Chapter 1144: We Are Alien Species

"Run!"

"Jia Lu! Run! Don't worry about me!"

On the hill, a man in a wrinkled leather‑like coat staggered forward, struggling to run. Having exhausted his strength, he shoved the girl ahead of him aside, letting her run first.

He staggered to his feet, drew his curved blade, and stared desperately at the worms not far off, shouting angrily:

"Come on!"

"You damned worms!"

He waved the curved blade wildly, as if to bolster his courage.

Those running ahead didn't have time to say more; they simply grabbed the crying girl and kept running without looking back.

Someone stayed behind to let the worms eat him, so they could get farther away.

As long as they found a hole to hide in, they might still survive.

"Dad!"

"Dad!!"

Grabbed by a group of similarly dressed adults in various leather garments, the girl screamed hoarsely, unwilling to let go.

Her brother died, her mother died, her older brother also died..

She could not bear that the last relative left in the world would also leave her. She could not accept that her father would be devoured by those worms, flesh and blood stripped down to the bone.

"Jia Lu! Stay calm!"

"Don't let the uncle die in vain!"

A dark‑skinned youth with a cut on his forehead seized the girl desperately and dragged her away without a word.

If they kept dragging on, they'd all die.

The worm disaster is too horrifying; its path lies right over the gathering place. They must survive and return to tell everyone to evacuate immediately!

Left behind in the rear, the middle‑aged man waving his curved blade panted heavily, half‑filled with fear, half with resolve to die.

His legs had been bitten by worms years earlier; running this far had already reached his limit.

But even if he had to die, he would die standing!

With the piercing buzz rapidly approaching, the middle‑aged man's pupils filled with huge, disgusting worm‑like creatures resembling locusts, which had already flown up to his face.

From its split eight‑part mouthparts, a sharp thin needle protruded—this was the worm's specialized mouth for sucking brain fluid!

"Ahhhhh!!!"

The sharp needle stabbed forward, the sky‑full of worms nearly covering him. The fleeing group couldn't bear to look back, but in the next second they heard a deafening sonic boom.

All they saw was a figure, as if teleporting, slamming into the worm swarm at a speed beyond their reaction limits.

Accompanied by a horrifying bloody light that could not be intensified, the charging worm swarm seemed to hit a black hole and was instantly shattered into pieces by a violent shockwave.

Sword shadows criss‑crossed.

At a speed they could hardly imagine, the figure that had plunged into the worm swarm seemed to multiply, his sword light flashing continuously and coalescing into a net of deadly blades.

After a few back‑and‑forth strikes, in just three or four seconds the sky‑full worm swarm suddenly halted, then, as if struck by a tremendous force, burst into a mist of blood.

"Whoosh—"

Worm corpses fell, their acidic blood pouring like rain, hiss‑hiss corroding the earth.

Sheathed his sword, turned around, the battle ended.

Lin An exhaled slightly, somewhat surprised to look at the man behind him whom he had just saved.

It was only a swarm of first‑level worms; he fought them with his bare body, casually striking a few times and it was over. The two‑hundred‑plus worms also earned him a few points.

The people he had saved clearly weren't Awakened Ones; they seemed more like the local natives.

He also hadn't expected to find an NPC on the apocalypse battlefield.

Unlike his relaxed ease, he didn't care about these worms.

The rescued middle‑aged man stared blankly, his mouth open, his whole body trembling.

Heaven take pity—he had never seen such an exaggerated scene in his life. Ordinary warriors at a gathering point could be considered strong if they could fight off a few worms, but a sight like Lin An's mass slaughter he had only heard of in legends.

But then, suddenly, he seemed to realize something, his gaze repeatedly flicking to Lin An's forehead.

The next second, a terrified, distorted voice suddenly rang out:

"Jia Lu!! Run!"

"He's an Alien Species!!!"

"Ahhhhh!!!"

His expression was fear pushed to the limit, yet mixed with desperate courage. The middle‑aged man Lin An had saved not only failed to thank him, but raised his curved blade and swung at Lin An without hesitation—as if the figure before him were not a person, but a monster a hundred times more terrifying than the worms.

At the same time, the few who had intended to run over to thank Lin An for saving them, upon hearing the middle‑aged man's scream, were frightened and bolted away.

"Clang!!"

Lin An blinked slightly, somewhat startled to see the curved blade that had struck his forehead. Without any defense, his basic protection alone snapped the blade— which looked like it was made of worm bone— clean in two.

He also hadn't expected the other party to dare attack him.

Especially, that remark about him being an Alien Species?

He raised his hand to lift the stunned middle‑aged man's curved blade, and Lin An, somewhat astonished, asked:

"Alien Species?"

"Why do you say I'm an Alien Species?"

"Have you ever seen an Alien Species?"

Looking at the terrified middle‑aged man, Lin An's doubts were even greater than the man's. Aren't Alien Species the monsters from the YiKongjian? Could it be that this world's NPCs have encountered an Alien Species invasion?

But aren't Alien Species those snake‑headed parasites that possess bodies?

However, as Lin An's question left his mouth, the terrified middle‑aged man, showing no sign of backing down, regained his composure, mustered his courage, and simply grabbed the broken curved blade to keep stabbing at Lin An.

Ahhh!! I'll go all out against you!!

Clutching the fragments, the middle-aged man attacked Lin An like a madman, nonstop. Apart from the successive clanging sounds, the tremendous rebound force instead shook him, making him stagger and sit down on the ground.

Lin An looked at the utterly incommunicative middle-aged man, somewhat speechless, and simply released a bit of aura, like a top predator directly locking the opponent in place.

Although I can't break his defense, it's really annoying.

Unable to be bothered with nonsense, Lin An hesitated slightly, considering whether to kill and interrogate the corpse.

In a heartbeat, he simply flashed and caught all the fleeing people, bringing them back.

Bang!

Like an instantaneous shift, the fleeing people only heard a burst explosion behind them, and the next second they were horrified to find themselves flung beside the middle-aged man.

Looking at the few people he had captured back, Lin An furrowed his brows slightly and directly pressed the sword tip against the girl's throat.

Answer my question, or I'll kill her.

Although killing and interrogating a corpse is convenient, since it involves the Alien Species, Lin An still worried something might be missed. Of course, if the other party doesn't cooperate, then killing them first is still an option.

His whole body trembled.

Seeing everyone captured back, the middle-aged man couldn't help but burst out in furious curses:

You monsters! Demons! Bug dung!

I won't...

Whoosh, the sword tip exerted slight force; Lin An, feeling impatient, lightly stabbed into the girl's throat.

The next second, the youth beside him, wearing a strange decoration on his head, immediately screamed aloud.

Don't kill Jia Lu! I'll talk! I'll talk!