Chapter 454: City Of Zerg
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_
Wang Tong nudged Tee's elbow and reminded her to avoid unnecessary attention.
"Hi, we are the workers on the Ark, restocking our supplies." Wang Tong announced to the armed police as he took out worker ID.
The police turned on the skynet and compared the ID with his screen as a smile crept onto his face. Tee knew that the police had recognized Wang Tong, the champion of the tournament.
"Ah...Mr. Wang Tong, please feel free to explore our city." The police handed Wang Tong's ID card back ingratiatingly.
As Wang Tong reached out his hand, the police's finger grazed Wang Tong's palm. Suddenly, Wang Tong felt something was odd about this policeman. But a half second later, the thought was gone.
After the policeman walked away, both Wang Tong and Tee heaved a sigh of relief.
The near escape had ruined Tee's day, so she plodded back to the maglev and was ready to head straight back to the dock. Suddenly, Wang Tong's face blackened as realization dawned upon him.
Tee noticed Wang Tong's overwrought face, so she asked, "You don't like this place either, do you?"
"Tee, how long are we going to stay here?"
"We have to wait for the meeting to finish, so I would say at least three days. Why? You want to sneak off the ship again?"
"What meeting?"
"Do you really think we are here to restock supply? Samantha is in the meeting with the mayor of the city right now to discuss very important political issues. You can save the effort of worrying about the details since it's way beyond our pay-grade."
"STOP!" Wang Tong suddenly shouted out.
Tee pressed on the break out of instinct, bringing the car to a jarring halt. "Wang Tong, what the hell is going on? Stop yelling like this!"
"Tee, something is not right...not right..."
"What are you mumbling!"
"I'm talking about that policeman. He is not a human!"
Wang Tong's words disheveled Tee at first, and then she was amused with the foolishness setting in. "Haha! Are you kidding me? I agree that these space dwellers are kinda weird, but they are not aliens?"
"No, I am serious. I have used the soul -scan on him unconsciously while our hands touched. He is not a human! "
"Soul-scan? You mean—"
"Yes, the same ability I use to diagnose problems in the METAL suits. I had been using it on everything lately, and I can tell a human from a non-human based on their soul energy imprints."
"Maybe he is a cyborg. It's pretty common nowadays." Tee said. She had never seen Wang Tong being so stressed out before.
Wang Tong didn't answer. His mind raced as he suddenly remembered that he had seen a similar soul energy before. It was during the tournament, on the Zerg-human hybrid. "I think he is likely another hybrid." Wang Tong announced.
The hybrid monster had been the focus of the public's attention for a while. However, since Patroclus eliminated it before it could do any real damage, so people quickly forgot about the incident. The origin of the hybrid still escaped the public; some believed that it was a new mutation of the Zerg while others thought that a faction within the Confederation had created the monster.
Tee's brows furrowed as the significance of the discovery setting in. If it really were the Zerg behind the birth of the hybrid monster, they should have already infested the entire city.
"It's serious. We need to head back and report to Kaost."
"I will stay behind. I think Samantha will need my help." Wang Tong said. He reckoned that it was better for him to stay in the city, because not only would Samantha need his help, he also ran the risk of being grounded on the ship.
The more Wang Tong thought about it, the clearer it was to him that Samantha had walked into a trap.
The sense of urgency spurred Wang Tong to storm toward the city before Tee could say anything, leaving the latter no choice but to head back to the dock by herself. Truth be told, Tee was not entirely sold on Wang Tong's suspicion. If Wang Tong were not the heir of the Blade Warrior, she might have ridiculed his claim. If Wang Tong were right, Tee thought, the Zerg's real goal might be sabotaging the Ark expedition!
With many doubts and questions, Tee turned on skynet and tried to connect to the Ark, but a strong disturbance made it impossible. Was it just coincidence that the skynet was offline at this moment?
Tee's soldier's instinct was tingling: something was not right. She got in the maglev and drove as fast as she could to the Ark. The Ark's expedition would determine the future of mankind, so it could not afford to be sabotaged.
Wang Tong soon realized that he was further away from the city than he had thought. It didn't take long before he stole a maglev. He was racing against time, so he didn't have any other options.
While driving, Wang Tong turned on his skynet and tried to contact Samantha, but his signal was blocked by the same disturbance that prevented Tee's communication. Wang Tong didn't even think of checking the situation back on the Ark; he trusted that Kaost, being an experienced commander, would be able to handle any crisis.
When Wang Tong was close enough to the city to discern the outline of the buildings, he gave up the maglev and started running on foot, as he didn't want to get pulled over for driving a stolen vehicle. Nothing seemed suspicious in the city, so Wang Tong figured that the Zerg had not made a move against Samantha yet.
Meanwhile, inside the city, Patroclus and the group of young girls walked out of the mayor's residence and arrived at the mayor's private garden. Despite the annoying chattering of the girls and their even more annoyingly vacuous questions, Patroclus enjoyed the beautiful scenery in the garden.
"Patroclus, do you have a girlfriend?"
"Yea, we all want to know!"
Patroclus gave the girls a faint smile and then said calmly, "Is that really the best question you can ask me, Miss Zerg?"
Silence fell into the garden as the chattering girls were shocked by Patroclus's remark. The daughter of the mayor finally broke the silence, "Is that how you talk to a girl on the Moon?"
Patroclus stretched his arms and took a large gulp of air. "What do you think?"
Silence fell again; this time, even the mayor's daughter kept her silence. Some pretty faces behind Patroclus had already revealed some of their grotesque nature.
Patroclus about turned and saw the shifting bones on the girls' faces; he was not surprised.
"Your kind's mutating ability is marvelous. What is the name of this new breed? Paradise-Zerg? Are you really that desperate to become human?" Patroclus said as he scanned the girls in front of him curiously like inspecting lab mice.
Suddenly, all girls dispersed away from the crowd and formed a circle around Patroclus. The mayor's daughter still faced Patroclus, her eyes dead-locked on him.
"Impressive! How did you know we are not human?"
"Hehe, why should I tell you? And what is the meaning of this? No one in this city can stop me, much less you!" Patroclus announced. The temperature in the garden seemed to have suddenly dropped a few degrees.
Yalansili, the mayor's daughter, knew Patroclus was telling the truth, as she was well aware of Patroclus's strength.
"My dear prince, we are not here to stop you. We only wish you could listen to what we have to say."
Patroclus nodded. "Luckily you still have some wits about you. Are you talking to me as the paradise inside of you or Yalansili?"
Yalansili studied Patroclus for a while, and then she gave him an alluring smile. "Haha! of course, I'm talking to you as Yalansili. We had served our god right, and therefore, we were granted everlasting bodies. We are neither human nor Zerg, but the ultimate form of evolution." Yalansili said as pride and conviction burned in her eyes. Patroclus knew that she was telling the truth, and was not under any mind control effects.