MASG chapter 107

 

It could sense Xia Yu.

Mo An suddenly relaxed completely, as if he were holding a bright lamp in his hand. “Little Blue knows everything.”

“What did I say? What did I say!” Excitement filled Mi Dou as he showed off to Talos. “I told you a long time ago that Little Blue has intelligence and emotions!”

“All right, all right, keep your voice down,” Talos said, rubbing his ears. “I completely believe it now. The situation in Yukun City is unclear; danger lurks around every corner. If you get any louder, you’ll draw all the danger over here.”

Mi Dou widened his eyes and instantly covered his mouth. Talos was right. They weren’t on the ship or in Qingyao City. This was the infamous dead city, Yukun City. Without Ling Shi’s help, no one could get in.

“Now, I have two plans,” Talos said, getting straight to business. “Plan A: First, we find a suitable place to stay overnight and wait for Lao Gui to rendezvous with us. Plan B is to not stay overnight, push straight in, and leave marks along the way. Within one day, our movement path won’t be too complicated; he can catch up to us.”

“I choose Plan A.” Mi Dou raised his hand to speak.

“I also choose A.” Mo An raised his hand as well. “Lao Gui’s life is still a life. It’s too dangerous for him to chase us alone.”

“Alright.” Talos smiled, adopting a relaxed attitude to ease the tension. “We’re few in number, so let’s not split up.”

“That’s right; there are only three of us. Splitting up at a time like this would be like splitting heads,” Mo An said. He knew the danger around them—one careless move and the head would be separated from the body.

Without delay, Talos took out the device to detect surrounding life systems once again. But after looking at the screen, he frowned.

“Strange. It shows no signs of life nearby, yet there are life systems and energy exchange,” he said. “Better be careful. This place isn’t simple.”

Ling Shi: [I’ll keep cheering you on, partners!]

“All right, I hope you can bring us some good luck,” Mo An said, accepting it, though he was helpless. He had no choice, even if he didn’t want to. But after being a deep-sea fish for more than half a year, Mo An wasn’t as helpless as before. In the past, he relied heavily on high-tech products. Without one of them, it felt like he had lost a limb. Now, he himself was the greatest safeguard.

Intuition.

The sea breeze brushed against his face, and Mo An could sense differences in the natural air. By reaching out and touching the sand and soil, he could tell if the area was polluted. In the past, he was covered in tools. Now, he was the tool.

“Go that way.” Mo An pointed toward the northeast.

“How do you know?” Talos asked.

“Raindrops will tell me everything.” Mo An looked at the large, corroded layers on the metal ruins. Drops of acid rain had pierced through their outer shells. “A few months ago, there was acid rain. Now, green plants are growing in the soil again and are about to cover up the traces of the acid rain.”

“But the vegetation in the northeast isn’t thriving,” Mi Dou said, comparing both sides. The northeast was relatively barren.

“That means the acidity there is stronger,” Mo An continued. “From a natural development perspective, if there are monster species, parasitic humans, or parasitic hosts nearby, they will definitely choose places with better ecological conditions. We need to go against them and reduce direct conflict as much as possible. From the perspective of super-evolution and experiments, do you still remember the mutant humans that Silver Fang killed on Frozen Island?”

Talos and Mi Dou nodded at the same time.

“Mutants have strongly alkaline blood. The mutants I’ve seen in the deep sea also have it. Their activity range will definitely show neutral soil environments due to acid-base neutralization. We need to avoid those, too.” Mo An finished his analysis. A few days ago, he had found out that those ecological humans hadn’t been killed by the mermaid but by Mi Dou and the others at the research institute.

The research institute where he and Xia Yu had grown up still existed. Mi Dou and the others destroyed the main body, and only then were the offspring in the seawater completely destroyed.

However, this wasn’t good news either. The mutant bodies on Frozen Island were first generation. The fusion of human limbs was extremely complex and obviously not normal. The gills hadn’t fully evolved. But the ones in the sea were already second or even Nth generation. Its appearance was normal. Nuwa abandoned the gill-slit development route, enabling these ecological weapons to no longer rely on oxygen, but rather, to use anaerobic mycelium control.

They were evolving, and so was Nuwa.

It was like a competition where neither side dared to relax, racing against time. They were on one side, and Nuwa was on the other. There was a huge information gap between the two sides, and their evolution speeds were also different.

Following Mo An’s plans, everyone settled into a dilapidated seaside apartment in the northeast. This place had once been a tourist hotspot. During peak season, a whole row of sea-view apartments used to be in short supply. Now, as far as the eye could see, there were spider webs and dust floating in the air, creating an unpleasant smell. But for them, this was already a decent environment. After a quick cleanup, they settled in.

Talos lit a campfire on the balcony facing the sea.

“This will serve as a lighthouse,” Talos said, aiming the campfire toward the sea. “If they come, they should be able to see the light.”

Mi Dou took an energy bar out of his bag, handed one to Talos, and gave another to Mo An. “Eat a bit. We need to keep our strength up.”

“I’m not hungry.” Mo An shook his head. He really couldn’t eat anything. He had been away from Xia Yu for so long that it made him afraid. Now that he was getting closer, his fear doubled.

In more than half a year, Nuwa could do many things. How would it deal with Xia Yu, the “thorn in its eye”? Although it couldn’t hurt him, it had plenty of other methods. The best possible outcome would be for it to imprison Xia Yu, feed him well, treat him well, and never let him out for the rest of his life.

That would be the best-case scenario. But what if Nuwa started using Xia Yu for experiments? What then? Mo An covered his eyes in frustration and sat on the ground, feeling powerless. He was afraid that no matter what he did, he would always be one step too late.

“Eat one piece.” Mi Dou was already eating and deliberately showed Mo An, chewing hard. “Look at me. Only when I’m full can I keep up with your speed. You’re our main force; you can’t go hungry. Rescuing Xia Yu depends on you.”

The energy bar was almost poking his nose. Mo An gave a bitter smile. “All right, I’ll eat.”

“That’s more like it.” Mi Dou was the best at comforting people. He broke off a piece of the bar and fed it to the jellyfish. “I have a feeling everything will go smoothly.”

“Then I’ll borrow your good words.” Mo An twisted open a bottle of water and quickly replenished his energy.

After eating, they didn’t go anywhere. They didn’t take risks or indulge their curiosity; they just waited quietly for the main force to assemble. At night, they took turns sleeping while listening to the sound of the waves, one person per shift. Just as the sky began to turn faintly bright, footsteps sounded beside the nearly burned-out campfire.

“Whoa, slept pretty well, huh?” Lao Gui greeted them. “Hey, good morning, everyone!”

Mo An instantly woke up and shook Mi Dou, who was sleeping on the same bed as him. Talos got up, high-fived Lao Gui, and bumped fists with Silver Fang behind him. “Everyone’s here.

“We had no choice but to come.” Silver Fang pointed outside at the metal cargo boxes. “All the gear is here. When do we move?”

Everyone pushed the cargo boxes inside together. When they opened the boxes, they were amazed. Inside were all the latest weapons, probably obtained by Yan Xia using her position. There were also full sets of black combat suits, which were ideal for concealment. Mo An didn’t waste time and immediately changed into one. He used to be like this in his memories—wearing all-black training gear and appearing and disappearing without a trace.

“Hold your guns properly. Everyone has a main gun and a secondary gun.” Silver Fang was in charge of distributing them. “Most of the special equipment is with me. Just follow my commands.”

Even Mi Dou had changed into training gear. That alone showed how dangerous the road ahead would be. Half an hour later, everyone synchronized their mechanical watches and completed the time calibration.

“Ling Shi, we’re setting off now,” Talos said.

Ling Shi: [I wish you good luck. I will remind you frequently to calibrate time and prevent you from entering a corruption zone of time distortion without realizing it. Other than that, I am of no use.]

“It’s fine. We’ll handle it ourselves.” Mo An touched the crystal pendant. xla, we’re here. I’m here.

The formation advanced in a V shape. Silver Fang was at the very front. Mi Dou and Mo An were in the second row. Talos and Lao Gui were in the back, equipped with rear-view devices. The dock was chaotic, with various ships, aircraft, bones, and plants mixed together and piled into mountains that formed like a man-made maze with no exit.

“Go left.” Relying on his sense of direction, Mo An found the path once again.

The entire journey was eerily quiet. Not a single creature moved, not even the plants, as if the entire city had been sealed in plastic and frozen in time. After the dock was a straight passageway. The gray-white road surface was eroded by acid rain. Some sections were broken, while others were extremely fragile—just stepping on them would turn them into powder.

The powder turned into dust, leaving gray-white footprints behind.

“So quiet,” Silver Fang said suddenly as they walked.

“It really is quiet.” Lao Gui nodded. “Yan Xia, how is it on your side?”

Yan Xia was a remote-control technical operator with multiple roles. She took a moment to respond. “All good. Qingyao City is completely normal. I sent you the Yukun City map yesterday. You can refer to it now.”

“There’s not much reference value,” Lao Gui said as he looked around. “The nearby modifications are obvious. You can tell at a glance that they’re not man-made.”

“Then it’s monster-species modification,” Yan Xia reminded them. “According to the latest data, over eighty percent of monster species exhibit nesting behavior, especially during breeding season. They alter human structures—”

“Careful!” Silver Fang said, stopping first.

Yan Xia immediately fell silent to avoid causing trouble for her distant companions. Everyone on site was standing on the straight road with no suitable cover around. Based on his extensive combat experience, Mo An determined that they were exposed.

Ahead was a crossroads.

The intersection looked very similar to those in Qingyao City. The urban planning was nearly identical. What was missing were lighting control devices and aircraft platforms. The buildings in all four directions were tilted; none stood straight. Some only had load-bearing walls and steel frameworks left; all other details had been reduced to dust.

The entire city looked as if it had been annihilated.

No one heard anything, but Silver Fang’s device captured sound waves that the human ear couldn’t detect. Silver Fang slowly reached toward his belt and took out a can-shaped piece of metal. He pressed it once…

The small can opened, releasing pale blue mist.

At first, the mist was semi-transparent. As it spread, it became fully transparent. Mo An felt the surrounding water molecules increase, creating a slight pulling sensation on his skin. His breathing stalled when he saw a group of creatures crossing the road.

Parasitic humans?

They were people who had lost all autonomous consciousness. Their eyes were completely corroded, and their noses and ears had become abnormally protruded. Long-term acid rain had corroded their clothes. They were all naked, their bodies covered in scars.

Silver Fang gestured for everyone to stay quiet.

Even Little Blue, which had been glowing the whole time, dimmed, frightened by the surrounding tension and danger. It shrunk into a small lump.

Mo An held his breath, waiting for the group of parasitic humans to pass by. The parasitic humans had already appeared—so where was the parasitic host? It shouldn’t be far. Just as he thought this, the road beneath his feet began to ripple as if it had turned into gelatin.

They had encountered the parasitic host!

This road itself was it!!