Chapter 44: Chapter 43: Isn’t living good?
Upon hearing the gunshots, Fang Zheng’s eyelids twitched. He glanced at the smoking hole in the ground nearby and turned helplessly. Behind him stood six or seven young men pointing their pistols at him. Leading them was the ruffian leader he had beaten to a pulp earlier, his face still swollen and bruised.
The ruffian leader raised his gun, glaring viciously at Fang Zheng. His accomplices beside him exuded arrogance, emboldened by their firearms. Just moments ago, they were on the verge of kneeling before Fang Zheng, but now they seemed eager to make Fang Zheng kneel before them instead.
“Had your fun hitting me earlier, huh? Think you’re tough? Come on, let’s see which is tougher, your fists or my gun!”
Fang Zheng felt no fear as he stared down the barrel of the gun; he almost found it laughable. He never expected that simply roughing up a couple of ruffians would lead them to track him down for revenge. What kind of absurdity was this?
“So, what do you want me to do?”
Seeing Fang Zheng’s calm expression, the ruffian leader smirked triumphantly. He signaled to his cohorts before turning back to Fang Zheng and raising his gun.
“Return Laozi’s money! Then kneel down so Laozi can teach you a lesson! Oh, and strip off your clothes, so we can take pictures and post them online! That’s the price for messing with the ‘Kafter Brothers’! Now grab him, and you!”
He gestured to a heavily made-up woman beside him, her face painted ghostly.
“Make sure you take good pictures, this is tonight’s headline!”
The woman giggled at his words and raised her phone at Fang Zheng.
Fang Zheng shook his head in resignation. He looked at the ruffian leader and spread his hands.
“Apologies, I have important matters to attend to and no time to play with you. How about this: I’ll give you the remaining money, and you leave. I don’t wish for conflict, but you wouldn’t actually kill someone, would you?”
The ruffian leader sneered at Fang Zheng’s response.
“In times like these, who knows when those damn aliens might invade. Plus, people disappearing in the forest and getting killed by aliens isn’t unheard of… I’m sure the police wouldn’t mind adding another name. Now, kid, raise your hands! I won’t repeat myself. Grab him and show him our might!”
At his command, two of his accomplices rolled up their sleeves and approached Fang Zheng with sinister grins. They reached out to grab him, but what happened next caught everyone off guard. Just as they were about to seize Fang Zheng, a parasitic creature jumped out from his feet, emitting a “chirp chirp chirp” sound.
“What the hell is that?!”
The sight of the parasite shocked the two accomplices, causing them to retreat hastily. But the creature was relentless, leaping onto one of the men. Tendrils emerged from its body, penetrating the man’s flesh!
The man screamed in agony before he turned, eyes bloodshot, and attacked his fellow cohort with a steel pipe.
The ruffian leader, surprised, quickly aimed his gun at his berserk subordinate. But before he could pull the trigger, he watched in horror as the man exploded into a mass of bloody flesh, and the other victim began screaming, clutching his head in pain. The leader’s face turned pale.
“What did you do to them?!”
He roared and aimed his gun at Fang Zheng, ready to pull the trigger. But before he could act, he felt a powerful, mysterious force gripping him and his accomplices, holding them tightly in place.
“Sigh… isn’t living good enough?”
Fang Zheng sighed at the sight of their reddening faces and futile struggles. He wasn’t inherently evil nor fond of killing, but these people became more brazen with leniency, especially after witnessing the parasite. They had to be dealt with.
With this realization, Fang Zheng prepared to end their lives. Before he could proceed, the parasite jumped over to him, emitting a “chirp chirp chirp.” Though Fang Zheng couldn’t understand its speech, he comprehended its intention.
“You want to absorb their life energy?”
Surprised, Fang Zheng glanced at the struggling ruffians suspended in mid-air by his psionic power. He pondered briefly before nodding.
“Alright… but be quick.”
The parasite chirped excitedly and bounded off toward the ruffians. Fang Zheng waved his hand, releasing the psionic hold, causing the ruffians to crash to the ground.
The ruffian leader gasped for air, his body wracked with pain. He had no idea what had happened, only feeling as though an invisible hand had choked him, lifting him off the ground despite his desperate struggles. He feared he would have suffocated if it went on.
Suddenly, a strange sound reached his ears. Instinctively, he turned to see a shadow pounce on him.
Screams echoed through the forest, then faded. Peace returned moments later.
Fang Zheng shook his head at the dismembered remains. These people were indeed courting death. He hadn’t expected them to sneakily follow him for revenge. Now, they no longer had to worry about payback.
Fang Zheng didn’t dwell on it. The dead were gone, and although he felt slightly sorry, killing them was necessary since they attacked first. Shifting his attention to a human-sized insect egg not far away, which had evolved from the parasite after absorbing the ruffians’ life energy, Fang Zheng observed its swelling form, wondering how long it would take to hatch. Reality differed from games, after all.
Time ticked by. In Fang Zheng’s eyes, the insect egg began to change rapidly. Initially like an opaque balloon, it grew larger and brightened, revealing a moving insect inside. The creature expanded, the egg darkening within.
The giant egg trembled, its sides deforming. With a “pop,” it burst like an overinflated balloon, revealing a towering figure.
It was an insect matriarch.
Unlike the familiar ones, this matriarch appeared more “elegant.” Her upper body resembled a human female, while her lower half, deviating from the spider type seen in games, was that of a deer, likely due to the parasite’s initial host.
The matriarch bowed respectfully before Fang Zheng, who noted her hair’s resemblance to Kerrigan’s tendrils. Despite her alien features, she possessed a unique charm.
Hmm… according to Zerg customs, it was time to name her…
Recalling Kerrigan’s data, Fang Zheng pondered briefly, then smiled at the insect matriarch.
“Alright, from today, you’ll be called Mirune.”