Eaten Ch.98.2

Chapter 98.2: Big Fight

Wu Heng patted the spot next to him, letting him sit.

He didn’t have to ask. Lin Mengzhi spilled everything in one breath.

“Those kids—oldest is fifteen, youngest is thirteen—they start kicking and hitting people the moment they don’t like what they hear. Their parents stand next to them calling them ‘young masters’! My team lead and I went to gather intel. They don’t want to talk? Fine. But then they start saying my lead’s still fat in the apocalypse so he must’ve been skimming ‘oil.’ And by New Year the base could slaughter him like a pig.

“My lead didn’t stoop to their level. And then they tell me to kneel while talking to them?!”

“You think I’ve ever swallowed that kind of humiliation? I slapped that brat across the face twice. Then they said they wanted to fight to the death. I couldn’t back down, so I agreed—only after that did I find out all three of them were ability users.”

“Good thing I didn’t lose, or I’d have been humiliated beyond saving!”

“A’Heng, don’t you think the apocalypse isn’t all that different from before? It’s just that survival’s a bit harsher,” Lin Mengzhi said, poking at a stone on the ground. “Even grown-ups still let the younger ones have their way. Why?”

Wu Heng rested his chin on his knees. “Even up in the trees as monkeys, there’s a set of rules to follow.”

“Jingzhou must have even more rules than Kuhuang. Damn it, so annoying!”

Lin Mengzhi’s team lead had someone carry the injured boy into the shelter first, but he didn’t stay inside. Instead, he came back out, scanned the area, and then stomped toward Lin Mengzhi.

Sweat streamed down his face, but his brows were furrowed in authority. “You—get out of Kuhuang.”

Lin Mengzhi had always followed a chivalrous, righteous path—otherwise he wouldn’t have formed the Elysium Squad with Dou Lu. Now, he felt treated like some dangerous creature, being driven out. He bristled, standing tall. “What did you say?”

“I said…”

Before the lead could finish, a low humming engine sounded down the street—definitely not a bus.

A silver-gray sedan was coming this way, shining almost snow-white under the sun.

“Move!” The lead recognized the car. He turned to Lin Mengzhi, lowering his voice to shout and giving him a push.

The sedan stopped at the curb. First to step out was Liu Ning. She wore a bright yellow long dress, her hair still flowing freely. With elegant manners, she opened the rear door. A man in a navy uniform stepped out after her.

The man and woman, along with the car, radiated refinement and elegance completely out of place in the apocalypse. Surrounded by brutality and blood, they seemed as if they were attending a lavish social gala rather than a ruined street.

Lin Mengzhi’s mind was still slow to process, his emotions caught between anger and sadness. Wu Heng, however, had already stepped in front of him.

The newcomers were clearly not friendly.

Tap, tap, tap. Liu Ning’s high heels struck the ground with a crisp rhythm. The man was dignified, poised, and restrained—commanding yet understated, even taking the time to steady a staggering survivor as he walked.

“Mr. Mo,” the fat team lead said, stepping aside nervously, trembling.

Liu Ning’s gaze was razor‑sharp. Her eyes swept over the guards’ faces as she stated coolly,

“Picking fights, causing severe injury… Zhao Feixiang, you can’t even keep a few children under control?”

Zhao Feixiang shook his head frantically. “No, no—just a minor injury, a small conflict—”

Liu Ning let out a soft laugh.

“In the few minutes you were out here slacking off, that child already stopped breathing.”

“Assistant Liu!” Zhao Feixiang looked up in disbelief. “Burns—and he’s an ability user, shouldn’t he—shouldn’t he heal—”

“He was unlucky. The bacteria grew a hundred times faster than his body could repair.” Liu Ning sighed.

After speaking, she turned her gaze toward Wu Heng and Lin Mengzhi, her expression softening slightly.

“According to base regulations, we need to take you in for questioning.”

Wu Heng looked at her calmly. “My friend isn’t a member of your base.”

“That’s true,” Liu Ning murmured, touching her chin as if accepting the logic.

But in the next second—

A long spear materialized from nowhere, its tip aimed directly between Lin Mengzhi’s eyebrows, the sharp point only a hair’s breadth from his skin.

Her expression shifted instantly; her voice turned cold as ice. “Since he’s not one of ours, we’ll simply execute him.”

People inside the shelter rushed out upon hearing the commotion, only to see Wu Heng strike—his palm slamming into Liu Ning’s shoulder.

The spear clattered to the ground. Before the sound even faded, a dark silhouette appeared, and an arm clamped tightly around Wu Heng’s neck.

He was dragged backward, his throat crushed so hard the bones, vessels, and skin let out a sickening crack.

A surge of fire shot past—Lin Mengzhi’s attack.

Wu Heng gave him a look: You’re burning me too.

Sensing an unprecedented threat, the vines erupted from the ground, rising like a canopy to blot out the sky.

But the ring of black shadow around the boy’s neck suddenly spread—flowing over his entire body, then spilling across the ground beneath his feet.

It was like a sheet of pure darkness.

The vines lashed through it, breaking it apart—yet they couldn’t make it vanish.

Each time they dispersed it, it rippled back together, mimicking the movement of the vines themselves, winding around them, pulling them down to the earth.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Explosions rang out one after another from the ground. The vines that had been ensnaring themselves burst apart, fresh green plant sap spraying in all directions, the bitter, acrid mist filling the air.

X, attempting to join in, was pinned down, its wings locked, slammed heavily onto the ground, leaving it dazed and disoriented.

The giant bird, ignoring the pain, had tears at the base of its wings.

The entanglement of vines and the black shadow had turned the entire open space into a battlefield. What looked soft and harmless in appearance, once approached, felt like nearing a black hole—immediately drawn in and crushed.

Many people had no choice but to retreat into the shelters to avoid accidental injury. Yet a few youths managed to push through the panicked crowd.

“Doesn’t the base have defenses?”

“What the hell is this?” Dou Lu looked up. Countless golden threads appeared from her hands, stabbing into the black mist, but they had no effect.

She tried to trace the energy source of this thing, but before she could sense any power, a sudden pain twisted her chest. She spat blood, cursing, “What the hell is this thing?”

Xue Shen missed entirely. As for Ying Liuquan, he was even more terrified.

Xie Chongyi didn’t engage with the black shadow. He teleported instantly beside Wu Heng and, without hesitation, kicked the man squarely in the chest.

But Mr. Mo dispersed like a cloud of gas, merging with the black shadow above.

Liu Ning, nearby, assumed Xie Chongyi would be too stunned to act, but in the next second, he pressed his face close to hers, a faint, unsettling smile on his lips, his eyes glinting with cold light.

His five fingers gripped her neck. With his peripheral vision, Xie Chongyi measured the strength of the black shadow and applied the same force to Liu Ning.

“He won’t be strangled to death—but you might be.”

Why wouldn’t he die? Aren’t they both human? Liu Ning struggled to look at the boy whose face was already flushed.

Wu Heng raised a corner of his mouth. Lifting his arm, the vines wrapping from his shoulder to fingertips transformed into a blade. Without hesitation, he slit his own neck.

Grabbing his head, the severed neck slid from the black shadow. He was swallowed by the vines, the green sinking into the ground, vanishing without a trace.

Liu Ning clutched Xie Chongyi’s hand with both of hers, her eyes demanding an explanation—what was happening?

The boy who should have vanished reappeared not far away. He stood beneath the thick, roiling black mist, his face pale. Behind him, terrified survivors huddled together; two young boys were crying hysterically over their friend’s death.

“I don’t acknowledge your base’s rules,” Wu Heng said softly. Shadows pooled beneath his lashes, damp and deep. “Now, I’m going to kill the remaining two as well.”

Liu Ning’s eyes widened in horror. It’s over!

“No!” Zhao Feixiang sprinted toward him.

Even Meng Haiqing rushed to stop them. “What are you all doing?! Can’t you talk things out? Assistant Liu—how could you even raise a hand against a group of children? Have you lost your mind?!”

The black shadow gathered behind Wu Heng, forming a giant hand that skimmed along the ground, sweeping up clouds of dust.

But everyone moved a step too late.

A main vine shot straight up from the body of the boy lying on the ground, splitting him cleanly in half as it pierced through him and soared toward the sky.

Two branches snapped outward, stabbing precisely into the hearts of the remaining boys—swift, clean, merciless. Their energy cores were ripped out all at once, roots and all.

At the same moment, the giant black hand slammed Wu Heng into the ground. His fingers dug into the dry earth; he couldn’t even lift his head.

X thrashed wildly on the ground, wings beating, legs kicking, feathers scattering everywhere as it screamed in agony.

Xie Chongyi hurled Liu Ning dozens of meters away. Covering his right eye with his palm, black liquid seeped from between his fingers.

Wu Heng’s face pressed against the soil—earth, the mother of plants. He didn’t feel pain, only the annoyance of being forced down like this.

But he wasn’t one for intense emotions; irritation came and went. Then a cold, metallic stench hit him, shifting his focus.

The black-shadow arm was suddenly torn apart by a many-legged creature that appeared out of nowhere, skittering with unnatural speed. The shadow tried to reform and restrain the intruder, but the creature slipped through its grasp again and again, impossible to hold.

It reached the ground in an instant, scuttling over Wu Heng’s body, its abdomen lowering to envelop him entirely.

It remained motionless. The black shadows lunged at it one after another from behind, only to be sucked entirely into its body. The density of the shadows thinned, and the previously obscured sunlight began to seep through.

It resembled a fortress. The three large shelters weren’t even half its size. Yet size alone wasn’t what shocked everyone—the creature’s form was utterly alien. It didn’t belong to any insect species on Earth; grotesque and bizarre. No insect would have a head covered with countless eyes while also sporting two feather-like antennae.

Since no one could move it, it simply settled atop the boy. Wu Heng stiffened—its shell was ice-cold, biting into his back.

Its abdomen contracted and expanded, pressing against the boy’s lower back with every breath.

Wu Heng felt the urge to smash it to pieces.

“Liu Shen!” a sharp voice rang out. A woman in a yellow dress descended from above, kicking the “Liu Ning” on the ground. “How dare you cause trouble in our Kuhuang!”

“Liu Ning” rolled several times across the ground, then got up swiftly. With slender fingers wiping her face, a partially disfigured visage appeared. Her posture straightened and broadened—this was clearly a man, not the base’s second-in-command, Liu Ning.

“Just playing around, don’t get upset,” Liu Shen kept hopping.

Liu Ning sheathed her spear. A flash of electricity struck, and Liu Shen collapsed convulsing on the ground.

The woman walked over, kicking him several times with her high heels. From his clothing, she pulled out a pitch-black cube. She twisted it once, and the black shadows scattered across the air returned to the cube as if summoned.

“Shisanhe is now under Kuhuang’s management. Given your actions, Mr. Mo will deal with you personally.” She said this and kicked Liu Shen several more times; with each strike, blood smeared the tips of her shoes.

The insect atop Wu Heng burrowed back into the ground.

Xie Chongyi stepped forward and pulled Wu Heng up. Wu Heng muttered, “I hate bugs.”

“Alright,” Xie Chongyi said, covering his mouth.

Lin Mengzhi had nearly overused his ability. With a tearful, miserable expression, he came to find him. “A’Heng, are you okay? It’s all my fault.”

After Liu Ning had the guards escort Liu Shen away, she quickly walked over to the group of kids who were comforting each other. “Sorry, I scared you all.”

Dou Lu spoke sharply, her tone full of displeasure. “Quit pretending.”

Unhurried, Liu Ning explained, “Liu Shen was formerly the person in charge of the Shisanhe Base. After Shisanhe was merged into Kuhuang, he repeatedly sent letters—both openly and under the table—showing his dissatisfaction. But since the merge was an order from Jingzhou, all he could do was complain. Mr. Mo and I both knew that given his personality, even if the merger was set in stone, he would definitely cause trouble for us. We were prepared for it. We just didn’t expect him to target you all.”

“I will discuss compensation with Mr. Mo—food, energy cores, anything our base has, we can negotiate.” Liu Ning forced out an odd smile at the group, suppressing the anger she felt toward Liu Shen.

“However, about what just happened—Liu Shen definitely won’t tell the truth. I need one of you to go to Mr. Mo and give a report.”

Xue Shen was just about to volunteer when Dou Lu blocked all of them behind her.

The girl lifted her chin, looking disheveled and frightened, yet stubbornly trying to seem composed. “Why should we trust you? Why can’t all of us go? If only one person goes to a place full of your own people, and something happens, are you just going to throw food at us again as ‘compensation’?”

Dou Lu’s lips were still streaked with blood, and her heart throbbed faintly. In her mind, she kept replaying the horrifying scene in which almost all of her friends had been powerless to resist.

She swore that from this moment on, she would no longer show mercy to anyone in the world. She would give no one her trust—man, woman, elder, or child; whether an ability user or an ordinary person—no one, absolutely no one, except her friends.

She removed her helmet and tossed it at Liu Ning’s feet. “Screw you. Live your own life.”

The boys behind her exchanged glances, but only Lin Mengzhi spoke to Dou Lu. “My daughter is finally coming of age.”

Dou Lu: “You’re crazy.”

“Forget it, I’ll go then.”

At that moment, a weak voice, lacking any courage, spoke up. Ying Liuquan, trembling, stepped forward. “I not only know exactly what happened just now, but I also know what they were thinking in their brains during each of their actions. So I can provide Mr. Mo with the most objective report and prevent Liu Shen from twisting the facts.”

Everyone: “???”

Liu Ning glanced at the timid young man. “Are you sure you want to go?”

Ying Liuquan hesitated. “Then I… ah—” He stumbled forward.

Someone pushed him from behind!!! Who!!!

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