Chapter 148: Freerider

Bam!

No sooner had Gao Yang given the warning than an explosion happened in the fish tank, like someone had thrown a grenade. The splash of water reached several meters high, and countless fish flew out.

One happened to land by Gao Yang’s feet, struggling futilely as repulsive green pus and thick steam oozed out of the big patch of rotten meat on its white stomach, like it had been corrupted by some highly corrosive solution.

Gao Yang frowned deeply, alarm blaring in his head.

He looked back at the fish tank to see Officer Liu slowly saunter out.

He was twice as burly, topless with his shirt gone. His body was entirely dark green with green, finger-thick veins covering the skin. They looked like splitting gashes with the same repulsive green pus oozing out, evaporating into heated steam the moment they touched air.

Officer Liu’s left arm shrunk and withered significantly like the forelimbs of a T-rex, and in exchange, his right arm had turned into a cannon consisting of lumpy flesh, the barrel leaking green pus like the rest of his body.

His head had changed shape with his left eye raised to his forehead and his right eye dropped to his cheek like the flesh had melted. Now toothless, his mouth opened wide to the joints of his jaw, connected to the green veins covering his entire body.

“What...has he become?”

Gray Bear was shocked, and at the same time, there was the sorrow he had pushed to the bottom of his heart. Only a few hours ago, the young man had been his subordinate and junior. He was an energetic and considerate colleague who always lifted the mood of those around him.

“It’s now a monster,” Lithe Snake said with certainty.

“That’s right.” Gao Yang had come to a conclusion. “A freerider took over.”

Officer Liu must have been an awakener in the beginning. Then he fell victim to a freerider at some point and became host to the parasitic monster. Whether the man and monster had coexisted in peace or clashed as enemies was a mystery that would never be solved.

One thing was for certain though: Officer Liu had chosen to take the monster’s side, going so far as to surrender his entire body to the freerider.

But why?

Due to the weight of his now cannon-like right arm, Officer Liu had to stalk slowly toward the three of them with his back hunched. Every step he took, he left a corrosive, dark green footprint on the ground. His eyes seemed possessed—if they could even still be called eyes. Green pus dripped down from his toothless mouth as he muttered something intelligible.

Gradually, Gao Yang became able to decipher the murmur.

“O omniscient and omnipotent Heavenly Godbearer, the great and merciful overlord of all...”

“Forgive my ignorance and purify my blood...”

“Save me from this weakness and these sins of mine...”

“Grant me the sacred blood and great power...”

“I swear to forever follow you, submit to you, devote myself to you...”

“I will give you my all and follow you to the blissful otherworld.”

[Warning! Luck acquisition rate increases to 3000 times.]

“It’s coming!” shouted Gao Yang.

“Grrrrrrr—”

Officer Liu’s cannon arm fired a deadly green ray, the terrifying power cutting through space in a vertical arc. Gao Yang, Lithe Snake, and Gray Bear quickly jumped to the sides. Gao Yang felt as if the world had dimmed for a second. Then a strange, sharp sound assaulted his eardrums.

When he picked himself back up, the asphalt ground of the market, as well as the cement platforms and wares, had already been split in half by the deadly ray. The hollow was half a meter wide with highly corrosive pus covering the cut surfaces.

Gao Yang felt a numbness spreading through his scalp.

What manner of monster is this?

Isn’t it a bioweapon?!

“Grrrrrr—”

The second deadly ray shot out. This time, it was horizontal. Gao Yang, Gray Bear, and Lithe Snake leapt up at the same time.

While they were still in the air, Officer Liu gurgled and spat out a smaller green ray, aiming at Gray Bear.

It was impossible to get away while mid-air.

Thankfully, Gao Yang was quite close to Gray Bear, and having anticipated an additional attack, he kicked Gray Bear in the side so that they flew in opposite ways, evading the deadly ray at the last moment.

Lithe Snake grabbed a ceiling fan and propelled himself up, dangling down from the metal hood over the market. With all four limbs, he climbed on the hood and threw two knives at Officer Liu.

The knives hit him in the chest, and green pus exploded in an instant.

That did interrupt Officer Liu’s continuous attacks.

However, it didn’t take long for the blades to melt inside Officer Liu’s body. As thick white smoke rose, the metal sizzled; all that was left in the end were two hilts, and they fell to the ground.

“Heavenly Godbearer...save me...”

“It hurts. I don’t want to die...”

“I’m scared...”

“No, I don’t want to disappear...”

Pain and confusion broke through Officer Liu’s twisted face. Those were distinctly human emotions.

But soon, the emotions were gone.

His eyes melted, leaving two empty sockets leaking green pus, and the eyeballs replaced by a pair of flickering dark red light.

“Human, human, humanhumanhumanhumanhuman...”

“Human!!!”

Officer Liu howled with his head tipped up, becoming something empty of all but the intent to kill and destroy.

It was a familiar sight to Gao Yang.

Mad Red had also turned into a senseless monster with no self-control after injecting himself with the mysterious medicine.

No, this wasn’t even a monster as they knew it, but a viscous wraith from hell.

At that moment, Gao Yang connected the dots between Mad Red, Officer Liu, and the evil organization behind the serial murder. That must be the organization Ghost Horse belonged to!

“He’s lost it!” Gao Yang shouted. “Show no mercy. Kill him!”

“I know!” Gray Bear’s expression turned steely. Gone was the lingering attachment he had had to the young man Officer Liu had been. Now he wished only to never see the monster again in his life.

𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Gao Yang had a rough plan in mind. Since the monster had lost all semblance of rationality, he issued orders out loud, “You’re the most agile, Lithe Snake. Draw its ranged attacks!”

“Gray Bear, get close to it when you see an opening and subdue it for three seconds!”

“Then I’ll take care of the rest,” Gao Yang said through clenched teeth. “I’ll burn it to ashes!”

“Go!”

Still attached to the metal hood, Lithe Snake crawled quickly while moving his hand to the throwing knife holder on the outside of his thigh. There were only three knives left.

With these three knives, he had to draw the monster’s attention while dodging the deadly rays.

Scanning his surroundings, he calculated the routes he would follow to dodge the attacks, a concrete plan forming in his mind.

“Come on! Here I am!”

Lithe Snake shouted, drawing a throwing knife and getting ready to throw it.

Then the locked metal rolling door opened, and in came Can, Xiran, and Ronnie.

Dangling the lock on her forefinger, Can said with a self-satisfied smile, “Told you public places like this are equipped with cameras that deter stealing, so the key is usually somewhere near the door...”

Can’s smile froze as she laid eyes on the battlefield the market had become and the monstrous being that seemed to have crawled out of hell.

After a fleeting moment of confusion, the monster turned to the three of them with renewed killing intent.

“Oh...” Can opened her mouth wide and spat out the last syllable, “...boy!”