[Flourishing with Prosperity]: Congratulations, Old Wang, on having a precious son.
[Literature Master]: Look at how happy Old Wang is. His clenched fist reveals his inner turmoil, his teeth grinding express his overwhelming emotions as a father, and the bulging veins on his forehead show the heart of a loving father…
[Mistakes in the Melon Field]: I remember that spiders can lay hundreds of eggs at once.
[Sexy Spider Louis]: The higher the rank, the fewer eggs they lay.
[Abyssal Lord]:Squinting slightly, his expression lazy and somewhat indifferent, his thin lips parted: "After the spiderlings are born, they eat the mother."
[Left for Men]: Don't you care how it got pregnant?
"Have you felt anything unusual in your abdomen recently?" Lin Yebai asked.
"There's definitely something there. I thought it was just indigestion," Coach Wang said, his face shifting between green and pale.
"..." Lin Yebai fell silent, deliberately checking his own pulse. The vitality was faint, and no medicine could cure it. It seemed that the issue wasn't with the diagnosis; any other physician would likely say the same.
Coach Wang began searching through his medical kit, trying to find something that could induce a miscarriage, but he found nothing.
The production lines were completely shattered, and supplies were precious.
The medications left behind by Song Yao were mostly for disinfection, inflammation, fever reduction, and stopping bleeding. There was also a simple water filter, gauze, scissors, and needles.
Coach Wang touched his stomach, his expression alternating between a twisted grimace and gentle concern, as though in the midst of a difficult inner struggle.
Lin Yebai checked Zhou Yuan's wounds again, and the bite marks had turned dark purple, quickly spreading to the surrounding area.
Ordinary medicine was ineffective, and Lin Yebai had no better solutions. He could only wait and see if Zhou Yuan survived, or if he would transform into a mutant.
"It seems we don't need to go to Jiamao Plaza anymore. Let's head back quickly. After dark, the mutants will be out in greater numbers," Coach Wang said, no longer fixating on the pregnancy issue. The priority now was getting home.
If they didn't make it back and died on the road, then there would be nothing to think about.
Mutants instinctively avoid strong light, and the Tianxing Garden neighborhood, which still had some functional electrical circuits, was far safer than the places outside.
Coach Wang looked at Zhou Yuan with concern, hoping he would pull through. Lin Yebai's condition wasn't great either, and his complexion had worsened since yesterday. Sighing at this, Coach Wang really wanted a cigarette.
The truck tires had been shredded by rats, so they had to switch vehicles. Coach Wang found an off-road vehicle nearby and squeezed himself into the driver's seat. It was a tight fit, but he could still drive, and the fuel tank was full. He began transferring the supplies from the truck, leaving behind some less essential items.
The gaming equipment and drones Zhou Yuan liked were packed into the car. Even though the kid could be annoying at times, Coach Wang still hoped he would survive.
"Mr. Lin, what do you want to eat tonight?"
"We have all kinds of instant noodles: old pickled cabbage, braised beef, mushroom chicken stew, shrimp and fish cakes, black pepper pork chops, and we can add fried eggs or hot dogs..." Coach Wang began listing the options.
No matter the situation, talking about food always lightens the mood.
In order to drive, Coach Wang had to contort his body to fit in the seat, with the headlights on to illuminate the dark road ahead.
"Braised beef." Lin Yebai chose a flavor he hadn't tried before.
"Mr. Lin, I can't see well at night. Do you remember the way back to the neighborhood?"
"I remember." Lin Yebai tried to recall the road signs and guide Coach Wang back the way they came.
Coach Wang was a much better driver than Zhou Yuan, and he drove slowly, avoiding obstacles based on Lin Yebai's guidance.
They passed large skeletons, abandoned vehicles, and collapsed buildings. The entire city's electrical grid was in partial failure, and streetlights would no longer turn on as they once did.
An overwhelming sense of confusion and despair clouded Coach Wang's mind, but he couldn't bring himself to cry. He drove steadily toward home.
If they could just get home, they could rest for the night and deal with the unpleasant things tomorrow.
The sky had completely darkened, and tonight's moonlight was even brighter than last night, blood-red in color. Shadows flashed by, with crimson beastly eyes gleaming as they gazed hungrily at the off-road vehicle. Upon sensing the presence of powerful beings, they quickly shifted their attention.
The return journey was smooth, and the off-road vehicle parked downstairs at their building. The area was still pitch-black, with no lights illuminating the surroundings. Most of the apartments had lights on.
Coach Wang got out first, stretching his eight legs that had been squashed, and began checking the spider silk he had set up in the corridor earlier.
The silk was intact, indicating there were no intruders.
The corridor lights were already broken, so Coach Wang carried Zhou Yuan, signaling Lin Yebai to follow him.
Zhou Yuan was placed in the living room and wrapped in spider silk, leaving only his neck and head exposed, to prevent him from suddenly losing control and attacking.
"Mr. Lin, rest for a while. Keep an eye on Zhou Yuan while I go move some things."
"I have many legs and can run fast. I'll be done quickly."
Coach Wang quickly moved everything into Zhou Yuan's room and hid the off-road vehicle in a more discreet spot to prevent the long-legged person from noticing anything unusual.
"Mr. Lin, I'll cook the instant noodles. Please wait a moment."
Lin Yebai remembered the attribute card he had received after slaying the intermediate mutant and decided to check it.
A white card flipped over, revealing the image of a humanoid giant rat gazing proudly at the sky, followed by some text:
[Name]: Wang Qiang
[Race]: Mutant (Rodent)
[Abilities]: Command Rat Swarm, Tough Skin, Plague
[Introduction]: After mutation, possesses rare King-level abilities but squandered his potential.
[Message]: If given another chance, Wang Qiang would never have sung that "Tianzhu Girl" song.
Tip: The attribute card can be exchanged for attribute points in the main system space.
The noodles were ready soon, and Coach Wang had added beef sauce, filling the air with a delicious aroma. As he served the noodles, he casually said:
"I don't know why, but I have this feeling that the damn rat is still following us."
"Is this it?" Lin Yebai took out the blood bead he had collected from the Rat King.
Mutants all had a blood bead in their skulls, with the beads of intermediate mutants being much larger and more pure in color.
"Yes." Coach Wang took a careful look, confirmed it was the bead emitting the Rat King's essence, and gently took it.
"How does it feel?" Lin Yebai used his internal power to sense the bead. It was the product of condensed vitality, with some additional cold, eerie energy.
"Want to try... but this bead seems useful. I'll keep it for now. We should be safe tonight."
He kept the largest bead for himself and handed the two smaller beads to Coach Wang. The beads of lower-level mutants seemed to have no significant effect, and carrying them posed no danger.
"Thanks, Mr. Lin. I won't be polite. I'll take care of the small things for you in return."
Coach Wang was starving, and although they had found some supplies, he hadn't brought back the Rat King's corpse. If it had been turned into nutrients inside a cocoon, it could have sustained them for a while.
To prevent Zhou Yuan from acting up, Coach Wang huddled in a corner of the living room, covering himself with the curtains. He also had mutant traits, particularly light sensitivity.
The Rat King wasn't afraid of light and would likely outgrow that characteristic with an increase in rank.
Zhou Yuan lay in the living room, and if one got close enough, they could hear his bones rapidly growing, his blood surging, and his heartbeat racing. The blood leaking from his body soaked the spider silk, wrapping him in a blood cocoon.
He twisted inside the cocoon, his body softening, moving further away from its human form…
"Little Zhou, don't die, what will happen to the hundreds of gigabytes of material on your computer?"
"I also have a lot of 18+ games with beautiful art, high-quality production, and excellent voice acting…"
Coach Wang was startled by Zhou Yuan's transformation and encouraged him:
"Those rats aren't scary. If you stay strong, you can beat anything!"
"If it's Zhou Yuan, you'll definitely make it!"
"I've always had a good feeling about Zhou Yuan… That month, my gym was about to close, but you helped me get through the hardest time by renewing your membership."
Coach Wang vented all his emotions, one sentence after another. Once he finished, Lin Yebai
spoke:
"Zhou Yuan, let me teach you knife techniques."
A pair of delicate, pale arms stretched out from the blood cocoon, and a hoarse voice weakly asked:
"Where's my cleaver?"
"It's in the kitchen." Coach Wang sighed with relief, his face lighting up.
"Great!" Zhou Yuan tore open the blood cocoon, just as his head emerged when Coach Wang screamed.
"Ah—!"
Eight spider legs retracted, and Coach Wang darted to the ceiling.
Zhou Yuan, once short-haired, now had long green hair.
But it wasn't just hair; the tips of his hair had turned into snake heads, flicking their tongues.
[Send You Far Away]: He turned green and became stronger.
[Abyssal Lord]: A trace of surprise flashed in his deep eyes.
[Hell Count Ciel]: Medusa?
[Truth Above All]: The Chosen One.
[Big Mage]: He must have undergone a deep mutation, just hasn't realized it yet.
[Mistakes in the Melon Field]: I think Little Zhou might hate rats so much that he evolved into the natural enemy of rats.
[Braised Ribs]: But Medusa isn't the enemy of rats.
Zhou Yuan was about to mock the cowardly Coach Wang when he saw countless small snakes coiling around his shoulders and back, writhing and flicking their tongues. He screamed too.
"Ah—!"
Lin Yebai's worldview and ears were once again violently shocked.
Coach Wang, now on the ceiling, looked down at Zhou Yuan, his lips curling into a smile:
"See? Wearing a green hat causes problems."
"Is it really the green hat? You might not..."
Those small snakes were playing around on his shoulder, crawling up and down his back, occasionally flicking their tongues. Zhou Yuan's body stiffened, and his soul seemed to vanish.
"It's not biting you, the one you should be afraid of is us." Coach Wang said dismissively.
Zhou Yuan tried to get up but realized his legs were gone.
A two- to three-meter-long snake tail broke through the blood cocoon. The green tip of the tail was somewhat cute.
"Dammit..."
Zhou Yuan's tail flicked in confusion, slipping on the ground as he struggled to stand.
Coach Wang watched Zhou Yuan's embarrassment and felt a weight lift from his chest, suddenly laughing:
"Hahahahh..."
But then he clutched his stomach, his face turning pale, looking in pain.
"My stomach… hurts…"
Coach Wang began to regret laughing so loudly.
"Did you disturb the pregnancy?" Lin Yebai leaned down to check his pulse.
"Huh?" Zhou Yuan's snakes quickly curled into question mark shapes, their little eyes full of confusion.