12: Mother Nest

Tenacious Will!

[Passive · Tenacious Will Lv.1: Your will is incredibly tenacious. When you are affected by negative energy, as long as you persist with your will, you will continuously surpass your limits. No cooldown.]

Boom!

At this moment, Li An only heard a sudden shock deep within his mind, and his almost shattered will instantly solidified again, becoming even more stable.

In a trance, Li An's vision was filled with countless bizarre images—the memories of this Hunter when it was still 'human,' and everything after it became a Hunter.

Li An mostly chose to ignore what he saw, focusing his attention on finding the Mother Nest's location. As a Hunter born from the Mother Nest, its memories must contain the Mother's location, scent, and everything else, and all he had to do was patiently search.

Numerous images continuously appeared and then disappeared in Li An's eyes; he was constantly filtering out unnecessary scenes. Finally, Li An stopped his actions, and an image was fixed before his eyes.

It was a large building just three streets away from here. Through the image, Li An saw a familiar scene he had only witnessed in games: a massive structure covered by countless biological tendrils. A black-red cellular membrane completely covered and enveloped the entire building.

Dense, bloody gas spread out from within the building, engulfing several kilometers of nearby streets. Swaying mutated plants and frenzied Infected were engaged in rampant combat, a terrifying chaos that seemed endless!

And this was the Mother Nest!

The process of memory assimilation was not actually long. To Li An, it might have felt like a long time, but in the external world, only an instant had passed.

A strong sense of suffocation surged, and Li An, in the outside world, suddenly opened his eyes. There was no need for words; having completed memory assimilation, he instinctively knew where the Mother Nest was. Immediately, Li An bent his knees, then leaped up, gliding towards a nearby tall building.

Gaseous tendrils extended from Li An's back, forming faint, invisible thin wings, carrying Li An to the target building in mere seconds. Then, Li An stepped onto the wall, beginning to ascend rapidly. Scarlet blood-red traces flowed behind him, and in just the blink of an eye, Li An had advanced dozens of meters upwards.

At this moment, the sound of the wind echoed in Li An's ears. He felt the wind blowing, so strong that it even swept his hair back. As Li An moved quickly, he finally leaped to the top of the building, where he stood upright, overlooking the city!

"It's there."

The next second, Li An immediately locked onto a spot not far below. In fact, from Li An's vantage point, many situations below were clear at a glance. The massive building continuously spewing dense, bloody gas was simply too conspicuous.

Bang!

Without hesitation, the concrete ground beneath Li An's feet shattered. He himself, at this moment, descended like a cannonball, transforming into a crimson streak of blood-light in the air, plummeting towards the Mother Nest below.

Rumble!

Finally, Li An, carrying an incredibly heavy momentum, directly smashed into the Mother Nest's internal space, landing on the biological cocoons within. The huge roar caused by Li An's arrival also drew the attention of the Infected within the space. When they discovered that the newcomer was human, a low growl immediately erupted.

Roar!

The next second, battle erupted!

Facing Li An, this uninvited guest, the Infected that had just been born from the Mother Nest immediately fell into complete frenzy, baring their incredibly foul-smelling mouths and pouncing on Li An.

His human scent, completely different from that of the Mother Nest, immediately pushed Li An into the eye of the storm. At this moment, he had to confront the endless monsters surging towards him.

Kill, kill, kill!

Without hesitation, Li An charged directly into the attacking enemies. In an instant, blood splattered, and wails filled the air.

Li An's speed was too fast. The moment he made contact with an Infected, he used his strength and speed to grab its neck, then forcefully hurled it forward.

Bang, bang, bang!

Intense crashing sounds immediately rang out in succession. Many Infected were directly sent flying on the spot, crushed into a bloody mess. Li An's offensive immediately broke the Infected's charging formation, causing the scene to fall into temporary chaos.

Seeing this, Li An seized the opportunity, his figure transforming into an afterimage as he plunged into the Infected horde. Facing a group of Infected with only ten or twenty attribute points, Li An was like a wolf among sheep; the overwhelming power was fully displayed at this moment.

Countless biological tendrils flew and danced wildly, controlled by Li An's consciousness, lashing out madly in all directions, striking the cocoons and the Infected. Before Li An's absolute strength, the Infected were like autumn leaves, all struck and slammed against the walls, while the cocoons were beaten into indentations, their health then plummeting.

Crack, crack, crack!

Facing the wanton slaughter Li An unleashed within the Mother Nest, the Mother Nest Will was furious. However, as the Mother Nest, its sole characteristic was only reproduction. Therefore, it could only forcibly awaken the Hunters and Leeches still in incubation, ordering them to attack Li An!

With a series of crisp sounds, within a biological cultivation chamber in the Mother Nest, the Hunters, whose eyes had been tightly shut, all opened their savage eyes. At this moment, dozens of Hunters... awakened!

Roar!

A huge roar echoed throughout the entire Mother Nest at this moment. The Hunters, forcibly awakened by the Mother Nest Will, all let out brutal cries, then began to struggle violently until they tore open their biological chambers. Accompanied by the outflow of biological nutrient fluid, they finally broke free.

Whoosh~

Heavy gasping sounds rang out as the Hunters broke free. They swayed their bodies, shaking off the liquid on them, and then all pounced towards Li An.

Bang!

A strong Hunter was the first to confront Li An. The moment the Hunter landed, it directly crushed several Infected to death, turning them into meat paste, then continued its movement, pouncing directly at Li An.

[Infected · Hunter] (Incomplete Body)

Level: Lv.4

Health: 1080

Strength: 37 (Attack Power)

Agility: 40 (Attack Speed, Movement Speed)

Stamina: 35 (Recovery, Defense)

Intelligence: 1 (Mental Power)

Abilities: Predation Lv.4, Infection Spread Lv.4

1. [Passive · Predation Lv.4: Hunters can prey on other organisms, including humans and other mutated organisms.]

2. [Passive · Infection Spread Lv.4: As a vector for the virus, Hunters can further infect other organisms and have a chance to evolve into Mutants.]