radicalducati Chapter 153 The Brain of Theseus
Chapter 153 The Brain of Theseus
Chapter 153 The Brain of Theseus (Part 1)
The thing suddenly broke free from the veteran's grip, and then a dark shadow from under the sleeve lunged straight at the veteran's torso!
In a flash, the veteran reacted swiftly.
He took half a step forward, shifted his body to the right, and avoided the attack!
The shadow merely grazed his arm, tearing the fabric and sending a sharp pain through his skin.
However, at that moment, he seized the opportunity, pulled out the shotgun from his waist, aimed it at the thing, and pulled the trigger!
"boom--!"
Flames shot out from the muzzle of the gun in an instant.
Such a simple incendiary bomb doesn't have much kinetic energy; however, the viscous flames instantly enveloped the monster's upper body!
"ah--!"
The monster that was shot howled like a human, rolling frantically on the ground trying to extinguish the flames, but to no avail.
However, what happened next was bizarre.
Something was crawling out of the nostrils and mouth of that gradually charred body!
They were clumps of grayish-black, beetle-like things.
They were all roasted by the fire and burst open, crackling and popping.
A burnt smell wafted out.
"Something's not right!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.
However, he didn't have enough time to warn his teammates who were fighting other monsters.
Because another dark figure had silently circled around to his back.
The veteran didn't turn around; he had already spotted the guy out of the corner of his eye. He simply lowered his stance and with a swift movement, the guy's attack missed!
Immediately afterwards, he pushed off with his right foot, twisted his body, and got right up close!
Grab his throat with his left hand, and simultaneously grab the back of his head with his right hand, while instantly generating power from his waist and abdomen!
"Click!"
A dull cracking sound.
After confirming the sensation of the other person's broken cervical spine, he immediately released his grip, dodged backward, and gasped for breath.
The remaining survivors were also preparing to slip away. They had already realized something was wrong.
Before the veteran's shout had even faded, Old Wang had already moved.
Old Wang pulled Old Qian aside and stepped back himself, picking up the wooden stool he had just been sitting on!
The guy closest to him had tried to clink glasses with him just a dozen seconds earlier.
However, at this moment, the fake smile had long since vanished, and it rushed at him like a puppet on strings, its black limbs piercing straight into his chest!
He used the wooden stool in his hand to block the thrust, effectively stopping it. A tremendous force struck, making his arm go numb.
This guy is quite strong, but that's enough for now!
Using the force of the block, Lao Wang stepped back and simultaneously stretched his right foot forward, accurately tripping the opponent's ankle.
The thing seemed completely unprepared for this kind of street brawl tactic, tripped over it, and fell to the ground with a thud.
Old Wang raised the wooden stool high with both hands, and with all his might, slammed it down hard on his temples!
"Click!"
The sound of bones cracking was clearly audible. It convulsed violently on the ground.
Not quite dead?
He raised his foot and stomped hard on the already cracked skull!
"Crunch!"
However, the expected scene of brains splattering did not occur. The skull simply collapsed completely, the touch and sound eerie, like stepping on a pile of beetles.
Immediately afterwards, a strange rustling sound came from inside the skull, and clumps of gray-black insects pushed open the cracks and surged out like a tide!
Old Wang instantly felt a churning in his stomach, and a surge of acid rose to his throat.
He forced it back down, but the nauseating feeling had already gripped him!
I never imagined that these seemingly human beings would have their brains completely emptied by these things!
"Watch out! Duck your head down!"
In that brief moment of stunned silence, Lao Qian's roar pulled Lao Wang back from his nausea.
Before he could fully react, his body had already shrunk down as a conditioned reflex!
"boom!"
Almost simultaneously, Old Qian fired a shot, turning a nearby monster that was about to launch a sneak attack into a fireball.
Taking advantage of the moment, Old Wang snapped out of his daze, didn't even look, and pulled out the shotgun from his waist, aiming it at the corpse on the ground and firing a final shot, completely extinguishing the insects on it.
"Back up to the doorway!"
The veteran's voice rang out, and after the group knocked down the nearby monsters, they stopped fighting and retreated towards the door while covering each other!
However, at that moment, the guy whose neck had been broken by the veteran first stood up, his neck crooked, and he walked stiffly toward the crowd.
Meanwhile, two or three other guys, who were further away, were slowly closing in from the depths of the room.
Feng Yue pulled a Molotov cocktail from her waist, lit it, and threw it directly towards the center of the room!
The glass bottle shattered on the ground, and flames roared up, forming a wall of fire that temporarily blocked their pursuit.
"Walk!"
Taking advantage of the opening, the four quickly evacuated the room.
"Wei Yuan! Something's wrong here, we need backup!"
As Feng Yue retreated with the team, she urgently reported into the walkie-talkie.
"Received! I'll notify you immediately!"
Wei Yuan's response came through the walkie-talkie.
Sure enough, the trouble didn't end there.
A series of heavy, rhythmic footsteps echoed from upstairs, indicating that there were far more than just the seven or eight people in the room.
"Those people were lying about the numbers from the beginning," Old Qian cursed under his breath.
Soon, figures appeared at the stairwell.
"Let's evacuate here for now!"
The veteran made a decisive decision and issued a retreat order.
Without further hesitation, the group retreated outside.
Finally, Feng Yue threw another Molotov cocktail, sealing off the exit completely.
The monsters seemed to still retain some of the intelligence and memories of humans, and instead of risking crossing the sea of fire to chase after them, they retreated.
The group rushed out of the building and back onto the street, finally breathing a sigh of relief.
Looking at the silent residential building behind them, they were all still shaken.
"—What the hell is this thing?"
When Xiao Lü and Bai Shuyuan descended from the sky, this was the scene they saw:
The survivors leaned against the roadside, panting heavily, looking shaken.
However, apart from a wound on the veteran's arm that barely bled, he seemed to be fine.
In the residential building next to them, the flames had died down, leaving only a burnt smell.
"—Is it resolved?"
After landing, Little Green looked at the survivors in front of her who were still in relatively good condition and felt that she had made a wasted trip.
The veteran nodded and led them back to the battlefield.
Here, several charred corpses lay scattered about, and the smell of burning flesh was extremely strong in the air.
Sure enough, it was a wasted trip.
"But—why are they human corpses? Did they attack you?"
Little Green knew that the aggregate should turn into a puddle of slime after death. But she understood these survivors; they wouldn't indiscriminately kill innocent people.
"It's not resolved."
Bai Shuyuan's voice came from the side.
"And it's not human anymore."
"Not human?"
Bai Shuyuan did not answer her question.
She simply took out a lighter and a dagger, and used the flame to sterilize the blade.
After doing all this, she walked toward the veteran.
"Hand out."
The veteran hesitated for a moment, but still did as instructed.
Under the puzzled gazes of the crowd, Bai Shuyuan gestured for them to come closer and take a closer look.
At the edge of the veteran's wound, there were several sesame-seed-sized granules, which were still pulsating slightly inside.