Chapter 157: The Queen Awakens

Qin Ran’s tone was strange as he spoke, a mix of madness and undeniable fear.

Hearing him, both Mom and Sister looked up curiously.

They saw what looked like eyes opening within a small villa nestled on the mountain surrounding the town.

Immediately after, an indescribable, subtle sound drifted from that direction. It was like a swarm of bees buzzing together, vibrating their wings, or perhaps countless tiny glass shards being ground against each other.

The thin mist blanketing the fifty-kilometer radius suddenly shattered like glass.

At that moment, every living unpolluted resident in Happy Town simultaneously looked up.

They faced the mountaintop villa, their eyes filled with reverence and joy.

…

…

*Rustle, rustle, rustle…*

It was the sound of a crowd running with mechanical uniformity.

Behind the town on the pine-covered hillsides, humanoid figures sat up from beneath thick layers of pine needles. They woodenly picked up weapons—mostly rusty firearms—and gathered into groups.

Rank upon rank, they charged down the hillside toward the edge of town.

These figures wore various clothes. Though heavily decayed, some uniforms of an armed force and white lab coats could still be distinguished. Without exception, they all looked long dead, yet now they moved as if alive.

In the town’s pitch-black rooms, red lamps suddenly flickered on, two in each room.

Then all the tightly shut doors swung open at once revealing figures within. They initially resembled people but as they stepped into the Red Moon’s glow, it became clear their minds had been warped.

One by one they walked beneath the Red Moon and opened their mouths wide.

A sharp black spike grew out from each mouth, gleaming coldly under the crimson light.

…

…

The entire town had come alive.

Countless gazes converged on Lu Xin’s position from all directions.

*Buzz…*

A subtle complex sound gradually filled the air, inducing headaches.

The distortion in the air grew more pronounced, refracting the Red Moon’s light until it seemed there were countless moons.

“How fun…”

Sister straightened up slightly, her eyes shining as she looked toward the area behind the town.

She murmured softly, her voice somewhat muffled.

Mom was also looking in that direction, her expression unreadable—somewhere between a smile and astonishment. “So that’s how it is…”

As their voices sounded, the air warped even more severely.

The subtle complex sound intensified.

Both their gazes were fixed with intense curiosity on the villa behind the town.

…

…

At the small villa on the mountain overlooking the town, a figure slowly emerged.

She appeared to be a young girl wearing an ordinary T-shirt, with long black hair.

Even from the edge of town, a significant distance away, her features seemed unnervingly clear. Her face was strikingly beautiful, but her eyes were large, black, and bottomless, giving her a somewhat vacant look.

The girl rose into the air above the small villa and began to move forward slowly.

Only when she had ascended more than ten meters and moved clear of the villa could her full form be seen.

Her upper body was that of a young girl but below the waist she had no legs.

Trailing behind her was an enormous egg, or perhaps an abdomen, reminiscent of an ant or a queen bee.

This abdomen was massive, easily seven or eight meters high and over ten meters long. Its color was a sickly white, like something soaked for far too long.

Its surface was covered in folds and embedded with dark spots.

Beneath the Red Moon her entire grotesque shape was revealed. Her pitch-black eyes slowly turned towards Lu Xin’s position.

“She is one of the most powerful mysterious creatures discovered so far within the Dominator group.”

Seeing the bizarre colossal figure gradually materializing near the villa, Qin Ran’s face flushed with a fervor and reverence he couldn’t suppress. “And my current body is merely one of her children, so…”

He looked straight at Lu Xin. “…Are you absolutely sure you want to kill me right in front of her?”

…

Lu Xin remained silent. The black shadow behind him also seemed to grow still.

Only its blood-red eyes deepened, brimming with ferocity.

Noticing Lu Xin’s lack of reaction, a look of grim determination crossed Qin Ran’s face.

Clutching the silver case he began to slowly back away.

He was retreating toward the Queen.

He thought, ‘Thank goodness I was cautious enough to hide here. Even if some powerful faction tracked me down I could use the Queen’s power to eliminate them. Waking the Queen to this extent means I definitely won’t escape unharmed, but I planned for this. There’s still a chance for survival, which is far better than falling into this monster’s hands…’

*Buzz…*

Before the thought could fully form in Qin Ran’s mind, his eardrums suddenly buzzed violently and his mind went blank.

…

…

It took several seconds for him to realize it was because Lu Xin had suddenly let out a roar.

More accurately, the roar originated from the black shadow behind Lu Xin.

With that roar, the black shadow began to swell and distort, rising like a mushroom cloud.

Even the thin mist covering the town started to fragment. The sheer power contained within the shadow’s roar was disrupting the stable energy field that spanned over fifty kilometers.

In that instant Qin Ran trembled uncontrollably, his heart nearly stopping.

He knew this was the black shadow’s way of asserting ownership over its prey—him.

“Is this monster provoking the Queen?”

He felt as if plunged into a nightmare, utterly clueless about what would happen next…

…

…

*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…*

The black shadow’s roar immediately triggered numerous chain reactions.

The true residents of Happy Town simultaneously moved as if to charge into the flower field.

And the troops, their bodies half-decayed, raised their weapons in unison.

From the small villa on the mountain the Queen’s vacant black eyes showed no emotion as she slowly took a step forward.

The oppressive mental radiation in the air instantly intensified.

…

…

Just then the blood-red glow in Lu Xin’s eyes dimmed slightly. He regained consciousness.

In truth he’d been aware ever since Qin Ran uttered the words “Code Name: Tyrant” but his will had been suppressed. It was only now, with Father’s attention drawn to the town’s “Queen” that he fully returned to his own body.

He took a couple of shallow breaths, then looked up toward the mountaintop villa, his eyes wide with surprise.

The sight of the “Queen” made his scalp tingle.

Looking at the figures emerging from the rooms, sharp stingers protruding from their mouths and those crawling from the putrid earth mechanically aiming rusty firearms at him, Lu Xin finally connected these scenes with the materials transmitted from Qinggang City.

No wonder this was rumored to be a place of no return. Anyone who entered became a part of the town.

Only, they joined as the dead.

He recalled the feeling that opening any door in the town would lead to something terrible.

The reason was simple now: those rooms hid the town’s true residents.

Happy Town’s secret was actually quite simple.

A Queen had been born here!

…

…

Ants have their queen, bees have theirs, and Happy Town also had its Queen.

Lu Xin couldn’t fathom the level of psychic power required to exert such influence.

But he understood the underlying logic. The Queen had influenced the entire town, altering its very environment.

All the town residents had become her children.

From that point on, the Queen became the absolute center of their existence, representing the singular will.

The residents of Happy Town always wore blissful happy smiles.

These smiles were genuine because serving their Queen was the sole source of their happiness.

It also explained why the residents traded for so few goods when they ventured out.

Perhaps all they ever needed was enough to sustain their Queen; they desired nothing more for themselves.

…

…

And now one of the most powerful known mysterious creatures, the Queen of Happy Town, had fixed her attention on him.

What should he do?

…

…

He looked up slightly. His vision cleared but his mind felt chaotic.

He felt an unprecedented pressure radiating from the Queen. The distorted air, the invasive whispers assaulting his mind, the mental power projecting illusions like electric shocks—all screamed of her terrifying nature. Even he felt a tremor of fear, an inability to gauge the situation.

Unsure of what to do he instinctively glanced towards his family.

He saw Mom reaching her hand into the small satchel at her waist.

Sister arched her body, baring a mouthful of sharp teeth towards the Queen on the mountaintop.

Simultaneously he heard Father’s hollow dry laughter from behind him…

…

…

Lu Xin understood instantly. He had to stand with his family…

Whether he wanted to or not, at critical moments he had to align himself with his family’s stance.

And so he made his choice.

He stood a little straighter, lifted his head, and stared directly back at the Queen who radiated immense waves of mental power.

…

…

*Buzz…*

The distortion in the air seemed to reach its peak.

Lu Xin’s joining didn’t seem to alter the balance of power but it somehow shifted the underlying attitude.

A moment of absolute silence fell over the entire town.

The Queen who had been slowly advancing suddenly halted.

Within her dark empty eyes, a flicker of something akin to surprise seemed to appear.