447: Chapter 444 Let's go catch jellyfish.

Shen Mingyuan switched back to his first form. After confirming that the positioning information could be sent out successfully, he continued further in the direction the car had disappeared.

The forest grew denser, the surrounding light completely blocked by the canopy, with only the occasional moonlight leaking through the gaps to cast mottled bright spots on the ground. He stepped on the fallen leaves, his footsteps so light they were almost silent.

He walked until he reached the deepest part and stopped.

Through the gaps in the thicket, a relatively open clearing could be seen ahead. A large number of figures were gathered there—not just a few, but dozens, perhaps even a hundred. They stood there quietly, without conversation or movement, like a group of statues.

Shen Mingyuan squinted, wanting to move a bit closer.

Just as he took half a step, he suddenly stopped.

Something was approaching.

He quickly turned sideways, darting behind a thick tree trunk and holding his breath.

A transparent figure crawled through the woods.

The thing wasn't large, resembling some kind of mollusk. Its body was almost transparent, with only a fist-sized core inside faintly visible. It wasn't floating—it crawled along the ground, moving slowly in a wriggling motion. As the moonlight hit it, the transparent tissues could be seen undulating slightly, like jelly. It crawled past the tree where Shen Mingyuan was hiding, without stopping, continuing forward and disappearing into the thicket on the other side.

Shen Mingyuan stared in the direction it disappeared, frowning.

A jellyfish? With legs? A crawling jellyfish?

He had no time to overthink. Once the thing was far away, he lightly climbed a nearby large tree, chose a sturdy branch to crouch on, and activated his Ultrasonic Perception.

The voices of the people below began to reach his ears.

It was very quiet. Those people were just standing there, breathing, with someone occasionally shifting their posture. No one spoke—or rather, they didn't need to speak.

A few minutes later, a monkey wearing a lab coat walked over from another direction.

It walked to the front of the group, stopped, and spoke to one of them.

"Lord."

The person addressed as "Lord" moved. He—or rather, it—looked up at the monkey.

"What is it?"

The monkey's voice was a bit hurried.

"Regarding the matter you assigned, about your... we have already been exposed to the humans."

The person nodded, his expression remaining unchanged.

"I know," it said. "Of course I know. A part of me has already been caught and is currently locked in a human prison."

The monkey was stunned, as if wanting to say something, but the person continued.

"But there's no need to worry." Its tone was calm. "We are going to evacuate—you all will evacuate. These humans will stay here."

It paused, its gaze sweeping over the quietly standing figures around it.

"Humans usually show mercy to their own kind. As so-called 'righteous' types, they won't directly deal a killing blow. So don't worry about my side."

The monkey nodded.

"Then regarding the research..."

"Good timing." The person turned toward it. "How is my Infection Research going? And those Special Human Cells, the ones we collected, how is the research on those? When can it be fully operational?"

An almost excited expression appeared on the monkey's face.

"It will be ready soon, Lord," it said. "The situation was urgent back then, and although the Mutated Version we researched wasn't perfect, it has other uses. I am currently combining it with your Infection Ability. When the time comes—"

It took a deep breath.

"We will be able to control all living organisms on the globe. The New Federation will completely replace humanity and become a brand-new civilized race."

After listening, the person was silent for a second, then nodded slightly.

"Very good."

It turned, glanced at the group of quietly standing people, and then looked at the monkey.

"Then let's evacuate. Don't delay."

Crouched in the tree, Shen Mingyuan heard every word of the conversation below.

"I see. It's the New Federation again."

"Infection... special cells... no way? What do they want with Ye Ouyang's cells this time? Why does everyone want that stuff?"

He rubbed his brow.

"My god, Ye Ouyang's cells are just too much, aren't they? I'll have to report this issue to the Shaper when I get back. But forget it, reporting it probably won't solve anything. The cells are right there; if people want to research them, how can you stop them?"

He continued thinking.

"This thing—this 'Lord'—is from the New Federation. It wants to control all of humanity through infection? What does that have to do with Ye Ouyang's cells? Wait, infection? They're not actually going to start something like Resident Evil, are they? A Zombie Apocalypse? These guys..."

He looked at the "Lord" below once more.

"This one should be a fellow kind similar to Xiao Hui. From what it said, it doesn't plan to evacuate itself; its main body probably isn't here. These human bodies are just Clones. The animals are the ones evacuating—that monkey, and those invisible patrolling things."

Should he stop them?

It didn't seem to make much sense. Since the main body wasn't here, detaining a few animals would only alert the enemy.

In that case...

He pulled out a small Transparent Device and glanced at it.

"If that jellyfish-like thing comes over again, it'll be easy to handle."

Shen Mingyuan put the item away, jumped down from the tree, and stood out in the open.

"Thinking of evacuating?"

His voice exploded across the quiet forest clearing, and everyone turned their heads to look at him.

When the monkey saw him, its expression changed instantly, and without a word, it turned and ran.

The group of controlled humans didn't speak. They just turned simultaneously, staring at Shen Mingyuan with hollow eyes, and then lunged at him all at once.

Shen Mingyuan stood his ground, unmoving.

Looking at the charging figures, he understood their intent—either you kill this group of innocent people, or we let this group beat you to death with their fists.

Shen Mingyuan looked at the lunging figures and couldn't help but click his tongue.

"If this were a Cultivation Novel," he said while backing away, "the situation would be 'how dare you, bold demons, possess innocent bystanders; it seems I can only avenge them.' But unfortunately, this isn't one."

He dodged a reaching hand.

"This is the Tokusatsu Hero genre. We have to preserve every innocent person as much as possible. That's what a hero should do—protect everyone, even if they get hurt themselves."

As he spoke, he exerted force with his feet, jumping onto a nearby tree in a few leaps. The people chased him from below but couldn't climb up, only able to reach out their hands in vain beneath the tree.

Shen Mingyuan leaped through the canopy, chasing in the direction the monkey had fled.

The transparent figure rushed out.

An electric current was released from within it, blue-white arcs of electricity darting wildly between the trees. Shen Mingyuan dodged to the side, the current grazing past his armor and hitting the tree behind him, blasting a patch of charred black.

"Ouch," he shouted while dodging, "such scary electricity. Are you trying to charge my weapon?"

He raised his Dual Pistols and fired several shots in the direction the animals were fleeing—not at the jellyfish, but chasing the monkey. The Black-red Bullets whistled through the forest, forcing the animals to run even faster.

At the same time, his hand quietly pulled out that small Transparent Device and, taking advantage of a gap between the bursts of electricity, pressed it onto the trunk of a nearby tree.

The jellyfish released electricity again and charged at him. Shen Mingyuan dodged to the side, and the transparent body, unable to stop its momentum, crashed headfirst into the tree.

The device silently sank into its body.

The corners of Shen Mingyuan's mouth curled up.

The animals had already run far away. The jellyfish pulled itself off the tree trunk, turned, and rushed at him again. Shen Mingyuan made several leaps, dodging back and forth through the canopy, always maintaining his distance.

"Speaking of which," he asked while jumping, "are you afraid of spongebob? Or Patrick Star? Or rather—are you afraid of a Jellyfish Net?"

The jellyfish's body trembled slightly, and the electric currents were released more frequently. It wrapped its transparent tentacle around the tree trunk, wriggling upward quickly to chase him.

Shen Mingyuan jumped back, landing on another tree, and looked in the direction the animals had disappeared.

"They sure run fast," he muttered, then looked down at the group of figures still chasing him.

"Whatever, I'm out of here."

He turned and disappeared into the depths of the forest in a few leaps.