Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Feeding Relationship

The corpse’s chest suddenly bulged, rising in waves until its throat and cheeks swelled to a grotesque size.

A thick, bloated white meat-worm forced its way out through the mouth—

“Back off!” Zhou Zhou barked.

His right hand transformed in an instant into beast claws. One strike punched through the skull and ripped the head apart.

The fat worm spasmed and tried to retreat.

Zhou Zhou’s claws hooked into the throat. With a savage pull, the fragile corpse split open down the middle.

Like a water-filled balloon slashed wide, slime burst out in a spray. The corpse and the worm collapsed together, deflating into a thin puddle of skin. No bones. No organs. Nothing left inside.

Qin Liang filmed through his nausea. “It ate the body out from the inside…”

“Disgusting,” Zhou Zhou said, glancing back at his teammates, “but the skin’s thin. Easy to kill. Not much of a threat. Clear them out first.”

They moved into the smaller cave.

Headlamps, flashlights, emergency lights—every beam they had—flooded the space. More aberrant with twisted, unnatural bodies were exposed in the glare.

Besides the ones near the entrance, there were more than a dozen deeper inside.

Without exception, every last one was a corpse.

Some were wax-pale. Some were rotting black. Some had been eaten hollow, their skin paper-thin—thin enough to see the greasy white worm inside, slowly squirming.

The team members pulled out knives and began cutting, puncturing, carving them open.

At the entrance, Brother Chao watched, then finally understood. His face darkened. “You’re not from the forum. You’re from the aberrant Inspection Bureau.”

Fang Ye’s reaction couldn’t have been more different. His face lit with relief. “You’re from the Inspection Bureau?”

“You idiot,” Brother Chao snarled. “You think they’re here to save us? Now that they’ve dealt with all the aberrant, we won’t get a single cent!”

Fang Ye shrank back and didn’t dare answer.

No one bothered with the two of them. They were just… stupid.

Even if they dragged these bodies out, they’d never get a reward. The Inspection Bureau didn’t hand out money on trust. Every aberrant case got a full analysis report, followed by claims, reviews, procedures stacked on procedures. Their lie would blow up sooner or later.

Feng Ling’s reward money had only landed so fast because Su Yu Qing personally vouched for her.

Wet chopping sounds echoed through the cave.

Each corpse was like a sack filled with water—too thin, too brittle, too weak. Feng Ling swung her axe twice and lost interest.

She nudged Huang Fu Miao Miao. “Try it. See if you can get points.”

Maybe because the worms weren’t immediately threatening, Huang Fu Miao Miao’s fear loosened by a fraction. She raised her hammer with a grim face and smashed the nearest worm to death.

Feng Ling leaned on her long-handled axe like a cane. “Well? Points?”

Huang Fu Miao Miao turned back with her first smile since entering the cave. “Yes!” She nodded hard.

“How many?”

“Two points!” Her eyes shone like she’d struck gold.

Feng Ling stared. “…Two.”

Two points was still points, she reminded herself. You could trade that for jelly in the small aberrant shop.

“Hey, Deputy Captain Zhou—loooong~~~” Feng Ling called toward Zhou Zhou. “Leave a few for Little Skeleton so she can earn some points.”

Zhou Zhou stopped mid-slash, furious. “Fuck. Anyone who teams up with aberrant has no brain! Sooner or later, they’ll burn themselves!”

Feng Ling nodded solemnly. “Yeah. Who’d be dumb enough to team up with aberrant.”

Zhou Zhou’s face went blank for a beat.

Do you even realize I’m cursing at you?

Feng Ling tilted her head. “What’s with that look? Were you just cursing me?”

Zhou Zhou snorted. With beast claws, he grabbed two corpses and threw them toward her. “Hmph. Playing dumb.”

Feng Ling smiled. “I’m not teaming up with aberrant. This is a feeding relationship.”

She looked at Huang Fu Miao Miao. “Right?”

Huang Fu Miao Miao paused, then forced the words out. “Yes, Mother.”

Feng Ling lifted her chin at Zhou Zhou in quiet triumph.

Zhou Zhou glared back and tore the corpse in front of him into a shredded mess.

Then Qin Liang, still filming, spoke sharply. “Found something!”

Everyone turned.

Qin Liang stood by another opening. “There are bodies in here too, but they look… wrong.”

“Move,” Zhou Zhou said, frowning as he walked over.

Qin Liang leaned in anyway. “No, wait. Under the body, it looks like there’s—”

He cut off with a sharp inhale and stumbled back.

At the same moment, a blue-black crawler the size of an adult human shot out of the opening.

Its massive mandibles snapped down on Qin Liang’s tactical headlamp—crack.

The headlamp shattered.

And the crawler’s head exploded under a brutal strike from beast claws.

Zhou Zhou rushed over, furious. “I told you to follow my orders! Who told you to act on your own?”

Qin Liang’s eyes were wide, his whole body tense. He drew his sidearm and aimed at the opening, voice pitching high. “Th-they’re all coming out!”

Two more blue-black crawlers ripped through the corpse-skins and poured out fast.

“Move!” Zhou Zhou roared.

Everyone retreated from the opening, back into the main cavern.

The two bugs followed, fast as bullets. Their targets were clear—they lunged straight for the flashlights and lighting.

Zhou Zhou tore them apart with his beast claws. Then he heard it—skittering, from all around, from every hole in the rock.

“Incendiaries for light!” he snapped. “Prepare to fire!”

The team formed a tight circle, back to back, guns raised and trained on the openings.

Xiao Li and Cao Hong Yi yanked incendiaries from their packs and threw them left and right. The cavern flared bright, every corner exposed.

Those soot-black holes weren’t empty. Centipede-like heads pushed out, antennae swaying as they waited to strike.

“Fire!”

Gunshots thundered through the cave.

The Special Assault Team were trained marksmen. One bug after another took a headshot and dropped from the openings. Fluids sprayed. Armor shattered under bullets.

A few thicker monsters pushed through the gunfire and charged. Before Feng Ling even moved, Zhou Zhou surged forward like he was shielding the whole team and ripped them apart.

Standing among them, Feng Ling felt almost idle. Zhou Zhou might be insufferable, but when it came to getting the job done, he threw himself into it.

She matched the team’s rhythm and killed a few bugs as they came.

The gunfire didn’t stop until the holes went quiet. Only when no more crawlers emerged did the shooting finally fade.

The ground was carpeted with bug corpses and foul, stinking slurry.

The team didn’t relax. They reloaded fast and kept their weapons trained on the openings.

“Stay alert,” Zhou Zhou said, voice heavy.