Chapter 32 – Nesting

This Black Thread was, in fact, the true form of the current “Li Yi”-the Xenospecies.

Su Lifeng watched as the Black Thread lunged toward him. He swung his knife repeatedly to parry, but he couldn’t stop it.

In terms of agility, the Black Thread was like a bolt of lightning; in terms of power, it could match the full force of one of Su Lifeng’s punches.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Debris sprayed from the floor and walls as the Black Thread struck them repeatedly. Su Lifeng’s clothes were shredded, with over a dozen gashes appearing in the fabric.

He even felt a sudden chill on his neck as a thin line of blood welled up.

“This isn’t working. If this keeps up… I’ll die!” Su Lifeng felt his stamina draining rapidly. While the Xenospecies attacked him with its true form, Li Yi’s body stood up once more. Once that skin-husk regained its mobility, his death would only be a matter of time.

He knew the Black Thread wanted to burrow directly into his body, so Su Lifeng stopped trying to block it. Instead, he locked his gaze firmly onto the thread.

When the Black Thread shot toward his nostril again, Su Lifeng’s scalp tingled. He suddenly reached out, grabbing directly for the Black Thread. His speed was significantly slower than the thread’s, but since he was the thread’s target, he had a high chance of catching it in this situation.

The move clearly didn’t concern Li Yi. In his eyes, Su Lifeng’s resistance was utterly futile.

He was only slightly puzzled. He could clearly smell a strong scent of their kind coming from Su Lifeng, but why hadn’t the human released his own true form yet?

However, just as that question surfaced, Li Yi felt his true form being seized.

He immediately commanded his true form to coil around Su Lifeng’s hand… This was exactly what he intended. By crippling one of Su Lifeng’s hands first, the battle would become much easier. Besides, doing so would be a fitting payback for Su Lifeng’s earlier actions.

But then Li Yi froze. He heard a series of cracking sounds, but the Black Thread hadn’t crushed Su Lifeng’s hand bones or shredded his flesh.

He could feel blood seeping from Su Lifeng’s hand, which was being absorbed by his Black Thread.

“F-rank Mutant…” Li Yi’s eyes widened instantly. “You really are a Mutant. You absorbed a Soldier Type, and you actually absorbed a Wisdom Species too! No wonder you reek of a Wisdom Species but still have the scent of a human. You…”

Whatever he was going to say next was shoved back down his throat. Su Lifeng let out a low roar as he gripped the Black Thread and yanked it toward himself with all his might. “Get out of there!”

He could feel that his blood was having a significant impact on Li Yi. This was his golden opportunity!

Li Yi’s body jerked violently. In the next moment, a long, black, thread-like creature appeared in Su Lifeng’s blood-stained hand. After twitching a few times, it burrowed into his body through the wounds on his palm.

Su Lifeng also shuddered as an indescribable burning sensation surged from his hand and rapidly spread throughout his entire body. He clenched his fist tightly, feeling his strength increase once again.

Soldier Types… He now understood the classification of the Xenospecies. The ordinary Xenospecies that were commanded by the Wisdom Species and responsible for devouring other organisms were called Soldier Types. Soldier Types likely had ranks, just like the Wisdom Species or Mutants. For example, the High-class Xenospecies that had nearly opened the Spatial Gate likely belonged to a category of Soldier Types. The Li Yi before him was clearly no ordinary Soldier Type either.

“Are you F-rank too?” Su Lifeng asked.

Li Yi remained alive despite having his true form forcibly ripped away. He looked at Su Lifeng and said, “I am an F-rank Soldier Type. The existence of a Mutant is not permitted, especially a dangerous Mutant who has absorbed a Wisdom Species. I don’t know how you managed to absorb one, but you are a creature that will be dealt with in The Cleanup.”

“Don’t you think you’re just taking off your pants to fart? You lot were going to devour every living thing on Earth anyway,” Su Lifeng said dismissively.

A flash of confusion crossed Li Yi’s eyes. What did he mean by taking off his pants to fart?

“So, you can sense Mutants, and you’ll prioritize Mutants during The Cleanup?” Su Lifeng asked.

Li Yi nodded. “Yes. You will be given the highest priority for The Cleanup…”

At that moment, a scalpel plunged directly into his eyeball, sinking deep into his brain.

“Knowing that is enough. Now, you can die,” Su Lifeng whispered, twisting the knife once more.

Another Black Thread crawled out from Li Yi’s wound and entered Su Lifeng’s body. Having not yet fully digested the previous one, the immediate absorption of this second thread made Su Lifeng feel as if his body were catching fire.

As he felt his injuries and exhaustion vanishing, a sudden realization jolted through his mind.

Something was wrong…

Li Yi was a Soldier Type; his actions should have been directed by a Wisdom Species.

Now that he was dead, where was the Wisdom Species?

Su Lifeng didn’t regret killing him. If he hadn’t seized the opportunity to launch a sneak attack just now, Li Yi might have caused him a great deal of trouble. This Xenospecies had been practically falling apart, and even after having part of its essence drained, it still maintained a powerful vitality.

This kind of Xenospecies was clearly different from the one he had encountered on the island.

At the same time, Su Lifeng realized something unique about himself. It seemed that to the Xenospecies, a Mutant Biological Species like him-one that had absorbed a Wisdom Species-was just as dangerous to them as they were to him. As for why he hadn’t felt that way before… Su Lifeng figured it was probably because he was still too weak.

However, compared to before, when he had to kill a Xenospecies to absorb it, Su Lifeng could now drain part of its essence even while it was still alive.

“Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Mutants like me are dangerous to them…” Su Lifeng thought to himself, looking down at the corpse again.

From Li Yi’s physical build, Su Lifeng could tell he was the man who had fled the car after the accident. Who else had been with him at the time?

Thinking of this, Su Lifeng felt a sudden chill in his limbs. He thought of that Girl… He had been there, but he hadn’t detected any Xenospecies traits from her. That was because she wasn’t an ordinary Xenospecies-she was a Wisdom Species!

The Wisdom Species must have come with Li Yi, and then, right under his nose, she had found the most convenient way to blend into the crowd!

“The Third People’s Hospital…”

The hospital was full of patients. To a Wisdom Species, it was undoubtedly the perfect ‘kitchen.’ It had a high volume of people and was relatively enclosed; it was also an ideal place to create Soldier Types.

“Sending a Soldier Type to cause trouble for me while she starts Nesting…” For a moment, Su Lifeng felt a wave of coldness wash over him.

“But… there’s no need to fear them coming for me. Since I’m still weak, I’ll use them to improve myself! Most importantly, there’s a Wisdom Species!” Su Lifeng had previously relied on his Exoskeleton to hold his ground during the tug-of-war with the Black Thread. What he wanted to upgrade most right now was that Exoskeleton. Since it was derived from a Wisdom Species, he had to absorb another Wisdom Species to evolve it.

And right now, there was one in Ningnan.

As he reached this conclusion, Su Lifeng felt the burning sensation inside him become more concentrated, like a ball of fire racing through his body. He had a faint feeling that once this fire settled in a specific spot, his body would undergo a more inhuman evolution.

After a moment of reflection, Su Lifeng forced himself to calm down. He took off his jacket and easily dragged Li Yi’s body onto the motorcycle. After securing the corpse in a sitting position with some rope, he turned his jacket inside out to hide the blood-stained side and draped it over the body.

Once finished, Su Lifeng scanned the ground. Ensuring that no traces remained aside from some un-cleanable bloodstains, he rode away on the motorcycle.

In the past, simply overcoming the psychological barrier of doing such things would have made Su Lifeng incredibly nervous. Now, however, he remained absolutely calm, as if he were merely performing a simple daily experiment.

“Hello, Jiang Yushi? Is Cheng Xiaomei with you? Go with her to get your car and meet me at the place I specify.” Su Lifeng put down his phone and calmly steered the motorcycle around a corner, bypassing a nearby surveillance camera.