Chapter 32

Chapter 32: So Many

Notifications kept popping in Huang Fu Miao Miao’s view:

[You killed an A-Rank Polluted Entity (Pseudo). Points rewarded: 110.]

[You killed an A-Rank Polluted Entity (Pseudo). Points rewarded: 80.]

The rewards slid downward like a draining battery.

Huang Fu Miao Miao panted, sweat slicking her hairline. She wiped her face with the back of her wrist and forced the words out between breaths. “The points are dropping fast. And look—every one of them has ‘Pseudo’ after the name. The quest progress is still stuck at 0%. I don’t know why.”

Feng Ling’s tone stayed level. “Keep going.”

Huang Fu Miao Miao flashed her a shaky grin—half terror, half delirious joy. “Okay!”

Getting rich overnight didn’t even compare to this. For a few surreal minutes, she felt like she’d stumbled into heaven.

That massive Polluted Entity—the one with the kelp-muck—was a breeding machine. Stuff a corpse into the slime, and not long after, it would hatch a new Polluted Entity.

No wonder Zhou Zhou had been ground down. He hadn’t been fighting a squad. He’d been fighting an assembly line.

But maybe the corpses had been reused too many times. Maybe there wasn’t enough “nutrition” left. The later hatchlings came out smaller, their forms closer to the ordinary crawlers they’d seen at the start.

Feng Ling handled the dangerous parts—quick slashes to remove palate fangs—then left the crippled bodies for Huang Fu Miao Miao to finish.

“Ah… ten points now,” Huang Fu Miao Miao said, swinging her hammer with grim determination. “Ten is still a lot…”

She meant it.

Feng Ling watched the slime shift again. “After this one, kill the big one.”

Huang Fu Miao Miao froze mid-swing and stared at her. “…Me? Can I even do that?”

Feng Ling’s eyes flicked upward, as if she could see the surface through meters of earth. She’d been counting time without realizing it. “Why wouldn’t you? Move faster. The Inspection Bureau will send people down soon.”

No one had come down for a long time. Feng Ling could guess why: Zhou Zhou had told Su Yu Qing what was happening, and Su Yu Qing—probably both of them—were giving her room. Giving her time to let Little Skeleton farm points in peace.

Huang Fu Miao Miao swallowed. “But it’s huge…”

A creature that big—A-Rank, true A-Rank—wasn’t something she’d ever planned to face with a hammer and shaking hands.

Normally, Feng Ling might’ve teased her.

Right now, hunger was gnawing at Feng Ling again, hot and sharp in her gut, and it stripped her patience down to bare metal.

She grabbed Huang Fu Miao Miao’s hands, forced her grip tighter around the hammer handle, and swung her arms forward.

The hammer slammed into the massive Polluted Entity.

Maybe Feng Ling’s strength did it. Maybe the creature had been weakened by repeated breeding.

Either way, the impact punched a hole straight through its body. Rotten fluid and half-coagulated gore surged out.

“Don’t stop,” Feng Ling said, releasing her.

Huang Fu Miao Miao clenched her teeth and swung again, copying the motion.

Blood and pus sprayed.

She didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop.

She hammered until her palms turned slick, until the handle threatened to slip, until the world narrowed down to the rhythm of her breathing and the wet, ugly sound of impact.

Then the quest progress jumped—sudden and absolute.

0% to 100%.

And a new notification flashed:

[You killed an A-Rank Polluted Entity. Points rewarded: 850.]

“Eight-fifty!” Huang Fu Miao Miao’s eyes lit up. Excitement burned away her fear like alcohol on a flame. “Eight hundred and fifty!”

She turned, desperate to share the moment with Feng Ling—

And went still.

Silver light seeped from the massive corpse.

Ability Cards.

One. Two. Three. Four.

Huang Fu Miao Miao’s mouth fell open.

Eight. Nine. Ten.

And it kept going.

She’d never seen this many Ability Cards in her life. The forums always said most Ability Cards collapsed from genetic Corruption. Getting more than two was “good luck.”

So why did this thing have—

Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen.

Still more.

Huang Fu Miao Miao stood there as if the pit had suddenly lost oxygen. If she weren’t terrified of leaking this information, she would’ve snapped a photo and thrown it on the forum just to prove it was real.

So many.

So damn many.

Feng Ling, by contrast, looked almost… unsurprised. Like she expected it.

You couldn’t know what an Ability Card did until you absorbed it, but you could guess from the pattern on its face.

Feng Ling studied the abstract designs, counting under her breath. “Ant… spider… centipede… Is that a bird? Crow? Eagle? Hard to tell. Another centipede… ant… centipede… centipede… what’s that—lizard?… centipede…”

Seventeen Ability Cards in total.

Centipede cards and ant cards repeated the most. The rest were singletons.

Feng Ling did the math in her head.

Centipedes didn’t seem connected to the “World Mother” theme, but they felt close to mantises. Back when she digested the killer bee and mantis Ability Cards, her Corruption had only risen by 3%.

Didn’t that suggest she could digest centipede cards safely too?

And centipede cards were plentiful here. If one worked, she could take them all.

The value was obscene.

She glanced at Huang Fu Miao Miao. “You said earlier that Boss has a high-tier card, right?”

Huang Fu Miao Miao finally blinked herself back into motion. “…Yes. Boss has a high-tier card, and has completed Digestion at least three times.”

“Can a high-tier card digest another high-tier card?” Feng Ling asked.

Huang Fu Miao Miao nodded, face tightening again. “Yes. But it’s risky. If the Ability Card isn’t especially compatible, the Corruption spike can be brutal.”

Feng Ling’s gaze slid over the floating silver spread.

If she prioritized high-tier, she’d choose that one—the symmetrical pattern of two lizard-like creatures back to back.

Compared to ants, spiders, and centipedes, the twin-lizard card looked the most likely to be high-tier.

High-tier cards had a pull to them. A gravity.

But the risk was real.

After a moment, Feng Ling made her call. She reached out and grabbed a centipede card instead.

The card dissolved into her the instant she touched it.

A notification appeared in her mind:

[You obtained the Ability Card: “Crimson Ogre Centipede.”]

[Crimson Ogre Centipede: Able to move freely in total darkness. Extremely fast. Possesses fang claws with terrifying bite force. Card bearers are prone to losing reason and tending toward insectification.]

Feng Ling held still and waited.

The text shifted.

[“Crimson Ogre Centipede” has been digested.]

[Your deck grew.]

[Corruption: 8%.]

[A new arm has grown within your body. It can rapidly transform into indestructible fang claws. Your night vision has been enhanced. Please name your new skill.]

Feng Ling’s mouth curved.

She’d guessed right.

Only a 1% Corruption increase.

Centipede really was similar to mantis—not just low Corruption, but the same kind of payoff.

She touched her abdomen.

And for a second, she wasn’t sure if it was placebo or something deeper, but that burning hunger eased—just a little. Like someone had loosened a belt around her organs.

Relief cooled the edge of her agitation.

She smiled, almost amused at herself. “Since I already have Mother’s Longing and Mother’s Lash… this one will be called Mother’s Embrace.”

[Skill naming successful.]