After Being Parasiticized By A Monster - Chapter 37
Chapter 37: Intimacy Isn’t Always Trouble.
“Warning, warning, unidentified organism attack. Level 3 defense procedures initiated. The entire zone will be locked down in ten minutes. Safety channels are open. Please evacuate immediately.”
“Repeat, warning, warning…”
All lighting fixtures turned a cautionary red, rotating to illuminate the entire experimental zone.
Han Xuhua was mechanically performing patrol duty in the corridor on the third sub-level. She had just muttered to herself how bored she was when the broadcast came through her headset.
She froze, then immediately broke into a run.
At the same time, she pressed her communicator. “Team Leader! Team Leader! Did you accidentally trigger it?”
She ran while keeping a sharp eye on the seawater, terrified that a giant, horrifying squid might burst out at any moment.
Yet, everything visible to the naked eye was completely calm.
This signal meant either an emergency high tide had caused a monster to damage some facilities, or it had to have been manually triggered by the person in charge at the observation tower.
“No, there’s an anomaly with the underwater isolation net,” Yan Li’s voice came through, quick and strict. “You all organize the evacuation immediately!”
Han Xuhua acknowledged the order.
While rushing to various labs, she quickly switched channels. “Cheng Ming, did you see the notification? Get up here fast!”
“I saw it, I’m… static… malfunction… static, static, static… can’t get up…”
The signal was terrible, but Han Xuhua caught the key point—
She was trapped underwater!
…
Trapped
Underwater, two hundred and forty-one meters deep.
Cheng Ming was not trapped inside the ecological module.
Thanks to the metal door that concealed who-knows-what, she had been startled. She urgently terminated the survey, found the nearest parking spot to return, and decided to re-plan her route before continuing.
She was curious, but there was no need to seek death.
For her, the top priority was to complete the project well. If she did, she’d have a chance to apply for the Associate Researcher level, gain higher clearance, and then try to meet with Professor Jin Xia again.
Cell phone signals couldn’t penetrate the water, but there were dedicated cables laid on the seabed.
She had just entered the passage toward the shuttle lift when her wristband beeped twice. She looked down to see the evacuation message.
Three seconds later, her vision dimmed. The lights above her went out.
Power was cut.
And that wasn’t the worst part.
Rumble!
A deafening impact echoed. Thick metal squeezed and piled upon itself. Cheng Ming quietly turned off her comms, standing far away, helplessly watching the hall door twist and deform.
After a sputtering of electrical sparks, the smart control panels on both sides went dark.
The theoretical escape route was blocked by a mountain of scrap metal.
The exit was completely jammed.
Sizzle. Another burst of sparks flared, molten drops splattering and melting honeycomb-shaped pits into the side wall coating.
An unknown structure above her groaned under the strain, likely the lift shaft, sounding dangerously close to collapse.
Too dangerous.
Cheng Ming was forced to move deeper.
She had to go to the manual operation station.
On one hand, there was a shelter there. On the other, she was trying to figure out what had happened.
Was it related to the thing she had just encountered?
…
A Sacrifice of Conscience
It was not related.
Yan Li simply needed these few hours for Cheng Ming to be trapped underwater to complete the task entrusted to her.
On the top floor of the observation tower, the woman in a protective combat suit leaned over the cold metal console, staring at the flashing red warning lights on the monitor. She was clearly aware of what she was doing.
She was violating regulations, breaking discipline, and putting the researchers she was supposed to protect in danger.
Her ideal of serving the country when she graduated, her solemn vows when she enlisted, her determination to uphold justice after witnessing too much injustice… all were crushed by her own hands the moment she pressed those keys.
Ordinary people with a conscience always seem to have a hard time.
The teams under the Security Department occasionally took on hired jobs to earn extra money, much like bounty hunters—of course, in their private time, and never in the name of the Security Department.
The chain reaction after marine pollution severely impacted all industries. The economy was depressed. Yet, she had seen those expensive artificial sea farms, comparable in cost to the ocean simulation test sites built by the Defense Center for research. But their actual purpose was merely to continue cultivating the most “original flavor” seafood to supply the elite class.
The upper class lived in luxury, while they risked their lives, their lives as worthless as grass.
Regardless of whether Cheng Ming had a problem in the end, everything she herself was doing was a problem.
It was undeniable, carved in stone.
Her hands clenched the table edge, gripping so hard her knuckles protruded.
Her thumb was painfully pricked by the edge. She unconsciously followed the pain, seeing the already healed scar—a faint, inconspicuous ring of a bite mark… a mark from her sister.
Her right hand trembled slightly. She released her grip, straightened her back, and her eyes hardened, resuming the appearance of a team leader.
Dialing the communication signal, she spoke to her team member, who was anxiously awaiting news of Cheng Ming’s whereabouts:
“Han Xuhua, evacuate the experimental zone immediately! That is an order.”
…
A Scream of Warning
March 21st, 12:24 PM.
The sun was bright, but still could not penetrate the two hundred-meter depth of the sea.
“Today is the Spring Equinox. The sun is directly overhead at the equator. Sunrise is due east. Ecliptic longitude 0 degrees. Day and night are equal…”
Perhaps worried its host was too lonely, Little Ming began outputting meaningless knowledge.
Besides proving how bored it usually was, it offered Cheng Ming no substantial help.
“Shut—”
Cheng Ming tried to tell it to be quiet. Before she could finish the first word, it proactively cut in: “I’ll shut up.”
“…”
Currently, Cheng Ming was at the end of the dark corridor, holding a searchlight, the safety gate open. A few meters away, she was in a standoff with strange fish outside the transparent glass.
The white light she shone was swallowed by the vast, watery expanse.
Many marine organisms gathered at the small circular window in front, their pupils, either pitch black or ghostly white, staring straight at her.
The whole scene was incredibly bizarre.
Even though there was still some distance between them, and even though the “safe house” should be very secure, the sight was still unsettling.
She quietly inhaled and stepped inside.
The heavy gate closed behind her, isolating her in a completely independent space.
Beep. The smart system responded.
The life pump operated, detecting air composition and electrolyzing water to produce oxygen. The lighting turned on, a warm tone to stabilize the trapped personnel’s emotions. The heating system activated, preventing hypothermia should the protective suit be breached. There were food boxes and clean water in the corner. Energy reserves were sufficient.
Even if the seabed collapsed, she could safely survive here for at least 24 hours.
The wall material was unknown but very sturdy.
Three sides had low, circular observation windows, just in case of an accident or to spot a rescue.
But now, these observation windows were being used by the sea creatures to observe her.
She felt like food in a sardine can, coveted by countless pairs of watchful eyes.
Bang! Bang-bang.
A few fish began striking the glass.
Some quickly smashed themselves into rotten flesh. Others had hard head casings. As the seawater churned and flowed, the vibrations left sudden drops and surges in the numerical signal on the display screen.
It was practically a suicide attack.
Recalling what happened after the first fish collision, Cheng Ming tucked the collected data close to her, steadied her mind, and walked forward.
Bending down, she reached out her palm and pressed it against the glass.
An invisible wave transmitted from the water to the solid glass. Unsurprisingly, she felt that unseen pull again.
She was momentarily dazed, confused, and alarmed.
What did that mysterious creature, locked away in some secret corner of the seabed, want?
Why was it targeting her specifically, when so many others had descended before?
Thinking of her own unique situation, Cheng Ming felt a slight spasm in her heart.
The infrasound was a sound wave.
If it was a sound wave, perhaps it could be interpreted as the other party speaking to her.
She just couldn’t decipher the information contained within.
Such violent tremors, if translated into a human voice, would be a heart-wrenching scream.
What did it want to tell her?
“You said your senses are limited by mine… is that right?” A thought formed in her mind. She slowly spoke. “What if I let you fully emerge now?”
The intelligent parasite reacted immediately. “What do you want me to do?”
Cheng Ming turned off her flashlight, backed away, and sat against the wall.
From a distance, her figure was fully contained within the small window. The light scattered, plating the glass surface with a layer of silvery gray. In the hazy, faint glow, she could clearly see her silhouette in the reflection opposite.
She reached up to the placket of her clothes. Tear—
She tore open the seal strip of her protective suit.
Then, she pulled down the zipper, removed her hood, and exposed her body to the air. The heating had just been activated. The temperature was very low. She shivered slightly at the instant contact.
Although it was a safe house, theoretically isolated from the seawater and free of radioactive experimental materials, her action was still extremely risky.
Especially with a group of unknown marine creatures with unknown intentions right outside the wall.
Before surrendering control of her body, she instructed: “Listen to what it’s saying.”
Blue fluorescence surged. Scales sensed the air. Fungal threads grew wildly, eagerly pressing against the glass.
Separated by one wall, the seawater it craved was just outside the area reached by its tendrils—so close, so tempting.
Cheng Ming felt its emotions without reservation.
To be honest, she was somewhat worried the siren might lose control of its instinct, smash the glass, and flee into the ocean.
But it seemed to understand that doing so would definitely cause fatal harm to Cheng Ming. Its tendrils carefully touched the seawater for a short moment, then reluctantly retracted. And considering Cheng Ming’s state, it retreated quickly.
Looked at this way, intimacy isn’t always trouble.
A host that has been forcefully occupied can be kept barely alive. A symbiotic partner requires communication and cooperation to maintain mutual trust. A mate, however, requires even more consideration—careful nurturing and attention to the other’s feelings, even without a transactional relationship, and even if it means sacrificing some of one’s own experience…
This strange thought briefly flashed through Cheng Ming’s mind.
Regaining feeling in her limbs, her hands and feet were slightly frozen.
She quickly pulled her protective suit back on, resealed it, and asked with little hope: “Can you ‘understand’ it?”
“Yes.”
Hearing that answer, her breathing hitched.
It was a bit surprising.
Could different species actually “communicate” with each other?
Or was it…
“What did it say?”
Little Ming paused strangely. After a moment, it said: “It’s saying— ‘Escape quickly’.”
Thump. Her heartbeat raced.
With that answer, it was as if two unseen, icy hands had stroked her back. Cheng Ming was instantly horrified.
Seeing her silhouette on the glass opposite, it felt like she was staring at an unknown creature, chilled to the bone.
She suppressed the urge for her teeth to chatter and said with difficulty: “Those two words? Are you sure? Only those two words?”
“Yes,” Little Ming’s voice was very low. “It’s repeating that meaning over and over, non-stop.”
Still in this dark environment, still in this sealed, iron-bucket-like room, the outside seawater felt like it had acquired physical weight, pressing down on her back, making it difficult for her lungs to expand and draw breath.
Looking again at the marine organisms still desperately hitting the glass, her state of mind was now entirely different.
She might have misunderstood something.
They weren’t trying to attack her; they were trying to escape under the disturbance of the sound waves.