After All Species Mutated, I Activated Cheats [Apocalyptic] - Chapter 6

Just as he had predicted, there were very few human-faced butterflies left in the hallway. They trapped the pursuing hatchlings outside the fire door on the first floor and dealt with the remaining “butterfly sticks.” By the time they climbed back to the fifth floor, the physical strength of the three men was nearly depleted.

Old Wang leaned his back against the wall, his eyes darting toward the hallway. “So, what’s the plan? We just go in and start hacking? Do we have a strategy?”

Lu Mian took a deep breath, only to be choked by the fishy stench in the air. He wiped the sweat from his hands and tightened his grip on his club once more. “The strategy is to go up and take a look first.”

Old Wang: “…”

The strategy was certainly straightforward.

The three of them cautiously ascended the last half-flight of stairs. As they drew closer, they heard a faint, high-pitched sobbing that sounded like a woman’s voice.

Their hearts sank.

Old Wang hissed, “Holy crap! Could there be a survivor in 502 that we missed earlier?”

Brother Chen urged, “Doesn’t matter! Let’s get in there!”

Without further delay, the three of them brandished their weapons and rushed toward Unit 502.

The door to 502 was still wide open. Inside, it was pitch black, and both the fishy smell and the sobbing had become much more pronounced.

They were back in the same living room, but compared to before, there were far fewer human-faced butterflies. Most were clustered in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, continuously crawling outside.

The Butterfly Queen was nowhere to be seen. In her place, a milky-white slab of flesh, twice the size of a sofa, was writhing on the floor, taking up almost the entire living room.

Old Wang stammered, “What… is that? Where’s the girl waiting for us to save her?”

Lu Mian stared intently at the massive mound of flesh, the hair on his neck standing on end. If he wasn’t mistaken, the sobbing was coming from behind that mass.

Lu Mian pointed his club at the flesh. “The ‘girl’ you’re looking for might be over there.”

As if to confirm his words, the sobbing abruptly stopped. The scene fell into an eerie silence for a few seconds.

Then, a rustling sound began.

A smooth head with two antennae rose from the other side of the meat mass, and those familiar compound eyes locked onto them with precision.

Old Wang: “That thing can cry?”

The Butterfly Queen was propping up her upper body, crawling toward them at an agonizingly slow pace.

The coarse rustling sound grated on their ears. As the Queen’s upper body gradually turned toward them, the massive white mound shifted as well. Only then did they see clearly that the huge mass wasn’t some unknown object, it was the Queen’s abdomen.

At this moment, the abdomen had swollen to many times its original size and was pulsing rhythmically. From the very bottom of the abdomen, flesh-pink eggs were spilling out like beans from a jar. After a few short seconds, human-faced butterflies began to hatch and break through their shells.

These newborn butterflies weren’t as large as the previous swarm, but they were still as long as an adult’s upper arm, and their occasional infant-like cries sounded even more high-pitched and immature.

They had been obediently following the previous batch down the building, but once the three men entered, a portion of the butterflies changed direction and began moving toward them.

Brother Chen gave Old Wang a small kick. “The girl waiting to be saved? We’re the ones who need saving!”

Old Wang swallowed hard, his sturdy frame taking a step back. “How did her lower body get so huge?”

Lu Mian raised his club, batting away several nearby butterflies. “To keep laying eggs, her abdomen had to expand. Stop staring and move!”

Thus, Brother Chen and Lu Mian, who possessed longer weapons, took charge of clearing the butterfly larvae in their path. Meanwhile, the muscular Old Wang, wielding the most lethal weapon, the kitchen knife, took on the heavy responsibility of slaying the Queen!

The group quickly reached the Queen. Old Wang let out a shout and swung his knife at her head, only to be stopped by a pair of powerful hands.

Brother Chen reacted instantly. While Old Wang was pinned, he swung his pickaxe at her.

The Butterfly Queen had six arms. One pair was used to restrain Old Wang, another pair gripped Brother Chen tightly, and the final pair braced against the floor to maintain her balance. For a moment, Lu Mian became the only hope for the group.

He raised his club, aimed for the compound eye, and thrust it in with every ounce of strength he possessed.

A tragic, piercing scream erupted. Being so close, the eardrums of the three men were instantly stung by the vibration, and a trickle of warmth flowed from their ears.

But Lu Mian couldn’t care about anything else. Just as he crushed the Queen’s compound eye, a foul-smelling liquid sprayed directly into his eyes.

It felt like the spiciest chili water in the world, instantly causing a searing pain in his corneas. Lu Mian clutched his eyes and crouched down in agony.

An intense heat surged through his pores and concentrated in his head. It felt as though a fire had been lit inside his brain, screaming to burn his consciousness into nothingness.

“Xiao Lu! Xiao Lu! What’s wrong?”

“Brother Chen! Do it now!”

“Old Wang! Drag Xiao Lu to the side!”

“Xiao Lu! Xiao Lu! Wake up!”

In a daze, he could hear Old Wang and Brother Chen trying to wake him, but his body refused to follow commands. He felt like the fire in his head was about to turn him into charcoal, and even his consciousness was flickering out.

After an unknown amount of time, Lu Mian opened his eyes blearily. Everything he saw was a hazy blood-red. He saw Old Wang and Brother Chen in the distance, being hoisted into the air by their necks by the Butterfly Queen. He himself seemed to have been dragged in front of the shoe cabinet.

He struggled to crawl toward the Queen. For a fleeting moment, he felt the Queen’s movements become incredibly slow, while the lives of Old Wang and Brother Chen were draining away at a rapid pace. Ignoring the dull ache in his body, he propped himself up and ran to the Queen, picking up the kitchen knife Old Wang had dropped and plunging it straight into her chest!

Time seemed to snap back to normal. The Queen’s ear-splitting shriek pierced the night sky, and warm blood sprayed all over Lu Mian’s head and face. The scorching heat swept through his body again. This time, he couldn’t even maintain consciousness and blacked out immediately.

***

As the first light of dawn broke, Lu Mian struggled to open his eyes, momentarily unsure of where he was.

Beside him, people were chattering.

“Three deuces and a pair!”

“Pass.”

“Can’t beat it.”

“Hehe, I win! Three threes! All out!”

“You son of a…!”

“Pay up, pay up!”

Lu Mian rubbed his aching head and slowly sat up, wanting to see who was playing Fight the Landlord in his room.

Old Wang was sharp-eyed and loud-mouthed. He was the first to see Lu Mian waking up and became quite excited. “Hey! Xiao Lu is awake!”

Lu Mian nodded and looked down at the blue pajamas he was wearing.

Brother Chen explained, “Uh… your original clothes were covered in that thing’s blood and smelled terrible, so we took the liberty of changing your clothes…”

Lin Feng asked, “Thirsty? Have some water.”

A glass of water was pressed into Lu Mian’s hand. He licked his parched lips, realizing he was indeed very thirsty.

After gulping down the water, his mind cleared completely.

This was his studio apartment. Old Wang and the others had been sitting on his bedroom floor playing cards. He cleared his throat and asked, “What about the Butterfly Queen?”

Old Wang grinned. “Xiao Lu, you were amazing! Very brave! A real man! That thing looked hideous, but its strength was incredible. If you hadn’t finished it off with that last strike, Brother Chen and I would’ve been goners! We owe you our lives, we won’t forget it!”

Lu Mian didn’t quite see the logical connection between being hideous and having great strength, but Old Wang’s words helped him piece together the blurry memories from the previous night.

He turned to Lin Feng. “How did the butterfly swarm finally get dealt with?”

Lin Feng was a serious person. Seeing Old Wang boasting, he hadn’t interrupted, but now he answered, “There were a few old gas tanks in the complex warehouse left by previous tenants. we used them as flamethrowers. Those things are afraid of fire.”

Lu Mian gave Lin Feng a thumbs up and offered words of praise.

The group talked for a while until someone finally remembered he was still a patient.

Lin Feng asked, “They said that thing’s blood got in your eyes. Are you okay?”

Lu Mian blinked, still feeling a lingering fear of that deep, burning pain. “I’m fine. It doesn’t seem to have had an effect. I can see fine.”

Lin Feng nodded and continued, “Don’t blame us for not taking you to the hospital. It’s too chaotic outside right now, and hardly anyone is working at the hospitals. Luckily, there’s a doctor living in our complex. Xiao Sun asked him to take a look at you, and he said it was just the flu and fever. As for whether that thing’s blood was toxic, we couldn’t tell. You should keep an eye on it yourself. If anything happens, just shout toward the window. All communications are down, so phones probably won’t work.”

Lu Mian waved his hand. “How could I blame you? Those human-faced butterflies weren’t just a local specialty of our complex. If we have them here, other places likely have their own problems. It’s only natural for things to be chaotic today. Maybe things will get better in a few days. We should just stay home and minimize going out.”

Everyone agreed with that sentiment.

After seeing them off, Lu Mian sat in the living room, staring blankly at the trees outside the window.

Who said the Queen’s blood had no effect on him?

Right now, the world in his eyes had completely changed. Every moving object seemed to have become incredibly clear!

A bird flew rapidly past the window. Lu Mian’s gaze followed it, and he could see every single feather on its body with perfect clarity!

He had once seen on a science program that the compound eyes of insects can see moving objects as if they were in slow motion, if a bullet flew past them, they could see it perfectly!

And now, it seemed he possessed the power of compound eyes?

Just then, as if countless needles were being driven into his brain at once, a surge of piercing pain struck.

Lu Mian clutched his head, no longer having the strength to call for help. He curled up on the sofa, his once-clear vision obscured by a layer of white mist, and the sounds in his ears faded away.

His consciousness slipped away again.

A moment later, an oval-shaped cocoon lay quietly on the sofa. Occasionally, a faint sound could be heard from within, like a heartbeat, thumping one after another, slow yet powerful.

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