Chapter 165: Magic Power Fire Dragon, Ancient Worm

Although he didn't understand why, this giant looked far stronger than the previous giant lip-sucking worms.

Most importantly, its abilities were excellent: parasitic control and physical regeneration—both highly useful, and most importantly, this thing had even shown some intelligence; if it could be tamed…

Louis wanted to try.

So he walked forward with a smile, "I think we can talk, for example—"

Before he finished speaking, the mother emitted a roar, and dozens of tiny worms shot out.

Louis's lips twitched slightly; Xiong Xiong flames instantly burned the worms to ash. "Don't take kindness for weakness—turns out you really need to be beaten into submission."

With that, the ruby ring on Louis's finger glowed, and a fist-sized flame appeared in midair.

The next moment.

The flame flared violently, twisted, stretched—and a fire dragon thirty meters long, with full claws and a head five meters tall, suddenly loomed in the sky, roaring.

"ROAR!!"

The Fire Manipulation technique, empowered by magic power and enhanced by the ruby ring, effortlessly forged this dragon—its temperature exceeding 1200 degrees, glowing orange-yellow, radiating terrifying majesty.

In fact, this wasn't even his full power; Louis still had the leisure to shape it into a dragon form. If he truly unleashed his full strength, it would be a massive fireball straightaway.

Of course, given the current situation, this fire dragon should be more than sufficient.

WHOOSH!!!

A torrent of flame erupted; the mother seemed terrified of fire, leaping straight into the pool behind her, trying to use the water to resist the flames.

Fire and water collided instantly.

SSSSS!

Water met fire, and thick white steam surged upward.

"ROAR! AHHH!!"

Pained roars echoed from the pool, but just as Louis was about to use his Primordial Spirit power, Xiang Jiali waved her hand, condensing the surrounding air into a wall that blocked the lingering steam.

She also shielded Casey and the others.

BOOM!

The massive body erupted from the water, dragging a gale with it, charging straight at Louis.

Clearly, the mother knew continuing like this meant certain death—only by leveraging its advantage could it hope to win, and its advantage was naturally its enormous size.

But the fire dragon still hovered in midair; it wouldn't let it pass so easily. Louis controlled the dragon to swing its tail, while the dragon's head curved around, forming a semi-encirclement.

Flames roared; the thick fire tail blocked it, the dragon's body coiled, tightened, and closed in, the head biting from the side.

SSSSS—

Fire was the most primal natural force, capable of countering all carbon-based life—even silicon-based life had to bow before its divine might.

Now, this monster was entangled in flames, trapped in a sea of fire, scorched at every moment, even becoming part of the fire itself—like a colossal torch!

Its body burned, its internal oils feeding the flames, making them burn hotter; even rolling or diving back into the pool did no good—the fire dragon, empowered by magic power and the ruby ring, was not so easily extinguished.

CRACKLE!

CRACKLE!

Oil splattered, the stench of charred flesh drifted through the air.

Louis strolled to the edge of the pool, watching the mother lose vitality, then suddenly his third eye twitched—but his body didn't move.

SPLASH!

A thick tentacle shot violently from the water, striking at Louis.

But—

BAM!!

A blood-red bead three meters in diameter suddenly appeared, smashing the tentacle into it, collapsing a crater in the pool floor.

"So that's it—you can regenerate somewhat with water, can you? Then… would you die if you lost all moisture?"

Louis stood firm, calmly watching the screaming mother.

The next second.

BOOM!

The fire dragon plunged its entire body into the pool—instantly, mist rose, all moisture evaporated, the ground cracked into black, terrifying fissures.

Only the mother remained, shriveled to half her size, barely alive, scorched by flames.

The shockwave faded; Louis brushed his hair.

He crouched down, staring at the mother. "Will you submit? I give you one chance."

Between his fingers, a flame identical to the earlier fist-sized one ignited, flickering gently.

The mother struggled to look at Louis—and at the flame in his hand—then finally—

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Bones twisted, skin compressed, transformed.

Three seconds later, the massive body twisted and reshaped into a blonde woman—though she wore no clothes. Even without clothes, no ordinary person would feel desire for her now.

Why? Her entire skin was covered in burn scars, pitch-black, dotted with swollen, red blisters that looked ready to burst at the slightest touch.

Aside from her face, everything else was repulsive and terrifying.

"I—I submit."

She spoke.

Or rather, she had always been able to speak.

Louis finally smiled. "Good. I appreciate your pragmatism. But I don't trust your word—so we need something small to build mutual trust."

He reached out; the vial containing the "Happy Powder"—a drug-like substance developed by Casey's companions—flew from Casey's hands, now protected by Xiang Jiali, into Louis's palm.

Seeing the mother's terrified gaze, Louis waved his hand. "Don't worry—it won't kill you."

POP!

The vial shattered; the powder coalesced in midair into a white pill. Louis tore off a thin sheet of iron and wrapped it around the pill. "Now, eat it."

The mother hesitated. "Please… don't do this. This thing is dangerous for me."

"I should be useful to you. You don't want me dying by accident, do you?"

???

Holy hell—what kind of reverse threat was that?

Louis's smile vanished. "Drink."

GLUG.

In the end, she swallowed it. She had no choice.

Louis knew this was only a temporary measure. Once he forged the Centipede Sack, he'd transform her into it as a worm—then her life and death would be entirely in his hands.

With that matter settled,

Louis didn't press the mother further. Instead, he turned to Casey. "Do you know Haley? A girl with black hair."

"Haley?" Casey's eyes lit up. "I know her! But she's injured—she's probably still on the second floor. I'll take you."

"No need. I've already come down."

A female voice came. Haley limped out from a corner, holding a lighter and a spray can.

She clearly planned to use fire against the parasites.

She'd already heard the commotion and had been quietly observing from the shadows.

"Looks like I arrived just in time."

"Thank you."

She first thanked him, then turned to Louis and asked suddenly, "Louis, are there many of these monsters?"

Louis paused, then said, "Many. More than you can imagine."

"Then why, in all these years, have I never heard of them?"

Probably because David and I showed up…

Sorry. We didn't mean to.

Louis clicked his tongue. "Someone's covering up this information. With the huge population and chaos at the bottom, many deaths aren't caused by humans—people naturally never find out."

Haley nodded. So that's how it was.

She trusted Louis's words—there was no other explanation. But if this was true, wasn't the world incredibly dangerous?

She'd thought Emilia's case was rare—turns out she'd just been lucky.

"Can I still transfer schools?"

She asked.

Louis smiled and extended his hand. "Of course. Welcome."

…

Haley was intelligent, calm, ruthless—not a liability. And most importantly, she had ties with him.

So Louis was willing to pull her up.

As for her position—depends on her talent. If she's strong, she rises; if weak, she fades into the margins.

But no matter what, at least she'd gain the power to protect herself.

Far better than leaving her fate entirely to luck.

After treating her injuries, Louis turned his focus to the mother, severely burned and lying there waiting.

He approached her, watching her further shrunken body, and confirmed in his mind: her weakness was water—she couldn't survive without it. Dehydration meant immediate death or dormancy.

That accidental special drug—Happy Powder—must have caused dehydration, which was why she feared it so much.

The weakness is really obvious enough.

His mind raced; Louis asked, "What's your name? Or do you even have one?"

"I do—I took it after blending into your human society: Marybeth Louis Hutchinson."

Louis immediately frowned. "That name is terrible. From now on, you're Bess."

There's already Mary and Maria—what if we get another Marybeth?

Bess nodded. Survival of the fittest—this one held her life and death in his hands. Changing her name was nothing; even mating with her, she'd be willing—or rather, she'd beg for it.

"Tell me your origins, and the full story behind this."

Louis asked. These were what he cared about most.

"I am, in fact, a mutated form of a special leech."

? Another leech?

"According to your human classification, I am an ancient worm—barely an ancestor of the leech—and after mutating from a meteorite and fusing with a nematode, I gained the abilities to spawn parasitic offspring and regenerate flesh."

"These past days, after parasitizing this body, I merged with it and gradually gained human intelligence. I intended to slowly take control of the humans in this school as a foundation, then expand step by step to build my own kingdom—but I didn't expect..."

Louis's expression turned grim. Another meteorite.

How many special meteorites were there in that meteor shower a few months ago?

"Also, uh, Master—should I call you that?"

"Whatever." Louis watched the mutated mother, curious what she'd say next.

"I need to tell you something."

"I have another... companion, I suppose. Also a mutation from that same meteorite. But she's different from me: I'm a fusion of leech ancestor and nematode; she's a fusion of queen ant and queen bee."

Another one???

(End of Chapter)