Chapter Ninety: Frenzied Flashes of Vigilance

Edward, the team leader, said, “We’ll search the whole camp in groups of two or three. If you find it, leave immediately—don’t try to take it on yourself.”

Dr. Sander added, “Be careful. We still don’t know exactly what we’re dealing with.”

Everyone at the research station was in the entrance hall, pulling on down jackets, hats, and gloves, preparing to head out and search. Zhou Shu was among them.

He wasn’t supposed to come, given that everyone considered him “seriously injured,” but he insisted he was fine and wanted to do his part.

Seeing his determination, no one argued; they simply found him a set of gear for going outside.

Now that Zhou Shu stood over six feet tall, the term “imposing stature” fit him perfectly, so he had no trouble fitting into the others’ jackets.

As everyone finished dressing and was about to step outside, he said, “Wait. We’re going out to hunt a monster—aren’t we taking any weapons?”

Everyone paused. The young man was right.

Why hadn’t they thought of that before?

Clearly, something strange was affecting their minds.

So, Dr. Sander and Edward, the team leader, took guns; the stronger members strapped on flamethrowers; others grabbed kitchen knives, crowbars, axes, or whatever they could find. Zhou Shu snagged a crowbar as well.

Someone mentioned, “We still have a crate of grenades outside. Once we get out, we can bring them in—just in case.”

That reassurance settled everyone’s nerves.

No one questioned why there was a crate of grenades here.

They believed they now had the upper hand—this was going to be a sure victory.

On another front, Zhou Shu joined the group—and even suggested they arm themselves, thus increasing the monster’s potential combat power—because he wanted to train himself this way.

Since he was here to hone his abilities, there was no reason to cower in a corner. Better to immerse himself in danger and develop his alertness.

Yet his alertness hadn’t shown itself so far, not even when he stepped on the crack earlier.

The main reason was that his alertness was still at a rudimentary level, barely begun.

But this had much to do with his environment. After all, he’d had his golden finger for over a month, spending eighty percent of that time in the Demon Control Bureau alongside scientists, modifying powered exoskeletons, with not a hint of danger—so naturally his alertness hadn’t grown.

He’d only reached this entry-level alertness in a previous virtual battlefield.

He gathered his thoughts, gripped the crowbar, and followed the others outside. While the rest searched aimlessly, he went straight with the two soon-to-be-doomed extras to the “monster spawn point.”

Once there, he focused intently on the spawn point, waiting until a sound emerged, drawing the other two’s attention as well.

They tightened their grips on their makeshift weapons, edging closer, hoping to get a better look.

Zhou Shu followed, intent on dancing on the blade’s edge.

Suddenly, his alertness blazed. He shoved the nearest person aside.

Just as he did, a long, spiked tongue shot through the gap between them.

As it pierced through, the tongue’s tip split into four hooked claws, which snapped back violently.

Because the person beside Zhou Shu had been shoved, he lost his balance and fell backward, so the hook tore a chunk of flesh from his arm.

“Ah!”

Zhou Shu shouted to the stunned man beside him, “Go call for help!”

“Oh—right!” The man dashed off, shouting as he ran, “Over here! This way!”

At that moment, the monster’s tongue lashed out again, aiming for the man sprawled on the ground.

Apparently, the monster possessed a high degree of intelligence, recognizing which target was easier prey.

But it underestimated Zhou Shu.

Zhou Shu’s reactions were lightning-fast; his slow-motion ability kicked in. He swung the crowbar with all his strength, smashing it down on the monster’s tongue.

“Thud—”

With absolute power and speed, Zhou Shu severed the monster’s elastic tongue in one blow!

The severed tongue flew off and landed on the ground, just as the rest of the group arrived.

“Over there, right there!”

A crowd rushed over, flashlights illuminating the darkness beneath the building, revealing a massive “bug.”

The creature was as large as a bull, its black carapace thick and sturdy, its jointed legs, spikes, and hooked claws forming a ferocious beast.

Seeing it, the wounded man shouted, “Shoot! Fire! Kill it—kill it!”

“Yes, kill it!”

“Hurry, shoot!”

“Burn it with the flamethrower!”

Faced with such a disgusting creature, everyone’s emotions ran high. For the safety of all, Edward prepared to open fire, but Dr. Sander stopped him.

“Wait! We can’t just kill it—it’s a living extraterrestrial!”

Dr. Sander stepped forward, turning to block the others, “This is a world-shaking discovery. Before, it was dead, but now it’s alive. If we bring back a living alien, we’ll—”

While they gathered, Zhou Shu observed them closely.

He watched their micro-expressions, their subtle movements, trying to determine who among them had become a monster, and who remained human.

He wanted to see if anyone showed sympathy for the creature—if so, it was likely they’d been infected and transformed into humanoid monsters.

But before he could discern anything, Dr. Sander rushed forward.

Could he have been infected and become a monster?

But wasn’t this move a bit too blatant?

Just as Zhou Shu intended to observe more closely, the monster beneath the building shot out its tongue again, piercing Dr. Sander’s chest. The tip split into four claws, hooked and yanked, dragging Sander into the shadows.

Those facing Sander were sprayed with blood.

“Oh, God!”

“Shit!”

“Shoot! Shoot!”

This time, no one hesitated. Edward fired, though the flamethrower operators were held back, hoping to kill the monster and rescue Sander.

But the creature gave them no chance. After Edward fired a few shots, the monster screeched, then lively and vigorous, smashed through the floor and crawled into the room above.

The wooden walls splintered under its spikes—it seemed intent on climbing onto the roof.

Seeing the monster escaping, they forgot about Sander’s fate, tossed two barrels of oil, and set them alight with the flamethrowers.

“Boom—”

A fireball roared from the hole into the house, engulfing both the structure and the beast.

Only then did they hear the monster’s agonized screams.

“Crash—”

The creature fell silent, tumbling out of the burning house, the air thick with the scorched stench of protein. Everyone watched in mute silence.

Zhou Shu watched as well. When he pushed that man aside, the movie’s plot had already changed, though he hadn’t expected the change to be so drastic—a “main character” was dead just like that.

Not that it mattered much to him. As long as he didn’t actively turn people into monsters to farm experience, he was doing well enough.

Sacrificing his own life to save others was out of the question—he’d only just met these people, didn’t even know their names.

He only knew three: the female lead Kate, the work supervisor Dr. Sander, and the station manager Edward.

Now, with Sander dead, only two remained.

He kept silent, but his alertness flashed repeatedly, warning him that “someone” here intended to harm him—and there were quite a few.

This reminded him of a certain concept: the monster in “The Thing: The Beginning” wasn’t just a simple beast. It was more like a cellular aggregate—afraid of fire, immune to sharp weapons, able to act independently when cut apart, and to recombine.

They communicated in some way—perhaps that monster had just informed the other mimics of Zhou Shu’s threat.

If the monsters wanted to infiltrate humanity, he would be a major obstacle.

Thus, they now harbored murderous intent toward him.

PS: Thanks to “SAS Special Forces” for the reward~~