After All Species Mutated, I Activated Cheats [Apocalyptic] - Chapter 7

When Lu Mian opened his eyes again, his vision was still obscured by a layer of white gauze.

The throbbing pain in his head had completely vanished. Instead, he felt an unprecedented clarity, his entire body light as a feather.

He slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air and tried to move. A sense of restriction followed, giving him a brief idea of his current situation.

It seemed he was tightly wrapped in a cocoon of white silk.

He pushed against the gauze in front of him and found it incredibly tough and difficult to tear. Taking a firm grip, he exerted all his strength to rip it open.

But in the next second, he froze.

He suddenly realized that his current state was identical to the butterfly queen he had seen emerging from its cocoon upstairs!

In a panic, he reached down to check his body. Only after confirming that both his legs were still there, distinct and human, did he feel a slight sense of relief. Then, with trembling hands, he reached behind himself to feel his back.

He was a man with a very vivid imagination. Even if his legs were intact, there was no guarantee that some strange, biological horror hadn’t sprouted from his back.

After a moment of frantic searching, he let out a long breath. Thankfully, he felt nothing out of the ordinary.

Lu Mian increased his efforts to break free from the white cocoon. In such a confined space, the carbon dioxide levels had spiked, causing the temperature to rise. After just a short struggle, his forehead was slick with sweat.

He couldn’t help but curse under his breath. No wonder the butterfly queen had struggled so hard to break out, this silk was so resilient that no amount of pulling seemed to tear it!

Ten minutes later, Lu Mian lay panting on the floor. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed a piece of the silk and stuffed it into his mouth.

He had two particularly sharp canine teeth. By concentrating all his biting force on a single point, even the most flexible silk couldn’t hold out for long.

Using his teeth, Lu Mian finally breached the annoying white cocoon. He emerged into a dim room, the sky outside already dark.

The fresh air brought a sudden chill. Due to the temperature difference, Lu Mian felt as if every pore on his body had snapped open. The cool air surged into his skin, following specific paths through his body and whisking away the internal heat in seconds.

He frowned, keenly aware of the strange changes occurring within him.

Setting aside the internal sensations, the most obvious change was his musculature.

He was someone who rarely exercised, never broad-shouldered and leaning toward thinness. But now, as he flexed his right elbow, he used his left hand to pinch a bulging bicep.

Could someone please tell him when this muscle had decided to grow all on its own?

He hurriedly inspected his body before grabbing a candle from the kitchen. By the flickering light, he examined his reflection in the bathroom mirror.

His silhouette hadn’t changed significantly, he still looked like his old self. However, he knew deep down that the “hardware” of this body had been completely overhauled, achieving a qualitative leap in power!

Just then, a crisp knock sounded at the door, followed by Lin Feng’s muffled voice.

Lin Feng: “Xiao Lu? Xiao Lu?”

Lu Mian called back toward the door, “Brother Lin, wait a second!”

He changed out of his pajamas, which reeked of a pungent, foul odor, and grabbed a random short-sleeved shirt from the closet. He hurried to the door and pulled it open just a crack.

A beam of light cut through the room, the sudden brightness stinging Lu Mian’s sensitive eyes.

Lin Feng was standing outside with a flashlight.

Once he confirmed who it was, Lu Mian opened the door fully and invited Lin Feng inside.

Lin Feng: “Xiao Lu, you’re finally awake! Are you okay?”

Hearing this, Lu Mian was a bit confused. “I just took a nap at home…”

Lin Feng sighed. “That was one long nap. You’ve been out for two days and two nights. I came down to check on you several times, but you wouldn’t wake up. Are you feeling unwell?”

Two days and two nights?

Lu Mian truly hadn’t expected to be lying in that cocoon for so long.

He still hadn’t figured out exactly what had happened to him, but it didn’t take a genius to know he was no longer “normal.”

Those who are not of our kind must have different hearts. Humans were naturally suspicious of the unknown, especially since everyone had just escaped the clutches of the human-faced butterflies. People were bound to be wary of anything that defied common sense. He couldn’t afford to take the risk.

So, he simply scratched his head and said sheepishly, “My cold wasn’t getting better and I caught another fever, so I took some meds. I guess I just slept through it…”

Seeing Lu Mian standing there perfectly fine, Lin Feng didn’t doubt him and moved on to the reason for his visit.

Lin Feng: “Last night, Sister Li from Building 2, Unit 101, had an accident. By the time we got there, it was too late. She’s gone. Her death was… very strange, and we can’t make heads or tails of it. When we were dealing with that butterfly queen on the fifth floor, you were able to notice things we couldn’t. So, everyone wants you to take a look. After all, if some other monster has shown up, we’re all in danger.”

Just going to take a look was no problem for Lu Mian. Besides, ever since he discovered the changes in his body, he knew he couldn’t stay out of these events.

He quickly put on his shoes and followed Lin Feng toward Building 2.

The rain had started again, a steady drizzle that made everything feel gloomy and damp.

He hadn’t noticed the weather when he stepped out and hadn’t brought an umbrella. Fortunately, Lin Feng’s was large enough that two grown men could share it without feeling cramped.

City X was a typical coastal city, frequently hit by typhoons. Because of this, most buildings had a raised ground floor, meaning the residents of “Floor 1” were actually on the second level.

Lu Mian followed Lin Feng upstairs. Several people were huddled by the door of Unit 101, the heavy scent of cigarette smoke drifting through the damp air.

Lin Feng shone his flashlight upward, and Lu Mian realized the people waiting were all familiar faces.

Old Wang, Brother Chen, and Little Sun.

Seeing them arrive, Old Wang stubbed out his half-finished cigarette. “Sorry about that, Xiao Lu. I didn’t know you were coming, so I lit one up.”

Lu Mian’s cold hadn’t fully cleared, and the smoke made his throat itch. Old Wang, despite his burly exterior, was actually quite considerate.

Lu Mian waved it off. “It’s fine. I’ve been asleep for two days, so the cold is mostly gone. What’s the situation inside?”

Brother Chen sighed. “In the early hours of last night, we suddenly heard someone screaming for help. You know how it is, everyone’s nerves have been fried since the butterfly incident. The moment we heard the scream, everyone grabbed whatever weapons they had and ran out. But Sister Li only managed one scream. By the time we got out, she was silent. We were running around like headless chickens trying to find which unit it came from. When the neighbors pointed to Sister Li’s place, we rushed in, but it was too late.”

At this point, Brother Chen’s tone was laced with regret.

They had all agreed that if anyone was in trouble, they should shout for help and everyone would come running. He hadn’t expected another life to be lost so soon.

Little Sun sniffled, clearly feeling even more guilt. “Go inside and see for yourself. The body… we moved it to the bedroom. She was originally in the living room. We checked, and all the windows and balcony doors were locked tight. There were no signs of anything entering or leaving. If people can still die like this, then is anyone… actually safe?”

With a grim expression, Lu Mian was the first to step into the open door of Unit 101.

It was a two-bedroom apartment. The living room was relatively large and filled with several lit candles.

The furnishings were simple: a large LCD TV on the wall, a basic coffee table, and a fabric sofa. The balcony was at the far end, and just as Little Sun had said, the sliding door was locked.

A small plate of apples sat on the living room floor. The skins of the fruit were somewhat shriveled. This was clearly a marker for where the body had been found.

Little Sun: “She was lying right here when we came in.”

Lu Mian nodded and did a quick sweep of the surrounding area, but found nothing.

He looked up and asked, “Can I see Sister Li?”

Lin Feng stood up and led the way toward the bedroom. “We’ll all go together. This is Xiao Lu’s first time seeing her… and since it’s the middle of the night, it’s less frightening if we’re all together.”

Hearing this, Lu Mian’s brow furrowed tightly.

Lin Feng’s words suggested that the state of the body was bizarre. He braced himself, but when he finally saw Sister Li, he was still profoundly shocked!

The bedroom was quite spacious, with a large king-sized bed in the center. On that bed lay a frail figure covered by a white blanket.

The group stood by the bedside and bowed respectfully three times. Then, Lin Feng stepped forward and pulled back the blanket.

It was a corpse that had been compressed to the absolute extreme. Her ribs were clearly visible even through her clothes. Her abdomen was sunken into a deep, hollow pit, and her pelvic bones protruded sharply. As for her face, there was no flesh left in the deep, sunken eye sockets. Her skin was so parched it was just a thin, papery layer, and her bulging, wide eyes were completely exposed to the air.

Her shriveled eyelids were no longer large enough to cover her eyeballs.

The body looked like a mummy that had remained uncorrupted for a thousand years. Only those dull, clouded eyeballs served as proof that this corpse had been a living person only yesterday.

Lu Mian’s breath hitched. He had never imagined he would see such a gruesome sight. He couldn’t fathom how a living human being could turn into a dried husk overnight!

Little Sun cleared his throat, his voice trembling on the verge of tears. “When we came in, she already looked like this. But at that moment, she still had one last breath left…”

At this, Little Sun couldn’t go on. Brother Chen patted him on the shoulder and whispered to Lu Mian, “Sister Li was Little Sun’s aunt.”

Lu Mian looked at Little Sun with concern. The candlelight in the bedroom was dim, but he could faintly see the glint of tears on the young man’s face.

Lu Mian felt a heavy lump in his chest. He had experienced the pain of losing a loved one before, that sudden, bitter ache of a piece of your heart missing and the crushing frustration of being powerless. It was enough to break a person.

Furthermore, Little Sun seemed to believe that if he had just been a little faster, he might have saved her.

Lu Mian steadied himself and spoke after a long silence. “Brother Lin, give me the flashlight.”

The dead were gone, and all he could do was try to figure out what happened. Little Sun’s pain wouldn’t go away anytime soon, but he certainly wouldn’t want Sister Li’s death to remain a mystery.

Lu Mian took a few steps forward and aimed the light at the body. “Pardon the intrusion.”

With that, he began to examine the corpse meticulously.

Sister Li’s posture was strange. Though she was lying flat on her back, her feet were curled up in a twisted position, and her left hand was clutching her throat.

Lu Mian handed the flashlight back to Lin Feng. “Brother Lin, hold this for me.”

Then, Lu Mian took hold of Sister Li’s wrist. Applying a bit of pressure, he slowly pulled the tightly clenched left hand away from her neck.

Lu Mian: “Wait… what is this?”

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