Staring at the fleeing White Parasite, Lu Liang suddenly thought of the Horsehair Worm.
In nature, there is a parasitic organism known as the Horsehair Worm.
It burrows into insects like mantises, occupies their body cavity, absorbs the host’s nutrients, and, when breeding season comes, manipulates the host to jump into water, often resulting in the host’s death.
However, Horsehair Worms emerge from the mantis’s abdomen or **, not by breaking through a crack in the brain as this one had.
Though the worm before him resembled a Horsehair Worm in some ways, it was clearly not the same species.
Lu Liang was even more suspicious that it was an intelligent creature, because Horsehair Worms would remain in the host’s body even after the host died, as long as their own lives weren’t threatened.
But this worm had clearly chosen to flee only after Lu Liang approached the Mantis Monster’s corpse.
It seemed to sense what Lu Liang was about to do.
With such a simple structure, it was hard for insects to produce individuals capable of thought—unless it was a Monster-Man.
Glancing at the slender, white worm, Lu Liang acted quickly, stepping down on the threadlike parasite before it could fully slip into the water.
Watching the White Parasite writhing and struggling under his foot, Lu Liang pondered for a moment and asked,
“Are you an Insectoid Monster-Man?”
“What’s your relationship with that Mantis Monster?”
He fired off two questions in a row, but the White Parasite only curled its body, acting just like any ordinary parasite, showing no reaction at all to Lu Liang’s questions.
Seeing this, Lu Liang wasn’t annoyed.
After all, he was only speculating and wanted to test the parasite’s response; if he was wrong, killing it would cost him nothing.
A cold glint flashed through Lu Liang’s eyes as he spoke softly:
“Not talking? Then you can die now.”
As the words fell, he pressed down a bit more with his foot, clearly intending to crush the parasite in the filthy water of the Subway.
Just then, a frantic voice came from beneath his foot:
“Don’t kill me! Mighty and mysterious Monster-Man! I’m a Monster-Man too! Monster-Men don’t kill Monster-Men!”
Lu Liang was taken aback, suddenly realizing that it was the parasite beneath his foot speaking.
Suppressing his surprise, he calmly moved his foot away and, with disgust, picked up the Horsehair Worm.
Only now could he examine the parasite more clearly.
Overall, it was white on the surface, shaped like a diseased eggplant—big-headed and slender-bodied.
Lu Liang suspected that bulbous head was its brain.
“I might spare you, but that depends on how you behave… Are you a Monster-Man?”
With this unexpected turn, Lu Liang decided to question it further.
Such a major incident in the Subway—having a lethal Mantis Monster lurking in the shadows—was obviously bad news for his Dujing Group.
If he could learn more about what happened in the Subway from the parasite, all the better.
“Yes! Mighty and mysterious Monster-Man! I am a weak and powerless Insectoid Monster-Man. In these times where Monster-Men are few, I hope we can unite and look out for one another, not kill each other!”
The White Parasite babbled on, its words full of desperate hope to survive.
“What’s that Mantis Monster? Is it a Monster-Man too? What’s its relationship with you?”
Lu Liang couldn’t be bothered to chat and went straight to his next question.
“Honored mysterious Monster-Man, mantises—creatures without consciousness—don’t deserve to be called Monster-Men. They’re just Armor, piloted by me and used in battle.”
Armor?
Lu Liang glanced at the bloodied, mangled Mantis Monster in the corner.
To the parasite, this thing counted as Armor?
Truly eye-opening—the Subway sure had its own tricks.
“Where did you get this thing?”
“Mighty mysterious Monster-Man, if I tell you, will you let me go afterward?”
The parasite wriggled as it asked.
“Hurry up and speak. If you don’t, I’ll make sure you die.”
Lu Liang had no patience for bargaining. His face turned fierce.
“All right… This was produced for us by the Insect Queen, used as Biological Armor for fighting and protecting the Insect Hive.”
“Insect Queen… That’s the Worm Mother, right? Wait—you said ‘us’? There’s more than one parasite like you?”
Suddenly catching the key word in the parasite’s reply, Lu Liang’s mind jumped.
He instantly recalled the night he discovered his little sister had become a Magical Girl; there had also been a corpse of a Mythical Bug Monster at the scene.
Could it be that there was a parasite inside that Mythical Bug Monster too, and that it was also a kind of Biological Armor?
“Yes, wise and mysterious Monster-Man, you’re exactly right. But I must correct one thing: I’m not a mere parasite, but a parasite-type Insectoid Monster-Man. The great Insect Queen gave me incomparable power at my creation, making me fundamentally different from ordinary low-level bugs.”
The parasite spoke precisely.
Lu Liang raised his eyebrows. He sensed that things were unfolding far beyond anyone’s expectations.
The Worm Mother hiding in the Subway—what was its true aim? If the parasite was telling the truth.
Who knew how many more Biological Armors like the Mythical Bug Monster and Mantis Monster were hiding down there?
Unlike harmless bug monsters, these things were deadly for the Dujing Group.
Taking a deep breath, Lu Liang continued asking:
“What did the Worm Mother create you all for?”
This time, the parasite didn’t answer Lu Liang’s question. Instead, its tone turned frightened:
“Considerate and mysterious Monster-Man, I can’t answer that. If I do, I’ll die.”
“But you’ll die if you don’t answer too.” Lu Liang pinched the parasite a bit harder, letting it feel exactly what it meant to have its life in someone else’s hands:
“Tell me—what did the Worm Mother make you for? What is its goal?”
“All right, evil mysterious Monster-Man, I’ll tell you—just don’t squeeze any harder, my bug juice is about to burst! The Insect Queen made us to protect itself. Recently, for some reason, the Magical Girls have increased their patrols in the Subway, which made it uneasy. It…”
The parasite hadn’t gotten far before it suddenly froze, its body going rigid, its tone filled with terror. Lu Liang heard it stammering, brokenly:
“Great Insect Queen, I truly didn’t mean to reveal your existence. The mysterious Monster-Man in front of me is very strong, he… ah!”
Abruptly, the parasite let out a bloodcurdling scream and then fell silent.
After a while, it slowly came to its senses, raising its slender body to gaze steadily at Lu Liang:
“Nice to meet you, mighty Monster-Man.”
“Worm Mother?”
Sensing a change in the parasite’s tone, Lu Liang’s eyes narrowed.
“Yes. You seem interested in me, so I’ve descended into this worm body to answer your questions.”
So spoke the parasite—or rather, the “Worm Mother.”
“What about that parasite?”
Lu Liang asked calmly.
“It’s already dead.”
The Worm Mother replied coolly, as if she were talking about something utterly mundane.