Chapter 58: The Monitor's Decision

Based on his companion's reaction and the itching sensation spreading across his face, Rodi instantly guessed the current situation.

At the same time,
a sensation of being licked brushed against the side of his face. Out of the corner of his eye, he could vaguely glimpse a tongue that did not belong to him sprouting from his cheek, licking his skin and coming dangerously close to the corner of his mouth.

Swish!

With decisive action far beyond ordinary people,
Rodi struck directly with his blade against his own cheek,
Drip, drop~ Fresh blood dripped down.

The licking sensation from the tongue vanished, but the itching abruptly shifted to the other side, accompanied this time by a woman's voice.

"Ah~ A male body overflowing with the breath of youth. You are stronger than any man I have ever seen, and your blood tastes both fresh and enduring.
I've decided, become my son-in-law, won't you? If you agree, I won't kill you.
Don't worry, my daughter is quite pretty. Though she might not quite match the one beside you, she will be dead soon enough anyway."

Hearing such filthy and aggressively suggestive words, the monitor's expression turned intensely ugly. Her body twitched faintly, and it felt as though the crowbar in her hand might come crashing down at any second.

However,
Rodi made no move. He did not swing his blade at his other cheek as he had done before.

The woman's voice continued from the side of his cheek: "Why aren't you speaking? Do you perhaps enjoy maintaining this intimate state with Auntie? No matter, Auntie killed her ex-husband two years ago anyway, and I'm single now too.
Besides, my daughter is still young; she can slowly look for someone later when she grows up~ You can just live your life with Auntie."

Scarcely had the woman finished speaking when
a sharp, stinging sensation flared up, as though some corrosive poison was eating away at her skin.

Hiss!

The streetlights flickered frantically,
and the woman's face that had infested Rodi's cheek vanished, replaced by half a zombie-like face formed from the infection of the cheek wound.

The skin-bag woman hung once more from a streetlight ten meters away. Part of her face was stained black by corpse poison, but as she produced a compact to touch up her makeup, the erosion of the poison was masked and driven away.

"You children are truly all so exceptional, no wonder my useless daughter ranks near the bottom of this school. Auntie simply cannot wait to take you home with her~"

As her voice trailed off, the lights flickered, and the woman hanging from the streetlight disappeared once more.

Having experienced that close-quarters contact, Rodi was now certain of the entity's fear manifestation:
[The Skin-Bag]

This was completely different from the counterfeit humans he had encountered before, and to a certain extent, it broke free from the constraints of the word "human."

Flesh and bones had completely vanished, or rather, they had seamlessly integrated into the skin-bag.
It moved entirely as a unified skin-bag, possessing exceptional camouflage capabilities. It could even disguise itself as a wall or floor structure, making it difficult to distinguish in dim environments. Once it got close, it could crawl onto a human body and burrow into their skin.

Rodi had his zombie blade, so he could manage,
but if the creature crawled onto the monitor's or Xiaoying's body, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Even if Rodi injected them with corpse poison at the very first moment, it wouldn't necessarily drive the woman away, and the corpse poison itself would cause considerable damage to the human body.

The current situation could only be described as quite dire.

***

"Are these the counterfeit humans who possess the qualifications, have gained the acknowledgment of the corners, and are permitted to undergo the [Inter-Crevice Screening]?"

The three of them still stood shoulder to shoulder, remaining vigilant against the skin-bag that could close in at any moment.

Yet the creature seemed exceedingly patient, lingering in the shadows to await the optimal moment, waiting for the instant someone's awareness lapsed so it could latch onto their body.

Dragging things out like this was by no means a solution.

Suddenly, the monitor's voice came from the side: "Rodi, even for you, it's difficult to kill this special-constitution counterfeit human. If we keep dragging this out, we'll all die.
Even if we could keep stalling, there are still more than three other counterfeit humans who might locate this place at any second. Once we're caught in a pincer attack, death is certain.
That old woman won't necessarily outrun my speed. As long as I can reach the security office near the teaching building, I'll be saved. Take care of Xiaoying."

Rodi froze for a moment. The plan proposed by the monitor seemed to be the only viable way to break the deadlock at present; he neither stopped her nor uttered any meaningless words.

After a brief silence,
Rodi simply stated: "I'll get there as soon as possible."

"I'll be waiting."

The monitor had already assumed a standard throwing posture.
Bolstered by her investigator's attire, strength surged throughout her entire body.
Taking a step forward,
power generated from her heels, amplified through the coordinated synergy of her whole body's muscles, and finally transmitted to her arm.
Twisting her waist and rotating her back,
Hum!

The crowbar in her hand was hurled directly, cutting through the air with a whistling sound, spinning at high speed as it crashed toward a dim wall surface.

Clang! It smashed heavily against the perimeter wall, gouging a fine crack into the surface, accompanied by an unnatural vibration in the surroundings.

The throw completed,
the monitor instantly transitioned into a sprinting posture, her upper body leaning forward by nearly 90 degrees, charging out in an exaggerated, monster-like stance. Her speed was even faster than her previous record-breaking dash.

She rushed back to the fork the three of them had passed earlier, pivoting to race toward the teaching building.

Sure enough,
having had its disguised head smashed by the crowbar earlier and having now been struck by another thrown projectile,
coupled with the fact that this woman intensely desired to claim the monitor's brain to resurrect her daughter, she decisively pursued her without a moment's hesitation.

The skin-bag skimmed along the wall, moving at a speed scarcely slower than the monitor.
Even if Rodi wanted to chase after them, he simply couldn't keep up.

Since the monitor had sacrificed herself to break the deadlock, he hesitated no longer, immediately putting away the zombie blade and turning toward the athletic center. To his surprise, Xiaoying had already bolted fifty meters ahead.

"Rodi, hurry up!! Let's go find the teachers and gather them, then get our head teacher to rush to the security office and reunite with the monitor! Hurry!"

Xiaoying had been on the verge of tears just a moment ago, but her mind had made the correct choice instantly. Rather than giving in to grief, it was better to rally reinforcements as quickly as possible; as long as they made it in time, they would surely be able to save the monitor.

The two of them summoned their utmost speed as they ran toward the athletic center.
Although the path had been spatially prolonged, the guidance of the road signs was correct.

***

A large opening soon appeared in the wall ahead, and a thoughtful directional wooden sign labeled [Athletic Center] stood right beside the gap.

When the two of them stepped out of the walled corridor and crossed into the boundaries of the track and field stadium, they halted in unison.

The track and field stadium, which should have been teeming with a large number of students,
did not present the scene of widespread student mutation they had anticipated, nor did it show physical education teachers having the situation completely under control.

It was dead silent.

The entire expansive athletic field was completely devoid of a single person. The only thing visible was the metal square coffin used for [Advancement Confrontation] standing upright in the center of the grounds.

Strange.

Rodi's mind was flooded with question marks.
The [Inter-Crevice] enveloped the entire campus, and the PE teachers would certainly have been able to assess the situation immediately.
Compared to the complex and distorted space of the gymnasium, the open and spacious athletic field should have been much better suited for a general assembly.

Yet not a single person could be seen now, and the entire playground was remarkably "clean."

Logically speaking,
assuming the dorm supervisor's mutation had likewise occurred among the students—meaning some students gathered on the athletic field had mutated and attempted to threaten the lives of other normal students—the PE teachers would have decisively intervened, yet very few corpses were to be seen here.

Only a few fragmented body parts could be seen lingering around the outer perimeter of the running track.

Where had the people gone?
Where had the bodies gone?
What on earth caused all the PE teachers to evacuate the athletic field?

Because the situation on the monitor's side was critical and they needed to rendezvous with the PE teachers as soon as possible, the two of them immediately stepped onto the deserted athletic field.

Clearly, no scent had been detectable while standing outside,
but the moment they crossed the running track, a pungent, heavy stench pierced their nostrils, churning their esophagi and stomachs.

It was Xiaoying's first time smelling such intense blood, forcing her to cover her mouth and suppress her urge to vomit as much as possible.

Rodi, however, had already crouched in front of the mutilated corpse fragments on the track, observing them closely. The wounds on these fragments varied widely—some were slashed, some torn, and some even showed signs of being melted by strong acid.

"This must be the work of the counterfeit humans... But why are there only a few residual corpse fragments along the outer edge of the track?"

Just as Rodi was pondering this,
Xiaoying, having just grown accustomed to the stench, gasped in alarm: "There's someone over there!"

Standing right behind the metal square coffin erected in the center of the athletic field to confine [Derivative Entities] was indeed a person. Due to the angle, the two of them hadn't been able to see them while standing at the outer perimeter of the field.

Rodi looked over as well.
Because of the lighting conditions and the distance, only a pitch-black human silhouette could be made out, along with a pair of leather shoes stepping on the grass, obscuring any detailed facial features.

Yet for Rodi, the silhouette and partial attire were already enough to distinguish who it was.

There was only one person in the entire school who did not wear a school uniform and possessed such a frail build.

"Teacher Guo?"