Chapter 001 Red-spine Centipede (1)
"It's reported that two Zerg parasites have appeared in Area F. The Investigation Department's action team has arrived at the scene and killed them..."
An elegant and intellectual female voice reached Shi Jianxia's ears. She frowned and turned over, her mind dazed: What the hell? Zerg? A new species?
As her thoughts wandered, the female reporter's voice continued to echo, "Residents living in District F, please pay attention to any abnormal behavior in the near future. If you find any, please call immediately..."
Shi Jianxia grabbed a handful of hair in annoyance, squinted his eyes and sat up from the bed with a strong bad temper.
Who the hell listens to the news so loud so early in the morning? Are they crazy?
She worked overtime for a month and was almost bald, dealing with the client's various nitpicking issues. She finally delivered the project and thought she could have a good sleep on the weekend, but she was woken up early in the morning.
Shi Jianxia wanted to kill someone.
The female reporter was still reporting the follow-up to the news. "After investigation, it was found that the insect species was the red-spine centipede, a parasite that prefers to live in the spines of living things and feed on the spinal cord..."
As more and more unfamiliar nouns appeared, Shi Jianxia finally realized that something was wrong. He raised his hand and rubbed his eyes, trying to find the source of the sound, but after seeing the surrounding scene clearly, he suddenly opened his eyes wide.
This was not the large flat she had bought after working so hard and taking out a huge loan, but a cramped rental house where the end could be seen at a glance.
The rental house is a bit old and often leaks water. The low-quality wallpaper on the right wall not only has bubbles, but also has black spots.
The furnishings in the room were very simple. Apart from the single bed under her, there was only a table and a folding chair. On the table was a black bracelet, which was playing the news.
Where is this? Why is she here?
Shi Jianxia had an ominous premonition in his heart.
At the same time, an unfamiliar memory flooded into her brain. The sheer amount of information made her dizzy, and she subconsciously hugged her legs and rested her head on her knees.
It took her a full half hour to figure out her current situation.
She traveled through time, and traveled to the interstellar era.
In this world, some people can awaken mimicry and possess extraordinary abilities. They are called mimicry users.
On the other hand, this world has special creatures that require a mimicry ability to deal with—
Zerg.
Hundreds of years ago, the Zerg invaded this universe, and humanity lost more than half of its territory in this centuries-long tug-of-war.
The Zerg can parasitize ordinary people without restraint, but they can do nothing to those with mimicry abilities.
The original owner has the same name and surname as her. She is currently eighteen years old and is the legitimate daughter of a large family. However, because her father is missing, her biological mother is unknown, and she is unable to awaken her mimicry, she was thrown into a branch family in a remote galaxy at the age of eight.
The branch family knew that the original owner was an abandoned waste and did not take her seriously at all. The children in the family bullied her, took away all her things, and treated her like a servant.
The original owner lived to the age of sixteen, and just when a major event happened in the branch family, she slipped away while no one was paying attention.
She had planned to leave a long time ago, but had never done so due to her young age. At the age of sixteen, she was able to support herself, so she went to a relief station to verify her orphan status, collected relief money, rented a house, and then found a part-time job to support herself. She also taught herself knowledge in her spare time, hoping to get into college and have a stable job after graduation.
I remember that yesterday, after the original owner finished his part-time job, he returned to the rental house and fell asleep directly on the bed because he was so tired.
Shi Jianxia frowned.
Why did she end up in the original owner's body? She was here, but where had the original owner gone? Did she end up in her body?
After thinking about it for a while and still unable to figure it out, Shi Jianxia put the question behind him.
Just make the best of it. Thinking too much about questions that have no answers is just a waste of time.
She is a realist.
Shi Jianxia raised his hand and rubbed the back of his neck, preparing to sort out the original owner's memories and make a future plan so that he could survive in this world, but he felt a slight swelling on the back of his neck.
She frowned, walked to the large mirror on the wall and tilted her head to look at herself.
There was indeed a swelling, and there were two very obvious red spots in the middle of the swelling, like small holes made by a needle.
Shi Jianxia recalled the original owner's memory and couldn't find out where the two small holes came from.
Could it be that I was accidentally pricked by something while sleeping?
As she was thinking, she suddenly felt a slight heat between her eyebrows.
Shi Jianxia pressed her eyebrows together, but did not feel any temperature higher than her skin, as if the slight heat just now was just her illusion.
But Shi Jianxia was very sure that it was not an illusion.
She touched the back of her neck again, which made her stop and turn sideways to look at herself in the mirror again.
But in just a few seconds, the redness and swelling subsided, and even the color of the two needle-like holes became much lighter.
Suddenly, a strong feeling of dizziness hit her brain. Shi Jianxia reflexively held on to the wall and moved closer to the macro mirror.
When I glanced at myself, I happened to see a golden pattern slowly emerging between my eyebrows in the mirror, like the totem of an ancient tribe, complex and mysterious.
Along with the totem comes the distant prayers coming from the depths of the soul, just like the believers' call to God, pious and profound.
A tingling sensation like a needle prickled came from deep within his brain. Shi Jianxia groaned, hugged his head in pain, and slid weakly to the ground.
Invisible ripples spread out from her in all directions, and inside the small and enclosed rental house, the rustling sound of pages turning suddenly rang out.
After a burst of dazzling light, a pure white cyclone descended into this world carrying an ancient and mysterious book.
Shi Jianxia's ears were filled with long and distant ancient sounds, including the cries and roars of birds and beasts, as well as the endless growth of grass, trees, mountains and rivers.
The dizziness gradually faded away. Shi Jianxia took a breath and looked at the ancient book floating in front of him. He slowly read the three large characters on the cover, "Shan... Hai... Jing?"
The light and cyclone that enveloped the book have all disappeared. At this time, "Classic of Mountains and Seas" is unremarkable, and the gray-black cover even reveals a bit of dullness from being covered in dust for a long time.
As she finished speaking, the book automatically opened, revealing the contents on the title page.
[Mimetic name: Shan Hai Jing]
[Mimetic Level: C]
[Mimicry Talent: Can summon any named creature or non-living thing in the book as a second-level mimic]
[Mimetic Potential: Upgradable]
The books floated slightly in the air, and Shi Jianxia widened her eyes slightly.
Is this mimicry?
She raised her hand, and the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" seemed to be in tune with her thoughts and fell into her palm.
The material of the book cover was like some kind of animal skin, rough but not prickly. Shi Jianxia calmed down and tried to pick up the pages and turn them over, but found that the pages after the title page were imprisoned by an invisible force and could not be turned at all.
Is the level not enough?
The original owner was unable to awaken the mimicry, and had very little information related to it in his memory. He only roughly knew about the potential rating and combat level of the mimicry.
The potential rating ranges from D to 3S, which determines the upper limit of mimicry and is objective and basically cannot be changed throughout life.
The higher the potential rating, the stronger the mimicry's awakened talent skills. When at the same combat level, in terms of combat power, the mimicry with a higher potential rating will beat the mimicry with a lower potential rating.
The combat levels are divided into levels one to nine in the growth stage, the elementary, intermediate and advanced levels in the extraordinary stage, and the holy realm that breaks through the extraordinary and possesses the mimicry field.
Shi Jianxia stared at the line about mimicry potential on the title page, stroking the cover and thinking.
If she understood correctly, this was the mimicry potential rating, right?
Does 'upgradeable' mean that the potential rating of "Classic of Mountains and Seas" can reach B, A or even S?
But how do you upgrade it? How do you summon the second-level mimicry?
When she lowered her eyes to think, there was a sudden knock on the door.
Shi Jianxia was startled and immediately turned to look at the door.
"Xiao Xia...are you at home?" A slightly hoarse female voice came from outside, and she sounded quite old.
Shi Jianxia looked through the original owner's memory and recognized that the person was the landlord.
The original owner's part-time salary was not high, and after becoming an adult, he could no longer receive relief funds from the welfare office. He also had to bear the expenses of studying and had no extra money at all. The rent was already overdue for three days, and the part-time salary would not be paid for another two days.
Shi Jianxia turned off the bracelet that was already playing other morning news, closed the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" and put it on the table, then turned around to open the door.
The landlord is an old lady living alone. Her hair, mixed with white and black, is tied up at the back of her head. Due to her age, her back is a little hunched.
There were no windows in the corridor, so no light could enter. The old automatic sensor lamp cast a dim light on her wrinkled cheeks.
When Shi Jianxia opened the door, she saw the landlady's head tilted to the crack of the door.
Without warning, she met those cloudy eyes and took a step back, tightening her grip on the doorknob slightly.
Fortunately, she was able to maintain her composure and calm herself down before saying, "Grandma Liu, what can I do for you? As for the rent, my salary hasn't been paid yet. Could you please give me a few more days?"
Granny Liu was half a head shorter than her. When she looked up at her, her dark and cloudy eyes rolled around, which made people feel uneasy for no reason.
But she quickly lowered her head.
"Have you... seen... my... Xiaohua...?"
"It's gone... gone... gone..."
Her voice was very slow, like someone who had not spoken for a long time and had forgotten how to speak. Her speaking speed was increased to 0.5 times the normal speed. Her hoarse voice was like the mocking sound of sawing wood, which stimulated Shi Jianxia's eardrums to bulge.
Grandma Liu suffers from Alzheimer's disease. When the original owner moved into the community two years ago, her behavior was quite strange. She always stared at people quietly. The original owner always avoided her when he saw her.
If the original owner had not been so poor that she couldn't afford to rent a house elsewhere, she would have moved out long ago. Every time she paid the rent, she would directly transfer the money into Granny Liu's account and try to avoid contact with her.
Xiaohua is the calico cat raised by Grandma Liu. She likes to run around in the community and often forgets to go home. Grandma Liu has to look for her every few days.
Shi Jianxia shook his head and said, "I didn't see it."
Granny Liu slowly said "OK", held onto the old stair railing, and slowly went downstairs.
Shi Jianxia was about to close the door when he suddenly noticed two tiny red spots like needle pricks on the back of Grandma Liu's neck.
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