Everything is different now.
No matter how pitiful he pretends to be, no matter how humane he tries to appear, and even if his face becomes the same as the man in his memory, a monster will always be a monster. Xavier will never suppress his cruel and murderous nature, and he himself will gradually lose his humanity as time goes by.
And these things hatching before him had absolutely no chance of being changed. They would all grow into those filthy, evil monsters, just like Xavier… just like himself.
...
As Lin Xi pondered this, she trudged heavily toward another developing fleshy sac.
Just like killing the previous mutant, he ended the monster's chaotic state with incredible speed.
Next up is the next one.
The smell of blood, the still-developing, soft carapaces, the fragments of limbs that were no different from those of humans… Lin Xi knew that she had killed the alien species hanging in the corridor one by one with incredible ease and speed.
But this part of his memory became faint and ethereal, perhaps because he was struggling against his instincts.
Destroying his own kin was like killing a part of himself; the death of each alien species made Lin Xi feel as if a part of his body was collapsing. The extreme pain even gave Lin Xi the illusion that he was disintegrating.
And the last mutant...
When Lin Xi walked up to it, it had already struggled to break free of the pouch and fell wetly onto the soft, rubbery surface.
The death of its kind catalyzed its birth, but it was not fully developed.
It has a soft, gentle face, an upper body that is human, but a lower body that is a thin, deformed worm-like body.
It cannot speak or make any other sounds.
It hadn't even developed arms and legs yet, so when Lin Xi approached it, it could only lie half-lying on the ground, looking at Lin Xi timidly and sadly with its pale blue eyes.
It seemed to have anticipated its own death, so it didn't even flinch when Lin Xi reached out.
On the contrary, it eagerly leaned its head closer.
Then, it gently rubbed against Lin Xi's arm, which had suddenly frozen in place, and then tilted its head back and gave Lin Xi a smile that was the epitome of happiness.
The moment Lin Xi reached out her hand to it was the only time in its short life that it could touch Lin Xi. Although this touch brought it only a dark and painful death, it was already an immense happiness for it.
That gentle, sweet emotion flowed unreservedly into Lin Xi's body through the contact between their skin—there wasn't even a trace of resentment, only an overflowing longing and reluctance.
Lin Xi couldn't control her trembling.
He kept sobbing, his mind a complete mess.
Without his own awareness, his claws slowly retracted, and then he gently touched the face of the incomplete alien creature.
His instincts were eroding his reason, and the more Lin Xi tried to resist them, the less he could break free.
Whether it was the weakness shown by these alien species, or their faces that were exactly like Savile's.
The terrifying thing about these monsters is probably this: they seemed to have sensed the most vulnerable part of Lin Xi's heart, and then they disguised themselves as that.
"I'm sorry...I...I just...I'm sorry..."
At that moment, Lin Xi suddenly felt as if he had merged with "He". He was feeling extremely sad because his kin were dying one after another, while Lin Xi was because he had seen those "Saville" die again and again before his eyes.
Pain washed over him like a flood.
He was panting, then forced himself to come to his senses.
Lin Xi grabbed the newborn mutant by the neck with both hands—
However, just as he was trying to calm himself down and kill his opponent, a pair of cold, pale hands suddenly reached out from the side and gently pushed Lin Xi away.
"..."
That's Xavier.
It stood between the newborn alien and Lin Xi, its expression one of utter struggle—it had actually stopped Lin Xi's actions.
It left behind that competitor.
Although the underdeveloped mutant looked particularly weak now, it was still a mutant, and Xavier knew better than anyone that as long as it was given enough nutrients and food, it would soon begin a new round of transformation, and then it would become stronger and stronger, and more and more in line with the preferences of the mutant mother.
Ultimately, it may become the manager of its own territory, or it may become its replacement.
...
Xavier had no idea why he did it.
It should have been happy, but Lin Xi promised it in front of everyone that there would be no more familiars, and even personally killed those compatriots that it loathed.
But why does it feel so bad after seeing Lin Xi's sad face?
Xavier thought, puzzled.
"Lin Xi..."
Xavier stared intently at Lin Xi's face, which was covered in cold sweat from the pain. After hesitating for a long time, it slowly approached Lin Xi.
"You are very sad."
It said.
Lin Xi was stunned.
Xavier carefully recalled the scenes he had witnessed while spying on Bryce and Elisa from the corner, then opened his arms and awkwardly hugged Lin Xi.
"No, it's okay."
It tried to repeat what it had heard.
"I'm here... I'm here with you..."
Just then, a faint rustling sound came from behind them.
Lin Xi looked over Xavier's shoulder in the direction the sound came from, and then saw the little monster struggling to wriggle outwards.
It walked rather awkwardly and moved very slowly.
But it was indeed running away.
Lin Xi didn't know what he was feeling at that moment. He knew he should chase after it and kill the monster with his own hands.
But he just couldn't do it.
He felt a pang of guilt, mixed with helplessness and pain.
"He" may be merging with himself, or perhaps Xavier's appearance gave him an excuse to let the monster go.
Lin Xi stood there, gazing at the small, frail alien creature.
Xavier undoubtedly heard the sound of its kind fleeing as well, and it even turned its head to look at it.
Upon seeing the face of that tiny, worm-like alien creature, which was even more beautiful than its own, Xavier's murderous urge surged once more.
However, upon recalling Lin Xi's pained and distressed face, that murderous urge instantly subsided.
Moreover, that alien's body was in such poor condition.
Xavier stared intently at the soft, ugly body of the alien creature, then glanced subtly at his own powerful insect body, feeling slightly relieved.
However, seeing that the worm-like alien species had already corroded the thick layer of glue adhering to the exhaust pipe and was about to leave from there, Xavier couldn't help but ask Lin Xi in a low voice.
"Lin Xi...do you like me the most?"
It asked awkwardly.
Lin Xi turned her head to look at it.
Xavier flinched.
"If it likes me the most... then don't kill it?"
If I were your absolute favorite bug, then you wouldn't kill it.
Much later, Xavier recalled this moment of that day, and he would even let out a hoarse, vicious laugh because of his question.
Is it because he once had the illusion of being loved that Xavier developed this almost foolish arrogance and said such ridiculous things to Lin Xi?
"..."
Lin Xi remained silent.
The frail and deformed alien creature had already smoothly inserted most of its body into the ventilation duct. At that moment, it suddenly turned its head to look at Xavier and Lin Xi, and a look of reluctance and fear flashed across its face, which resembled Xavier's.
It rested its rounded antennae on the edge of the vent, trembling as it stared at Lin Xi.
Lin Xi knew very well that it was waiting for his reply. Its weak will to survive and its humble attachment were so obvious that the instincts he had managed to suppress began to stir again.
Let's go.
In the end, Lin Xi heard herself say those words to the insect in despair.
Xavier beside him rubbed his forelimbs nervously, his wings flapping against the ground, a palpable killing intent emanating from him.
Lin Xi thought that Xavier would eventually rush out and kill the alien, just like he had mercilessly killed "White" before.
But until he completely lost his sense of the newborn alien, Xavier remained motionless beside him.
Aren't you going to kill it?
"As if possessed," Lin Xi asked.
"No...you...will be sad..."
Xavier lowered its head and muttered something.
Lin Xi was once again stunned by this humane response.
Would a true, pure monster really suppress its desires out of consideration for another person's "feelings"?
Lin Xi couldn't help but glance at Xavier again.
Then, right before his eyes, the thin layer of skin covering the hideous beast gradually turned pink.
...
At the same time that Lin Xi and Xavier were looking at each other, in the abandoned engine room on another deck, Sith was staring intently at the mottled metal ceiling covered with oxidized marks.
All he could hear were the breaths of Elisa and Bryce.
Elisa's breathing was heavy, and Sith knew it was because she had a fever. After being taken to this shelter where they were now, Elisa collapsed without warning.
Next to Alyssa was Bryce, who was completely silent, but Sith knew he was still awake.
On one hand, it was to take care of Elisa, who had contracted the infection; on the other hand, it was to... be wary of himself.
Sith gave a somewhat sarcastic smile in the darkness.
A sense of sorrow welled up within him, partly because friends who had been on good terms not long ago had now fallen to the point of mutual distrust, and partly because Bryce's wariness was not in vain.
They really should be wary of themselves.
Thinking of this, Sith couldn't help but sigh.
"Sith?"
Sure enough, the next second, Bryce's voice came from the corner.
"I can't sleep."
Sith rolled over and crawled out from under the dirty, tattered blanket on the floor.
Then he walked toward Bryce.
"...It's strange. Before, when I was alone and anxious, I could manage to sleep for a while, but now that you're here, I can't relax at all."
Sith said.
A searchlight lay on the ground, dim due to insufficient power, but even in that dim light, it was clear that Elisa, lying on the ground, looked extremely pale.
Bryce sat cross-legged next to Elisa, holding her hand, his expression very serious.
"How is she?"
Sith sat down opposite Bryce, looked at Elisa, and then asked.
Bryce looked tenderly at Elisa, whose cheeks were flushed and who was breathing rapidly, and gave Sith an extremely ugly smile.
"This is not good. If we could get back to the medical bay and receive advanced treatment, the situation would be easily resolved, but now—"
Bryce's voice paused.
From Sith's perspective, it was easy to see that Bryce was trying hard to muster his spirits, but in the end he still failed.
His shoulders slumped, and he looked incredibly exhausted.
"Everything is terrible right now."
"Bryce said softly."
"...I don't know what to do, buddy. I don't know what I would do without her."
This former medical officer revealed an unprecedentedly vulnerable side.
Siss twitched the corner of his mouth.
“I understand that feeling,” he said, then, after a brief pause, Sith suddenly began to talk about his past. “My mother had four children, and I was the youngest. When I was little, the house was always a mess. You know, my older siblings were always bickering. Sometimes they would bully me, but most of the time, they loved me. But then, there was a car accident… They all died, including my father. It took my mother a long time to recover. She would always say to me, ‘What would I do without me?’ At the time, I always thought she was annoying…”
At this point, Sith sniffed.
“But I never told her that I don’t know what I would do without her. We’ve always depended on each other, you know? I hadn’t originally planned to participate in this mission, but the nursing homes on the moon are too expensive, and the gravity on Earth is too harsh on her body. I just wanted to make money.”
Sith's voice gradually faded.
Suddenly, he reached out in a panic and pointed at Elisa.
"Oh my God, Elisa, what's wrong?!"
He suddenly raised his voice.
"What?"
Bryce instinctively turned to look at Elisa—
Elisa lay quietly on the blanket as before, showing no abnormalities except for rapid breathing and a flushed face.
At that very moment, Bryce clearly felt a slight pain at the back of his neck.
"you--"
He turned around in surprise and looked at Sith beside him.
The thin young man was trembling, clutching a syringe tightly in his hand, though the capsule inside was now completely empty.
"sorry."
Sith stared at Bryce and let out a loud apology.
“I don’t want this to happen, but… I really have no other choice. Mom is waiting for me to come home, I have to go home, you know? She only has me left, I have to go back—”
Bryce's lips moved as if he wanted to speak, but no sound came out of his throat.
His vision quickly became blurred and chaotic, and then, there was only deep darkness.
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