Chapter 241 - 238: The Terror of Humanity

Chapter 241: Chapter 238: The Terror of Humanity

The Crystal Ball Witch used the endless stream of Spirit Mother corpses to continuously divine and pinpoint the locations of related targets.

Although a fixed, transparent vapor barrier had been set up, the stench of blood still wafted over from the back of the hall from time to time. However, the tactical hall’s excellent ventilation and air conditioning system ensured it didn’t overly affect the staff working within.

Tao Xingzhi habitually pulled a cigarette from his pocket and stuck it between his lips, but he didn’t light it.

His mind was on the matter of the Spirit Mothers using cell phones to contact each other.

When the surprise attack began tonight, a Spirit Mother must have escaped and sent a message to the others. That would explain the mutated creatures’ counter-ambush.

It had taken Macrophage Team 2 less than ten minutes from discovering the ambush to eliminating the twelve Spirit Mothers in the kill zone. He didn’t know if news of the failed ambush had reached the other Spirit Mothers.

’Perhaps, besides cell phones, there’s some other unknown connection between the Spirit Mothers, or even between the Parasite Spirits themselves. After all, even the people from Dawn are being this cautious.’

Tao Xingzhi glanced again at the Crystal Ball Witch, who was deep in concentration. The severed limbs surrounding her gave off an eerie, demonic aura.

He then looked at the main screen and several secondary screens. A stylus danced across them, marking newly identified target locations one by one.

A good number of them had already left residential areas like apartment complexes and hotels, appearing on streets or highways.

For the simple purpose of "feeding," there was no need for the Spirit Mothers to be on the main roads. Kyoto City’s dense population meant any residential area could provide enough "meat."

He looked at his watch. It was 12:35 AM.

Amidst the constant reports filling the tactical hall, updates about casualties and failed assaults were becoming more frequent.

’Why launch the plan in the dead of night? Why endure the agonizing wait for this exact, tightly-scheduled moment? One reason is to avoid panic and reduce the probability of civilian casualties. Another is the element of surprise from a simultaneous strike.’

The surprise attack in the first half-hour had caught the mutated creatures completely off guard. By now, however, any Spirit Mothers still alive would have caught on, and the subsequent annihilation phase wouldn’t be so easy.

Nevertheless, the first part of the operation had achieved its expected results. Everything was proceeding according to plan.

But plans are rigid while people are flexible. This was precisely why the Special Security Team’s strategy department was on standby in the tactical command hall.

A senior strategist approached the main console and, after receiving a nod from Tao Xingzhi, issued the latest orders.

"Killer T-Cell units, proceed according to the latest mission directive and move to your designated tactical positions. White Blood Cell units X through XX, check for new mission markers and intel. Macrophage units 1, 3, 9... proceed to your designated tactical positions..."

...

Lu Liwei, her belly swollen, was in a black Buick that was speeding frantically down the road, driven by another woman who also looked pregnant.

They didn’t even dare to turn on the headlights. The moment they saw anything in the distance that looked like a police checkpoint, they would immediately turn and speed off in another direction.

"How did it come to this? How did it come to this?"

"When did the humans find us? How can they possess such power!?"

The woman in the driver’s seat and Lu Liwei exchanged panicked words.

A short while ago, they had received a text from a Spirit Mother they knew. The message roughly said that they had underestimated the humans and that they should run, abandon everything, and flee the area.

When they tried calling back, there was no answer. Instead, a little later, another message came, telling them to gather at a specific location to make their escape together.

Yes, escaping together seemed normal enough. Lu Liwei and at least six or seven other Spirit Mothers who had received similar messages all headed to that "safe" park. Many others had apparently received the same message.

However, the place was a death trap. The two of them didn’t have the strength to fight their way out; they had simply been a bit luckier than the other Spirit Mothers.

...

「Ten-odd minutes earlier.」

Several women were moving quickly on all fours, their speed at least double that of a full adult sprint.

Some had flat stomachs, others were slightly bulging, and some looked to be six months pregnant, yet they all ran for their lives with no regard for the "babies" they carried.

Up ahead was the park. According to the message, there was an old air-raid shelter inside, with a network of tunnels leading to a safe area.

The humans’ sudden hunt tonight had terrified all the surviving Spirit Mothers. They had realized the number of their kind was rapidly dwindling.

No living thing wants to die. Survival is the strongest desire—or rather, the strongest desire imparted to the Spirit Mothers by the larval Soul-possessing Spirits within them.

Before being parasitized, most of these Spirit Mothers had been ordinary women. Regardless of their appearance—beautiful or ugly, fat or thin—and despite possessing human intelligence that allowed them to hunt stealthily among the populace through deception and trickery, they rarely had any military or tactical sense.

Though they became puppets of the Parasite Spirits, they retained their human memories and intellect. However, the cognitive limitations of their original bodies remained unchanged.

On the rooftops of the various high and low buildings surrounding the park, sniper rifles and other firearms were all aimed and ready.

In the crosshairs, a flock of them gathered from all over the city. A significant number were beautiful enough to excite any single man.

And in the Perception of some Dawn Members, there were even some mature Soul-Host Spirit Mother Bodies mixed in—in other words, the egg-layers.

Farther out, inside vehicles with their engines off, behind the roll-down doors of shops, on rooftops, and even inside recycling bins, more soldiers held their breath and waited silently.

The Spirit Mothers did indeed have excellent vision and hearing, and their speed and strength were a cut above the average person’s, growing stronger with each human they consumed. But their bodies were, after all, still just human tissue—mere husks for nurturing the Parasite Spirits.

The Parasite Spirit itself wasn’t a particularly strong type of Yin Spirit. Its only advantage was a stealth capability surpassing over half of all Yin Spirits. Unless it broke through its limits, it was impossible for it to possess Magic Power. Therefore, compared to other Demons, its Perception was underdeveloped.

On infrared monitors, thermal imaging feeds, satellite imagery...

A large, irregular ring of over two hundred Spirit Mothers entered the park from the periphery. The faster mature Soul-possessing Spirits and some of the Spirit Mothers were already approaching the center.

In their line of sight, at the entrance to an air-raid shelter in the center of the park, the few Spirit Mothers acting as the core of the group were jumping and waving at them.

Qin Xiaoxia, Brown, and other Dawn Members, along with several tactical teams, were waiting in that very "safe place" the Spirit Mothers and Soul-possessing Spirits were looking at.

Besides the Dawn Members, the soldiers beside them stared straight ahead, watching as the monsters—who, aside from their faces and bodies, moved in a completely inhuman way—rushed toward them as if greeting family.

"Mr. Yan, can we attack now?"

An Officer to the side was getting impatient. Under the influence of this powerful Dawn member’s control of Magic Power, every Soldier at the central ambush point could see the mature monsters. The closest were almost right in their faces.

Just as Otto had thought, as long as the situation was under control, Qin Xiaoxia was more than happy to help these elite soldiers gain experience.

"We’ll take care of the mature ones. The army can handle the Spirit Mothers."

After saying this, Qin Xiaoxia nodded at the Officer.

"You may begin."

The Officer immediately gave the command over his communicator.

"Lure and annihilate operation, begin!"

CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!...

A multitude of searchlights and the park’s tower lights suddenly flashed on, blinding all the Spirit Mothers.

Before the illusion at the center could even shatter, the sound of gunfire—BRRRRRT... DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA...—erupted along with the light.

Countless bullets poured out from the circular defensive perimeter at the center.

WHOOSH—A dozen or so flamethrowers opened fire at the same time.

In an instant, a dense rain of bullets hammered the unprepared Spirit Mothers. The front ranks, having just been baptized by gunfire, were now set ablaze, while the mature Yin Spirits received special attention from the flames.

After the front line fell like a harvest of wheat, the Spirit Mothers further back finally reacted, turning to flee in a panic.

But in the exact moment they paused to turn back, all the soldiers in the outer ambush circle received the order to attack.

BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG....

The snipers fired first. The Spirit Mothers at the outermost edge of the encirclement had long been in their sights. In the instant they hesitated before turning to flee, they were all picked off.

Each of the outer Spirit Mothers was targeted by at least two or three sniper teams. In an instant, more than thirty of them burst into showers of blood.

Then, BRRRRRT... PEW PEW PEW...

All the outer firebases opened up simultaneously.

The Dawn warriors on the periphery leaped out, chasing down the Spirit Mothers who were further out and hadn’t yet entered the encirclement.

In less than two minutes, the slaughter was over.

Brown and the others moved through the field at high speed, searching for any Spirit Mothers still breathing or any hidden, mature Soul-possessing Spirits. They darted and stopped under the searchlights, seeming to teleport.

The Dawn Members from the periphery returned one by one, most of them carrying two or three corpses.

Qin Xiaoxia had remained in the same spot, not moving an inch from beginning to end.

Only now, during the cleanup phase, did he raise a hand and clench it into a fist before his chest.

SWOOSH—A terrifying tide of Magic Power swept through the area like an invisible fire. The Dawn Members and all the soldiers present felt their minds go blank, dazed for half a second.

"AHHH!!!" "AAH!!" "No..."

A few scattered, short-lived screams rang out and were just as quickly silenced.

He nodded at the Officer beside him.

"It’s done."

The man took a deep breath and activated his communicator.

"Reporting to Command Center, lure and annihilate operation complete. We have sustained no casualties at this time."

*PS: First Chapter for Saturday.*