After Being Parasitized by a Monster 73

Chapter 73: Don’t you think this is our child?

The doctor left.

With a wave of his sleeve, he didn’t take a speck of dust with him, leaving only a dead silence in the ten-square-meter pure white hospital room, as if the world had ended.

And the two people on and off the bed, who were as silent as corpses.

Of course, if you counted the number of consciousnesses, there were three, plus Xiao Ming.

Yan Rong was flipping through the ultrasound images page by page. She couldn’t understand them, but it didn’t stop her from understanding the doctor’s words—

There was a gestational sac in the uterine cavity, and its shape was irregular, which might be a sign of a threatened miscarriage.

“Am I going to be an aunt?” she said with an innocent face, throwing out this thunderous statement.

It had pulled back a certain person’s soul that was about to float away.

Then she glanced at Cheng Ming, “So how did you—”

Knowing that behind the other’s absurd question was a confusion that was about to overflow, Cheng Ming came back to her senses in a daze and said with difficulty:

“This matter is a bit complicated… I might, indeed be able to reproduce parthenogenetically.”

There was something wrong with her body, and there had always been signs.

Her period had not come for a long time.

But due to her so-called “poor constitution,” her period had never been regular, so she had not paid much attention to it. Thinking about it now, it might be because mermaids were oviparous and should not have a period in the first place.

And, during this period, her appetite had increased abnormally, and Xiao Ming was always clamoring that it was hungry.

Thinking about it carefully, when did it start?

Last October, she had gone down to the bottom of Redstone Bay and had run into a monster. The other had brought some volatile solvent, and her condition had been very wrong that night. Then, Xiao Ming had used spore silk… and it was after that that her body had begun to be abnormally lacking in energy.

Hearing that the clock had struck 8, Yan Rong pushed her wheelchair downstairs to get food, leaving her alone.

Cheng Ming leaned back against the big white pillow and felt that the ceiling was expanding and rotating. She didn’t know if the pillow under her skull was hard or soft, and it didn’t feel real.

She closed her eyes and, with a difficulty in speaking, she asked in her mind, “Did you… put spores in before?” She was questioning Xiao Ming. “That mycelium of yours, it’s not a conidiophore, is it? Is it a zygosporangium, or an oogonium?”

The bright white light shone through her eyelids, and all kinds of knowledge were jumbled in her mind. She tried hard to sort out a clue to explain the current situation.

Zygosporangia were gametangia, and oogonia were even more direct, they were the female reproductive organs of fungi. They could all produce sexual spores, and they could also undergo homothallic mating, that is, self-sexual reproduction. In addition, mermaids also seemed to be able to reproduce parthenogenetically… Cheng Ming felt that her brain was about to explode.

It could be explained, but it was so incredible that it was incomprehensible.

Perhaps it felt that it was too complicated to understand, so the Fish-Fungus remained silent.

Unable to bear its deaf and dumb silence, Cheng Ming pursed her lips tightly, and the violently surging nerve signals only transmitted a clear message—speak!

“Uh…” Xiao Ming made a human-like sound. “I don’t know.”

It even seemed to be quite aggrieved. “You didn’t like the nutrient mycelia, so I used the spore silk… maybe, it fell in.”

Her hand was interspersed in the mycelia, with a force as if she wanted to break them. The tense muscles felt the same smoothness as real hair, which was completely different from the touch when it had placed this thing in her body.

So, the current situation was probably that the sexual spores of the algaefungus had combined with the eggs that had been discharged from her body.

And she didn’t know if her egg cells were human, fish, or a hybrid… the gestational sac was irregular because it was not a human embryo at all.

This world was too crazy.

Cheng Ming let go of the mycelia, flipped her hand over and covered her eyes. Her vision became even darker, but she couldn’t suppress the chaotic feeling of the world spinning. Logically, she knew that this was an accident, but emotionally, she was unable to accept such an accident.

“You—” she gritted her teeth and wanted to say something, but after this one word, her voice disappeared, and it was stuck in her throat.

Feeling her gradual dejection and depression, her mental state was like a wet cloth that had been infected with mold. Gray and brown spots grew in the white, and it was mixed with negative, and even resentful emotions… its tone became faint, and it turned into a cold and detached state like an object:

“Reproduction is a biological instinct. You can’t blame me.”

They were one.

Resenting it was resenting herself.

Cheng Ming was a little out of breath from being pressed by the pure cotton medical quilt. She simply lifted a corner and sat up, and turned to look at the black and white film-like report next to her. Her heart beat faster.

In the ultrasound image, the proportion of the white tissue mass in the cavity was not large.

It was still in the early stages. Was there a way to get it out?

She silently bit her lower lip, as if she had returned to the time when she had first discovered the existence of Xiao Ming. She was wary and afraid of the parasite whose origin and destination were unknown, and was always trying to find a way to get rid of it.

At that time, she had been forced to accept the reality and had dared to touch the mycelia in a few days. But now, she didn’t dare to touch her own abdomen, for fear that the thing inside would suddenly swell rapidly, pierce through the uterine wall, and drill into her flesh and blood, and suck her nutrients dry.

The only thing she was glad about was that she was in an outside hospital, not a health monitoring center.

Given her secret and dangerous identity, her intimate relationships would definitely be a focus of attention. Otherwise, she would be facing an interrogation from the Security Department right now.

She couldn’t stand any investigation.

Cheng Ming looked around, trying to find a sharp knife.

“What are you trying to do?” Xiao Ming asked calmly.

Two minutes later, with a dull thump in the room, click, the hospital room door was pushed open.

It wasn’t Yan Rong who had come back.

It was much worse than Yan Rong.

When the doctor, who was wearing a round hat and gloves, came in, this was the scene she saw—

Her weak patient, who needed to rest and might have a miscarriage, had fallen from the hospital bed with her quilt, and was twisted into a ball with herself. Her hair, which should have been at her neck, now had a large patch of dark, fine threads that were wrapped around her back and were winding around her whole body.

The IV tube had also fallen to the side, and the IV bottle on the hook was swaying. The glucose solution was spilled on the tiled floor, and a puddle of water had accumulated.

Hearing the sound, the body and the two consciousnesses that were in a dire situation in the room all stopped, and they all looked at the outsider who should not have been here.

This scene was very strange.

What was even more strange was that the doctor’s first reaction was not to scream and run away, but to stare at the hospital room for two seconds, and then she suddenly stepped back and slammed the door shut with a bang.

“…” Seeing that the person had run away, Cheng Ming was like a fish that was entangled in seaweed, and she was anxious. “Let me go! Someone’s here!”

Xiao Ming used its mycelia to tie her hands, and cleverly tied the sheet into a knot, successfully binding this big fish.

It was still the same calm tone, “You put down the scissors first.”

“You let go first!”

“You put it down first.”

“How can I put it down if you don’t let go?”

“I don’t dare to let go if you don’t put it down.”

“…”

A mess.

This was the trouble with being too similar. Once both sides started to be stubborn, it was as if the end of the world had nothing to do with them.

For no reason, Cheng Ming had not suddenly had the urge to self-harm. She had mainly wanted to test if the unknown creature in her abdomen would have an obvious reaction to external danger.

But she hadn’t expected that Xiao Ming’s reaction would be even bigger.

The bedsheet and the mycelia were rolled up on her body. Cheng Ming was panting, and she finally stopped struggling. After a moment, she gritted her teeth and laughed, “Don’t you think this is our child? Can you not be crazy.”

How could this be called a pregnancy? It was parthenogenesis, at most, a replication of the main body. To give birth to a new life, she, an experimental subject full of contradictions and a mixture, an alien who didn’t even know where she belonged, was she worthy?

But from the current situation, she might also be the one who was about to go crazy.

Xiao Ming said, “We can calm down first.”

There was clearly no mirror in front of her, but she could almost clearly see the things that had settled in the depths of her eyes, cold and vivid. From a human point of view, it was paranoia. From the nature of a thing, it was purity. The description of bestiality seemed to be inaccurate, and it could be called divinity.

This was their similarity, and also their difference. The divergence was once again so clearly revealed. She was the rationality that had been disciplined by human society, and it was the nature that had grown wildly. When they did not directly face the differences between them, they could coexist harmoniously, regardless of whether this harmony was a pretense or a sincere one.

But how could they never face it?

They were dependent on each other, they were fused, and they had fallen in love.

They were born at its beginning, but they were also split at its beginning.

Cheng Ming took a long breath and felt that she had fallen into a dead end.

Click.

Another strange sound, and the door was pushed open again.

Her thoughts were interrupted. She turned her head to look and was surprised to find that the doctor who had just run out of the door had not called the police, had not asked for help, and had even come back.

She had changed into a clean surgical gown, was pushing a medical instrument, and was walking towards her past the white partition curtain. Her eyes were strangely raised, and she was speaking to her in a low voice, as if a butcher were soothing the emotions of a lamb:

“You don’t want it, do you? It’s fine, I’ll help you cut it out.”

She approached, holding a scalpel, and the tip of the knife flashed with a cold light like a slaughtering tool.

And in that second, the figure pounced on her.

Capturing the dangerous aura, the mycelia suddenly scattered, and one of them, with a pair of scissors, swept over like a vine whip and, with a smack, knocked the dangerous object from the other’s hand.

Cheng Ming got up and stepped back, looking at the suddenly changed peaceful scene, her heart pounding.

Swish! The blue medical cap was torn, and a dark flower bloomed from the top of her half-skull, and it shone with a strange luster under the white light.

A filamentous plant body, it was very similar to the mycelia, and there were some faint differences, but it was not clear to the naked eye. Of course, the biggest difference was that Cheng Ming’s mycelia grew from under her scalp and would not destroy her brain tissue.

No wonder the “embryo” in the ultrasound image was clearly not right, but this doctor had not raised any questions. She had originally thought that the other might be inexperienced, but it turned out that she was waiting to take advantage of the situation.

Her back was against a hard, flat surface, and the touch was strange. She turned her head and saw that there were countless cracks in the wall, and strip-like leaves were extending out. Along with the strange growth, the cracks in the wall were still spreading, and even the floor under her feet began to tremble.

A pipe that was buried in the wall had burst, and a large amount of wastewater gushed out. She quickly dodged to the side, but a corner of her clothes was still splashed.

With a wolf in front and a tiger behind, the doctor who had first shown an abnormality pounced on her again, with an inexplicable anger. “Why aren’t you cooperating? Why are you causing trouble?” she asked excitedly, and the filamentous substance was like cotton, stuck to the corner of her forehead, and more and more blood was flowing from that piece of rotten flesh.

She grabbed a handful of knives from the instrument table and was clearly about to dismember Cheng Ming and throw her away as fertilizer.

A huge leaf hit the ceiling and then fell from above.

The fresh color created by chlorophyll, one piece after another, was as transparent as jade under the ceiling light, and it was everywhere, a deadly and beautiful scene.

Cheng Ming reacted quickly. While dodging the attack, she quickly rolled under the iron-frame bed and did not let the leaves touch her.

But the doctor, whose scalp was half-digested, was not so lucky.

The tall, curled leaf floated down from above. It looked very light, and it covered the human body like a quilt. It gently wrapped the person, and the sharp edges cut open the surgical gown, stuck to the surface of the body, and wantonly absorbed the inorganic salts needed for growth.

A living person had become a culture medium in the blink of an eye.

The hospital was occupied by mutated seaweed.

This type of algae had an alternation of generations. The filamentous ones were the gametophytes, and the large ones were the sporophytes, which could produce spores for asexual reproduction.

They grew in large numbers and stuck to the wet walls, like delicious, swaying kelp. However, from the looks of it, it should be these giant algae leaves that found people very “delicious.”

The most primitive “plant,” without the differentiation of roots, stems, and leaves, meant that its entire individual could absorb nutrients.

Having seen a lot of life and death and blood, Cheng Ming’s head was also a little dizzy at this moment.

Mainly, the medical staff here were not the combat personnel of the Defense Center. They should have been living in a peaceful era, and might have been worried about promotion, overtime, endless work, difficult patients, and a bad doctor-patient relationship… in the end, they were not worried about how to survive.

The large seaweed that had broken through the wall was full of vitality in the ultra-high humidity air. Besides the moist mucus on its surface, there were also strands of bright red, and it was estimated that some people on the lower floors had suffered.

Cheng Ming’s thoughts were suddenly pulled back by a rein. Thinking of Yan Rong, who had gone downstairs and had not yet returned, her heart suddenly rose.

…

Fortunately, nothing had happened.

After solving the seaweed in the hospital room and giving Xiao Ming an extra meal, and given that the building was shaking and the elevator was not safe, Cheng Ming was about to walk down from the fifth floor when she ran into Han Xuhua, who was running up to find her.

Then she learned that Yan Rong had been stopped outside and was not in danger.

“Why are you still here?” Cheng Ming asked as she evacuated along the safety passage with her.

She had thought that they had all escorted the samples back first, and that she would have to follow the material truck back later.

After all, besides Yan Rong, these people had all been in the danger zone, and according to the regulations, they had to undergo a comprehensive examination and quarantine.

“We’re having a physical examination in the building opposite,” Han Xuhua said with lingering fear. “How could I leave? Team leader, you scared me to death! I poked you in the car and you fell over. I thought there was something wrong with my arm, like it had been bitten by a monster and had a virus or something…”

This person seemed to have a natural sense of humor. As she spoke, the topic slid in a comical direction.

At such a critical moment, Cheng Ming was also at a loss for whether to laugh or cry. She just said, “It’s fine, I just didn’t rest well.”

She insisted on this reason.

Anyway, the examination report had been destroyed by her in the chaos, and the only doctor who knew had also died.

They retreated to the open space outside, and the entire inpatient department building was taken over by green. The crowd that had escaped was in a mess. Some people were injured and were covered in blood, and the ground was a mess. Fortunately, the hospital was not short of medical equipment, and the medical staff rushed up to do emergency treatment.

Although in theory, algae were not as mobile as animals and would not actively forage, a very large open space was still cleared in front of the hospital building. Everyone was avoiding the inpatient department.

Only Yan Rong was close to the building. She was stopped by the team members next to her for a distance, and she was tightly holding a lunch box, waiting lonely at the edge of the open space.

Cheng Ming saw her as soon as she came out.

After confirming that she was safe, Cheng Ming had originally wanted to go and deal with the important matters immediately.

But when their gazes met, the other’s eyes were faintly filled with light. Her heart skipped a beat, and she felt that it was not good. In the end, she quickly turned her feet, walked up to her, and bent down. “I’m fine.”

Yan Rong clearly had not heard whether she was fine or not. She raised her hand and hung it on her neck, and buried herself in her embrace. It was a posture of resting her head on her shoulder, and her warm breath was brushing against her neck, intermittently.

If it weren’t for the fact that there were many people at the scene, Cheng Ming suspected that she actually wanted to bite her.

She was too insecure.

A part of her feelings for her sister Yan Li had definitely been projected onto her.

For a dozen seconds, Han Xuhua looked left and then right, and her expression gradually became strange.

Then, Xiao Ming couldn’t bear it anymore and asked, “How long are you going to hug?”

Similarly, if it weren’t for the fact that there were too many people, it was likely that its mycelia would have been raised again at this moment.

Yan Rong finally let go, and Cheng Ming finally had time to look at her bracelet.

The shoreline coordinates here were 25.04, 23, which was not a few kilometers from the breeding base they had just cleaned up.

She was afraid that these mutated seaweed had escaped from the breeding farm, and she didn’t know if there were any more nearby.

Her brow furrowed. She sent a message, reported the situation back to the headquarters, and at the same time, she contacted the nearest reconnaissance station.

Fifteen minutes later, more members of the Investigation Department arrived. High-pressure water cannon trucks surrounded the inpatient department, which had become a seaweed breeding base, and a large amount of medicine was sprayed down from high up.

The irrelevant personnel were taken to the defense center’s detection station by shuttle bus. Cheng Ming and the others, because they were originally going back to the headquarters, just put on their protective suits and stood outside the entrance, watching as one after another, corpses were pulled out.

Most of them were dismembered limbs. The reconnaissance station had come in a hurry, and there was no time to search for more white cloth, so they could only be exposed like this. The scene was tragic.

Seeing a familiar one, Cheng Ming asked the reconnaissance station for a sample bottle, took a pair of tweezers and went forward to examine it. The more she looked, the tighter her brow furrowed. She dialed the communicator and said to the reconnaissance station, “You guys pay attention to the injured. There might be spores or gametes left in the wounds.”

“Can plants also parasitize and disguise themselves as humans?” Han Xuhua came over and bent down to watch her pick out the roots from the corpse’s brain, and asked with great shock.

“Algae are not plants in the strict sense,” Cheng Ming subconsciously corrected her knowledge-based mistake first. She squatted on the ground and flipped through the wounds and scattered tissue fragments, and replied, “No, she was probably conscious all along.”

This doctor should have been injured in the head first, so the algae gametes had taken the opportunity to take root. She had attacked Cheng Ming, probably because she had thought that Cheng Ming was also parasitized, and that it was a deep and hopeless parasitism, so she had hoped to transplant the gametophyte seedling to her, to get rid of the fate of being a fertilizer.

She was conscious, but there were so many people coming and going in the hospital, and she had never chosen to plant it on someone else. In essence, she was just an ordinary person, an ordinary person who still had a basic conscience in a desperate situation, and it was an act of self-preservation.

She lowered her eyes and looked at the corpse quietly for a while.

And the other person was standing right next to her, and there was no more movement for a while.

Cheng Ming looked up and found that Han Xuhua’s expression was a little strange. She couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong?”

This young man said sincerely, “Team leader, you’re a bit like a classmate of mine from before.”

Cheng Ming: “…”

She realized something, lowered her head and composed herself, and said calmly, “You’re a bit like you’re making small talk.”

They had been here for a little too long. Yan Rong, who had originally been pushed to a corner by the bloody scene, silently pushed her wheelchair and also came over.

Noticing this girl who couldn’t be separated for a minute, Han Xuhua’s voice lowered, and she confirmed, “Team leader, is she your biological sister?”

This was even stranger.

Cheng Ming looked up again, her face full of questions.

And so Han Xuhua hesitated, and her eyes darted between Yan Rong and her. She couldn’t help but ask, “Team leader, are you… straight?”

Cheng Ming: “…”

Although I’m indeed not straight, you might have misunderstood something… you definitely misunderstood something!

…

Thanks to the internal parasites of mankind, now even the area outside the quarantine line was not safe.

The breeding base had contaminated an unknown amount of land, and all the potentially dangerous areas nearby were re-designated as quarantine zones.

There was also an incident in a residential area that was too close, and the people by the sea were in a state of panic. The news report was released, and a large number of people had witnessed it with their own eyes. Various videos were widely spread on the internet, and the voices that questioned the authenticity of the monsters were suppressed a lot, but new voices that accused the Defense Center of dereliction of duty had emerged.

The external troubles had not been solved, and the internal worries had arisen again.

However, these things were not for the people at the bottom to worry about for the time being. Cheng Ming was more anxious about what was in her stomach, and how to get it out.

The algae spores might have an incubation period, and the characteristics of the corresponding algae had not yet been studied clearly. The Defense Center was also in a state of panic.

Especially those who had been in the inpatient department at that time were directly taken away and put into a control room.

She was now scared of spores, but she was being strictly guarded by the Security Department, and she couldn’t find any opportunity to do anything.