Chapter 1039: Don"t Breathe
As the recording of the paper crane came to an end, both the human and the cat fell silent.
Behind them, the fleshy pillars grew taller and more numerous, and in no time at all, the overturned trucks had all vanished beneath the pillars. Almost nothing was left of the bodies; they had all been transformed into nutrients for these pillars. Only faint, cloth-wrapped outlines occasionally revealed where heads or limbs used to be. The clear night sky was now obscured, and when they looked up, all they could see were cl.u.s.ters of round, dark shadows swaying densely beneath the sky.
"These new varieties that have sprouted this time... they are quite rare," Old Da"s face twisted as he mumbled this, but for the moment, n.o.body paid him any attention.
"Was Xiao Jiu... surrounded by the "servants" that this creature mentioned?" Dr. Hu pondered and asked.
"I am human..."
"Even though what you say makes sense," Bohemia furrowed her brows, "she is over a hundred kilometers away from these fleshy pillars; she couldn"t possibly harm them. So, why would she be surrounded by their "servants"?
"Well," The cat doctor stretched his front paws wide in a magnanimous gesture, "I could be wrong. She said "we" just now. Could there be others with her?"
"You have an astute observation!" Bohemia clapped her hands enthusiastically, the sound of her applause spread clearly into the night. "She"s also with Puppeteer, but he"s currently injured and unconscious."
In the dim night, the cat"s eyes suddenly lit up, as if the words "Puppeteer" came with a tantalizing scent.
"Oh, I didn"t expect that... she"s quite hard-working. After all, I"ve also taken the Hippocratic Oath," The Cat Doctor"s spirit lifted, and his tail stood tall. "We cannot leave injured patients unattended! We must go find her. However, we need to figure out a safe way to get there."
"You"re absolutely right! She"s a tough one; she"ll hold on until we come up with a plan."
After contemplating for a moment, they both turned their gaze simultaneously to Old Da.
He swallowed hard, even though he probably didn"t have a throat structure; his appearance, however, oddly resembled one.
"I... I can"t enter the city," he stammered, "My appearance would expose the fact that I"m human. They... they won"t spare me. But most importantly, our plan to save humanity will be compromised."
"You"re overthinking it," Bohemia waved her hand dismissively. "It shouldn"t be a problem if people see you like this—wait, what do you mean by that?"
Ignoring how eerie and repulsive Old Da looked, she leaned closer and pressed for an answer. "Are you trying to say that the people in this country are different from you? Not like these flesh bags?"
"Of course, they"re different. I"m human; they"re not," Old Da wheezed heavily, his half-exposed brain wobbling as he spoke. "Our goal is to eliminate false-humans and save humanity."
Perhaps there was no one less suited to utter these words in the world.
"Stop beating around the bush," Doctor Hu impatiently flicked his tail tip back and forth on the ground. "Just a.s.sume we"re as ignorant as newborns. Spit out everything you need to say in one go, and we won"t take you into the city. Say it well, and we might even patch you up."
The temptation seemed significant—Old Da, who moments ago appeared lifeless, suddenly flickered his eyes wider and glanced at the towering fleshy pillars around him. He finally decided to speak, his voice slow and deliberate.
"Do you know what these things are?" His voice was weak, and he gasped for breath. "First, I advise you not to get too close. Even though you don"t look like false-humans from this country, I don"t know where you"re from, but I can sense that you haven"t undergone modification like I have. Our structures are different... If you get too close and are invaded, you won"t be able to "squeeze out" the intruders like we can."
"Squeeze it out?"
Old Da had to take a few breaths before continuing.
Old Da had to catch his breath before continuing. "Inside our bodies... only our heads have been modified to this fleshy bag-like structure. As you move down from the neck, our internal structure gradually returns to normal... except for bodily fluids, there"s no difference from what you know as humans." He spoke while rearranging his half-lifted scalp, and his pupils seemed to shrink. "Because... if we don"t want the intruders to modify our consciousness and turn us into servants of these things... we must hide our brains."
The next part of his explanation was almost incomprehensible to both the human and the cat. "Through surgery, we"ve changed the location and form of our brains, hiding them elsewhere in our bodies. Where the skull and brain were originally located, there"s only some camouflage... so even if our heads are opened, we won"t die... All of this is to prevent the intruders from altering our consciousness and making us their servants."
Bohemia lifted her head in bewilderment. The towering shadows of the fleshy pillars had completely engulfed them, and, without realizing it, this entire area was now filled with these tall flesh bean sprouts.
"But most of the people in this country have probably been infected by the intruders and are beyond salvation. To overcome these things, our country sent us to steal some samples... Our goal is to protect the homeland and save humanity."
Every word Old Da uttered moments ago sounded as if he were about to dissipate, and, considering the injuries he had sustained, it was astonis.h.i.+ng that he was still alive. However, as he spoke, his eyes gradually filled with a glimmer, and his complexion regained some color as if he had regained some strength.
It was hard not to think of the phrase "a dying ember burns brightest just before it goes out."
"You and your companions... you don"t seem to have turned into false-humans, and you possess abilities beyond our imagination." He raised his hand and gently pulled Bohemia"s sleeve as if pleading, "I can feel that I don"t have much time left. Please, can you help us save the fate of humanity? Remember, they spread through the air, so whatever you do, don"t breathe—"
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Meanwhile, hundreds of kilometers away, Lin Sanjiu stood in the dimness, her ears filled only with the faint, shallow breaths of Puppeteer.
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Apart from that, this building and the night around, it was so silent that they resembled a dead city. The only loud sound came from her heart, pounding like a drum in her chest.
Even though she couldn"t hear it, she could sense it through her hypersensory state. Outside this building, people had gathered in terrifying numbers.
Each black silhouette stood silently in the deep pits, still like statues. They surrounded the building motionlessly, like an umbrella covering the second floor. They had been standing there for a good five to six minutes, even after the paper crane had flown away. It was as if they had risen as a circle of lifeless corpses.
No, if they were corpses, there would be nothing to fear.
What truly unnerved Lin Sanjiu was the intense warning pulsating in her mind, urging her to "Run!" compared to which the warning she had felt at the old lady"s house seemed as gentle as child"s play. She had been wandering aimlessly around the hall, but every direction seemed more terrifying than the last.
The sole purpose of these silhouettes was to trap her inside.
In other words, the interior of this hall was the most dangerous place of all.
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Hey, what"s this? There"s an extra chapter! Why you may ask? You see...I"ve kidnapped our team leader and have hijacked the system! Just kidding, due to the lovely comments, we"ve decided to release double chapters on weekends! Thank you for reading and for your continuing support!
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