Chapter 27 The Fool Has Nothing (27)

Chapter 27: Fools Possess Nothing (Part 27)

The polar station had completely transformed.

Once precise, orderly, and efficient, it had been given order by humans and armored with a shell of technology, buried deep in the heart of Antarctica like a glinting steel pearl.

But now, it had become a grotesque palace where metal fused with flesh, where concrete and steel coexisted with viscous slime. Overflowing membranes coated the corridors, halls, and every visible room. Tentacles coiled around marble pillars, cobalt-blue toxins adorned the light fixtures, and the biomass of the Aker Specimens shimmered with iridescent hues, surreal luminescence enveloping everything.

The Biomechs freely desecrated and reshaped humanity’s former home according to their instincts and whims. The air was thick with a metallic sweetness, punctuated by eerie, sticky *glorp* sounds of bubbling… Without the serum, their sanity would have shattered long ago, driving them madly into the jellyfish’s domain, seeking death.

"Ewan, stop writing!" a researcher hissed at their companion. "Focus on the path—save the journal for later!"

Ewan lifted a haggard and pale face, lips trembling slightly before carefully tucking the diary away into their coat.

The polar station had originally housed four heavy combat units. At the outbreak of the riot, Zeta Squad and Gamma Squad were completely overwhelmed by the tide of specimens. After the specimens invaded the central hub en masse, Beta Team sacrificed themselves to rescue the dazed but still-human researchers. Now, only two members of Alpha Squad remained as the last effective armed force, guarding Dr. Ewan Weber.

"Proceed carefully," Dr. Ewan warned. "We're walking a tightrope. One misstep, and we’re dead."

They skirted the corridors, relying on memory to tiptoe through the transport station passageway until they reached Sector C.

Suddenly, a biomech raised an arm, signaling everyone to halt.

The group held their breaths, forcing themselves into silence. As the environment shifted, the organic carpet beneath their feet grew thicker, and the mucous membranes on the walls emitted waves of warm, drowsy heat, weighing down their eyelids.

Clearly, they had entered the specimens' nesting grounds.

According to Ewan Weber’s research, these divided individuals harbored intense hostility toward one another. They were like princes vying for the throne, each considering themselves the sole legitimate heir. Toward their kin—those of the same origin and species—they spared no effort in slaughter, making consumption their top priority.

But the scene before them now far exceeded his expectations.

At least three Biomechs lay in deep repose together in an expansive lair.

They had clearly evolved to a highly advanced state, not only possessing humanoid limbs but also three nearly identical faces—Shi Yesheng’s face.

At this moment, their translucent skins rippled with a feverish glow, their countless eyes clouded and tightly shut. Their main bodies twitched restlessly, while the feeding tendrils extending from their torsos ceaselessly stretched outward, secreting mucus, shaping something out of thin air.

They continuously altered the nest’s structure, transforming it into an increasingly enclosed, warped labyrinth. Even in their sleep, they smeared pheromone-laced secretions onto the walls, making the air warm, rich, with a lingering hint of spice.

This was unlike any scent the researchers had encountered before—the aroma of the specimens feeding was far more sickly-sweet and overpoweringly rancid.

"What are they doing?" one researcher whispered fearfully.

Ewan Weber was silent for a long time.

"...Mating rituals," he finally uttered, voice thick with horrified disbelief. "They're engaging in mating rituals!"

There was no mistaking it. Even in deep slumber, they were unconsciously engaging in courtship behavior. What did that imply?

His voice had barely risen when the Biomechs ahead simultaneously ceased twitching, their torsos abruptly splitting open to reveal a seething mass of cobalt-blue eyes!

Everyone froze, holding their breaths as they shrank into the shadows of the corner.

The Biomechs let out screeches of fury, jolting awake from their dreams. They seemed furious, but thanks to the serum, they couldn’t yet detect the scent of living humans.

"Still nothing!" one roared in frustration, its whip-like appendages thrashing out, smashing the nest it had built in its sleep into ruins. Its voice dripped with ravenous hunger. "I can’t find him... I can’t find him!"

"He’s gone, hidden away," another hissed inwardly, floating mid-air as if talking to itself. "The shards are hoarding him... It’s not fair."

The third remained silent. Gushing torrents of nesting biomass erupted from its fissured gullet as it inhaled and exhaled, trembling like a junkie in withdrawal, its expression ravenous.

The researchers dared not even breathe—these three mutants were all immensely powerful individuals. If they accidentally drew their attention, the polar station would truly be wiped out then and there.

So, they could only listen as the three monsters communicated in a mix of hoarse, indistinct mutters and sharp, ear-piercing roars. After a long while, the third one finally stabilized enough to speak, laying down the final word.

"Keep searching. He's definitely not dead—he's still alive."

A rustling sound followed as the monsters personally set off, leaving the nest. Slowly, the surroundings fell into silence. Only after confirming they had truly left did the humans dare to tremble out of their hiding spots.

In the quiet, Aiwen spoke softly, breaking the deathly stillness: "So... what exactly were they doing?"

Another person answered gruffly, "Obvious nesting instincts. Don’t give me that you couldn’t see it."

"Don’t give me that these beasts even have a mating season..."

"It’s plain as day. I’d bet anything—the one they’re looking for is Xu Jiu! But why... Xu Jiu is human. How could he trigger their nesting instincts?"

A brief argument broke out among the researchers, while the doctor stayed quiet, moving through the nest and pressing forward.

The deeper they went, the more experimental subjects they encountered. Most of the time, the creatures were ripping each other apart—nothing like the cooperative relationship seen in the three earlier specimens. Yet their terrifying, hungry whispers hung in the air like smoke, swirling everywhere.

"Mother..."

"...Mate."

"Find him!"

"This isn’t fair..."

"He’s mine, but the Fragment hid him... Find him!"

"This isn’t fair!"

"Mate?" Hearing this word, the others exchanged uneasy glances. "Are they talking about Xu Jiu?"

In the prolonged silence, the doctor’s horror was barely contained.

According to the theory of the experimental subjects' hive mind, the earlier cooperation between the three aberrations now had a logical explanation:

To find the hidden Xu Jiu, they had willingly suppressed their instincts and collaborated with their own "Fragments." In their sleep, they linked minds, amplifying their psychic connection in an attempt to locate the aberration Xu Jiu had raised—hoping to trace where it had stashed him.

This was attraction on both a genetic and soul-deep level. Like a chain reaction, Xu Jiu’s presence, radiating through the subjects' shared senses, had ignited the mating season of every aberration in the polar station, sending them into a mating frenzy.

—Mate.

Ewan Weber scrambled for answers—how the blood of that nobody janitor could wield such power, how he had lived alongside the Achel specimen day and night without going mad or being devoured, how he had managed to survive at all...

Yet, it had never once crossed his mind that Xu Jiu could be the mate of the Achel specimen.

If they couldn’t take him away, they should have erased him completely! But alas, it was too late for regrets now. There was no cure for regret.

Gritting his teeth, the doctor was tormented by unprecedented regret. He made a covert gesture, and the group, unaware, picked their way through hell.

·

Xu Jiu drifted in warm amniotic fluid.

A sense of blissful safety enveloped him, cocooning him in comfort. He floated carefree in this ocean that belonged to him, no fear, no need to hide.

Like a child in the womb, here, he would not be hurt, would not suffer, would not grieve. This was the home he’d always longed for—his sanctuary.

...Hmm...

Was I injured?

Xu Jiu kept his eyes closed, his brows slightly furrowed.

Was I in pain? Was I miserable?

His eyelids twitched, and the stream of dreams fractured briefly.

Deep in his memory, fragmented images began flashing uncontrollably—researchers, laboratories, gunshots, blinding white light, a ring of shadowy figures closing in, with him lying at the very center...

I’m not dead?

I should be dead. Right?

...Wait, why do I think I "should be dead"?

The fragments connected into scenes, and the scenes merged into a whole: an old man’s contorted face, the gun barrel pressed against his chest, the burst of gunfire, the fleeting but immense agony...

—BANG!

Xu Jiu's eyes snapped open as he took a sharp breath.

—Ugh!

Immediately afterward, he broke into a fit of coughing—because he really was submerged in some unidentifiable liquid, and the moment he startled awake, he accidentally swallowed a mouthful of it.

Thrashing in the fluid, Xu Jiu quickly pressed against the strange membrane above his head, frantically tearing open the soft barrier before finally gasping for fresh air.

Memories came flooding back. Once he recovered, he hurriedly touched his chest—the skin there was perfectly intact, just a faint white scar, with no trace of a bullet wound. Checking his pulse, aside from being slightly faster than usual, it felt no different from normal.

"I'm not dead?" Xu Jiu muttered in disbelief, patting himself all over. "How am I not dead?"

Oh—I get it! Number Six must have saved me.

Sitting in the warm, transparent liquid, Xu Jiu curiously scooped up a handful. The water had a faint blue tint, with tiny, fluff-like... things? Plankton? floating in it?

I just swallowed a mouthful of this... Will I be okay?

A chill crept over him. He looked down at himself, realizing he was completely naked and hastily sat up, intending to find something to wear.

But when he actually stood and looked around, Xu Jiu froze in shock.

Wait—where the hell am I?

At that moment, he sat dumbfounded in the very center of this enormous space, like he was standing inside some colossal creature’s body. The floor was covered in a thick, carpet-like membrane resembling frozen ocean waves, gleaming with a deep, glassy blue. The walls were the same. The high ceiling bore no lights—instead, thousands upon thousands of ribbon-thin tendrils swayed gently without any wind.

The place where he had been lying was a hollow, gelatinous "flesh bed," like a living hibernation pod, cradling him like a cocoon. The more he examined it, the more it resembled a fleshy lotus—its base unfurled into enormous, translucent, tendon-like petals that pulsed rhythmically with each breath, radiating a hypnotic, alien beauty.

Anyone else would’ve been shaking in terror in such a bizarre place, yet Xu Jiu felt nothing but curiosity, as if... as if he shared some intimate connection with this space. Subconsciously, he knew he was absolutely safe here.

Where’s Number Six?

Xu Jiu looked around but couldn’t spot Number Six anywhere. The space, as vast as a basketball court, held only him, making it all creepily empty.

The place was too vast and too unnervingly alive. Xu Jiu didn’t dare shout Number Six’s name, afraid of attracting something... worse. So, he carefully climbed out, intending to find something to wear—being stark naked was just too awkward.

Hesitantly, he took a step forward, testing the squishy, gelatinous ground beneath his feet.

...Hmm, the texture is quite strange.

It looks so smooth, but when skin touches it, there's a velvety sensation. The temperature is just right, and it's highly elastic, perfectly conforming to every curve of the skin, ensuring no sharp pebbles would dig into the soles.

Xu Jiu couldn't help but chuckle. He carefully stepped down the gel-like platform's stairs, one step at a time. When he reached the membranes, he mustered his courage and gently brushed them aside with his hand, only to feel a sudden chill in his palm—as if something damp and slimy had licked him.

Xu Jiu's expression froze.

This thing is really alive!

As if catching Xu Jiu's scent, the fleshy flaps stretched out like translucent sacks, closing in around him. Panicked, Xu Jiu scrambled away on all fours.

Whoa! That was terrifying...!

He ran off without daring to look back. The air hung thick with unnatural warmth, something Xu Jiu would never have imagined before—walking stark naked inside a polar structure.

So, was this all transformed by Number Six?

"Clothes, clothes, clothes... Ah! Found them."

In a corner, Xu Jiu discovered a pile of clothes half-buried under the fungus-covered mat. Relieved, he quickly dug them out, only to find tattered researcher uniforms with varying degrees of tears at the collars, chests, and thighs. The gruesome fate of their previous owners was all too clear.

Xu Jiu sighed, though without much pity for his fellow humans.

Is this some kind of karmic retribution, divine justice served? He mused randomly. Next life, hope you all get better reincarnations, born into better circumstances.

After rummaging for a while, he finally found a relatively intact and clean white lab coat. Without hesitation, he slipped it on and buttoned it up tightly.

The coat was a bit baggy and ill-fitting, hanging loosely on him, but something was better than nothing. Now decently covered, Xu Jiu could finally wander around the completely transformed research station with peace of mind, searching for Number Six.

After all, the jellyfish wouldn't harm him. With the polar station drastically changed now, what could possibly happen to him?

Xu Jiu shrugged and stepped out of the current space, peering curiously into the unknown.

Author's Note:

Many medium jellyfish: *crying loudly, searching for Xu Jiu, *eating the other researchers like Cheetos puffs*

Xu Jiu: *pushes open the glass-like pod and sits up* Whoa! I slept for so long—what time is it now?

The large jellyfish: *in a good mood, sneaks out to hunt for snacks, careful not to let the other medium jellyfish discover where he hid Xu Jiu*

Xu Jiu: *puts on clothes because humans can't socialize while naked* Aha! Now I'm gonna run around causing mischief!