Chapter 144: Terms of Cooperation

However, it was obvious that Lin Dong had no intention of making friends with him. With a single slash of his blade, he split open the man's skull and sent a lightning-attribute crystal core flying out.

Meanwhile, the little mushroom monster squatting nearby was feasting voraciously, devouring the flesh and blood with her chin stained in gore, looking rather gruesome.

The sickening sound of tearing flesh echoed through the dark subway tunnel.

After finishing off a corpse, spores drifted from her body and settled upon the surrounding dead bodies.

Before long, dense clusters of fleshy tumors sprouted all over those corpses, rapidly draining away their nutrients and causing the bodies to wither away at a terrifying speed.

Immediately afterward, the tumors began to move slowly, making a rustling sound as they gathered together and took on four humanoid shapes.

Those humanoids swayed as they stood up, undergoing mimicry. Within the span of a few breaths, they actually transformed into the likeness of the dead Black Scorpion members.

This scene amidst the darkness looked utterly bizarre; if any outsider were to witness it, they would undoubtedly be scared out of their wits.

With the appearance of these mimicked humans, the little mushroom's appearance also shifted—she now sported steel-needle-like short hair and a sullen expression, completely transforming into the image of Tian Gang.

Even the lip ring on her mouth was an exact match.

"All right."

"Mhm, let's go."

Lin Dong led the little mushroom to collect the "gift" from Tech Corporation and see what exactly it was.

According to the recent intelligence, the Black Scorpions and Tech Corporation were scheduled to rendezvous at the next two subway stations.

They walked through the pitch darkness. The mimicked humans trailing behind them had rather dull expressions; because they had just grown, their intelligence was not high, making their simulation of human beings somewhat clumsy. They were incapable of many facial expressions, possessing merely an empty shell of a human form.

Inside a subway station, Tech Corporation was waiting, consisting of four Awakened ones and several armed personnel at the Brain Dan realm.

"What time is it already? The Black Scorpion members should be here by now," said Wu Yue, the leading captain, with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"Could it be.... they were intercepted by zombies again?"

A female team member nearby guessed.

"Huh? Why did you say 'again'?"

Wu Yue raised an eyebrow.

"Uh...."

The female team member wore an embarrassed expression because humans being ambushed and killed by zombies wasn't something that happened just once or twice, which was why the word had slipped out.

Or perhaps... using "again" wasn't quite accurate anymore; it should be changed to "yet again"...

Wu Yue reminded them, "In any case, we must be careful. The Black Scorpion members are no pushovers."

"Right."

The people around them nodded cautiously.

Before long, they noticed several faint human figures looming in the railway line ahead, emerging from the darkness like messengers from hell.

"They're here..."

Wu Yue said, his eyes narrowing.

The people around him immediately snapped to attention, observing closely as five figures emerged from the darkness, walking over at a slow pace.

None of them wore any expression on their faces, and their eyes were even hollow, radiating a pitch-black, lifeless hue.

"Why do I feel.... they look different from normal humans?" one of them frowned and asked.

"If they looked like normal humans, would they still be the Black Scorpions?"

Wu Yue stared unblinkingly.

He kept his eyes on the five individuals the whole time, especially the leader, "Tian Gang," who had steel-needle short hair and wore a lip ring, matching the dossier provided from above in every single detail.

The four Black Scorpion members behind him looked much the same.

This time around, when encountering humans, the little mushroom was much calmer than before, likely because she had eaten her fill and wasn't particularly hungry.

"My boss sent me to pick up the stuff," she said straightforwardly, walking right up to the humans without any pretense.

"What's the rush? Let's confirm the terms of cooperation first," Wu Yue said.

The little mushroom nodded.

"Right, my boss wants to know the terms of cooperation too."

"Mhm."

Wu Yue nodded, feeling that this was reasonable enough.

"You already know the current situation in Jiangbei City. That group of zombies has evolved far too quickly; humans can no longer contend with them. Therefore, we should join forces to deal with the zombies together. My corporation will provide you with certain.... serums."

"What kind of serums?"

The little mushroom asked.

Wu Yue turned his head and signaled with his eyes for a subordinate to bring the serums over.

A female team member stepped forward carrying a silver-bright alloy case and handed it directly to Wu Yue.

"Click!"

Wu Yue clicked the lock open and lifted the lid of the case.

Neatly arranged inside were two rows of serums, twenty vials in total. The top row was orange-yellow, while the bottom row emitted a dark purple glow.

Neither of these two types of serums looked ordinary.

Wu Yue introduced them, "The ten orange-yellow ones on top are human evolution serums. Once a normal person injects them, they will rapidly evolve to the Brain Dan realm."

"Oh...."

The little mushroom nodded.

She felt that this stuff wasn't very useful, as it probably just produced a few more "little sugar beans" to snack on...

"But this bottom row.... is quite extraordinary!"

Wu Yue paused for a moment as he spoke, his expression turning solemn.

"This is called the G-Virus. After a human injects it, they will gain formidable power. Of course.... they must pay a corresponding price."

"Oh? What price?"

The little mushroom was rather curious.

Wu Yue enunciated every single word clearly, "Depending on their individual physical constitutions, they will transform into various forms of biochemical monsters!"

"Is that so..."

The little mushroom's expression returned to calm.

If an ordinary person heard such things, they would certainly find it absurd, but she herself was a zombie and already belonged in the category of "monsters."

Wu Yue raised his eyes to size her up.

Noticing that the other party wasn't as shocked as he had imagined, he figured their mental fortitude must be quite strong.

"Any other questions?"

"None. Hand the stuff over to me."

The little mushroom said.

"Alright."

Wu Yue nodded, closed the case, and formally handed it over to the little mushroom.

Seeing this, everyone felt that this rendezvous had gone exceptionally smoothly.

They could finally go back and report for duty...

"Then we'll be leaving first."

"Wait..."

Suddenly, the little mushroom called out to stop them, licking her lips as a glint of bloodlust surfaced in her eyes.

Whenever she thought about slaughter, she still found it somewhat difficult to suppress the urge within her heart.

Wu Yue frowned slightly and halted his steps.

"What is it?"

"My boss sent me to pick up more than just these."

"What else is there?"

Wu Yue and the others grew even more puzzled.

However, the little mushroom merely curved the corners of her lips in a smile, her gaze growing even more excited, her pupils dilating slightly as she slowly spat out two words:

"You guys!"

"Huh????"

As soon as those words left her mouth, the expressions of Wu Yue and his companions instantly shifted, and an overwhelming sense of unease welled up within them.

This creature wasn't right.....

Now that she had finished inquiring about everything her boss had instructed, the little mushroom stopped hiding. Opening her palms wide, countless spores instantly burst forth from them, enveloping everyone present.

Simultaneously, the mimicked humans behind her turned ferocious and lunged forward.

"Watch out!"

Wu Yue was utterly shocked. A scorching aura erupted from his body, and surging flames flared up to resist the invading spores.

Those crystal-core Awakened ones were still barely able to hold their ground.

However, several of the armed personnel at the Brain Dan realm had already been invaded by the spores. Their faces immediately contorted in agony, their bodies convulsed violently, and they let out shrill, hysterical cries of pain.

Right after that, red fleshy tumors began erupting from their bodies, multiplying densely and looking exceptionally terrifying!