Late-Night Mutation
What's going on?
They all jumped out of bed, pushed open the window and looked outside. They saw flames shooting into the sky outside the street, as if a fire had broken out.
"Fire?" Zhao Jian exclaimed in surprise. "Such a loud noise, a gas explosion?"
"Where would they get gas from in ' Martial World '?" Xu Yiming retorted from the side, "Maybe it's from an oil mill or a firecracker shop or something..."
As they were discussing, they suddenly heard Senior Brother Song's voice from the doorway. "Are you all inside? Get dressed, grab your weapons, and come to my room to assemble!"
The group immediately did as instructed, and when they went out, they found that the students from other rooms had also run out and all come to Senior Brother Song's room.
The room wasn't big, and it felt a bit crowded with a dozen or so people gathered together. Senior Brother Song and Senior Sister Deng stood in the middle counting the number of people.
"What exactly happened?" Lao Miao Miao asked. She was known for her straightforward and fiery temper, and if her senior sister hadn't knocked on the door, she would have almost jumped out of the window to help put out the fire.
"We don't know either." After confirming that everyone was present, Senior Sister Deng Qian shook her head. "But anything can happen in the Martial World world. This sudden explosion could very well be caused by a dispute between some sects. As long as it has nothing to do with us, let's not meddle."
Song Shan nodded. "That's why we need to disguise ourselves as ordinary merchants. Although Hundred Rivers Sect keeps a low profile, they've inevitably made some enemies over the decades. Hiding our identities is also to avoid unnecessary trouble."
It looked like just a regular fire... Senior Brother Song breathed a sigh of relief, feeling somewhat calmer...
The students nodded in agreement. Song Shan opened the window halfway and, by the light of the fire, observed the situation outside.
Just then, screams and cries for help suddenly came from afar, and at the same time, many residents could be seen frantically fleeing the fire.
"No!" It was Ling Xin who spoke. Her eyes were fixed on the place where the townspeople had fled. In the firelight, several human figures engulfed in flames could be seen slowly emerging.
"What's going on?" Senior Brother Song became alert, while Senior Sister Deng frowned and said, "Could there be another explosion? Has someone been burned...?"
"In short, everyone stay here for now. I've already sent out Paper Crane to contact Martial Uncle Tie and Senior Brother Li. We shouldn't make any rash moves until they reply."
The fire appeared to have started at the town's oil mill, with occasional explosions. However, the government officials and nearby residents had already reacted, and the Fire Ding Yamen had dispatched water carts to extinguish the fire, while residents were also carrying buckets of water. But the oil fire was not easy to put out and was spreading rapidly; from a distance, the fire showed no signs of abating.
It is described as humanoid because it is not a movement that a normal person could make. The pain of being burned alive is unbearable for ordinary people. Even if they writhe in agony, they would run around frantically calling for help. It is impossible for them to stroll around so calmly.
Unless... that's no longer human?
Then, more and more "firemen" emerged from the fire. Not only Ling Xin, but the other students also realized something was wrong. As for the townspeople who were fighting the fire, they were so frightened by the scene that they retreated one after another, and the timid ones began to scramble away. But there were also some brave firefighters who rushed up and poured water on these people, trying to extinguish the fire and save people.
But suddenly, the fire-man who had been splashed with water lunged forward, pounced on the fire-man carrying the bucket, and opened his mouth to bite down on his neck.
Seeing this, the other firemen rushed up to try to stop the crazed fireman, but more firemen rushed up from behind. Not only the firemen, but also other townspeople who participated in the firefighting were grabbed and tackled by these guys. As the flames spread, mouths filled with blood and the smell of burning food were also biting down.
"This is..." The students standing on the second floor of the inn stared in disbelief. Zhao Jian, his teeth chattering, said, "These burning things look just like zombies from a horror movie..."
As soon as he finished speaking, one of the fire people who was tearing at the townspeople suddenly convulsed, his back bulged high, and then his charred skin suddenly burst open, revealing a white spine with four thin, sharp limbs growing out of it, like giant spider legs!
At the same time, other parts of his body were also mutating. His chin split open, forming a three-lobed structure with the upper jaw. His hands grew longer, and his nails became sharper. His feet grew longer, and he began to walk on his toes like a wild beast. A thin, long tail grew from his buttocks, with a sharp Bone Blades at the end, which he swung back and forth.
"It... mutated?" The students were dumbfounded. As for the residents and firefighters at the scene, they completely gave up on putting out the fire and began to scream and scatter in all directions!
However, it wasn't just one; the fire people who had devoured the residents also began to mutate, turning into monsters. Their mobility increased significantly, and they became extremely fast, easily catching up with the fleeing residents.
The residents who had been bitten to death by these monsters soon got up and, like the fire people before them, began to search for their targets with faltering steps...
"This... this must be a zombie..." Zhao Jian swallowed hard. The other students exchanged bewildered glances. Lao Miao Miao looked at Deng Qian: "Senior sister, you said anything can happen in the Martial World... including this?"
"This..." Deng Qian shook her head, her expression slightly flustered. "I've never seen this situation before..."
"Could it be that the Demonic Cult here?" Song Shan analyzed. "I heard that the Hundred Poisons Sect has a Secret Method that can turn people into Walking Corpse, just like zombies... That girl from the Sword Saint Sect also passed through Shannan Town before. Could her poisoning be related to this?"
"I've also heard of the Hundred Poisons Sect..." Lu Fei shook his head. "The Gu worms they refine are for controlling people's minds. Those Walking Corpse can't be contagious, much less mutate... I've really never heard of that before..."
"This..." Song Shan was also somewhat uncertain. "Perhaps their technology has improved? Is this a new Secret Method for the experiment?"
"Stop guessing!" Luo Jun frowned and suddenly spoke up, "This is Mutated Zombie from the [Wasteland]!"
Mutated Zombie? Everyone looked at Luo Jun. They were all students, and most of them had never been to any other world except for [Martial World], let alone [Wasteland], which was located on the other side of the ocean. Their understanding of so-called zombies was only based on the occasional information mentioned on the forum.
"How did you know? Have you been to the [Wasteland]?"
Luo Jun certainly knew that during the Tower of Choice quest, one wave of these Mutated Zombie was part of the Guardian Goddess's challenge. The description at the time stated that these monsters came from the [Wasteland], a product of mutation resulting from humans infected with the Eternal Virus. Ordinary infected individuals would only become ordinary Walking Corpse, but some would mutate into these three-lobed monsters with spider legs, long tails, and large mouths. Their official name was...
Eternal Virus Tier 1 Infected!
(End of this chapter)