radicalducati Chapter 8 Crack
Chapter 8 Crack
He moved.
No longer the calculating, opportunistic "cleaner" of the past. Instead, like a cannonball launched from a gun, or a mad dog pouncing on its prey, it charged straight at the park keeper's massive, crooked body with an unstoppable, destructive ferocity! Its speed was at least twice as fast as before! Its figure left a blurry afterimage in the dim red light and green mist!
"The Cleaner?!" Iron Anvil, who had just barely recovered from the mental shock, exclaimed in horror upon seeing this scene.
Ah Qi abruptly turned her head, a violent tremor appearing in her usually cold eyes for the first time. She stared intently at Cheng Song's mutated right arm and his eyes, which gleamed with a dark red, menacing light, and whispered in disbelief, "What is that?!"
Coughing up blood, Mi Tong struggled to lift his upper body from the control panel. His eerie green eyes, peering through his fingers, were fixed on Cheng Song. What he "saw" was not a person pouncing on a monster, but a suddenly erupting, chaotic, hungry, and ever-twisting dark red vortex of souls, brimming with a desire to devour and evolve! This was completely different from the life field he had previously sensed, the one that "resonated" with the pollution. This was... his long-hidden essence?!
The gardener also noticed the approaching "little bug." It seemed to pause for a moment, and then, a hint of... ecstasy shone through its mixed voice?
"That's it...that's it! Let it out! Embrace it! This is how you should be! Come on, let me see what kind of flower this wild seed can bloom...uh?!"
It didn't finish its sentence.
Because Cheng Song had already pounced on the relatively soft side of its belly, exposed by its broken leg. He didn't use a dagger; instead, his mutated right claw, covered in black substance, with its five hook-like fingers, whistled through the air as it viciously dug into the gardener's dark green, writhing flesh!
"Pfft!"
The claw pierced in without resistance, reaching all the way to the wrist. The sensation wasn't toughness, but rather... a strange feeling of stickiness, slipperiness, elasticity, and surging life energy. No blood gushed from the wound, only large amounts of thick, viscous, green mucus with a pungent, sweet, and fishy smell flowed out.
"Hiss—!" The gardener let out a painful hiss, and several tentacles and intact supporting legs immediately swept wildly towards Cheng Song, who was hanging on it.
But Cheng Song was faster! He completely ignored the sweeping attacks, his right claw plunging and tearing into the guardian's body! A large mass of writhing flesh, mixed with green slime and broken tissue, was ripped out by him! At the same time, the dagger in his left hand flashed with dark light, accurately and ruthlessly stabbing at the weak points of the surrounding tentacle joints and supporting legs. Although it did not cause serious injury, it successfully disrupted their attack route, buying him a moment of time.
Then, to everyone's disbelief—including the park keeper's incredulous gaze—Cheng Song did something they would never forget, something that would send chills down their spines.
Without hesitation, he stuffed the twitching piece of gardener's flesh, which he had torn off from his right claw, into his mouth.
Chewing. Swallowing.
A movement in the throat.
His dark red eyes shone with an alarming brightness the moment he swallowed.
The gardener's massive body suddenly froze. Even his pain and rage seemed to pause for a moment. The flames in his six compound eyes flickered wildly as he stared intently at Cheng Song. For the first time, his mixed voice showed a violent emotional fluctuation, no longer one of temptation or mockery, but a mixture of shock, fury, and a trace of... indescribable greed and desire.
"You...you actually...can directly consume source blood derivatives...without refining...without conversion..." The gardener's voice trembled, as if he had discovered some rare treasure. "No wonder...no wonder the aura of the benevolent father was so faint yet so stubborn...you...you are not a simple 'affinity'...you are...a devourer?! A born mother embryo?!"
Its voice suddenly rose, filled with a distorted tremor of excitement: "Catch you! I must catch you! Lord Reaper will reward me handsomely! No... I will offer myself to the Father! I will receive true grace!!"
At that moment, the instant Cheng Song swallowed that lump of meat, he felt as if a cold flame had exploded in his stomach! A surging, pure, yet chaotic and painful energy, mixed with countless fragments of genetic information and soul fragments, rushed into his limbs and bones like a flood bursting its banks, surging into the depths of his brain!
Evolution! Satisfaction! Power is surging! The changes in the right arm are obvious. Black matter spreads upwards, covering the elbow. Under the skin, there is a tearing and pleasurable sensation of pain and regeneration.
But at the same time, countless shattered images, piercing screams, and frantic babbling flooded into his consciousness like a tidal wave:
Laboratory, restraints, cold needles piercing the neck, green liquid injected, burning pain...
The body is contorting, the bones are growing, the skin is festering, and consciousness is sinking...
"Father...Father...Please accept me..."
"No!! I don't want to become a monster! Help me!!"
A steel cage, endless torture, flesh being cut away, soul being torn apart...
"...To become the guardian of the nursery...is your honor..."
"Glory... Protection... Consume... Evolution..."
These are the last memories of the players who were devoured and merged by the guardians! They are fragments condensed from countless pains and madness!
"Ughhhhhh—!"
Cheng Song let out a roar of pain and rage, his eyes gleaming with a dark red light that almost overflowed. He yanked out his right claw, pulling out more flesh and sludge. At the gardener's wound, the muscle tissue writhed wildly, trying to heal, but the area torn open by Cheng Song healed much more slowly, as if something was continuously eroding it.
The virus is cheering, it's evolving. But his rationality, under the onslaught of this massive amount of negative memories and chaotic energy, is like a small boat in a storm, on the verge of capsizing at any moment.
"Scavenger! Come back!" Anvil roared, his voice filled with anxiety and a hint of barely perceptible fear. He saw that Cheng Song's condition was clearly off; he wasn't acting like a normal player at all.
Ah Qi had already assumed a fighting stance again, but her gaze was mostly fixed on Cheng Song, her eyes filled with an extremely complex mix of emotions—shock, vigilance, disbelief, and a hint of deeply hidden, chilling killing intent. Her physical cultivation senses told her that the dangerous aura emanating from this "teammate" was no less than that of the terrifying garden guardian, and perhaps even more... unpredictable.
Mi Tong struggled to sit up, barely managing to raise his staff. His eerie green eyes were fixed on Cheng Song, his voice hoarse like a broken bellows: "His soul... is twisting... is devouring! He's devouring the essence of that monster! This is impossible... this violates..."
"Nothing is impossible!" The Gardener interrupted Secret Eye with a maniacal laugh. It seemed completely unconcerned about the pain Cheng Song had caused it by biting it, instead, it was incredibly excited. "See that? This is another manifestation of the power of 'Fatherly Compassion'! Savage, primitive, yet full of infinite possibilities! Kid, join us! I'll show you true 'evolution'! You will become a being superior to me, no, superior to Lord Reaper! You will..."
Its words came to an abrupt halt once again.
Because Cheng Song raised his head.
His facial muscles twitched slightly, and green phlegm and black, oil-like bloodstains lingered at the corners of his mouth. His eyes struggled and flickered violently between a frenzied crimson and the last vestiges of human reason. He glanced at the ecstatic park keeper, then at his teammates, who looked on with alarm and unfamiliar eyes.
Then, in a hoarse, dry voice, as if two pieces of rusty iron were rubbing against each other, he said, word by word:
"Your 'evolution'..."
"It was built on the lives of others."
The moment he finished speaking, he moved. But instead of lunging at the gardener again, he suddenly retreated, and at the same time, the dagger in his left hand flew out, turning into a streak of black light, shooting towards the ceiling of the room, towards the thick main ventilation duct that had been knocked about when the gardener appeared, dripping slime and corrosive spores!
"No! What are you doing!" The gardener seemed to realize something, and the flames in his compound eyes leaped wildly.
The dagger struck precisely at the most rusted and cracked joint in the pipe.
"Crack... Boom!!!"
The metal pipe, which had long endured immense pressure and corrosion, finally succumbed to the impact of the dagger and snapped in two! The heavy upper half of the pipe, carrying with it a massive amount of corrosive slime, spores, and various filth that had accumulated for who knows how long, crashed down like a collapsing tower, crashing down on the large park keeper who was now immobilized by his broken leg!
"Damn it!!!" the park guardian roared in shock and rage, its tentacles and supporting legs flailing wildly as it tried to block or break the falling pipe. But the broken pipe was too large and too heavy, and the filthy slime pouring out from inside was overwhelming, severely interfering with its senses and movements.
"Now's the time! Go!" Cheng Song roared, taking advantage of the moment when the park keeper was temporarily overwhelmed by the collapsed pipes and the filthy torrent, and rushed towards the fallen Mi Tong and the unconscious Yi Wen. His right arm still retained its ferocious claw shape covered in black substance, but his movements were as fast as a ghost, picking up the two of them with one hand each.
Iron Anvil and Ah Qi instantly understood his intention. Without the slightest hesitation, Iron Anvil raised his heavy shield to protect his back, while Ah Qi rushed forward to clear a path, blasting open another side door that had been deformed but not completely blocked by the previous battle.
"Over here!"
Like stray dogs, the group rushed into the dark passage behind the side door. Behind them came the rage of the park keeper, the deafening roar of twisting and breaking metal, and the gushing sound of gushing slime.
The passageway was pitch black, filled with an even stronger musty smell and a strange, musky odor mixed with rust. The ground beneath their feet was no longer sticky, but dry dust and gravel.
I don't know how long I ran, until the roars and collapses behind me gradually faded and disappeared. A fork in the road appeared ahead. One side had a faint, ominous dark red glow, while the other side was a deep darkness that seemed to absorb all light.
Exhausted, the group finally stopped, leaning against the cold, damp wall, panting heavily. The shield on the anvil was riddled with dents and corroded holes. Ah Qi was pale, his breathing erratic, and cracks were spreading across his right wrist guard. Cheng Song threw down the two men he was carrying; Mi Tong lay unconscious, and Ivan lay there like a dead dog.
The grotesque black substance and claws on his right arm were slowly receding like the tide, shrinking back into his body to reveal a pale arm covered in tiny tears and dark red lines. Each contraction brought excruciating pain, as if his muscles were being torn apart. He lowered his head, panting heavily, trying to calm the still-stirring virus within his body, which was digesting the "Guardian of the Garden Sashimi," and the fragmented, painful remnants of memories echoing in his mind.
Only the heavy, uneven sounds of breathing echoed in the dark passage.
After an unknown amount of time, Ah Qi slowly straightened up. Although she swayed unsteadily, like a reed in the wind, something sharper than a blade was now gathered deep within her clear, cold eyes. In the dim, flickering emergency light, her gaze was fixed intently on Cheng Song, who was lurking in the shadows in the corner, his head bowed.
Her voice, hoarse and dry from exhaustion, dehydration, and the previous struggle, carried a resolute coldness, each word striking a clear blow to everyone's taut nerves:
"What exactly are you?"
Mi Tong had also woken up at some point. He coughed softly, spitting out a mouthful of dark red, foul-smelling blood, and struggled to sit up against the dilapidated wall. In the shadows beneath the hood, his eerie green eyes shone with a chilling light. Although the light from his staff was dim, the tip of the staff was perfectly aligned, slightly turned towards Cheng Song's direction.
Iron Anvil silently removed the tactical helmet, its front covered in jagged claw marks and almost deformed, revealing a square face with sharp features, stained with blood and dust. He didn't speak, but his equally heavy, scrutinizing gaze, filled with suppressed astonishment, fixed firmly on Cheng Song. At the same time, his rough, calloused hand slowly and firmly pressed onto the wooden handle of the short-handled breaching hammer at his waist.
Ivan remained unconscious, snoring softly, but no one cared whether he lived or died.
A oppressive, deathly silence, thick with the stench of blood and gunpowder, permeated the ruined space like viscous asphalt. The strange scent in the air, a mixture of musk, rust, and some indescribable energy, seemed to intensify due to the vigilance and silence of the crowd, becoming almost suffocating.
Cheng Song slowly, extremely slowly, raised his head.
His face was covered in dried, blackened blood, green slime, and black smudges left by the explosion. Under the flickering, dim red emergency lights, he looked particularly grotesque, almost unrecognizable. Only his eyes remained bloodshot, and deep within his pupils, a chilling, inhuman dim red light had not been completely extinguished, but was forcibly suppressed, like a still-burning ember beneath ashes, flickering faintly beneath his eyelids.
He opened his mouth, his dry, chapped lips moved a few times as if getting used to making a sound, before finally uttering a hoarse voice that sounded less human and more like sandpaper rubbing against rusty iron:
"If I say..."
His gaze swept across Ah Qi's icy face without any emotion, then passed over the eerie green eyes beneath the hood of the Secret Eyes, finally settling on the anvil's hand, which was resting on the weapon's hilt with slightly bulging veins.
"Me, those corrupt zombies outside whose minds are filled with nothing but 'eat, eat, eat,' and that 'gardener' who just looked like an illegal structure..."
He paused deliberately, as if gathering his last bit of strength, or as if stating a cold, absurd, yet inescapable fact.
"When it comes to the idea that 'eating can make you stronger'... I'd say I'm barely in the same boat."
The air seemed to freeze for a moment.
Cheng Song tugged at the corners of his mouth, the mixture of blood and sludge on his face cracking with the slight movement. It wasn't exactly a smile; it was more like a mixture of extreme exhaustion, deep self-mockery, and a kind of "I knew this would happen" helplessness.
"Sigh," he suddenly sighed, the sigh particularly clear in the deathly silence, carrying a strange tone that seemed completely out of place with the life-or-death crisis at hand, "I knew it, a pitifully thick barrier had already separated us."
Ah Qi: "..."
Secret Eye: "..."
The hand on the hammer handle trembled almost imperceptibly. The muscles on his face seemed to twitch for half a second, as if he was trying to understand what kind of bizarre logical connection existed between this abruptly inserted, literary, and incongruous remark and the current serious occasion of "a teammate who seems to be a humanoid monster coming clean."
The thick barrier formed by vigilance, hostility, and fear seemed to have been cracked open by these inexplicable words, revealing a few wisps of relaxed yet absurd air.
"So," Cheng Song seemed oblivious to his teammates' momentary collective speechlessness and loss of composure. He took a breath, trying to make his hoarse voice clearer, his gaze returning to calm, even with a hint of resignation, "you guys now want to promote the idea that 'to fight external enemies, one must first secure internal stability,' and clean house right now, eliminating this unstable element like me on the spot..."
He paused, leaning forward slightly, and despite his weakness, his gaze met the eyes of the three people in turn.
"Or should we work together to take down the real dungeon boss—'The Corrupted Mother Nest'—before closing the door and settling the score about 'what exactly am I'?"