Chapter 113: The Parasite Invasion [Extra Chapter]

The footsteps in the corridor stopped abruptly at Lin Huang’s door.

Lin Huang’s brow furrowed tightly. He aimed his gun at the door, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. After a brief silence, a knock rang out.

"Who is it?" Lin Huang demanded.

"Guest, it’s me." The voice belonged to the hotel owner.

Lin Huang relaxed slightly, though he remained suspicious. "Is there something you need, owner?"

"You asked me about the legends of the Summer Palace ruins at noon, guest. I suddenly remembered another one that I believe you haven't heard yet," the hotel owner’s voice drifted from behind the door.

Lin Huang frowned. It was nearly nine o’clock at night; the owner coming to his room to discuss such matters felt highly suspicious.

"Let’s talk about it tomorrow. I’ve already gone to bed," Lin Huang replied casually, though he kept his guard up, his eyes fixed on the door.

Silence returned to the doorway. Lin Huang heard no response, nor did he hear any footsteps walking away.

Just as he felt a sense of unease, a noise erupted from the balcony behind him. Lin Huang spun around to see the young man from the next room crawling over.

The man was stark naked, clutching a short blade stained with blood. He kicked the glass sliding door to pieces and lunged toward Lin Huang.

Lin Huang pivoted, his muzzle instantly trained on the young man’s head. He pulled the trigger without hesitation.

A black life-power bullet streaked through the air, instantly punching a hole through the man’s skull. Blood and brain matter splattered as the corpse collapsed to the floor.

At that moment, Lin Huang heard the sound of a key turning in the room’s front door. He said nothing, turning his aim back toward the entrance.

A moment later, the door swung open. The hotel owner stepped inside and froze upon seeing the body on the floor.

"Stay right there, or I’ll have to treat you as a puppet controlled by a parasite and kill you on the spot," Lin Huang said, his gaze icy. "Now, answer me: what exactly are you trying to do, coming to my room at this hour?"

The hotel owner shifted his gaze from the corpse on the floor to Lin Huang, flashing a sinister smile. "My master says he senses something he wants on you. He told us to kill you and bring your body back to him..."

As soon as he finished speaking, over a dozen people who had been hiding in the corridor swarmed into the room like madmen, lunging at Lin Huang.

Lin Huang darted toward the balcony and leaped off, summoning his Purple-Eyed White Eagle mid-air. The eagle beat its wings, catching Lin Huang on its back and soaring into the night sky.

Looking down, Lin Huang’s brow furrowed. "There are this many infected people here?!"

On the ground below, not only were the dozen or so people on his balcony staring up at him with beastly roars, but hundreds more from around the hotel were surging toward his position. Even though they knew they couldn't reach him in the air, they chased after him frantically, reaching their hands toward the sky and howling.

Lin Huang couldn't help but recall what the hotel owner had said. The "master" he referred to must be the main body of the parasite. "That parasite is controlling these hosts to attack me because I have something it wants..."

"Xiao Hei, when you sensed that abnormal energy in the ruins earlier, is it possible that it could sense you in return?" Lin Huang suddenly remembered the events at the Summer Palace ruins.

[It is not just possible; it can indeed sense my presence.]

"In other words, you want to seize its energy, and it wants to seize yours?" Lin Huang mused, realizing that the competition between "golden fingers" was quite intense.

[It cannot seize my energy, but it can replace my will and become a new golden finger, provided it is powerful enough.]

"Understood. So, it’s safe to assume the monster underground, dwelling with that abnormal energy, is the parasite. It must have been incited by that energy to send people after me." Lin Huang finally pieced the whole story together.

Watching the hundreds of people below howling like lunatics, Lin Huang calmly dialed the Hunter Association’s number in mid-air.

"Hello, how can I help you?" the female operator’s voice replied promptly.

"Near the South Gate of Xia City, there are hundreds of individuals infected by a parasite. Please send a team to capture them as soon as possible to prevent further trouble. You can track my coordinates; I’ll be waiting here."

Lin Huang chose not to kill the hosts below because, provided the period of infection hadn't exceeded a certain limit, the parasites within them could be purged. They were human at their core; they were simply being controlled. Handing them over to the Hunter Association was the most appropriate course of action.

Lin Huang did not have the Purple-Eyed White Eagle leave, knowing that if he departed, the hosts would lose their target and disperse, making them difficult to track down later.

Beyond the hosts below, others in the vicinity had noticed Lin Huang in the sky, and those drawn to the spectacle began to gather.

Lin Huang frowned and shouted downward, "Are there any Hunters below? Please help maintain order and keep civilians away!"

Several Hunters had already noticed the anomaly. Seeing the sheer number of infected, they dared not approach but stayed on the periphery to keep the public at a distance. Although the infected were targeting Lin Huang, anyone else who got too close would likely become a target as well.

Less than ten minutes after Lin Huang notified the Hunter Association, the Xia City government organized a team of Hunters to arrive on the scene. The nearby crowd was quickly dispersed, and the Hunters began the process of capturing the infected. Including the hotel owner, all hundreds of infected individuals were apprehended in under five minutes.

Long before the Hunters finished their work, Lin Huang had already slipped into the crowd and re-entered the Summer Palace ruins.

The moment he entered, Lin Huang used "Transformation" to change his face. This skill had been extracted after he killed a Mimic, and it was the tenth monster skill he had acquired. He chose to change his appearance because he couldn't be certain that there weren't other parasites inside the ruins. The previous ones had already seen his face; entering with his original appearance would make him an easy target to identify.

"You came looking for trouble with me earlier; now it’s my turn to bring trouble to you!" Lin Huang’s lips curled into a smirk as he strode deeper into the ruins.