Chapter 155: Meeting Gift (Revised)

Immediately after, an even more hair‑raising scene unfolded.

The man's skin, under the dim streetlamp, emitted an unnatural, metallic‑grayish‑white sheen.

The sheen spread rapidly, and a layer of mineral crystals sprouted over his body.

In just a few dozen seconds, he transformed from a living man into a twisted monster whose entire body was covered with sharp gray‑white rocks.

It had completely lost its human shape, leaving only a vague humanoid outline, with two dim red glowing holes where its head should be.

His companions were stunned dumb by the sudden spectacle.

Some scrambled backward in terror, even collapsing onto the ground, while others seemed to want to help but were frozen by extreme fear, unable to take a single step.

But within a few seconds, the person who had just been joking with them mutated into a monster before their eyes.

The Aberrant Species gave them no time to react.

It let out a roar and swung its now completely petrified arm.

The nearest young man was blasted away, slammed heavily against the roadside barrier, his body contorted unnaturally, his fate unknown.

The slaughter began.

Someone rolled and crawled toward the car, trying to drive away, but the Aberrant Species easily flipped both the vehicle and its occupants...

The whole process was bloody and efficient, with no censorship at all; in under two minutes, the few youths who had been chatting were all lying in a pool of blood.

Amid the chaos, Yang Yixie noticed a quick‑witted person who, at the start of the Mutation, had hidden in a slightly farther corner, clutching a phone and frantically speaking to the creature, presumably calling the police.

Only the mineralized Aberrant Species stood amid the corpses, its dark red "gaze" scanning the surroundings as if seeking the next target.

Soon it spotted the corner‑hiding, covert‑calling person; realizing it had been seen, the person didn't stay foolish but turned and fled, and the Aberrant Species immediately gave chase.

The person didn't choose the open road but turned toward the forest; the larger Aberrant Species often gets snagged by trees when moving through woods.

The creature's mind wasn't very sharp, but its strength compensated; the trees that caught it were simply broken apart.

The pursuit and escape quickly carried them out of the surveillance camera's view, apparently heading deeper into the remote mountains.

After a while, the red‑and‑blue flashing police lights approached, and two patrol cars sped in, screeching to a halt near the scene.

Several officers got out and were clearly shocked by the carnage.

Seeing the fallen trees in the distance and realizing there might be survivors, the police drew their sidearms, ready to go rescue.

Since they left the road, the surveillance feed cut off, and the video ended there.

What the hell is this? Some kind of tokusatsu?

Yang Yixie leaned back in his chair, silent for a long while; the room was left only with the faint hum of the computer fan. Though he couldn't fully believe it, his gut told him the monster was real.

The guy was right; it really did feel like a "game dungeon," but the price was actual lives.

Are such incomprehensible monsters truly existent? How did the police handle it afterward?

Official forces—at least the first‑on‑scene police—had no means to subdue this threat.

He had witnessed the entire Mutation of that person, the forced distortion of its life form; could firearms even harm such a monster?

If even the police lack effective countermeasures, what difference does an ordinary person have from a lamb awaiting slaughter?

The key is how his beloved older brother got tangled in this.

Yang Yixie hadn't seen his brother in the footage, and it wouldn't be wise to have that person specifically investigate Yang Yichen.

Just as he fell into contemplation, trying to untangle the chaotic information, the computer screen suddenly went black without warning.

It wasn't a power loss—the main unit kept running, and the cooler still hummed.

Only the screen itself was forcibly switched to a pure black background.

Immediately after, an overly flashy, slightly childish cartoon‑style gift‑box graphic abruptly appeared at the screen's center.

Ribbons fluttered, stars twinkled, and the background was accompanied by a cheerful yet oddly eerie music‑box tune.

A huge red bow was tied to the box, with a blinking arrow pointing at it; the mouse lit up, its lure maxed out.

Yang Yixie wore a grim face, grabbed his phone, and quickly sent the guy a message:

【You hacked my computer?】

The reply from the other side arrived almost instantly, smugly:

【How can you call that "hacking"? It's clearly a "friendly interaction" between us! Were you satisfied with that opening CG? Isn't it more impressive than most AAA titles' cutscenes?】

【Next is just a little "meeting gift," go ahead and click to see~】

Yang Yixie stared at the screen, slowly moved the mouse, and clicked the red bow.

A springy clown sprang out of the box, accompanied by a distinctly electronic, upbeat sound.

It must have used a voice changer.

"Ding ding ding ding~ Surprise? My dear partner~!"

Yang Yixie's hand already gripped the power plug; if the computer was hacked, he'd solve it physically.

"Don't be nervous, don't be nervous!" the voice inside the computer continued, as if reading his moves.

"It's just a small demo, plus a friendly visitation routine, aren't you afraid I won't be believed? Rest assured, I keep my promises~"

The gift box opened by itself, and a playing card flew out.

Immediately after, another playing card flew out.

A tangible playing card, its edges shimmering with metallic luster, floated out from the computer screen!

It seemed handed over by an invisible hand, piercing the barrier between screen and reality, and lightly settled on the desk before Yang Yixie.

It completely defied physics, moving from the two‑dimensional screen plane into real space.

The whole process was silent, except for the continuing music‑box background.

Then the gift box's animation and music abruptly stopped, and the screen instantly reverted to the original desktop, as if everything had been an illusion.

Yang Yixie reached out and picked up the playing card.

Its surface was icy cold and solid, heavier than a normal playing card, like some kind of metal composite.

The card face had a glossy black background, with no suits or numbers; where hearts, spades and the like should have been, an English letter had taken their place:

S+

This can no longer be explained merely by hacking skills.