The blade on her arm swept swiftly through Su Xi’s half-physical body. After fighting human Mutants so many times, the insect had encountered abilities that rendered physical attacks almost useless before. Over time, it had learned their weaknesses well.

First, human Mutants couldn’t use their abilities continuously for long. Even an Upper Calamity Species needed time to catch its breath and recover.

Second, most human Mutants like Su Xi couldn’t completely turn their bodies into something with entirely different properties.

All it had to do was find the part of their body that hadn’t transformed and attack it. A human Mutant who could change forms would be no more than a lamb waiting for the slaughter.

And confirming these two weaknesses was simple: keep attacking without pause. Whether it was to wear down the human Mutant’s stamina or feel out the texture of their body with each strike, relentless offense was the one sure guide that never led astray.

The insect’s attacks grew faster and faster. Hidden in the shadows, Su Xi turned, dodged, and shifted forms, but no matter what she did in that cramped room, she couldn’t escape the cuts brought on by the insect’s speed—far beyond her own.

Her body might be hidden beneath the shadows, beyond the reach of the insect’s physical attacks, but she couldn’t keep her ability going forever.

Once her stamina ran out, the insect would play her to death sooner or later.

Su Xi regretted ever provoking this monster.

But there was no time to complain now. Su Xi could only shout,

“Sis, help me!”

Su Mo’s heart tightened. The insect was too fast, its attacks too fierce, and its dynamic vision far surpassed the interval between Su Xi’s transformations. Su Xi could do nothing but take hit after hit.

If Su Xi were alone, her death would be all but certain. Luckily, Su Mo was there too.

Su Mo, who far surpassed Su Xi in resolve, composure, and decisiveness.

“Help me. I’ll owe you one—assuming you make it out alive.”

Su Mo’s voice was resolute.

Hey, hey, hey! What the hell are you trying to do, woman?

Before Zhou could even finish complaining, Su Mo shouted at the insect,

“Let my sister go, or I’ll kill your Mother!”

The dagger at Zhou Heng’s throat moved aside. Su Mo lifted it slightly, then drove it straight into Zhou Heng’s chest. Zhou Heng had thought Su Mo was just putting on an act—until pain and a sharp point pierced the skin and flesh of the chest. Blood spurted out, staining Zhou Heng’s clothes red. Only then did Zhou Heng realize the blade had already sunk seven or eight centimeters in.

And it kept sinking deeper.

Zhou Heng let out a hysterical roar.

“Are you fucking crazy?!”

The threat of imminent death had clearly made the insect wary. The one attacking Su Xi immediately pulled back and lunged at Su Mo.

That was exactly what Su Mo wanted.

Su Mo urgently shouted at Su Xi, behind the insect,

“Run…”

Su Xi didn’t hesitate. With a single leap, she became solid, and without even bothering to open the door, she crashed straight through the half-shattered door and stumbled out.

The insect finally caught Su Mo by the wrist as she pressed down on Zhou Heng’s chest. The dagger was now less than three centimeters from Zhou Heng’s steadily beating heart.

For the first time, fury showed in the insect’s eyes. The hand gripping Su Mo’s wrist crushed it into a pulp with ease.

Su Mo broke into a cold sweat. From the moment she came up with this plan, she’d been prepared to lose Zhou Heng as her shield. But she hadn’t expected the insect to be so fast that it caught her hand before she could even shout, “Don’t move!”

But she was a Mental Mutant, so losing a wrist meant little to her.

“You know I don’t need this dagger to kill your Mother. I’m a Mental Mutant. Killing someone with mental power is easy.”

The insect let go and weighed Su Mo’s claim. At its speed, it could cut off Su Mo’s head beyond the limits of an ordinary person’s dynamic vision.

But the abilities of Mental Mutants and others like them were always hard to predict.

If Su Mo was telling the truth, the insect knew it couldn’t afford to guess wrong.

Just as before, even with an eighty percent chance of winning, the insect still didn’t dare take the risk.

After weighing its options for a long while, the insect spoke in a cold voice.

“Release our Mother, and we’ll let you go.”

After a pause, the insect added,

“And your sister.”

Su Mo’s eyes lit up. At this point, she’d thought she was going to die with the insect. She hadn’t expected it to be willing to compromise.

“W-why should I believe you’ll keep your word? What if I let this person go and you come after me again?”

The insect scoffed.

“Human, don’t compare your filthy behavior to the noble promise of our kind. If we give our word, we keep it.”

Su Mo remained tense from head to toe, still fully prepared to fight.

The insect had no choice but to offer another promise.

“By the name of the Insect Mother, we swear that if you release our Mother, we’ll guarantee the safety of you and your family.”

That was convincing.

As far as Su Mo understood her world, a nonhuman Mutant swearing by the name of its kind’s leader was about as trustworthy as it got.

Su Mo let go of Zhou Heng and staggered off to one side. The blood loss and pain left even someone as strong as her feeling dazed. She leaned against the wall and panted for a while before she could walk again.

The insect didn’t waste that time either. The instant Su Mo let go of Zhou Heng, it rushed over and embraced Zhou Heng.

“Mother, a-are you all right?”

Clutching the dagger in the chest, Zhou Heng gave a shaky smile.

“Try having a dagger stuck in your chest and see how you feel.”

The insect panicked.

“You can’t die. We won’t let Mother die.”

The insect reached for the dagger in Zhou Heng’s chest. Zhou Heng cried out in alarm,

“You idiot, don’t pull it out! Listen to me. As long as the dagger’s still in my chest, there’s still time. Take me to a hospital and have a doctor stop the bleeding. Then they can pull out the dagger and stitch up the wound. I’ll survive.”

“A doctor?”

The insect clearly didn’t understand the word.

Zhou Heng sucked in ragged breaths, trembling with anger.

“They’re the people among us humans who specialize in treating injuries. My wound might look terrifying right now, but to them, it’s child’s play.”

The insect suddenly understood.

“You mean the repair bugs in our kind, right?”

“How the hell would I know what a repair bug is? Whatever, whatever. You called me Mother, right? You want me to survive, right? Then take me to the hospital now. No, taking me there like this would cause a huge scene. Go get my phone from the hallway. I’ll call an ambulance. Yeah, that’s better. An ambulance is better. They can give me emergency treatment as soon as they arrive, and they’ll have security there too, just in case.”

After saying that, Zhou Heng suddenly coughed. Blood and phlegm sprayed from the throat and splattered across the insect’s face. The insect trembled with panic.

“Mother, Mother, wait here. I’ll get your phone right away.”

The insect carefully lowered Zhou Heng to the floor, then sprang up and ran toward the doorway.