Chapter 188: The Great Parasite

"Didn't this guy say this was to prevent fake humans from invading? Turns out he's a total liar!" Kiki immediately realized that the two parasites appearing before this giant lantern flower must conceal something secret.

Lin Xian acted without hesitation and told Kiki: "Girl, quickly, try to pull up this flower!"

"Got it!"

Kiki didn't waste a second—she raised her hand forward, extending invisible psychic force to envelop the lantern flower. But under her evolved-level psychic ability, the flower merely shuddered violently, causing the storage tanks and chemical pool below to erupt in violent tremors, the water churning and humming with resonance.

Glug~

At that moment, bubbles began rising from the black chemical pool, then multiplied rapidly, showing signs of boiling.

Lin Xian glanced at Kiki and saw her face nearly crimson, while the storage tanks beneath were being twisted and compressed by invisible force, beginning to deform slightly.

"Stop pulling!"

He immediately shouted to halt her—70% tert-butyl hydroperoxide is highly flammable and explosive; any vibration or friction could trigger disaster. If this girl accidentally crushed the tank, he'd be reduced to ashes even if he built ten layers of steel doors.

Kiki's face glistened with fine sweat; hearing Lin Xian's warning, she stopped her action and said: "The root system beneath this flower is far more extensive than what we see—it's completely immovable."

As she spoke, the boiling bubbles in the chemical pool grew denser. Then, a white humanoid figure slowly rose from the bottom of the pool.

Both instantly paled—the thing was another flesh-bone, stripped of its skin!

The flesh-bone was utterly pale from soaking, its muscles and internal organs exposed, horrifying to behold.

Then came an even more terrifying sight: more and more bloated, whitened flesh-bones rose from the chemical pool—ten, twenty, fifty, a hundred, three hundred…

Dense and countless, they looked from afar like a boiling pot of porridge swollen with corpses, sending chills down their spines.

Lin Xian and Kiki stared at the scene, their entire bodies recoiling in revulsion.

"This… how could there be so many dead bodies in one chemical plant?" Kiki's face turned deathly pale as she fought back the urge to vomit.

Lin Xian could already imagine how horrific the stench must be—if not for their gas masks, they'd have been knocked unconscious by the odor.

"Go."

Without another word, Lin Xian prepared to retreat.

By now, he realized the reason the town repelled the Night Weirds was almost certainly this lantern flower. Even Kiki, a psychic capable of telekinesis, couldn't move it—so it was normal that others couldn't either, in such a dangerous environment.

At this moment, Lin Xian still believed the lantern flower was a Blood Calamity Plant, even mentally calculating how to discuss with Director Ding about removing it.

But the next instant, he completely abandoned that thought.

For at that moment, hundreds of flesh-bones in the chemical pool suddenly rose out of the water, then slid sideways—something was emerging from below.

Boom boom boom~

Tremors, water surges, bodies splashing—Lin Xian and Kiki took one look and knew disaster was imminent; they immediately turned and ran.

"Shuqin Building, prepare to withdraw!"

Over the communicator, Lin Xian barked.

Boom whoosh whoosh whoosh~

Countless flesh-bones plunged into the pool, then a black tentacle, dozens of meters long and resembling a giant serpent, rose from the depths. At its tip grew several humanoid tendrils, with a circular mouth lined with sharp teeth.

"This lantern flower… is alive!!"

Kiki, hovering in midair, screamed in shock and shot toward the exit.

But the tentacle was too long—and as if guided by eyes—it retracted, coiled, then lunged straight at Lin Xian!

"Lin Xian!"

Kiki tried to use her psychic ability to restrain the massive tentacle—but as soon as she acted, she realized she couldn't hold it; her grip vanished, and the tentacle was already rushing toward Lin Xian.

Zing!

In an instant, Lin Xian executed a Backflash sideways, becoming a silver afterimage that narrowly dodged the tentacle. Boom!

The tentacle kept its momentum, piercing clean through the warehouse entrance door, blocking their escape.

"Lin Xian, over there!" Kiki, airborne, immediately pointed to another safe exit.

"Watch out!"

But Lin Xian's face twisted in terror—he shouted back at her.

Because behind Kiki, a second tentacle had appeared!

Whir!

A muffled rush filled the vast chemical workshop. Before Kiki could react, the tentacle's mouth snapped shut, swallowing her whole—luckily, at the critical moment, she wrapped herself in psychic force, turning her body into a balloon that was flung backward.

"Girl, take the upper route!"

Lin Xian sprinted desperately toward the safety door, while Kiki's retreat was cut off by the second tentacle.

Kiki, flung through the air, stabilized her form. Her face was ashen; she looked where Lin Xian pointed, saw an air vent above, and nodded sharply: "Got it!"

Clang clang clang!!

At that moment, the lantern flower glowed brightly. The countless white flesh-bones in the chemical pool suddenly came alive—muscles twitched, then they frantically scrambled up the walls, surging toward Lin Xian.

Dense and countless, they looked like faceless zombies, dripping water, some bloated and rotting, their muscles dissolving.

!

"Damn it!"

Lin Xian swung his arm backward—metal frameworks extended instantly, forming an irregular wall behind him to block the flesh-bone zombies.

But the white flesh-bones charged forward regardless, their bodies torn apart by the metal frames—countless parasites burst from their muscle tissue and scurried toward Lin Xian.

Lin Xian sprinted forward; the giant black tentacle at the distant entrance smashed through the iron door and wall, sweeping toward him.

Crash crash!

As the safety door neared closure, Lin Xian stomped hard and activated Backflash again.

Shhh!

A streak of silver shot forward only a few meters before the black tentacle struck him midair, hurling him backward.

Lin Xian felt the world spin violently—his body felt ready to shatter. He rolled several times on the ground, nearly blacking out.

Boom boom boom~

His ears rang, sounds muffled. In a daze, he saw the darkening sky and the inverted, towering white cooling tower. His organs trembled with pain. He tried to rise—his vision swam with two massive black tentacles writhing and flailing.

Beep… beep…

The watch's alert tone seemed to drift closer, gradually sharpening in Lin Xian's mind.

Splash~

Suddenly, a tremendous force dragged him backward. Lin Xian looked up—it was Shu Qin.

"Team Leader Lin!!"

She screamed, firing her Remington M96 wildly at the black tentacle.

The building's K23 electric rotary machine gun was also pouring out relentless fire to cover his escape.

Lin Xian's consciousness slowly returned. He scanned the scene and saw Kiki had also escaped—finally, he exhaled in relief.

"Withdraw, now!"

Lin Xian rolled to his feet and immediately issued the retreat order.

Shu Qin fired as she retreated, agilely climbing into the SUV. After emptying one magazine, the building's gunners followed her aboard.

Lin Xian mounted his motorcycle, motioned for Kiki to get on the back, then twisted the throttle. The rear wheel spun violently, kicking up a cloud of white dust as the bike roared out of the chemical plant.

(End of Chapter)