Plague Doctor

Chapter 298: The Conqueror Worm

Yes, it was Gu Jun! Thrill temporarily overcame their fear. But suddenly the tremors grew more pronounced, shattering the glass windows on the buildings. An old building several stories tall collapsed to the side, leaning against the skyscraper next to it. Thankfully, it did not trigger a domino effect. The sound of fearful screaming and babies crying shattered this early morning peace. The Phecda members used loudspeakers to try to calm the public while others escorted the public into the armored cars.

Everything happened too quickly. Just outside the front door of Li Qi Zai, the road cracked, lifting up the tiles and cement. Something was writhing out from under the ground!

This triggered the alarm in the Phecda members while sending waves of fear through the normal citizens. “What, what is that thing?!” A middle-aged auntie shouted, “Demon, it’s a demon! Amitabha, Amitabha...” A youngster mumbled numbly, “Fuck, fuck...” They dropped to the ground like fallen leaves. Try as they might, they could not summon the energy to move. The demon in question was more like a living whirlpool, it sucked away their soul, leaving behind only their fear and madness. Some of the middle-aged citizens pressed their hands against their heads in pain like they were being attacked by some intense sound waves. Their worlds twirled out of focus.

“Motherfucker, yet another giant worm...” Lou Xiaoning cursed. Gu Jun focused on the giant shadow that burst through the ground. His mind wavered, the monster knew how to weaken its victims’ mental stability. Gu Jun did not recognize the monster. It was not mutated from the subterrain giant worm, or any known creature. It was 10 metres tall and had the appearance of a cocoon. It had no limbs, no visible eyes or mouth. It was blood red in color and the dust the fell from its body was dyed red as well. ‘Is it real or just a mental projection? Feels like it’s something between the two...’

Undeniably this was a worm, a very giant one at that. Gu Jun was not too surprised by that. Now that the House of Worm was closed to humanity, the cultists from Lai Sheng Company would not try to wiggle their way back in. Perhaps this worm was a summoned creature meant to reopen the House of Worm. However, it was clear that this giant worm was still in its nascent stage. Once it grew into its full potential, it could be several thousand times more powerful than this, but now...

While everyone was stunned by disbelief, Gu Jun came to. He aimed the scope of his gun at the giant worm’s head, and pulled on the trigger. “Open fire!” Sparks flew and the giant worm wiggled from the blanket fire. A groan came from an unknown source. The worm was real, it could be taken down by bullets!

Lou Xiaoning and the rest quickly snapped into focus. They pulled on the triggers together. Flesh dislodged from the giant worm’s body as it wailed in pain. At the same time, members from the Ancient Seal Department channelled to draw out a large seal and aim it at the worm!

The blood red worm’s wiggling sound turned shrill. It had no limbs, not even a head. Other than some minor mental assault, it could not do anything. After being hit by the giant Ancient Seal, blocks of meat disintegrated from its body but the flesh disappeared before they hit the ground. It spoke of the worm’s instability. The dark energy coalesced into its physicality but once the flesh was separated from the main body, they would dissolve like a mist.

Gu Jun’s magazine was empty. Instead of reloading, he signed the Ancient Seal with his right hand. “Begone!” With that hit, the giant worm suddenly exploded and nothing remained of its existence. The earthquake around the area stopped and the feeling of spatial distortion disappeared. What remained was the teetering buildings and the aftermath on the street.

This scene baffled the public. The disappearance of the giant worm relaxed their mind and normal thoughts circulated through their head again. And the first thought for most was...’Captain Gu, and you said you guys have no superpowers?!’ They saw with their own eyes, Gu Jun and the Phecda members drawing out a glowing seal from thin air!

“They have superpowers!” A young man cheered excitedly, “Captain Gu and his friends really do have superpowers!” As this news travelled through the crowd, the attending Phecda members corrected sternly, “That is not superpower, but a kind of laser weapon. Please don’t spread false news.”

‘Laser weapon?!’ The crowd looked at each other. None of them retorted the claim since they did not quite understand this technology. But where was the laser weapon, they swore they saw the light gather in Captain Gu’s bare hands and not some kind of instrument...

The news soon spread on the internet with accompanying videos but they were quickly monitored and taken now. The command central had prepared the necessary solution. A large batch of government officers were sent in to clear away the public and deal with the aftermath.

“The giant worm was still growing.” Gu Jun informed Elder Tong. “They probably just started cultivating them.” The skirmishes at the other 15 bases also ended. Only Gu Jun’s team encountered the giant worm. That was probably because Phecda’s headquarters was located at Da Hwa City, if they did not expose the threat during this mission, it would ferment to become a huge disaster. There were injuries but thankfully no report of death. Furthermore, they captured many cultists alive. Overall, the mission was extremely successful.

However, Gu Jun did not want to get ahead of himself. ‘Could this all be a trap? After all, many questions remain unanswered.’

A discovery made them hurry back into the antique shop. Xue Ba found a trapdoor inside the warehouse. The building was built centuries ago and based on the original floorplan, there was no basement. Clearly, this was an addition made by the cultists. The trapdoor was placed right in the middle of the room. A cement staircase led down into the darkness. The Problematic Team waited patiently as the drone slowly flew into the hole. The image captured in night vision was sent back onto the screen. The drone moved for about 2 metres before it hit the ground. The space could barely be called a basement, it was more like an extremely cramped tunnel. Even the miniature drone had trouble turning but eventually it did capture several points of light in the darkness.

They were reflections from human eyes. Two humans were hidden inside the small tunnel. They were lodged into place, their bodies crushed by the narrow space. In the night vision, the two faces stared back in maddening fanaticism. Since their discovery, they remained unmoved as if dead...

When the drone turned around, the video captured various strange paintings and symbols on the tunnel wall. There was even a line written in the foreign language. Gu Jun’s eyes narrowed as he read the sentence. It was richly rhythmic like a stanza from a poem, “That the play is the tragedy, ‘Man,’ / And its hero, the Conqueror Worm.”

...

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