Peach Blossom Spring

Chapter 11: Symbiosis

Views:

Four bright spots can be seen on the map. In addition to the one rushing towards Qiu Shi, there are three others who are fighting with Xing Bi and A, B and C.

Qiu Shi could already see the face of the biochemical creature rushing towards him. He should be good-looking, but there was surprisingly no memorable point on this face. Qiu Shi had seen countless faces, beautiful, ugly, and ordinary faces, but he had never seen one that he would forget in the blink of an eye.

He also aimed the scope at the face that would be burned after reading it. At this distance, there were several trees in between. If the face moved a little, he might miss.

He needed closer distance.

There was still chaotic noise in the earphones, and he tilted his head and the earphones fell off.

While aiming, he could also see the dots on the map in front of him.

Xing Bi suddenly broke away from the fight and rushed towards him. A, B and C suddenly closed together and blocked the remaining biochemical body that wanted to follow Xing Bi.

Then Xiao Bing’s green dot and the opponent’s bright spot disappeared at the same time.

Xing Bi appeared in Qiu Shi's field of vision. The complex terrain in the woods prevented him from simply jumping up, kicking him down, and then attacking the back of his neck as he had done before.

He could only ensure that this person continued to stay in Qiu Shi's shooting route.

"Shoot." Xing Bi said.

The biochemical body that was kicked in the lower back by Xing Bi suddenly rushed towards Qiu Shi, and was perfectly magnified in the sight.

Xiao Yi’s bright spot on the map disappeared.

Qiu Shi shot the biochemical creature in the neck, and black liquid splashed out.

Xing Bi turned around as he fired, and due to inertia his whole body leaned forward, and he swung something in his hand hard.

It was only then that Qiu Shi noticed that Xing Bi's gun was no longer in his hand.

The opponent's biochemical body is very powerful.

The thing Xing Bi threw out was a rock, which hit the gun that Xiao Jia had knocked from the opponent's hand to the ground. The gun was knocked into the air and fell in front of him.

Xing Bi rushed forward and picked up the gun, and he and Qiu Shi raised their guns and aimed at the opposite side at the same time.

The surroundings fell silent.

They returned to the dead silence they had when they first entered. Even the tiny sounds of the growing fungi could no longer be heard. Qiu Shi could only hear his own breathing.

The biochemical bodies on the opposite side had no weapons. Two of them stood behind Xiaojia. One of them pinched Xiaojia's neck, and Xiaojia lost his ability to fight.

Although no one spoke, the scene at this moment was very clear. The opponent had no weapons and used a small armor as a shield to block in front of him.

This position is very accurate. From their perspective, if they want to shoot, they will hit Xiaojia first.

Qiu Shi didn't know what he would do if he encountered such a situation in other missions, but he was actually very clear about this mission. He knew before setting out that A, B, and C were there to ensure the safety of him and Xing Bi. When the gang sent these three level twos into the nest, they had no intention of letting them go back.

However, the three silent level 2 players, their tacit cooperation on the road, and even the precise blockade at the end to ensure that Xing Bi could escape and rescue him, made him hesitate for a second.

"Shoot." Xing Bi spoke, his voice low and hoarse but firm.

Qiu Shi did not hesitate, and he could not hesitate in this situation.

He shot Xiaojia in the neck, and the bullet went through Xiaojia and hit the target behind him.

But the moment Xing Bi opened his mouth, the two opponent's biochemical bodies let go of Xiao Jia and rushed to the right when Qiu Shi's gun fired.

Qiu Shi hit Xiaojia.

Xing Bi also fired a shot and moved half a meter to the right. The two biochemical bodies rushing to the right were hit and fell to the ground almost at the same time as Xiao Jia.

The battle was over in that second.

"Fuck your ancestors." Qiu Shi cursed in a low voice, rushed over and kicked the two biochemical bodies hard twice.

He felt an indescribable anger in his heart. Before Xing Bi asked him to shoot, he had already predicted that the other party would escape, so this could be said to be a perfect cooperation, but he still had some anger that he had nowhere to vent.

When he fired, the other party let go of Xiaojia, giving him the illusion that he didn't have to kill Xiaojia. But it was an illusion because if he didn't fire, the other party wouldn't let go of Xiaojia, and Xing Bi wouldn't have the chance to kill them both with one shot.

This is a vicious cycle.

So he felt very suffocated.

"Do you know why they have no names?" Xing Bi said.

"Get lost." Qiu Shi said.

"Shall we go?" Xing Bi dragged A, B, and C out from among the other group of people and put them aside.

Qiu Shi put on his headphones again and tried for a long time, but still couldn't get in touch with the command center.

"Is it because these things have not been used for too long?" Qiu Shi said, "I suspect it's not interference, but their things are about to break down."

"It's better not to break," Xing Bi said, "if it breaks, we have to re-implant it."

"Shut up." Qiu Shi arranged his weapons and said, "We don't have any suicide squads anymore. Be careful behind us. If there are more than two targets, run away."

Xing Bi glanced at him.

"Did you hear it clearly?" Qiu Shi said.

"Yeah." Xing Bi responded.

After walking a few steps forward, Qiu Shi added: "Thank you just now."

"Save you?" Xing Bi said, "You're welcome. My mission is to keep you alive."

"You're really good at interrupting conversations," Qiu Shi said, and then asked again, "Why?"

"There are still first-level submersible guards," Xing Bi said, "Qiu Shi currently has only one, you know that yourself."

Qiu Shi didn't say anything.

Without the three suicide squads, the surroundings seemed a little empty.

Qiu Shi still maintained a distance of more than ten meters behind Xing Bi, staring at the map in front of him. He could only be grateful that the map was not disconnected and the details on the map were still being updated.

As they went deeper and deeper into the nest, the black fungus attached to the surrounding area seemed to be getting thicker, and even their feet felt a little soft when they landed on the ground. The sound of growth was also slowly becoming clearer.

Xing Bi stopped and saw a long object appeared on the ground in front of him, also wrapped in black.

When Qiu Shi looked over, he felt sick. From the appearance, he could tell that it was the body of a person lying on the ground.

When he looked forward again, he felt his body become a little stiff.

On the ground ahead, there were black human bodies covered in fungi lying all over the place.

"There's breathing." Xing Bi said.

"It can't be detected on the map." Qiu Shi clenched the gun in his hand. This place should be very close to the center of the nest.

"It's just breathing," Xing Bi said, stretching out his hand and tearing off the black covering on one of the bodies' heads, revealing the body's face, "It has no heartbeat."

When Qiu Shi leaned over to take a look, the man's closed eyes suddenly opened and he even blinked twice.

"Fuck!" He cursed in a low voice and stepped on the head.

The skull under his feet was obviously not as hard as a normal human's, and it shattered with a snap.

Qiu Shi didn't stop, he took two steps forward, staring at the map in front of him while crushing the head of another body with one foot. No matter what this was, these monsters with no heartbeat but only breathing were all products of this nest.

After stepping on three of them in a row, Xing Bi pulled him back.

"Go to the back." Xing Bi said.

Qiu Shi first quickly retreated behind Xing Bi, then raised his eyes and looked in the direction of Xing Bi's sight.

Then he raised his gun and aimed at the humanoid creature in front of him, which was still not shown on the map but was standing strangely in front of them.

The reason why he said it was a human figure was simply because the pile of things on the ground just now were all people. Qiu Shi reasonably inferred that this thing could only be a human.

But its outline could no longer be seen. The whole body of this thing was covered with thick black fungi. In the sparse light and shadows, one could see that the fungi were still growing, and something like black dust was constantly falling from it.

"What is this?" Qiu Shi asked in a low voice.

"The source." Xing Bi said.

"Mission accomplished," Qiu Shi said decisively, "Let's go."

He didn't want to have any contact with this thing again. Since the mission was to find the source of infection, and Xing Bi said that this thing was the source, that was enough.

"But you have to be able to walk." Xing Bi said as he took a step back.

The thing suddenly raised an arm as if pointing at them.

Xing Bi stopped.

It is indeed surprising that it has four limbs. From the outside, it looks like a whole structure, and when it raises one arm, it is more certain that it is a human-shaped object, a person, or a biochemical body.

Symbiotic.

Symbiosis can actually reach this level.

"Is he referring to you?" Qiu Shi asked.

"Pointing at you." Xing Bi said.

A few seconds later, the answer appeared on the map in front of Qiu Shi.

Don't point fingers at anyone.

More than a dozen bright spots appeared behind the symbiote at the same time, rushing towards them in a semicircle. The speed was very fast, and the distance was so close that they could be seen in the field of vision before Qiu Shi even had time to warn them.

"Stand back and shoot," Xing Bi suddenly rushed forward, "Don't stop."

While backing away, Qiu Shi fired at the symbiote, hitting it in the head and it just shook a little.

Judging from their speed, the things rushing out were all biological organisms. The semicircular formation quickly closed in and all surrounded Xing Bi who was rushing towards the symbiote.

Qiu Shi did not pause and continued shooting, hitting again, this time in the neck.

But he could only roughly determine the location, because the thing had grown into a mass and he couldn't tell where was where.

Then came the third and fourth shots in quick succession.

The moment the biochemical organisms surrounded Xing Bi, he suddenly fell to the ground. Inertia allowed him to pass under the group of biochemical organisms. Then he pushed off the ground, stood up and punched the symbiote.

The first punch was aimed at the place where Qiu Shi fired the first shot and smashed through it directly.

Then the second punch came directly from the neck.

Qiu Shi quickly lowered the gun, resisted the urge to curse, and aimed at the biochemical bodies that had already collided with each other.

But he stopped after firing only one shot.

None of the bio-bodies moved. As Xing Bi pulled his arm out of the symbiote, the bio-bodies and the symbiote slowly fell to the ground at the same time.

Everything around me seemed to be still.

"You have a good shooting accuracy," Xing Bi shook off the black liquid on his hand and looked back at him, "Partner."

"Fuck your ancestors," Qiu Shi finally lowered his hand holding the gun. He couldn't curse anymore and spoke in a calm voice, "If you use this kind of attack that relies solely on the mind again, I will break your legs. I remember all the gestures, partner."

Xing Bi didn't say anything and looked ahead.

"The mission is over," Qiu Shi said, "Take one more step forward and handle it the same way as above."

"Then will you drag the two people back?" Xing Bi asked, took a step forward, and turned back to look at him, "I have a good reason for this step now."

"Do you want to take this thing back?" Qiu Shi asked.

"If it's not dead, we don't need to bring it back." Xing Bi stretched his hand across the hole in the creature's head that he had smashed, and then he just lifted its head and dragged it over. "If it's dead, we have to bring it back."

"Take it with you," Qiu Shi quickly stepped back a few steps. He really didn't want Xing Bi to drag that thing close to him in this way. "If we don't take it back, those guys can make us do it again."

"Let's go," Xing Bi walked back and asked again, "Is it safe?"

"It's not certain whether it's safe or not now," Qiu Shi followed him. He could only see Xing Bi's small red dot on the map in front of him. "Whether it's a human or a biochemical body, once the fungus wraps around it, I can't detect it on this map."

"Still can't get in touch with the headquarters?" Xing Bi asked.

"I can't get in touch with him," Qiu Shi touched his earphones, "It's pretty good, quiet." After walking a little further, the surroundings seemed quieter than when they came.

"Am I deaf?" Qiu Shi stopped.

"It should be." Xing Bi said.

"Do you have an option for language intensity in your settings menu?" Qiu Shi looked at him.

"I can still hear it," Xing Bi also looked at him, "but the voice is much quieter. This is what you want to say."

"Yes." Qiu Shi sighed.

"This nest is dying." Xing Bi continued to move forward.

"In that case, if we can kill the creatures in the other nests," Qiu Shi said, "can we destroy the nests?"

"This is just the smallest one." Xing Bi said.

Qiu Shi didn't say anything else. Xing Bi continued to drag the thing forward. He suddenly noticed that there was a tear in Xing Bi's clothes behind his right arm.

"Hurt?" he asked.

"Yeah," Xing Bi responded, and before he could ask again, "I don't feel anything."

Qiu Shi reached out and opened the tear in his clothes. He saw a deep tear. "Then you say you are infinitely close to humans. You don't even feel pain."

"It can be simulated," Xing Bi said, "but it's best not to feel anything during the fight. If it hurts too much, you'll want to run away."

"Can you be so detailed?" Qiu Shi took a few steps and couldn't help but ask a question that he had thought of before, but couldn't ask because there were always a lot of people listening to his conversation with Xing Bi. "So you... are..."

Xing Bi turned his head and looked at him, but he didn't have time to retract his gaze downwards.

"I'm going to answer first." Xing Bi said.

"Go ahead and grab it." said Qiu Shi.

"All of them," Xing Bi said, "all kinds of senses can be simulated. The Submarines are just one type of biochemical body. There are many others, not just for combat."

"The old antiques are quite good at design," said Qiu Shi.

"The mission is recorded." Xing Bi said again.

"Thank you for reminding me before the next mission." Qiu Shi said.

On the way back, Xing Bi stopped when he passed the place where the previous battle took place.

"Do you want to take it back?" Qiu Shi asked.

"No," Xing Bi put down the symbiote, checked the back of A, B, and C's neck, and took out three small cubes from it, "Just to make sure there is nothing usable left."

Qiu Shi didn't say anything, and watched him take out the small squares from the necks of several other bio-bodies.

"Do you have one too?" Qiu Shi asked.

"Yes." Xing Bi said.

"Is it your power supply?" Qiu Shi asked again.

"No." Xing Bi said.

"Is it your brain?" Qiu Shi asked again.

"... There is still a gap between my imagination and that of humans." Xing Bi said, dragging the symbiote forward.

When approaching the edge of the nest, a rustling sound finally came from the headphones.

"Xing Bi, Qiu Shi, I heard the reply." It was Li Feng's voice.

Perhaps because he kept repeating this sentence, or perhaps because he was anxious, Li Feng's voice had become completely hoarse, with a sad tone: "Xing Biqiu heard the reply, heard the reply..."

"Words." Qiu Shi said.

Li Feng paused for a second before shouting again in a hoarse voice: "Qiu Shi? How are you? Are you injured?"

"Xing Bi and I are alive," Qiu Shi said, "but the three second-level subs are gone."

"Report on the mission completion status." A female voice spoke, and it sounded like Colonel Xu.

"The mission has been basically accomplished," said Qiu Shi.

"Have we reached the center of the nest?" Colonel Xu continued to ask, "Have we found out the source of infection?"

In comparison, Li Feng, who first asked them if they were injured, was much more humane, although Li Feng's concern was only due to the fact that they were the only partners who could carry out the mission at present.

"Where is Li Feng? Let him speak." Qiu Shi said.

"Director Li is at the door to pick you up." Director Zhang's voice came over.

"Prepare the isolation box." Xing Bi said.

"Are you ready?" Director Zhang said. "Have you brought back the symbiote?"

"It may be the source of infection." Xing Bi said.

Everyone in the command center was shocked by the symbiote brought out from the nest.

After disinfecting the two, Li Feng stood in front of Qiu Shi, with a look of disbelief on his face: "Originally, I could have let you return to the bunker after the mission was over today."

“You don’t need to make so many excuses to talk to me,” Qiu Shi said. “The only reason I haven’t been silenced is because there is no one who can replace me right now.”

"Take a half-hour break," Li Feng glanced at Xing Bi, who was receiving a preliminary checkup from Director Wu and his technical staff, "You will have a meeting in half an hour."

"Then what?" Qiu Shi asked.

"We'll decide later. After the general personally gets involved," Li Feng looked at him, "many things are no longer under the control of the director. I don't know the specific direction for the next step."

"Then what can you control?" Qiu Shi said, "Can you control the safety of my brothers?"

Li Feng was silent for a while and then replied: "I'll try my best."

"I have something else to ask you," Qiu Shi looked at Colonel Xu and Director Zhang who came out of the door, "Please find a time."

"Yeah." Li Feng turned his head and looked at Colonel Xu. "There are many experiences to be learned from this mission. I hope to see your progress next time..."

"Qiu Shi, take a rest. I have arranged a full body checkup for you." Colonel Xu stood in front of him and scanned him from head to toe. "Your team performed well today. You completed the mission despite the technical problems."

This group

Qiu Shi stared at her and frowned.

She turned to Li Feng again and said, "Ask Director Wu to arrange the symbiotic experiment of the first-level submersible guard as soon as possible. Time is limited and the general is still waiting for the preliminary results..."

"What experiment? Who will do it?" Qiu Shi interrupted her.

Colonel Xu glanced at him with some displeasure.

"Xing Bi? What symbiosis experiment?" Qiu Shi ignored her expression and asked, "What are you going to do?"

"Qiu Shi," Li Feng stretched out his hand and gently grabbed Qiu Shi's shoulder, "None of your business."

"It's our lives that are at stake," Qiu Shi didn't look at him, but at Colonel Xu, "You don't need my help?"

Colonel Xu didn't say anything else to him. He turned and left. After two steps, he said, "The person you picked is really unique, Director Li."

"I'm ashamed." Li Feng said.

Colonel Xu turned around and looked at him.

"Leave me a way out," Li Fengqian turned around and stared at Qiu Shi after Colonel Xu left. "I'm going to be transferred out of this project, which won't do you any good at all!"

"I don't think you want to live," Qiu Shi said, "please leave me a chance to live."

Li Feng didn't say anything and just kept staring at him.

"You guys are going to use Xing Bi for the symbiosis experiment," Qiu Shi glanced over there and saw Xing Bi walking back to the box he came from. "His hand is injured, so it's a good opportunity to use him for the experiment, right?"

"Tian Zhen, he's already infected." Li Feng frowned and looked around, "He got infected by himself."

"What?" Qiu Shi turned his head in shock.

Xing Bi had already entered the box and the staff was closing the door. When he looked over, Xing Bi was also looking at him.

"Fuck your ancestors." Qiu Shichong gave him the middle finger.

Xing Bi smiled.

"We need to find the relationship between the symbionts," Li Feng said. "We can't avoid experiments. It's safer to choose the infection site yourself."

Qiu Shi turned around and looked at him.

"He has lived many more years than us," Li Feng said, "and has experienced many things. You can worry about it yourself."

The author has something to say:

Continue tomorrow and stop the day after tomorrow\\^O^/.

In addition, some children have always thought that Qiu Shi is looking for someone ⊙▽⊙. In order to prevent you from having no answer to this question when reading the article in the future, let me tell you, he is not looking for anyone, and he is not looking for Xing Bi. He is only 25 years old, how could he know Xing Bi, kid.