So Many

[You have killed an A-grade Contaminant (Fake). Points reward: 110.]

[You have killed an A-grade Contaminant (Fake). Points reward: 80.]

The message panel kept popping up, the reward points gradually decreasing.

Huangfu Miaomiao gripped her hammer, panting heavily.

She wiped her sweat and said to Feng Ling, "The points have already halved. There's a 'Fake' tag after the Contaminant's name, and the mission progress has been stuck at 0%. Not sure why."

Feng Ling replied calmly, "Keep going."

Huangfu Miaomiao grinned foolishly at Feng Ling. "Alright!"

A sudden windfall couldn't compare to this.

Huangfu Miaomiao felt as if she were in paradise, her mood indescribably wonderful.

This special Contaminant carrying the Slime seemed to have the ability to nurture life. As long as a corpse was stuffed into the Slime, a new Contaminant would hatch out before long.

No wonder it had worn Zhou Diao down with a war of attrition.

But perhaps because the corpses had been reused too many times and lost their nutrients, the later-hatched Contaminants were not only smaller in size but also resembled the ordinary crawling bugs they had first encountered.

Feng Ling, as usual, swiftly chopped off the most aggressive Mandibles, leaving the rest for Huangfu Miaomiao to handle.

"Ah... now the reward points are only 10." Huangfu Miaomiao swung her hammer skillfully, working hard as she spoke. "10 points is still a lot..."

She didn't mind the small amount.

Feng Ling said, "After killing this one, take down the big one too."

Huangfu Miaomiao paused mid-swing, turning to look at Feng Ling with some uncertainty. "...Can I do it?"

Feng Ling was silently counting the time in her head. At this, she raised an eyebrow. "Why not? You'd better speed up—the Supervision Bureau will send someone down soon."

It had been a while, and no one had come down yet. Feng Ling guessed that Zhou Diao had likely reported the situation below to Su Yuqing. Those two knew she was earning points for Little Skeleton, so they deliberately left time for them to pick up the scraps.

Huangfu Miaomiao's face showed hesitation. "It's so big..."

A Contaminant this large, and A-grade at that—Huangfu Miaomiao had no confidence.

If it were any other time, Feng Ling might have teased her.

But now, enduring waves of hunger, Feng Ling had long lost her patience. Frowning, she grabbed Huangfu Miaomiao's hand, forcing her to grip the iron hammer tighter, then swung it at the Contaminant!

Perhaps because Feng Ling's strength was too great, or because repeatedly nurturing life had left this Contaminant exceptionally weak, a single blow tore a huge hole in its body, with flesh, blood, and pus gushing out.

"Don't stop." Feng Ling let go, signaling Huangfu Miaomiao to continue.

Huangfu Miaomiao gritted her teeth and, following the same posture and force, swung the hammer down again!

Flesh flew, and pus splattered everywhere.

She didn't dare stop, burying her head in the blows until her palms grew sticky and slippery, barely able to hold the hammer handle. Finally, the mission progress jumped from 0% to 100% in an instant!

At the same time, a prompt message popped up—

[You have killed an A-grade Contaminant. Points reward: 850.]

"850!" Huangfu Miaomiao's eyes lit up, her earlier fear and hesitation forgotten in her excitement. "This one Contaminant is worth 850!!!"

She eagerly wanted to share this joy with Feng Ling, but was stunned by the sight before her!

On the massive corpse of the Contaminant, silver cards began to precipitate—one, two, three, four...

Huangfu Miaomiao's eyes went wide, her heart nearly stopping in shock.

Eight, nine, ten...

They kept coming!

She had never seen so many cards!

The forums said that most Contaminant cards would dissipate due to Gene Pollution, and getting two was considered lucky. Why did this Contaminant have so many?!

...Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen! The precipitation still hadn't stopped!

Huangfu Miaomiao was completely frozen.

If not for fear of leaking information, she would have taken a photo right now and thrown it on the forum for all players to see!

So many!

So many!

Feng Ling's expression was much calmer than Huangfu Miaomiao's. She assumed this was normal.

Cards could only be understood after absorption, but one could make rough judgments from the patterns on their faces.

Feng Ling carefully examined the abstract designs on each card, muttering as she looked:

"Ant, spider, centipede... Is this a bird? A crow or an eagle? Can't tell... Another centipede?... Ant, centipede, centipede, what's this? A lizard?... Squirrel, centipede, centipede..."

A total of 17 cards had overflowed.

Among them, the centipede cards and ant cards had the most duplicates; the remaining cards only had one copy each.

Feng Ling calculated in her heart.

Although centipedes didn't seem to have much to do with the "Mother Nest," centipedes felt very close to mantises. Back when she digested the Killer Bee and Mantis cards, her Corruption Value only rose by 3%. Did this indirectly mean she could safely digest centipedes too?

Moreover, there were plenty of duplicate centipede cards. As long as one was fine, she could take them all.

Choosing the centipede card offered great cost-effectiveness.

Feng Ling thought it over and asked Huangfu Miaomiao, "You said earlier that the head boss has high-tier cards, right?"

Huangfu Miaomiao finally snapped out of her prolonged shock. "...Right. The head boss possesses high-tier cards and has completed at least three digestions."

"Can high-tier cards digest other high-tier cards?" Feng Ling asked.

Huangfu Miaomiao nodded again, her expression grave. "In theory, yes, but the risk is huge. If the cards aren't particularly compatible, the corruption generated from digestion can be extremely severe!"

Feng Ling pondered this for a moment, then turned her gaze to the seventeen silver-glowing cards.

If she prioritized high-tier cards, she would likely choose the one—the card face showed two creatures that looked strikingly like lizards, back-to-back, forming a symmetrical pattern.

Compared to the ants, spiders, and centipedes, this Twin Lizards card was most likely a high-tier card.

High-tier cards were always more tempting than others.

But...

High-tier cards also came with greater risks than other cards.

After much deliberation, Feng Ling decided to play it safe and reached out to grab a centipede card.

The moment she touched it, the card was absorbed—

[You have obtained the card "Crimson Ghost Centipede."]

[Crimson Ghost Centipede: Moves freely in complete darkness, extremely fast, possesses Fangs and Claws with astonishing bite force. However, the card holder is prone to losing reason and tending toward insectification.]

Feng Ling waited patiently for a moment.

The text in her mind began to change.

["Crimson Ghost Centipede" has been digested.]

[Deck has grown. Corruption Value: 8%.]

[A new limb has grown inside your body, capable of rapidly transforming into indestructible Fangs and Claws. Your night vision has also improved. Please name your new skill.]

Feng Ling's lips curled up.

She had guessed right!

The Corruption Value only rose by 1%!

The centipede card was indeed similar to the Mantis card—not only was the Corruption Value very low, but the new skill gained after digestion was also comparable!

She touched her abdomen—was it her imagination? After digesting this card, that intense hunger seemed to have eased somewhat.

This greatly relieved Feng Ling's anxiety, lifting her mood considerably.

She smiled and said, "Since we already have Mother's Longing and Mother's Scourge, this one will be... hmm, Mother's Embrace."

[New skill named successfully.]