Chapter 2 : It Is Her (2/2) 

She had nothing to do with anything else.

Nightfall.

At 1:30 AM, Li Tom, the supervisor of Corn Flour Processing Plant No. 3, sneaked into the Garbage Dump.

He wore a protective suit and a specialized glove for parasite deployment.

When he was 100 meters from the wooden hut, trudging through the murky piles of rotting garbage, he suppressed his disgust and pressed his palm against the ground.

His parasitic creature was an F15 Burrowing Beast (a first-generation Clack System subterranean tunneler).

As his palm parasite port activated, a small, sleek-furred creature the size of a rat emerged from his thickened forearm. 

A third red eye glowed on its forehead, allowing it to separate from his body and explore the surroundings.

Skrrttt…

A moment later, Li Tom’s expression turned strange.

Through the Burrowing Beast’s third eye, he saw several figures near the wooden hut.

At least four of them.

Scavengers.

And they were armed.

Ah… so plenty of people are after my prey. 

Wonder what they’re after, coming to this wretched place just to deal with Huo You…

Li Tom didn’t give a damn about those small-time scum.

He immediately commanded the Burrowing Beast to strike.

Ssss… 

The Burrowing Beast burrowed through the ground, leaped onto one scavenger’s neck, and bit down hard.

Crunch!

His throat was torn open in a split second.

As the stench of blood filled the air, the Burrowing Beast lunged at the others.

By the time Li Tom had killed his second target, he was already approaching the wooden hut, ready to deal with Huo You himself.

Suddenly.

What’s that sound?

He turned around—his eyes landed on the filthy garbage cart with the Big Tomato logo.

It trembled violently.

Then.

A dog-sized snake head shot out.

Pitch black.

Its forked tongue flicked, tasting the scent of fresh blood.

But—there were faint sparks of electricity dancing on the snake’s tongue.

It was—

The one that had been making waves lately. 

The one that had been rumored to have devoured countless people.

The Garbage Dump king—Electro-Mechanical Python.

Its scales were covered in wounds and fungal blotches, proof that it carried at least seven or eight highly toxic bacterial strains.

The fact that it hadn’t died from the infections meant its immune system was terrifyingly strong.

Which also meant—it had been relentlessly devouring and absorbing everything in its path to build resistance.

Which meant—

Its hunting instincts were at their peak.

The snake’s eyes drifted from the dead scavengers—and landed on…

Him.

A cold chill ran down Li Tom’s spine.

His fingers twitched—forcefully recalling his Burrowing Beast.

“Retreat!”

As the Burrowing Beast finished killing the third scavenger, it hurriedly scurried back to him.

But by then—

The Electro-Mechanical Python had fully emerged from the garbage cart.

Five meters long.

Thick. Powerful. Lethal.

And it had locked onto them.

A bloodbath erupted.

18 seconds later, the blood-drenched Li Tom was bitten on the left leg. 

Panic surged through him, but he reacted instantly. 

Before the Electro-Mechanical Python could inject its deadly venom and electric current, he made a decisive move to save himself.

His muscles squirmed, reallocating tissue mass, shifting towards his left arm, where his parasitic organism was stored. 

The fusion triggered an extreme mutation—his arm bulged, veins swelling grotesquely, as the parasitic organism was fully released.

Without a spirit core, an ordinary person could only control a parasite in two ways:

Weak, sustained control, relying entirely on physical endurance.

Full-force release, exhausting all energy in a self-destructive burst.

BANG!

The parasite detached from his blood-drenched palm, reverting to its original sphere form, then launched itself at the Electro-Mechanical Python’s eye, spinning rapidly in the air.

BANG!

The moment it hit the serpent’s eye, the fully unleashed Burrowing Beast transformed—now carrying an entire parasite, its body fully materialized, its skin gleamed with a metallic sheen, and its claws and fangs grew even more monstrous.

Squelch!

It latched onto the python’s eye and began burrowing in.

There’s a reason why a cornered beast fights the hardest—in life-or-death situations, the survival instinct pushes power to its peak.

The Burrowing Beast, originally no match for the python, had seized the perfect moment, landing a precise and brutal strike.

The Electro-Mechanical Python had been caught off guard. 

It failed to dodge.

The attack landed.

And then—

Blood sprayed. 

Agonized shrieks filled the air.

The Burrowing Beast tunneled deep into the python’s eye, heading straight for its brain.

In sheer agony, the Electro-Mechanical Python abandoned its attack on Li Tom and electrocuted itself.

Sizzling!

A massive surge of electricity flooded its own head.

The Burrowing Beast inside was instantly electrocuted.

It screamed, then exploded.

Life and death—whether parasites or humans, both faced the same brutal truth.

All pretenses stripped away.

The Burrowing Beast was fried inside the python’s skull, its corpse charred to a crisp.

But the Electro-Mechanical Python’s brain was partially destroyed in the process.

It grew sluggish, teetering on the edge of death, but still desperately tried to absorb nutrients from the Burrowing Beast’s remains to heal itself.

Li Tom was still alive.

His leg was badly burned by the python’s electric discharge, but not completely destroyed.

The venom? 

Some.

The electricity? 

Some.

He was weakened and injured—but still conscious.

Shaking, he reached into his clothing and pulled out a small box.

A stimulant injector.

This wasn’t some miracle drug—it was a brutal emergency stimulant, forcefully activating his cells.

It came with severe side effects, but could save his life in a crisis.

For poison-induced paralysis or exhaustion, it functioned like fighting poison with poison.

Just as Li Tom was about to inject himself—

Three figures suddenly lunged from behind the trash piles.

Zhang Ke.

And two scavengers he had brought with him.

They had hidden until the last moment, waiting for Li Tom to weaken.

They rushed forward and killed him.

Li Tom couldn’t believe it.

He was going to die at the hands of worthless scavengers?

The three men rejoiced at their unexpected victory.

Then—

A knife stabbed through one of their backs.

Then another.

In seconds—one was dead.

Zhang Ke and the remaining scavenger wrestled on the ground, rolling in the filth.

Zhang Ke was ruthless.

He had no parasite, but his body was stronger.

Suddenly—

CRUNCH.

The Electro-Mechanical Python lunged from behind.

Its jaws snapped around the other man’s head.

CRACK.

His skull shattered.

Zhang Ke’s eyes widened in terror.

He turned to flee.

The Electro-Mechanical Python quickly swallowed the corpse, absorbing low-grade nutrients to accelerate its regeneration.

It wanted to devour Li Tom’s body next.

But.

It was too weak to chase Zhang Ke.

It still needed time to recover.

Suddenly.

A strange whistling sound filled the air.

FWIP.

A sharp, glowing projectile streaked past Zhang Ke’s cheek, shooting straight past him—and into the python’s wounded eye.

Straight to the brain.

Lethal shot.

The Electro-Mechanical Python froze.

The nerves in its brain overloaded.

And then—

It went limp.

Its gigantic body collapsed.

Its cold, bloody eyes stared blankly.

Unmoving.

Zhang Ke stood frozen in shock.

He turned around, eyes wide.

The python was dead.

At first, he felt joy.

Then, he felt horror.

If his instincts were right…

The arrow had been fired from the old, broken cabinet two meters to his right.

It was huge, dilapidated—but large enough for a person to hide inside.

The small gap in the cabinet door was just big enough to shoot from.

Creak.

The cabinet door slowly opened.

A figure stood there.

A baseball cap obscured their face.

But their silhouette seemed familiar.

And that cap—he’d seen it before.

The crossbow had no more arrows.

It had already fired.

It couldn’t shoot again.

Zhang Ke reacted instantly, drawing a knife.

But.

The cabinet door had already opened.

Which meant—

The person inside had already moved first.

She never even drew her own knife.

She was too close.

She grabbed his wrist mid-draw.

A swift lock.

A quick kick to his knee.

Zhang Ke collapsed.

His knife was snatched away.

A single slash.

Zhang Ke felt a chilling sensation at his throat.

Followed by searing heat.

Under the moonlight, he tilted his head back, staring up at her.

His pupils dilated.

“It’s you…! You’re asking for death—”

He hated her.

He resented her.

But he still bled out on the ground.

From this angle—

He could see the red flashing light on Li Tom’s communicator.

He knew.

The “Little Sheep Food Company Company” would investigate this.

She would be found out.

As a fellow lowly Decline Syndrome sufferer—

How could she win?