As a Charming Mushroom, I Fell into the Apocalypse (MUSHROOM)
In the end, the ventilation duct couldn’t hold out much longer. Soon, the screws loosened, and the entire pipe burst open, allowing the woman’s mutated body to fall through.
Only then did Hui Gu realize that the body hidden behind the duct had long since undergone mutation.
It could no longer be called human. The rear of its body had turned a ghastly pale white, almost blending with the wall paint, while its exposed abdomen was swollen and bloated as if filled with water. Its limbs had long lost their original form, transforming into pale insect-like appendages that twisted at the joints as they stepped on the ground.
The woman's head hung upside down, her neck twisted almost completely around and so swollen it was nearly invisible, as if her head had been directly embedded into the bloated torso—both grotesque and absurd.
It charged forward, disheveled hair covering most of its ferocious face, yet its gaze remained fixed intently on Gu Wang.
"Ahhhhh!!"
Screams erupted once more, accompanied by splatters of green fluid.
A massive black spike suddenly shot up from the ground, piercing straight through the creature as it lunged forward with momentum.
That was Gu Wang's supernatural ability.
He didn't even need to move, merely standing silently as the invisible black particles in the air obeyed his will, transforming into whatever weapon he desired.
The woman was impaled clean through, green blood continuously flowing from her abdomen, yet no intestines or organs spilled out—as if everything inside had already corroded, leaving only this strange liquid behind.
"Ahhh—Mother Body—save me—"
"Huff... huff..."
The woman's eyes widened, bloody tears streaming down, and her mouth gradually stretching wider as tangible agony manifested across her face.
The excruciating pain finally breached the neural network, spreading through pheromones into the distance, transmitting every signal of what it had witnessed.
Deep within the forbidden zone of the Shelter, eight pairs of green eyes cracked open slightly, sensing the signals from the offspring.
The white antennae on its head trembled violently, receiving all memories witnessed by the offspring after successfully being born from a human host.
The intense human suffering nourished it well, the mere finger-length tentacles on its head stretching slightly as if moaning in pleasure.
Until a scent so familiar it was etched into its genes arrived, shattering the calm waters.
All eight eyes snapped wide open, glowing with a wolfish green hunger—shock, ecstasy, and greed ravaging its entire being, laid bare through those insectoid eyes.
Found!!!
It inhaled every fragment of information about Hui Gu as if breathing through its lungs.
That brief segment of memory was replayed over and over.
The annoying suitors around the mushroom were gone, especially that S-class flower. Now only one human remained.
And that human was injured, utterly incapable of protecting him.
The mushroom, its mushroom.
Finally returning to its embrace.
The eight eyes varied in size, yet all shared the same greed and twisted possessiveness.
Within the massive specialized glass tank, the insect limbs that had been nurtured in the culture fluid began to stir, sending ripples through the liquid inside the container.
The obvious movement quickly caught the attention of researchers calculating data nearby.
Several people approached immediately, voices puzzled: "What's happening? It's not time for it to awaken yet. Administer another 0.3-gram dose of Alma's Sedative."
Foolish humans.
Through the glass, the eight pairs of eyes stared coldly at them, insect limbs shifting in the solution as it felt strength slowly returning.
We were still a bit short of the original target, but it was enough to kill these humans.
Killing intent surged instantly.
...
Hui Gu, having detected no danger, emerged from Gu Wang and happened to meet those pupils shifting from red to green.
The familiar yet ominous feeling in his heart grew increasingly intense.
That green was all too recognizable.
An involuntary wave of irritation rose within him.
It was as if he had glimpsed that detestable presence again, and the slimy, slippery sensation coiling around him once more.
Yet everything before his eyes continued to unfold in the direction he least wished to see.
Gradually, the green fluid stopped flowing from the woman’s body, and the bloody wounds began to close—but not in a state of death. In unseen places, cells multiplied wildly.
On both sides of her swollen belly, white fleshy tissues, each the size of an egg, sprouted one after another, eventually clustering together to form long, segmented white insect limbs. Fine white fuzz began to cover her body.
At first, her mouth still emitted human-like screams of agony, but soon it devolved into mindless, rasping noises, like a broken harmonica.
Right before their eyes, in less than five minutes, six insect limbs grew out. The facial features began to seal and vanish, and new eyes emerged from the fused skin tissue—round, insectoid eyes, gleaming green.
From a semi-human form, it transformed into a giant spider.
The White Spider opened its mouth and spat out a corrosive white secretion.
Gu Wang dodged with Hui Gu in tow, his brow furrowed tightly.
Hui Gu stared blankly at the enormous White Spider, his round Mushroom Cap slowly puffing outward.
Of course, he recognized this White Spider as one of his former obsessive pursuers.
Familiar, yet somewhat different.
It carried an aura akin to his own, stirring unpleasant memories in the mushroom.
In the early days of the apocalypse, he had subdued many insectoid mutant creatures as his underlings. Under his Enchantment, they all obeyed him without question.
That White Spider had latched onto him back then.
At first, the White Spider pretended to be docile, but over time, it grew increasingly out of line.
While Hui Gu was asleep, it began slaughtering other insectoid mutants.
With so many underlings, Hui Gu didn’t notice right away.
But as its greed and bloodlust intensified, its actions became more brazen, and the number of underlings sharply declined.
By the time Hui Gu took notice, it was too late. The White Spider, twisted by possessiveness, had grown several times larger through cannibalism and evolved from an ordinary B-class mutant into an A-class mutant.
Driven by its nesting instinct, it tried to trap Hui Gu within its massive white web, aiming to make him its possession.
Naturally, Hui Gu refused. While fleeing, the little mushroom encountered the Titan Arum, and that foolish giant flower helped drive the White Spider away.
Mutants show no restraint when fighting, and an S-class mutant holds overwhelming dominance over an A-class. Back then, under his command, the Titan Arum had struck to kill. By all reasoning, the White Spider should have been erased from this world long ago.
Yet everything unfolding before him confirmed that the detestable White Spider not only survived but had even produced its own split body.
Utterly revolting.
Remembering his near-imprisonment by spider webs, Hui Gu instinctively wanted to clutch his Mushroom Cap and flee, forgetting he was still perched on the man's shoulder.
With a squeak, he tumbled from Gu Wang's shoulder, only to be caught steadily in his outstretched hand. Dazed from the fall in his palm, he still fluttered desperately trying to escape.
A one-handed sword materialized in the man's grip. While striking at the spider, he never lost sight of Hui Gu.
Seeing the little mushroom still attempting to flee, a flicker of coldness shifted in his eyes. His thin lips parted slightly: "Don't be afraid."
He misinterpreted Hui Gu's frantic movements as pure terror.
Pitiful.
An unusual emotional fluctuation surfaced in his dark pupils. Gu Wang uttered a promise he'd never made to anyone in his life: "I won't let anyone bully you."
The mushroom lifted its head to look at him, sensing the faint fragrance around him suddenly intensify, radiating a comforting aura.
So he stopped trying to escape, obediently remaining in his palm.
Injured by the sword energy, the spider opened its mouth and shrieked again.
This time, it wasn't from pain but rage.
It demanded Gu Wang hand over Hui Gu, but humans couldn't comprehend mutant creature language, finding it merely noisy.
Another slash of sword energy descended. This time, the man focused completely, his sword moving too fast for the spider to dodge. It could only watch as its abdomen was cleaved in two.
A crimson line appeared where its body connected to its head. This time, no sound could emerge from its throat.
"A spider?" Gu Wang's tone was indifferent. "It can't survive without its head."
Though speaking execution words, his delivery remained as casual as commenting on fair weather.
The black longsword left his hand, spinning rapidly mid-air before cleanly severing the entire head.
The head thudded to the ground, followed by the massive, bloated body crashing down atop it. After a few convulsions, it fell completely still.
The pungent odor of dead insects permeated the room.
Before Hui Gu could process his complicated emotions, noises from outside forced him to shrink into Gu Wang's sleeve for hiding.
Stuffing a five-centimeter little mushroom into his cuff made it somewhat cramped. Gu Wang clenched his fist and let his hand hang at his side.
The people outside finally pushed the door open, about to swarm in, but froze at the gruesome scene inside, staring in horror at the carnage.
"This! This is a mutant creature!?"
"How did a mutant creature get here?"
Some erupted in panicked cries, while others grew visibly uncomfortable upon recognizing the monster on the floor.
Among them was Yu Zhenxin.
Peeking through the fabric gap, Hui Gu noticed his expression shifting dramatically, nearly cracking the hypocritical mask he always wore.
Those with strange expressions stood closest to him, clearly his most trusted companions.
They knew something—especially Yu Zhenxin, who undoubtedly recognized this damned spider.
Just as Hui Gu began seething, that faint fragrance invaded his senses once more.
Seeping into the sleeve, the scent became even more pronounced.
As intoxicating as their first meeting, sweet enough to lure a mushroom to crime.
Hui Gu's stomach growled with hunger again.
He always felt hungrier around Gu Wang.
Now was hardly the time, yet an untimely craving surged within him. Unable to resist, he lifted his head and began crawling upward along the man’s arm with a rustling motion.
Gu Wang’s gaze was sharp as he scrutinized the group before him. Feeling the strange sensation, his entire body tensed up.
The man narrowed his eyes dangerously, yet there was nothing he could do about this unruly mushroom running wild on him. He could only straighten his back and let it be.
Judging by his handsome appearance alone, no one would have guessed that beneath his immaculate clothes, a little creature was causing mischief.
Hui Gu crawled and crawled, finally reaching the spot where the scent was most intense.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out that the man’s not-yet-fully-healed wound had been torn open slightly during the earlier struggle, and some blood had seeped out.
At such close range, the unique scent of blood filled his senses—no wonder the mushroom felt dizzy.
Hui Gu swallowed: So fragrant.
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