Corpse-Devouring Devil Arum! The secret of the service area

The red dialog box that suddenly appeared before Jiang He startled him so badly that his finger nearly poked into Liu Qiang's eye socket.

For an instant, he could barely control his body, and his reflexes almost sent him running!

A dialog box of this color appeared only when a supernatural creature of level three or higher was detected.

"A low-level supernatural creature, so how could it trigger a red notification box?"

Jiang He steadied himself and listened carefully to the full announcement, only to become even more puzzled.

"Appraise!"

[Low-level supernatural creature - Demon Seed Human Puppet]

[Skill - Demon Seed Parasitism: Can spit mycelium from its mouth to infect any creature whose emotions are out of control]

[Description: A humanoid creature parasitized by Corpse-Devouring Devil Arum spores. It has lost consciousness and is controlled by the Corpse-Devouring Devil Arum. It fears light and is active only at night. Its attack power is greater than that of an ordinary human]

[Note: The Demon Seed Human Puppet's body is connected by mycelium, giving it an extremely powerful ability to heal itself. Fire may be effective against them]

[Special reminder: Killing Demon Seed-series supernatural creatures awards double System Points]

"Corpse-Devouring Devil Arum? What is that thing?"

Jiang He withdrew his finger and searched his memory, but found nothing about this kind of creature.

They had passed through this service area in his previous life, but they hadn't stopped, and he hadn't heard anything related to it afterward either.

"From the system's description, there should be a kind of parasitic fungus in the service area."

By now, Jiang He's fear had lessened considerably.

Even setting aside the fact that his flames could counter these fungi, the fact that it could only parasitize "creatures whose emotions were out of control" meant he had nothing to worry about.

"Did you find anything?"

Seeing that Jiang He had finally withdrawn his hand, Wang Qian could no longer contain her anxiety and asked urgently.

"You haven't even told me what the payment is, so how could I possibly tell you?"

A smile returned to Jiang He's face.

"This man has already mutated. Keeping him around won't do you any good, so I'll take him away first!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than he grabbed Liu Qiang's arm and prepared to drag him away.

But as soon as Jiang He pulled, he suddenly felt the weight in his hand give way, followed by a burst of screams.

He looked back to see that he had torn Liu Qiang's arm clean off.

"What is that?"

The members of the Rampage Group were all people who dared to kill, so naturally they weren't afraid of a scene like this. They stepped forward to take a closer look and soon noticed something strange.

No blood flowed from the wound on Liu Qiang's shoulder. Instead, layer upon layer of white mycelium grew out of it.

The mycelium danced wildly through the air, spreading rapidly. In moments, it had crawled all over the arms of those who had stepped forward.

"Ugh!"

The bizarre sight instantly filled everyone with intense discomfort, and they all moved to get away from it.

"How is that possible? Liu Qiang was perfectly fine this morning!"

"What he said was actually true..."

Wang Qian seemed unable to accept the outcome and muttered under her breath.

She had thought Jiang He was lying and had never imagined that Liu Qiang was really dead!

"Sigh... I meant to take him away and deal with him quietly, in case you couldn't accept it. Now that you've all seen it, I don't have to worry about that."

Jiang He let out a long sigh. A ball of flame appeared in his hand, and he set Liu Qiang's arm alight before tossing it onto the "corpse" in front of him.

I finally wanted to be a good person for once, and even heaven wouldn't give me the chance...

Watching the flames mercilessly consume the teammate they had spent every day with, the members of the Rampage Group couldn't help feeling a jumble of emotions.

Wang Qian even burst into tears.

"It's all my fault Liu Qiang ended up like this. If he hadn't been protecting me, he wouldn't have been humiliated..."

The atmosphere at the scene turned mournful. In this apocalypse, perhaps death was the only fate awaiting ordinary people.

Jiang He watched it all coldly. In his eyes, if these people from the Rampage Group died, they died; it had nothing to do with him.

At that thought, he slowly turned and left.

[Congratulations, host, for killing a Demon Seed Human Puppet. Obtained: 2 System Points]

With the question in his mind resolved, Jiang He wasn't in the mood to do anything else. He simply sat in the van and waited for the bus to finish upgrading.

Even though he knew he could quickly accumulate System Points by killing Demon Seeds, he had no intention of staying here.

A single Human Puppet had triggered a level-three notification box. Jiang He didn't dare imagine how terrifying it would be to encounter the main body!

I have to stay alive to spend the System Points I earn...

At the Rampage Group's camp nearby, Wang Qian's crying woke Liu Lu.

Seeing the sorrowful expressions on everyone's faces, he couldn't help asking:

"What happened?"

A member of the Rampage Group hurriedly recounted what had happened.

When Liu Lu heard that Liu Qiang was dead, he felt a pang of pain in his heart.

Liu Qiang had been his subordinate longer than anyone else, yet this time he had died in vain because of Liu Lu's decision...

"How are you feeling now?"

Wang Qian slowly came to Liu Lu's side, her eyes somewhat evasive.

Having spent so much time together, Liu Lu understood every expression Wang Qian made.

"Why did he step in and save me? Did you promise him something again?"

The person Liu Lu meant was naturally Jiang He.

"I... I'm sorry..."

Wang Qian struggled for a long time, but in the end, all she managed was an apology.

Looking at the expression on the woman's face, Liu Lu couldn't help clenching his fists and slowly closing his eyes.

Why? Why would you do this when you clearly promised me you wouldn't? he roared in his heart again and again. The feeling of having touched "the most precious thing," only to lose it again in an instant, nearly suffocated him!

A gentle breeze blew into the service area, lifting Liu Qiang's ashes from nearby. White particles drifted through the air, as though soothing the anger in Liu Lu's heart...

Jiang He, some distance away, naturally saw the ashes dancing through the air as well. When he noticed that the ashes obscured a figure in the distance, he suddenly sat bolt upright!

"That's right! I still have the Urn! What the hell am I running for?"

He took an exquisitely crafted box out of his storage ring, and an idea immediately came to him!

As he continued refining his plan in his mind, half an hour quickly passed.

[Ding]

[Fusion upgrade complete. Would you like to spend 50 System Points to appraise the bus again?]

That heavenly sound had finally arrived. Jiang He's heart filled with wild joy, and he eagerly pressed "Appraise."

[Weird Object - Bus, Jiang He's exclusive vehicle]

[Original number - 4295, current number - 4250]

[Level: Lv3]

[Skill 1 - Bloodthirst: Requires no fuel to operate! Feeding it humans, Eldritch Horrors, or Mutant Beasts can provide power and repair damage! If not fed in time, it will enter a state of hunger]

[Negative effect - state of hunger: Speed reduced by 80%. It will actively devour occupants to obtain power]

[Skill 2 - Extreme Speed: Consumes its stored energy to enter the Rampage state. During Rampage, speed increases by 120% and energy consumption increases by 70%]

[Skill 3 - Toughness: A skill exclusive to the Rampage state. Consumes 50% of its energy to increase the vehicle's toughness value by 170%]

[Note: After the fusion upgrade, the bus's overall toughness has increased by 50%, its overall length has increased by 5 meters, its width has increased by 2 meters, and its turning maneuverability has greatly improved. Upgrade-exclusive skill added - Transformation]

[Transformation: Greatly reduces the vehicle's length and width at the expense of space between seats in the passenger compartment. Suspension height can be freely adjusted to handle various kinds of difficult terrain]

[Drawback: Once bound, it cannot change to a new host until the host dies. Any unfamiliar creature that enters the bus without the host's permission will be devoured]