After Being Parasitized by a Monster 38

Chapter 38: Shall I kill her for you?

Ground floor, emergency shelter.

“Cheng Ming? Cheng Ming?” Han Xuhua tried to contact the missing person. The call went through, but there was constant static.

After several desperate calls, with a sharp crack, the communication was cut off again. She hissed and took a sharp breath, pulling off her earpiece in pain and squatting down to rub her ears.

Ten minutes passed. Most of the people had safely evacuated the experimental area, except for Cheng Ming.

The passage was closed, so it was unrealistic for her to come up. Han Xuhua just wanted to confirm that she was safe.

The technician was typing on the keyboard, “It’s fine. It shows here that the safety protection station below is running. The trapped person should have gone in…”

“But it’s strange. The quarantine net should be fine. How could the internal facilities be damaged? The No. 2 shuttle elevator has even crashed…” She didn’t dare to relax her gaze on the screen for a moment, her tone becoming more and more puzzled. “What kind of creature attacked? Did Team Leader Yan see it clearly from above?”

Yan Li did not respond.

“Team Leader Yan?”

The technician turned his head in confusion, only to see the woman next to him staring motionlessly at the rows of blood-red alarms on the large screen, her expression frozen, like a statue.

Yan Li knew where the problem was.

She had only blocked the parking authority of the shuttle elevator, so that Cheng Ming couldn’t come up so quickly… there was no reason to damage the equipment.

So, there really was an accident below.

Cheng Ming was also really trapped, and even, possibly in danger.

“Team leader?” Han Xuhua also noticed her abnormality. “What’s wrong?”

Yan Li finally spoke, “It’s not a monster from outside. It should be an experimental creature that has mutated.”

She couldn’t care less if her contradictory statements would arouse suspicion. She asked the technical staff if the other shuttle elevators could still be used.

After getting an affirmative answer, she looked at the data map that was still being scanned layer by layer and said to the members of the 1st squad in a low voice:

“Get ready. As soon as the situation is confirmed, go to the rescue immediately.”

…

Han Xuhua didn’t know why her team leader was suddenly in such a hurry.

Ignoring the fact that some of the facilities were still sparking, they went into the sea against the clock.

Facing the blocked passage, just as a member suggested using a flamethrower to melt the lock, Yan Li kicked it without even blinking, clang!

The hard combat boots kicked open the thick metal, and the gate fell to the ground with a dull thud, shaking the ground.

Then, under the dumbfounded gazes of the people behind her, she pointed at the hub, “Pay attention, it’s loose.”

She was in a hurry to move forward, but she didn’t forget to remind her team members. She was really a responsible and good team leader.

However, although she had given a reason, it didn’t stop the mouths of the group of people under their hoods from being agape for a long time.

That decisive and neat action, it didn’t look like she was saving someone, but more like she was rushing to kill someone…

Of course, it was good to be in a hurry. Han Xuhua had no objection to this.

It was just that it took two hours to assess the situation of the entire area. After all, the vast bay of ten square kilometers was out of sight, and it was a huge amount of calculation for the computer.

They dived from a position that deviated from the accident point. In order to ensure the accuracy of the experiment, the degree of artificialization at the bottom of the sea was greatly weakened. The signal was poor and the navigation was not sensitive. After analyzing the direction, it was another rugged journey to the trapped location.

During this process, they were constantly harassed by large and small aquatic creatures. A fish fell from the shuttle elevator, they stepped on two fish when they crossed the broken cable, they found three fish when they were checking for radiation leakage, and there were still fish after the collapse was blown up…

A team member couldn’t help but mutter as they walked, “The trapped person hasn’t been eaten by fish, has she…”

Han Xuhua immediately spat, “Pah! Say something nice!”

The miniature cameras on their chests were constantly flashing with indicator lights, recording all these abnormalities, waiting to be handed over to professional personnel for analysis after they went up.

The cause of the accident could basically be limited to the experimental animals. It was just unclear which gaps they had drilled into the various gears, and how they had found these passages. It was as if some highly intelligent creature was commanding them from the rear.

In short, by the time they found Cheng Ming without any mishaps, the water was cold and the sky was dark.

Of course, you couldn’t see the sky getting dark at the bottom of the sea.

Yan Li was the first to open the airtight door. Buzz. Warm air rushed out, briefly forming a white mist on her mask.

The light scattered into the water and was reflected back by the ripples. In the faint, floating light and shadow, Cheng Ming was curled up in a corner of the safe house, wrapped in a black protective suit like a round ball.

There was no movement.

Yan Li stood at the door, her feet paused, and she almost didn’t dare to go in.

Until Han Xuhua rushed forward. Cheng Ming, who had fallen asleep due to her nerves being tense for too long, opened her eyes and was dazedly helped up by the former like a spherical woodlouse being opened.

Seeing the circle of people outside, she realized that the rescue had come.

She spread her arms and smiled at Han Xuhua, “No broken arms or legs.”

She looked to be in good condition, not injured, and her protective suit was not damaged.

Thanks to the “safety” of the safe house, she was unharmed after being trapped for six hours.

It was just that she had suffered a bit of a psychological shock.

To be on the safe side, they still took a special passage when they went up, away from the crowd gathered in the shelter.

Yan Li assigned the tasks and dismissed everyone, telling Cheng Ming to wait for a moment while she reported the situation to her superiors.

After the communication ended, her tone was still business-like, “Comrade Cheng Ming, you have stayed at the bottom of the sea for more than 5 hours. You need to be quarantined and undergo an examination.”

Cheng Ming had no objection.

It was a normal procedure, and there was nothing to criticize.

She cooperatively followed Yan Li out of the building complex and got into a fully armored nuclear defense vehicle on the side of the road.

The metal structure, which resembled a biological skeleton, was like a mechanical beast lying prone in the night.

Redstone Bay did not have professional inspection equipment, so they had to rush back to the Security Department overnight.

This was what Yan Li had said.

For a second, Cheng Ming felt a little strange. But out of trust for the security personnel, she didn’t think too much about it.

The vehicle, which was not carrying any materials, was very fast, and it returned to the main position of the Defense Center in less than 3 hours.

Inside the Security Department building, except for the inspection department that had been called in to work overtime, the entire floor was empty and deserted.

“Cheng Ming, right? Go in and lie down,” a “big white” in strict protective gear poked his head out from the door.

There were other staff members to guide her, so Yan Li did not continue to follow.

After more than an hour of tossing and turning, and several routine examinations, Cheng Ming looked down at her bracelet. There was still one more item on the to-do list, so she followed the instructions and walked into the last room.

She pushed open the door. Unlike all the previous examination rooms, there were no instruments here.

The walls were smooth, and the space was not too big or too small. It was obviously a whole, with only a table and a chair. The omnipresent light made the room have no shadows.

Cheng Ming sat down on the metal chair in the center and did not wait for the holographic projection of a test or a psychologist that she had expected.

Just as she was about to leave, not knowing what to do, click, footsteps sounded, and the woman with the four-six split chestnut short hair walked in.

She had already taken off her heavy nuclear radiation-proof armor and was wearing a simple dark blue training suit. Her figure was upright, and it immediately reminded Cheng Ming of the aura she had when they first met, which was both reassuring and extremely intimidating.

Yan Li closed the door behind her, and click, the room was locked.

“Sorry, you can’t leave yet.”

As she said this, there was no sign of apology on her face.

The hair on her right side was a little longer, just covering her ear. A faint light was flashing underneath, and it was clear that she was wearing some kind of device, it was unclear if it was for a call or a recording.

Cheng Ming raised an eyebrow, puzzled.

“Team Leader Yan,” she sat in this small cubicle of less than twenty square meters and asked, “this is illegal detention, right?”

The space was very clean, but it was not difficult to see from the details that this was an interrogation room.

There were brown stains in the narrow gap between the table and the legs, on the armrests of the chair, and on the floor, in every corner, that could not be washed off.

Yan Li approached, leaned over, and placed the thick stack of reports in her hand on the table. She pressed her five fingers on it and pushed it in front of her—

“I’ve seen all your physical examination results. Your current physiological level is very different from before.”

She looked at her, her expression stern.

Her heart had been tormented before she made the decision, but now that it had come to this, it didn’t seem so difficult.

Mainly, there were really many things in Cheng Ming’s data that could not stand up to scrutiny.

In the end, Yan Li couldn’t help but wonder if she was being too critical with a fault-finding mentality, or if this frontline scientific researcher really had a problem.

Cheng Ming sat up straight and looked up. The light was bright, and she could clearly see the other’s approaching eyes.

Unlike Qu Ying, her eyes had no curve, but a pure, cold, and stern look. Perhaps because her job was to risk her life every day to annihilate thugs, Cheng Ming always felt that she had a murderous aura that would make her pull out her gun and shoot in the next second.

“…”

Her heart sank.

So, was it the Security Department that suspected her?

“Was it August 11th of last year?” she slowly opened her mouth. As her thoughts raced to sort things out, she controlled herself not to show any hesitation. “Then you should have also seen that I had a cranial fungal infection at that time and was hospitalized for a month.”

She acted very calm.

She already understood that the other was not here with good intentions.

“Not this time,” Yan Li examined her every expression. “The most suspicious thing is the night of December 12th, when I led the team to rescue you from the 113th floor of the North Building of the research institute.”

“The newly discovered mutated fish egg that night could take root in the brain, change its form, and simulate a human. It even infiltrated the research institute with your face. And your testimony at that time, forgive me for being blunt, was full of loopholes.”

Her face was solemn, and every word she uttered was clear and fatal—

“So, do you think you have been replaced, or, parasitized?”

As soon as the last two words were uttered, Cheng Ming’s heart pounded, and then, it slowly returned to silence.

The result was correct.

But the deduction process was wrong.

She didn’t even know if she should be relieved.

A person has many faces.

This officer was a good team leader who loved her newcomers in front of Han Xuhua, a protector who was loyal to her duty in front of the researchers in the experimental area, but now, in front of her, a suspicious person, she was an inviolable, iron-faced interrogator.

But if you want to condemn someone, you can always find a charge.

“…Alright.”

Cheng Ming leaned back and looked at her, and threw the question back, straight to the point—

“So, what kind of examination do you want me to undergo to prove my innocence?

“I only have one request, can you make it quick? My work is not yet finished.”

She enunciated her words clearly, and her eyes were clear. She did not avoid her and confronted her.

So much so that Yan Li looked at her and was a little surprised for a moment.

Her first impression of Cheng Ming was a little like her sister Yan Rong. They were of a similar age and had a similar personality. At first glance, she was quiet and introverted, but after getting to know her, she was as gentle as water.

But now, her feeling was completely different.

This girl… was not weak.

Her mentality was stable, her core was strong, or perhaps, she was fearless.

However, under the calm surface, the thoughts in Cheng Ming’s mind were actually very turbulent.

“Don’t think about your work. Can’t you worry about our lives first?”

The Fish-Fungus was clamoring and chattering discontentedly.

Cheng Ming had long been used to it and turned a deaf ear.

“Shall I kill her for you?”

The protest was unsuccessful, and the parasite’s attitude softened. It began to persuade her, “Cheng Ming, look, there are no surveillance cameras here…”

“What are you crazy about?” This time she couldn’t play deaf and dumb. She suppressed the urge to frown.

“Then how about spore parasitism?”

Xiao Ming was very patient and settled for the next best thing. “I have a hunch that it’s not difficult to control her… Shall we try? Cheng Ming, I won’t harm you.”

It was like a devil, or a siren in Greek mythology with a heavenly voice, tirelessly luring the passing sailors, trying to drag the navigators off the deck and bury their souls in the deep sea.

While Cheng Ming was talking to Yan Li, she felt a slight strange sensation on her scalp.

The mycelia were restless. As long as they were given the order, they could shoot out in less than a second, pierce through the flesh, and bury the spores in the other’s cerebrospinal fluid, taking root and sprouting.

They were very close, and the other was focused on finding her loopholes, not sufficiently on guard against her.

She could almost imagine the scene at that time.

As long as she controlled Yan Li, no one would find fault with her anymore.

Even, if she could control her better, perhaps from then on, she would have a well-informed and powerfully armed puppet.

The simplest and most brutal, yet the fastest and most efficient method.

So wonderful.

So tempting.

Hidden under her clothes, the rise and fall of Cheng Ming’s chest suddenly intensified. If she were still connected to a visual life device at this time, her heart rate would definitely be a sudden increase in the curve.

What scared her was that for a second, when faced with this proposal, she was tempted.

Monsters really had no human moral concepts.

If they felt threatened, they just had to kill it directly. If they needed something, they just had to snatch it.

They could only be restrained by external forces.

Her body was its cage.

And her cage was the seashell that was soaked in her body temperature, hanging on her chest.

Childish and beautiful picture book stories, clichéd beliefs and doctrines. This was probably the first lesson that many mothers taught their children, teaching them to be kind. Not to hurt others, the bottom line of a person, the shackles of a thing.

Even to this day, the closer she got to the truth, the more she couldn’t figure out whether her mother herself had followed this concept.

“Shut up,” Cheng Ming said word by word in her mind. “This is the Security Department. I don’t want to be buried with you.”