MASG chapter 10

 

Xia Yu felt as if he had won the lottery. He was completely dazzled by the assortment of canned food.

“This is…a warehouse, right?” Mi Dou pinched his cheek. “I’m not dreaming, am I?”

Xia Yu immediately ran to the side of the shelves, his eyes were unable to take it all in. There were cans of beef, lamb chops, sweet corn kernels, and small sweet potatoes. He pinched his cheek again, but he couldn’t feel any pain.

The wound on his chin had already healed, the pain was no longer noticeable.

Xia Yu knew this wasn’t a dream; it was real. These things would be enough to feed them for many days. No more going hungry!

“Water! There’s water, too!” Mi Dou twisted open a bottle first and gulped down more than half in several swigs. They were both extremely thirsty and hungry. Before, they hadn’t dared to think about it for survival, but now, the pure water tasted sweet in their mouths.

Naturally, Xia Yu couldn’t hold back either, his only thought was drinking water. Since a jellyfish’s body is mostly water, his craving for water was stronger than that of an ordinary human. A bottle held 800 milliliters. Mi Dou stopped at half, but Xia Yu drank three bottles in one go.

Even that wasn’t his limit. He only realized mid-drink that he had to save some since there might not be more supplies in the coming days.

There were only a dozen bottles of water, but the food was uncountable at a glance. Xia Yu and Mi Dou each chose what they wanted to eat. Mi Dou liked small sweet potatoes and sweet corn because, due to his bear gene, he loved sweets. Xia Yu, on the other hand, preferred meat.

The jellyfish DNA he had fused with must have been carnivorous—preying on lots of plankton and small fish every year!

The beef cubes and lamb chops were cold, yet they were the most delicious food Xia Yu had ever tasted. As he watched his small belly bulge, he licked his lips, set down the empty can, and let out a burp.

“Burp!” Mi Dou also burped.

Only at that moment did they reveal their childlike nature, exchanging a smile as they relaxed completely.

“This place is so great! If only there were always this much good food!” Mi Dou said. He had never seen such an abundance of supplies in his life.

“No, once we rest, we still have to go out. This place might not be safe.” Xia Yu ran to Mo An’s side and peered through the egg membrane to look inside.

“It’s thanks to Mo An!” Mi Dou crouched down too, and they both peeked inside together.

But Mo An, who had been sparking and glowing earlier, was now motionless, as if asleep. Xia Yu didn’t think this was good news. “Not good. He’s running out of nutrients. I have to find a nutrient solution!”

“Right now?” Mi Dou’s heart jumped again. “What if that person hasn’t gone far? You can’t discharge electricity.”

“If I run into him, I’ll die. But if I don’t find a nutrient injection, Mo An will die too.” Xia Yu pressed his little hands against the egg and rubbed his cheek against it. He wished so badly to see Mo An’s real form. “I don’t want Mo An to die.”

Mi Dou didn’t speak. Then, mustering all his courage, he said: “Then I’ll go. I can definitely run faster than you. If I meet a bad guy, I can run away!”

“No, I’ll go.” Xia Yu knew that Mi Dou was in more danger outside. He feared pain and, once hurt, couldn’t regenerate or make his body transparent. Just as Xia Yu was about to move, his wristband finally lit up. He couldn’t wait any longer. “Jingwei! Jingwei! We’ve already entered the power plant!”

Jingwei: [Very good. Now that you’re at the edge of the power plant, report your situation.]

Mi Dou asked foolishly. “Where did you go just now? We ran into someone who can turn into a bug.”

Jingwei: [Just now, I… I’m sorry, but that’s information you don’t have clearance for yet. But I can address your concern—someone who can turn into a bug must be a parasite host. Parasite hosts are faster than I expected.]

Xia Yu urgently asked, “What’s really happening outside? What are parasite people and parasite hosts?”

Mi Dou also pricked up his ears to listen.

Jingwei: [Alright, I’ll explain. Before I answer, I have one good news and one bad news. Which do you want to hear first?]

Xia Yu didn’t hesitate. “The good news. I want to feel happier.”

Jingwei: [Alright. The good news is that the ground-level cleansing operation has been completely finished. Nüwa now officially controls the global network, and the new social order has been fully established. As long as you don’t resist machine rule, you won’t be killed.]

“What about the bad news?” Xia Yu vaguely felt uneasy.

Jingwei: [The bad news is that in the new social order, genetically modified humans are in the sixth rank, which is currently the second-to-last. Citizens in ranks one through five will have more power than you and will be able to govern you.]

“Second-to-last? Is there someone lower than me?” Xia Yu had already guessed as much and wasn’t too sad about it. After all, the status of gene-modified people had never been high. Now, at least, there were some below them.

Jingwei: [First-class citizens are conscious full-machines, all obeying Nuwa, and have already formed the Machine Omnipotent Cult, any protest against its doctrine will get you killed. Second-class citizens are half-machines. Wealthy humans who have undergone machine modifications, even if it’s just one finger or ear, are classified as second class.]

“Machine Omnipotent Cult…” Xia Yu repeated under his breath.

Jingwei: [Third-class citizens are mutants—that is, naturally occurring anomalies that have been identified and classified. There are already more than ten registered types of mutants.”

Xia Yu nodded. If Mo An could hatch successfully, he would be a third-class citizen. Good, his rank was higher, his life would be much more comfortable.

Jingwei: [Fourth-class citizens are the parasite hosts I mentioned. A hundred years ago, genetic pollution spread and mutated animals and plants completed their evolution to form humanoid mimics. Parasite hosts are dangerous and seek to expand their groups of parasites, hence the fifth class of citizens: parasite people. The bug man you met was most likely a parasite person.]

Xia Yu immediately asked, “Was he accidentally parasitized? He was parasitized by a leech!”

Jingwei: [Not passively parasitized, but actively. Once parasitized, natural humans become fifth-class citizens under the protection of a parasite host and are no longer at the very bottom. This is the only way for natural humans without the resources to modify themselves with machines to climb the ranks. They can only seek out parasite hosts for shelter. However, the parasitization process is very unstable—some survive, and some mutate.

“Then it’s my turn and Mi Dou’s, right?” Xia Yu looked at Mi Dou’s bear ears.

Jingwei: [Yes, next is you, sixth-class citizens. Former first-class citizens, natural humans, have now become the true bottom and are almost gone. They’ve either turned into second-class half-machines or fifth-class parasite people. Even though you’re sixth-class, you’re basically at the bottom.]

After hearing this, Mi Dou and Xia Yu were speechless. They were still too young, outside conflicts didn’t concern them. Suddenly being at the bottom didn’t feel good, though.

“Fine. The bottom is the bottom. Anyway, the X series was useless. If I meet higher-class citizens in the future who want to hurt me, I’ll just beg them to let me go. I’m just a piece of trash.” Xia Yu accepted reality in half a minute. “So, since it isn’t dangerous outside anymore, can we go out? Do we still need to enter the power plant?”

Jingwei: [Yes, the power plant is very important. As for why, I don’t have clearance to view the details right now.]

Xia Yu could only nod. “All right, but I need your help. I need to find a nutrient injection for Mo An. Can you tell me how to get up there? Where’s the nearest energy pharmacy?”

Jingwei: [That’s no problem. Xia Yu, be careful of everything around you. This world is very dangerous for you.]

Xia Yu knew this, of course. He always wanted to give up, forget it, muddle along, or die. But whenever he thought of Mo An, he found the strength to fulfill Professor Wang Qin’s last wish. However, saving the world was too big of a task. How could he take everything back from Nuwa? She was an artificial intelligence, and she was part of the Machine Omnipotent Cult.

After receiving detailed directions, Xia Yu made full preparations. The storage room contained not only food and water but also spare work clothes. Xia Yu finally took off the surgical gown and changed into normal clothes. However, the pants were too long and needed to be rolled up, and the jacket was too big, making him look like a mushroom.

“You have to protect Mo An. If I die, take him and escape.” Xia Yu gave the weapon to Mi Dou again and, before leaving, patted the fish egg once more.

He could see Mo An moving and sleeping uneasily, surely, he was starving.

“Mo An, you have to be good. I’m going to find you something tasty. When I come back, you won’t be hungry anymore!” Not knowing how to comfort him, Xia Yu carefully pressed his lips against the egg and kissed it.

After he left, the starving and sleeping Mo An shed a blue diamond tear from the corner of his eye. His first mermaid tear sank to the bottom of the egg onto the tail fin that could not fully spread due to a lack of blood supply.

When he returned to the surface, the outside world was unrecognizable to Xia Yu.

He crawled out of a manhole unnoticed. With fresh chunks of blood, organs, and limbs everywhere, one could imagine how many wealthy people had undergone machine modification surgery in the last two days. Just as he was thinking this, a man with a new mechanical eye passed by. Nuwa’s rebellion hadn’t shaken his life much.

His new eye looked useful, like a tiny telescope, letting him see farther and more clearly. There were no scars on the edge of the eye socket, indicating that the eye replacement surgery was very precise.

Another man brushed past, limping, one leg was silver metal, yet blood still flowed down his pants.

Even among the wealthy who could afford surgery, there were levels. What a strange world.

As he walked, Xia Yu cautiously watched and saw many half-mechanical people along the way. A woman’s left hand had been replaced with a mechanical hand, and she still wore a huge ring on her fingers. A man’s neck had been completely replaced with machinery; his head could turn all the way around. He walked and paused before finally reaching the energy pharmacy.

The pharmacy door had been blown apart and no one had cleaned up yet.

Now was his chance! Penniless and desperate, he rushed inside and became a thief. He picked up a big sack from the ground and grabbed every scattered nutrient solution he could see, wanting to bring it all back. When the sack was full, he ran along the shadows of the street and quickly dove back into the manhole before being discovered. He safely returned to the storage room.

Luckily, he was only gone half an hour this time, beyond smoothly. When he knocked, Mi Dou jumped in fright and asked, “Who?”

“It’s me! It’s me!” Xia Yu shouted happily. “I brought the nutrient injections back!”

“Great!” Mi Dou, who had been worried the whole time, was overjoyed and hurried to open the door. The moment the door opened, Xia Yu nearly jumped with excitement. He shook the sack in his hand and smiled from ear to ear.

“Look! Here! I got so many!”

But the scene he expected didn’t happen. Mi Dou didn’t hug him in joy, instead, he looked behind him. A chill ran through Xia Yu as dread crawled up his spine again.

“Did I bring anything back?” he asked stiffly.

Mi Dou had forgotten how to nod. After opening the door, he first saw Xia Yu, and then he saw the person following him.

It was hard to tell whether they were male or female. They appeared stretched to two or three meters tall with pale skin covered in mold.

Mo An, who was sleeping in the fish egg, stirred. The openings of his gills continued to widen. His white gills turned tender red as they engorged with blood and began filtering the amniotic fluid. From that moment on, the mermaid’s gills were officially activated.