I'm Trapped in the Block

Upon contact with the blood, the fleshy lumps inside the cave writhed even more violently, and in the blink of an eye, they had carried the injured lamb deep into its depths.

Mo Ling quickly flew forward to investigate, but the lamb had already gone too deep, disappearing from his view.

Seeing their comrade killed, several soldiers’ eyes went bloodshot. They charged straight for the cave entrance and jumped in after it.

They too were carried into the depths by the fleshy lumps.

Captain Su roared in fury, "What do you think you’re doing? Don’t chase a cornered foe! Save the wounded first!"

Only then did the remaining soldiers, who had been eager to give chase, snap out of it and halt their reckless advance.

"Can he be saved?"

"His injuries are too severe. There’s nothing we can do."

The pupils of the injured soldier on the ground had already dilated. He was no longer breathing.

Captain Su reached down and closed the soldier’s eyes, then ordered his body to be carried back to the outpost.

Then, he stood at the mouth of the cave, fists clenched, the atmosphere around him turning ice-cold.

No one had yet recovered from what had just happened.

A weak little lamb, surrounded by a squad from the outpost, had managed to kill a soldier and then escape?

"Captain, this is what it used for its ranged attack." A soldier approached Captain Su, holding the object the lamb had just fired.

It was a broken segment of a chainsaw chain. The break looked as if it had been melted by high heat, or perhaps like a piece of metal whose forging had been halted midway.

"Did it fire this from its body?"

"Yes."

Captain Su carefully took the chain, turned it over in his hands a few times, then handed it back to the soldier.

He again called over the soldier who had found the cave to ask about the Broken Tree Sheep. "Have they ever used this kind of ranged attack before?"

The soldier quickly waved his hands, explaining that he had been part of the team that surrounded the lamb. If he had known about such an ability, he would have certainly mentioned it earlier.

"I’ve never seen healing abilities like that either," the soldier explained, "let alone the ability to create a chainsaw chain from its own body."

Captain Su was about to ask another question when Li Luo, who already knew the lamb had a Red Rope Worm inside it, came over and explained the reason for its healing ability.

"I see." Captain Su fell into deep thought.

Just then, the personnel investigating the massacre site came over to Captain Su and reported their findings.

"Based on blood samples, surveillance footage from the high wall, traces of a fight, and other evidence left at the scene, the lamb is confirmed to be the one that massacred its own flock."

Upon hearing this, Captain Su looked up information on the Red Rope Worm before turning to Li Luo. "This Red Rope Worm... does it make its host kill its own kind? And develop special attack abilities?"

Li Luo thought for a moment. "It might," he replied, "if the flock was preventing it from reaching the mother worm’s host, or if it had to evolve a special attack ability to move forward."

Any attempt to stop it would trigger an evolution.

Mo Ling also pondered the lamb’s special abilities.

Having experienced the Vibrating Beast incident, Mo Ling knew something about this. If its own kind didn’t try to stop it from advancing, a creature infected with a Red Rope Worm wouldn’t even pay its brethren any mind.

Let alone slaughter its entire flock as if driven by a deep, bloody vendetta.

Moreover, ’What kind of obstacle would require it to evolve a ranged attack to overcome?’

’Shouldn’t its greatest obstacle be something like the high walls?’

Mo Ling was thoroughly confused.

’Did its flock really try to stop it from entering the cave that desperately?’

Captain Su posed the same question to the soldier. "Does a flock of Broken Tree Sheep stop their young from leaving?"

The soldier shrugged. "That, I don’t know. The young ones always stay by their mother’s side. Only one that wasn’t right in the head would run off on its own."

The soldier then added, "Even if its mother tried to stop it, it could probably just kill her and leave. The flock mentality of Broken Tree Sheep is very weak; the others wouldn’t have cared."

After hearing this, Captain Su asked no more questions.

They had reached an impasse. No one could explain the lamb’s behavior.

But then, Mo Ling suddenly realized a contradiction.

He quickly relayed it to Li Luo via the electronic screen.

"Creatures infected by the Red Rope Worm are always single-minded. They wouldn’t leave a place only to return."

"Even though we found a Red Rope Worm in its brain, this lamb is very different from other infected creatures."

"Are there any other anomalous phenomena or creatures that could cause such a massacre?" Mo Ling prompted.

Looking at the screen, Li Luo’s eyes lit up. "For this kind of slaughter," he replied, "I can only think of one unclassified phenomenon: the Ugly Duckling Phenomenon."

"’The Ugly Duckling Phenomenon?’" Mo Ling was perplexed. ’What a strange name.’

Li Luo pulled out his electronic screen and showed Mo Ling the file on this phenomenon.

...

During the Great Cataclysm, on a farm in Denmark, there was a duck egg that just wouldn’t hatch.

The farmer noticed the egg was strange. Its shell had a beautiful pattern, so he set it aside, planning to add it to his collection later.

Before long, however, a strange duckling hatched from the egg.

This duckling was different from the moment it hatched. Other ducklings would slowly peck their shells open and crawl out.

But this one shattered its shell in an explosive burst.

Its yellow down was already gone, and it looked like a mature drake. Right after hatching, it jumped directly into the fishpond and began catching fish.

It was as if the duckling had skipped its entire growth phase, born knowing everything. It wasn’t until the farmer discovered all the fish in his pond had vanished and checked the surveillance footage that he found out about the strange duck.

The strange duck was then caged. The owner immediately called the relevant authorities, reporting that an Abyssal Creature had invaded his home.

The cage was left by the side of the pond, where the other ducks, terrified, attacked it, even trying to push it into the water.

Through the flock’s combined effort, the cage toppled into the water. The ducks swarmed it, climbing on top to force it under.

Ducks can swim, but they can still be drowned.

The strange duck was forced underwater, but the wooden latch on the cage came loose from the buoyancy.

The strange duck slipped out and began to attack the flock around it. Its feathers sharpened, its body grew strong and powerful, its beak sprouted sharp teeth, and its webbed feet grew vicious talons.

The flock was no match for this monster. The strange duck slaughtered them with mad frenzy. Even those that fled were struck down, pierced by feather-like projectiles fired from its wings.

The strange duck could also shoot high-pressure streams of water from its mouth. After annihilating the flock, it went on to grievously wound the farmer, who had come out with a shotgun.

By the time the Hunters arrived at the farm, they were greeted by the sight of duck carcasses littering the ground and the collapsed form of the farmer.

The other animals on the farm had not been harmed by the strange duck. Only a few had been killed as collateral damage; the rest were hidden away, trembling in fear.

The farmer was on the brink of death and couldn’t speak. After reviewing the surveillance footage, the arriving Hunters learned that this so-called Abyssal Creature was, unbelievably, just a duck that had been born on the farm.

The surveillance footage showed the egg being laid by its mother. All its siblings from the same clutch were normal ducks; only this one was different.

The Hunter Squad immediately reported the bizarre duck and began to track it.