Ch 123: Calamity descends upon Jinglian City

Luo Jiayi looked at the monster before him, somewhat afraid, but because it was his younger brother transformed, he mustered his courage and stepped forward.

“Xiao You! Xiao You!”

He remembered the first time his younger brother transformed like this, after devouring the neighbor, his body continuously shrunk.

After the mass emitting a stench contracted inward, his brother’s body gradually emerged, lying there where he had been.

Upon waking, he had no memory of what happened.

Luo Jiayi didn’t want to tell his brother about his ability; the monster’s appearance would make even adults tremble with fear.

His younger brother was so timid; he certainly wouldn’t accept such a terrifying version of himself.

The monster before him didn’t revert to Luo Jiayou’s form despite Luo Jiayi’s calls; instead, its numerous eyes stared at him.

“Xiao You, wake up!”

Luo Jiayi was growing anxious. They weren’t far from the Esper Base; if discovered, the powerful Ability Users there would likely attack his brother.

The monster’s eyes held greed and danger; its murky tentacles reached toward Luo Jiayi.

“Xiao You?”

Luo Jiayi couldn’t believe his eyes; was his brother going to devour him too?

Despite immense fear, he didn’t run, because if his brother didn’t wake up, in this state he would certainly become prey for humans.

The tentacle was about to touch Luo Jiayi’s face; the monster’s eyes narrowed, and some eyeballs trembled.

The tentacle stopped in mid-air. Although the monster had no mouth, a bone-chilling sound echoed in the dilapidated room.

The monster seemed to be struggling, in pain; it lowered its tentacles, but didn’t revert to Luo Jiayou’s form.

The monster actually left.

“Xiao You! Where are you going? It’s dangerous outside!”

Luo Jiayi wanted to follow, but the monster’s tentacles lashed out like whips in front of him.

The monster left a foul-smelling liquid on the ground as it moved. Although its movement was slow, its form gradually disappeared.

“Xiao You! Xiao You!”

Luo Jiayi quickly ran towards where his brother disappeared. If it weren’t for the monster’s traces on the ground, he would have thought it was a hallucination.

A cold wind blew through the ruins behind him, echoing emptily.

Luo Jiayi looked at the compressed biscuits and bottled water on the ground, tears streaming down his face, helplessly surveying his surroundings.

His only brother was missing; where should he go to find him…

Luo Jiayou’s consciousness was muddled; he seemed to be dreaming.

In his dream, he wasn’t hungry; he ate many of his favorite foods, even the small, crispy cakes his mother used to bake for him.

But a sense of unease lingered in his heart; he seemed to have forgotten something important.

He was in a cozy little house, somewhat like a rural cottage.

The decor was clean and warm; a fire burned in the fireplace, and the crackling sound of the firewood made him drowsy.

He was so warm. In the apocalypse, he and his brother wore thin clothes, and every night they slept huddled together under scavenged blankets and old clothing.

Now, however, he was comfortable, as if he’d returned to a warm home.

“Right, Brother!”

Luo Jiayou suddenly remembered; his brother seemed to be in danger, and he had to save him.

As he was about to open the door, a familiar voice came from behind.

“Xiao You, where are you going?”

Luo Jiayou turned around and saw his Mom!

“Mom!”

He quickly ran over and hugged her.

He missed his mother so much.

His mother gently stroked his head. “Xiao You, quickly come sit at the table; Mom has prepared so much food for you.”

Luo Jiayou obediently sat at the table; his mother brought out dish after dish of delicious food from the kitchen.

Luo Jiayou felt happy; not only was he reunited with his mother, but he could also eat her cooking.

For so long, he had been mostly hungry; now, this abundant food filled him with satisfaction.

“Xiao You, stay here with Mom; Mom will find you lots of delicious food.”

Looking at his mother’s gentle eyes, Luo Jiayou nodded, seemingly forgetting something important.

But what could be more important than being with his mother…

“Combat Team Three has arrived on the scene, requesting support!”

Dong Chen shouted in fear. Having received the reconnaissance team’s message, his team, being the closest, quickly arrived.

An invasion had occurred in the residential area; a large number of survivors were devoured by a monster.

They had initially thought it was just a Mutated Species with Displacement that had invaded the Safe Zone, but was this monster a Zombie?

Dong Chen wasn’t sure. The monster resembled a small mountain made of mud, with countless eyes visible within.

It looked terrifyingly abnormal, and its combat power exceeded all Mutated Species they’d encountered.

Anyone who approached would be dragged into its body; those people seemed to be directly digested.

Being a close-combat Ability User, charging forward was tantamount to suicide.

The long-range attacking Ability Users in the team, due to their low levels, had their attacks absorbed by the monster, having no effect.

Its tentacles kept extending, searching for surviving humans. Those caught were terrified, but had no means of escaping its grasp.

After being touched by its tentacles, their bodies seemed to become extremely weak, with intense pain and weakness in their limbs.

In despair, they became part of the foul-smelling liquid.

“Fall back! Quickly!”

Dong Chen noticed that as the monster consumed more people, its range of attack seemed to widen.

At that distance before, its tentacles would absolutely not have reached them, but now tentacles were approaching.

It seemed the monster had discovered their position.

“Run!”

The team members quickly ran back on the Captain’s orders.

However, they felt slower and slower, experiencing pain all over their bodies.

Paying attention to his team members, Dong Chen found that their exposed skin was visibly developing sores.

He looked at his own hand; a sore grew in the painful area, his body began to overheat, and his mind became hazy…

“Is it due to inhaling its emitted gas…?”

Dong Chen wanted to quickly relay this information to the Base. This monster could not only drag people with its tentacles, but its odor seemed to poison people, more like a plague…

But before he could transmit the message, the tentacles caught up with them. He watched as he and his team members were dragged to the ground.

Blood flowed from the sores as they rubbed against the ground. The team members couldn’t even scream; the tentacles burrowed into their mouths.

They drew closer to the monster’s body, like planets attracted by a Black Hole, unable to escape their fate of being devoured.

“Mom, don’t make any more; come eat too.”

Xiao You watched his mother busy herself in the kitchen; her eyebrows and eyes held a gentle smile.

“Mom isn’t tired, Xiao You eating makes Mom happy. These are all high-quality ingredients.”

Luo Jiayou found it strange; usually, he couldn’t eat this much.

But now, he felt like he couldn’t eat enough, no matter how much he ate. It must be because Mom’s cooking was so delicious. Since he could eat, he couldn’t disappoint his mother’s heart.