Chapter 9: Mom?

On the long table piled high with food, a completely naked woman with a protruding abdomen let out a coquettish laugh, appearing shy as if she had just noticed Li Yelan seeing her in her state of undress.

She kept her legs pressed together to cover her private parts.

However, the sumptuous feast and the alluring, naked woman only filled everyone present with terror.

Among them, Spark, Shadowflow, the detective, and the others found their bodies frozen in a state of rigidity.

For the woman was stroking her abdomen with a look of maternal tenderness, as if anticipating the little life within.

Yet, in her other hand, she held a delicate, severed head.

The girl, who should have been like a budding flower, would never see the moment of her bloom.

"Are you all here to celebrate the birth of my child, too?" the woman smiled.

Looking at the familiar-looking little girl, Li Yelan felt as if his mind had been struck by a heavy hammer.

Whether it was fear, anger, or guilt, a surge of emotion rushed straight to his brain.

Being the closest, he acted decisively. The steel axe in his hand swung in a perfect arc, aimed squarely at the woman's head!

The next second, the long table laden with food was cleaved in two by Li Yelan’s axe. All the food and bones scattered across the floor.

But the woman had appeared on the ceiling. Despite her large, pregnant belly, she was as agile as a spider.

The moment Li Yelan struck, she had dodged the attack and leaped onto the ceiling.

"Don't hurt my child!" the woman shrieked, her face contorted with malice.

Her response was a barrage of gunfire!

All the assault team members raised their muzzles and fired wildly at her.

This monster!

They hadn't expected that a raid on a human trafficking ring would evolve into a siege against a monster—or rather, a "Sufferer."

"Team One, reload! Team Two, suppress! Team Three, rotate!" the officer, having regained his composure, roared, spurring the assault team into action to ensure continuous suppression of this bizarre woman. As an officer who had cooperated with the Calamity Handling Department many times, he had extensive experience in fighting Psionicists.

This was the assault team's method for countering Psionicists: a Psionicist's psionic barrier could indeed deflect bullets, but it also consumed psionic energy.

As long as they kept up a constant barrage, they could rapidly deplete her energy and eventually kill the target.

But the woman’s reaction speed was incredibly fast. Using her hands and feet on the ceiling, she instantly crawled out of the line of fire.

She then pulled a scarlet long blade embedded with several eyeballs from the ceiling. Clearly, this was a piece of psionic armament!

With the eyeballs on the blade shifting, the woman suddenly vanished from everyone's field of vision.

Taking this opportunity, the strange woman moved rapidly toward the window. Clearly, she wanted to escape the room and the encirclement.

But with several Handlers and an assault team present, how could they let her have her way?

"[Listen to me] Limbs, stiffen!" Cheese immediately spoke, activating her ability.

This caused the woman’s speed to falter, and she fell from the ceiling, slamming hard onto the floor. In that moment, she didn't care about escaping; instead, she quickly clutched her stomach, seemingly worried that her child might be hurt.

At the same time, Spark finally recovered from his shock. This was his first time seeing such a bloody and bizarre scene, and his body had involuntarily stiffened and trembled. Now, he desperately steadied his shaking left hand and ignited the lighter he had been clutching the whole time.

With a flick of his right hand, the flame from the lighter shot out, transforming into a fireball that chased down the woman on the ground. The scorching flames instantly engulfed her! Amidst the inferno, the woman let out a frantic shriek!

This was his ability: Flame Manipulation from the Zero-Return Path.

As long as there was a spark, he could turn it into a conflagration capable of swallowing a skyscraper!

This was why he always carried a lighter. It was his greatest weapon!

Of course, this fire alone couldn't kill a Sufferer; a Psionicist's psionic barrier could also defend against fire and block high temperatures.

But... it couldn't block suffocation!

Thus, the strange woman forced her way through the hail of bullets, rushing out of the flames. Only to unexpectedly see an iron hammer arriving right before her eyes!

It was Heavy Cavalry!

She had been waiting outside the flames, and the moment the woman rushed out, she swung her hammer directly at her!

The strange woman roared and swung her blade, clashing repeatedly with Heavy Cavalry. Their weapons collided frantically, emitting ear-piercing screeches.

This shocked Li Yelan. Heavy Cavalry’s hammer was strong enough to smash through a security door, yet this strange woman had caught it!

"What on earth is she? A Psionicist?" Li Yelan looked at the strange woman, who was once again surrounded by flames, and couldn't help but ask Cheese in a low voice: "Or a Sufferer?"

"She has a psionic barrier, so she’s naturally a Psionicist. Judging by her strength, speed, and physical durability, she’s a Psionicist of the True Martial Path! As for whether she’s been distorted, it’s hard to say." Cheese’s pretty face looked grim as she looked at the masked men who had died mysteriously and the slender bones scattered on the ground.

As a veteran Handler, Cheese vaguely sensed that this was some kind of sacrificial ritual.

How could a human trafficker obtain such knowledge?

Could it be the Ember Church?

On the other side, upon hearing the intense gunfire, the instructor left behind on the first floor had his expression change.

This wasn't the kind of firepower needed to deal with human traffickers; this many bullets were enough to wipe out a trafficker's entire lineage.

"Something's wrong!"

The instructor thought to himself, rushing out and leaping. He jumped over three meters high, stepped into the air, and actually moved again mid-flight.

This was an aerial stepping technique using a psionic barrier as a foothold.

Psionicists who mastered this technique could perform double or multi-stage jumps, gaining the ability to fight in mid-air.

Now, the instructor didn't care about exposing his identity as a Psionicist; he wanted to provide direct support to the rookies and officers on the thirteenth floor.

However, just as the instructor moved rapidly to the height of the fourth or fifth floor, his body suddenly swayed, and he crashed back to the ground. Fortunately, he adjusted his posture at the last second to land safely.

But the instructor's expression grew even uglier.

Because, on the fifth-floor corridor, a man in a suit wearing a sheep-skull mask stood holding a cane. After bowing quite gentlemanly, he said: "Heretic, do not disturb them."

Looking at the suddenly appearing sheep-headed man, the instructor narrowed his eyes, his muscles tensed. He had clearly entered a combat stance.

"Heretic? You're from the Ember Church!" The instructor sneered, though a chill grew in his heart.

He suddenly realized that the invitation he had received this time might be a conspiracy!

The Ember Church was an extremist Psionicist faction that possessed quite a few Forbidden Items.

At the same time, they were an existence that every Mega-City was wary of. They believed that Psionicists were the new humanity, while ordinary people who couldn't become Psionicists were merely remnants of the old era.

Therefore, they would secretly guide talented ordinary people in various Mega-Cities to become Psionicists.

This was to increase the number of Psionicists.

But this "start the fire but don't bury the ashes" behavior brought immense risk to every Mega-City.

They used all sorts of means to induce ordinary people to become Psionicists, ignoring the risk of the other party becoming distorted. This created a large number of Sufferers, causing unimaginable harm to the Mega-Cities!

Thus, they were defined as a cult! Once discovered, they were to be killed on sight!

Now, the appearance of the Ember Church had pushed this arrest operation into an uncontrollable state!

"You guys are really courting death! Don't you know that nearby Handlers are rushing here? You actually dare to reveal your identity?" the instructor said coldly. To dare to appear directly before the authorities—this cult member was very confident.

"Courting death? No, no, no." The sheep-headed man replied calmly: "We only gave a mother who wanted to resurrect her child a hope. I will witness her success, and you will witness a miracle of life."

"Hah! Making human experimentation sound so noble?" The instructor scoffed, and five flying daggers automatically floated up. He drew a long sword: "Come on!"

"The Divine Imperial Path, is it? Controlling five daggers at once is quite good!" The sheep-headed man replied eerily: "Let us kill some time, then."

On the other side, the strange woman used the ability of her scarlet long blade to disrupt everyone's vision once again, launching an assault!

But she was blocked by Cheese again.

The ability of this scarlet long blade was to briefly interfere with vision, which was actually a very powerful disruption ability. If your vision was gone mid-fight, how could you continue?

Unfortunately, no one gave her a chance for melee combat.

And once Cheese detected the visual interference, she would use her own ability to disrupt the opponent. This made the strange woman's multiple attempts to assault or break through unsuccessful.

Although the strange woman was a Psionicist, she had no combat talent and no tactical thinking. Even with a psionic armament, she was at the end of her rope and in a sorry state.

She had no possibility of escaping or winning.

"Why do you want to hurt me?" Unexpectedly, the strange woman shrieked like a madman: "I only did it for my child! I sacrificed so much, why are you stopping me!"

"Hurting other people's children for your own? You call that sacrifice?" Cheese couldn't help but mock, her words filled with killing intent.

"What do you know? They promised me! As long as I had those people, I could resurrect my child. It was almost there, almost there, just a little bit more!"

Then, she stopped fleeing and charged directly at Cheese.

She realized that every time she was about to escape, it was Cheese who spoke up and made her miss the opportunity.

If she didn't take out Cheese, she had no chance of running away.

Thus, she used her psionic armament again to interfere with everyone's vision, attempting an assassination.

However, she was surrounded by flames once more.

Inside the fire, she protected her abdomen, looking at everyone with a ferocious expression.

Her eyes were filled with rage and malice.

But the group remained unmoved, showing no pity. After seeing the corpses and the skeletons of the children on the floor, this woman had already been sentenced to death.

She no longer had any human rights!

And this time, when she rushed out of the flames, she had finally exhausted her strength.

She knelt powerlessly on the ground, clutching her abdomen in pain.

"Almost, it was almost there..." Then, she stared blankly at Cheese: "Can I give birth to him before I die? Please, the child is innocent."

Innocent? You know the child is innocent too? Everyone sneered.

Cheese’s eyes were indifferent: "I’ve already checked your information. You aren't pregnant. Your child died a long time ago."

She had already queried all the information on this woman through the assistant on the other end of her earpiece. After a miscarriage several years ago, she had gone for check-ups every week, but she had never been pregnant.

"No, I can feel it. He is right here... he has returned," the woman whispered, clutching her abdomen.

"It's fake," Cheese said coldly. "There is no such thing as resurrection from the dead."

The strange woman flew into a rage, picking up her long blade, but was struck on the head by Heavy Cavalry’s hammer.

She collapsed to the ground, limp, clutching her abdomen in agony.

Then, she breathed her last.

After confirming the strange woman was dead, the officer said to the group: "I will investigate everyone she has ever been in contact with."

Cheese looked at the chaotic room and sighed softly: "It's a pity we couldn't save the children."

Then, she prepared to leave; the rest was the work of the Guard Hall.

However, just at that moment.

A low voice suddenly rang out, causing everyone to tremble.

'Mommy.'

Then, there was the sound of flesh being torn.

Everyone turned their heads abruptly.

They saw that the strange woman's abdomen had been torn open, but no blood flowed out.

As a few drops of blood dripped down, everyone's gaze shifted upward, seeing a bizarre, petite figure appearing on the ceiling in the distance.

It made a strange sound: 'Mommy.'

'Mommy.'

'Mommy.'

Then, it turned its head to look at everyone.

With just one glance, Li Yelan felt a terrifying chill spread down his spine.

It was a strange child with crimson skin and pitch-black eyes.

The corners of its mouth were split open, revealing a full row of sharp teeth.

In its right hand, it held the scarlet long blade. In its left, it held the corpse of an animal-masked man, whose flesh it was devouring greedily.

As it consumed the flesh, its body grew rapidly. It transformed from a child into a youth.

Then, it dropped the corpse and looked at the group.

Its large mouth, full of sharp teeth, opened slightly: 'Mommy?'

At that moment, an endless sense of dread pressed down on everyone's hearts like a mountain.

Even Li Yelan’s heart pounded violently. The sense of danger this monster gave him far exceeded that of the Skinner!

Every part of his body was warning him: he must stay away from this monster!

But no one moved first, fearing they might suddenly startle the creature.

Until Spark suddenly raised his hand, igniting his lighter to release flames!

But in the very next instant, Spark’s raised left hand vanished into thin air, blood gushing from the stump.

It took Spark a fraction of a second to feel the pain. He knelt on the ground in agony, but didn't dare to let out a single wail.

Because the monster was right in front of him, chewing on his arm, tilting its head to look at him.

This made Spark afraid to make any move.

Then, the monster, still chewing on the arm, walked up to Cheese.

After spitting out the arm, its bloody mouth made a sound again: "Mommy?"

Cold sweat poured down Cheese’s body. The pressure this monster exerted on her was too terrifying; she felt that before she could use her ability, before she could finish speaking her suggestion, she would be killed!

It was too close, and the monster’s speed was too fast!

How frustrating... am I going to die here? Cheese thought, silently gripping the dagger hidden in her sleeve.

At least she could put up a desperate fight. She wasn't a newbie like Spark, who relied too much on his ability.

But the odds were slim... she just hoped the others could seize the opportunity to escape...

Watching the monster get closer and open its mouth wider, Cheese’s heart raced, and she tightened her grip on the dagger.

However, suddenly, the monster’s body paused. It turned its head abruptly.

It realized that prey had intruded into its territory, and it abandoned the girl in front of it.

It stared at the newcomer with bloodthirsty greed.

But... it had guessed wrong!

Under the gaze of those double pupils, it... was no longer the hunter.

"Mommy!" The monster smiled, expressing joy.

And Li Yelan, who had finally found the opportunity to activate the Xiang Yu mask, also smiled: "Are you fucking blind?"