After All Species Mutated, I Activated Cheats [Apocalyptic] - Chapter 9

By the time the group climbed to the 6th floor, Old Wang’s megaphone finally crackled to life.

“Ahem! Now for a progress update on the Sister Li incident. After a careful investigation by the brilliant Little Lu from Building 1, Room 402, we’ve determined that the culprit behind the attack on Sister Li was a leech. After the incident with the human-faced butterflies, I’m sure everyone understands that the leeches mentioned here aren’t your normal variety. They might release neurotoxins when they bite, sucking a person dry without them even noticing. Moreover, they have massive appetites. How massive? Simply put, a few people might not even be enough to fill one up. So, if you run into a leech, even if it looks as tiny as your pinky finger, do not let your guard down! Repeating the announcement, after the brilliant Little Lu from Building 1, Room 402…”

That casual phrasing and the signature booming voice were unmistakable, it was the same voice that had told everyone to stop bickering and shut their doors and windows when the butterflies first appeared.

Lu Mian scratched his irritated ear, feeling a bit awkward at the “brilliant” comment. “Next time something happens, we really can’t let Brother Wang get his hands on the megaphone,” he muttered.

The three of them hurried to Room 1001. By now, a crowd had already gathered both inside and outside the apartment.

Since the butterfly outbreak, Lu Mian and his group had become well-known faces in the community. As soon as they arrived, the crowd instinctively parted to let them through.

The three didn’t stand on ceremony and headed straight into 1001.

The owner of 1001 was a piano teacher, elegant and quiet, with long, straight hair draped damply over her shoulders. She was currently standing in the middle of the crowd, her face pale with fright.

Lu Mian asked, “What happened?”

The girl shuddered, answering with lingering fear, “I… I hadn’t washed my hair in days, so I used some stored water to rinse off in the bathroom. I noticed the floor drain seemed clogged, so I lifted the filter to pull out the hair stuck in there. I didn’t expect…”

“You didn’t expect to pull out a leech?” Lu Mian finished for her.

The girl looked up at him in surprise. “How did you know?”

Lu Mian’s brow was knit in a tight knot. “We just came from Sister Li’s place. We found some things related to leeches.”

The girl nodded, her face turning even paler. “If there was only one, I wouldn’t be this scared. The problem is, there’s a whole swarm! Now my entire bathroom, including the ceiling, is covered in leeches!”

Hearing this, Lu Mian walked toward the bathroom.

The bathroom door was made of semi-transparent frosted glass. Unless someone was pressed right against it, you couldn’t see inside from the hallway. Looking at the dark door, Lu Mian felt a sudden impulse and shone his flashlight onto the glass panel.

For a moment, the entire room fell into a dead silence.

Behind that semi-transparent glass door, countless leeches were pressed against the surface, writhing and undulating in a dense mass that left not a single gap.

Lu Mian stepped back, suddenly feeling an itchy sensation all over his body, as if insects were crawling on his skin.

“We can’t stay here,” Lu Mian said. “The outside of the building is covered in leeches too. Let’s find a…”

Before he could finish, he was interrupted by a piercing blast from a horn.

In the hallway, Old Wang’s voice sounded like a drill to the eardrums, “Run for your lives! The Leech King is coming!”

The Leech King? What on earth was that?

Old Wang’s footsteps were heavy and loud. As the crowd heard the rapidly approaching thuds, their faces were masks of confusion.

Lu Mian hurried outside and shone his flashlight down the stairwell.

Through the gaps in the stairs, he saw a massive, yellow-and-black-striped mass shifting upward floor by floor. The thing was enormous, filling the entire hallway and then some, its soft body spilling over the railings. It was at least three or four meters long!

Lu Mian couldn’t help but swear, “Damn! Brother Wang wasn’t kidding!”

It really was a Leech King!

Old Wang’s footsteps grew closer, which meant the Leech King right behind him was getting closer too. Lu Mian turned back and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Everyone, run to the roof!”

Without hesitation, the crowd surged upward like a tide. Lu Mian and the other two stayed back to cover the rear and wait for Old Wang and Xiao Sun.

Old Wang and Xiao Sun arrived shortly after, both panting heavily as they looked at the others. “Why are you still here? Move, move, move! The Leech King is almost here!”

And so, after a few days, the group was once again gathered together, running for their lives.

The neighbors on the top floor had left the door open for them. Once the five of them reached the roof, they quickly locked the iron door behind them.

The rain continued to pour. There was no shelter on the roof, and everyone was soaked to the bone like drowned rats. However, no one complained, under these circumstances, nothing was more important than staying alive.

Lu Mian took a moment to catch his breath before hurrying toward the edge of the roof. He peered over the concrete ledge and saw that the leeches had already reached the 8th floor.

He took the megaphone from Old Wang and shouted to the crowd on the roof, “Are there any residents from the 9th floor or above here?”

A chorus of responses rose from the crowd.

Lu Mian continued, “I need to borrow some things from you!”

The iron door to the roof began to emit a piercing, screeching sound. Everyone covered their ears, their hearts racing with panic.

Armed with the keys from the residents of the 9th floor and above, Lu Mian opened another exit on the roof. Although there was no giant leech there, it was already surrounded by smaller ones. With a grim expression, Lu Mian ignored the danger, stepped over the slippery carpet of leeches, and headed downstairs without looking back.

After he left, that entrance was completely overrun by leeches, forcing the group to lock the iron door again.

They waited on the roof for a long time. As the iron door began to twist and deform, the anxiety in everyone’s hearts reached a breaking point.

“Is Little Lu back yet?”

“Could something have happened to him?”

“What if he can’t get back up?”

“Surely not…”

Lin Feng listened to the chatter, his face turning grim. “Stop jinxing him!”

Brother Chen added, “Little Lu is reliable! Have some faith!”

Old Wang chimed in, “Exactly, exactly!”

Xiao Sun said firmly, “He’ll definitely come back!”

Just as the words left his mouth, the iron door that had held for so long finally gave way. With a thunderous crash, it looked as though it had been ripped out by its roots by some monstrous force and tossed in front of them.

Lin Feng: “…”

Xiao Sun: “Ah?!”

Brother Chen: “Uh oh!”

Old Wang: “Holy crap!”

A second later, the crowd watched blankly as an endless flood of yellow and black leeches poured out from the other side of the doorway, looking like a dark tide bursting through a dam!

The leeches that broke onto the roof crawled joyfully toward the crowd, their speed increasing on the rain-soaked floor.

“Look! Over by the door… there’s something…”

Someone in the crowd with sharp eyes spotted something unusual behind the door, and everyone turned to look.

From behind the pitch-black doorway, a gargantuan creature slowly poked its head out. As it appeared, the smaller leeches on the ground scrambled to either side, leaving a wide, empty space.

The creature’s head was a massive suction cup, and the silver iron bolt of the door was stuck firmly to it. The thing gave a shake, rattling the bolt loose until it fell with a loud clang. Everyone’s hearts skipped a beat.

Clearly, the monstrous force that destroyed the iron door came from this giant!

The suction cup felt around the floor and gripped the concrete. With a surge of power, it pulled the long rest of its body forward. A wet, churning sound echoed as it took a large step forward, then lifted its suction cup again, swaying it left and right toward the crowd.

On that suction cup were three radial slits surrounding a central point, dividing the entire disc into three equal parts like a sliced pizza.

Once the creature located the crowd, it stopped. The three slits slowly peeled open, revealing a crimson maw. A thick, bloody stench wafted out, making everyone feel dizzy.

Around the edges of that mouth, thousands of milky-white barbs moved incessantly. Then, tiny yellow and black specks mixed with a clear, viscous liquid began to drop from the maw.

Shortly after hitting the ground, those yellow and black specks began to move.

Upon closer inspection, the crowd realized those were actually tiny leeches, only about the size of a fingernail!

Thunder rumbled again, mixing with the gurgling growls of the Leech King. It sounded like a command, for as soon as the thunder stopped, the swarm of leeches rushed toward them like mad. Everyone gripped their weapons, a sense of despair washing over them.

Old Wang was beyond disgusted. He raised a hammer he’d grabbed in haste from his home and began smashing the leeches on the ground, blow after blow.

Once smashed, the leeches merely curled up and struggled, not dying completely. Dark red liquid flowed out, diluted by the rain until it ran everywhere, and the smell of rust grew even stronger.

“Damn it! Kill them, quick!”

“There’s one on my back, someone get it off!”

“Crap, you can’t step these things to death!”

“Stomp harder!”

“Aaah! They’re stuck to the bottom of my shoes!”

The people present had come out to save others, so most of them had some tools on hand. For a while, it was a chaotic battle between man and leech. However, as the saying goes, misfortunes never come alone, the army of leeches that had been painstakingly climbing the slippery outer walls had arrived!

“Look behind you!”

“There are so many!”

“They’re huge! The ones that just crawled out of the mouth look malnourished compared to these!”

“What do we do?”

Among the leeches climbing up from the outer wall, there were many giant ones. Judging by their size, even just lying on the ground, they were half as tall as a person!

They weren’t moving particularly fast, but even so, there were simply too many. In less than half a minute, the swarm had surrounded the crowd in a tight circle.

A gurgling sound rumbled from the Leech King’s belly. Everyone trembled, finding the sound strangely familiar.

“Is it hungry?”

“Probably…”

“Do we look like a good meal?”

“…”

Just as everyone was engulfed in despair, a harsh clanging of an iron door echoed from the other side of the roof.

The people present looked toward the source of the sound and saw Lu Mian, who had returned, pushing a large pile of items onto the terrace. Behind him was a group of people, other neighbors from the complex!

Old Wang: “Little Lu!”

Xiao Sun: “Waaaah, you’re finally back!”

Brother Chen: “If you were any later, you’d be burying our bodies, brother!”

Lu Mian was huffing and puffing, straining to push the cart in front of him.

He grabbed the items from the cart and began tossing them bag by bag into the crowd. Taking advantage of his compound eyes, he was able to accurately calculate everyone’s position and distance, ensuring a bag landed right in front of each person.

The crowd looked down.

Is this… salt?

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