Chapter Ninety-One: The Corpse-Spawned Variant

What in the world had happened to this place?

In the past, the corpse-born and the aberrants had been clearly distinct, both carriers of the virus, yet each with a different form.

Aberrants were simply animals gone berserk and enhanced beyond reason, while corpse-born were mindless walking dead.

But now the corpse-born had somehow developed intelligence, along with all manner of bizarre forms and abilities. Fine, that alone was strange enough. But since when did aberrants begin turning into corpses?

Or perhaps Cao Fusheng had misjudged it, and this giant monkey was not dead at all. For some reason, the heat coming from its body had simply been fading away little by little.

Chu Wei murmured to herself, "It's real. It's all real... There really are aberrants that can turn into corpse-born... What the researchers said was true!"

"Damn it! What is true? Say it clearly!"

Chu Wei let out a faint, helpless sigh. "It's too late... We may be doomed. Those scientists had already studied aberrants, corpse-born, and the tiny flesh fragments that fell from nightmare creatures, hoping to discover some link among the three. In the end, their results actually showed that aberrants had a tendency to become corpse-like. If enough corpse-virus is injected into an aberrant's body, its self-awareness may eventually vanish, and it could transform into a terrifying monster like a war machine."

"But that was only their theory. The findings suggested that under normal circumstances, no aberrant should become like this in such a short time, because the amount of virus required is enormous. An aberrant would have to consume an uncountable number of corpse-born before it could mutate after death. Unless someone were artificially and continuously injecting corpse-virus into it, accelerating the transformation."

In the Wasteland Era, everyone knew that the first creature to spread the virus that caused all living things to mutate was the nightmare creature, the terrifying being that had first appeared in that age. Its body might not even have been larger than some aberrants, but its traits and level of danger were unquestionably the highest.

Not to mention the intelligence almost equal to a human's, and the strength to run wild, scale the skies, and burrow through the earth, it was utterly impossible to kill.

Bang!

A massive utility pole came flying toward Cao Fusheng. He slammed on the brakes, and the pole crashed down less than a meter in front of the car.

One more second forward, and the whole vehicle would have been flattened.

"All right, I get it," Cao Fusheng said, narrowing his eyes to steady himself. "From what you've told me, this thing shouldn't even be capable of transforming into a corpse on its own. Someone is pulling the strings behind this."

He opened the car door, gun in hand, and jumped out.

"Shuqing, stay in the car. Guard it. I want to see just what kind of act this giant monkey is putting on today!"

When Cao Fusheng got out and finally saw the monkey clearly, he could only mutter a curse under his breath.

The thing had changed completely. It was a head taller than before, and where it had once been merely huge, without much muscle, its entire body now bulged with grotesque, overdeveloped flesh. It was at least several times more muscular than before.

A muscle monkey.

Cao Fusheng raised his gun and opened fire, but the bullets struck its body with a series of clanging metallic sounds. He stared at the corpse-monkey, unharmed, and froze for a moment.

"Roar!"

The corpse-monkey had already reached him. Its fists came down with tearing winds.

At its size, four or five meters tall at least, it was nothing short of a giant. If that punch landed, Cao Fusheng would not merely be flattened. His name would have to be written backward.

Cao Fusheng rolled across the ground twice. Luckily, after the enhancement, his speed was not slow. Once he got back on his feet, he quickly circled around behind it.

"Brother Cao!"

"Captain Cao!"

Shen Dong and Gao Yi also jumped out of the vehicle, raised their guns, and fired at the monkey. Just like before, the shots only produced those dull clanging sounds, as though they were scratching an itch.

"Don't shoot its body. Aim for the eyes and try that!"

Cao Fusheng drew the military bayonet from his leg and slipped behind the aberrant corpse-monkey, stabbing at the muscle of its lower leg.

Sure enough.

It would not cut.

"Agh...!"

After hearing Cao Fusheng's suggestion, Shen Dong and Gao Yi raised their guns and shot at its eyes. The corpse-monkey hurriedly shielded them with both hands, shrieking incessantly, though no one could tell what it was even screaming about.

Its huge legs kicked wildly around it, and several times Cao Fusheng nearly got sent flying. He caught sight of the tail whipping back and forth with the movement of the monkey's body.

His eyes suddenly lit up.

They always said a monkey's tail was its weakness. Perhaps it was worth a try.

At once, Cao Fusheng seized an opening, slipped around its rampaging body, and hurled himself forward, wrapping both arms around the swaying tail. Again he drove the bayonet down into it.

Damn it.

Still useless. He could not pierce it.

It seemed to sense Cao Fusheng clinging to its tail. With a violent shake, it whipped the tail outward, sending it flying far away and straight into the two stalled cars.

Startled, Cao Fusheng quickly let go and dropped from the air from a height of nearly two meters.

He was just about to shout forward for them to get out of the cars when he realized that after the fall, not a single word would come out.

Then the corpse-monkey's massive tail lashed across the two vehicles, sending them flying several meters. Even the roofs were ripped clean off.

Only then did Cao Fusheng see the truth: there were jagged, blade-like barbs along the tail. He had truly been lucky not to be impaled to death just now!

"Fusheng! I'm fine!"

Han Shuqing was together with Chu Wei and Zhao Cong. Seeing that they were all safe, Cao Fusheng finally managed to let out a breath of relief.

"Chu Wei, do you have any other useful information? This thing is immune to blades and guns! The bullets won't go in!" Cao Fusheng shouted at Chu Wei, who was running over from a distance.

Chu Wei approached with Zhao Cong and cried out, "What? Immune to blades and guns? But my gun is out of power. I really can't fire it. If this goes on, we're done for."

Even without her warning, Cao Fusheng could see the situation clearly. Shen Dong and Gao Yi were frantically fleeing in different directions, while the monkey's tail was like a divine pillar of steel. Every time it stabbed into the ground, it left a gaping hole.

At the same time, it kept making strange chirping noises, as though it were greatly enjoying this mocking little game of toying with them.

"Didn't you say that corpse-transformed aberrants lose their self-awareness? Why does it seem like this thing is having the time of its life?" Cao Fusheng dragged Chu Wei into hiding behind a haystack and asked anxiously.

Chu Wei replied helplessly, "You can't blame me for bad intelligence. It doesn't mean it lost its self-awareness; it just means it no longer thinks the way humans do. Its reactions are now determined by the monkey's nature and the instinctive behavior of an aberrant."

Cao Fusheng suddenly remembered something horrifying. He fixed Chu Wei with a hard stare.

"I see. Once it becomes like this, can it be controlled by those corpse-born who can command corpse tides?"

"In theory, yes, because it still counts as one of them."

"Damn it!" Cao Fusheng spat under his breath and charged out again.

Shen Dong and Gao Yi were about to collapse from exhaustion. Meanwhile, the monkey stood with both arms hanging lazily before its chest, controlling its tail to whip and stab at them with effortless cruelty, letting out an occasional shriek.

It still did not seem inclined to kill.

Mm-mm...

Xiao Ye emerged from Han Shuqing's side, bristling furiously at the aberrant corpse-monkey as if warning it.

The monkey withdrew its tail. Its expression turned strangely odd, and as it looked at Xiao Ye, it seemed to be thinking.

"Roar!!!"

The corpse-monkey roared in challenge, thumped its own chest, and then lashed its tail out again, sending Xiao Ye flying.