"That's a Six-Legged Black Widow, a Tier-1 parasitic mutant. The males typically infest organs like the brain, intestines, stomach, and liver. But the females... they specifically target human females — their uterus, to be exact."
"Stop! I don't want to hear any more…"
Lin Qingqing's face turned from pale to a sickly, bluish black, as if she'd inhaled poison. Instinctively, she backed away from every nearby air vent, her lower abdomen tensing up with a faint, creeping ache.
But Huan Tian shook his head. "You need to know this. Unlike other parasitic mutants, the female Six-Legged Black Widow prefers living hosts, especially uninfected human women. Judging by its size, that was a fully mature adult. Its belly plate is probably swollen with eggs, ready to hatch."
"The adult uses a stinger at the end of its abdomen to pierce the target's skin and inject the eggs directly into the uterus. While controlling the host's body, it continuously feeds on her nutrients to develop its offspring."
He suddenly lowered his voice and added, "And it's already locked onto you. It won't go far."
Lin Qingqing shuddered violently, her hands clutching her abdomen. She could almost feel something squirming inside, a maddening itch spreading through her belly as if the eggs were already crawling beneath her skin.
"Huan Tian… don't scare me like that. What should I do? How do I find it…"
"Find it?" A cold grin crept onto Huan Tian's lips, his eyes gleaming sharply. "No need. I've got a better way."
—Night fell. The building was deathly silent.
Huan Tian sealed off every vent on the floors and walls, and even the main duct above was narrowed to leave only a small opening — far too tight for a zombie to crawl through.
Then, he split the office table in half and built a fire directly beneath the central ventilation shaft. The flames roared, and heat surged upward into the ducts.
It didn't take long. Soon, a dry rustling echoed through the metal passages — the sound of something living being driven from the shadows, skittering and writhing against the searing metal.
It was coming. Slowly, relentlessly.
The zombies lingering in the ventilation ducts were instinctively drawn by the abnormal heat.
They crowded toward the duct openings, but the narrowed passages blocked their path. With no trace of living human scent to follow, all they could do was snarl in impotent rage.
As the temperature continued to rise, their agitation grew more violent. Then suddenly, one of the crawling female zombies froze, her eyes widening as if struck by something unseen, and she began to dry heave violently.
Crack!
Her skull suddenly burst open with a sickening sound, and she collapsed in a pool of blood. From the shattered cavity, a Six-Legged Black Widow slowly crawled out, though now it had only four legs remaining.
The moment the surrounding zombies saw it, their lifeless, grey eyes flickered with something unnatural — fear. The female zombies in particular began to recoil, trembling, backing away as fast as their stiff limbs would allow.
Squeak—squeak—
The Black Widow let out a high-pitched, rat-like screech and sprang forward, pouncing on the nearest female zombie. Its remaining four legs, covered in backward-facing barbs, clamped onto the zombie's back like steel hooks. Its tail began to twitch and stretch, elongating segment by segment like a grotesque fishing rod — then, with a sharp whip, it plunged into the female zombie's side.
A pulsing mass of something living — warm and wet — was injected directly into her abdomen.
As soon as it finished, the Six-Legged Black Widow released her. The infected zombie let out a horrified, raspy scream and scrambled away, limbs flailing, as if desperate to flee from her own body. The Black Widow gave two satisfied squeaks, then leapt over the debris and crawled eagerly toward the vent opening.
The noise inside the ducts instantly alerted those below — Huan Tian and Lin Qingqing snapped to attention.
"It's coming!"
Lin Qingqing's face had lost all color. She started to rise, but Huan Tian pressed her down and remained lying still.
"Remember what I taught you. Don't move. Pretend you're asleep. And whatever you do, don't open your eyes."
Lin Qingqing nodded stiffly, clutching her backpack to her chest. Above them, the sounds in the ventilation shaft grew louder — something big, something fast, drawing closer.
Click.
The slats of the ceiling vent creaked open, just slightly. Thin, black limbs poked through.
The Six-Legged Black Widow emerged, crawling upside-down across the ceiling. The moment it spotted Lin Qingqing lying near the fire, the segmented armor on its belly began to flutter rapidly with excitement, emitting a sharp, hissing sound.
A predator's anticipation thickened the air — something wicked was about to strike.
A thin silk thread suddenly shot from the back of the Six-Legged Black Widow, anchoring itself firmly to the ceiling. Its entire body dangled like a hanged corpse, silently lowering itself toward Lin Qingqing.
When it was less than half a meter above her, its stinger began to stretch, segment by segment, before lunging down like a striking whip—aimed straight at her waist.
But just before it could hit—
Huan Tian, who had been lying motionless, suddenly reached out and caught the stinger midair.
At the same time, Lin Qingqing rolled over and slashed upward with the bone blade she had hidden beneath her.
Slice!
The silk thread snapped cleanly.
The Black Widow fell from the ceiling.
Without giving it a chance to recover, Huan Tian yanked its stinger and swung it like a hammer, smashing the creature hard against the ground.
Bang!
The impact landed solid and heavy. But he wasn't done.
Still gripping the stinger, Huan Tian began slamming it over and over into the floor. The Black Widow shrieked in pain, writhing frantically, but it couldn't break free.
Chiiii! Chiiii!
From its jagged, cracked mouth, blue-green fluid gushed like vomit. Then it let out a sharp cry, curled its body in midair, and bit down fiercely on its stinger with its serrated jaws.
Rip!
With a tearing sound, the stinger broke off. Blue-green blood sprayed in all directions.
The Black Widow let out a hateful, high-pitched screech and darted toward the nearest air duct.
But—
Thunk!
It crashed into the sealed wall. The escape route had already been blocked by Huan Tian.
In the same instant, his long, bone blade came down in a heavy arc.
Slash!
Two of the creature's legs were severed at the base. Now with only two legs remaining, it was nothing more than a cripple, dragging itself forward inch by inch.
"Die," Huan Tian said coldly.
He kicked it into the center of the burning fire.
Chiiii!
Chiiiiiiiii!!
The Black Widow thrashed in the flames, letting out ear-piercing screams, flailing wildly—but it was no use.
More than ten minutes later, the shrieks finally stopped.
Only the crackling of the fire remained.
And in it, the Black Widow was reduced to ash.
Huan Tian stepped forward and pushed aside the charred embers. The Six-Legged Black Widow's body was completely scorched—its shell cracked, limbs twisted, and blackened.
Lin Qingqing finally let out a breath she'd been holding. The weight in her chest seemed to lift.
But in the very next second—
The supposedly "dead" creature suddenly flipped over, and a sticky thread shot out from its back, whipping straight toward her!
"I knew you weren't dead!"
Lin Qingqing had been on edge the whole time. She sidestepped just in time and, without hesitation, drove the bone blade down, pinning the Black Widow to the ground with brutal force.
Screeeee!!
It thrashed under the blade, but its frantic writhing was already powerless—its body too damaged to resist.
Without flinching, Lin Qingqing grabbed another bone blade and brought it down in a clean arc, severing the creature's head.
A familiar chime echoed in Huan Tian's mind.
[Ding. Killed: Tier-1 Parasitic Mutant. Soul Hunt Points gained: 10. Total Soul Hunt Points: 71.]
"A Tier-1 parasite gives the same points as a Tier-2 zombie?"
Huan Tian froze for a beat, but then it made sense.
In a future where all sorts of terrifying mutants would emerge, even a zombified human would remain one of the lowest forms of life. It was the seemingly weak creatures once overlooked that became monstrous when merged with the Nightmare Virus.
Like… the Eldritch God.
At that thought, Huan Tian's fists unconsciously clenched.
"That thing… It's probably already reached Tier-2. I need to evolve—fast."
With a swift motion, he sliced open the Black Widow's abdomen and pulled out a fully intact Tier-2 Nightmare Crystal. It gleamed with a faint bluish light, pulsing ominously in the firelight.
But before he could rise, a murky, ominous aura began to seep from the Black Widow's corpse.
It slithered upward, caught in the swirling heat of the fire, and was drawn into the nearby air ducts—spreading, flowing through the ventilation system…
Across the thirty-seventh floor.
Every hall, every room, every corridor...
The female zombie, who had been desperately crawling through the air ducts trying to escape the parasite, suddenly froze as the ominous aura spread. Her dead, gray eyes revealed an indescribable submission. She stood rigid like a statue, motionless on the spot.
Behind her, the male zombies, drawn by the warmth of the aura, also collapsed onto the ground. Their lifeless pupils dilated, showing the same submission as the female zombie. Their bodies were frozen, unable to move.
This eerie scene wasn't limited to the air ducts. Wherever the aura spread, whether zombies were roaring, feeding, or searching for survivors, they all instantly stiffened as if turned to stone.
The entire thirty-seventh floor plunged into a deathly silence.
But the silence lasted less than ten seconds.
Suddenly, every zombie on the floor erupted into a deafening roar. Their eyes locked onto Huan Tian and Lin Qingqing with wild, murderous frenzy shining through the lifeless gray pupils.
Guided by the scent of that aura, they began to slowly, steadily encircle the two.
And all of this happened without Huan Tian or Lin Qingqing having any awareness of it…