Chapter 7 - 5: Bountiful Harvest

Chapter 7: Chapter 5: Bountiful Harvest

The pink-haired girl opened her mouth to scream for help, but the infant on her face burrowed directly into it.

Mutants didn’t just excel in speed and Power; their defensive power was equally astonishing. It was an enhancement of all their attributes. That was why, when the infant savagely forced its way into the pink-haired girl’s mouth, it wasn’t harmed by her teeth. Instead, it caused several of her teeth to shatter and fall out.

If Xia Yu had been there, she would have seen the pink-haired girl’s neck swell to an enormous size, like a patient with a severe goiter.

And this "swelling" was steadily moving downward.

The pink-haired girl’s face was a mask of agony. Knowing that a monster was burrowing into her stomach, and being able to clearly perceive the entire process...

It was terrifying!

Bizarre!

"Urk... urk..."

She trembled violently, her mouth agape as blood gushed out as if from a fountain.

The monster inside her was ravenously devouring her organs, bringing a pain beyond human endurance. But with her throat destroyed, she couldn’t even scream.

Worse still, she was already heavily injured and in an extremely perilous state. This new torment left her on the brink of death.

The pink-haired girl looked out of the bus, but Xia Yu was too far away to notice her plight.

Gritting her teeth, she summoned a final, incredible surge of willpower, gripped the utility knife in her hand, and plunged it viciously into her own abdomen, just below the stomach.

"ROAR."

The monster inside let out a bizarre roar, its cry sharp and piercing, completely different from other Mutants.

’Another Mutant?’

Xia Yu’s expression changed instantly. Without a shred of hesitation, she darted back.

She arrived to see a palm-sized infant tearing its way out of the pink-haired girl’s stomach and down jacket. The blade of the utility knife was embedded in its forehead, but it had snapped.

The other part of the knife was still in the pink-haired girl’s hand.

"ROAR."

The palm-sized infant roared at Xia Yu.

CRACK.

Its head was crushed.

Dead.

The repeated blows had badly deformed both sides of the safety hammer. If another Mutant were to appear, the weapon in Xia Yu’s hand would be far less effective, putting her in real danger.

A glance at the scene was all it took for Xia Yu to understand what had happened while she was gone.

"Th..."

The pink-haired girl opened her mouth, trying to say something.

Xia Yu pressed the safety hammer against the girl’s head before leaning in to listen.

"Th...ank... you..."

Two words reached her ear, the last one barely a whisper.

With that, the pink-haired girl’s hand went slack. The utility knife clattered to the floor, her head slumped to the side, and she was dead.

In her final moment, she wore an expression of relief.

Xia Yu froze for a moment, staring at the pink-haired girl, even forgetting to activate her Ancient Guiding Skill.

The next second.

Her cold expression returned, and she swung the safety hammer in her hand.

CRACK.

’’Thank you’ are the two most worthless words in the Apocalypse.’

’’Good people’ are the first to die in the Apocalypse.’

’And yet, everyone hopes the people around them are ’good people’.’

’Good people? Hah.’

Shaking her head with a sneer, she found a seat to rest. She still clutched the completely deformed safety hammer as she glanced at the time. ’Three minutes left until the first Mist Event ends.’

Xia Yu wasted no time, activating her Ancient Guiding Skill to absorb the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power. Once the mist receded, she would be back on Earth, and she wouldn’t be able to absorb this energy to rapidly strengthen her body anymore.

Every bit of strength she gained now would increase her odds of surviving future Mist Events by ten percent.

「Three seconds later.」

Her stamina was completely restored.

「Three minutes later.」

The Mist Event was over. The anomalous mist began to dissipate.

WHOOSH.

At that moment, a raging fire erupted on the bus. She had already tossed the Mutant and human corpses from outside into the vehicle.

The bus’s security camera was destroyed.

There weren’t many security cameras on this bus route. The previous two stops had none, and many people tended to get on and off there.

Trying to solve the case by investigating everyone who got on or off the bus before the Mist Event would mean a pool of suspects far too large—at least twenty people.

With her acting skills and clean record, she was confident she could pass any scrutiny.

’Everything has been taken care of.’

Then, Xia Yu fled the scene at once, leaving no trace behind.

「Over ten minutes later.」

She deliberately walked under a security camera near her home, carrying a bag of eggs and another of peppers. In her mind, she began to review the pros and cons of the recent Mist Event.

’Weaknesses: This whole rebirth is so unbelievable that even though I tried my best to stay calm, I wasn’t truly composed. Otherwise, I would have anticipated the possibility of the infant becoming a Mutant.’

’Gains: First, my body went from being out of shape to the level of a Teenager Level athlete. In this era of peace, I now have the ability to protect myself.’

’Second, one Crystal Core.’

A Crystal Core is a concentration of Spiritual Energy that can only form within the skull of a Mutant. The stronger the Mutant, the more Spiritual Energy the Crystal Core contains. The probability of one forming is not high—only about one in ten.

Principle of formation: A human body, unable to withstand Spiritual Energy, eventually mutates. Unlike a Spiritual Transformer, who can store Spiritual Energy within their flesh, a Mutant’s body cannot. Instead, the energy gathers in the cranium and forms a Crystal Core. From then on, the Crystal Core continuously absorbs Spiritual Energy, and the Mutant grows stronger.

Use of a Crystal Core: A powerful, instantaneous burst of heat can detonate it, producing a violent Spiritual Energy explosion. The more Spiritual Energy a Crystal Core contains, the greater the power of the explosion, and the more damage it inflicts on any creature that has absorbed Spiritual Energy, such as the Ghost Clan, Human Race, and Beast Clan.

Xia Yu had once witnessed a Crystal Core explode in the Apocalypse. It had created a terrifying Spiritual Energy storm that swept across a radius of hundreds of miles, destroying everything in its path.

The Crystal Core in her hand had come from the bus driver’s skull. It was the only one from this Mist Event. Considering the one-in-ten odds, she had been incredibly lucky to get it.

’I can use it as a trump card.’

With that thought, she arrived at her front door.

This was the inheritance her parents had left for her and her younger brother before they passed away. It was old and dilapidated, but it was the only home she and her brother had.

’I haven’t seen it in ten years. I’ve missed it so much.’

"Little Yu, you’re back?"

"Why are you just standing there at the door? Did you forget your key?"

A voice, both strange and familiar, came from behind her.

Xia Yu snapped back to reality, silently chastising herself. ’I can’t let my guard down just because it’s peacetime.’ She took a deep breath and turned her body just enough to hide the tear on her chest from the person behind her.

"Oh, it’s you, Aunt Li. I have my key. I was just wondering if I forgot to buy something."

Behind her stood a mother and son.

They were her neighbors, Li Cuilian and her son, Zhao Xianghe. The two families were on decent terms, mainly because Aunt Li was always trying to set Xia Yu up with her son.

Unfortunately for her, the two of them had no chemistry and weren’t interested in each other in the slightest.

"Why don’t you come eat at our place?"

"No, thank you. Goodbye, Aunt Li."

Xia Yu opened her door, gave Li Cuilian and Zhao Xianghe a nod, and excused herself.

"Mom, can you please stop trying to get us together? It’s so awkward whenever we see each other."

"Are you stupid? Do you know how hard it is to find a pretty wife these days? And she’s such good wife material, too! She keeps her house spotless, she’s frugal—I’ve seen her haggle at the market with my own eyes—and on top of that, she even knows how to pick fresh vegetables. Do you know how to do that?"

"Ugh... Mom, I just focus on making money. I don’t have time to worry about picking out vegetables. And look, I believe you that she’s pretty and can haggle, but do housework? Have you seen her hands? They’re so soft and delicate, they don’t look like the hands of someone who does chores at all."

The sound of the door closing cut the mother and son’s discussion short.

’These hands aren’t meant for housework.’

Xia Yu looked down at her own hands and gave a faint smile.

’After just fifteen minutes in the Mist Event, my body was constantly being reforged. My skin has already become more resilient...’