Evolution Begins with Elemental Domination

Su Chen returned to his Unit 13 and immediately had his family’s heirloom Jade Pendant absorb a Plant and Mineral Crystal. While the absorption window was still open, it only managed to absorb another half of a crystal.

He estimated it would likely provide a ’Physique +2’ feedback bonus.

The quantity was sufficient, but the quality clearly couldn’t compare to the Gray Ore Crystals.

’It seems exploring the cave was the right call, even if it wasn’t just to hide my class Authority.’

After finishing up, he got out of his RV and headed straight for the border defense line. Tonight would be anything but peaceful. Aside from the addicts high on Hallucinogenic Mushrooms, the potential spore-infected Parasite Bodies within the camp had yet to activate. They were like a time bomb, ready to detonate at any moment.

Just then, Yan Ziqian’s voice crackled over the walkie-talkie in Su Chen’s hand.

”...According to Ruoruo’s dissection, the Parasite Body is hijacked by hormones. Although the brain isn’t destroyed, the parasite stimulates it to secrete excessive dopamine and adrenaline. This throws the host into a state of extreme agitation and causes them to display intense aggression.”

”Furthermore, the mycelia infiltrate and fuse with muscle fibers. Boosted by corresponding stimulants, this allows the Parasite Body to exhibit extraordinary physical capabilities.”

This was strikingly similar to the zombie ants on Earth.

The fungus could bypass the brain and directly control the ant’s muscles.

This meant the zombie ant still possessed its own consciousness, even though it had lost all control of its body.

”Is it possible for the host to remain conscious?” someone asked over the channel.

”Perhaps,” Yan Ziqian added.

The thought was chilling: a consciousness trapped inside its own shell, forced to watch as its body ran amok. Even if they had moments of clarity, an uncontrollable rage would soon overwhelm all reason.

Ultimately, they would fall at the hands of their own kind.

In theory, this type of Parasite Body—the kind where the brain isn’t destroyed—could be saved. It would require a sufficiently high-level Purification Skill and Healing Skill, used in tandem.

But for one, the outbreak was so sudden that people were unaware of this possibility.

For another, some who knew the truth might feign ignorance for the sake of the Rune Essence in the victim’s head. Besides, not everyone possessed the Purification Skill, and most people lacked the means to save them anyway.

In the end, if you had to blame someone, you could only blame yourself for getting infected in the first place.

”The fungal Parasite Bodies I encountered were more direct,” Su Chen shared. ”They destroyed the brain completely, turning the host into a mindless walking corpse.”

This type of destruction was far more thorough, leaving an extremely narrow window for recovery. In a way, it meant they were completely beyond saving.

Differentiating between the two types of fungal infections had become a difficult problem.

To prevent any misplaced compassion from making things worse, Yan Ziqian warned everyone to be extremely careful and not to engage the infected if they lacked any means of Recovery.

Just as reproduction is an instinct rooted deep in an animal’s genes, the prime directive of a fungal Parasite Body was undoubtedly to spread its spores to as many organic life forms as possible.

To the fungus, a human puppet was nothing more than a rapidly-moving spore dispersal device.​

This, too, was just like the zombie ants and zombie cicadas on Earth.

「At the same time.」

The vehicle barricades in the old base parking lot were bathed in the glow of fire. Su Chen followed the shouts of alarm, a second Shadow Leap sending his figure flickering through the darkness as he rapidly closed in on the target.

Amid the internal chaos, the outer defenses had weakened. Two giant-horned elk and a Night Tiger attacked in unison, completely tearing through the defensive line.

Hmm...

He wasn’t mistaken.

A clear predator and its prey, a hunter-hunted pair that had somehow abandoned their natural instincts. And that wasn’t all. A human lying on the ground nearby began to twitch violently, their expression twisting into a hysterical mask.

This bizarre scene made one thing terrifyingly clear: they were all fungal Parasite Bodies.

”Fuck, they’ve gone mad!”

One of the defenders felt his worldview shattering. ’Shouldn’t monsters be killing each other? Why are they teaming up on us?’

To make matters worse, he was doused by the acid rain falling from above. His Water Element shield shattered instantly. The terrifying acid ate through his clothes and pierced his flesh, opening up gruesome, bloody holes all over his body.

It even corroded holes into the abandoned vehicles nearby.

In the nick of time...

SWISH!

A javelin formed from pure Telekinesis whistled down from the darkness above, precisely piercing the midsection of a giant-horned elk. The sheer force of the blow slammed it down, pinning it firmly to the ground.

The hit forcefully interrupted its acid rain spell.

The other parasitic elk’s eyes were crimson. Its mutated horns, which were coated in a layer of fungus, grew wildly. Then, as if in a rabid frenzy, it charged excitedly toward a figure in the distance.

But it didn’t even make it halfway before its body suddenly froze in place.

A dark figure emerged silently from the shadows, as if stepping out of the night itself. A single, terrifying Soul-Splitting Claw bisected the elk at the waist.

Empowered by the Shadow Warlock Authority—and especially the damage bonus from the Dark Element mastery trait—Xiaoye’s ordinary Skill damage reached a terrifying level, resulting in an instant kill on contact.

The Night Tiger, however, possessed the Shadow Jumping Skill. With a single leap, it pounced on its enemy.

However, Su Chen’s Telekinesis Perception had already detected the ripple of movement beside him. He leaped sharply to the right. Just as his opponent landed, it took a Strong Thought Burst head-on. The blast of surging flames blew its body to pieces.

”And insects, too,” Su Chen murmured, his tone laced with vigilance as he looked up at the night sky.