Four

Feng Ling sat quietly against the hospital bed.

As she put the Marking Ability into practice, she discovered that after digesting the Killer Bee, the ability had undergone some changes.

For instance, now her body did not need to move, yet her gaze could follow that ribbon-like mist out of the hospital room, through the corridor and pantry, and out onto the street through a first-floor window.

She saw cars, pedestrians, and landscaped trees.

Everything was so dimly colored. Only the mist before her was thick and striking, continuously drawing her onward.

Following the mist, she entered a storm drain at the street corner, traveled a long way through the dark, damp sewers, then returned to the surface. After countless turns, she reached the Townhouse District and entered one of the villas—

Feng Ling witnessed a bizarre scene.

In the living room on the first floor, a crimson woman crawled halfway out of a pool of blood that was moving on its own.

Her body was formed from countless Blood Worms. Because her gunshot wounds were too severe, fist-sized holes continuously appeared across her body as she reassembled herself, dropping hundreds of Blood Worms and clattering bullets.

The tiny worms fell onto the floor, wriggled back into the pool of blood, and merged with the viscous crimson liquid.

Throughout the process, the woman's expression was incomparably pained, her bright red lips opening and closing.

Although Feng Ling could not hear anything, she could guess that the woman was probably cursing.

The woman lay in the pool of blood. Worms continuously poured from her wounds before being absorbed back in, and she struggled like this for a long time. The fist-sized holes gradually shrank to the size of bottle caps, then fingernails, until only pinpricks remained—

At last, her body finished repairing itself.

The woman climbed completely out of the pool of blood. Her skin was smooth and rosy all over, with no wounds left in sight.

Having watched the entire process, Feng Ling could not help marveling that this Xenomorph truly had what it took to storm the Supervision Bureau alone.

Just those worms alone.

Unless a rocket launcher blew it to pieces outright, no matter how severe the wound was, the Blood Worms could repair it. It was practically impossible to kill.

How was she supposed to kill this thing...

Feng Ling pondered.

The woman had no idea that Feng Ling had seen her every move. After repairing her body, she picked up a blanket from the sofa, draped it over herself, and lay down to rest.

Feng Ling waited for a while. Seeing that the woman remained motionless, she withdrew her gaze.

The pale red mist was still there.

—The Mark lasted for twelve hours. As long as that time had not passed, she could track the woman's location again at any moment.

Footsteps sounded outside the hospital room.

Feng Ling looked up and saw a nurse come in, carrying a fresh bag of blood to replace hers.

The nurse's eyes were red. Perhaps she had just been scolded, but she remained thoroughly professional in front of Feng Ling. "You lost too much blood. After this bag, you'll need another two."

Feng Ling asked, "How much will my medical expenses be, roughly?"

The nurse paused. "Um... I'm not sure. We generally only treat internal personnel from the Supervision Bureau here."

Thinking Feng Ling was worried about the cost, the nurse reassured her, "Don't worry. Whether you're an Inspector or not, the Supervision Bureau will cover your medical expenses until you recover. Your treatment won't be delayed."

Feng Ling glanced at the newly replaced blood bag and asked, "How is plasma usually stored?"

"Huh?" The nurse hesitated before answering, "...In a specialized blood bank refrigerator at around 4°C. Is something wrong?"

Feng Ling smiled. "Nothing. I was just asking."

The nurse looked somewhat puzzled, but did not ask further. Still dazed, she left the hospital room.

Feng Ling closed her eyes to rest.

She could feel her body rapidly recovering as the blood she had lost was replenished. Perhaps by tonight... no, perhaps in just another two hours, she would be fully recovered.

"Plasma has to be stored at around 4°C. It can't be too cold or too hot... Those bloodsucking worms are probably similar. Too cold, and they freeze. Too hot, and they'll... cook?"

She muttered to herself in the hospital room.

Night fell, and the clamorous city returned to silence.

Feng Ling drove the rented Small Truck to the somewhat desolate Villa District, parked, and killed the engine.

The plan had changed.

She had originally prepared quite a few useful things: gasoline, alcohol, charcoal, flour... She had even picked up several old cotton mattresses from a scrapyard.

The other side's ability was nothing more than first using insects to paralyze their target, then sucking their blood.

She was immune to the paralytic toxin, and the Bone Blade could interrupt the bloodsucking attack. The only problem was how to stop that woman from escaping.

Feng Ling's plan had been to use fire to seal every door and window of the villa.

But when she checked with the Marking Ability, there were now three additional people in the villa besides the woman.

Accomplices?

Four of them?

She was completely confident in killing one Xenomorph, but four introduced too many variables—especially when she knew nothing about the abilities of the other three.

...Should I just leave?

Feng Ling sat in the truck, her face dark and ugly.

She had nearly died in the ambush earlier today. Now that she had tracked them to their hideout, she could not even take revenge?

With a dark expression, she got out of the truck and walked in through the wide-open iron gate.

—Since she was already here, she would at least figure out what these people were capable of.

There was no guard at the gatehouse. Maybe the guard had gone off to slack, or perhaps there had never been one. Two rows of pitch-black townhouses stood ahead, while not far away lay a Construction Site piled with cement, sandbags, and scattered building materials.

After Qingjiang City had been designated a high-risk zone, many Construction Sites had shut down. Their bosses had fled with their money to safer cities, leaving unfinished projects everywhere.

These Xenomorphs certainly knew how to pick a place. The villa they had moved into was the only high-end model home.

The untrimmed plants in the courtyard had grown wild, their lush branches and leaves blocking the light from the first floor.

Feng Ling climbed over the wall under cover of darkness, circled around to the backyard, and looked through the floor-to-ceiling glass window at what was happening inside.

Besides the woman who had ambushed her, there were two men, one fat and one thin, as well as a little girl wearing a Skull Mask.

The little girl looked about twelve or thirteen. Her entire body was bruised blue and purple as she curled up on the floor.

The woman sat on the sofa with the blanket draped around her and asked, "Did we catch the wrong person? We've questioned her for ages and gotten no leads. You're disturbing my rest."

"There's no way we caught the wrong one!" the fat man roared irritably. "She anonymously posted on the Forum, asking people to form a team to enter the Maze. We spent half a month sweet-talking her before we lured her out to meet us! It can't be wrong!"

"Then why doesn't she know where the Maze entrance is?" the woman asked.

"She knows!" the fat man continued shouting. "She just won't give up until she's facing the coffin. She's being stubborn and refuses to talk!"

"Enough. Stop arguing." The Tall Thin Man on the other side spoke up, frowning at the woman. "What happened to you today? Where did you go during the day, and how did you end up covered in injuries?"

The woman pulled the blanket tighter around herself and replied carelessly, "I took a trip to the Supervision Bureau. Didn't the news say a Xenomorph was killed at Tianshui Park today? The Card must have been taken by the Supervision Bureau, so I wanted to see if I could pick up any leftovers."

"Did you get anything?" the fat man leaned over and asked.