90: Transformed demon reveals its true form

Before the bulletin board, the new round of lists and tasks were shocking.

“The second stage of trials begins immediately. Task-based, life and death are your own responsibility.”

A few words, revealing a bloody scent. The team roster and task assignments below mostly pointed to desolate areas in the Capital City Suburbs, and even some disreputable underground ruins.

“Mu Feng, Seventh Squad, Captain Zhou Tong.” The deacon in charge of assignments raised his chin, his voice devoid of warmth.

Li Dong pondered. Zhou Tong? That name sounded like trouble, like someone from He Tianzheng’s side.

“Yes, Deacon Sir.” Mu Feng received the task scroll, his face still maintaining that honest and simple expression.

The scroll unfurled, the ink not yet dry: Thirty li west of the Capital City Suburbs, Black Pine Forest abandoned arsenal, clear out wandering Yao Beasts.

Almost simultaneously, a System alert exploded in Li Dong’s mind.

“Warning! High concentration of “demon-attracting incense” residue detected in the target area! Energy fluctuations are abnormally complex, with signs of a large number of unknown modified demons!”,

“System analysis: This task is extremely dangerous and fits the characteristics of a “Perfect Dao Body” screening experiment. It is recommended that the host proceed with caution.”

“demon-attracting incense, modified demons…” Li Dong’s fingers tightened slightly. Was He Tianzheng finally showing his true colors? No longer planning to play those deceptive probing games, but directly serving up the main course to see who could survive in such an environment, and incidentally display something “different”?

Perhaps, what He Tianzheng wanted to see was not just resistance, but also that mysterious “Spirituality” perception, and even… a special Physique that aligned with his sinister experiments.

“This old man wants to use me as a guinea pig and shove me into his damned ‘Perfect Dao Body’ mold,” Li Dong thought to himself.

“Mu Feng, what are you standing there for? Let’s go, are you in a hurry to reincarnate?!” Zhou Tong shouted in a rough, loud voice. His build was like a wall, and the way he looked at Mu Feng was like a butcher looking at a pig.

There were five people in the squad. Besides Zhou Tong and Mu Feng, the other three had also just squeezed through the first round, and anxiety was written all over their faces.

“Captain Zhou, that Black Pine Forest… I heard it wasn’t peaceful before, powerful Yao Beasts appeared there,” a skinny, monkey-like team member muttered softly.

Zhou Tong spat: “Afraid of what?! I’m here! Besides, if you want to get ahead, how can you not take some risks? Which mission from the General Command can you pass by just lying down? Be quick, don’t act like a woman!”

Li Dong deliberately lagged behind the team, but his mind was working rapidly. He Tianzheng wanted to watch a show, fine, he would perform. But how the show would unfold wouldn’t be up to him. He had to find some initiative within this “passivity,” both to figure out the truth and not to reveal all his cards.

His gaze swept over an inconspicuous sachet on Zhou Tong’s waist.

“System prompt: Traces of ‘demon-attracting incense’ emanation source detected, same fragrance type as the mission area.”

“Heh, even his own people are carrying ‘bait.’ Is he afraid the Yao Beasts aren’t enthusiastic enough, or does he want to precisely control the intensity?”

The Black Pine Forest lived up to its name. The forest was dark and gloomy, and the pine needles underfoot were thick, rustling “shasha” with each step, adding a few points of eeriness. In the air, there was a sickly sweet scent that, after prolonged exposure, made one’s head feel a bit swollen.

“Keep your eyes peeled, all of you!” Zhou Tong growled, “This damned place is sinister!”

Li Dong quietly activated his Aura Concealing Jade Pendant, suppressing his Qi to the lowest level, while simultaneously sending out a wisp of Spirituality perception to scout the surroundings.

“Warning! Three hundred meters ahead, intense energy reaction! Within fifty meters, three humanoid Yao Beasts are approaching rapidly!”

“Captain Zhou,” Mu Feng suddenly spoke, his voice a bit stammering, “I, I seem to smell a… strange scent, more pungent than the fragrance in this forest.” He pointed to his front left.

Zhou Tong glanced at him sideways: “Strange scent? Are you a dog?”

No sooner had he spoken than three dark figures lunged out from the depths of the forest!

“Holy shit! They’re blood corpses!” A team member shrieked in fright.

But how could they be ordinary blood corpses! Their figures were grotesque, their skin Dark blue, and their bodies were covered in rough stitch marks, as if different parts of Yao Beasts had been haphazardly stitched together. Metal plates were even exposed at their joints, glinting with cold light. Their movements were terrifyingly fast, emitting incomprehensible roars, and drool sprayed everywhere.

“What the hell are these things?!” Zhou Tong was also startled. These things were far more sinister than what the intelligence report had indicated.

“System analysis: The targets are “Flesh Puppets,” stitched and modified from various Yao Beast remains and Human Race corpses, deeply catalyzed by “demon-attracting incense.” Their strength and speed far exceed Yao Beasts of the same rank. Their weaknesses are the stitched areas on their heads and their energy cores.”

“Careful! They’re coming!” Another team member screamed.

Two Flesh Puppets charged directly at Zhou Tong and another unlucky fellow at the front of the team, while the remaining one circled around and pounced towards Mu Feng, who was at the very back and looked the most harmless and easy to bully.

“Mu Feng, dodge!” Someone shouted.

Mu Feng seemed to be scared stiff, his foot slipped, and with an “ouch,” he rolled to the side in a very clumsy manner.

The Flesh Puppet’s claw missed, raking several deep grooves in the ground.

“What a damn good-for-nothing!” Zhou Tong cursed loudly while fending off the attack in a flurry.

Mu Feng “just happened” to roll behind a large pine tree, and the Flesh Puppet roared as it chased around the trunk.

Just as it was about to pounce on Mu Feng, Mu Feng’s foot seemed to trip on something, and his body twisted in an “unreasonable” way, narrowly avoiding a fatal blow. At the same time, he “frantically” crashed into the Puppet’s left side.

“Thud!”

His “collision” was perfectly aimed, hitting the Puppet’s left leg joint—a weak point that the System had just indicated.

The Flesh Puppet’s movements visibly stiffened.

“Good opportunity!” Zhou Tong, being an old hand, roared and brought his simple blade down with a whoosh towards the other Puppet’s head.

Mu Feng, taking advantage of the Puppet’s momentary pause, had somehow acquired a sharp stone in his hand. He “frantically” plunged it into a stitched seam on the Puppet’s thigh.

“Pfft!”

A jet of black, foul-smelling blood sprayed out.

The Flesh Puppet let out a sharp roar, and its movements visibly slowed down.

“Alright, Mu Tou!” A team member exclaimed with surprise and joy.

Mu Feng, however, had a “still shaken” expression: “I, I don’t know what happened. Maybe it’s the mountain god of our village showing his divine power to protect me.”

“Mountain god?” Zhou Tong scoffed, but a deeper thought entered his eyes. This kid looked foolish, but those few moves just now, to call them coincidences, were too coincidental. Especially the last one, which directly crippled one of the Yao Beast’s legs.

He made up his mind that after returning, he would have to properly report Mu Feng’s “special qualities” to his superiors. Exceptional talent was certain, but such individuals were often the hardest to control.

In the following days, similar “clearing” missions came one after another. Each time, Li Dong’s System would issue high-risk warnings, and each time, the Yao Beasts they encountered exuded an artificial, modified malevolence.

The scent of demon-attracting incense grew stronger, and the degree of modification of the Yao Beasts became increasingly outrageous. There was even one instance where they encountered a “stitched Yao General” that could speak human language but was incoherent; its strength was almost comparable to Foundation Establishment Perfection.

Casualties began to appear in the squad, but Mu Feng always managed, with the help of his “damned good luck” and “country bumpkin’s intuition,” to help the squad turn danger into safety at the most critical moments, or at least ensure his own survival unscathed.

The samples he secretly collected also grew in number, and the System’s analysis of the Forbidden Experiment became increasingly thorough.

“System analysis: Based on existing samples, it is initially confirmed that the “Soul-Devouring Demon Flower” is technically linked to this type of modified demon. The “spirituality fragments” within the modified demons are suspected to be one of the Soul-Devouring Demon Flower’s nutrients, or used to stabilize the demon flower’s energy.”

“Using living spirituality fragments to feed that demonic flower… He Tianzheng, your heart is truly black to the core!” Li Dong felt an unidentifiable rage surge within him.

He was now almost certain that within the capital, or in the near suburbs, there must be a sizable and extremely cruel experimental base hidden. These so-called “clearing missions” were merely a cover for He Tianzheng to dispose of failed experiments and, incidentally, screen for “good Materials.”

And he, Mu Feng, was one of the “Materials” being closely observed.

“Captain Zhou, this Mu Feng… he’s a real freak.” After another mission, a team member who had luckily survived said to Zhou Tong, his voice tinged with an indescribable awe, “Every time we thought he was going to die there, but he always ended up fine. Instead, it was us who lost brothers.”

Zhou Tong’s face was dark, and he said nothing.

His feelings towards Mu Feng grew increasingly complex.

There was something sinister about this kid that made him uneasy.

His superiors had told him to pay more attention, but this was far from simple attention; this kid was practically a powder keg in his arms.

He sent out a report encrypted with special methods, detailing Mu Feng’s “miraculous” performances in several missions and specifically emphasizing the kid’s “unpredictable” and “difficult to control” characteristics.

It was late, and the barracks were quiet. Li Dong sat cross-legged on the hard bunk.

“He Tianzheng, it’s time for you to reveal some of your trump cards, isn’t it?”

He could feel that as the mission difficulty continuously increased, He Tianzheng’s patience was also being consumed little by little.

Those modified Yao Beasts were getting stronger and stronger, and also getting closer to some kind of “finished product.”

“demon-attracting incense… modified Yao Beasts… spirituality fragments… Soul-Devouring Demon Flower… Dragon Vein…” These words swirled in his mind.

He needed an opportunity, an opportunity that would allow him to directly reach the core of the experiment, or even find that sinister base.

“It seems that for the next mission, I’ll have to stir up something even bigger.”

The corners of his mouth unconsciously curved upwards, then immediately returned to that honest and simple expression.

The real storm, he feared, was only just beginning to gather.

He had to carefully plan how to further muddy the waters in the eye of this storm, and then, how to catch the biggest fish from it.