Silence, deathly silence, only Pei Du's heavy breathing like an old bellows echoed in the empty pumping station.
He stood there, maintaining his punching stance, his body trembling violently from the intense exhaustion and the horrific pain emanating from deep within his spine. The tip of his right fist was a bloody mess, the white bones of his fingers clearly visible. Dark red lines, like a ravenous venomous snake, rapidly spread along the bones and torn flesh, towards his wrist! The color grew darker, the pulsation stronger! Each pulse was accompanied by a tingling and burning sensation that penetrated deep into his bones. He felt his life force, flowing through that hand, being frantically sucked and devoured by the crown of thorns above his head.
"Ugh..." Xu Shuangyao struggled to crawl over. Seeing the horrific wound on Pei Du's right hand, the rapidly spreading dark red lines, and the expression on his face twisted by the pain and backlash of power, tears instantly welled up again. She trembled and tore off the corner of her relatively clean inner shirt, trying to bandage him.
"Don't touch me!" Pei Du violently shook off her outstretched hand, his movements rough. His eyes were as cold as a knife, churning with lingering violence and something deeper—the rage of betrayal. He slowly turned around, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Xu Shuangyao, a gaze that seemed to penetrate her completely.
"Speak!" His voice was hoarse, like the whisper of a demon from hell, each word thick with the smell of blood and suppressed rage. "What is that thing in the incubator... that 'me'...?!" The cold and absurd feeling of identity collapse, after experiencing a life-and-death struggle, not only did not subside, but instead burned wildly in his chest like a fire doused in boiling oil! He needed an answer! An answer that could explain that horrific scene! An answer that could tell him who he really was!
Frightened by the madness and questioning in his eyes, Xu Shuangyao took a step back, her face paling even further. Within their symbiotic connection, Pei Du's volcanic rage, his icy emptiness, and his intense self-destructive tendencies washed over her like a tangible wave, nearly suffocating her. She'd known this moment would eventually come, but she hadn't expected it to erupt so violently in such desperate circumstances.
"I...I..." Her lips trembled, her mind a turmoil. Guilt, fear, her scientist's rationality, and Pei Du's emotions, amplified by the symbiotic connection, battled fiercely within her. She wanted to explain, to reveal the sealed secret, but overwhelming fear and uncertainty made her hesitate.
"Speak!!!" Pei Du took a sudden step forward. The hand with terrifying lines and wounds, dripping with sticky fungus puppet fluid, almost grabbed Xu Shuangyao's collar! The powerful sense of oppression and violent aura rushed towards him like a substance.
Xu Shuangyao was pushed to the brink of despair. Under the onslaught of Pei Du's devouring gaze and the raging emotions within her consciousness, her last line of defense collapsed. She closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face. Her voice was broken and trembling, filled with endless exhaustion and despair:
"Mirror...Mirror Project..."
"That...that's...an early...carrier gene backup...codenamed 'Mirror Image'..." She spoke incoherently, fragments of memory swirling in her chaotic consciousness. "Bacteria host...adaptability research...requires a...'perfect' gene template...for...optimization and iteration..."
She suddenly opened her eyes and looked at Pei Du, her eyes filled with pain and pleading: "You... you are a protozoan! The only... living protozoan! But... but your genes contain... some kind of... unstable rejection factor... early experiments... almost... failed..." She gasped, as if she had used up all her strength, "'Mirror Image'... is a theoretical... optimized model... it is... a sealed... failure! An... unactivated... empty shell! I thought... it would never... wake up! Fungal Dome... it must have used it... to contaminate you..."
Her explanation was disjointed, full of huge information gaps and deliberately avoided key points (such as the fact that she dominated all of this, and that the "mirror image" might not be a complete failure), but under Pei Du's violent questioning and the emotional impact of the symbiotic connection, this was the limit of what she could reveal.
"Failed product? Optimized model? Empty shell?" Pei Du chewed on these cold words, a hideous smile uglier than tears forming at the corners of his mouth. A proto-body? A flawed proto-body? A defective product in need of "optimization" and replacement? And that dormant "self" was the theoretically "perfect container"? A cold, destructive flame instantly devoured the last shred of hope in his heart.
"So... I'm the 'failure'?" His voice deepened, but it was more dangerous than his previous roar, like a volcano about to erupt. "That 'empty shell'... is the 'perfect container' you want...?"
"No! No! Pei Du!" Xu Shuangyao shook his head in horror, trying to explain.
"Shut up!" Pei Du interrupted her abruptly, his eyes completely cold, the last bit of "human" warmth in them seemed to be extinguished, leaving only a beast-like murderous look and a deep mockery, "I see... No wonder... No wonder Fungus Dome wants to 'purify' a defective product like me... No wonder that damn crown... is so eager to 'eat' me..." He looked down at the dark red lines on his hands that were spreading rapidly, like a living thing, and let out an incomprehensible, creepy chuckle.
Just then!
“Ho ho ho…” “Roar——!!!”
Deep within the pumping station, more roars filled with frenzy and hunger rose one after another like a tide! Furthermore, they were rapidly approaching! Clearly, the battle and the smell of blood had been like a stone thrown into the water, completely alarming even more fungus puppets in this death nest!
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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