Parasitic Alien Demon

After the meeting ended, Wang Ziyi began cleaning up the rotting corpses outside the shelter.

"Sister Wang, I'll stay and help you," Mu Mu volunteered, stepping forward.

"Hey! Little Mu, don't compete with me for it. The rotting corpses attacked because I left the shelter," Tang Zheng hurriedly said. He had already been feeling guilty about it for ages.

"But..."

"Mu Mu, don't fight Tang Zheng over it. Let him make up for it."

Xie Xu appeared behind Mu Mu at some point. He then pushed her toward Bai Yi.

"Come on. Go with Brother Xie Xu and Brother Zihua to Dog Brother's place for a test. See how much the modifications will cost so you can strengthen yourselves sooner."

Bai Yi had already arrived at the door. Returning to the shelter with him were Li Zihua, Xie Xu, and Mu Mu, whom Xie Xu had pushed over.

Li Zihua and Mu Mu were simply there for testing, while Xie Xu had arranged with Bai Yi to work together and trigger [Autism].

Bai Yi wanted to gather more flesh and bones before time ran out, while Xie Xu wanted to determine the exact conditions for triggering [Autism]. The two hit it off immediately.

The others returned to their respective shelters to prepare.

Before leaving, Bai Yi pointed at the fireflies fluttering everywhere inside the shelter and asked, "Can I take a few back with me?"

"Of course!"

12:45 PM

Nearly half of the fog outside had turned black.

Bai Yi returned to the shelter, and Xie Xu and the others came in through the portal shortly afterward.

[You see living flesh and bones. Sanity -3]

Xie Xu and Li Zihua stood frozen as they stared at the shelter made of flesh and bones. The tiny tentacles covering the fleshy fungal carpet on the floor kept them from daring to step inside.

"Ah—"

Mu Mu let out an even louder scream and turned to run back out.

"Uh... it's fine. Don't be afraid. It isn't aggressive. Come in."

As if to prove it, Bai Yi stomped hard on the flesh carpet. The tentacles atop it stretched out ingratiatingly and affectionately coiled around his ankles.

Mu Mu nearly fainted at the sight, and Xie Xu's face did not look much better.

"Put them away. You're scaring them."

Bai Yi quietly scolded it.

After recovering from the initial shock, Li Zihua quickly accepted the situation. Deeply intrigued, he crouched down and touched the fleshy tendrils on the carpet.

"Incredible. How does it move? Are there nerves inside? Can it feel?"

The string of questions left Bai Yi completely unable to answer. He could only forcibly change the subject and lead the three of them to the modification room to check the costs first.

Along the way, Li Zihua looked around curiously as he walked, touching this and that from time to time.

Once Xie Xu realized the tentacles were not aggressive, he relaxed as well.

Only Mu Mu remained curled up behind Xie Xu, her eyes squeezed shut as she muttered, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, they aren't aggressive..."

They soon reached the modification room, and Xie Xu and Li Zihua began the examination first.

Just as Bai Yi was about to begin, his log vibrated. Xie Xu had sent him a message:

"Xie Xu: Can you make the testing process more complicated? It'd be best if you could do something like a deep scan."

Bai Yi's heart stirred, but his expression remained unchanged.

He knew Xie Xu would not ask for this without reason. There had to be some ulterior motive behind it.

Bai Yi glanced at Xie Xu and Li Zihua. Both wore serious expressions, and after meeting Bai Yi's gaze, they each flicked their eyes toward Mu Mu.

Mu Mu still had her eyes closed, too afraid to open them.

Bai Yi immediately understood and proceeded according to the process used for his own modification.

Li Zihua lay on it and watched as the operating table slowly rose, membranes of flesh descended around him, nutrient fluid filled the chamber, and a mask popped out.

"This is quite the production."

Can't find it by searching the book title? Try searching for the author instead—it may have simply been renamed!

Li Zihua deliberately looked at Bai Yi.

The latter gave him an affirmative reply.

"Fine." Looking at the slowly writhing tentacles inside the mask, Li Zihua took a deep breath and put it on.

The display had gone far enough by this point.

Bai Yi looked toward Xie Xu, who secretly gave him a thumbs-up.

All that remained was to check his physical attributes and assess the cost of modification.

[Strength 7.9, Constitution 7.3]

The results matched the figures Li Zihua had provided exactly. The measurement ended quickly, and a prompt appeared:

[This modification consumed 1600 flesh and blood, 800 bones]

After learning the exact cost, Li Zihua thanked Bai Yi and stepped aside.

Mu Mu was next. "I... can I not take the test? I don't want to."

"All of us have to be tested. Dog Bro's modifications are currently the fastest way to grow stronger. In the Misty Land, the more strength you have, the better your chances of surviving."

Xie Xu spoke with righteous conviction.

"O-Okay..."

Obediently, Mu Mu climbed onto the operating table. Just like before, the table rose, the fleshy membrane descended, nutrient solution was injected, and a mask was placed over her face.

"Now can you tell me? What's wrong with Mu Mu? Why are you two so wary of her?"

After Mu Mu put on the mask and lost consciousness, Bai Yi spoke up.

"I don't know." Xie Xu shook his head.

"You don't know?" Bai Yi raised a brow.

Xie Xu gestured to Li Zihua with his eyes, asking him to explain.

Li Zihua rubbed his chin. "Although this is our first time meeting her, she hasn't acted much differently from how she did in the group chat, except for—drinking water!"

"Drinking water? When someone is nervous, drinking water is a good way to calm themselves down, isn't it?"

Bai Yi asked, "Mu Mu looks very timid to me."

"That's true, but she drinks a little too much."

Li Zihua explained. He had been the first person to arrive at Wang Ziyi's shelter, while Mu Mu had been the second.

Ever since Mu Mu entered, she had been drinking water nonstop.

By normal standards, a person only needed to drink a few liters of water a day. But from the time Mu Mu arrived at the shelter until the meeting ended, Li Zihua had watched her drink roughly twenty to thirty liters of water!

And because everyone else's attention had been focused on the abnormal status effect, only Li Zihua had kept watching her after noticing how much water she drank, thanks to his understanding of the human body.

Bai Yi understood. Then he looked at Xie Xu. "You didn't foresee anything?"

"No. I really can't use my talent for the time being."

Xie Xu gave a bitter smile. "But now that Li Zihua mentions it, Mu Mu really has been drinking water continuously. Dog Bro, can you check inside her body?"

"You mean Mu Mu has been parasitized?"

"I'm not sure."

Bai Yi did not ask further. Instead, he controlled the tentacles inside the mask. An extremely tiny eye opened at the tip of one tentacle.

Then the tentacle began moving through Mu Mu's body, transmitting images from every part of her body onto the screen through nerve cells.

As the images changed, Bai Yi, Xie Xu, and Li Zihua's expressions grew increasingly grave.

And when it reached Mu Mu's brain, even Bai Yi could not help sucking in a sharp breath!

The pink human brain that should have been there had long since vanished. In its place were countless translucent worms packed tightly together, constantly writhing and twisting.

Within the worms' bellies, faint traces of pink flesh could still be seen being continuously digested.

[You saw a Brain-Stealing Slug. Sanity -2]

Li Zihua and Xie Xu said nothing, standing silently where they were.

Mu Mu, who had shown no problems whatsoever since meeting them, had already had her brain hollowed out by an aberrant demon!

Mu Mu had not escaped an attack. She had died during it long ago!

The one who had been talking to them and interacting with them all along was the aberrant demon—the Brain-Stealing Slug!