Chapter 122: Spider Tears

Not far from the highway, the motionless Mo Ling buried under the corpse mountain suddenly opened her eyes.

Her brow twitched as she heard the truck engine start.

Has it been three hours?

So fast...

Should we intercept?

She slowly rose to her feet, straining to push aside the stunned, howling zombies in front of her, creating a gap.

Through the gap, the truck in the distance sped extremely fast, already nearing the edge of the highway.

The direction seemed to be the way they had come.

Team comms.

"Lin An, someone in the blue truck's student group started the vehicle; they seem ready to return to base."

"Zzz-"

The message was jammed; Lin An's side seemed not to have heard it.

In a place Mo Ling couldn't see, the corpse mountain's exterior crawled with tiny red spiders, the spiders boring in and out of the zombies; the insensate corpses showed no reaction.

"Repeat: someone has left—should we intercept?"

Still no response.

Mo Ling furrowed her brows, feeling somewhat uneasy.

Forget it; I'll just follow Lin An's earlier orders.

First stop them; if they don't obey, kill them...

Mo Ling hesitated no longer, activating her skill again and setting the summon point at the highway entrance.

But after continuously summoning zombies, her already meager mental energy was somewhat depleted.

She couldn't help rubbing her forehead; she had a headache.

The positioning was a bit fuzzy; it looked like she'd have to lead the corpse horde to intercept herself.

Really troublesome...

Mo Ling moved slowly, and the corpse mountain shifted with her, a mass of zombies tumbling down from the top to the ground before re-encircling.

Inside the four-story restaurant.

Lin An coldly eyed the "man" before him awkwardly brewing tea, the table set with teaware he didn't know where it came from.

"No need for tea—tell me what happened here."

"And."

"Who are you."

His voice ice‑cold, he really had no mood to drink tea with a monster, especially since every time the man lifted his hand a bunch of spiders fell into the cup.

The man heard the voice and lifted his head; the face composed of spiders seemed to try to form a smile.

With even his features blurred, he looked horrifying beyond measure.

Gao Tian stood guard behind Lin An, his compound bow never lowered.

"I want to."

"Let me first introduce myself..."

The man spoke slowly, sensing Lin An's killing intent, regrettably setting down his teacup.

"I'm the owner of this restaurant; my name is Lin Yuming."

"I usually like brewing tea, and incidentally run this specialty eatery..."

"Clang!"

The blade flashed from its sheath; Lin An gripped it with one hand, pressing it to the man's throat.

Although the spider‑formed humanoid had no vital points to speak of, the man's prattle still stirred Lin An's killing intent.

"I don't have time to waste on your nonsense!"

The mission still has twenty minutes left, yet no completion prompt has appeared; if we drag on, the squad will have members randomly erased!

If it weren't for having no idea how to proceed, Lin An would never allow this monster to live another second before her.

"Keep yapping and I'll kill you! Worst case, I'll find human‑skin clues on your corpse."

Since the monster claimed it had been secretly observing him, Lin An saw no need to hide her purpose.

The presence previously detected as?? should be the monster before her.

It had watched from the shadows but never acted, showing the monster's strength isn't great!

He simply didn't believe the man's idle chatter about wanting to talk.

"Your temper is really fiery."

The spiders on the man's face shifted, forming features like a woman's.

Along with that, his voice changed tone as well.

She raised her arm to cover her mouth and gave a light laugh, utterly unconcerned about the blade pressed to her throat.

"Fine, since you're in such a hurry I won't say more."

"What a pity; I haven't chatted with anyone in ages."

"Who exactly are you!"

Lin An's voice ice‑cold, her mental power began to build in advance, preparing to unleash Divine Spike.

Sensing the mental power radiating from Lin An, the woman withdrew the smile from her face.

"All right."

"As you can see, I am no longer human—and not even myself anymore."

I am...

Many people...

Before the Apocalypse broke out, I was indeed the boss here.

You know, as a competent boss, I will personally taste every new dish that is served.

Unfortunately, just as you and your companion guessed that.

I was parasitized by spider eggs in my brain.

How did you end up like this!? Wouldn't being parasitized cause death? Unless eating the crab downstairs turns you into a mutant, how did you turn into a bunch of.. spiders?

Gao Tian couldn't help but speak up; the woman's current form clearly did not match Lin An's earlier speculation.

Because I am an Awakened One.

The woman picked up the spider that had fallen on the table and put it back into her eye socket.

I became an Awakened One after the Apocalypse broke out.

Awakened Ones can resist the spider eggs' craving for the contamination source.

You haven't seen Wang Teng, huh? Well, he's the person you blew up.

He and I awakened together; after I awakened, the marrow-sucking spider dragged me back to its nest.

That's the back kitchen you saw.

There, after I was melted, I turned into this form.

Perhaps it's because my awakened ability is related to the worms; after I woke up again, I merged with others' memories, and since that day I have stayed here.

After all, I know I look like a monster, and I don't want to hurt anyone.

Even Wang Teng's repeated entries into the mall are thanks to my secret help.

Otherwise, with his lousy skill, how could he come and go so many times?

A flicker of something unusual passed through Lin An's eyes as he recalled Wang Teng's words.

(At that time I was very afraid, because I had not yet awakened.)

After the woman finished speaking, she softly sighed, lowering her head and muttering to herself.

Actually, I've said all this just to tell you that I am actually your kind.

I really mean no harm; I can even give you some good things.

I only hope you can help me find my parents and tell them I'm still alive.

In the woman's eye socket, the spider fell, like tears.

Gao Tian's bow, which had been drawn and ready to fire, loosened somewhat; although the woman's appearance was frightening, he inexplicably felt a surge of sympathy in his heart.

Brother Lin, she really doesn't seem like a bad person.

Lin An did not respond to Gao Tian's words; the blade's edge remained, and instead he slowly rose to his feet, speaking word by word.

You're lying.

If you were parasitized by spider eggs before the Apocalypse broke out, you would inevitably go downstairs to eat the contamination source, accelerating mutation.

Because what's in your brain is a mother egg, just like the woman downstairs.

Spider eggs, to hatch, will control humans into eating the contaminated crabs.

Ordinary people cannot resist the spider eggs' control, just like the later-emerging human-faced crabs.

They, merely parasitized by ordinary spider eggs, lose their rationality and directly eat raw dead crab corpses—let alone the mother egg in your brain.

The mother egg's control ability is only higher than that of the subsequently bred spider eggs.

So, you could only have become an Awakened One immediately after the Apocalypse broke out.

As you said, only Awakened Ones can resist the spider eggs' summons.

Then the marrow-sucking spider must certainly appear after you became an Awakened One.

Lin An's expression turned cold as he slowly rose to his feet.

Even.

That marrow-sucking spider is something you created.