Chapter 565: A Woman Like a Fading Flower
"Capture her for me!" the Grand Archon snarled, unwilling to let her die so easily. Gritting his teeth, he barked at the hastily arriving medical team, "Even if you have to slice her into pieces, turn her into a treatment potion!"
Slice her into pieces?
Which member of the medical team dared to approach? The liquid seeping from under Xin Lang had already stained the soil a different color!
"Grand Archon, her entire body is infected and has gradually begun to fungalize. Even if we send her to the laboratory, in the end, there might be nothing left..." One of the doctors didn't finish his sentence before the Grand Archon shot him dead.
The others dared not utter another word and could only pick up their equipment and walk toward Xin Lang.
However, at that very moment, a sandstorm surged out of nowhere behind the military forces, covering the vast area in the blink of an eye. But in just over ten seconds, the yellow sand abruptly vanished. The Grand Archon's side hadn't suffered any attack, but Xin Lang, who had been beneath the protective wall, was gone.
"Find her immediately!" the Grand Archon roared. But then someone pointed at the protective wall and said, "How did a piece go missing over there?"
A piece was indeed missing. Near the ground, a narrow gap dozens of meters long had appeared in the protective wall, looking as if a section had been cut out from the middle. It was at most a vertical palm's width wide—too narrow for a person to pass through, even a dog would struggle to squeeze in. But after this gap appeared, the entire protective wall began to tremble, as if a person was stretching their muscles, and a continuous cracking sound erupted from within the wall.
Before the military could retreat, the constantly exploding protective wall snapped in the middle. The spreading cracks instantly covered the wall's surface, and then large sections began to collapse!
"Run!" The crowd let out desperate screams, but the protective wall of Clown City had been built far too high and was thick enough. Such a massive structure, with its backbone removed, collapsed like a mountain crumbling, mud and stone rushing like a flood!
There was a certain distance between the protective wall and the residential areas. The transitional zone in between was mostly government office buildings or venues like arenas. Late at night, there were few people around, only the military sent to search for Xin Lang and maintain the protective wall, stretched out in a dense, long line.
The collapsing protective wall surged like a flood on both sides, burying most of the people in an instant. Moreover, because the surrounding ground hadn't been reinforced, when the heavy debris crashed down, the earth itself cracked like a lit fuse, splitting all the way to the end, swallowing both people and stones whole!
The deafening roar shook the entire city awake. Countless people climbed to high places to look, only to see the protective wall that had stood across the western side of Chaoyang Clown City for nearly twenty years reduced to a pile of rubble. The wailing once drowned out the city's alarms.
At that moment, Xu Huo had already driven the car with Xin Lang, speeding along the city's main road.
The fate of a spore... of course, is to be scattered and continue to grow.
When Xin Lang spat out white threads from her mouth, he understood the meaning of this extra task. "Spore" didn't refer to the seed of a particular fungus, but to Xin Lang herself, a human sower. Her fate was to use herself to spread the fungus. Of course, this was her subjective choice, but since she was going to do it, the wider the area the spores spread, the better.
Xin Lang leaned against the back seat, looking at the person in front whose body was "covered" in white fuzz, and asked, "Why did you save me? Aren't you afraid of being infected by me?"
At this point, Xu Huo had no need to hide anything. In a few words, he explained how to clear the extra task.
Xin Lang was silent for a second, then said, "Carrying me makes you too big a target. Besides, there are players chasing you. Kill me, and throw my body parts into every corner of the city. You can still complete the task."
"No need." Xu Huo turned the steering wheel. "The protective wall will buy us some time, enough for both of us to achieve our goals. You can live too."
Xin Lang gave a silent smile, then said, "Take a look at your hand."
White floating particles drifted inside the car. Xu Huo certainly wouldn't open his protective suit, but then he heard the person behind him say, "When you brought me out of the department store earlier, the King Fungus had already transferred to you."
"Squeal—!" The tires screeched sharply against the ground. Xu Huo slammed on the brakes, stopping completely, and turned back with a cold expression. "What did you say?"
"I'm not lying to you." Xin Lang was indifferent to his attitude. "The King Fungus can neutralize deadly toxins and pathogens. Although it parasitizes the human body, it doesn't grow indefinitely. Most of the time, it's dormant."
"If it's really that effective, why are you being consumed now?" Xu Huo said coldly.
"It has nothing to do with that. I just want to die." Xin Lang paused wearily, then said, "Do you know why the fungi in Clown City were able to undergo Super Evolution?"
She took a small black stone from her heel, pinched it between two fingers, and held it up in front of Xu Huo. "I suspect it's because of this Nuwa Stone."
"When I was infected as a child, I stumbled upon the King Fungus growing near this stone, and that's how I survived."
"The King Fungus has a very thin root attached to it. Its growth rate and strength far surpass other fungi, and it has covered almost the entire Underground Nest."
"You've seen the effect of the King Fungus. Not only can it detoxify the host, but it can even leave the human body to detoxify others, and it has no side effects on the person."
"But its lifespan isn't infinite. It will die naturally inside the human body. However, if you carry this stone, it can split multiple times and grow indefinitely."
After speaking, she tossed the stone forward. "It's yours."
Xu Huo caught it, turned the stone's surface, and his expression darkened. This stone was very similar to the one V. Van Shaw had left for him.
"Did you name it Nuwa Stone yourself?" he asked.
"Yeah." Xin Lang exhaled softly. "With it, there can be infinite hope. But Clown City no longer needs it."
"Why?"
"Perhaps the reason so few players have been born in Clown City is also because of it." Fine fuzz grew on Xin Lang's face. "What's different about Clown City compared to other game districts? Probably that the fungi grow too well."
"Maybe without the Nuwa Stone and the King Fungus, more players will appear."
"Even if someone gets infected by the fungi in the Underground Nest, it's not a big deal. Maybe they'll find a way to save themselves from the game before the fungi self-purify."
"By then, no one will be able to cover up the sins of Clown City. Every ignorant person will have paid the price for once devouring their fellow citizens. Every generation born in Clown City from then on will remember this lesson. Clown City will get better and better..."