Chapter 632: The Malignant Rain's Violent Change
Fine fungal threads extended like tentacles, probing outward before burrowing into the water droplets. Within just two seconds, the oily film on the droplets receded, replaced by a segment of fungal thread that turned black, withered, and snapped off.
It was indeed toxic.
Xu Huo shifted his gaze upward, looking at the sky. Given the recent weather, there shouldn't have been rain here.
He refocused his attention on his phone. Sure enough, this rain had also caused an uproar online, because it didn't just cover the Special Defense Department Headquarters—as the rain intensified, the rainclouds expanded to cover over a third of the entire city.
The rain didn't take immediate effect on people, but its impact on greenery and small animals was instantaneous—large swaths of urban vegetation withered, fish raised in the artificial lake turned belly-up in droves, and stray cats and dogs exposed to the rain went mad for a short time before quickly dying.
This was a malignant rain.
"Xu Huo." Zheng Liang and the others found this building. They climbed in through the back window and only spoke once inside the room: "It took some effort to shake off the Special Defense Department people."
"I didn't expect the instance to end so quickly. Sister Gu Yu went to find Li Chun and hasn't come back yet," Wen Xuelin said.
Xu Huo nodded. "Contact her and tell her not to come. Find a place to take shelter from the rain."
"You also think this rain is abnormal?" Brother Liang asked worriedly. "What the hell is going on? Is it some phenomenon caused by the fusion with the game?"
Xu Huo wasn't sure either. "But for now, it's best not to move around casually. This rain is poisonous."
The others agreed. Unable to leave for the moment, they searched the room and found some food in the refrigerator.
"I'll cook," Wen Xuelin volunteered.
The water in the kitchen ran noisily, and the rain outside grew heavier. Black water flooded the streets and streetlights, dyeing everything in sight almost completely black.
"Is it the end of the world?" Zheng Liang stood two meters from the window. To avoid being splashed by the rain, he deliberately placed a sofa in front of himself—there was no helping it, Xu Huo was standing by the window, and if he didn't close it, no one else felt right doing so either.
"Will this heavy rain affect the drinking water?" Brother Liang suddenly thought of this and said to Wen Xuelin, who was bringing out dishes.
"It shouldn't be that bad," Wen Xuelin said. "Even if it does, it won't happen that fast. There's stored water in the neighborhood."
"We'll find out by testing." Guan Zuhong took a thermometer-like item and inserted it into a plate. The needle jumped to the number "7" mark, and his expression changed slightly. "Anything above 5 is extremely toxic."
Wen Xuelin immediately threw the plate away. "There's poison in the water too? No way, why didn't I get poisoned?"
"You took an antidote earlier," Xu Huo said. "The effect probably hasn't worn off yet."
Wen Xuelin was still optimistic. "So if that's the case, we should be fine going out in the rain now?"
In theory, yes, but no one could guarantee there wouldn't be other side effects.
Seeing that the rain was getting heavier with no sign of stopping, Brother Liang said, "Even though the rain is falling within Jing City, it will definitely contaminate the rivers and groundwater. I wonder how many places will suffer."
"There are no reports online yet of symptoms from people getting rained on." Zheng Liang held his phone, then turned to see Xu Huo still standing motionless by the window. He said irritably, "Are you planning to use yourself as a test subject..."
Before he could finish, Xu Huo suddenly reached out the window, grabbed a blackened arm from the rain curtain, and yanked it into the room!
Black rainwater splattered everywhere. When the thing rolled into the living room, Zheng Liang and the others saw it was a person—but it could no longer be called human. It imitated an animal's crouching posture, and after issuing a hunting signal, it lunged straight at Brother Liang, who was closest!
"Xenomorph!"
Brother Liang was standing behind the sofa. He kicked the sofa out, but unexpectedly, the creature was not only fast but also extremely agile. It twisted mid-air, used the sofa for a second boost to increase its speed, and in the blink of an eye, it was right in front of him!
Just as Brother Liang raised a defense item in front of himself, he was slammed into the wall. Guan Zuhong and Zheng Liang used a rope item to lasso the xenomorph and drag it backward.
The xenomorph's abnormally bulging eyeballs were bloodshot. It seemed to have lost its reason, but its instincts remained intact. It glanced around, grabbed the rope, and suddenly yanked to one side, nearly pulling Zheng Liang and Guan Zuhong over together.
Fortunately, they let go in time to avoid colliding with it, but the xenomorph dragged the rope and lunged at Brother Liang again. Wen Xuelin grabbed a paintbrush and swiftly drew a line in the air. A semi-transparent wall-like barrier appeared out of nowhere, instantly bouncing the xenomorph back!
"One, two, three, cheese!" Zheng Liang made a frame gesture with his hands. The xenomorph froze in place, and Guan Zuhong, coming up from behind to finish it off, stabbed it straight through the heart!
Bright red blood flowed down the weapon, and the xenomorph knelt to the ground, lifeless.
"That looks like a Special Defense Department uniform," Zheng Liang said, looking at the dead person. "How did a Special Defense Department player turn into a xenomorph?"
Before anyone could answer his question, Xu Huo by the window suddenly slammed it shut and propped a door item against it. Then came the sound of "thump, thump" impacts from outside, along with the shattering of glass not far away!
Piercing screams came from somewhere, but Zheng Liang and the others had no time to worry about others, because the glass in the suite they were hiding in had also been broken!
"Bathroom!"
"Bedroom!"
Zheng Liang and Brother Liang spoke at the same time. They exchanged a quick glance and then moved to close the bathroom and bedroom doors respectively.
But Zheng Liang was a step too late. The xenomorph that had squeezed in through the bathroom window was already in the hallway, looking around. When it saw him, its numb expression twisted into a savage snarl, and it lunged at him with inhuman ferocity!
"One, two, three, cheese!" Zheng Liang first used his trait to freeze its body, then a frisbee-like item dropped from him. While the creature was immobilized, he kicked the item over. As soon as the frisbee touched the xenomorph, it burst out hundreds of needles, their power so great that they turned its legs into a sieve!
Zheng Liang took the chance to escape, but shockingly, the xenomorph ignored its leg injuries and still attacked his back at super-high speed!
"Holy shit!" Zheng Liang bent low to dodge the xenomorph's pounce. Guan Zuhong was standing right in front of him, and he used a piece of tinfoil to shield himself. When the xenomorph hit the tinfoil, part of its body got stuck. It rolled to the ground, its limbs unable to separate, and Zheng Liang promptly chopped off its head.
"Block the window!" he said to Guan Zuhong. But before they could head to the bathroom, Brother Liang also retreated from the bedroom, followed by several xenomorphs entering the cramped living room from different directions.
Just then, Xu Huo had finished his preparations. He placed "Hurt Others Not Self" across the window and put away the "Door of Severed Ties." After watching the xenomorphs trying to charge in get sliced into several pieces by the wire blades, he turned around and shot several xenomorphs in the head with a few rounds.
(Chapter End)