After All Species Mutated, I Activated Cheats [Apocalyptic] - Chapter 12

Old Wang held his breath. “What do we do now?”

The passage was incredibly narrow. Moving behind the relatively large Old Wang saved Lu Mian a lot of effort.

Lu Mian asked, “How’s it looking up ahead?”

“Dead end!” Old Wang grunted.

Leeches are coelenterates, essentially one long digestive tract from head to tail, so there was no chance of taking a wrong turn. This “dead end” likely meant they had reached the very end of the leech’s body.

Lu Mian paused for a moment. “Why don’t you… give it a poke?”

It was common knowledge that stimulating the internal sphincter could trigger… an urge to go.

Old Wang looked at his flashlight and then at his own hand. Ultimately, he decided to sacrifice the flashlight, thrusting it into the center of the wrinkled folds of flesh.

In the next instant, the surrounding walls of meat surged with a massive force, propelling them forward. After a frantic bout of squeezing and pressure, the group finally burst out and inhaled the fresh air.

The Leech King had already been at its wit’s end. Once they escaped, it ceased all movement. Crimson, foul-smelling blood began to seep from its body, flowing down the walls of Building 2 and staining the entire structure red.

Even though their stamina was completely depleted, they forced themselves to retreat a significant distance, not stopping until they reached the front of Building 3. The stench of the Leech King was simply too overwhelming!

Leaning against the wall of Building 3, Lu Mian watched the motionless Leech King draped over the roof of the second floor, its tail extending all the way to the ground. His racing heart finally began to settle.

Old Wang panted, “I’ll be damned! We’re actually alive!”

Lin Feng yanked off his soaked shirt and tossed it far away.

Lu Mian closed his eyes, his mind swirling with questions about the Leech King’s death. He couldn’t tell if the thing had been killed by the salt, or if… he had sucked the life out of it.

**

The next morning, Lu Mian stood in front of the bathroom mirror brushing his teeth. Looking at his reflection, he felt that something was profoundly off.

After their narrow escape the previous night, everyone had been exhausted. Lu Mian hadn’t woken up until late in the afternoon.

By now, the sky had cleared. The summer heat was rapidly baking the ground dry, and along with it, the massive corpse of the Leech King.

Without rain to provide moisture, the creature’s body could no longer maintain its form. Under the blazing sun, the artificially enlarged frame began to collapse, dripping fluids that emitted a nauseating odor. The smell was so foul that most residents in the community refused to step outside.

The first thing Lu Mian did after waking up was check on the Leech King.

The enormous carcass had been pushed off the roof and now dominated the small courtyard between Buildings 1 and 2. In just half a day, the corpse had shriveled to a third of its original size. It seemed the massive body would be completely withered away in another day or two.

This saved them the trouble of figuring out how to dispose of the monster.

This brief moment of peace allowed him to turn his attention back to himself. He felt certain that while he was inside the leech’s abdominal cavity, something had mutated in his right hand.

He raised his hand. The cuts from the clothesline had already healed, leaving only three faint, dark red scars sitting prominently in his palm. That eerie sensation washed over him again.

He flexed his fingers and made a fist. He could sense something “extra” in his right hand, and his control over it had increased. He pinched the flesh of his palm with his left hand. After a moment of concentration, he discovered that the tissue in his palm could move freely in any direction—up, down, left, or right.

He attempted to command the muscles in his palm to pull apart. The sight that followed left him utterly stunned.

Under his control, the three dark red scars slowly split open, revealing the bright red muscle underneath. The exposed tissue was coated in a thin, transparent membrane. As soon as the scars opened, the muscle flinched from the sudden contact with the cool air, and his palm gave an uncontrollable shiver.

A chilling sensation brushed against his palm, followed by a faint, primal craving that caused saliva to pool in his mouth.

Finally, he understood where the discord in his right hand came from.

Overnight, a new set of functional nerves had grown in his palm, specifically designed to control those three scars.

He tried pressing his palm against a ceramic tile. A powerful suction force locked his hand to the surface. He tried to pull away, but it wouldn’t budge.

He remembered this suction. It was the very thing that almost exposed his mutation the day before. It seemed that because he hadn’t yet grown the nerves to control it, he hadn’t been able to release the grip in time.

Dejected, Lu Mian looked up at the ceiling and let out a long, heavy sigh.

If he remembered correctly, the thing in his palm could also convert energy by absorbing blood and fluids, thereby replenishing his own strength and even enhancing his power—just like that giant Leech King.

Of course, this was just a theory. He needed proof.

After rinsing the leftover toothpaste from his mouth, Lu Mian tucked 500 yuan in cash into his pocket, grabbed a tightly tied red plastic bag of trash, and headed out.

The power and water supply in City X were still down. To conserve what water he had, Lu Mian hadn’t taken a proper bath in days. Even after crawling out of the leech, he had only used a small basin of water and a towel to wipe himself down. As a result, he was going through clothes at an alarming rate.

Who would have thought a simple shower would ever become such a luxury?

He walked down the stairs and encountered a resident from Building 2 near the green belt.

The man looked to be in his fifties, with deep wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and thick glasses perched on his nose. Judging by the magnification, his prescription must have been quite high. He was staring intently at something in front of him.

Lu Mian walked closer and followed the man’s gaze.

In the middle of the greenery sat a very lush Venus flytrap, basking in the sun. Given the exquisite flowerpot, it clearly belonged to someone.

Lu Mian asked, “Uncle, is that your Venus flytrap?”

The man turned around and recognized Lu Mian immediately. He smiled and replied, “Ah, Xiao Lu. Down to take out the trash?”

Lu Mian nodded and tossed the plastic bag into a nearby bin. “Yeah. I took some salt from the convenience store yesterday in a hurry, so I figured I should go pay for it now. Taking the trash out on the way.”

As he spoke, Lu Mian’s eyes kept drifting back to the plant. “That flytrap is grown exceptionally well!”

The man shook his head. “I didn’t really do much to it. I bought it from the market just last month. Up until the day before yesterday, it only had two traps. But when I woke up this morning, it had grown this big without a sound! I don’t have the skill to make them grow five or six new traps overnight…”

Lu Mian’s eyebrows twitched. He squatted down next to the man to stare at the plant. “You mean it grew like this in a single night?”

The man thought for a moment. “Well, not exactly overnight. It’s been growing a bit fast ever since the typhoon. Then it rained again last night, and this morning, it looked like this.”

“Where do you usually keep it?” Lu Mian asked.

The man blinked. “Just outside the balcony window.”

Houses in City X were usually fitted with security bars, which created a small platform outside the window. Many people grew plants there. Even Lu Mian had a snake plant on his balcony.

If this flytrap had been on that little platform, it meant it had been completely exposed to the swarm of leeches last night. It was highly likely that it had caught and “eaten” one or two of the mutated leeches.

Lu Mian hissed through his teeth and asked tentatively, “Uncle, do you still want this plant?”

The man shook his head quickly. “I don’t dare keep it. I was actually about to pull it out. It gives me the creeps.”

“How about… I pull it out for you?” Lu Mian suggested.

The man laughed. “To be honest, I came down here specifically to find you. I thought about just throwing it away, but then I decided to bring it down for you to see. So much has been happening lately, and I’m getting old. My brain isn’t as sharp as you young people’s. If something is really wrong with this thing, I wouldn’t know what to do. It’s better to let you guys handle it. In times like these, it’s better to be safe.”

The man stood up, bracing his hands on his knees, and patted Lu Mian’s shoulder. “I’ll leave this flytrap to you then!”

Lu Mian gave a wry smile and nodded. Perhaps because he and Old Wang had taken the lead early on, the residents now looked to them first whenever anything strange happened.

And so, while losing a bag of trash, he gained a Venus flytrap.

Because of this plant, Lu Mian finally remembered to check on his own neglected snake plant.

He had bought it when he first moved in and hadn’t paid much attention to it since. If it weren’t for the rainy season in City X keeping it hydrated, he probably would have killed it long ago.

In his mind, the snake plant should have been on its last legs.

But looking at the vibrant, thriving plant before him—looking as if it had been fed an endless supply of fertilizer—he was at a loss for words.

He placed the two plants together and noticed their growth patterns were eerily similar.

As if possessed, he reached out his right hand toward the stem of the Venus flytrap. One of the three scars on his palm twitched and split open into a tiny slit.

That suction returned, locking his palm to the plant. Then, something flowed through the slit in his hand, traveled up his arm, and spread throughout his body.

The Venus flytrap withered at a visible rate. In just a few seconds, the once-thriving plant had turned completely dry and brittle. Meanwhile, a faint sense of satisfaction bubbled up in Lu Mian’s empty stomach.

He closed the slit in his palm and gently touched the withered flytrap.

With a crisp snap, the yellowed stem broke.

There was no doubt about it. Using his right hand, he had completely drained the life force of the Venus flytrap.

He turned back toward the living room in silence.

On the sofa lay the cocoon he had broken out of. The sunlight outside was beautiful, yet he felt a profound sense of confusion.

He didn’t even seem to need food anymore, he could sustain himself just by draining plants. Was he even still human?

Support