Chapter 29: The Burrowing Worm

All of this was witnessed by Xia Tong, who was perched high above on a collapsed stone slab.

She gazed thoughtfully at the scarlet mutant plant already pinned to the wall. This method of attack, this ability to camouflage and transfer hosts...

Just then, the "Source Core" in her mind stirred, and a stream of clear information flowed through.

[Indeterminate Parasitic Plant (Mutant): Low-tier dangerous entity. Lacks a fixed form; can parasitize various mutant plants, draining the host’s energy while mimicking some of its characteristics. Its primary attack involves instantly condensing the host's energy to fire a high-pressure blood-red beam. After an attack, the main body falls into a state of brief weakness and seeks a new host. If it cannot find a new host in time, it will wither rapidly.]

"An Indeterminate Parasitic Plant, I see..." Xia Tong understood.

It was exactly as she had hypothesized.

No wonder the first serpentine plant had "withered" so quickly after attacking, while the second vine-like plant was able to strike suddenly. They did not have fixed forms of their own; rather, they acted like a virus, infecting and manipulating other flora.

This type of mutant plant was rare.

"Interesting. If there were many of these, or if they were to parasitize even more powerful mutant plants..." Xia Tong licked her paw, a hint of gravity flashing in her eyes.

The danger level of this underground world, hidden beneath the ruins of the collapsed shopping mall, had just risen another notch.

"I wonder how those humans at the dawn of the apocalypse managed to survive..."

However, this only confirmed to her that the "Moonlight Orchid" must be of immense value; otherwise, the base would not have sent an elite team to risk their lives deep within such a hellish place.

She wondered which wave of explorers this group was, but she was certain they would be the last.

Those bases were always the same: dispatching low-ranking superpowered individuals to "die" in exploration zones, only to send in their so-called "big shots" to reap the "fruits of victory" once the latest intelligence had been gathered.

"Heh..."

Watching the three humans below, still shaken by the ordeal, Xia Tong’s gaze deepened. She did not believe this underground area held only these "appetizers." The real show was likely yet to come.

***

The three, led by the Scarred Man, regained their composure, dressed their wounds, and checked their gear. Once they were certain the bizarre parasitic plant posed no further threat, they steeled themselves and continued downward.

They were drawing closer to their final target.

The further they descended, the narrower and more oppressive the tunnels became. The damp, musty scent of decay in the air grew pungent, now mingling with an unsettling smell of sulfur.

The rocky ceiling looked as though it might collapse at any moment, and the ground beneath their feet transitioned from muddy moss into a disgusting surface slick with gravel and some sort of biological slime.

"Captain, the sulfur concentration here is quite high, and... there is a strong bio-electric response. It covers a wide range."

Ke Ji’s voice was laced with obvious tension. On the tablet in his hands, red dots representing biological signals flickered in a dense swarm, covering a vast area ahead.

"Damn it, just how many monsters does this hellhole harbor?" The Scarred Man spat, his grip tightening on his giant axe. The constant skirmishes were stoking his temper, but they also made him more vigilant.

Xiao Ling said nothing, only gripping her custom-made crossbow tighter. Her sharp gaze swept over every suspicious corner like a searchlight. Her psychic perception was pushed to the limit; not a single movement could escape her detection.

As they turned a corner draped with stalactite-like growths, the sight before them made all three gasp in horror.

It was a cavernous underground void, several times larger than the area where they had encountered the parasitic plant. In the center of the void, the ground had cracked open into a bottomless fissure, the earth along its edges scorched to a charred black by intense heat.

But what made their skin crawl was what was writhing inside and around that fissure!

A giant worm, of a size that defied belief, was coiled in the center of the rift!

Its body was a filthy, grayish-white, covered in thick, horny, wrinkled layers, each segment thicker than a grown man’s waist.

Its hideous head lacked eyes; it possessed only a circular orifice like a bottomless abyss, the edges of which were lined with layers of razor-sharp, metallic-sheened fangs.

"Good god, it’s only been thirty-some years since the apocalypse began. How did these things from the infected zones get here?" Ke Ji’s voice cracked as he looked at the energy readings on his tablet, which had spiked to the maximum.

Even more terrifying was the sight of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of smaller worms—each still as thick as an adult’s arm—crawling out from the folds of the giant worm’s body and the surrounding floor.

These smaller worms surged like a tidal wave, emitting a sickening, dense "rustling" sound as they crawled. They seemed drawn by the scent of living humans, swarming frantically from the fissure and the mother’s folds, gathering in the direction of the three explorers.

***

"Burrowing Worms! And it’s a matriarch with... its brood!"

Xiao Ling’s voice carried a rare note of terror. She recognized these mutant creatures, notorious across the wasteland. The individual burrowing worms were fragile, but their reproductive capacity was terrifying. Once entangled with them, the consequences were unthinkable.

Fortunately, judging by its size, this matriarch seemed not yet fully developed, or they would truly be facing total annihilation.

"Captain! They’re coming! There are too many! Our ammunition might not be enough!" Ke Ji stared at the black, surging tide of worms, his voice filled with despair. One or two of these things wouldn't be a threat, but in these numbers, they were enough to pick them clean to the bone!

The Scarred Man looked at the black mass of worms advancing like a swarm of locusts, a flash of ferocity in his eyes.

"Fall back! Everyone, get back!" he roared, signaling for Ke Ji and Xiao Ling to retreat to the narrower tunnel entrance.

He then swung his axe with a violent motion. Streams of light flickered, connecting to his arms as a surging fire-based energy erupted around him.

"Since you lot love digging so much, I’ll let you taste the fires of hell!" Veins bulged on the Scarred Man’s forehead; his eyes turned blood-red, and intense heat radiated from his body. The air began to distort under the pressure of his ability as a violent, elemental fire energy condensed before him.

"Captain, you..." Ke Ji saw his stance and seemed to realize what he was planning, a look of worry flashing across his face.

"Shut your mouth! If you don't want to be a snack for these bugs, guard the rear!"

The Scarred Man growled. The flames gathering around him grew ever more intense, illuminating him as if a god of fire had descended.

...

"The mutation-activator... has been triggered..."