novelraw Chapter 12: Sea of Darkness - (12)
Chapter 12: Sea of Darkness - (12)
“Captain, the coordinates have been sent,” Lan Lan announced over the team’s communications channel.
He stared intently at the drone-fed footage on the monitor. “Criminal Chai Jian is heading towards the signal tower.”
“Roger that,” replied Shu Xuyao.
Heavy breathing sounds from the team members’ sprint echoed through the communications channel, but Kui Xin couldn’t hear them. Yadang filtered out the noise to prevent external distractions from affecting her aiming and shooting.
The K80 rifle held ten rounds in its magazine, and Kui Xin carried two spare magazines, which were more than sufficient. If her teammates successfully apprehend their target, she might not even need to fire.
Kui Xin tracked Chai Jian’s fleeing figure through the scope, keeping her calm.
He ran almost frantically, without a specific target or direction. As he sprinted across the muddy and slippery ground of the slum, he stumbled and fell. Struggling to his feet amidst the tumble, he hastily glanced back over his shoulder, disregarding his bleeding knee and the bread falling from his mouth as he continued his frantic dash.
“Running quite fast, but fortunately it’s towards the signal tower.” On the monitor in Lan Lan’s hand, the green dots representing their teammates and the red dot symbolizing their mission objective steadily decreased the distance between them. Shu Xuyao and the others were about to catch up with Chai Jian.
“Wait!” Kui Xin suddenly spoke up, breaking her silence while maintaining her aim. “Didn’t we say that Chai Jian lacks experience in evading pursuit? How did he detect and flee while Captain was so far away?”
Lan Lan froze. “Could it be his superhuman ability…?”“No, didn’t you notice? While running, Chai Jian kept looking back, but not in the southwest direction where the captain was located; instead, he looked behind him directly.” Kui Xin adjusted the scope, no longer aiming at Chai Jian but shifting it to search for suspicious objects behind him. “His run isn’t because he knew the captain was nearby—he’s not that perceptive… There must be something else chasing him, which frightened him, prompting him to flee.”
“That deduction sounds plausible,” Lan Lan muttered.
Kui Xin’s analysis indeed made sense. After a moment of hesitation, he detached one drone from the tracking swarm and directed it to the rear, beginning to scan the surrounding environment.
The scans captured environmental images, 3D renderings of buildings, small-scale topography, and even the sewers. Under the scanning beams of the drones, no living organism could remain hidden.
There were no abnormalities; nothing seemed to be pursuing Chai Jian.
Lan Lan, relieved, said, “You’re overthinking it, Xiao Kui.”
Kui Xin’s lips tightened, a distinct warning signal flashing in her mind. Her temples throbbed, instinctively alerting her that things were not as simple as they appeared.
One of Kui Xin’s inherent abilities was “Danger Evasion,” allowing her to keenly perceive and avoid danger. Without her conscious notice, this ability had been triggered.
There is imminent danger in the vicinity. However, the danger did not originate from Chai Jian but rather from somewhere else—
“An unidentified object moving at 5.9 meters per second has been detected in the sewers! An unidentified object moving at 5.9 meters per second has been detected in the sewers!” Yadang sounded the alarm. “Scanning… Scan complete! The unidentified object is a parasitic hydra! Level three alert! Repeat, level three alert!”
Yadang’s broadcast accelerated, transmitting swiftly and clearly into all team members’ ears.
“Damn it! How could a parasitic hydra leave the coast and enter the city?” Lan Lan, who had maintained a relaxed expression until now, abruptly swore with clear distress on his face. He grimly manipulated the data panel, directing drones to fly along the sewer routes to confirm the location of the parasitic hydra. “The captain and others are in danger; we didn’t bring weapons or equipment specifically for dealing with alien creatures!”
Alien creature? Parasitic hydra? What was this thing?!
Kui Xin’s heart raced, rising up to her throat. She adjusted the scope, scanning the streets around manhole covers for any signs of the parasitic hydra.
In disbelief, Lan Lan exclaimed, “The parasitic hydra is chasing Chai Jian through the sewers!”
Briefly lifting her gaze, Kui Xin glanced at the data panel in his hands. The small red dot representing Chai Jian was frantically moving forward, while the yellow dot marked as the parasitic hydra—a type of alien creature—was closely trailing behind him.
She didn’t understand what a parasitic hydra was, but she knew the situation was dire. Even without emerging from the sewers, the mere presence of the parasitic hydra caused such alarm in Lan Lan, indicating its extreme danger.
“Yadang! Send drones here with equipment and request backup while you’re at it,” Lan Lan urgently said. “Captain, retreat! The bulletproof combat suits can’t withstand the hydra’s attacks, and the weapons you have are unlikely to cause significant damage!”
“No, this is a residential area; it will kill civilians,” Shu Xuyao replied. “Jiang Ming, go drive the police car—it has flamethrowers. Use those against the creature, and Liu Kangyun and I will continue tracking.”
“Yes, Captain.” Jiang Ming left the team.
Kui Xin calmly wiped away raindrops from the scope lens and resumed her aiming position.
She was atop the tall signal tower, while the parasitic hydra was within the sewers several hundred meters away. Unlike Chai Jian and Shu Xuyao, she remained safe.
Instead of trying to locate the parasitic hydra between manhole covers, Kui Xin focused intently on targeting Chai Jian. Since the parasitic hydra was pursuing him, she concentrated on Chai Jian, observing if he would lure the hydra out of the sewers.
Chai Jian was like a panicked lab rat—an unplanned living bait.
The live bait had been cast, but what kind of monster could it reel in?
Despite her sweaty palms, Kui Xin maintained her unwavering focus. She forgot to blink, even as raindrops were blown into her eyes by the wind.
At a bend, the exhausted Chai Jian slipped and fell.
Simultaneously, the concrete beneath his feet suddenly bulged before shattering.
A terrifying monster burst forth from the ground!
Kui Xin’s eyes widened, stunned beyond words.
It was a creature waving translucent tentacles and possessing a grotesquely distorted human body. This body wasn’t its own, but rather a parasitized host. The translucent tentacles eagerly emerged from various parts of the human form—back, mouth, nose, eyes, and ears—and wildly thrashed in the air.
Chai Jian let out a pig-like scream, “Help me! Don’t eat me! I just came to steal some bread from your home!”
The translucent tentacles entrapped him, wrapping around his neck and turning his face purple.
Shu Xuyao and Liu Kangyun arrived promptly, unhesitatingly drawing their guns and firing at the monster. Upon impact, the monster’s translucent tentacles snapped off, yet even the severed limbs continued writhing on the ground.
Snapping out of her shock, Kui Xin aimed at the human body occupied by the parasitic hydra and pulled the trigger.
“Bang!”
A bullet spun out from the gun’s muzzle but missed its target, striking the concrete ground beneath the parasitic hydra instead. The bullet’s impact created a pit in the concrete.
The K80 is currently the most superior long-range sniper rifle, capable of penetrating solid cement walls.
“Dammit!” Kui Xin cursed.
“You forgot to account for the wind influence,” Yadang said. “It’s drizzling now with a wind speed of 2.1 levels, slightly decreasing. The target distance is 722.3 meters.”
Lan Lan opened his mouth and said, “Kui Xin, you…”
“Shut up; don’t distract me while I’m shooting,” Kui Xin snapped irritably.
Lan Lan promptly closed his mouth.
Kui Xin slowly exhaled, wiped the scope, and attempted another shot.
The muzzle of the K80 spat fire, sending another bullet piercing through the rain curtain.
With a sharp crack, the bullet hit its mark! The spinning bullet struck directly into the chest of the parasitic hydra, instantly perforating its body and creating a bowl-sized hole. As dried flesh scattered around the cavity, no blood flowed.
Before Kui Xin could even savor the satisfaction of hitting the target, she rapidly pulled the trigger again. Bullets continuously fired from the barrel, striking the parasitic hydra’s head, abdomen, shoulders, waist, and legs! Its parasitized form resembled a battered puppet, barely maintaining human shape.
Only after emptying all ten bullets did Kui Xin stop firing. She didn’t even glance at her results, but quickly changed magazines without pausing, then re-aimed, ready for the next round of shots.
With its human host no longer supporting it, the parasitic hydra collapsed to the ground instantly, releasing Chai Jian’s wrist.
Stars danced before Chai Jian’s eyes as he gasped heavily, narrowly escaping suffocation. Without time to recover, driven by his survival instinct, he clumsily crawled away on all fours, looking exceptionally disheveled.
The parasitic hydra, unwilling to let go of its prey, reached out towards Chai Jian but missed. Chai Jian’s body vanished from its reach and reappeared under a streetlight three meters away, evading the grab.
Staggering to his feet, he cursed hysterically, “Fuck! This time my superpower actually worked—thankfully I didn’t screw up.”
Kui Xin initiated another round of shooting, severing several robust hydra tentacles. Helpless, the parasitic hydra temporarily abandoned Chai Jian. Its tentacles clung to the ground, utilizing their strength to move rapidly back and forth, dodging Kui Xin’s bullets.
From dozens of meters away, Shu Xuyao and Liu Kangyun also fired their guns, working seamlessly together. As one emptied their ammunition, the other immediately took over, allowing time for the first to swap magazines.
Before Kui Xin’s ammunition ran out, Jiang Ming promptly arrived, piloting the police car.
The police car descended, and from one side emerged a jet-black flamethrower, unleashing scorching flames that engulfed the crawling parasitic hydra. Its tentacles visibly shriveled, losing their previous vigor.
“This thing fears fire…” Kui Xin murmured softly, feeling her tense nerves finally relax.
However, before Kui Xin could fully ease up, the parasitic hydra suddenly began to struggle fiercely. Its writhing tentacles whipped through the air, producing sounds akin to cracking whips.
With tremendous effort, the hydra extended its tentacles, ensnaring the airborne police car equipped with the flamethrower. It exerted all its might, causing the police car to tilt sideways while simultaneously thrusting a tentacle directly into the flamethrower’s nozzle, blocking it!
With a deafening explosion, the fuel tank connected to the flamethrower detonated, sending the police car plummeting amidst thick smoke from the sky.
The parasitic hydra severed its own tentacle, abandoning the ruined human body and frantically crawling towards Chai Jian, who had just managed to escape ten meters away.
A horrifying scene unfolded as the creature’s soft, translucent body enveloped Chai Jian, forcefully inserting its tentacles into his mouth.
Chai Jian’s expression displayed sheer terror, his jaw gaping wide open, powerless against the parasitic hydra’s invasion.
His eyes rolled back, his neck swelled, and his chest and abdomen were unnaturally distended, gradually becoming grotesque.
Shu Xuyao raised his gun to aim at Chai Jian, but it fired empty—his ammunition was depleted! Liu Kangyun grimaced and shook his head, indicating he also had no bullets left.
“The parasitic hydra is currently in a vulnerable state; we can’t let it complete host migration,” Lan Lan said rapidly. “Kui Xin, take down Chai Jian! Quickly! The parasitic hydra can’t infect a corpse!”
In mere seconds, Chai Jian’s body underwent a drastic transformation as the parasitic hydra forced its way inside him.
Kui Xin pursed her lips, aligned through the scope, and fired at Chai Jian.
“Bang—”
To her ears, this gunshot sounded more distant than the previous ones.
The bullet spun, piercing the man’s skull. His body collapsed with a thud, blood splattering and staining large patches of the ground red.
“You have killed Proxy Chai Jian.”
“You have deprived Proxy Chai Jian of their superhuman ability.”
“You have acquired the superhuman ability [Shadow Shuttling – E Rank].”
“[Shadow Shuttling – E Rank]: You can utilize shadows for short-range spatial translocation.”
At that moment, Kui Xin’s eyes were vacant, and the sound of gunfire seemed to still echo in her ears. Her hand, which had pulled the trigger, trembled slightly.
She suddenly understood why the game she initially signed up for was named “Crimson Earth.”
Why is the land crimson?
Because it has been stained red by blood.
The world finally revealed its utterly ruthless and cruel side completely to Kui Xin.
Author’s note:
Kui Xin: Just three days since crossing over, I have experienced more than what some people encounter in their entire lifetime =.=