Black Crow Flesh Mass (Happy New Year)

The horses broke into a gallop once more, except this time, a man was being dragged behind them.

The dragged Kexi man screamed for a while, then quickly fell silent. There were no proper roads here—so-called roads were merely uneven dirt tracks. Being dragged across them by a horse for any length of time was practically a death sentence.

Meanwhile, the members of the guard squad silently approached, clutching those supposedly cursed jars.

There were twenty-eight Kente bandits in all, each with formidable combat ability. After all, what they had learned since childhood was how to seize things from others, and strength was the most important factor in that.

There were only eight of them now. Charging in head-on would be suicide. Even carrying Negary's curse, they did not dare show themselves openly before the Kente People.

After all, the Kente People's strength was proven every year, while Negary's strength had only been demonstrated when a few infected rats bit the old village chief to death. The fact that these people were willing to step forward now meant Komoro's ideological work over this period had been effective enough.

"Will this thing really work?" Sen hid in the bushes nearby and glanced at the utterly ordinary sealed jars. He remained doubtful that they could kill large numbers of Kente People. As Earl's only son, he had initially been just like Komoro, with no desire whatsoever to join any hunting party.

But because of Negary's appearance, the former hunting party had failed to bring back any prey. The village's harvest had also been poor this year due to the weather. If he did not join the hunting party, he could only go hungry.

So Sen chose to join the new hunting party and search for new messengers for the great Negary. Every crow he found earned him a substantial reward, which was still less dangerous than venturing deep into the wilderness to hunt large beasts.

But lacking experience, Sen's method of capture had been somewhat rough, and he had injured one crow's wing. He had not thought much of it at the time, never expecting that he had committed such a grave mistake. Seeing Komoro's icy gaze, he had nearly wet himself.

After all, Komoro had already offered his forehead to Negary. Everything he possessed now belonged to Negary. Komoro's cold gaze upon him represented Negary watching him.

To stay alive, he could only join this assault guard squad once again and choose to capture a Kente person as a sacrifice to offer Negary in atonement. In truth, he had little confidence in this operation.

But after thinking it over, Sen chose death in a clash with the Kente People over being offered to Negary as a sacrifice. At least the former seemed a little more glorious.

"They're coming?" Hearing the hoofbeats, Sen tightened his grip on the jar in his arms. As the hoofbeats drew near, his body trembled slightly. He exchanged a glance with his guard squad companions, and together they hurled the jars from their arms.

"Kexi little rats, were you lying in ambush here for us?" The Kente People laughed wildly, paying little attention to the jars thrown at them. Those Kexi rats had never dared offend the Kente People. The several hundred Kente People behind them were their confidence.

But this time, events exceeded the Kente People's expectations. The jars shattered around them, splashing out large amounts of black liquid. A foul stench instantly diffused through the area.

The stench came too suddenly. The Kente People who had been preparing to shoot were thrown off, their shots going wide. The Kexi man tied behind the horse and dragged along was drenched in the black slime.

Wang Yuan's Perception Field was not particularly sensitive to smells. Standing nearby and watching the black liquid spread everywhere, he calmly began recording, "The first large-scale Kente human experiment with the Black Crow pathogen has begun."

"Horse infection experiments can be carried out as well." Wang Yuan actively controlled the pathogens ahead, making them reproduce rapidly.

That black slime was the carrier of the Black Crow pathogen. The Black Crow pathogens entered the Kente People's bodies along with the smell. Before the Kente People sickened by the stench could even grow angry, one of them let out a pained scream.

The Kexi man who had been dragged behind the horse, having been contaminated by the black slime, was the first to complete his mutation. His body, which had already been on the brink of death, broke free from the rope. His skin turned an unnatural black and rapidly decayed, yet he moved with unbelievable agility. He lunged at a Kente man still vomiting atop his horse, bared his snow-white teeth, and bit directly into the man's foot.

The infected person's bodily potential was continuously stimulated by the Black Crow virus, strengthening his bite force as well. He actually tore a large chunk of flesh from the Kente man's foot, then swallowed the raw meat straight into his stomach.

After swallowing that piece of raw flesh, the mutant's decay slowly eased. But in the next instant, the Kente man cut off his head with a single slash. Ink-black blood surged out.

Yet even without a head, the mutant continued to struggle. Flesh buds even sprouted from the severed neck, as though it were about to grow a new head.

Unfortunately, the mutant ultimately could not hold on. His body rapidly decayed into a puddle of black liquid. Before the bitten Kente man could breathe a sigh of relief, the horse beneath him threw him to the ground, its savage hooves stomping into his body.

The Kente People were completely dumbfounded, unable to understand why things had suddenly turned out like this. But then, amid that foul stench, he suddenly found the scent coming from the horse exceptionally delicious, making him unable to resist taking a bite.

Driven by the Kente People's plundering instinct rooted in their bloodline, the Kente man who had been kicked down viciously bit into the horse's belly. Black, fishy horse blood spilled out and splashed all over him, but instead of being disgusted, he frantically sucked down the blood and tore at the horseflesh.

Madness spread further among these Kente People and their horses. After becoming infected with the pathogen, their skin began to blacken and decay, and at present, the only thing that seemed able to stop that decay was the flesh and blood of other living creatures.

Wang Yuan stood at a distance, observing the mutation of those pathogens. As they crazily devoured one another, the same Black Crow pathogen mutated into all manner of new strains. Several strains infected each other, becoming increasingly bizarre.

In the end, large masses of flesh coated in black slime mixed together, still constantly writhing. Within them were horseflesh, Kente flesh, and the flesh of that first Kexi man.

The flesh mixed together, still writhing and gathering, as though it were about to form a new lifeform. Following the pathogen's sensations, Wang Yuan had already sensed the immense vitality of this new lifeform taking shape.

What kind of lifeform would this flesh ultimately become? Wang Yuan was truly interested.

Happy New Year, everyone!!!