After Being Parasitized by a Monster 22

Chapter 22: Can I stay with you?

The next day, Cheng Ming went out, yawning incessantly.

“You’re about to be late,” Xiao Ming said in her head.

It was as if it was a reminder, but its voice was light and airy, with a hint of detached amusement.

Cheng Ming tiredly lowered her hand and tucked the “hair” that had stuck to her cheek into her collar.

“Shut up.”

After a sleepless night, it was inevitable that she would be in a bad mood.

When she reached the bottom of her apartment building and saw that a tent had been set up in a long corridor extending from the exit, she realized that she had missed some news again.

Just as she took out her phone, a call came from afar. A familiar figure jumped up happily and called out to her, “Ah! Senior Sister!”

Cheng Ming looked closely and saw that it was Huang Chengcheng, whom she hadn’t seen for a while. She was the intern she had previously supervised as an assistant.

The girl ran over, wearing a fluffy hat that even covered her ears, as nimble as a rabbit. “Great! Let’s go together!”

Seeing such a vibrant person, it was indeed easy to be infected.

Cheng Ming’s originally cold features relaxed. She stretched out her hand with a mixture of amusement and confusion, and was knocked back half a step by the girl’s pounce. She steadied herself and asked:

“What’s wrong?”

“Senior Sister, didn’t you see the notice! It says that a new type of mutated creature has appeared, and it’s not recommended to go out alone.” Huang Chengcheng wailed, “I was so scared I couldn’t sleep all night yesterday!”

“What about your roommate?” Cheng Ming asked in surprise.

Although they were both from the mycology institute in the North Building, their collective apartments were not in the same place. After all, their job levels were different, and these interns who came and went were basically arranged in mixed dormitories.

“Sigh! Didn’t something happen before, and there was an emergency evacuation notice? They were scared, and then they all went home, leaving me all alone…”

So that was it.

It was true that one had to be prepared to make sacrifices after entering the Defense Center, but for these students who were still flowers in a greenhouse, who had rushed in with a passion but had not yet experienced major storms, it was inevitable that they would not be able to accept such a high-intensity turmoil for a while.

It was human nature.

Not only did Cheng Ming not criticize her, but she also asked with concern, “Is it very dangerous? What about you? Why didn’t you go back?”

“Uh…” she touched her head, “I had a fight with my family, I don’t want to go back…”

Cheng Ming quickly grabbed the corner of her hat. “Did you shave your head?”

She wasn’t mistaken. The other person had even shaved it into a buzz cut. The lively and pretty girl who used to have a long ponytail was now refreshed after taking off her hat.

“This, it was just an impulse…” Huang Chengcheng pressed it back awkwardly. “Senior Sister, don’t scold me, don’t scold me, wuwu, I already regret it. It’s so cold in winter, my head is cold every day…”

She was speaking in a playful and mischievous tone, but Cheng Ming could sense the subtle gloomy emotions.

During the two months they had worked together, in her memory, the other person had always been an optimistic girl. She would often wander around the laboratory, unable to sit still. Occasionally, when she turned around, her hair would sweep across a glass instrument, and Cheng Ming would scold her. After apologizing, she would mutter, “Senior Sister, you’re not like my mom, who always wants me to cut my hair…”

At that time, Cheng Ming would hold a rubber band in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other, and say with a fake smile, “Come on, pick one?”

Now, this girl had really cut her hair, but Cheng Ming’s throat was a little choked, and she couldn’t say anything.

Her spiky hair was prickly to the touch. She helped her adjust her hat and asked as they walked, “What made you so angry with your mother?”

The tent was sealed, a temporary inspection channel. After entering, the lights turned on, and the human silhouette appeared on the imaging equipment.

“Sigh…” Huang Chengcheng hesitated. “It’s just that I want to stay at the research institute, but she doesn’t agree. She thinks it’s too dangerous… I can’t stand it. She always wants to control my life.”

Cheng Ming opened her mouth to say something, but then she thought of her own mother.

She understood that Huang Chengcheng had her own ideas, but she also understood that the other’s mother wanted her to be safe. If Cheng Ran were still here, would she be proud of her, or worried?

“Forget it, forget it… I’ll talk to her properly when I have the chance. It’s too late to say this now.” Huang Chengcheng pouted and made a sad face, turning into a sad frog. “It’s already cut, and I can’t go out. They’re probably afraid that those things will run out, so all the roads leading out are blocked.”

After leaving the apartment building, a staff member gave them a special portable flashlight.

Using the principle that the refractive index of the internal cavity and the surface of the transparent mutated creature was different, a specific wavelength of light could make it visible. It also had the function of emitting a high-energy laser, just in case, and a one-key alarm.

A transparent creature… Listening to the staff member explain the precautions, Cheng Ming suddenly thought of the missing “sea urchin.”

It was one wave after another.

The broadcast next to them repeatedly announced, “The Defense Center is now in a state of level three alert. The latest mutated creature is of medium risk, and its main form is a hydra. It is currently being cleaned up. Please do not panic, reduce unnecessary outdoor activities, and take public transport…”

Huang Chengcheng rubbed the goosebumps on the back of her hand and pulled Cheng Ming to walk faster. “I didn’t think much of it at first, but the more I listen, the more scared I get.”

The shuttle bus had also been modified. It was unclear if it was more sturdy, but at least it didn’t have its lights on during the day before.

They arrived at the research institute smoothly and had to go to their respective floors.

Before parting, Huang Chengcheng hesitantly pulled her. “Senior Sister, Senior Sister, can I ask you for something?”

“What?” Cheng Ming didn’t understand.

“Anything!” she said with a grin. “I want to use it as a talisman.”

This was clearly the type of person who would shake hands with the top student before every exam in their student days. It didn’t matter if it was useful or not, as long as it brought good luck.

Under her sugar-coated bullet attack, Cheng Ming was at a loss for whether to laugh or cry. In the end, she took a hair tie from her wrist and gave it to her.

Ever since her hair had been replaced by mycelia with a mind of their own, she had gotten into the habit of carrying a few extra hair ties.

Cheng Ming continued to go up to the higher floors.

Huang Chengcheng entered the laboratory. Before she could even warm up her seat, a colleague pushed open the door. “Xiao Huang, you’re late! Come and help us move things!”

“Coming!” she put down her backpack and walked over, complaining as she went, “Damn it! Can you guys not learn from Teacher Jiang and call me like a dog…”

“Okay, Xiao Huang!” Laughter came, and the corridor was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

There were many girls in the group, and, probably because the leader set a bad example, with Jiang Dexin as the boss, the atmosphere in their research team had always been very good. It was full of impropriety within propriety.

The group went down to the first basement level with laughter.

This was the cargo storage and transfer warehouse. The elevator arrived, and as soon as the outer hall door opened, a blast of cold air hit them.

“This place is about to be sealed. Let’s make it quick and move a batch of important reagents up first.”

“Huh? Why is it being sealed?” Huang Chengcheng had come late and didn’t know what had happened. It was purely a workhorse’s instinct. When someone shouted, she automatically followed to work.

“They said a cleaner went missing in the garage next door. Aren’t these two places connected? So they’re going to be sealed together. We can only open it again after the Security Department has checked. It’ll take at least a day or two. Our fungus can’t wait.”

The no-entry notice had already been issued, but the elevator was still running.

So, this trip was actually them sneaking in, so there were no special personnel to help, and they even had to deliberately avoid some people.

After a winding path, they reached the container. Several people worked together to fill the metal basket, and then they quickly carried it away in groups of two, feeling very much like they were stealing.

Moving experimental reagents, they had managed to create the tension of an underground party receiving important strategic materials.

“Wait, wait, I forgot my phone!” Just as she put down the things in the elevator, Huang Chengcheng felt her waist bag and let out a miserable cry.

To make it easier to pick up the reagent bottles, she had put her phone on the cargo box!

“You guys wait for me—” a second before the elevator door closed, she quickly ran out of the car. “Never mind, you guys go up first!”

She went back, and to her relief, her phone was lying quietly where she had left it.

Huang Chengcheng was relieved. She patted off the dust, put it in her pocket, and walked back.

The sound of her footsteps echoed in the vast space, and even the smallest sound became a ripple on a still lake, expanding in circles, layer after layer.

She hadn’t felt anything when there were many people just now, but now that she was alone, she felt that either the environment had become colder, or the lights had become dimmer.

A cold wind was blowing from somewhere, like someone was constantly patting the back of her neck with a cold hand.

Huang Chengcheng couldn’t help but shrink her neck and quicken her pace.

Just as she passed a corner—

“Hello.”

A sudden sound startled her.

Huang Chengcheng looked in the direction of the sound. In the dim light, a thin figure stood quietly.

Fortunately, it was a person. And, it wasn’t a guard who was looking for trouble.

The middle-aged man was leaning on a flat mop and wearing a cleaning uniform. When he saw her turn her head, he said again, “Hello.”

“You… hello?” Although it was a bit strange, her kind heart subconsciously thought that the other person needed help. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Hello.” It was the same two words again. The other person slowly raised the corners of his mouth, revealing a standard, friendly smile. “There’s nothing.”

Huang Chengcheng clutched the phone in her pocket, feeling that the cold wind was not just patting the back of her neck.

It was hitting her forehead and drilling into her spine.

It was indeed a question-and-answer conversation, and it seemed that there was no problem.

But his voice was stiff and his logic was abnormal, like a parrot learning to speak, or an AI that had not yet been trained well. There was a sense of artificiality everywhere.

The more she thought about it, the more terrifying it became.

Huang Chengcheng wanted to leave.

If she didn’t leave now, she suspected that she would “leave” in another way today.

So, she gave him an awkward smile, not daring to turn her back, and just stared at the spot, moving sideways like a crab.

After pulling away a short distance, she pulled out her right hand, pressed the flashlight switch, and with a click, she shone it straight at him!

Under the searchlight, the uncle with a strong sense of artificiality just squinted his eyes physiologically and didn’t even move half a step.

In the bright white light, a circle of slender, colorless tentacles was on his chest, like a spider’s web, and they were reaching towards her menacingly.

“Oh my god!” Huang Chengcheng let out a scream.

…

“Warning! A hydra mutant has appeared in the North Building transfer warehouse, area 2-12. Please proceed immediately!”

The Investigation Department’s small squad, which was conducting a carpet search in the garage with large instruments, received this notice, and the team leaders quickly switched to the team channel to hand over.

A real-time map unfolded before them.

Confirming that her 1st squad was the closest, Yan Li immediately made a decision, “I’ll take some people over first. 3rd squad, head this way.”

“3rd squad, roger,” the other side replied.

…

Basement level one, area 2-12. The air was cold and damp.

Huang Chengcheng was lying on the ground, face down. The hair tie that Cheng Ming had given her not long ago was still on her wrist, stained bright red with blood.

A fire extinguisher rolled far away, and the ground was covered with fragments.

Her bracelet and flashlight were broken, and the automatic alarm was not sent out.

Her phone had also fallen on the concrete floor, the screen cracked with a spiderweb of dense cracks, glowing with a faint, weak light, showing that a call was in progress.

The operator’s anxious call came from the other end—

“Hello? Hello? Miss! Are you okay?”

The signal was bad underground, but fortunately, she had escaped to the edge of the building, and Huang Chengcheng had finally contacted the research institute’s security station.

The message sent to the “Expel External Threats” squad was relayed via the security station.

The human body that had been used as a mobile vehicle by the hydra was also lying on the ground, covered in white powder. The hydra and its tentacles were shriveled and gray, motionless.

But it was not dead yet.

On its thin and slender body wall, near the basal disc at the bottom, the remaining water was concentrated to nourish it, and a tiny bud slowly bulged out.

The bud matured, detached from the mother body, and floated into the air.

After a while, Huang Chengcheng’s fingers twitched slightly.

She woke up from a brief faint, looked around in a daze, and remembered everything she had experienced a second before she lost consciousness. She stared at the blood on her hand and her eyes widened, and she almost fainted again.

She jumped up, picked up the phone, and shouted as she ran, “I’m fine! My phone was smashed by it, ahhh, good thing it still works… I sprayed it with a fire extinguisher, it seems to be afraid of dry powder!”

She was panting and was about to ask when the rescue would arrive when she heard a sound from the other side.

Seeing the fully armed and reassuring Security Department personnel, Huang Chengcheng’s tears were about to fall. She ran over and was protected by the members of the 1st squad.

A large searchlight illuminated the area.

Han Xuhua was at the back of the team. A newcomer meeting a newcomer, they felt a sense of camaraderie. She supported the poor victim and asked with concern, “Where are you injured?”

The blood was from a scraped skin when she fell. Huang Chengcheng was running on adrenaline and didn’t feel any pain, but her whole body was shaking, especially her hands, which were spasming violently. It was unclear if it was from the injury or the scare.

Team leader Yan Li was at the front with a flamethrower. She kicked the mutated hydra’s tentacles with her special hard leather combat boots.

No movement. It was well and truly dead.

The osmotic pressure was imbalanced, and a large puddle of sticky liquid soaked the ground, leaving only a thin layer of skin.

She waved her hand and had the people behind her come forward and pack it up in a black body bag.

At this moment, Han Xuhua said, “Team leader! Her condition is a little off…”

She was restraining Huang Chengcheng. Because ordinary people might have a stress reaction after suddenly encountering a monster, she had given the other person a sedative. The person who had just shown signs of calming down suddenly began to convulse all over, like a stroke patient.

She, who received high-intensity training every day, could barely hold her down.

Yan Li was experienced and understood at a glance, “Hydras have stinging cells, she’s poisoned!”

She pressed her earpiece and asked, “Where’s the medical team?”

The medical team arrived.

When she was being carried onto the stretcher, Huang Chengcheng was still trying to struggle. She couldn’t control her body, and her consciousness was not clear. “Are we going to an outside hospital? Wuwu, I don’t want to, I don’t want to… I still want to go back to do experiments, go back to be scolded by Teacher Jiang, go back to fight for the fried chicken legs in the third-floor cafeteria…”

She was crying and snotting.

“Xiao Huang!”

Han Xuhua picked up the phone and considerately placed it by her ear, and a roar thundered in her ear.

Jiang Dexin had already received the news and had called over to hear it. “Go and get treated! Don’t make me scold you now!”

“…”

The boss had spoken, and it was worth two.

Xiao Huang was quiet.

She closed her eyes and was taken away by the wailing ambulance.

…

Cheng Ming knew nothing about what had happened at the research institute during the day.

She had been hunched over her computer at the electron microscope room for another day. When she got off work, she felt that the building was particularly quiet and deserted today.

She had wanted to ask the timid Huang Chengcheng to go with her, but the inquiry she sent out received no reply. She guessed that it was because she had gotten off work too late, and the other person had found another companion, so she didn’t insist.

Walking out of the research institute building, she asked Xiao Ming in a low voice, “Still can’t feel any other monsters nearby?”

This was the umpteenth time she had asked.

Xiao Ming was not annoyed, “No.”

Most importantly, the conidium it had released had also never been sensed again.

Her heart was pounding in her chest, a little too fast.

Cheng Ming always had a bad feeling, worried that the missing planula larva would become a hidden danger.

The questioning yielded no results. She returned to her apartment and, almost neurotically, shone a flashlight on every corner of her home more than twice.

The doors and windows were tightly closed, so it was temporarily safe.

Forcing herself to accept reality, she returned to her bedroom, took off her jacket, and brought a bath towel, just as she was about to take a shower.

Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock.

A series of knocks.

In such a quiet night, in such a strange atmosphere. This scene felt somewhat familiar.

“Who is it?”

She put her clothes back on, asked, and there was no response. She walked out to the living room and looked through the peephole.

Tonight’s visitor was obviously a bit shorter. They were standing half a meter away, looking up at the peephole.

Seeing the appearance, Cheng Ming was shocked. She turned the lock and opened the door. “Chengcheng?”

The light in the corridor was dim, and the dark night swallowed the color of her clothes, but her dark, round eyes received the scattered light from inside the room and glowed faintly like a gem.

The young girl standing at the door was undoubtedly Huang Chengcheng.

However, she was wearing a completely ill-fitting hooded top, which seemed to be an old work uniform, thick, loose, and dark in color. The hood was over her head, and there were some strange tears in the fabric in several places, as if she had gone through a long and arduous journey before she came.

She asked, “Can I stay with you?”