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墨書 Inktalez
The voices calling out were from Fatty and Jack, while I struggled to suppress the rising nausea, turning away to bend over and gag. The queasiness was overwhelming, yet nothing came up, making it even worse.
Jack and Fatty's chaotic shouts made my head spin. I turned and shouted, "Stop!"
Finally, the world fell silent.
I looked at Tang Yumo and forced out a voice that felt strained, asking, "The Giant Bat is also transformed from your kin?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure? All of them?"
"Yes, both of these creatures are mutations of my kin."
I turned away, and before I could bend down again, the contents of my stomach surged up my esophagus and erupted. It wasn't until I had emptied my stomach completely that I could still not shake off the feeling of nausea. The last time I had roasted a Giant Bat in the Underground Cavern, I had eaten half of it. Now hearing Tang Yumo say that they were once human—whether true or not—made me feel sick. If it was true, then I had eaten human flesh.
Jack seemed to realize this too, crouching down to vomit as well. He appeared to have only gnawed on a couple of Bat bones, so he threw up less than I did.
Seeing our reactions, Tang Yumo understood what was happening and comforted us, saying, "They are no longer considered human. You don't need to feel too guilty."
I wasn't feeling guilty; I was just nauseous. But I kept quiet as the acid in my throat burned painfully, and the taste in my mouth was unbearable. I gulped down some water to wash away the taste and called out to Jack, tossing him the water bottle.
Fatty suddenly realized something and exclaimed, "You guys have eaten that stuff? The Giant Bat or the Long-Tailed Monster?"
At that moment, I nearly spewed out the few sips of water I had just swallowed. Xiao Ting looked at me as if I were a monster.
I straightened my chest and glared at Fatty. "Don't listen to her nonsense; she's just trying to gross me out."
"Then what’s the deal with you spitting out all that sourness? Do you really think you can do that?"
I waved my hand, speechless. I had been half-believing Tang Yumo, but the problem was we had no way to verify whether her words were true, so we could only take them at face value. Of course, I didn't believe everything she said, but I also had no idea which parts were untrustworthy. By common sense, none of her words seemed credible, but the current situation defied logic.
"Don't try to convince me. What’s going on with sealing the entrance? How are we supposed to get back to Ground? From what you’re saying, your people intend to keep the entrance sealed for a long time. How long exactly? You’re not planning to make us stay here for a year or more, are you?" I shook off Fatty's teasing and gasped as I questioned Tang Yumo.
"We're not going back."
"But we need to go back!" I shouted, my throat burning from the acid.
"That's impossible." Tang Yumo was calm to the point of being cold. "It seems you still haven't realized that we will be settling here. Of course, we will exist in another form. The good news is that we will gain Eternal Life."
"You mean we'll turn into Long-Tailed Monsters or Giant Bats?" Fatty scoffed.
"You won't. Only those who awaken will undergo a Secondary Mutation." Tang Yumo immediately turned her gaze toward me. "Before we create greater chaos here, we must kill all the Secondary Mutant Creatures. Otherwise, they will leave this place carrying the devil's curse. At that point, the situation will be uncontrollable; they won't just destroy our Village, but will also spread the curse, turning this area into a living hell."
My throat felt dry and painful again. Tang Yumo's expression was serious. She seemed sincere; I couldn't tell if she was acting, but her words were becoming increasingly hard to believe. There must have been a reason for my tension; my throat was itchy and sore.
I snapped my fingers at Jack. "Get me some water."
Jack tossed me the water bottle and looked at Tang Yumo. "If I had a choice, I'd choose to become a Giant Bat. At least it would fulfill my wish to fly. Oh wait, I'm not an awakener; I don't have that chance. So what about us? You can turn into Long-Tailed Monsters or Giant Bats, but can we go back to Ground since we have nothing else to do?"
"Unfortunately, you have to stay and help us kill the remaining Long-Tailed Monsters and Giant Bats." Then Tang Yumo turned her face back to me. "Once all the Secondary Mutant Creatures here are killed, we will mutate into a brand new species. Of course, it’s also possible that we might mutate into something similar to before—either a Long-Tailed Monster or a Giant Bat, but that chance is slim. The Secondary Mutation is related to the abilities of awakeners; with you here, I think our mutations will be more favorable."
Although I was ninety-nine percent skeptical of her nonsense, I couldn't help but ask, "Why can't we mutate into Giant Bats or Long-Tailed Monsters? If it's because of the abilities of awakeners, then what about these Long-Tailed Monsters? Are they all mutated from the same capable Hakka People?"
"No. The initial Secondary Mutants will determine subsequent mutated species. In other words, as long as one type of Secondary Mutation occurs, all later ones will resemble it closely in ability. The reason there are currently two mutated species here is that two initial Secondary Mutants successfully mutated at the same time."
"Heh heh. Sounds like you're making it up as you go along, all structured and everything. What if I refuse to help you kill these Monsters? Can't you just transform? That glowing wall—doesn't Qiangzi know where it is? Just take your group over there; let me see you transform." Fatty was clearly irritated and sneered.
"We won't force you; those mutated creatures will find you and kill you just like before. To survive, you'll have no choice but to fight them for your life. Creatures affected by the Devil's Curse will grow stronger over time; the longer we wait, the more passive we become. We need to kill them as soon as possible; we have no other options."
"I agree that we should burn these monster corpses first. It's necessary to prevent the spread of disease from decaying bodies."
I wasn't surprised by Jack's statement, and I had no objections.
Kicking the Hakka Man lying on the ground, I shouted at him, "Your name is A-Yong, right? Get up and get to work!"
Another Hakka People had been kicked by Fatty and was barely hanging on to life. Seeing him gasping for breath, it was clear he couldn't be relied upon to help.
With no other option, I gestured to the Vietnamese. "Call Buasong to help them clean up the battlefield."
A San was actually quite clever. He understood the dire situation we were in and knew he had to show his worth to avoid being abandoned. As soon as I finished speaking, he started shouting at Buasong, then followed A-Yong.
Jack had been standing a little behind us the whole time, even when he was trying to show off. As I watched A San and the others burn the monster corpses, I noticed Jack giving me a look, as if he wanted to say something.
(To Be Continued...)
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