Chapter 5 – Monster

While cheers erupted across the deck, Su Lifeng quietly led a small group around to the other side of the Cruise Ship.

These people clearly didn’t understand the true meaning of “weapons,” as the items they had scavenged were a disorganized mess.

In contrast, the delicate Jiang Yushi knew how to follow a good example. Along the way, she had found two chair legs and handed one to Cheng Xiaomei.

Cheng Xiaomei took it with trembling hands, looking as if she had no idea how to use it.

“When you hear the screaming, we go down from here,” Su Lifeng said, peering cautiously at the surface of the sea.

There were still many “people” swimming toward the Cruise Ship. Having witnessed the scene of the man being preyed upon, Su Lifeng could still sense an eerie aura emanating from them, even if he couldn’t see their faces or expressions clearly at this distance.

The act of waving had been learned from Cheng Xiaomei, and their ability to swim had been suddenly acquired the moment the man was bitten.

“Many creatures have collective behavioral patterns, like migrating geese or worker ants foraging in a swarm, but I’ve never heard of a person knowing something just because another does…” Su Lifeng was actually terrified; he was nowhere near as calm as he appeared on the surface. He had predicted so many disasters, but this was the first time one was actually happening to him.

Before this, he was just a student who spent his days in the library or the laboratory. How could he have imagined that the day before he was supposed to go home, he would run into something like a “Bermuda Triangle” crossover?

This sea didn’t look like a normal ocean at all!

But the people around him were relying on him… Jiang Yushi’s hand was shaking as she gripped the chair leg, yet the look she gave him was filled with unwavering trust.

Su Lifeng glanced over her and noticed several bruises on her arms and knees.

This was a “young mistress” who would usually make a huge fuss over a paper cut, yet she wasn’t crying out in pain now…

Noticing Su Lifeng looking at her, Jiang Yushi’s eyes crinkled as she gave him a faint smile.

“Screaming? What screaming?” a male student who had been following Su Lifeng asked, sounding confused.

Although he no longer dared to doubt Su Lifeng’s words, his rational mind-like most people’s-still couldn’t fathom what was about to happen.

The others felt much the same. The atmosphere on the Cruise Ship was one of celebration, a collective sigh of relief after surviving a disaster…

Fundamentally, they hoped Su Lifeng was just overthinking things.

They were all just ordinary college students; no one wanted to face a situation even more bizarre than the one they were already in.

Su Lifeng didn’t answer, instead making a gesture for silence.

After several “people” were pulled onto the deck by ropes, a group of enthusiastic tourists immediately swarmed them, offering warm greetings and peppering them with questions:

“Excuse me, have you seen my friend? She’s about this tall, wearing a floral bikini…”

“By the way, why did you all go to the island?”

“I saw a few crew members; did they take you up there? Does that mean you went to the island to call for help?”

“What’s on the island?”

“Everyone, be quiet! Can’t you see they’re injured? Let them sit down!”

“Yeah, those wounds look really serious…”

However, amidst the chatter of the crowd, these “people” remained silent, watching them.

The way they looked at people-their expressions and demeanor-was almost identical.

As their eyes shifted, it looked as though they were observing every movement these people made.

A middle-aged woman reached out to grab the man from the couple: “Young man, don’t just stand there like a statue. Look at your injury…”

Crunch.

Everyone fell silent instantly.

The middle-aged woman froze, her face turning ashen.

The man looked at the crowd’s reaction with a hint of curiosity, then followed their gaze down to his own arm.

His arm… had been ripped off…

But instead of a geyser of blood, the severed stump oozed a thick, Gelatinous Substance that looked like a mixture of fat and gore.

It took two full seconds before the middle-aged woman suddenly let out a piercing shriek. She dropped the arm she had just “pulled” off and tried to scramble backward. “Ahhh!”

“Jump!” Su Lifeng shouted immediately.

As if realizing something from the woman’s reaction, the man lunged forward, thrusting his stump directly into her abdominal cavity.

His body began to “collapse” at a speed visible to the naked eye, while the Gelatinous Substance seemed to take on a life of its own, burrowing into the woman’s body.

Before her wide, terrified eyes, her stomach instantly bloated. It looked as if insects were tunneling around just beneath the surface of her skin.

Soon, these “insects” had burrowed throughout her entire body. Unlike the others Su Lifeng had “seen” before, the man did not die. Instead, bearing a body that was now almost entirely half-rotten, he pulled out his stump.

The middle-aged woman’s body convulsed. By the time she settled down, her expression had become identical to the rest of the “injured.”

“Don’t just stand there,” she said, her mouth opening and closing a few times before squeezing out the same words in a dry, mechanical tone.

This scene unfolded with terrifying speed. It wasn’t until the woman turned around to face them that the surrounding crowd finally snapped out of their shock.

“Look at how hurt you are.”

“Mon… Monster!”

Amidst the screams, everyone began to scatter in a panicked flight.

However, on a stationary Cruise Ship, where exactly could they run?

By this time, more of the “injured” were climbing up the ropes, and the deck descended into absolute chaos.

Once a group of tourists was converted into one of “them,” the rate of infection began to grow exponentially.

The man who looked like he was “melting” did not continue his attack. Instead, he turned his head, searching left and right.

The reactions of these creatures were mostly the same, but he had seen one earlier that reacted differently.

Suddenly, he sniffed the air. His gaze swept across the deck, looking toward the other side of the Cruise Ship.

After shouting for the others to jump, Su Lifeng immediately grabbed Jiang Yushi and vaulted over the railing. He took a deep breath and leaped.

Cheng Xiaomei showed a flash of nervousness, but she followed suit, closing her eyes and jumping.

The male student who had asked the question earlier hesitated for a brief moment of confusion, glancing back over his shoulder.

That single glance was enough to turn his blood cold.

A figure suddenly lunged down from the top of the cabin, slamming him accurately to the deck.

The figure looked up, its face-mere inches away-constantly sloughing off bits of flesh.

It looked toward the railing as if it were coming for someone specific.

“He… Help…” The boy was so paralyzed by the sight that he couldn’t even make a sound.

“Thwack!”

The figure suddenly ducked its head and bit into his face.

The boy’s limbs went rigid. He could clearly feel something burrowing into his face, then into his head, and finally throughout his entire body…

“Ahhh!”

The others finally reacted in sheer horror, leaping into the sea one after another.

“Su… Su…” Soon, the boy stood up unsteadily, stiffly forcing out a few words. “Su…”

…