Worm Infection

Researchers found the same red worms inside that Polar Bear.

After completing their task, both worms died, including the one in the brain.

The worms inside them were male and female. The one in the sheep was male, while the one in the Polar Bear was female.

This sheep's "tragically beautiful" love story also inspired the researchers.

Thus, they named this worm the "Red String Worm."

Seeing this, Mo Ling could also sense the namer's twisted sense of humor.

It could now be confirmed that the healing ability came from the Red String Worm. The heightened perception, barring any surprises, was likely caused by some form of evolution as well.

The initial records of the Red String Worm ended there.

They had spent immense effort tracking a sheep, only to discover such a bizarre creature.

The later records also described the strange behavior of creatures infected by this worm.

If left alone, the infected host would naturally perish. Trying to stop it would instead trigger evolution.

After the creatures were driven back into the Abyss, the Red String Worm also went extinct on Earth.

Later, some hunters who entered the Abyss were infected by this worm as well, but they could only count themselves unlucky.

Not only that, Mo Ling discovered that the Red String Worm he had found in the Shock Beast's brain earlier was merely a larva. At this stage, the host's consciousness had not yet disappeared.

That was also why those Shock Beasts still attacked Li Luo.

After reading all the records, there was only one treatment method: Procrastination Therapy.

But that also meant the mission had failed.

If they could not resolve the Shock Beasts' abnormal behavior, they could not complete the mission.

They had reached a deadlock.

Li Luo had clearly realized this as well. Sitting in the vehicle, she began to think.

She continued flipping through the worm records.

Suddenly, Li Luo seemed to realize something. She started the vehicle and drove straight toward the depths of the valley.

More and more Shock Beasts appeared along the way, and their perception was especially sharp.

Every one that entered Mo Ling's field of view was already poised to attack.

His vision sank into the flesh inside their heads. Red worms again!

Why were there so many?

Mo Ling also guessed Li Luo's thoughts.

In the earlier records, the Red String Worm had always appeared in only a single individual within an infected population.

It was not contagious, much less something that appeared in clusters.

But the Shock Beasts' riot was on a massive scale. This did not match a Red String Worm infection.

Realizing this, Mo Ling quickly used the same method as before to eliminate the attacking Shock Beasts.

Once again, he delivered the infected flesh to Li Luo.

This time, Li Luo needed no reminder. She took out her tools and began searching the flesh for worms.

Li Luo's suspicion was confirmed.

She hurriedly got into the vehicle and set off deeper into the valley.

The farther in they went, the larger the Shock Beasts that appeared became.

Yet all these Shock Beasts had lost consciousness. The spherical lumps of flesh on their heads pulsed slowly as they moved forward blankly.

Even when the vehicle drove past them, they showed no reaction.

Normally, so many Shock Beasts could never coexist so peacefully.

The vibrations they produced would have been enough to trigger a massive brawl.

An infected Shock Beast fell into a Great Pit, but even then, its two metal legs continued thrashing nonstop.

A short new appendage extended from the spherical Metal Mesh. It seemed to have evolved.

It was trying to climb out of the Great Pit.

The vehicle continued onward until it reached a vast lake.

Mo Ling only saw Li Luo's pupils widen instantly before she stopped the vehicle by the shore.

She took out the Recording Device and began documenting the situation in the lake.

Through the device's screen, Mo Ling also saw the shocking sight.

Countless Shock Beasts were submerged in the center of the lake, their dense Metal Appendages crammed together.

As the flesh pulsed, their appendages shook the lake water in rhythmic tremors, and chaotic ripples spread all the way to the shore.

Several unconscious Shock Beasts on land were also walking straight toward the center of the lake.

On the opposite shore, fully evolved Shock Beasts were stranded along the bank.

Their two legs had fused into one, becoming fin-like structures that kept flapping with the expansion of their heads.

But having lost the ability to walk, they could only hop along the shore, struggling to bounce farther ahead.

Even through the screen alone, Mo Ling could feel the terror of the scene before him.

At that moment, Mo Ling had the same question the researchers once had:

Where were they going?

After recording the scene, Li Luo drove around the lake and continued onward.

She opened the map and marked a location.

The direction the Shock Beasts were moving in was the center of their habitat.

Soon, the vehicle braked before a downward slope.

What was wrong?

Mo Ling's vision was limited, and he did not know what had happened.

Fortunately, Li Luo took out the Recording Device again.

Mo Ling hurriedly looked.

It was an ocean of Shock Beasts.

Shock Beasts of all shapes and forms fought relentlessly at the bottom of the slope.

When their own kind became an obstacle to their advance, they attacked forward without pause, just like the sheep that had charged into the pen.

The violent vibrations liquefied the soil across the entire area. The Shock Beasts gathered here had forcibly created a funnel-shaped Great Pit.

Weaker Shock Beasts were trampled into the earth by their companions. The farther inward they were, the stronger they became, their appendages grotesquely fierce.

Like creatures being raised to devour one another, the Shock Beasts deeper within had grown all kinds of metal spikes from their appendages.

The spikes pierced their companions' flesh. Bright red strands of meat kept sticking together and healing, trapping the appendages within.

The trapped Shock Beasts snapped off their appendages and rolled forward as balls.

The balls rolling into the mass were jammed by other balls, leaving only tiny gaps.

The flesh could only pulse and stretch forward, flowing like liquid from the Holes in the Metal Mesh.

It became Flesh Slime.

The masses of slime then squeezed together, converging into a red pool.

What were they fighting over?

Could the Shock Beasts controlled by the Red String Worm all be pointing toward the same creature?

Li Luo controlled the Recording Device, continuously zooming in and aiming at the center of the red pool within the pit.

Mo Ling's vision also fixed on that abrupt patch of black.

Amid the bright red surface floated a spiral-shaped object of pure black.

Waves splashed around it as the slimes fighting over it shoved the black object back and forth.

Was that... a horn?

He did not know what creature it belonged to, but the horn was tough, straight, and completely black, with not a trace of any other color.

It was as though it absorbed all light. If not for the curve along its edge, its shape would have been impossible to discern.

Li Luo placed an image of the Black Horn into the Database and searched for it.

Information appeared. She compared the entries one by one, yet found no possible match.

The search yielded nothing.

The investigation had once again reached a deadlock.

Mo Ling began to doubt the records on the Red String Worm.

Why was the target a horn? Could a dead creature be infected by the worm too?

Just as Mo Ling was puzzled, Li Luo patted the Cube again.

She waved the image of the Black Horn on her Electronic Screen in front of the Cube, then gave it a thumbs-up.

"Help me in a moment. Get this for me, understand?"

She seemed to trust the Cube's abilities deeply, and she had likely also realized from the Cube transporting the worms that it was actively helping her.

After giving her instructions, Li Luo decisively accelerated and charged into the Great Pit.