Chapter 13: The Mutation Core
The situation changed too quickly.
Likely enraged by the deaths of its monkey kin, a mutated old monkey king went berserk.
It grabbed a railing and shook it violently, screeching madly. Not satisfied with just that, it charged straight at Qin Luo, its mouth gaping into a bloody maw. Those sharp fangs were enough to make anyone's blood run cold.
The other monkeys became even more agitated, their collective shrieks causing ear-splitting noise.
It was extremely painful.
Chen Xiaofei couldn't help but curse, "Can't win in a fight so you're resorting to sonic attacks, huh?!"
Xu Duoduo became the calmest person among them all. After all, she didn't have the scent of flesh and blood, and she wasn't screaming, so she didn't attract the monkey horde's attention.
Wang Weihu also noticed something. He shouted at the survivors to stop yelling, as the more they yelled, the more excited the monkey horde became. These creatures were inherently vicious and bullied the weak while fearing the strong. "Use whatever you have in your hands to fight back!" he roared.
He couldn't protect everyone by himself. His angry shouts reached the survivors' ears, and a small portion of them finally remembered to fight back.
The monkey horde wasn't having it easy either.
Xu Duoduo couldn't stay safe forever. Soon, some monkeys set their sights on her too.
Fortunately, she was more agile at night than during the day.
She rolled on the ground, dodging a crazed monkey that had lunged at her.
Chen Xiaofei and Bai Shu both glanced in her direction. Seeing that she knew how to dodge, they breathed a sigh of relief before returning to their own battles. They had to eliminate this monkey horde; it seemed endless. How could there be so many monkeys?
Other survivors couldn't help but shout out this question too.
Until someone mentioned that K City's zoo had the most monkeys, which explained why so many had escaped.
The entire factory area was in chaos.
Xu Duoduo was also dodging monkeys on her side. As she rolled, blood stuck to her, seeping through her clothes and clinging to her skin, making her extremely uncomfortable.
At the same time, she discovered that her body was much more agile. While running, she picked up scattered cans and threw them at the monkeys. Her aim was surprisingly good.
She hit her target every time.
After one can exploded a mutant monkey's head, even Chen Xiaofei had to shout, "Little Monitor, that was awesome! You're as good as Qin-ge!"
Xu Duoduo had no time to bask in the praise because her resistance had drawn the attention of the monkey horde. The number of mutant monkeys chasing her increased from one to four or five.
Each mutant monkey was quite large, with mouths split to their ears, constantly dripping saliva mixed with blood and filth - truly disgusting.
Xu Duoduo frowned as she ran to the fire escape, only to find it was a dead end. She could only lean against the wall, staring at the several mutant monkeys opposite her. Their blood-red eyes looked especially terrifying under the emergency lights.
She steadied herself, but the mutant monkeys didn't give her much time. They immediately pounced.
In the next second, she pulled out a chainsaw. With a roar, it started up, its loud buzzing filling the air.
Xu Duoduo's legs were shaking, but her hands gripping the chainsaw were steady. Her expression showed no fear - of course, she couldn't really express fear now anyway.
...
By the time Chen Xiaofei and Bai Shu had finished dealing with the mutant monkeys in the factory area and rushed to Xu Duoduo's location, they fell silent at the scene before them.
She was covered in blood and gore, holding a chainsaw. The ceiling, floor, and walls were splattered with mutant monkey limbs and blood.
What a horrifying scene!
Chen Xiaofei and Bai Shu's expressions turned serious, with Bai Shu gripping his gun tightly.
"L-Little Monitor?" Chen Xiaofei called out.
He really didn't want to face the reality that his old classmate had completely lost her mind. The apocalypse had already taken away too many friends and family; having one more familiar face was incredibly precious. Moreover, Little Monitor was truly a good person.
And she had so many cans in her spatial storage; her spatial ability was very important.
Both for public and personal reasons, they hoped she was alright.
Bai Shu also felt heavy-hearted, fearing that Xu Duoduo might not recognize them.
But the little zombie opposite them nodded demurely and even let out an "Mm."
Her tone was even a bit cute.
The two of them immediately breathed sighs of relief. "Goodness, we almost thought you'd completely lost consciousness."
Xu Duoduo was also confused about herself. She had clearly become a zombie, yet she still retained her consciousness. She looked down at her blood-covered hands.
She felt a bit lost.
This sudden attack by the monkey horde had reduced the original hundred-plus survivors to ninety-two. The remaining people all looked somewhat numb.
They had likely suffered significant psychological trauma.
Wang Weihu was treating the wounded nearby. When asked by survivors if they would be infected and mutate, he couldn't give a definitive answer.
Even prophets couldn't predict the entire future, and the survival manual wasn't omnipotent.
Everyone felt somewhat desperate.
Wang Weihu could only encourage them to stay strong; he couldn't say much else.
Bai Shu and Chen Xiaofei were using tablets to photograph and record data. Later, they would upload both the data and written reports. These frontline collected materials were extremely important for humanity's future survival.
Xu Duoduo found a place to stand, silently looking at the [REDACTED] on the ground.
Qin Luo had dealt with the monkey king. One of his hands was bloody, clearly injured, but in his grip was a crystal emitting a faint green glow.
Bai Shu and Chen Xiaofei both stood up. "Qin-ge, is your hand okay?" "Is this the mutation core?"
Xu Duoduo caught the familiar term, something mentioned in the apocalypse survival manual - the [Mutation Core], something that developed inside mutated creatures.
It must have significant uses.
Bai Shu and Chen Xiaofei took more photos of the object. Qin Luo happened to look over, and Xu Duoduo felt a bit afraid of him now. Earlier, when she had peeked out to look, his fierce gaze had startled her badly.
This guy would kill her.
Including anyone in his team. But she also understood that if she truly lost her mind completely and became nothing but a man-eating monster, she would die.
But at that point, she would rather die.
Ending her life at their hands would be fine; after all, she didn't have the courage to do it herself.
The atmosphere became somewhat awkward.
Chen Xiaofei tried to explain that Xu Duoduo still had her consciousness and was about to gesture wildly.
Then they heard a "Gurgle~~" sound.
Xu Duoduo was hungry.
For some reason, she smelled the mutation core in Qin Luo's hand and craved it.
The scent was somewhat like a sweet fruit.
It made her mouth water.
Bai Shu and Chen Xiaofei were also shocked because they realized Xu Duoduo's stomach was actually growling. How could a zombie's stomach rumble with hunger?
"Wait, what do we do if Little Monitor is hungry?!"
Chen Xiaofei looked at Bai Shu, who shrugged, indicating he didn't know either.
Qin Luo noticed Xu Duoduo staring at the mutation core in his hand, clearly craving it. Though her gaze was fixed on the core, she was still trying hard to look away.
"Whoa, Qin-ge, are you going to give that thing to Little Monitor? What for?" Chen Xiaofei asked in shock.
Bai Shu also tried to stop him, "Qin Luo."
According to headquarters' requirements, this mutation core needed to be collected.
When Xu Duoduo looked up, she found Qin Luo already standing in front of her, holding out the mutation core and asking, "Do you want it?"
She looked at his expression, which didn't seem to be joking. After hesitating for a moment, she struggled with whether to nod or shake her head. Eating a mutation core seemed strange no matter how she thought about it.
This behavior seemed even less human. She still felt a bit of shame inside.
But she was really hungry.