Chapter 12: Mutation

In the Xitai District, a pungent, putrid stench permeated a dark and damp basement.

The walls were carved with various eerie patterns and some granular insect eggs, making one's hair stand on end. In this strange environment, a mysterious figure stood silently. She wore a bright red robe with wide sleeves that seemed to move with the wind. The hood of the robe deeply obscured most of her face, and beneath the hood, a pair of eyes flickering with pale green light revealed a profound and dangerous aura.

Suddenly, a low and rhythmic knocking on the door broke the silence of the basement. The mysterious woman slowly turned around and stared at the entrance. As the door slowly opened, a figure appeared in the doorway. This was a man dressed in the same red robe as the woman, but his build was tall and powerful, radiating a formidable aura.

After bowing to the woman, he said softly, "Bishop, the Human Alliance's Crimson Thorn has blockaded this area and begun dispatching several elite squads into the Xitai District. I suspect their target might be us."

The corners of the woman's mouth lifted slightly, revealing a cold sneer, and she replied in a soft and charming voice, "Heh, these Crimson Thorns are moving quite fast. But do they think they can find us so easily? How naive!" A trace of disdain flashed in her eyes.

The man lowered his head, his tone carrying a hint of worry: "Bishop, although we have made thorough preparations, the Crimson Thorn is, after all, an elite unit within the Human Alliance; they possess rich experience and powerful strength, so we must be on guard."

The woman smiled contemptuously: "Rest assured, I have my own countermeasures. For these years, we have been laying plans in the dark, all for this day. Although the Crimson Thorn is powerful, they know too little about us."

She turned around and looked at the giant insect egg, her eyes flickering with fanatical light: "As long as the 'God's Envoy' hatches, everything will change. We will possess power sufficient to overturn the world."

Upon hearing this, the man couldn't help but shiver; he knew what the "God's Envoy" the Bishop spoke of referred to. According to the Bishop, this was a "God's Envoy" bestowed upon her by the Zerg Mother God, a type of extremely powerful Zerg whose strength far exceeded the imagination of ordinary people.

"Bishop, what should we do next?" the man asked cautiously.

The woman pondered for a moment, then said, "Since all of the Mother God's gifts have been given to those Believers, now is the time for them to demonstrate their Loyalty to the Mother God. Have them prepare; once the Crimson Thorn squads enter our trap, let them have no way to return."

The man nodded and immediately retreated to convey the orders.

With the man's departure, the atmosphere in the basement became even more oppressive. The woman stood before the giant insect egg, reaching out to stroke its smooth shell, her gaze revealing a trace of twisted pleasure, as if enjoying some unspeakable, secret pain.

"God's Envoy, you are the strongest weapon the Mother God has bestowed upon us; your birth will be the beginning of this world being turned upside down." The woman's voice was low and filled with passion.

Meanwhile, on the streets of the Xitai District, the Crimson Thorn squad was moving silently through the intricate alleys.

"Strange? We were supposed to rendezvous with the Third Squad here; where are they?" Ye Fan's tone was somewhat heavy, and the other members of the squad became more cautious.

After hearing what Ye Fan said, Yingzhou felt alert; the current situation might have deviated from the planned scheme, so he whispered to the other students behind him, "Stay vigilant, the situation here is not quite right."

Ye Fan then said to a member of the squad, "Yechie, scout the surrounding environment and observe if there are any traces of fighting nearby."

The team member called Yechie nodded and summoned his Back Spirit, which was a falcon; the falcon flew into the sky to circle and scout the surroundings.

A moment later, Yechie replied, "Captain, there are no traces of fighting nearby, and no abnormalities have been discovered so far."

Ye Fan thought for 10 seconds and made a decision.

"We will continue to execute the Task; the Third Squad must have encountered some trouble, and we cannot continue to wait for them here."

The squad continued to advance, and as they delved deeper, a faint mist began to permeate the surroundings.

Just as the squad passed a building, Yingzhou, who was following behind the squad, saw several Molotov cocktails thrown down from the second floor.

"Enemies upstairs!" Yingzhou shouted a warning.

The Crimson Thorn squad also sensed the danger and quickly dispersed to dodge the attack of the Molotov cocktails.

"You five, find cover!" Ye Fan shouted at Yingzhou and the others; one person in the squad summoned their Back Spirit, jumped with force, and broke through to the position where the Molotov cocktails had just been thrown, followed by a burst of gunfire.

At the same time, two squad members entered the building and began to charge toward the second floor.

Soon, a burst of gunfire and the screams of some people came from inside the building.

Just when everyone thought those three Crimson Thorn squad members could handle those cultist Believers, Ye Fan keenly sensed that one firing point had been missing for over 15 seconds; he immediately felt something was wrong and shouted to the squad members.

"Two people, come with me to support them!"

When Ye Fan arrived on the second floor, he saw corpses all over the ground, all wearing red robes, blending in with the fresh blood on the floor.

Just as Ye Fan wanted to go in to check on the situation of his teammates, a corpse on the ground swelled rapidly, and then the flesh exploded instantly, spraying various organ fragments onto the walls, the floor, and Ye Fan's body.

"Captain! Watch out!" A team member fired quickly, blowing up a bug that had emerged from the center of the explosion.

"What on earth is going on? These Believers have all been fed insect eggs!" A trace of surprise appeared in Ye Fan's eyes, and then he saw his two teammates dragging the corpse of a comrade toward him.

"Captain, our intelligence on these cults is incomplete; they all have insect eggs in their bodies, and Beifeng was ambushed by a bug that suddenly appeared and sacrificed his life," a team member said in a somewhat low voice.

"You all go down first; I am going to eliminate all these hidden dangers!" Ye Fan summoned his own Back Spirit, a fire mage appeared behind him, and a flame completely ignited the entire second floor. There were still a few shrill insect cries inside.

After Ye Fan walked down from the building, he gathered the squad members and Yingzhou's group of five.

"Our intelligence has encountered some problems; it must be that the leader of that cult has already discovered our objective, so they fed insect eggs to all the Believers. From now on, kill all Believers encountered, and the corpses must be incinerated." After Ye Fan finished saying these words, he said to Yingzhou and the others, "The situation is special now; later you will also be thrown into battle, but I will arrange some tasks for you that are not very dangerous, at least as long as we haven't all been killed in action."

Among the five students, besides Yingzhou, the others showed a trace of panic to varying degrees. The corners of Yingzhou's mouth lifted unconsciously, but very quickly, Yingzhou controlled his expression.

Ye Fan had the five team members hand their daggers to the five students, and then the squad began to continue forward.