Chapter 99

Chapter 99

Guided by the system, Lu Yan found the passage to the basement.

The entrance was a cramped, filthy hole, more suited for rats than men. The walls were caked in grime, and the air hung thick with a stomach-churning stench.

Lu Yan hadn't considered retreat when facing powerful, unknown enemies. He hadn't hesitated to lend a hand to the weak under external pressure. But at this moment, he genuinely, desperately wanted to turn around and leave.

After a long internal struggle, he gritted his teeth and squeezed inside, the foul sludge clinging to his clothes. I'm sacrificing way too much to save the world, he thought.

The system offered weak consolation. It's fine. You'll only smell for three days, tops. The mermaid from the sewer is a classic cinematic image, you know.

Somehow, that made Lu Yan want to run even more.

You're already here, you're already here! Brother Lu, please, just endure it! I'll call you Dad!

Lu Yan: "..."

After an arduous journey through the filth, he finally emerged to see Michael.

Michael was swinging his greatsword at a solid wall, cursing with every strike. The path had ended, both ahead and on the stairs above. Being separated from his team had frayed his nerves to the breaking point.

When Lu Yan squirmed out of the pipe, Michael's face registered pure astonishment. "You fit through that tiny drain? Eastern bones never cease to amaze me with their size. Or is this some kind of kongfu?"

Lu Yan shook foul water from his sleeves, his expression dark enough to commit murder. "If I had any other choice, I wouldn't have come out of there either."

The mechanism for the basement door was hidden in a sculpture in the corner, shrouded by algae. Lu Yan thrust the key into the plaster figure's eye socket. A series of clicks echoed, and the wall before them slowly parted.

The basement revealed its true form.

It resembled a flooded underground garage. A few dim bulbs overhead provided the barest hint of visibility. The water was a stagnant, sickly green, reeking of rot and decay.

The basement is very close to the external lake. Over decades, a lot of lake water has seeped in. The deepest parts are about three meters.

Green water stretched before them, dotted with floating eyeballs bobbing like fishing floats.

In the murky depths, eel-like shapes occasionally darted past.

Parasitic fish. These things were what originally polluted K City. They look like lampreys. Once they latch onto skin, they suck blood like leeches and won't let go. They even burrow inside. But don't worry, with the King Fish here, they won't dare approach. Bloodline suppression. Still, I suggest you use your fish scales for protection. The water where they breed is full of their eggs.

Michael sent another silent thanks to heaven for the gift of flight.

He scooped Lu Yan up, scanning the water's surface for any dry footing. But the deeper they went, the darker it grew, and the ceiling pressed lower and lower.

Eventually, the height became too restrictive for flight.

When he was finally forced to land, his tone was mournful. "Is this what they mean by civil servants being 'thrown into the sea'?"

The water reached Lu Yan's hips. For the two-meter-tall Michael, it only came to his upper thighs, though his wings were thoroughly soaked, which would hinder any future takeoff.

Before they reached the end, Michael recounted the merchant's diary he'd found in the study.

He concluded, "That sister had it rough. With a family that wealthy, she could have done anything. Why choose marriage?"

Lu Yan silently agreed. After a moment, he remembered Tang Xun'an was also quite wealthy and offered, "Maybe she married for love."

Michael spoke with the gravity of a sage. "The 'love' from a man's mouth has a shorter shelf life than eggs in the fridge."

The system nodded vigorously. Yes. Exactly. True!

Lu Yan fell into deep thought. Whatever. Can't figure it out. Not going to try.

Michael continued, "According to the intel, the final pollutant we need to deal with should be the lady of the manor. I estimate a pollution value around 8500. She should be weakened by her pregnancy state. There are no humans or other pollutants here to provide energy for consumption and evolution. The pollutant likely retains a roughly humanoid form."

With over sixty years in the field, Michael had slain more pollutants than Lu Yan had ever seen. His analysis was logical and, for the most part, accurate.

"You're forgetting one thing," Lu Yan reminded him. "The wife is carrying a child."

Michael recalled the final illustration in the book and nodded slightly. "That child had many hands. Probably some kind of amalgamation."

The pollution value on his phone climbed higher and higher. When it broke 7000, Michael stowed the device to avoid attracting attention with the light.

They were getting very close to the final boss.

The water now reached Lu Yan's neck. If it weren't for the risk of swallowing the filthy liquid, he would have switched from walking to swimming. It seemed a waste not to use his evolved fish tail.

As they moved, the only sound in the silent basement was the gentle slosh of disturbed water.

Soon, another sound reached Lu Yan's ears: the heavy, labored breathing of a monster.

Rounding a corner and passing through a corridor, they finally caught a glimpse of it.

After becoming a pollutant and growing by consuming humans, Jennifer has finally reached her moment of childbirth.

This petty mother allows no threat to disturb her labor, especially after all these years of others coveting the child in her womb. Pregnancy has indeed awakened her maternal instincts, even if she never particularly liked children. Jennifer prefers to eliminate all dangers in the cradle.

Faint light glimmered in the delivery room. Jennifer turned her head and fixed an unmoving stare on the newcomers.

Lu Yan had seen many monsters.

Among all the aberrations, Jennifer ranked in the top three for sheer revulsion.

Her belly was distended like a hill. She crouched on all fours like a beast, limbs sprouting in a chaotic tangle—five in front, four at her sides, and two thick, powerful hind legs. Aside from her swollen abdomen, her body was emaciated to the bone, lacking skin, just a mass of writhing flesh. Her head bore no human features, resembling a tumorous knot of something monstrous. Sharp spines covered her body. A long, thin tail lashed behind her, its bristles glinting coldly.

Catching their scent, she bared ferocious fangs that looked like the blades of a meat grinder.

Thick drool dripped to the floor.

The system asked wistfully, Do you like this kind of tail? Or do you only like the tails of male homosexuals?

Lu Yan: "..."

The monster was colossal, at least five meters tall, yet it moved with shocking speed.

It lunged forward with a roar. In an instant, Michael raised his holy sword, blocking the attack. The monster's body crashed against the blade with a piercing shriek of metal.

The only thing slowing it down is the fetus swinging in its belly. You'd better find a way to kill it quickly. You only have fifteen minutes.

Fifteen minutes until 5 AM, the brink of dawn.

Scientifically speaking, this was the darkest hour, when the angles between the planet and sun minimized atmospheric reflection of sunlight, and the moon's glow had faded.

After decades of pregnancy, Jennifer's belly was swollen and almost translucent.

A fine crack split the very center of her abdomen. Several slender, tiny hands worked from within, peeling open the mother's flesh like a chick breaking its shell.

The little monster inside bore no human form either. It was a fusion of the merchant and his wife, possessing the same grotesquely malformed body as its mother, covered in countless eyes.

Maxed out physical and psychic damage right out of the gate. No wonder it can summon an evil god in five minutes, the system gave high praise. If you hadn't come, the mother would have been its first supper after birth. The wife was the designated vessel all along.

Michael's holy sword blazed with golden light. Where the holy radiance fell, it purified the world and suppressed evil.

But the monster didn't retreat. It roared and surged forward, ignoring the holy light searing its hands, and grabbed for Michael.

It had nine usable hands. One pair seized the sword while another pair shot toward Michael.

Michael shot into the air, dodging the attack.

The monster's strength was unbelievable. Its tail slammed into the stone wall behind it, punching straight through.

Lu Yan gripped his dagger, submerged himself in the water, and searched relentlessly for an opening to stab Jennifer's belly.

The wounds from hellfire were far less severe than those from the holy sword, but they were numerous and refused to heal.

Filled with rage, the monster tried to stomp the golden mermaid beside it into the depths, but Lu Yan was far too swift in the water.

Jennifer only managed to send a huge spray into the air, left to vent her fury impotently.

Michael's attacks grew more frantic as his mutation index surged. Heavy pants escaped him.

The scent of blood spread through the delivery room. Lu Yan had sustained minor injuries, inevitably attracting the agitated parasitic fish.

At that moment, the King Fish split its mouth open and let out a low, threatening keen.

The tubular parasitic fish hesitated in the nearby water, not daring to approach.

Jennifer’s tail swept through the water with brutal force, sending a shockwave that erupted into a wall of spray over ten meters high. Within the cascading foam, Lu Yan’s figure was revealed.

The monster lunged, jaws snapping shut with the force of a steel trap. Lu Yan shifted form in the split-second before impact, escaping the cage of teeth by a hair’s breadth. The barbed hooks of his claws sank deep into a pulpy mass of flesh on the creature’s face, raking open ragged, bleeding furrows.

His blood spilled, splattering across Jennifer’s body. The monster’s movements faltered for a single, precious instant.

Michael seized the opening. His holy sword descended in a blazing arc toward the creature’s oversized, mango-shaped head.

…

…

In the beginning, the fight had structure, a grim dance of technique and counter. By the end, it had devolved into the most primitive kind of slaughter.

The monster’s body was a tapestry of wounds, several of its grasping limbs severed entirely. Its swollen belly bore deep, gouging slashes, flesh peeled back to reveal glistening viscera. The agony of its forced labor made focused combat impossible, leaving it only to howl in pained fury.

The dagger of hellfire remained lodged in its abdomen. Twenty-six years ago, this same blade had been driven into its skull, forcing both mother and unborn child into a long, tormented dormancy.

The others weren’t faring much better.

Michael’s arm was degenerating. Feathers sprouted along one limb, the bones beneath warping toward the shape of a wing. His other hand still gripped his sword, but he had to constantly rip the encroaching feathers from his flesh to slow the aberration’s progress.

Lu Yan’s scales had crept up to his neck. Four of his claws had broken off. Regeneration could restore his original hands, but it couldn’t repair these newly grown weapons.

Finally, the monstrous hill of flesh that was Jennifer buckled, crashing to its knees. Its ravaged body could no longer support the terrible weight of its womb.

A flicker of grim triumph crossed Michael’s face. “Is it over?”

He celebrated too soon.

A baby’s cry pierced the air.

The fissure across the mother’s belly finally split wide, an invitation for the thing inside to tear its way out.

Without hesitation, Lu Yan wrenched the hellfire dagger free from the mother’s flesh and hurled it. It struck the squirming mass of meat dead center.

Several of the eyes dotting its surface dimmed. The infant’s progress didn’t slow.

He watched, helpless, as a slick, pulsating lump of flesh squeezed through the bloody opening.

The skyrocketing pollution value triggered a frantic, shrieking alarm from Michael’s phone where it had fallen into the water.

The system provided the grim data: [Wang Yu. Mature Phase.]

[Logically, with only half its eyes, it shouldn’t be this powerful. But decades of incubation have fused it completely with the monster. Its form is an amalgamation of wife and merchant, yet stronger than the sum of its parts.]

[Talents: Mental Remolding, Delirious Whisper, Proliferation]

[Aberration Path: Xenomorphization, Evil Eye]

[Pollution Value: 12,000.]

The infant was newborn, yet its pollution already eclipsed its mother’s.

The surrounding water flash-froze.

Since becoming an Awakened, Lu Yan had forgotten what cold felt like.

Now he remembered. A deep, invasive chill shot through his core, locking his limbs in an instant of paralyzing stiffness.

The little monster dropped to the ground with a wet slap. It wailed as it searched for its first meal, its face contorted in a horrific smile. Its vestigial eyes couldn’t produce tears, only an unblinking, hungry stare.

[Talent 111 - Delirious Whisper]

Lu Yan possessed this talent himself and could barely resist its effects. Michael, already grievously wounded, was not so lucky. He clapped his hands over his ears, a strangled cry escaping his lips as he coughed up great gouts of blood.

The Archangel collapsed, no longer a figure of divine wrath, but a sparrow with broken wings, trembling on the ground.

The infant blurred, appearing instantly at Michael’s side. It latched onto his neck with a wet, tearing sound, followed by the sickening, rhythmic noise of feeding.

Agony wracked Michael’s body in violent spasms.

Yet the multitude of eyes covering the infant’s form remained fixed on Lu Yan, gleaming with naked greed and malice.

Michael’s pupils lost focus. He turned his head, a monumental effort, and looked at Lu Yan. His voice was a broken whisper, the plea of a dying animal. “…Run.”

A surge of warmth flooded Lu Yan’s chest. An intense, comforting power drove the invasive chill from his bones.

Grace. Michael’s other talent. The temporary loan of his own gifts.

Michael had given Lu Yan Holy Light.

Mobility returned. Lu Yan’s hand flashed to his pocket, to the red blossom Yan Bei had given him. He dismissed the thought immediately.

Ten such flowers wouldn’t matter if he couldn’t deal with the child before him.

But running wasn’t an option either. Lu Yan had faced several pollutants with values over ten thousand. The chance of escape from such entities was zero.

This was pure, overwhelming force. The infant’s mere gaze was enough to pin him in place.

His voice was colder, and faster, than it had ever been. “You have a way. I know you do.”

The system answered. [I do. But you can guess what I’m going to say.]

Yes. Lu Yan knew. This was the system’s final card, the reason it had allowed him to walk into danger again and again.

“You planned for this,” Lu Yan accused. “For him to come out.”

[No!] The system’s retort was sharp, almost frantic. [This is not the outcome I wanted.]

Lu Yan took a deep, steadying breath.

When he was very, very small.

He had heard the voice. It had whispered, “If you’re tired, you can leave everything to me.”

The temptation had been immense, but Lu Yan had never yielded.

Only once, overwhelmed by pain so visceral it shattered his consciousness, had he let his brother slip out for a single, fleeting moment.

Without warning, tears began to stream down Lu Yan’s face.

It wasn’t sorrow. It was his body’s primal, uncontrollable response to sheer terror.

He spoke the name aloud, a summoning and a surrender. “Lu… Yan.”

His own name.

But in that instant, he heard his brother’s soft, mocking laughter in the depths of his mind. An auditory hallucination, he knew, but one his conscious will could no longer hold back.

A moment later, the response came, calm and utterly certain. “I’m here.”

A smile spread across Lu Yan’s placid face. It held no warmth, only a chilling finality.

He whispered to the empty air, to the part of himself that was listening. “Then I’ll leave it to you. It’s alright… gege.”

Overhead, the shrouding clouds parted, revealing the moon they had hidden for so long.

The last vestiges of white light around its disc were swallowed by a deep, bloody crimson.

A rare and ominous red moon hung in the sky.

As recorded in the ‘Kaiyuan Treatise on Astrology - Chapter on the Moon’: When the Blood Moon rises, the essence of the stars is exhausted, and the world descends into hell.