Chapter 186: Pseudo-Humans

A chill rose from within his heart!

That eerie smile made Lin Xian's body hairs stand on end.

No time to shout!

As the woman slowly opened her bloody, tooth-filled mouth, Lin Xian reacted instinctively, stepping forward to block Kiki and unleashing his Ice Wall and Iron Gate in frantic succession!

In the blink of an eye, the frozen ice walls condensed around the lashing tentacle, its sharp fangs nearly piercing Lin Xian's heart.

The next instant.

Hum!

A piercing shriek tore through the corridor, accompanied by a gust of wind—a black spear shot past Lin Xian's eyes, piercing straight through the woman's grotesque face.

Aghhh!!

Before the woman's shriek could fully escape, the black spear drove her straight into the corridor wall.

Thud!

The black spear emitted a metallic hum; its immense force had driven the cold weapon deep into the reinforced concrete wall.

Thump~

Only then did Lin Xian's ice wall and steel barrier crash to the ground, their echoes reverberating through the corridor.

"Ah!" Kiki cried out, pulled back a step by Lin Xian; she snapped to awareness, and both turned to look behind them—two figures now stood at the far end of the corridor.

A man and a woman: the man was middle-aged, bald-headed, powerfully built, clad in a blue-glowing source-powered exoskeleton armor, still mid-motion; the woman was younger, holding a large rifle.

Hum~

The man extended his hand forward—a magnetic hum sounded—and the spear embedded in the wall suddenly emitted mechanical engine noise, trembling violently before tearing free from the woman's face and flying back into his grip.

Lin Xian frowned: "Magnetic-control weapon?"

Unsurprisingly, the black spear contained some kind of precision magnetic flight engine capable of dynamic micro-control—technology typically reserved for interstellar military battlefield drones and sentry systems, yet applied to a cold weapon, making it bizarre and absurd.

"Young man, be careful—these aren't human ghosts. They peel off human skin to impersonate people. Aside from not speaking, they're nearly indistinguishable." The man's voice was low.

Pseudo-humans?

"Who are you?" Lin Xian glanced at the woman pseudo-human with her face pierced through, his eyes flickering, and spoke.

"We…"

Boom!

Before he could finish, the iron door of the projection room twisted and exploded open—a long, chilling hand shot out, snatching the middle-aged man and slamming him against the wall.

Taptaptap—the other woman reacted instantly, raising her rifle and firing at the white, inverted monster.

Hah!

The middle-aged man was pinned against the wall by a violent strike; his exoskeleton armor dented slightly, sparking as it absorbed the fatal blow. He grunted, swung his spear backward, aimed it at the monster's chest, and the armor's power boosters roared as he drove the spear deep into the creature's thick hide.

Aghhh!!

The inverted monster shrieked, opened its massive mouth, and swatted away the black spear. The man dropped to the ground, rolled swiftly, snatched up the spear, and pulled back.

Zzzt!

A brilliant flash of lightning streaked across the corridor, striking the monster's face—sparks and the stench of burnt flesh erupted.

"Lightning affinity?" The middle-aged man's expression shifted slightly.

Lin Xian stood deep in the corridor; behind him, Kiki floated overhead, raised her hand, and unleashed an invisible telekinetic force to grip the monster with the pierced face, then whipped her hand back—her immense power slammed its head into the corridor wall, dragging it along, and with a splash of wet tearing, a deep groove filled with black blood appeared, exposing the concrete and rebar beneath.

Eeeehhh!!!

The white monster shrieked, its neck twisting 360 degrees; its long arms sprouted ten bony spikes, then slashed outward with full force!

"Watch out!" The middle-aged man lunged forward, tackling his female teammate to the ground—CRACK!

The bony spikes sliced clean through the wall like blades.

Thud—before he could rise, his head was slammed down again by Kiki, crashing into the floor.

"Lin Xian!"

Kiki gritted her teeth, hovering in midair, pressing the monster's head down with all her strength.

Now the white monster's head was pinned to the floor, its upper body arched, unable to move its head—but its arms stretched left and right, clawing toward the middle-aged man and Lin Xian.

Screech!

A flash of silver light streaked through the corridor, carrying an extreme wind pressure—the monster's waist split open with a clean, gaping slash.

Backflash!

Lin Xian gripped his GK03 electric knife; in this confined space, the technique was restricted—but he'd struck true, cleaving straight through the center.

But before Lin Xian could steady himself, no blood spurted from the monster's waist—instead, countless black, willow-like tentacles burst forth, surging toward the spot where he'd landed!

Hss~

A gust of wind swept past him—a mechanical engine roared—and the middle-aged man suddenly darted past Lin Xian's side, wielding the black spear as he leapt forward, striking down with thunderous force upon the black tentacles.

!

Pthuuuut!!

The black spear pierced straight through the white monster's skull, driving deep into the floor. As the monster still twitched, the man's eyes turned icy—he twisted the spear backward with both hands. Boom! The spear's tip suddenly unfolded like an umbrella, blades springing open and instantly exploding the monster's head apart like a blooming flower of flesh.

Black blood sprayed across the corridor's corner; the monster's frantic claws finally fell to the ground, silent.

"Huh~ huh~"

Instantly, all four people in the corridor stared rigidly at the monster, the only sound the rapid, ragged breathing of four humans.

Screech!

The middle-aged man yanked his spear free from the monster's skull, retracted the umbrella blades, wiped blood from his boot, and watched a wisp of black smoke rise. "This time, it's dead for good."

With that, he picked up a Level 2 Strange Blood Essence from beside the corpse, slipped it into his pocket, and walked toward Lin Xian.

"Lightning affinity, telekinesis—impressive. I underestimated you." The man extended his hand. "Ding Qing, Duan Min, Diamond Convoy."

"Lin Xian." Lin Xian sheathed his electric knife, studying the man's exoskeleton armor with keen interest—he was certain it was a TRP-4 Special Industrial Source-Powered Exoskeleton Armor. Such armor was extremely expensive, typically used only for specialized operations: high power output, far more expansion modules than military-grade models. This one on Ding Qing had clearly been weaponized—its presence was terrifying.

If he wasn't mistaken, Ding Qing's powered armor was a TRP-4th Gen Special Industrial Active Exoskeleton, an extremely expensive suit typically used only for specialized operations—its power output was immense, and it featured more expansion modules than military-grade powered armor; this one on Ding Qing had clearly undergone some militarized modifications, radiating formidable intimidation.

Kiki's voice cut in—she landed beside Lin Xian, scowling. "You just took that bead without even asking us?"

Ding Qing glanced at her, said nothing, and walked over to the two dead pseudo-humans. He raised his spear, activated the umbrella blades, and drove them straight down into their chest cavities—Pthuuut. He retracted the blades, as if pinching something, then pulled them free. Instantly, Lin Xian and Kiki saw: nestled in the bloody mass, a white, finger-sized, long-tailed parasitic worm.

He pulled out two glass test tubes, shoved the worm inside, sealed the cap, then found another parasite in the second corpse.

As Lin Xian and Kiki stared, confused by his actions, Ding Qing tossed both test tubes to Lin Xian: "I just saved your lives. Two bone worms for one Level 2 bead—I'm not taking advantage of you, am I?"

As Lin Xian and Kiki found his actions puzzling, Ding Qing tossed two glass test tubes at Lin Xian: "Just saved your lives—adding these two bone beetles, I'm taking just one Level-2 bead. Can't say I'm taking advantage of you."

(End of chapter)