Chapter 11 - Extract Confessions

In this world, there are many creatures that can't be killed by guns. However, Lin Xiang was the first person he had ever met who wasn't afraid of bullet attacks.

Bullets didn't penetrate Chris's body, but simply couldn't hit the target.

His speed was just too fast.

To win, it's not difficult.

Fast, faster than him.

Chris wasn't bothered by Lin Xiang's strange movements. He was already used to this scene. Any opponent, after seeing their terrifying speed exposed, will have a brief moment of mental blank. This Chinese man should be no exception.

In the distance, Mark and Oliver were racing over. The warm gun barrels, from different angles, surrounded Lin Xiang.

"Hehehe! Take your life--"

With the pleasure of slaughter, the tall Chris stepped forward without panic, grabbed with his left hand, and slammed his right fist toward the opponent's head. In the cruel laughter, he seemed to have already seen Lin Xiang's head explode like a watermelon.

Just as Lin Xiang's fist was about to make contact with its target, his body suddenly sank down violently and Chris heard a faint trembling sound. Rich fighting experience told him that it was the sound of air being cut by an object.

This could only mean one thing-- his opponent's speed was much faster than he imagined.

"Bang--"

The strong airflow and the muffled sound of the body being hit echoed at the same time. The pain coming from the right side of his lower abdomen indicated the opponent's location to Chris. Without thinking, he gritted his teeth and leaned to the side despite the pain, like a building that had been pushed down, and suddenly tilted to the right. His ten fingers spread to the maximum, quickly closing within the already locked range.

Aside from the air, he didn't grab anything. In surprise, Chris unconsciously looked at his right abdomen-- a cold military three-edged dagger had already been stuck to the handle.

"Be careful, he's like us, also a one-star parasite after mutation."

Holding the handle of the military dagger tightly, Chris gasped and roared at Mark and Oliver, who were approaching rapidly.

What?

In shock, Mark's body stalled, accompanied by two heavy gun shots. The heart-wrenching pain in his left leg caused him to completely lose his balance, holding his wound and lying in the mud, screaming and wailing.

Lin Xiang stood less than ten meters away, holding a 9mm caliber "Type 6" pistol in a flat grip. The powerful bullet drilled into Mark's thigh and exploded, permanently cutting off this part of the connection with the body.

He clearly heard Chris's words.

They, like me, are parasites?

These guys clearly know more than I do.

The golden-haired Oliver took advantage of the opportunity, pulling the trigger again. The expected scene of the bullet hitting the target did not appear. Lin Xiang, who was standing in place, quickly twisted his body and skillfully avoided death lines one after another from the high-speed bullet trajectory.

This set of actions was exactly the same as what Chris had done just a few seconds ago.

"My God! He's actually an evolved parasite. Attack him together at all costs, no matter what the cost. Otherwise, we'll all die here - "

Even if Chris didn't say it, Oliver, the only one with full combat power among the three, would have done so. He decisively dropped the M24A in his hand and pulled out a sharp-toothed dagger from his waist and rushed at Lin Xiang.

At this distance, long-handled firearms were no longer effective.

The scene was chaotic and Lin Xiang's face showed a hint of surprise. Mark's movements were quick, faster than a bullet. However, the reflection in Lin's eyes seemed slow, like the slow-motion shots often used in movies, which although much faster than real time, still could not surpass the speed of the brain's reaction.

Guns were not threatening to the three Americans, as proven by Chris.

However, a gun is still a gun. Lin Xiang quickly grasped Mark as he jumped off the ground, his feet just leaving the ground. He accurately pulled the trigger.

His brain was like a high-speed, precise instrument. All factors, such as position, movement direction, jumping height, muscle tension, even wind direction and gravitational effect, were analyzed and calculated one by one. Finally, a series of data, such as the best time and angle to shoot, was completely transmitted to the reflex nerves throughout his body.

Is this the strength of the parasite?

He could no longer experience this wonderful feeling. Like his two injured companions, Oliver still had a surprisingly fast speed. In the eyes of ordinary people, the swift and swift golden man seemed like a fleeting lightning, and nothing more could be captured besides the afterimage and the fluctuations in the air. But in Lin Xiang's view, this speed could be clearly seen. Even a little slower than the reaction he was about to make.

"Roar-"

Just as he raised his pistol and was ready to launch a counterattack against the opponent who was coming straight ahead, with a deafening roar, two sturdy arms, harder than rocks, reached out from both sides, completely confining him.

It was Chris.

"Wasn't he seriously injured? How could he..."

Lin Xiang clearly remembers: his own military stab, piercing Chris's right side, may not have been fatal on the spot, at least it would make him completely lose his mobility.

How could he still be active?

Surprised, Lin Xiang's remaining light also swept over the right abdomen of the captor behind him - under the broken clothes, a piece of skin as complete as new was exposed.

Oliver's dagger accurately penetrated his right chest. With the huge inertia and impact force, he tightly grabbed the handle and violently pulled down diagonally from the hit area. After the crisp sound of the bone being crushed and the sound of the internal organs splitting, Lin Xiang's body was torn apart into two disconnected halves. Through the chest and abdominal tears that fluttered like butterfly wings, the soft organs piled up in the abdominal cavity could be clearly seen.

Almost fatal injury.

"You really should thank you for having this special physique, it saved your life."

After Oliver injected all of the hundred milliliters of anesthetic into his body, Chris finally relaxed his hands and let the anesthetic take effect, allowing the weakened Lin Xiang to fall heavily to the ground and adjust his breathing: "Capturing a live sample of an evolved parasite, General Hans will be very interested."

"Why didn't you die?" The anesthetic was very strong, but the weakened Lin Xiang still remembered his military spike.

"It seems you know nothing about parasites."

Wiping the blood water that was half-dried on his face, Chris squatted down and looked at him with pity, shaking his head: "Parasites have many abilities. My specialty is regeneration."

"Regeneration?"

"As long as it's not a deadly attack, any injury can be recovered in a short time." Chris wiped the sweat from his forehead and pulled out the dagger from Lin Xiang's side with force: "You should feel lucky. If it wasn't for us, you and other ordinary people would always be sediment in the mortal world. Haha! It's different now, in a short time, you will become one of us."

"Deadly attack... Does that mean head?"

Lin Xiang seemed not to have heard what he said. The low whispers from his mouth also made Chris a little puzzled. Just as he was trying to decipher the meaning in the other's words, the captive who was on the brink of death suddenly jumped up from the ground and plunged a sharp object fiercely into his temple.

It was a bone.

A rib that Lin Xiang broke from his chest wound and concealed under his body.

With wide-open eyes, Chris's bulky body fell to the ground like a mountain. The sharp end of the bone penetrated his entire skull.

Brain dead, means dead.

Even the powerful regenerative ability cannot revive the dead.

The unexpected mutation stunned Oliver who was picking up things nearby. His brain, bombarded by intense external information, fell into a brief and inevitable state of stillness. In less than half a second, he quickly woke up and grabbed the M24A next to him, aiming and repeatedly pulling the trigger towards the target.

Lin Xiang didn't dodge. He reversed Chris who was still trembling, using the dying man's flesh as defense, gradually reducing the distance between him and his opponent. A few seconds later, when Oliver, who was out of ammunition, was about to attack from the side, a severe and unbearable pain suddenly came from his neck behind his left.

Lin Xiang's teeth had bitten through his neck's main artery, tearing the muscles and tendons connected to it.

In front of him, the unsupported Chris' body was falling slantwise from mid-air. From movement to attack, Lin Xiang's swift actions had far exceeded Oliver's limit of physical sight.

It was simply too fast.

How did he do it?

Why didn't the anesthesia work on him?

Just as the question mark appeared in his mind, Oliver felt a sharp object passing through his throat from his neck, completely cutting off the connection between his trachea and upper cavity.

It was a broken rib. This was also Lin Xiang's final weapon.

Holding tightly onto the wounded part, the beautiful golden hair scattered as he struggled on the ground. Nearly choking, Oliver suddenly discovered that the wound on the chest of the Chinese soldier was rapidly healing at a speed that could be noticed with the naked eye.

Regeneration... how could he have the ability to regenerate?

Is he really just like us, just a standard symbiote?

Oliver wanted to know what was going on, but he couldn't make a sound. It wasn't until he saw Lin Xiang's eyes that were shining with eerie red light that he finally unlocked the mystery that lingered in his mind.

"So, you're actually still evolving..."

The speed of regeneration was extremely astonishing. Looking down at the wound that was already half healed, Lin Xiang wiped away the blood stain at the corner of his mouth, picked up an M5G43 assault rifle from the ground, and walked to the final observer.

Compared to Chris and Oliver, Mark was probably the weakest among the three symbiotes.

He clearly didn't have the ability to regenerate. The broken legs and feet were the best proof.

"Tell me everything you know, don't leave anything out..."

From the day he decided to receive the injection, Mark knew that he could never live the free life he used to have again.

The name of the Skeleton Knights, with its connotations of blood, terror, and powerful intimidation, says it all.

All skeleton knights bear a black silver ring that represents their identity. However, they are not truly skeletons.

This organization seems to be affiliated with the US government and is directly funded by the Department of Defense, but Mark is not sure about the specifics. As someone with only the rank of sergeant, he cannot know more secrets.

In the three-person team, only the team leader Chris was a second lieutenant, and he and Oliver were just ordinary sergeants. The knights evaluate each person's abilities and then decide what rank they should have.

This is another rank system separate from the US military. Although Mark doesn't know how the two compare, he has heard his superiors speak with contempt many times that all of the US military must bow to the command of the knights.

The reason is simple — all members of the Skeleton Knights are Parasites.

One star is the basic level of a parasite and also an evaluation of one's strength. The highest level can reach nine stars.

No matter the speed, strength, agility, brain reaction, and other physiological indexes, the parasites surpass normal humans by far. This ability comes from a mysterious virus implanted in their bodies. Perhaps due to the different physical constitution of each implant, the paranormal abilities of the parasites are also different.

Regeneration is one of the abilities that Chris possesses. Even if his body is directly hit by a cruise missile and smashed into pieces, as long as his head and heart remain intact, he can rapidly divide the cells to re-manufacture all missing parts in a short time.

The evolved parasites are the latest paranormal abilities being researched by the Knights.

It is said that the parasites with this ability can quickly simulate their opponent's skills through combat and absorption, and permanently duplicate them as their own. This is why Chris did not kill Lin Xiang, but chose to capture him. However, he never expected that the opponent had already simulated the regenerative ability through his own blood, which resulted in the entire team being wiped out.

"Why did you come to Kunming?" This is the question that Lin Xiang cares about the most.

"To collect samples," Mark didn't want to lie about this issue: "How many people in a large city with a population of six million would adapt to the virus's infection and become new parasites? This has always been the most interesting research topic for the Knights."

"...So you mean that the virus outbreak in this city is from your own doing?" Lin Xiang's eyes flashed a cold light.

"I don't know."

Mark neither admitted nor denied it: "From all the extracted sample data, they are more weakened than the cultivated samples in the laboratory. Such a virus could not coexist with the host. Although the compatibility rate is as high as ninety percent with both, it belongs to two different concepts compared to the injection sample I am familiar with. You also saw that those mutants will age, while true parasites can survive forever through cell regeneration."