Chapter 49 Part 1

“Go? I’m afraid it’s a bit too late for that now.”

Wen Ruyao’s voice was quickly drowned out by the tremendous crash of shattering glass.

The second row of glass doors, their surfaces crawling with mutant mosquitoes, could no longer withstand the mounting pressure from outside. They shattered with a crash, scattering shards all over the floor, leaving only the precarious black metal doorframes. The dense, dark mass of giant mosquitoes instantly surged into the mall from outside. It wasn’t just the shattered main entrance—swarms of these winged “vampires” also poured in through the dome the black-clothed man had broken earlier.

A horrifying, pervasive buzzing instantly filled every corner of the mall, sweeping overwhelmingly toward the spot where the three of them were standing!

Only the three of them still dared to stand openly in their original spot, making them the prime target for these mosquitoes.

Of the dozen or so survivors who had originally been here, the ordeal had left some dead and others injured. Anyone lucky enough to still be alive would have long since found a clever, concealed place to hide.

This large shopping mall covered a considerable area. The first floor alone was packed with various shops—clothing stores, restaurants, and more. Faced with a dense cloud of mosquitoes flying straight at them, the three turned on their heels and darted into a small braised food shop behind them.

Su Xing was the last one in. The moment her back foot crossed the threshold, the shop’s roll-up door was yanked down by Shan Mingxin with a swoosh.

The metal curtain had barely fallen when long, pointed proboscises, as thick as an adult’s arm, stabbed through the gaps in the metal slats. The dense swarm of mosquitoes was blocked outside, their inky black compound eyes staring at them through the door, their bodies, swollen hundreds or thousands of times larger than ordinary mosquitoes, writhing frantically as they tried to squeeze through any crevice.

“Disgusting. If there were fewer of these little things, I might’ve been interested in catching one to study. But there are too many—they’re not cute anymore.” Shan Mingxin walked over to a small dining table against the wall and sat down, her tone tinged with a hint of regret.

“…” Glancing at the wall of writhing proboscises covering the entire door, Su Xing suppressed a retch in her throat and abruptly looked away, retreating from the doorway deeper into the small shop.

The braised food shop had a very narrow storefront, but thankfully, it was deep enough lengthwise. A row of dining tables for customers lined the wall, offering a place to temporarily catch their breath.

“But tell me, is either of you a special blood type? There’s no reason for these mosquitoes to get this frenzied over just a couple of mouthfuls of blood. Every single one of them is desperate to get in and take a sip. You’re scaring me to death.”

Despite her words, Shan Mingxin’s face showed no sense of life-or-death urgency. She casually tossed her long curls back over her shoulder, then looked up, her eyes sparkling, at a food poster stuck to the wall, licking her lips.

Su Xing fought down the remaining wave of nausea and turned her head to look, seeing Plain-Face… no, what was before her now was no longer that plain-featured man’s face, but the face of a stunningly beautiful woman.

“Who exactly are you?” Even though the situation was dire, Su Xing couldn’t help but frown and ask.

After all, she still hadn’t recovered from the bizarre spectacle of that face suddenly changing.

Could it be that the person in front of her wasn’t even human?

“Seriously? You don’t remember me? With a face this stunning? You must both be face-blind!” Shan Mingxin pointed at her own face and complained loudly to Su Xing, who was standing by the wall. “The subway convenience store! This old lady remembers you two perfectly well.”

“But then why are you…” Su Xing stared at the woman across from her, dressed in men’s clothing, at a loss for words. The face, she certainly remembered. But the body? It didn’t match the female doctor she’d first met at all. Especially…

Su Xing’s gaze lowered, her lips pressing together. That chest was clearly a man’s chest.

Noticing her line of sight, Shan Mingxin hooked a smile, puffed out her chest, and laughed coquettishly. “What’s the matter? Jealous of my size?”

“…”

Su Xing looked away and gave a soft “heh.” Although she’d never cared about such things before and actually liked that her own figure looked good in shirts, she certainly wasn’t so flat as to be compared to a man’s chest.

“Oh!” Shan Mingxin looked down at her own body, then looked up with a smile. “Forgot to change my body back. My bad, hehe.”

No sooner had she spoken than the bones throughout her entire body bizarrely began to change. They visibly contracted, shifted out of alignment, and even deformed!

In just a few short seconds, the body that was lean, thin, yet clearly masculine, gradually transformed under the two women’s gazes into a voluptuous and curvaceous one, exuding extreme femininity.

The scene was truly horrifying. Astonishment filled both Su Xing’s and Wen Ruyao’s eyes.

Shan Mingxin puffed out her proud chest, and this time, it felt right. She seemed very pleased with their expressions. Her eyes narrowing slightly, she curled her lip into a smile. “Ah, right, I don’t think I’ve introduced myself yet. Shan Mingxin, former core member of Black Tortoise Technology Research Institute. I’m very much looking forward to being travel companions with you two from now on~”

After her cheerful and generous self-introduction, the expressions on Su Xing’s and Wen Ruyao’s faces across from her were far from relaxed.

From their earlier conversation, it could be vaguely inferred that this person was connected to Black Tortoise Technology, but they hadn’t expected her to be a core member of the company. So why hadn’t she been evacuated beforehand? Why did she want to stay here? And assumed the identity of a strange man…

The metal roll-up door banged loudly as it was rammed from outside. The main doors hadn’t held against these insects, and this flimsy shutter wouldn’t last much longer. Su Xing frowned, forcing herself to shift her attention to the hair-raising “insect wall” outside the door.

“Dr. Shan, I’m afraid now is hardly the time for idle chatter.” Wen Ruyao tucked away the deeper meaning in her eyes, her arms crossed as she straightened slightly from the wall.

“Worried about that buzzing swarm outside?” Shan Mingxin covered her mouth and laughed lightly a few times. “Don’t worry about that. Didn’t we agree before? No matter the situation, I’ll step in to protect you. All you two need to do is drive the car and navigate.”

“So how exactly does Dr. Shan plan to escort us out of here?”

“What’s so hard about that? Although this door’s quality isn’t great, it’ll still hold for a while. Once they break in, you just hide under my bone wings. Even if these mosquitoes mutate diamond-tipped proboscises, they won’t be able to touch you. Once the sky outside finally rains and the swarm disperses, we’ll figure a way out.”

Wen Ruyao frowned. “You mean to stay here and wait? Since you have bone wings, why don’t we just charge straight out?”

“Absolutely not.” Shan Mingxin raised an attractive eyebrow. “This place is crawling with mutant mosquitoes inside and out, and each one is almost half the size of a person. It’ll only be worse outside. Plus, one of you seems to be a juicy morsel that drives these things crazy. Tens of thousands of them pressing down—wouldn’t I be crushed into meat paste if we went out?”

Her words were logical and left no room for argument. But the sky had been overcast since early morning, yet the rain still hadn’t fallen. No one knew how long they’d have to wait. Furthermore, Shan Mingxin had no intention of leaving S City in the first place. But Wen Ruyao and Su Xing were different. The transfer window at the temporary airport was limited to these few days. With the number of military transport planes also being limited, the longer they delayed, the lower their chances of leaving S City. They couldn’t afford to wait.

Understanding that Shan Mingxin wouldn’t go all-out just to help them save time, Wen Ruyao lowered her eyes for a couple of seconds, then softly called Su Xing’s name and walked over to another corner by the wall.

Still agonizing over their escape route, Su Xing paused, then followed a beat later.

The braised food shop was small. In the corner against the wall was a tiny, separate compartment used for preparing ingredients. Pushing aside the curtain to enter, Su Xing nearly bumped into Wen Ruyao, who had suddenly stopped.

The space was already cramped and narrow. Su Xing was about to step back when the hem of her clothes was hooked by Wen Ruyao’s fingers as the woman turned around, tilting her head up to lean close to Su Xing’s ear.

The sudden warmth of her breath tickled Su Xing’s ear. Startled, she began, “You—”

“For the sake of mutual benefit, she probably won’t do anything to us for now. But she’s also not trustworthy.” Wen Ruyao lowered her voice, her red lips opening and closing right by Su Xing’s ear, each word landing clearly and distinctly. “But… Su Xing, can I completely trust you?”

Still out of the loop, Su Xing was stunned by the question. It took her several seconds to respond. “What?”

Wen Ruyao seemed to let out a soft sigh. Because they were so close, Su Xing’s sensitive ear felt that warm breath with exceptional clarity. Her eyelashes fluttered twice unnaturally before Wen Ruyao’s serious and cool voice pulled her back. “We’ve already lost too much time. We can’t wait any longer. I have a way right now to make that mosquito swarm outside disperse immediately.”

Su Xing’s eyes lit up. “What way?”

Of course, a way out was good news. But after she spoke, there was no response for a long moment. Puzzled, she looked down, only to see Wen Ruyao’s lips pressed tightly together, staring intently at her.