The flames licked at their combat suits, revealing metallic-tinted bones beneath the charred fibers.

The two warriors at the forefront had their right arms severed at the shoulders. No blood gushed from the wounds, only a viscous black liquid slowly oozed out.

They seemed to feel no pain, using their remaining left hand to withdraw syringes from their combat packs, fiercely jabbing them into their shoulders.

In an instant, the severed stumps writhed, uneven black fleshy tendrils crazily surged forth, fusing in mere moments into a rotten, charred black arm.

The other seven were slightly better off, but their facial skin was extensively carbonized, revealing the gray-blue muscle tissue beneath.

"Fan-shaped defense."

Zuo Bai’s voice came through the thick smoke, calm enough to belie the explosion they had just survived.

The warriors immediately dispersed, forming triangular formations of three.

Working seamlessly, one group quickly occupied the burning wreckage of a bus beside the road as cover, the scorched stench instinctively making them lick their lips;

Another group climbed up lamp posts, scanning the area from up high for threats;

The last group stood back-to-back in the middle of the road, becoming a mobile defense core.

Zuo Bai emerged from the smoke, carrying Zhao Jingyi in one hand.

His newly donned white coat had yellowed from the smoke, with wisps of green still curling from the cuffs.

Zhao Jingyi, luckily close to the cryonic chamber, was spared burns, but the blast’s shockwave rattled her chest, making her organs feel misplaced.

As she hit the ground, she grunted, curling up, coughing violently, a taste of rust rising in her throat.

Zuo Bai cast a cold glance at her.

Zhao Jingyi immediately grit her teeth, forcibly enduring the pain as she staggered towards a distant cover.

Only then did Zuo Bai raise his head, his gaze locking 30 meters away on the roadway central — the trio stood at odds with the chaos around, like actors accidentally wandering onto a battlefield.

A bald man in flip-flops, hands in pockets, grinning to reveal a mouthful of black teeth;

A muscular man in shorts, arms crossed, veins coiled like snakes under his skin;

A flamboyant woman heavily made up, a straw for milk tea between her lips, her face nonchalant.

Zhao Jingyi immediately poked her head halfway out, sharply reminding Zuo Bai:

"Mentor, that muscle man is the one who drove the senior sisters crazy in the video."

Not that Zhao Jingyi needed to tell him, Zuo Bai had recognized the man at first glance.

"I see."

Zuo Bai’s voice was as if dripping from an ice cellar. His slender fingers unconsciously rubbed the scorched edges of his white coat,

"My carefully planned campus performance wasn’t interrupted by accident; they’re here specifically for me?!!"

A warrior suddenly called out low: "Nine o’clock direction."

Interrupted, Zuo Bai quickly turned his head, his gaze falling over the burning wreckage onto the elevated lamp post 400 meters away.

A man in a black Master of Ceremonies suit stood atop the lamp, holding an oddly shaped sniper rifle, one eye closed and the other opened, pupil-less, all-white.

Zuo Bai’s gaze had just locked onto the man in black, when a surreal thought flickered through his mind:

"Is the sniper a blind man?"

Yet before his thoughts settled, the head of the warrior who had warned him exploded with a "pong."

Pong—

The warrior’s head exploded instantly, leaving a bowl-sized hole, black blood spraying fountain-like, mixing with bone fragments and brain matter spattered all over.

For an ordinary person, this shot would be lethal.

But Zuo Bai’s warriors were different; their bodies had undergone partial Calamity Corpse Transformation, and unified implantation of nano-bugs.

So, even if their heads were shattered, their shells could still be managed by the nano-bugs, continuing to fight like a Calamity Corpse.

Visibly, the warrior with the blasted head staggered but didn’t fall, still stubbornly stepping forward.

"The power of science can redefine death!"

Zuo Bai sneered, lifting his hand to point at the blind sniper, casually saying:

"Kill him first..."

Zuo Bai was about to issue the order, but the next moment, mutation struck.

The body of the shattered-head warrior froze, neck twisting bizarrely to one side, then—

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Numerous sharp thorns burst furiously from within, the sound of flesh being pierced incessantly.

In an instant, the warrior’s body was like an exploding seed, bursting outward into a hideous "Thorny Sea Urchin."

The mucus excreted from the thorns was polluting the nano-bugs, the silvery crawl morphing to the same black, emitting a sinister glow.

More horrifying still, the thorns continued distorting madly, growing, even "clawing" towards adjacent warriors.

Zuo Bai’s expression finally changed.

"...Not the bullet."

"It’s the ’Seed’!!!"

As Zuo Bai uttered the word "Seed," the surrounding air seemed to be vacuumed dry, suffocating.

These warriors, transformed into Calamity Corpses, even if gutted, could remain emotionless killing machines, now retreated simultaneously by half a step.

Their pupils trembled violently, bloodshot veins surfacing on eye whites.

At least three men unconsciously pressed their tongues against their molars, where the self-destruct program was hidden, ready to be activated anytime.

Speaking of the abilities or lethality displayed by the "Seeds," actually, if taking a pure appearance view, it seems not so terrifying.

After all, it merely blooms within flesh, and then thorns will pierce the brain within 0.4 seconds, taking over the host’s nervous system, polluting and twisting the host’s will.

During this process, the host won’t die, but instead will gain comprehensive enhancements.

Just like game characters, "Attributes" soar, damage from various "Skills" strengthen, "Cooling" becomes shorter.

The price is the frontal cortex being recoded by thorn toxins, turning into an unspeakably...madman.

Indeed, solely from the appearance of its ability, it seems not so fearsomeness.

However...

The "Seed" contains another deeper significance; it’s the unique iconic business card of the [Destiny] organization.

Witnessing firsthand as a companion blooms a seed within, it signifies [Destiny] is offering you, in an extremely "polite" way, its...greeting?!!

This is common knowledge among all villains!

No matter which villain organization you join, in the first three onboarding sessions, you’re surely taught this survival knowledge repetitively.

Zuo Bai had always been the top student in training classrooms.

Thus, he still firmly remembered the original words on the blackboard:

When you see a companion parasitized by a [Seed], do not save him, he’s already contaminated by [Destiny].

Your role is to demonstrate our organization’s courtesy and friendliness, answer any questions, offer anything asked, strive to resolve any misunderstandings.

If these aren’t enough, your sole task remains — escape! escape! escape!

Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely bear no resentment, do not resist, never attempt counter-killing.

Remember,

Your death brings family happiness, the organization will forever remember you.