Chapter 337: Flesh and Flame

“Not good…”

When Xia Chong saw the tiny bleeding holes on her palm a flicker of change crossed her cold little face.

Initially moving with precise efficiency to get through the door, she abruptly calmed down. Ripping off her gloves she saw flesh buds beginning to writhe out of the small holes on her fingertips.

At the same time her two teammates cried out in panicked agony.

On one woman’s leg the flesh began to swell instantly doubling its size.

The skin stretched taut then tore apart.

The flesh inside was bright red and raw like it was turning into some bloated monster.

The other woman’s hand suddenly seemed to gain a life of its own clamping down on her own neck. Countless thin bugs burrowed out from her palm. These bugs opened mouths full of tiny sharp teeth and began gnawing at the flesh on her neck.

“Codename 1021—Flesh Monster.”

Xia Chong lowered her head coolly, seemingly oblivious to the flesh buds growing from her wound or her companions’ screams.

She recited the information stored in her mind in a low rapid voice:

“Characteristic: Abnormal vitality.”

“Pollution manifestation: Confirmed consistent with Special Pollution Incident 1021, originating from the same source.”

“Weaknesses: Fear of high temperatures weapons capable of destroying mental entities and… potent reverse pollution.”

“Therefore solutions include: Large-scale flames powerful Distortion-type abilities…”

…

Reaching this point she suddenly looked up. Her left hand darted down instantly drawing the dagger strapped to her left leg. A cold light flashed as she sliced off the layer of flesh buds that had sprouted from her right fingers.

This motion practically took off a layer of her own skin but not a single muscle twitched on her face.

“You are both Ability Users. You should be able to delay this pollution with your own mental power.”

She turned to her two struggling crying teammates, “The key is not to panic now. Stay calm.”

“Panic disrupts mental power creating openings!”

It was unclear if her teammates understood her words but their cries and struggles weakened slightly.

Xia Chong glanced at them grasped the doorknob with her bleeding right hand and strode out.

This sudden action took the infant on the ceiling by surprise. Its flesh morphed into a tentacle whipping out from afar. It slammed heavily against the door Xia Chong had just opened shattering it and even tried to pull her back from behind the door. But after destroying the door it was surprised to find that in the instant the door closed Xia Chong had completely vanished from behind it.

“Waaah…”

Its cry grew sharper. The surrounding flesh writhed extending towards the two team members on the ground.

The Spider-type female team member grunted twisting her body as she leaped up to dodge its attack.

However she became the first casualty. The movement caused the red bug-like substance in her palm to grow rapidly. In an instant it had covered her entire arm then continued spreading towards her neck.

Soon her entire body was entangled in these strange bugs. She collapsed onto the ground twitched slowly a few times.

Then she stopped moving.

Her body had already begun to merge with the surrounding flesh.

The infant hanging from the ceiling showed an excited expression on its face. It cried咿咿呀呀 as it crawled towards the other team member.

This team member initially showed the most severe signs of pollution but she remembered Xia Chong’s words and desperately maintained her calm.

This calmness temporarily halted the pollution’s advance.

But the writhing flesh around her still surged forward about to engulf her.

“Creak…”

Just then another door in the parking area was pushed open and Xia Chong walked in.

Her figure was petite her short skirt swaying. Her two fair calves were covered in crisscrossing bloody cuts as if she had walked through a space filled with blades. Her eyes had turned blood-red and her right hand emitted a burnt foul smell.

It seemed she had used high heat somewhere to burn her hand遏制 the spread of the pollution.

But her face remained expressionless.

Only when she saw the teammate already covered in flesh did her pupils constrict slightly.

Then she looked at the monster hanging from the ceiling and said “Go die.”

As she spoke she raised the flamethrower she was holding.

Suddenly huge flames shot out from the nozzle. A long pillar of fire surged directly towards the ceiling.

Countless flesh tissues were instantly burned to a charred color. A rank stench immediately filled the entire underground parking area.

The infant-like monster on the ceiling let out a shrill pained cry.

It couldn’t understand why this woman had disappeared behind the door.

Nor did it know why she suddenly had such a weapon when she emerged from another door.

It cried in agony its sounds even taking on a wailing quality.

All the flesh in the underground parking area contracted desperately emitting an aura of fear.

Boom!

Suddenly all the flesh contracted violently凝聚 together then surged upwards in an instant seeming to disappear. Only some residual tissue and charred stinking scabs remained on the ceiling and surrounding walls.

There was a hole in the ceiling. It had escaped upstairs through that hole.

Xia Chong glanced at the surviving teammate who wouldn’t be immediately overwhelmed by the pollution turned with a cold face and opened the door.

Creak!

When she opened the door behind her and passed through her figure appeared in the room upstairs.

Passing through this door again Xia Chong had sustained more injuries. Blood had almost soaked through her skirt dripping down her thighs.

The massive infant monster was in this room.

It was rapidly climbing trying to get out the window and escape.

But Xia Chong’s abrupt appearance threw it into a panic. Before it could even let out a sharp cry flames erupted again. Large patches of surrounding flesh were instantly burned charring and stinking turning into foul mucus that dripped onto the floor. Even one of its legs was scorched by the flames. Agony and fear made its cries even more miserable. It let out piercing wails and quickly climbed out the window.

It climbed towards the upper floors looking for a way out.

But when it climbed into a room in the adjacent building it heard a “Bang!”.

Xia Chong walked in through that door holding the flamethrower and continued spraying terrifying fire dragons at it.

“Screeeech…”

The怪婴 finally let out not a cry but a miserable sharp shriek.

It scrambled frantically like a headless fly fleeing into the darkness.

“Hehehe…”

Xia Chong pursuing the怪婴 suddenly burst into laughter. The usually stern girl’s laughter was surprisingly wild.

Laughing maniacally she passed through door after door hunting down this怪婴.

At the same time savoring its pain and despair.

…

“Whoosh…”

In the north side of the City just as the large man in black tactical gear forcefully pulled the girl whose body was split into many pieces connected by blood threads away from his teammate his fist was already punching towards her head.

But as the girl was pulled over the blood threads suddenly tightened. This actually increased her speed. Her body flung forward using the momentum. Before the fist could hit her face she used the inertia to swing half a circle around the large man. Then the arm holding the dining knife swept past the Magician in a flash.

“Tsk…”

The Magician had already raised his hand as if preparing to use some ability but he hadn’t expected this.

His eyes bulged as he looked down in disbelief.

He saw bright red blood pouring down staining his white shirt.

“Courting death.”

The large man’s eyes instantly turned bloodshot.

He hadn’t expected that his effort to save one team member would result in another teammate’s instant death.

Surging anger battered his mind. The distorted force field around him intensified as he desperately tried to grab the girl. But the blood threads drifting from the girl’s body suddenly exploded multiplying countless times. He felt trapped as if caught in silk unable to exert any force.

Under this influence the girl had already rushed towards the Clown holding the red balloon.

“Hehehe…”

A laugh escaped the Clown’s throat seemingly beyond his control. Simultaneously his figure twisted as he began a grotesque dance.

As he clapped his hands the girl’s two hands separated in different locations suddenly clapped together as well.

The dining knife originally aimed at the Clown’s neck clattered to the ground.

Then the Clown took two steps sideways in a strange posture.

The girl’s two feet also landed uncontrollably mimicking his steps for two paces.

The Clown’s laughter grew louder his stout waist twisting with surprising flexibility.

The girl’s body instantly recovered twisting along with his movements.

After just a few movements most of her body had returned to its original state.

And as if under some strong influence she was fixed in place losing her previous agility.

The large man naturally wouldn’t miss this opportunity. He roared turning around his large hand grabbing viciously at the girl’s body. The surrounding air distorted enveloping the girl’s body directly like wrapping a short wooden stake.

Meanwhile the Clown also laughed loudly performing his strange dance his two hands moving to cup his chin.

Suddenly his movements stopped.

His body remained in a comical and strange posture but the smile on his face had turned vacant.

The girl’s head appeared next to his revealing sharp teeth biting into his neck.

The comical smile on the Clown’s face froze. The red balloon in his hand slowly floated away.

…

“Boom…”

The large man noticed the Clown falling. An indescribably intense anger burned away his reason and sanity.

His mental power surged almost completely out of control like a whirlwind blasting all the car shells and debris around him far away. Everything around him was cleared in an instant by his mental power.

Except for that girl.

He wouldn’t allow this girl to escape again. A powerful will accompanied by a frenzied mental impact fiercely gripped the girl’s small body. At the same time his mental power seemed to produce an abnormal influence affecting the girl and the blood threads still floating in the air forcefully yanking the little girl’s head floating mid-air right in front of him.

He directly grabbed the little girl’s neck and also gripped her head.

Finally he had caught her firmly.

His bloodshot eyes stared at the face with suture marks beneath the girl’s messy black hair.

The girl didn’t move showing no expression.

He didn’t move either just staring angrily at the girl’s face.

…

The light of the Red Moon fell quietly on the deserted street.

They looked at each other for a long time.

Then the large man’s head suddenly rolled onto the ground spun three times and came to rest his expression still frozen in anger.

The girl landed stumbling. She then picked up the dining knife and slowly stood up.

Dusting herself off she silently walked into the nearby alley.