Apocalyptic Island - Chapter 42

Chapter 42

The merman practically bounced off the ground, but Wen Yishu’s gloved hands pressed down on two terrified fish heads.

“I don’t think you can beat me. If you answer me honestly—since no one is getting out of here anytime soon—perhaps I can spare your lives to keep me company here.”

The two fish heads were pinned so firmly they couldn’t move, twisting two ruts into the muddy ground. After a terrified glance at each other, both gave up the idea of struggling.

They didn’t understand why a human would possess such immense strength.

The merman with the shrill voice curved its mouth into a crescent moon shape and spoke flatteringly: “You must be joking. How could we possibly strike you? Why don’t you let go first so we can stand up and talk?”

Wen Yishu smiled slightly. “You know, playing tricks on me is useless. I’ve already killed several mermen like you. Didn’t your Boss tell you to stay away from me?”

Terror filled the merman’s eyes, and its shrill voice cracked. “You… you are Wen Yishu?”

The smile on Wen Yishu’s face deepened. “That’s me.”

The two mermen seemed to deflate, closing their eyes and realizing there was no hope of escape. They simply resigned themselves to fate: “Ask what you want to ask.”

Wen Yishu: “Besides this one, were there others of your kind on the other two helicopters?”

“Only one had them. If the people on the other one met us, they would have found us out, so we only boarded two.”

Wen Yishu nodded understandingly. The mermen’s illusion ability did indeed have that flaw; they weren’t lying about that.

“How many in total?”

The two mermen fell silent at the same time, their bulging eyes darting around as if engaged in a fierce mental struggle.

“If we tell you, the Boss will definitely kill us.”

Wen Yishu said nonchalantly, “If you don’t tell me now, I’ll send you to see the Boss immediately.” She gestured toward the pile of clothes nearby.

The merman felt miserable. How could they be so unlucky? Hadn’t they been told it was safe before coming out?

The other merman couldn’t take Wen Yishu’s “predatory” gaze any longer and attempted to muddle through by trembling: “There was… one.”

Wen Yishu swiftly pulled out her blade and stabbed it hard into one of the dead-fish eyes.

The scream was cut short. The merman beside it shuddered, suppressing the urge to shriek, biting down hard on its mouth full of sharp teeth.

It was supposed to be the variant that made humans tremble with fear; why did it feel like the roles were reversed? This woman had become a more terrifying existence than itself.

The mermens’ weakness was too obvious. As long as she wasn’t deceived by their illusions at the start, she could easily subdue these low-level variants without any effort.

Wen Yishu flicked out the crystal, put it in her pocket, kicked the dead merman aside, and fixed her gaze tightly on the remaining one.

“Alright, now it’s just you. That was the price for not telling the truth.”

The merman shivered, its entire body trembling uncontrollably as it squeezed out a number: “Three.”

Then, as if a dam had burst, it began to explain volubly: “Before you arrived, the Boss said two teams had come to the apartment. One team was wiped out and turned into food. The other team had two survivors who made it back, and one of them was assimilated by us.”

The team that was wiped out must have been the rescue squad sent by You Zhi, and the other was the vanguard squad this time. Everything matched up.

The merman didn’t specify the identities they had infiltrated, but Wen Yishu felt that the remaining merman possessed higher intelligence and had evolved stronger illusion capabilities.

The merman on the ground spilled everything it knew to Wen Yishu. Seeing Wen Yishu retract her hand, it finally breathed a sigh of relief. Its companion had already turned into a puddle of water and been absorbed by the banyan roots. It climbed up with lingering fear, patting its chest like a human.

The moment it stood up, the merman’s mind became active again, waiting for Wen Yishu to drop her guard so it could bite her neck and end her life. The remaining corpse would be kept as reserve rations.

Wen Yishu sorted through all her thoughts. Once the logic was clear, she gave the merman a harmless smile.

“Not bad. You didn’t lie to me.”

Perhaps the merman had been a habitual sycophant in its past life, for it actually began to bow and scrape now.

“Of course, of course. How would I dare lie to you?”

Wen Yishu patted its fish head with satisfaction. With a flick of her wrist, the short blade spun into a beautiful arc. “Good. Time to send you on your way.”

The merman’s impending drool was sucked back in. It turned to run, only to find its fin firmly pinned down by Wen Yishu’s boot, causing it to twist and fall to the ground.

Its screams echoed through the banyan forest: “You will die a horrible death!”

A few seconds later, Wen Yishu pocketed the second crystal and returned the way she came, feeling satisfied.

The helicopter crash was quickly detected by surveillance probes in the vicinity. The news trended rapidly on social media, becoming a hot topic of discussion among netizens before You Ning had even returned to the city.

The fact that Rhine had brought back variants could no longer be kept secret, and public outcry reached a new peak. Most people didn’t understand why, with so many variants already in the city, Rhine had to waste public resources to bring them back from outside. Were there not enough specimens for them to study already?

Regarding this, Rhine Tech offered no explanation, playing dead and letting the Federation handle the fallout.

When the helicopter landed, You Ning looked dazed. Why had that helicopter fallen out of the sky? The route they had chosen for the return was the safest one.

Her tears had run dry while on the helicopter; now that she was down, she couldn’t cry, nor was she allowed to.

Xue Ruisi understood the newcomer’s state of mind. She simply patted her shoulder. Everyone needed time to grow—especially a rookie whose level of acceptance was different from someone like her who had weathered many storms.

The series of blows left You Ning mentally and physically exhausted. She didn’t handle the remaining matters; she fainted as soon as she stepped off the helicopter.

She was sent to the infirmary with the team. Huang Fei had finished her isolation today and, by pulling a few strings, had stayed with the Federal City Defense as an ordinary logistics staff member. She was startled when she saw You Ning faint and hurried to get her to the infirmary.

Fortunately, there was nothing seriously wrong. Field duty was relatively light, so Huang Fei simply sat by You Ning’s side, waiting for her to wake up.

She waited until nightfall. When You Ning opened her eyes and saw the low ceiling, she sat up immediately. Huang Fei gave her some water and food but had to leave to return to her post.

It was pitch black outside, and the notifications on her communication device were nearly exploding. They were all inquiries from their friends and group chat messages. You Ning scrolled to the bottom, but the familiar dialogue box did not appear.

At that moment, Huo Xiaoguan’s call came through again. She took a deep breath and tapped the green answer button.

The room was dark, showing only You Ning’s tear-filled eyes. Huo Xiaoguan’s perspective was focused on the two of them. She asked anxiously: “You finally picked up! How is Xiao Wen? We heard there was a helicopter crash. Are you two okay?”

Huo Xiaoguan breathed a sigh of relief when the call connected. She and Ling Shuang had sent countless messages and made many video calls today without receiving a reply from either of them, their hearts in their throats. Seeing that You Ning was okay, the two of them felt somewhat relieved. Huo Xiaoguan took a sip of water to calm her nerves.

You Ning’s voice sounded trembling: “Yishu’s plane crashed… she was in the container underneath… and fell into the banyan forest…”

The plastic cup in Huo Xiaoguan’s hand was instantly crushed. The remaining water spilled through her fingers, the coldness stinging her hand. Beside her, Ling Shuang’s voice came through, suppressed and distorted: “What did you say???”

At this moment, Wen Yishu—whom the others had deemed to have no chance of survival—had returned to the main trunk of the banyan tree.

The String of Pearls, having been played with until it was exhausted, was lying on a branch. Seeing Wen Yishu return, it piteously extended a vine. This time, Wen Yishu did not refuse its contact; instead, she scooped it up and put it back in her pocket.

Before she had returned, the banyan had crafted a small house at a fork in its trunk. It looked like a pixelated house from an old-school game. Only when Wen Yishu walked closer did she realize it had windows, a door, and a bed—everything was there.

Planks twisted from aerial roots made the exterior look very realistic. If not for the grayish color, Wen Yishu would have felt like she was back in her small Rhine apartment. The banyan waved its aerial roots as if beckoning, bringing the items she had organized into the wooden house.

The banyan had never seen the interior of a human room, so only the outside was a close match. The inside was quite spacious, with a low table and several equally low stools, styled like the stone tables and stools often seen in old parks for playing chess. By the window, there was an enlarged version of an infant’s cradle-bed. Wen Yishu felt that, aside from the lack of electricity, everything was perfect.

She offered a sincere thanks, feeling quite thirsty. When she came out, the bottled water she had brought had mostly shattered when the container hit the ground. Although it hadn’t soaked her other belongings, most of it had seeped into the soil, leaving very little.

She swallowed hard with difficulty and went back down, intending to search for a water source. Food was manageable, but without water, she would collapse from dehydration within two days. The rainwater blocked by the banyan was mostly absorbed by the aerial roots; re-collecting it would take a long time.

As she was rummaging through the container, the banyan spoke: “You can check nearby. Although the streams are dozens of kilometers away, humans laid water pipes here to water me in normal times.”

Wen Yishu felt as if she had received a divine pardon. She scrambled out of the container and felt her way along a path using the aerial roots. Gradually, she felt the ground beneath her feet become level. She turned on the flashlight of her optical computer, illuminating a small area in front of her.

Wen Yishu found herself walking on a flagstone path. The old facilities here were like those in an old park from the last century—exercise equipment for the elderly, slides and seesaws for children, and a semi-old nostalgic tram. Beside a flower bed, there was even a chess table like the one she had seen in the room. A game of chess on it was half-finished, as if someone had stepped away and would be back shortly.

Wen Yishu felt an inexplicable sense of dread. The darkness before her led to the unknown. Everything was something she had never seen before; all the traces told her that the society dominated by humans had come to an abrupt halt under this mutation.

Finally, beside a sandpit, she found the push-button faucet the banyan had mentioned. The old faucet was somewhat rusty, but it was remarkably well-maintained, clearly having been used frequently. The hose that used to be attached was long gone. She turned the handle. The water inside hadn’t frozen, and a stream of icy water flowed slowly from the tap.

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