Chapter 215: Glowing Ooze
The “big brother who turned into light” and the “big sister who didn’t return the blood crystals” that Huayibai mentioned were, in fact, Gaishu and Furukawa Hana.
These two Awakened could be considered the strongest in Japan. Their sacrifice, allowing Huayibai to successfully invade the Living Weapon, was a testament to their belief in ensuring the survival of the people on this land.
The only regret was that they didn’t witness it themselves.
As for the “red lightbulb little sister,” Huayibai couldn’t observe what happened to her after entering the Living Weapon.
Hopefully, she survived. Regardless of her reasons for fighting the Living Weapon, she was a hero of Japan.
After all, even No. 5 was still alive, though completely incapacitated.
She would try logging in and repairing No. 5 after a few hours of rest, once her mental strength recovered.
Without rushing to claim the system compensation, Lin Jiayao looked at her sister, whose expression was somewhat heavy, patted her shoulder, and comforted her:
“At least they protected what they wanted to protect. Don’t be too sad.”
Hearing her sister’s words, Lin Xiwan nodded slightly, hesitated, and then sighed again.
Lin Xiwan, after hearing her sister’s repeated accounts, was very clear about the situation by the sea.
Even if they blocked this threat, more seabed creatures would continue to land.
Even without A-ranks, the current weakened Japanese Awakened, having lost their strongest fighters, couldn’t handle even B-rank seabed zombies coming ashore.
In other words, their sacrifice only delayed the inevitable destruction of the island nation. This wouldn’t change.
This was the cruelest aspect of the apocalypse. Sacrifice and effort only postponed despair.
“It’s okay, Sister, we still have Huayibai.” Lin Jiayao held her sister’s hand, gently squeezing her palm. “After she devours that A-rank, even if she doesn’t evolve, she can create a giant fish body to cross the Yellow Sea.”
“Then, she can transport the survivors to the mainland, and their sacrifice won’t be in vain.”
Hearing her sister’s comforting words, Lin Xiwan’s perspective broadened.
Right, even though Huayibai couldn’t transform into a giant flying insect, she could transform into a giant fish.
A veritable ark, carrying the hope of survival.
“Amazing! Go, Huayibai!” A smile returned to Lin Xiwan’s face. She reached out and pinched Huayibai’s cheek, offering encouragement.
“Go for it.” Lin Jiayao echoed, joining her sister in pinching Huayibai’s cheek.
“Huh? Okay! Huayibai will do her best!”
Although Huayibai didn’t know what was happening, encouraged by her mommy, she puffed out her chest and nodded vigorously, readily agreeing.
Seeing the atmosphere lighten, Lin Jiayao began giving Huayibai some instructions.
Before completely devouring the Living Weapon and immobilizing it, she needed to send the prepared mycelium to the Blue Serpent’s corpse to begin the invasion and devouring process, preventing it from waking up.
The Giant Blue Serpent wasn’t like the Living Weapon. It was intelligent, capable of communication, and its mental power definitely surpassed both the Living Weapon and Huayibai.
The devouring had to begin while it was unconscious. If it woke up, the consequences would be disastrous.
After giving Huayibai these specific instructions, Lin Jiayao temporarily put aside the matter of Japan.
Next, she needed to prepare to control A4 and Mask for defense.
Distant water couldn’t quench present thirst. Although they had achieved a temporary victory in Japan, the seabed zombies landing from Yangzhou City were still advancing inland, and Lin Jiayao didn’t know how far they had gotten.
She just needed to have Mask and A4 return to defend and hold back the seabed zombies, buying time for Huayibai to finish devouring.
Having Mask or A4 extract directly on the horde’s path would allow the system to take over the defense. It was very convenient, like placing a “turret” in a tower defense game.
As for the system warnings?
There were no real penalties, so she could just let it warn her. Let it be happy.
After giving Huayibai her instructions, Lin Jiayao was about to close her eyes, claim the system compensation, and check for new buildings.
Just as she was about to tell her sister she was going to lie down for a bit, she noticed her sister staring at her chest.
Lin Jiayao looked down at her chest, but found nothing unusual. Puzzled, she looked at her sister again.
“Sister? What are you looking at?” Lin Jiayao asked directly.
She knew her sister wasn’t the type to stare at her private parts for no reason, so she just asked.
Hearing her sister’s question, Lin Xiwan averted her gaze, a little uncertain.
“I keep hearing a strange sound… Don’t move.”
Lin Xiwan placed her hand on her sister’s shoulder, leaned down slightly, and pressed her ear against her sister’s chest, listening intently.
She definitely hadn’t misheard.
Lin Xiwan was very sensitive to heartbeats, but after her sister woke up, she couldn’t hear it anymore, replaced by a faint buzzing sound… It was very strange.
Lin Xiwan had initially been worried something was wrong with her sister’s body, but her sister had been acting normally, so she hadn’t asked.
Now, finally finding an opportunity, she wanted to confirm.
Seeing her sister pressed against her, Lin Jiayao finally understood the source of her sister’s confusion.
It was the [Turbine Heart Pump], the recently acquired evolution that allowed her to control her heart rate and blood flow, sending blood crystals to her limbs at an accelerated rate.
Her original heart had been replaced by the new pump, so naturally, there was no traditional heartbeat.
“My heart was modified by a new evolution…” Lin Jiayao said, lifting her shirt, intending to explain.
Quickly realizing this wouldn’t be very helpful, given her exposed skin, she scooted under the covers.
Holding up her shirt with one hand and beckoning to her sister with the other, Lin Jiayao said, “Come here.”
“Ah… ah?” Seeing Lin Jiayao’s actions, Lin Xiwan’s face flushed crimson, her mind short-circuiting.
“You, you, you… I…”
Looking at Lin Jiayao under the covers, Lin Xiwan stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence.
After a moment of hesitation, glancing at Huayibai, who had already listened to her sister’s instructions, laid back down, closed her eyes, and focused on her task, Lin Xiwan hesitantly lifted the edge of the quilt and slipped under.
As soon as she was under the covers, enveloped in the darkness, warmth, and her sister’s milky scent, her heart began to race. She could feel her sister’s cool hand gently cupping her chin, turning her instinctively averted face towards her chest.
“Look, Sister,” Lin Jiayao activated Turbine Heart Pump, and a rapid whirring sound emanated from her chest. Accompanying the buzzing, a blue light, emanating from the heart pump, shone through her skin and onto her sister’s face. “It glows.”
Looking at the blue light, Lin Xiwan opened her mouth, speechless.
“Um… it does glow…” After a long pause, Lin Xiwan finally managed to utter these words.
Then, her sister lowered her shirt, emerged from under the covers, looked at her sister who also came out, and explained seriously:
“This ability just changed the structure of my heart. It doesn’t actually affect my body, and there’s no discomfort or anything…”
After explaining her evolutionary ability to her sister and assuring her that she was fine, Lin Jiayao finally saw her sister nod stiffly.
“Okay, then I’ll lie down for a few more minutes, and later…” Lin Jiayao glanced at the darkened sky. “Do you want to go plant brains with me?”
Lin Xiwan, having just recovered from being under the covers with her sister, immediately shook her head. “No, no… I’ll go check on the ash area… see if the people from Wangxi have arrived…”
Digging tunnels in the dark to plant brains, with only glowing bugs for illumination… just thinking about it made Lin Xiwan’s scalp crawl.
“Remember to tell me where you plant them.” Lin Xiwan added.
She definitely didn’t want to step foot anywhere near the brain-planting site.
“Okay.” Lin Jiayao nodded and instructed, “If you need me, just crush one of the little bugs on the road. I can sense it.”
“Okay…”
Lin Xiwan nodded, then watched as her sister lay back down, and she finally relaxed.
Facing the prospect of “planting brains,” her sister’s expression and tone didn’t change at all. Before, she could even taste the fluids of an unknown zombie without changing her expression…
Lin Xiwan was very worried about her sister’s mental state.
Perhaps it was because, aside from interacting with her, her sister had spent almost half of her childhood alone in her room. And recently, apart from talking to her and Huayibai, she only interacted with zombies.
Lin Xiwan was afraid that if this continued, her sister would completely lose the ability to communicate normally with people, and her thinking would gradually shift towards that of a zombie.
No, she had to find opportunities to let her sister interact with other girls her age, make some friends, and prevent her sister from becoming so “withdrawn.”
Actually, Lin Jiayao herself also realized that her way of thinking and mental state were gradually becoming different from ordinary people, but because things kept piling up, Lin Jiayao didn’t have much time to think about how to adjust.
Mainly, she also felt that it wasn’t necessary, because these things wouldn’t bring any substantial improvement to her strength.
After hearing her sister lift the vine curtain and leave, Lin Jiayao opened the system interface in the darkness and directly claimed the unclaimed rewards from earlier.
The new [Safehouse Lv.4], the new building [Research Lab Lv.1], and 25 Blood Crystals.
These 25 Blood Crystals were probably the amount calculated by the system to be just enough to repair No. 5’s body, so Lin Jiayao directly exchanged all 25 for Blood Crystal Serum and put them in the new Safehouse with exactly 25 slots.
The new Safehouse now had 25 slots, almost enough to hold all the supplies Lin Jiayao needed for battle.
Even if she encountered difficult enemies in the future, she could rely on the supplies in the Safehouse to go on a drug spree, which was equivalent to increasing her Blood Crystal reserves and enhancing her strength.
After claiming the system compensation, Lin Jiayao opened the Hideout, scanned around, and found the “Research Lab” next to the library in a corner.
It was a strangely shaped, pure black brain, with tiny starlight moving along the neural pathways inside. If you ignored the shape of the brain, it looked like a miniature spherical universe.
Lin Jiayao clicked on this strange brain, and soon, a long list appeared in front of her.
[Please select the evolution to be researched]
[Sorted by initial acquisition time ↓↑]
[[Blood Rage Lv.1 (Blue)]]
[Blood Crystals required for upgrade: 500g]
[Research time: 30min]
[[Bone Manipulator Lv.3 (Gold)]]
[Blood Crystals required for upgrade: 30000g]
[Research time: 6h]
[[Bone Spike Lurker Lv.3 (Gray)]]
[Blood Crystals required for upgrade: 300g]
[Research time: 15min]
[[Bone Skin]…]
Could she directly upgrade the evolutions she had already acquired here?
Damn, so expensive!
Perhaps because Bone Manipulator was already Lv.3, when the price appeared, the string of zeros behind it startled Lin Jiayao.
But…
Although it was expensive, it was definitely not a loss.
No, it wasn’t just not a loss, it was even a huge profit.
With this [Research Lab Lv.1], it meant that in the future, Lin Jiayao only needed to retain the initial evolution and could directly max it out with Blood Crystals!
Which meant…
Just as this thought crossed Lin Jiayao’s mind, the list in front of her quickly scrolled and locked onto a specific entry.
[[Spirit Lv.4 (White)]]
[Blood Crystals required for upgrade: 1000g]
[Research time: 1h]
Two Blood Crystals could directly upgrade her mental power?
Wasn’t this faster than growing brains?
Lin Jiayao glanced at her Blood Crystal Box. There were still a little more than one hundred and twelve Blood Crystals inside. She directly took out two and threw them into the [Research Lab Lv.1].
The icon representing spirit dimmed, entering a one-hour countdown.
It was a pity that she couldn’t research them simultaneously… otherwise, she could upgrade many evolutions at the same time. Although her Blood Crystals were not enough to upgrade several golden evolutions, upgrading some practical small evolutions was still more than enough.
Perhaps after the Research Lab reached a higher level, it would unlock simultaneous evolution.
Lin Jiayao’s consciousness exited the Research Lab interface and looked at other places in the Hideout.
The warehouse had been built, but there were still no new evolutions or buildings appearing…
Lin Jiayao had a faint feeling that after her [Spirit Lv.4] was upgraded, there would be a large number of new buildings and new upgrades, just like when her mental power increased before.
As for the result, she could only wait for the Research Lab to be completed.
Lin Jiayao exited the Hideout and the system interface, and opened her eyes again.
The appearance of the [Research Lab] made Lin Jiayao very happy. She supported herself and leaned against the headboard, then looked down at Huayibai.
Huayibai was still sleeping, probably seriously controlling her body in Japan to devour. Lin Jiayao reached out and touched her head, then took out a bottle of Huayibai Happy Water from the warehouse and placed it on her bedside table.
When she woke up and couldn’t find her, she could first drink the Happy Water to ease her mind.
Mycelium split from Lin Jiayao’s palm, and using the skills trained in the training ground, she wove and mimicked a fluffy chibi version of herself, and then Lin Jiayao stuffed the small doll into Huayibai’s arms.
Huayibai, with her eyes closed, seemed to feel something. After the chibi Lin Jiayao was stuffed into her arms, she immediately hugged it tightly, a faint smile appearing on her face.
It seemed that it felt very good and she was very satisfied.
Lin Jiayao lifted the quilt, raised her left hand and released mycelium, and the vines and mycelium that emerged from the ground intertwined, forming a simple wheelchair.
After moving her body and sitting on it, Lin Jiayao directly pushed it and went out.
The sky was already completely dark, but fortunately, Lin Jiayao had quite a few night vision abilities, and she wasn’t very worried about the difference between night and day.
Countless little green bugs flew in front of Lin Jiayao, clearing the way for her, and behind her, a flesh and blood person made of mycelium was pushing her wheelchair.
Originally, Lin Jiayao wanted to use slightly stronger white bugs to push the wheelchair, but the sound of the insects flapping their wings was a bit too loud, so she ultimately chose her mycelium clone.
Let’s find a place a little further away from the residential area… her sister didn’t seem to like seeing those yellow and white brains.
Oh, no, normal people wouldn’t like to see a pile of soft, wriggling brains.
If she remembered correctly, the Black Stem Fungus seemed to like water just like Huayibai. In that case, the choice of location seemed to be narrowed down a lot.
Finally, Lin Jiayao chose Kunzhou Waterfall Park, which was very far from the residential area.
Let the Building-Tree Guardian dig a deep pit by the waterfall, the Black Stem Fungus could live in the lake, and the created brains could be piled up in the deep pit.
With the building-tree’s root system as structural columns, there was no need to worry about the pit collapsing and crushing the brains.
After arriving at the scene according to the images from the green bugs, Lin Jiayao began to command the Building-Tree Guard beside her to uproot itself and start digging.
While the Building-Tree Guard was working diligently, Lin Jiayao took out a Black Stem Fungus spore from the Item Storage Box and placed it on the stone pier in front of her.
