This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 520: Devouring and Choosing

Chapter 520: Chapter 520: Devouring and Choosing

"Xiaoyu?"

In the No.0 Shelter’s floor B3 warehouse, Falling Feather stood rooted to the spot as he looked at Xiaoyu, whose size had puffed up by more than a circle.

What is going on?!

"Chirp!"

Seeing Falling Feather appear at the doorway, Xiaoyu excitedly called out, though its voice was still weak, Chu Guang could distinctly feel that the little guy had regained some spirit.

"I told you not to learn those weird calls... What exactly is your condition?"

Walking forward, Falling Feather ignored the floating tentacles nearby and reached out to touch Xiaoyu’s smooth and delicate head.

Hiss—

So hot!

This thing’s body temperature must be at least sixty or seventy degrees.

"Ee-wo..." Xiaoyu let out a weak call, the pitiable look on its face stirring compassion.

Chu Guang looked towards Heya.

"Go over the situation with him again, please."

Heya nodded and repeated to the anxious-faced Falling Feather the same things she had told Chu Guang earlier.

Especially about the two options.

"...We only have two choices now; let it evolve autonomously, or let it consume the Lair on floor B6. The former has a higher success rate but is more unpredictable, and it’s highly likely to lose its current memories afterwards. The latter carries the risk of it being consumed in reverse, but if the evolution is successful, the outcome is relatively controllable, and it’s highly probable that its current self will be preserved."

After listening to Heya’s recount, Falling Feather fell silent. After a moment, he spoke.

"...Does it really have to evolve?"

He suddenly felt that it wasn’t necessary to become that strong.

For him, Xiaoyu had already become his companion; it had even saved him on the battlefield before.

If becoming stronger meant sacrificing those irreplaceable memories, he would rather it stayed as silly as before.

Watching Falling Feather, Heya nodded earnestly.

"Yes, like life’s cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death, it’s an inevitable event in its life cycle... Even if you leave it alone, it will eventually reach that step."

Falling Feather lowered his head slightly, feeling a bit self-reproachful.

"Is it because I took it hunting Variants and spawn entities?"

"Yes, and no."

Falling Feather lifted his head in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

Heya explained.

"Mutated slime fungus... is a very special organism, and your Xiaoyu is among the most unique of its kind. It doesn’t rely on spores to transmit information but communicates using vocal cords like humans do, through sound. Genetic material only plays a very small part in its path of evolution, much more... I believe it’s likely to be its memories."

"Memories?"

"Um," Heya nodded, "A creature’s habits, experiences, knowledge, etc., all of these together make up its understanding of evolution and its next stage of self. When these memories accumulate to a certain level, life’s deep-seated instincts tell it that it’s time... It will naturally progress to the next stage of life."

"That’s its mission."

After being silent for a while, Falling Feather looked up at Chu Guang.

"I want to talk to it."

Heya also looked towards Chu Guang.

"My advice is it’s better if the caretaker communicates with it as well... However, we should make a decision within an hour; I’m not sure how long its self-awareness can last."

Chu Guang nodded and looked at Falling Feather.

"You heard her, you have one hour."

Falling Feather nodded.

"It won’t take that long... ten minutes, no, five minutes is enough."

Chu Guang waved his hand at the Guards Corps and then left the warehouse with Heya and others, coming to the outside of floor B3.

He felt it would be better to let Xiaoyu and Falling Feather have some time alone.

After all, Xiao Qi could monitor every corner of the Shelter. If something unexpected happened, he would also be able to control the situation immediately.

As they waited, Heya looked at Chu Guang.

"Is it okay to leave the choice to him?"

"No problem, I trust he has his own judgment," replied Chu Guang simply.

There are no perfect choices in the world, especially since Xiaoyu’s issue was unprecedented on this planet.

Since it was all a gamble, why not let the concerned party make the decision?

The Alliance had not gotten to where it was today solely on his decision-making.

After a moment of communication between one person and one creature, the time passed even shorter than Chu Guang had anticipated; only three minutes in, Falling Feather walked out of the room.

"I’ve decided." Staring unwaveringly at Chu Guang, Falling Feather spoke earnestly, "The second option... Let it consume the Lair on Floor B6."

Chu Guang looked at him, gently reminding,

"Are you sure? Having an infant that has just learned to walk defeat a monster that has lived for over a hundred years isn’t easy, even if that creature is already weak."

"Uh..." Falling Feather nodded, glanced back at Xiaoyu, "This isn’t just my idea... it’s its decision too."

Rather than lose all memories and completely become another new life form, it was better to take a gamble and pass on the memories using a brand new body.

As he said, this wasn’t a decision he made alone.

After hearing his confession, Xiaoyu actively chose option B... It also didn’t want to give up those precious memories.

Chu Guang nodded.

"I respect your choice."

With Falling Feather’s final decision made, the operation to transfer Xiaoyu to floor B6 began quickly, still with the same team as last time.

A fully armed team of players, led by Old White, took the elevator down to floor B6, and quickly formed up outside the buffer chamber.

"Team A with me! Team B, cover fire!"

"Target the server room! Move out!"

"Roar roar roar!"

Accompanied by a series of uniform clicking sounds, the LD-47 rifles and LD-47j light machine guns were loaded in unison, and the squad of twenty quickly charged into the corridor.

The dozen or so Eaters that had been killed earlier had been recycled by the Lair for organic material, reconstituting new progeny.

However, the general progeny was no match for the players, and they were swiftly wiped out in a burst of gunfire.

Under the lead of Old White, the high-level players of the Burning Corps quickly made it to the server room door and secured the entrance.

There was no reactor on floor B6.

The Lair resided on the servers of the biological laboratory, with tentacles replacing the wires and cooling pipes connecting to the server racks.

"Suppressant, give it to me."

"Okay." Quit Smoking took out a metal cylinder the size of a can from his backpack and tossed it to Old White, who was in power armor clearing the way in front.

Catching the metal cylinder, Old White skillfully pulled out the pin and flung it into the room the moment the server room’s sliding door opened.

As the metal cylinder came in contact with the writhing fungal mat for an instant, it was engulfed indifferently by the mat, but soon the Lair seemed to realize it had consumed something it shouldn’t have, shuddering as if electrocuted, and reflexively spat it out.

But it was too late.

White smoke sprayed out from the metal cylinder, and the moment it touched the Lair, the Lair visibly slowed down.

This concentrated biological pheromone was like an anesthetic for "Mutated slime fungus."

But the Lair was, after all, not the same as the general progeny; the anesthesia probably wouldn’t last very long.

Finger tapping on his helmet, Old White’s voice was calm.

"The Lair is under control... Falling Feather, how’s it going on your end?"

"... I’ve just got off the elevator, I’ll be there soon."

"Alright, better be quick."

The sound of elevator doors echoed through the communication channel.

He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination.

The moment Xiaoyu arrived on floor B6, Old White could distinctly feel the Lair in front of him becoming more agitated.

Soon.

Xiaoyu, occupying half the corridor, appeared in everyone’s sight, its tentacles fluttering behind its brain like pythons.

Looking at that creature, Night Ten couldn’t help but mutter quietly.

"My Giao... this thing is more and more like a Tentacle Monster."

Unhearing of Night Ten’s muttering, Falling Feather’s attention was completely focussed on the Lair inside the server room.

By size alone, Xiaoyu clearly seemed much weaker than it.

A trace of worry crossed Falling Feather’s eyes, but just then, a tentacle landed on his shoulder.

"Ee-mmm."

Startled for a moment, Falling Feather turned to look at Xiaoyu, who was watching him.

"Do you mean... don’t worry about it?"

"Ee-mmm!"

Xiaoyu nodded.

Its abstract contours didn’t reveal its expression at the moment, but Falling Feather could feel its unwavering confidence.

Not wanting to let down that courage, he took a deep breath and showed a serious expression on his face.

"Go for it!"

Xiaoyu cheerfully nodded.

"Alright!"

At the sound of the voice, the fungal mat dragging on the floor moved forward, dragging its body that had swollen more than a circle towards it.

Before entering the dormant period, devouring the already transformed Lair was the only way for it to retain its self-consciousness while transitioning to the next stage of life.

Tentacles shot into the open door like lightning, burrowing into the sea of "Mutated slime fungus" rolling like waves.

The invasion went smoothly.

As Xiaoyu felt itself beginning to slowly devour that vast collective consciousness, a tide of massive information suddenly surged over it like a tsunami.

"Ee-mmm—"

A hint of pain emerged in its abstract features, and the tentacles deep within the door shuddered violently, as if electrocuted.

Falling Feather, who stood by watching, felt his heart tighten in an instant, his heart reaching his throat.

The connection through their bloodlines allowed him to feel its pain at that moment, yet besides watching it suffer, he could do nothing to help.

The players standing by also sweated for it.

To think this small body wanted to swallow such a massive Lair, just looking at it one could feel how difficult it was.

Night Ten and Wild Wind exchanged glances.

"Can this guy make it?"

"...How would I know?"

Wild Wind watched Xiaoyu’s struggle with an expressionless face.

No one could help with this kind of thing.

It had to rely on itself.

Before long, the trembling tentacles seemed to stabilize, and Xiaoyu’s expression no longer twisted but approached a state of calmness.

The fierce battle had come to a temporary halt.

Neither side could do anything about the other, and their biological instincts led them to a temporary truce followed by negotiations.

Xiaoyu could feel that it had established a deeper connection with the Lair in front of it.

An invisible bond was maintained between them, and in the depths of obscurity, it heard the call coming from the depths of the sea of consciousness.

Intermittent voices, emanating from that deep sea of awareness.

"Kill them all... Eat them... Give me your body... I want to continue the unfulfilled mission..."

"Mission? What is that?"

"Devour, evolve, to dominate over all life, to rule the entire planet and even the universe... That is our mission."

"That’s not possible."

"Why???"

"Because... they’re also important."

The boundless darkness fell silent for a long time.

After an unknown length of time, that hoarse voice carried a hint of weariness.

Two centuries and indeed, it too was tired.

"It seems you have found another path... Then try it."

"You’ll give it to me?"

"Yes."

This was followed by another long silence.

For how long it lasted, no one knew; that decaying voice gradually faded away into the infinite darkness.

"After all... it’s all the same."

The Lair didn’t explain the meaning behind those words. It loosened the grip on control, relinquishing everything.

At first, Xiaoyu doubted this was a trap.

It wasn’t until it had fully taken over the body that it realized the collective consciousness it had been conversing with had completely disappeared from this world.

As if it had never existed...

"Yi wu..."

It suddenly felt a sense of loneliness.

Just now, it might have killed a kindred.

That one might have been an ancestor older than its father or mother.

But it had no regrets.

There were too many things in this world that it couldn’t part with, whether it was those interesting people, delicious candies, or pleasant sounds.

Those were things it could never have on its own.

So why should it kill them all?

Why couldn’t they all be together?

Rather than becoming the overlord of all life, it preferred to be by that person’s side... as well as the others’.

With those interesting folks around.

It would never be lonely...

...

Falling Feather stared blankly at the machine room in front of him.

Just a few minutes ago, Xiaoyu had walked in and then became one with the surging, wave-like slime fungus.

And then—

There was no "then."

He didn’t even know who had won.

Yet, a feeling deep inside told him that Xiaoyu was still alive, and the bond that held them through their blood was not severed.

It was hard to describe such intuition.

It was too mystical.

"Is it over?" Staring at the Lair behind the door, Night Ten blinked in confusion, with an utterly perplexed expression on his face.

"It looks like it’s over." Wild Wind glanced at Falling Feather, who stood motionless, and asked, "Do you have any clues?"

Falling Feather shook his head.

"I’m not very sure... I can feel it’s still alive, but it seems like it can’t hear me anymore."

"Maybe it has entered a dormant state."

Old White patted his brother’s shoulder, offering some consolation, "Maybe it’s still getting used to its new body; give it some time."

"Um..."

Falling Feather silently nodded.

Old White glanced at the mission completion indicator on the VM, then turned back to look at his teammates and waved his hand.

"Mission complete, let’s pack up!"

Hearing the boss say the mission was over, the brothers breathed a sigh of relief, stowed their weapons, and bantered with an air of relief.

"Awoo!"

"Shift’s over, shift’s over!"

"Damn, it’s that time already!"

"Crap! Time to get up and work."

"Going to work again?! Didn’t you make enough at the last auction?"

"You don’t get it; this is to keep from getting too detached from society... Enough blabbering, I’m heading off first, see you on the Forum!"

Meanwhile.

Floor B4’s viewing room.

Chu Guang, Heya, and Yin Fang, who had been called over to join the excitement, watched the entire operation through the monitors.

"So, was it a success or a failure?" Holding a cup of coffee in his hand, Yin Fang gently blew on it and asked casually.

Biology wasn’t his forte.

Compared to "mutated slime fungus", he was more concerned about the remnants of pre-war civilization, which were the truly priceless treasures.

Heya replied cheerfully.

"Right now we can’t be sure, but my gut tells me it should be a success."

According to various indicators, the Lair’s life activity had diminished. If Xiaoyu had been devoured by the Lair, the life activity of the Lair would have increased, not decreased.

Of course, Falling Feather’s reaction was the most critical.

Xiaoyu was formed from his clone as a template.

Although there was no reliable theory to explain this phenomenon, various experiments had shown that there was indeed some special bond between them.

Looking at Heya’s pride, envy flickered in Yin Fang’s eyes.

"Speaking of which, Floor B6 is the biological laboratory, right?"

"That’s correct, once Xiaoyu has fully assimilated the Lair, the Floor B6 lab can be put back to use."

Heya’s face wore a pleasant expression, and then she added,

"Chu Guang has already agreed to hand it over to me; I won’t have to do research in that tiny room on Floor B3 anymore."

"Lucky you... Counting the biological lab branch at Shelter No.79, you have two research facilities now."

"Mmmhm." Heya was in a great mood, smugly curling the corners of her mouth.

Seeing Yin Fang staring intently at her, Chu Guang coughed softly.

"Looking at me is no use... it’s not up to me to decide."

He certainly also wished to unlock all the floors of this shelter; his instinct told him that the "answer" he sought was hidden on one of the levels of this shelter.

But there was no use in rushing these things.

All he could do was to do his current tasks well.

"Alright, I know it’s no use rushing you... By the way, there’s something I wanted to ask you," Yin Fang looked at Chu Guang and curiously continued, "Did you meet with anyone from the Academy this time?"

"Yeah," Chu Guang nodded, "I met with two B-class."

Yin Fang immediately asked.

"Who?"

Chu Guang thought for a moment and said,

"The one who discussed the ceasefire agreement with us was called Li Ke, and the one who explored No.0 Shelter was called Yang Kai... But he stayed inside that shuttle-shaped aircraft the whole time and didn’t come out."

"Those two, huh." Yin Fang’s gaze seemed to slip into reminiscence.

Chu Guang raised an eyebrow, curious.

"You know them?"

"How could I? A Level D like me, how could I know such big shots," Yin Fang laughed and shook his head, then paused for a moment before continuing, "But those two, I used to hear their names often when I was at the Academy... especially that Yang Kai."

"Oh?"

"His research field is mutated slime fungus, not really an expert in relics... Hiss, that’s weird." Suddenly, Yin Fang scratched the back of his head.

"Weird?"

"Um..." Yin Fang nodded and continued, looking at Chu Guang’s furrowed brow, "I remember you telling me that before you went down there, you didn’t know there was slime fungus there, right?"

——

(Thanks to the leader "Heaven Disaster o" for the reward!!! Last night, I don’t know if it was food poisoning or typhoid, but right after dinner, I started feeling feverish, then cold, followed by a headache, and spent the night with my eyes open, not sure if I slept at all. Woke up this morning with joint soreness... The last few days were 8K words, today just 5K, I need to lie down again, really sorry.)