Chapter 16
The specialists present reacted quickly, and bullets shot towards Yu Wenliang from all directions, but they were all blocked as soon as they touched the black branches.
Although some humans have awakened special talents, firearms remain an extremely important weapon. If firearms are not effective against pollutants, the difficulty level will instantly increase several notches.
Having fought on the front lines for many years, Ye Ting quickly made a judgment based on his experience and issued orders.
"Block out the space and slow its movement first."
An invisible barrier formed in all directions. The pollutants seemed to sense something and began to rush in a certain direction, only to crash headlong into the air wall.
"Try to avoid those branches and attack the parts of the human body."
I went to attract his attention.
"The rest of the men attacked from different directions, trying to find its weaknesses."
Ye Ting swiftly fired several shots at Yu Wenliang's head. To protect his body, branches flew towards him at high speed, but Ye Ting's figure quickly disappeared into the shadows. The pollutants missed their target, and all the attacks landed on the wall.
As the commissioners tried to approach Yu Wenliang, the black branches swayed like snakes in the shadows, quickly winding their way up his body.
It resembles a large tree with its branches waving and reaching straight into the sky, at the ends of which human bodies hang limply.
The oxygen in the lungs was squeezed out, and the bones in the neck made a "crackling" sound. The vibrant life was quickly taken away by the entangled "ropes".
Xiao Shengyun, standing more than ten meters away, was caught off guard by Ye Ting's face, which had turned purplish-red from suffocation.
He could no longer speak the word "take action," only the words could be discerned from his moving lips.
Beyond the human field of vision, countless blades composed of primal matter slashed at the ropes, and space gradually distorted wherever the blades touched.
Xiao Shengyun could sense that an even more powerful force was approaching from within the space.
The black, viscous source matter filled the surroundings, which reminded Xiao Shengyun of a rainy night in his memory. His memory was vague, but he remembered the overwhelming rain and the feeling of suffocation.
This seemed to be another space, pitch black all around, with an ominous aura emanating from afar.
The Other World.
Xiao Shengyun recalled the word he had seen on the dark web. The pollution appeared suddenly, and the researchers could not find its source, so they proposed different hypotheses.
Some say the pollution is caused by the sudden resurgence of some hidden organism in the world, while others say it is caused by brain lesions in humans, because it seems to only affect humans. Of course, this claim has been overturned with the emergence of pollutants.
The most widely circulated hypothesis is the "other world" theory.
Humans used to believe that life might exist on other planets besides Earth, and that these life forms might have traveled light-years to reach Earth.
However, recent physics research suggests that multidimensional spaces may exist on Earth. The relationship between these multidimensional spaces and human living space is like that between ultraviolet light and visible light. The two spaces collide and intertwine, but humans can only perceive the latter.
So, is this the other world where pollutants live?
The space was pitch black, with only one lonely building standing there, which was the apartment building where Yu Wenliang lived.
The sixth-floor staircase was lit by a warm yellow light, as if waiting for those who had been busy outside to return home.
"Dad, you're back." The girl's bright smile appeared behind the door.
dad?
He had transformed into Yu Wenliang. Xiao Shengyun raised his hands, which were larger than his original hands, covered with calluses and small wounds.
"The food is still warm, Dad, you eat quickly, I'm going to do my homework."
On the table was a bowl of white porridge, a small dish of pickled vegetables, and a plate of stir-fried greens. White steam rose slowly, emitting a faint fragrance.
"Did you make this?" Xiao Shengyun was astonished. The girl in front of him was only eight or nine years old. How could she cook porridge and stir-fry dishes all by herself?
"Mmm." The girl nodded obediently. She was just a false phantom and naturally did not notice her father's strange behavior.
It seemed that only the father and daughter lived in the house. Xiao Shengyun searched the house but found no women's personal belongings.
The room was completely silent, and it was pitch black outside, as if something was lurking in the shadows, making him uneasy. He searched the room carefully but found nothing unusual; the only clue left in the room was the girl.
"dad."
A dull thud came from inside the room.
Xiao Shengyun burst through the door. Inside, the girl was slumped over the table, and there were scattered papers on the floor.
"Daddy, I feel so bad." The girl's eyes were half-closed, like a dying cat.
She was always very well-behaved; she would only let her father know when she was in unbearable pain.
It really hurts. A strong pain came from inside my body, which came from Yu Wenliang's emotions.
That intense emotion was something Xiao Shengyun had never experienced before.
"Don't be afraid, baby. Daddy will call the hospital. You'll be alright... you'll be alright..."
He later made a phone call, but his daughter was not saved; instead, she received a critical condition notice.
The girl's voice gradually faded away, and everything returned to silence. Xiao Shengyun couldn't control his body, and tears streamed down his face, landing on the girl's pale face.
"Everything is gone."
The ground shook violently, the entire building seemed to be swaying, and the glass on the walls shattered one after another.
Xiao Shengyun dodged the falling pebbles, leaped, and flew out of the window.
In the dim light, a creature over ten meters tall came into view, its thick trunk reaching straight into the sky, blocking out the sun. Its black branches twisted and intertwined, slowly crawling like a giant, writhing python.
From a distance, the tree with dozens of corpses hanging from it looked like a weeping willow. Because on each outstretched branch hung a limp corpse.
Xiao Shengyun's heart stopped for a moment, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the corpses were not his companions from this trip.
The corpses had been decomposing for a long time; each person's facial features were a bloody mess. The sight made his stomach churn.
This is the true appearance of that pollutant!
The Otherworld truly exists; it doesn't reside in some distant space far removed from the human world, but rather right beside the polluters.
But what about his teammates? Xiao Shengyun looked around and despairingly realized that he was all alone.
He tried to calm the source matter and reduce his presence, and then the next second, the sound of something cutting through the air came.
Xiao Shengyun instinctively ran forward. About three meters behind him, a thick vine crashed into the ground, leaving a crack four or five meters deep.
Realizing that he probably couldn't even withstand one whip from Brother Tree, Xiao Shengyun turned and ran towards the roots of the tree.
It's obvious that this world is the domain of this thing, and it certainly can't find an exit while being pursued by pollutants. The only way is to deal with the culprit first.
The ground beneath my feet was damp and sticky, and stepping on it felt like the "stepping on poop" sensation advertised, especially since it also emitted a foul, rotten smell. I couldn't tell if it was leaves or pieces of corpses that were the rotten smell.
Xiao Shengyun wasn't a germaphobe, but after rolling around in a place like this, he'd need to take at least five showers when he got back.
As I walked, I felt something trip me up – it was half an arm.
Further on, Xiao Shengyun saw another head protruding from the ground, with a face belonging to Ye Ting.
There were also some scattered mosaic objects around, all of which had familiar faces.
This pollutant is truly playing psychological warfare to the fullest, but it's just an illusion because Xiao Shengyun isn't relying on his eyes, but on his senses.
This sensation does not belong to any of the five human senses; pollutants are different from human sensory organs.
A human face was also carved at the base of the tree; it was Yu Wenliang's face.
If bullets don't work, if source matter doesn't work, what else can do it?
The blackness before my eyes intertwined and surged in.
A metallic clang rang out, like the sound of a long sword being drawn, and in the dark distance, it seemed as if a ray of light had streaked across the sky.
Zhou Zhi loosened his grip, and the man in front of him collapsed to the ground like a pile of rotten flesh, vomiting a large amount of blood with a "whoosh." Dark shadows darted out from the shadows beside him; they were pitch black and exuded an aura of death. Zhou Zhi instinctively tried to dodge, but they were fast. However, thanks to his synesthesia, his thoughts moved even faster.
The bullet pierced the man's skull, but it was far from over; countless dark figures pounced from the shadows.
Zhou Zhi gripped the gun tightly, and after blowing the head off the dark figure not far away, he suddenly realized something.
Not this way!
These monsters weren't targeting him, but the girl huddled in the corner!
Faced with a wolf and a rabbit, any creature would instinctively choose the latter.
"Pfft."
The monster's claws pierced through its body, and blood dripped down after soaking through its clothes, splashing up a few blood flowers.
A meter away, there was a girl's pink hair clip.
The girl did not die; what stood in her way was her father's broken body.
This is like a replay of a historical tragedy.
A father blocking the way, a child with eyes filled with fear, and a toy splattered with blood.
Why can't it be saved...?
Gunshots rang out, each bullet striking the monster. A thick fog rolled in, obscuring all surrounding sounds.
Bullets were fired one by one.
Zhou Zhi's white clothes were stained with a mixture of red and black liquid, making him look like a blood-soaked demon.
No one had ever seen Dean Zhou like this before.
Everyone who has met him has a similar impression of him—calm, meticulous, never tired, and without any emotional fluctuations, like a machine that is always working with perfect precision.
But now, seeing that figure again, that figure that belonged to my father, my long-dormant heart seems to beat again.
That shot slowed down the contaminants, and Xiao Shengyun condensed the source matter into a sharp blade, inserting it into the center of the monster.
The illusory world collapsed instantly.
"That was brilliant!" Applause erupted, and the person hidden in the shadows finally appeared.
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com