Hatching Form

"I know a little about his family. It's all stuff our classmates have passed around." Yin Qi moved her stool closer to Yan Yanran and leaned over.

"Apparently, Tang Shizhe's parents both died in an accident when he was a senior in high school. He doesn't have any relatives, so he started living alone back then."

"He used to care about nothing but having fun, but after his parents' accident, he suddenly changed completely and started studying like crazy. In the end, he got into our university."

"But as soon as he got to college, he seemed to change back again and started letting himself go."

"I figure getting into college was his parents' wish before they died. Once Tang Shizhe fulfilled it, he lost his goal in life. In a way, he's a pretty pitiable person." Yin Qi whispered in Yan Yanran's ear.

"Wait, his parents really are both dead?" Yan Yanran covered her mouth in surprise. She'd thought Tang Shizhe had made that up.

"Hold on. If his parents died, where did he get the money to buy a car?" Yan Yanran suddenly realized something and asked in confusion.

"Buy a car? What car?" Yin Qi stared blankly.

"You didn't know? He just got a black Porsche not long ago, and paid for it in full!" Yan Yanran replied in a lowered voice.

"Could he have gone into prostitution?" Yin Qi gaped. As a writer, her thoughts tended to wander.

"N-no way!" Yan Yanran blurted out, then froze. If Tang Shizhe hadn't sold his body, could he be a genius like her, making money in the stock and futures markets?

"Why don't we follow him after we finish eating and see what he's really up to? What do you think?" Yin Qi suddenly pounded her fist into her palm, looking excited.

Stalking someone! That was the kind of thing that only happened in novels. Tomorrow, she'd get to experience it firsthand!

"Sure. We'll secretly follow him when he heads back later." Yan Yanran nodded, just as excited. She was just as curious about Tang Shizhe.

"Why hasn't he come yet?" Half an hour later, the two women, already uncomfortably full, sat bored in their chairs, looking at each other.

They'd called Tang Shizhe several times, but he hadn't answered. They had no idea what he was doing.

They couldn't have known that Tang Shizhe was busy examining the Brood Mother's body. Of course, it was a perfectly normal kind of "examination."

His research had revealed that the Brood Mother only looked human on the outside. Her internal structure was different.

When he felt her stomach, it was solid, and she had no heartbeat!

In the Splitter Chamber beneath the building, Tang Shizhe and the others stood around the Brood Mother.

"Start the hatching process. We'll record what happens as you change forms." Tang Shizhe gestured toward an empty space in the Splitter Chamber.

The Brood Mother nodded and walked over. Her body shuddered slightly, and thousands of slender red tendrils burst from her, piercing the floor of the chamber.

Then her entire body began to slowly split apart, and a red carapace unfolded from within.

In less than two minutes, the beautiful woman had become a red cocoon resembling a mummy's coffin. More than a thousand engorged tendrils pinned it firmly to the floor.

"Damn, that's pretty creepy." Tang Shizhe clicked his tongue. He hadn't expected the transformation to be so horrifying. He'd probably have nightmares tonight. Those writhing red tendrils were enough to leave anyone traumatized.

"Begin splitting off a Splitter!" Tang Shizhe ordered the Brood Mother.

With 99.9 percent of her biological cells identical to Tang Shizhe's, the Brood Mother immediately began growing a basic human shape inside herself.

The rudimentary figure slowly filled out, and blood vessels appeared across its body.

Tang Yi and the others recorded the more unsettling parts of the process on their phones. The phones were completely offline; they didn't even have SIM cards or Wi-Fi connections, all to prevent the footage from leaking.

"At this rate, it'll take about eleven hours to fully form one person."

"I can split one off myself in only eight hours now. Looks like I'm still more efficient at it. If we do both at once, the number of Splitters will grow much faster." Tang Shizhe murmured as he circled the Brood Mother.

"Boss, the Brood Mother's advantage is that she can split in a different location. When we expand overseas, we could send her out."

"That way, we'll be able to produce new Splitters in two places at once." Tang Yi reminded him from nearby.

"Mm, good idea. For now, leave the Brood Mother in the Splitter Chamber and have her produce twenty people." Tang Shizhe nodded.

The reason he only wanted twenty for now was that the factory could accommodate thirty people at most. They needed room to eat, sleep, and take care of other necessities.

Besides, the more people there were, the more food they'd need. Buying so much food and producing that much garbage while keeping the factory doors shut would naturally make outsiders suspicious.

Once Tang Shizhe got his second payment, it would be time to expand their base.

Or should he just buy a larger factory complex?

Tang Shizhe left the Splitter Chamber and went up to the first floor. Only then did he notice that the phone he'd left there to prevent it from being bugged had more than a dozen missed calls!

"Damn! I forgot about the dinner!" Tang Shizhe's expression changed. He'd just remembered he was supposed to meet them.

He hadn't just invited the two women he couldn't stand to dinner—he'd stood them up, too.

It didn't take a genius to realize he'd thoroughly offended them both!

By the time Tang Shizhe got into his car, he hurriedly called Yin Qi and Yan Yanran, but, as expected, neither of them answered.

"I'm done for. I'm so done for." Tang Shizhe's eyes went dull. He was probably the only person who'd managed to stand up two beautiful women at once, one of whom was the university's science department goddess.

If word got out, the goddess's admirers at school would beat him to death.

"Gorgeous Yin, I really didn't mean to stand you up. I saw a car accident on the way and helped the driver treat his injuries."

"Gorgeous Yan, I'm so sorry. Just now—" Tang Shizhe hurriedly sent each of them a message.

As he sent the messages, Tang Yi and the others, wearing masks and hats, drove out of the factory in the two black vans they'd bought.

If Tang Shizhe remembered correctly, the girl's bag was still in that car, along with her identification and other personal information.

Tang Yi and the others were going to retrieve those things. After all, plenty of information wasn't stored online.