Chapter 483: [Fate]'s Greeting

Flames licked their combat uniforms, and beneath the charred fibers lay bones gleaming with a metallic luster.

The two warriors at the very front had their right arms severed at shoulder level; no blood spurted from the stumps, only thick black liquid seeping out slowly.

They seemed unable to feel pain, and with their remaining left hands they drew syringes from their combat packs and viciously stabbed them into their shoulders.

In an instant, the severed arms writhed, uneven black granulation tissue surged out madly, and in the blink of an eye it fused into a rotting, blackened arm.

The other seven were in slightly better condition, but large areas of their facial skin were carbonized, revealing the bluish-gray muscle tissue beneath.

"Fan-shaped Defense."

Zuo Bai's voice came from the thick smoke, calm as if he had not just experienced an explosion.

The warriors immediately dispersed, forming triangular formations in groups of three.

They worked together seamlessly; one group quickly took cover behind the burning wreckage of a roadside bus, and the burnt smell emanating from inside made them unconsciously lick their lips;

another group climbed up a streetlight pole to keep watch from above;

the last group stood back-to-back in the center of the highway, becoming the core of a mobile defense.

Zuo Bai carried Zhao Jingyi out of the thick smoke with one hand.

His newly changed white coat was yellowed by smoke, and wisps of blue smoke still rose from his cuffs.

Zhao Jingyi, being close to the freezing chamber, had luckily avoided burns, but the shockwave of the explosion made her sternum ache violently, as if her internal organs were displaced.

When thrown to the ground, she groaned, curled into a ball, coughed violently, and a taste of iron rust rose in her throat.

Zuo Bai coldly glanced at her.

Zhao Jingyi immediately gritted her teeth, endured the pain, and staggered toward the cover in the distance.

Only then did Zuo Bai look up, his gaze locking onto three people in the center of the road thirty meters away—they were utterly out of place with the surrounding chaos, like actors who had mistakenly wandered onto a battlefield.

A bald man wearing flip-flops, hands in his pockets, grinning to reveal a mouthful of black teeth;

a muscular man in shorts, arms crossed, blue veins coiling like snakes beneath his skin;

a gaudy, seductive woman with heavy makeup, a milk tea straw between her lips, her face full of nonchalance.

Zhao Jingyi quickly poked her head out halfway and shouted a reminder to Zuo Bai:

"Mentor, that muscular man is the man who drove the senior sisters mad in the video."

As if Zhao Jingyi needed to remind him, Zuo Bai had recognized the man at first glance.

"I see."

Zuo Bai's voice was low, as if coming from an ice cellar, and his slender fingers unconsciously rubbed the burned edge of his white coat,

"The campus performance I carefully prepared wasn't interrupted by an accident, but was aimed at me?!!"

A warrior suddenly growled, "Nine o'clock direction."

Zuo Bai's train of thought was interrupted; he quickly turned his head, his line of sight passing over the burning wreckage and landing on the elevated streetlight four hundred meters away.

A man dressed in a black ceremonial uniform stood silently atop the lamp, holding a strangely shaped sniper rifle, one eye closed and one eye open, with no pupils—only whites.

The moment Zuo Bai's gaze locked onto the man in the black ceremonial uniform, a thought of absurdity flitted through his mind:

"The sniper is blind?"

However, before his thoughts could settle, the warrior who had just spoken had his head "pong" explode.

Pong—

The warrior who had just spoken had a bowl-sized hole blown open in his head in an instant; black blood spurted like a fountain, mixed with bone fragments and brain matter, splashing everywhere.

For an ordinary person, this shot would be fatal.

But Zuo Bai's warriors were different; their bodies had undergone partial Corpse Transformation, and they were uniformly implanted with Nano Worms.

So even if their skulls were shattered, their shells could still be managed by the Nano Worms and continue fighting like E Corpses.

Visibly, the warrior whose head was shattered swayed but did not fall, and stubbornly took a step forward.

"The power of science can redefine death!"

Zuo Bai coldly laughed, raised his hand to point at the blind sniper, and said lightly:

"Kill him first..."

Zuo Bai was about to give the order when, in the next second, a sudden change occurred.

The body of the shattered-head warrior stiffened, its neck twisted eerily to one side, and then—

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

Countless sharp thorns burst out from within his body madly, the sound of flesh being pierced never ceasing.

In an instant, the warrior's body was like an exploding seed, blooming from within into a ferocious "Thorn Sea Urchin."

The mucus secreted on the thorns was corrupting the Nano Worms; the silver Nano Worms writhed and turned the same black, emitting an evil glow.

Even more terrifying, those thorns continued to twist madly, constantly growing, and even "brandishing claws and teeth" to embrace the warriors beside them.

Zuo Bai's expression finally changed.

"... Not a bullet."

"It's a 'Seed'!!!"

When Zuo Bai uttered the word "Seed," the surrounding air seemed to be drained, suffocating.

These warriors, who had undergone E Corpse transformation and were killing machines that could keep a straight face even with pierced intestines and rotting bellies, now retreated half a step in unison.

Their pupils trembled violently, and bloodshot veins appeared on the whites of their eyes.

At least three people simultaneously pressed their tongues against their back molars, where self-destruct programs that could be activated at any time were buried.

Speaking of the abilities or lethality displayed by the "Seed," actually, judging purely by appearances, it did not seem that terrifying.

However, it could bloom in flesh and blood, and then the blooming thorns would pierce straight into the brain marrow within 0.4 seconds, taking over the host body's nerve center, corrupting and twisting the host body's will.

And during this process, the host body would not die, but would receive comprehensive enhancement.

Just like a character in a game, "attributes" would skyrocket, various "skill" damage would increase, and "cooldown" would shorten.

The price was that the prefrontal cortex was recoded by thorn toxin, turning into a… lunatic unable to communicate through words.

Indeed, judging solely by the surface of the ability, it doesn't seem that terrifying.

But…

The "Seed" also contains another deeper meaning; it is the signature business card unique to the 【Destiny】 Organization.

When you personally witness a seed blooming within a companion's body, it means 【Destiny】 is extending its… greetings to you in an extremely "polite" way?!

This is common knowledge known to all villains!

It is survival knowledge that you will be repeatedly taught in the new employee training course within the first three sections after joining any villain, no matter which one.

Zuo Bai was always the best student in the learning class.

So, he still firmly remembers the original words on the blackboard:

When you see a companion parasitized by 【Seed】, do not go save him; he has already been contaminated by 【Destiny】.

What you need to do is show our organization's politeness and friendliness, answer whatever is asked, give whatever is requested, and do your best to resolve the misunderstandings.

If these are not enough, there is only one thing you need to do—run! Run! Run!

Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely do not hold grudges, do not make a last-ditch resistance, and do not even try to counterattack.

Above all,

Die alone, and the whole family will be happy; the organization will remember you forever.

End of Chapter