Chapter 445.1: The Light That Destroys Everything

In the awkward bend on the south side of Lost Valley, a truck sped by.

Glancing at the peaks rising outside the window, Sisi, leaning on the driver's seat, finally heaved a sigh of relief and focused on the road ahead.

Since they entered the valley, the power of the nuclear bomb had been at least halved if it were to blow.

"Just one last step to go." Muttering to herself, she floored the accelerator, sending a few Crunchers roaming by the roadside flying. She drove along the small path carved out by the Army, heading straight for the center of Lost Valley.

She and Roshan had loaded the nuclear bomb onto the truck before rushing into Lost Valley.

When the group had sneaked into the valley earlier, they had confirmed that right in the center of Lost Valley was a pit hundreds of meters wide and bottomless.

It looked like a pit left by a quarry.

Some horrific weapon had collapsed the geological structure of the area, causing rock veins far away to rise and buckle, with the battlefield from the previous era likely right below that shaft...

To explore inside the shaft while transporting the excavated earth, the Army had dug a circular dirt road along the funnel-shaped slope, just wide enough for two vehicles to pass side by side.

Following the dirt road downward, just as she was about to reach the very center of the shaft, Sisi suddenly encountered a jeep stalled by the roadside.

Before she could wonder why there was a car here, two heads quickly popped up from behind the jeep, followed by a handgun and a submachine gun aimed at her.

"Don't move!"

"Stop the car! Hands on your head!"

The faces of the two men were filled with tension and wariness, obviously officers of the Army, and presumably of no low rank.

Sisi braked but did not comply with their demands, nor did she get out of the car. Instead, she simply smiled lightly, her arm resting on the car window. She joked casually, "Guess what I've got in my truck?"

Having delivered it all the way over, there was no need to throw it right into the center. She couldn’t be bothered any longer and she simply stared at them in amusement.

Seeing that she didn't take their guns seriously and remained calm, McClennan was stunned for a moment before asking, “So what’s in your truck?”

Sisi didn't waste words and stepped out.

Ignoring their guns, she walked straight to the back of the truck and with a grunt, dragged the nuclear bomb she had placed in the truck bed over.

The gray-black warhead was still surrounded by an aluminum alloy frame, looking as if it had been yanked directly from a plane.

The instant they saw the nuclear bomb, the faces of General McClennan and the officer beside him turned deathly pale.

Seeing the expression on their faces, Sisi heaved a sigh of relief.

Indeed, the more one worried about something, the more likely it was to happen. It seemed like the bomb really did have a self-destruct mechanism to prevent it from being captured by the enemy.

Otherwise, there would be no need for them to run so far, nor would they need to be scared to death when they saw it.

McClennan's lips trembled as he looked at her and said, "Are you... Are you crazy?"

"Crazy? Of course not! I just saved at least 10,000 people!" Sisi rolled her eyes, continuing to speak to the high-ranking officer. "By the way, I found a numeric keypad on the nuclear bomb. It's probably for entering a password, do you know it?"

McClennan choked, "Only the pilot knows."

"That's a pity, he's already dead." Sisi shrugged. "By the way, the battle outside is over, are you surrendering?"

Glancing at the warhead on the ground, McClennan smiled bitterly. "Does it even matter anymore?"

"I don't know, let's try?" Sisi shrugged. "But if you keep delaying, you definitely won't have a chance to live."

Watching her indifferent expression, McClennan gritted his teeth but ultimately lacked the courage to face death.

He didn't know why the lass in front of him was not afraid of dying. But if he could continue to live, he didn't want to die yet.

He lowered the gun in his hand and said in a low voice, "Please get me out of here..."

Although he never actually said he surrendered, the look of resignation on his face clearly showed he had given up resisting.

With a slight smile playing on her lips, Sisi returned to the driver's seat and skillfully started the truck.

"Get in."

...

Meanwhile, in another part of the valley,

Watching the tentacles getting closer, Falling Feather was extremely nervous.

Standing not far behind him, Pigeon smiled gently and spoke kindly, "Don't be afraid, it won't eat you. It's just very curious since it hasn't seen a living person for so many years."

Curious about what? His taste?! Or his texture?

Hearing the explanation, Falling Feather grew even more nervous and couldn't help but step back, avoiding the tentacle that quietly reached towards his forehead.

"What... What is it? Is it also symbiotic?"

"Not exactly, it's the mother.”

“Mother?!"

Seeing the completely baffled Falling Feather, the man with a face like rotted wood continued in a gentle tone, "Yes, but you don't have to be so scared. Just like people can be good or bad, mutant Slime Mole, a 'social animal' that has evolved a social division of labor, can also embody concepts of good and bad."

"Of course, that's just to make it easier for you to understand. More precisely, the dry environment of the desert makes life hard for the Slime Mold here. They don't have enough nutrients to breed a huge Hive or to cultivate powerful evolutions to help the species hunt, and there are no organic bodies around for them to hunt. So, over the long years, some mutant Slime Mold have evolved special abilities."

Falling Feather gulped. “Do you mean they try to coexist with living beings?”

Pigeon nodded happily. "Yes."

Falling Feather instantly thought of Bucky.

The man was wrapped in a tin can like a medieval knight.

He had the fortune to see that guy take off his armor; almost his entire body had been taken over by the Slime Mold, leaving him with a sporadically functioning brain.

According to Hyrja, if not for special drugs to suppress it, that guy could turn into a puppet of the Slime Mold at any moment.

Would that be considered parasitic rather than symbiotic?

Falling Feather nervously asked, "Do I not understand the difference between symbiosis and parasitism?"

Pigeon answered cheerfully, "Of course there's a difference! One is non-aggressive, and the other is aggressive. One shares life with the host, and the other drains the last bit of nutrients from the host before moving on to the next to continue exploiting."

"The Slime Mold evolved from Oasis No.7 belong to the former. They can make you immune to all diseases, immortal, give you a strong body and abilities. You don't need to give up your own genes, which is much safer than awakening."

"As a symbiont, it doesn't sacrifice the host's health but draws trace elements, organic matter, and water from the host's metabolites. You can think of it as a special vaccine! Once you're inoculated, you'll gain a stronger body!"

"How about it, young man, want to try it?"

That tempting voice sounded like a devil's whisper, and agreeing would mean signing a contract with some evil power.

Falling Feather had to admit... It did sound pretty appealing to turn into a tentacle monster. [1]

Operating an airplane with two hands was nothing compared to micromanaging all the functions with ten!

But merging with a tentacle monster was a different matter.

And seeing how the dude before him had transformed into such a ghostly figure, Falling Feather always felt his words lacked any persuasiveness.

If the price of getting stronger was becoming ugly, he'd rather level up honestly.[2]

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

But out of curiosity, he still asked, "What's the cost?"

Pigeon smiled and continued, "The cost is..."

Before he could finish, Reddy suddenly looked around uneasily, but before it could react, a ground-shaking tremor came from beneath everyone's feet.

Pigeon's face changed dramatically.

But before he could utter a syllable, a surge of sand and debris instantly swallowed everyone in the ruins.

...

At the same time, in another world...

Lying flat on his bed, Falling Feather suddenly opened his eyes.

The screen showed a disconnect popup. The cooldown for resurrection had started and clearly, his game character had died.

He removed the helmet covering his head, sat on his bed for a while, then burst out with a curse as if he had just come back to his senses.

"Damn it!"

What exactly is the cost to become a tentacle monster?!

In the end, the nuclear bomb still exploded.

And it happened shortly after it was moved off the truck and pushed down the steep slope.

The silent valley lit up with a beam of light.

That scorching orb, like the sun rising 12 hours too early, instantly lit up the night sky engulfing the valley.

The violent air currents and shockwaves, like raging waves, crashed against the mountains holding back the river, shaking the earth with the terrifying energy it contained.

1. TAIL2???? ☜

2. Tell that to One Punch Man ☜