Chapter 50: Mimicry
To be perfectly honest, had always considered himself a very gentle, very tolerant person.
He had been that way when he was alive, and he was still that way after he became a .
Over this past half month or so, he had controlled robots to snap zombies' necks, used lasers to burn through mutants' skulls, and even watched enormous monsters devour their own kind—none of it had ever stirred any particularly strong negative emotion in him.
After all, they were just monsters. You fought them, and that was that.
The only time in his entire life he had felt pure anger was probably the seething frustration of the moment that bit his neck.
But now, he had found a second.
The 's camera view was very low and very narrow, like looking at the world from right against the ground.
The image quality was poor too—after all, it was just a civilian cleaning device. Even an advanced model loaded with multiple vision systems couldn't compare with a or a drone.
But it was more than enough to make out the state of a survivor settlement.
spent three days figuring out everything about this place.
More than five hundred people, over a hundred of them children.
Everything looked orderly—perhaps even flourishing?
In theory, that should have been good news.
But he couldn't muster even the slightest happiness.
Watching those children—older and younger alike—with their terribly emaciated bodies and distended bellies, a nameless rage burned in his consciousness.
Every morning, these children were woken up and, like clocking in for work, walked out of the camp, vanishing into areas where zombies roamed.
Then they came back with supplies and were greeted with cheers.
That was right—the settlement's most basic operating logic actually rested on children. On a group of kids who, after eating a bizarre , had gained the monsters' "immunity."
They were sent into dangerous ruins to scavenge supplies to feed several hundred able-bodied adults.
This really opened his eyes. It really was a +1 to Sociology.
***
The modified heavy truck tore along the potholed national highway. Inside the cab, the mood was heavy.
[Attention: horde density increases five kilometers ahead. Be on guard against first-stage mutants.]
's signature synthesized electronic voice rang out inside the vehicle.
"Received!"
answered in a low voice. He sat in the passenger seat of the modified truck, an assault rifle held in his hands.
Hearing the alert, he lifted his eyes to the desolate landscape racing past the window, and his gaze turned wary.
A few minutes later, a thin, elongated figure burst out like lightning from the wall of an abandoned house on the side, lunging straight at the truck's side window!
A !
"Bang!"
Before the on the roof could swivel its muzzle around, had already raised his hand and pulled the trigger.
The muzzle flash flickered once and vanished. The 's head was blown apart in midair, its ruined body tumbling helplessly to the ground, where the wheels ran it over.
The whole process was so fast it was as though he hadn't needed to aim at all.
"Mr. , how much farther to our destination?" asked, barely restrained urgency in his voice.
[We've already entered the bounds of . Estimated time of arrival: fifteen minutes.]
's voice paused, then sounded again.
[I need to remind you: you have only thirty-four people. The target settlement numbers more than five hundred and holds a certain number of firearms.]
[Even with and drone support, please be sure to stay safe.]
"Mm," checked his magazine. "Don't worry. If we only have to fight 'humans,' I don't think this will be hard for us as we are now."
His voice was calm, but could understand the anger smoldering beneath that calm.
The ones handling the takeover of the survivor settlement were and his fellow patients.
The settlement was at the junction of and —no short journey.
And as time went on, the dangers along the route were mounting day by day.
But the current production of , developed by , was still limited, not enough to cover the consumption of such a long trip.
That was why thought of and the others.
The group of former parasite- patients had recovered inconceivably well after their operations.
Their wounds closed completely in just a few short days, their mental states were stable, and their physical capability data surpassed ordinary people across the board.
They also learned fighting techniques with incredible speed. In training, regular team members were no match for them.
After a few days of training, even couldn't beat them. Only could hold his own against them.
As for firearms, it was even more absurd—after a brief period of training, nearly every one of them was a sharpshooter, their marksmanship second only to the robots under 's control.
And when reported the situation at the to them and asked for their views—
This group of "patients" hadn't hesitated in the least. They'd almost fought one another for the mission.
So, under the , established a new independent , with as its .
And this time, the rescue of those children being used as tools and the seizure of the settlement's control was their debut.
***
Fifteen minutes later, the truck pulled up silently behind a hidden hillside.
Through the feed relayed by the drone, a survivor settlement of no small size came into view.
Built on a villa complex, it had simple walls and sentry posts around the perimeter, and figures could even be seen working in the fields. With those numbers, it looked... even more full of life than .
But to 's eyes, that prosperity only brought a wave of physical disgust.
A pack of parasites, nothing more.
"Squad One and Squad Two, infiltrate from the east and clear the sentry posts. Squad Three, with me—we'll circle to the north. Our primary objective is the children." issued the orders rapidly through his .
With the precise route maps had provided, they slipped into the settlement as easily as ghosts.
The operation was under way.
At the sentry post east of the villa complex, two guards were leaning against the wall, smoking and chatting, utterly unaware that in the bushes less than ten meters behind them, several dark figures were closing in silently like leopards.
Between one breath and the next, the shadows sprang.
One guard felt his neck turn cold and his vision go dark—a powerful arm covered his mouth and nose and dragged him into the shadows, not even a muffled grunt escaping him.
The other had only just sensed something wrong when a palm clamped down on his throat from behind, pressing precisely onto his carotid sinus. The tremendous pressure cut off oxygen to his brain in an instant, and he folded limply to the ground.
The whole thing was utterly silent.
Around the same time, the other team, led by , had already scaled the flimsier wall on the north side.
After neutralizing the armed guards, he asked about the children.
" , the children's locations."
[The closest to your current position is Villa No. 3, in the basement.]
[There are twelve minors in total. Their vital signs are weak.]
made a hand signal, and the team members fanned out at once, hugging the buildings' shadows as they moved swiftly toward the target.
While most of the villa complex was still chatting after lunch, the had already found and injected the children one by one with .
Only after every child currently in the camp had been injected did turn his attention to dealing with the adults.
***
Gunfire rang out in the square at the main gate.
Every survivor who ran out at the sound was horrified to see two terrifying robots walking in through the entrance, dark gun muzzles locked on them.
In the sky, an enormous drone that looked like it came from a sci-fi film droned low, like a circling grim reaper.
And more than thirty men and women in black jackets emerged from all directions, rifles aimed steadily at the crowd.
"Everyone, gather in the square—now!"
's voice wasn't loud, but with the loudspeaker's help, it easily carried across the entire square.
Thirty on five hundred—anyone would think the people who dared do this had to be insane.
But add two Sentinels and a drone, and it was another matter.
The chaos lasted about ten seconds.
Someone tried to run for the wall and was cut off by Squad Three.
Someone tried to charge the armory, only to find two expressionless team members already standing in the doorway.
And a bald man pulled out a pistol hidden at the small of his back—
"Bang!"
The fired once.
The entire square finally went quiet.
"Who are you people?!" A burly man who looked like the leader blustered.
stopped in front of the crowd, his gaze sweeping over faces of terror, fury, and uncertainty.
" City, , , , — ."
He drew the corner of his mouth up into an icy smile. "Very unhappy to meet you all."
"By regulation, I'm here on behalf of the authorities to provide you with rescue," he said, pointing at the sallow-faced, gaunt children with slightly protruding bellies behind him, and his voice suddenly pitched up.
"But right now I'm curious—can anyone explain to me what's going on with these children?!"
The crowd stirred uneasily.
A man with a sharp, weaselly face jumped out, craning his neck and shouting: "What do you mean, what's going on? Those are special fruits we discovered!"
"Adults die if they eat them, kids don't, and the zombies don't even notice them! We had no choice—everyone was just trying to live!"
"Trying to live?"
looked as if he'd just heard the funniest joke in the world, and he closed in on the man in three long strides.
"Smack!"
A crisp, ringing slap spun the man half around on the spot, spitting two bloody teeth from his mouth.
Then, before the man could react, pulled a bright red from his pocket—the very one he had just snatched from the little boy—and stuffed it into the man's mouth in a flash, his fingers clamping the man's jaw shut.
"Mmph... mmph!" The man struggled in terror, his legs thrashing.
But , his eyes cold, simply gripped the man's throat with one hand and forced him to swallow.
Everyone held their breath.
The man collapsed onto the ground, his face white as paper, his whole body shaking like a sieve, completely stunned, waiting for death to descend.
One second, two seconds... a minute passed.
Nothing happened to him—except that his face looked terrible.
That sight made the faces of all the surrounding adults turn extremely ugly.
Most of them lowered their heads in shame, not daring to look into the children's eyes.
As for the children, bewilderment came first to their eyes, then disbelief, and finally it all transformed into a vast grief and fury at having been deceived and toyed with.
"Where were you all when we needed rescuing? Now you come to blame us?" a shrill female voice rang out.
"These little beasts were already burdens! If we hadn't given them the , they'd have died long ago! We were developing their value—we kept them alive! Alive, so they could wait for the rescue!"
"What did we do wrong? What right do you have to accuse us?"
laughed in sheer anger, but before he could speak, an icy, utterly indifferent synthesized electronic voice suddenly sounded from both Robots at once, echoing over the square.
[Well said!]
[Then, in order to develop the value of everyone responsible for this incident, and to keep you from dying prematurely...]
[I have decided that you and the other relevant parties in this will serve as full-course clinical volunteers for research into the parasitic mechanism of the blood-red .]
[Do you have any objections?]
After a silence like death, panic spread like the plague.
"No! It has nothing to do with me! It was him! He proposed it!"
"Devils! You're devils!"
"I was wrong! I'll apologize to the children! Please, forgive me!"
Some cursed and pointed at the Sentinels, shouting "What right do you have?" Some scrambled backward on hands and knees, babbling "It has nothing to do with me, I don't know anything."
Some began pointing at one another—"He's the one who sent the kids"—"I opposed it from the very beginning."
And some simply chose to run for the exits. didn't bother with them. Let them fend for themselves.
There were even those who tried to charge 's line in the chaos, but all they met was the .
"Bang! Bang!"
Two more sharp gunshots. Blood burst from the legs of the two in the lead, and they fell with screams.
The gunfire sobered the frantic crowd again.
Just then, a middle-aged man in a clean white shirt, with a gentle, refined air, stepped out from behind the crowd.
He raised both hands, his face wearing a pained, earnest expression.
"This... Chen, and the leader behind those robots—hello. My name is . I'm the person in charge here."
"I admit it. We did wrong." As he spoke, he moved slowly toward , his posture extremely low.
"We're willing to accept any oversight and punishment from the authorities. We only ask... for a chance to make amends—"
"Bang!"
Yet just then, when was less than five meters away, raised his gun without the slightest warning.
The bullet struck precisely between the eyes.
Everyone was shocked by the sudden shot. even clapped his hands over his mouth.
But something even more appalling happened.
didn't fall.
His upper body tilted back slightly with the impact, then straightened up again, as if he had only been pushed by a gust of wind.
Then he slowly raised a hand and touched the bullet hole between his eyes—healing at a clearly visible pace. The remorse on his face was gone, replaced by an intrigued smile.
"How did you see through me?"
Then his gaze turned to the beside him, then to the drone overhead.
"Is it because of these strange machines of steel?"
He shook his head regretfully, stuck out his tongue, and licked his lips, baring a grin of chilling malice.
"What a pity. I'd been hoping to set up a sustainable breeding farm here."
At the same time, through the 's perspective, could clearly see the bizarre temperature readings of the "man" in front of him.
In the feed, 's body temperature was as high as 40 degrees Celsius.
And at the instant the bullet hit him between the eyes, the temperature of his head had spiked to over sixty degrees.
All of this showed that this was a new monster, never seen before.
Facing the unknown creature before him, 's consciousness filled with grim gravity.
Damn! .