36: Chapter 36 Cultivation Ceremony

Liu Lingwei frowned slightly, her doubts about the man before her deepening once more.

However, she knew that Chen Ye was right, so she didn't hesitate for too long.

She raised her voice and ordered: "Everyone, clean your wounds, check your equipment, and follow me upstairs! We must rescue all the survivors!"

Everyone acted immediately, with Chen Ye and Liu Lingwei taking the lead.

Zhang Lei and the remaining Armed Police followed closely behind, moving upwards along the stairwell covered in black vines.

The stairwell was filled with a foul stench, and the black substance writhed slowly like a living thing.

It was sticky and disgusting; the walls and railings were completely encased, and stepping on it felt slimy and tacky, making one's skin crawl.

The doors to the rooms on every floor were wide open. The stairwell was narrow, and a few low-level Mutated Beasts were guarding the entrances, but they were no match for the group.

They were dealt with quickly and easily.

Pushing open the door to the top-floor room, the sight before them made everyone's pupils shrink, their stomachs churning, and they felt like vomiting on the spot!

In the large room, it was packed densely with female survivors!

They were all tightly wrapped in the sticky black substance extending from the building structure.

It wound its way up from their ankles, waists, and abdomens, all the way to their necks.

Most of them only had their heads and a little bit of their necks exposed, while a few had already been wrapped into huge black cocoons, with only a tiny gap left for breathing.

The black substance writhed like blood vessels, seemingly feeding on something, and the women's faces were filled with fear and despair.

Most of them were still conscious, staring blankly at the doorway with tears sliding silently down their faces.

The few cocoons that were completely wrapped no longer showed any signs of life.

Liu Lingwei's body trembled, her slender fingers gripping her military knife tightly, her cold eyes filled with rage and unbearable pity.

She was furious: "These beasts! What on earth are they doing to them!"

The Armed Police turned their heads away, unable to bear looking any longer.

Zhang Lei's chubby face turned pale, and he covered his mouth, fighting back nausea.

Chen Ye stood in the center of the room, watching the slowly writhing black cocoons, his brows furrowed tightly.

His heart was filled with surprise and doubt. Draining vitality, wrapping them in cocoons, concentrated imprisonment...

This was definitely not simple hunting or imprisonment; it looked more like a bizarre cultivation ritual.

What kind of terrifying thing did the Mutated Beast behind the scenes, the one that set up the barrier, want to cultivate using these women?

An unprecedented sense of crisis once again shrouded Chen Ye's heart.

"Don't just stand there! Rescue them immediately!"

Chen Ye's sharp shout pierced the silence of the room. The Armed Police instantly snapped back to reality, gripped their military knives, and rushed toward those sticky black cocoons.

The military knives sliced through the viscous black substance, emitting a harsh, sizzling sound.

The eerie, vine-like substance curled and contracted like a living thing, oozing a pale green liquid the moment it was slashed, which was utterly disgusting.

The rescued female survivors collapsed to the ground, their faces pale as paper, their eye sockets sunken, and their bodies weak and powerless.

It was as if all their strength had been drained; they could only huddle against the wall, shivering, their eyes filled with the fear and bewilderment of having survived a disaster.

In the crowd, a slightly younger girl, whose physical condition was somewhat better, managed to stand up by bracing herself against the floor, her slender legs trembling uncontrollably.

She looked at Chen Ye and Liu Lingwei, her small face flushing red, both fearful and embarrassed, her lips trembling.

Yet she hesitated to speak, her clear eyes brimming with tears, filled with disgust and despair.

Seeing this, Liu Lingwei stepped forward quickly, leaned down slightly, and lowered her voice to soothe her: "Don't be afraid, take your time. No matter what it is, we can solve it."

The girl bit her lower lip, hesitating for a moment.

Finally, she leaned into Liu Lingwei's ear and, in a voice only the two of them could hear, tremblingly spoke a sentence.

The moment the words fell, Liu Lingwei's body stiffened abruptly!

Her cold, sharp eyes widened suddenly, her face beneath her mask turned deathly pale in an instant, and she retreated half a step in disbelief, her usually calm voice tinged with shock and rage: "What?!"

Those beasts actually implanted insect eggs into the women's bodies, using them as incubators to cultivate their offspring!

"Quick! Everyone, speed up!"

"Rescue all the survivors upstairs immediately! Not a moment can be wasted!"

Liu Lingwei could no longer maintain her composure and ordered sharply, her voice filled with irrepressible rage.

The Armed Police dared not delay, splitting into small teams and rushing upstairs at full speed.

Chen Ye stood where he was, watching the girl's terrified appearance and Liu Lingwei's reaction; his inner suspicions were instantly confirmed.

These deranged Mutated Beasts were not simply imprisoning the women.

They were using them as living incubators, draining their vitality with the black substance and then implanting foreign objects to hatch.

Such conduct was simply heinous!

Just then, a rumbling crashing sound came from below the stairwell, and the roars of Mutated Beasts drew closer!

Everyone peered down and saw a dense crowd of Mutated Beasts gathered downstairs.

But strangely, those massive, strength-type Mutated Beasts were just roaring crazily at the stairwell entrance.

Yet they never dared to crash into the walls, as if the walls of this building were forbidden to them.

Chen Ye's gaze fell on the increasingly dense black substance on the walls, spreading upwards along the patterns, and he instantly confirmed his judgment.

This black substance extended from the roof; the entire building's bizarre barrier, the black cocoons, the Mutated Beast guards—

—were all because a hive-queen-like Mutated Beast was hiding at the top of the building!

"Deputy Captain Liu, wait!"

Chen Ye quickly called out to stop Liu Lingwei, who was preparing to lead the team upstairs, his tone urgent but clear: "There are at least a hundred women captured in this Residential Community."

"We only have a dozen people. Even if we rescue everyone, with the Mutated Beasts blocking the way downstairs, can you evacuate them safely?"

Liu Lingwei paused, her cold brows knitting slightly.

As a SWAT deputy captain, she was always rational and decisive, so she naturally understood that what Chen Ye said was a fact.

Rescuing people was easy, but protecting them during evacuation was difficult. Once they were carrying over a hundred weak women, they would never break through the encirclement of the Mutated Beasts.

"What idea do you have?" Liu Lingwei asked straightforwardly. She could tell that this man was by no means an ordinary person.

"The black substance spreads from the roof, and the barrier is also emitted from the roof. The root cause is the hive-queen Mutated Beast on the roof."

Chen Ye said in a deep voice, "Only by taking out the hive-queen will the black substance wither and the barrier disappear, allowing the main force to enter."

Liu Lingwei's heart sank, and she asked, "How much confidence do you have?"

"Not even one percent." Chen Ye shook his head frankly. "But do you have any other choice? Continuing to rescue people will only result in everyone being trapped here to die."

Liu Lingwei fell silent, her fingertips clenching, struggling between reason and choice.

"I advise you not to be reckless!" Zhang Lei, hiding in the corner of the stairwell, poked his head out.

His chubby face was full of fear, and he shrank his neck, shouting: "The hive-queen Mutated Beast is definitely at least Tier 2. If we rush up there, we're just throwing our lives away!"

"Besides, there's no one to guard the rescued women, and if the Mutated Beasts rush up, they'll die anyway!"

Just as Chen Ye was about to speak, Liu Lingwei turned to look at Zhang Lei first, her tone sincere: "Brother Zhang Lei, your Superpower is our greatest reliance. We need your help for this operation."

"As long as we can successfully evacuate, I will truthfully report your contribution, and in the future, you will never become targets of The Authorities."

Zhang Lei curled his lip, completely unmoved: "Don't feed me empty promises. I always prioritize saving my own life. If it's really dangerous, I'll definitely run by myself; I won't look after you."

Liu Lingwei nodded helplessly. She knew this fat man's nature, but she had no choice but to accept it.

Seeing this, Chen Ye knew there was no time to hesitate, so he immediately said: "Give me all the grenades you have on you!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the Armed Police present were all stunned, looking at Chen Ye with wary expressions.

"Why do you want grenades again?"