After Being Parasiticized By A Monster - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: You Really Like Her Body, Don’t You?

Bedroom… it’s the bedroom again.

Is there seriously something wrong with the layout of the bedrooms in this apartment complex?

In the midst of extreme mental strain, facing this terrifying and absurd scene, Cheng Ming actually felt a little like laughing.

Albeit a bitter laugh.

For a moment, she thought it was Qu Ying, but in less than a second, her brain automatically dismissed that sole positive possibility.

It was not female.

Red and white lights from outside the window intertwined and filtered into the room. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and in the not-too-dim light, Cheng Ming clearly saw the stranger’s appearance.

Clad entirely in a heavy combat suit, holding a firearm, with a black helmet shell, the cracked curtains compressed the light and shadow. The metal gleamed with an inorganic coldness. The figure stood like an oppressive, eerie, insurmountable mountain.

This? Her eyes slowly widened.

As a supposedly “law-abiding” citizen, such a menacing outfit should appear in news media, in a random snapshot by a passerby, or at the police line of a major event… but absolutely not standing alive in front of her bedroom window.

Until her gaze moved to the very top, she found the answer.

The full-vision transparent helmet had several cracks. The dark, fine fibers growing out of the cracks and swaying in the wind were not hair, but—

Hyphae.

In that very second, a violent muzzle flash erupted from the object in the person’s hand.

BOOM! The sound was muffled by the distant rumble of external gunfire, not particularly conspicuous in the noisy night.

But to Cheng Ming’s ears, it was undoubtedly an earth-shattering roar, the death knell right next to her.

A shotgun, or scattergun, is characterized by its “scattered” shot, with devastating killing power in close-quarters encounters.

Her pupils reflected a scene like a falling galaxy, beautiful yet utterly terrifying.

Dozens of tiny pellets flew out of the barrel, forming a silver barrage that tore through the air, precisely grazing the obstacles in its path—it even had an auto-aim system!

There was no time to dodge. The fish-fungus hyphae rapidly tangled into a dense net, prioritizing the protection of her head and chest.

A cloud of bl00d mist burst from her waist and abdomen. Cheng Ming fell backward, the immense impact driving her all the way into the coffee table in the center of the living room.

Crash! Glass shattered and scattered all over the floor.

She lay prone on the floor, clutching her profusely bleeding left abdomen, gasping like a dying fish, futilely sucking in useless air.

Experiencing the charm of modern thermal weapons up close for the first time, an acute pain instantly pierced her entire body, immobilizing her and utterly stripping her of the ability to resist.

Fortunately, to avoid damaging the building, the ammunition in the chamber was low-power. Unfortunately, it was a special type of buckshot—and judging by her current feeling, it at least had the effect of inhibiting healing.

Cheng Ming saw double, her thoughts almost completely stalled.

Was he here to kill her?

Why?

“Cheng Ming!” Xiao Ming called her, its voice urgent, almost shrill.

The ringing of the gun barrel lingered in her ears. Only after a moment of dizzy confusion did she realize its meaning—it wanted her to transfer control of her body to it.

Looking at the figure slowly walking out of the bedroom, it was clear that because “he” was not yet familiar with the human body, “he” stumbled and moved erratically, reaching the peak of the Uncanny Valley effect. Cheng Ming broke out in goosebumps.

But the stiffness of the limbs did not impede his use of the weapon.

BOOM! The second shotgun blast followed immediately.

She endured the severe pain, dodging sideways while simultaneously relaxing her mind, allowing the parasite to invade her consciousness and take over the riddled shell of a body.

The tentacles connected to her nerves, blocking electrical signals from the sensory receptors to the central nervous system. Pain was shielded, and the body’s energy was reallocated.

In the time it took to close and open her eyes, her field of vision returned.

The trajectory of all things slowed. The buckshot was still in mid-air. She saw “herself” stand up, grasping the scattered pellets with her bare hands. The sparks died out, and the five fingers covered in fine scales glowed faintly in the dark night.

The hyphae surging around her, however, resembled a cluster of crawling snakes, hissing out danger signals, gathering, spreading, growing, inch by inch reclaiming their territory.

Both perceiving the outside world through hyphae, both parasitically manipulating a human body, it seemed this very rare conflict between monster and monster was inevitable, ready to ignite at a moment’s notice.

However, the opponent’s attack stopped.

The power in the shattered helmet was not yet depleted. The sensor blinked on and off, reminding the wearer to change the visor promptly. The communication system occasionally leaked a faint static, suggesting that the teammates on the other end were still trying to make contact.

But “he” just stood there motionless, staring intently at Cheng Ming in a bizarre posture. The features behind the transparent protective shield slowly contorted, and a man’s voice, mixed with a harsh electrical current, sounded—

“Hello, my friend.”

…

On the way to Reserve Base No. 18, inside the eco-armored vehicle.

Everyone except the driver gathered in front of the biosafety pod, their expressions grave. The escort team leader for this material transport asked incredulously, “How did it escape?”

“We were deceived. It is a dimorphic fungus; it can exist in both filamentous form and unicellular form.” The latter undoubtedly indicated its powerful capacity for spread, which this fungus had deliberately concealed from them.

“It is truly brilliant,” Experimenter Chen Ke said with an admiring smile.

Then, amidst the silence of the surrounding frontline warriors looking at the frontier science fanatic, she returned to the main point: “Most importantly, it is not a single-s3x strain that only produces conidia.”

“What does that mean?” This knowledge was undoubtedly above the pay grade for non-specialists.

“It means that this was its original main body.” Chen Ke used a glass rod to pick up a strand of inactive hyphae. “But now, it has replicated another one of itself through zygospore formation. A cicada shedding its skin, pop, it escaped.”

With the drop of that onomatopoeia, the hyphae broke into two pieces. The severed part melted into the water, first becoming fragmented strands, then powder, and finally disappearing entirely.

“Alright, report it as soon as possible. Let’s see who is missing.”

…

Events had escalated beyond imagination.

The expected life-or-death battle did not occur. In fact, the two monsters, both wearing human skin, were engaging in a friendly consultation.

“I know that humans are cunning, forcing you to coexist with her.

“I have found a more suitable host for you.

“His cerebral cortex has been digested by me, but the brain stem is normal. He can survive for quite some time and will not hinder your movement.”

Under the manipulation of the fungal monster MF204, the human voice went from being awkwardly broken to increasingly fluent and clear.

It sincerely invited the new partner it had set its eyes on to run away to freedom with it.

Xiao Ming: “Why are you helping me?”

If they could establish a hyphal connection, communication would be faster, but it clearly did not trust the other, unwilling to extend its hyphae.

“Because we are the same kind,” MF204 said, as if it were a matter of course. In fact, it seemed somewhat perplexed by the question.

Xiao Ming: “That sounds very human.”

“They created us, expecting us to be human.”

Xiao Ming: “Where are you going?”

“Have you ever seen the ocean? That is our paradise.”

Cheng Ming, unable to move or speak, listened to their mutual questions and answers as if they were alone, so angry she almost laughed out loud.

What paradise? A paradise of radiation? If it were truly habitable, so many mutated creatures wouldn’t be trying to get ashore all the time.

Since she had willingly surrendered control of her body, she couldn’t interject, feeling an unspeakable urgency. Even more unfairly, she couldn’t sense Xiao Ming’s emotions—or perhaps the parasite simply had no emotions.

Thus, she couldn’t gauge its thoughts. With every question it asked, her heart sank lower.

Many of her questions were now answered. During their first encounter, the opposing fungal monster must have discovered the fish-fungus inside her and believed she had trapped it—which, to some extent, was true—so it tried to kill her and rescue Xiao Ming. Then, after the second encounter in the underground storage room, there were no follow-up actions from the Security Department, likely because this fungus had covered up their tracks.

It could truly be called “loyal and righteous”… if only she hadn’t become their adversary.

Especially as the conversation came to the most critical point—

Xiao Ming said: “I can’t just change hosts at will.”

This meant it was indeed tempted. It was only constrained by reality.

“Don’t worry, I brought a fusion agent.”

The fungus, manipulating the human body, lifted its arm. With a soft click, a metal buckle sprang open, revealing something faintly glowing in the chest rig.

Cheng Ming couldn’t move. But following her body’s line of sight, she stared intently. Even with the terrible visibility, she immediately recognized the icy blue luminescence floating in the glass tube—

Wave-Born Floating Flower Algae-Fungus!

If she were still in control of her body, she would have stopped breathing right then.

Fusion… fusion, fusion?

Was this the purpose of the algae-fungus?

Her mind was in turmoil. As her thoughts frantically pulled in different directions, Xiao Ming was also silent.

Realizing this, she felt a profound squeeze, her heart freezing and cracking, losing its rhythm. She nearly screamed internally: Didn’t you say you hated him, that he reeked? Can you accept him now?

But with her speech system stripped away, she couldn’t utter a word, completely unable to influence its choice. For the first time, she regretted not establishing a neural communication method with Xiao Ming.

“I hate males,” their thoughts seemed to synchronize for a second. Xiao Ming stated.

“If you are not satisfied, we can find a better host,” the other immediately replied. “Or do you want me to kill the human you are currently hosting? You really like her body, don’t you?”

Xiao Ming did not reply. But it extended its hyphae, climbing onto the opposite helmet. Cheng Ming watched helplessly as the two different “hairs” gently touched, greeting each other.

Then, in the next moment, she got her answer.

The internal symbiont used her vocal cords, its voice betraying a hint of astonishment, “You are not male?”

This sudden emotional fluctuation made it difficult for Cheng Ming to discern who was speaking.

MF204 answered every question: “Female strains are far more precious than male strains. I deliberately disguised myself as male.”

It was indeed an extremely clever intelligent creature. It had not only concealed its form and gender but also its reproductive potential. It could self-replicate through sexual reproduction and transfer its main body, yet it had always appeared subservient and compliant. Its perceived danger was greatly reduced in people’s eyes, and its mutation potential seemed low, making the relevant departments so desperate to find a female strain.

At this point, Cheng Ming felt her mind go blank. Waves of despair tore and gnawed at her soul.

“I don’t want to share a host with you. Will you die if you leave the human body?”

Hearing Xiao Ming’s persistently tricky questions, she held her breath, unable to help but rekindle a faint glimmer of hope. For the first time, she felt it was a good thing that her parasite was so picky.

However, reality was far more brutal than imagined.

“No. I don’t need a symbiont.”