dropped the towel onto the floor. Clutching her chest as her wet hair clung to her pale face, she vomited a mouthful of dark blood without warning.

The sheer physical force of that monster’s tentacle had been devastating. She really had been too reckless just now. She needed to be far more cautious in the future. No one was truly worth throwing her life away for—but occasionally, there were exceptions.

However, before the lingering tremors of the parasite’s stirring could fully subside, the massive glass containment tank violently shattered. The glowing green liquid inside burst outward, crashing down like a torrential, toxic downpour.

Ling Lang reacted instantly, unleashing his supernatural energy to form a protective barrier over their heads, deflecting the highly corrosive fluid. Xiao Yue quickly followed suit, deploying his own abilities to shield his immediate area.

As the toxic liquid splashed everywhere and the glass rained down, everyone looked up in sheer horror. The apocalyptic host parasite that had just been sedated was fully awake!

Hundreds of grotesque tentacles thrashed wildly in the air, baring claws and fangs as the monster roared at the intruders. It unleashed a putrid stench and a suffocating scent of blood. The sheer supernatural shockwave of its roar carried enough physical force to throw people back several steps.

Countless disgusting bugs began rapidly spawning across the parasite’s massive body, wriggling, burrowing into its flesh, and crawling out of its weeping pustules.

“No! Stop it right now!” Long Yan shouted over the din. “If we don’t, those spawn will drain the sedative right out of its system!”

Ling Lang lunged forward. He vaulted into the air, landed squarely on one of the parasite’s massive appendages, and blasted the slippery, grotesque flesh beneath his boots with a surge of raw supernatural power.

A shower of bugs rained down from the creature with a sickening crackling sound, falling endlessly like spilled beans. Each one had absorbed a fraction of the precious sedative.

Without hesitation, the entire 009 squad charged forward to engage the monstrosity.

Long Yan rushed over, quickly injecting Pei Xiqing with a stabilizing serum, and helped her to a relatively safe corner of the lab. “Stay here. The emergency exit is located at the bottom level of this facility; you know the access codes. Once this host parasite fully awakens, it cannot be killed. It can only be imprisoned again.”

With that, lightning crackled around Long Yan’s form as she threw herself back into the brutal fray.

Leaning heavily against the cold wall, Pei Xiqing noticed out of the corner of her eye that Xiao Yue and Pei Yanting hadn’t fled with the civilian survivors.

She coughed softly, forcing down the metallic taste of blood rising in her throat. “Are you two still here? Is watching the show really that entertaining?”

Xiao Yue approached her, pulling out a small medical kit. He offered her a vial. “This will stop your internal bleeding. Take it first. Then, take this serum. It will be highly effective for your current condition—”

Smack.

Pei Xiqing mercilessly slapped his hand away. The vials clattered to the floor.

“I don’t need it.”

“That strike from the parasite broke right through your physical defenses,” Xiao Yue urged, his brow furrowed in genuine concern. “Your system has been invaded by its viral load. If you don’t stop the bleeding and take the serum, you’ll mutate into an infected host.”

“Get lost.”

Xiao Yue crouched down in front of her. “Do you really have to be like this?”

“Yes.” Pei Xiqing met his gaze dead-on, a cold sneer playing on her lips.

Looking at her beautiful, pale, and haggard face, Xiao Yue felt a sudden, inexplicable urge to reach out and wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth. But the moment his hand drew near, he was violently intercepted.

The phantom silhouette of the Qiong Snake materialized, and a surge of dark green energy instantly coiled around his hand. The searing, freezing burn forced him to instinctively snatch his hand back in shock.

Behind them, Team 009 was locked in a desperate struggle with the parasite, forced to combine all their strengths just to suppress the Level 10 monstrosity. But the beast was relentless, continuously spawning and infecting a massive horde of insects to swarm the operatives.

Ling Lang severed several of the beast’s tentacles, only to watch in frustration as new ones regenerated at a terrifying speed. He couldn’t help but curse out loud. If this abominable thing wasn’t directly tied to his brother’s life, he would have slaughtered it by now. Who knew it could absorb ambient energy to become this troublesome?

The parasite regenerated more limbs, rapidly encroaching on the squad. Just as it prepared to unleash a wave of viral fluid, Ling Lang cleaved the appendage in half.

Long Yan fell back, her combat suit splattered with toxic fluids. “I almost got parasitized,” she gritted out.

“Stay sharp!”

“It was hard enough to deal with before. Now that it’s been brazenly provoked, its combat output is even higher!”

Just as the squad prepared to fall back and reassess their strategy, a massive, dark green silhouette suddenly materialized directly above them.

An entirely new, even more terrifying parasite had breached the laboratory!

It was a colossal human-snake hybrid! It possessed a humanoid upper torso with arms, nine horrifying snake heads with bared fangs, and a massive, winding green serpent’s tail for its lower half. The thick tail was plated in impenetrable black scales. Like a massive, crushing vine, it violently coiled around the ugly host parasite.

The originally frenzied host, which had been continuously spawning insects, was instantly immobilized. Trapped within the crushing grip, its tentacles and limbs could only twitch helplessly in the air.

Meanwhile, Pei Xiqing was still coughing, unable to stop the dark blood spilling from her lips.

She had definitely been infected. Horrific corpse spots had already begun to crawl across her chest. Her body was trying to revert to its primal, zombified state.

Desperate, she tried to use intense physical pain to forcefully halt the viral spread. Grabbing a sharp piece of rubble, she mercilessly slashed the flesh of her own arm. As fresh blood flowed from the wound, the sharp sting brought a twisted sense of clarity and relief.

She prepared to cut herself again, but suddenly, a firm hand gently grasped her trembling arm. With his other hand, the person softly wiped the cold sweat from her forehead.

“Calm down. Focus your mind and connect with the Qiong Snake,” a low, incredibly steady voice commanded. The hand gripping her wrist was powerful, effortlessly prying the sharp stone from her fingers and tossing it aside. “Elevate the power. Give it your absolute faith.”

The man’s grip was resolute. Where his fingers touched her skin, it felt as though a warm, comforting flame was seeping into her veins. Her heart raced, and as beads of sweat formed on her face, he patiently wiped them away one by one.

The parasitic virus rampaging through her body was chaotic and vicious, but the energy this man transferred to her was entirely different… It was gentle, a bit cold, yet carried the absolute, unyielding authority of order.

Pei Xiqing forced her heavy eyelids open. Without her even realizing when he had arrived, Duan Xiaolin was half-kneeling on the floor right in front of her.

“You did well,” he murmured.

The man was dressed in his immaculate suit, though the hem was noticeably dusted with debris from his frantic rush here. The familiar, cold glint of his glasses, the subtle furrow of his brow, and those deep, dark green pupils… they bore a striking, terrifying resemblance to the majestic nine-headed serpent currently dominating the laboratory behind him.

The sudden arrival of this new, divine-like parasite completely lifted the crushing pressure off Team 009. Under its oppressive aura, not a single spawn dared to approach the ugly host monster anymore.

Pei Xiqing weakly raised a trembling hand and touched his face. She accidentally smeared a streak of dark blood across his pale cheek, ruining his flawless, rigorous appearance.

He had rushed here so quickly. The hostile parasite he had been dealing with prior to this was undoubtedly a nightmare, yet he had abandoned that battlefield for her.

“Brother Duan…” she whispered, her voice fading. “I think I’ve finally figured out where I belong… But I can’t hold on any longer…”

The phantom energy of the Qiong Snake slowly dissipated from her form.

Duan Xiaolin gently caught her by the shoulders. The very second she slipped into unconsciousness, the expression on his face turned absolutely, terrifyingly dark.

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