Abyssal Wanderer.

For some reason, even though Jim had already distorted the other party's visual perception with the "seven-stringed lyre," he still felt a chill run down his spine the moment he saw the bio-weapon.

The moment the honeycomb bio-gun fired, Night Marrow exerted its power once more.

A series of rapid, popping sounds rang out as dozens of black pellets, each the size of a fingernail, were ejected. They were not aimed at the wrong location the pharmacist had assumed, but precisely at where Jim was currently standing.

At the same time, Jim's body made a series of incredible evasive maneuvers without his conscious consent—sliding to the right, crouching, springing up at an impossible angle, and then his left-hand rapier drawing an arc in the air.

The disintegration field created by the sword's edge instantly vaporized the three unavoidable projectiles.

But one still managed to slip through the net.

Jim felt a slight impact on his shoulder, which, in terms of sensation, was not much worse than being hit by a small stone.

But the moment the bullet made contact with Jim's body, the black outer shell shattered with a "crack." The dormant flesh-burrowing worm inside awoke, tearing through the skin and flesh of Jim's shoulder with its sharp mandibles, burrowing into his muscle like water seeping into a sponge.

Next, it will instinctively migrate along the blood vessels towards the heart.

But Jim didn't give it that chance.

He flipped the rapier and used the tip to cut a gash in his shoulder. The disintegration field eliminated the tissue around the wound, including the larva that was burrowing deeper.

Gritting his teeth, Jim drew his rapier and glanced coldly at the apothecary who was looking at him with a mocking expression not far away.

"Pretty!"

The creature covered in multiple symbiotes clapped its hands and laughed loudly.

The laughter made the emergency lights in the corridor buzz loudly.

"Such decisive action, you truly live up to your reputation."

Jim ignored what the other person said and instead began to observe the symbiotes on the other person's body.

Some symbiotes have their own sensory organs, and their actions can be independent of the pharmacist's consciousness, allowing them to aim and fire autonomously.

In this way, even if the symbiotes are influenced by the Nyx Factor, they themselves have no way to deal with it.

In other words...

Jim quickly formulated a plan in his mind and got to work.

"They ran away already?"

A pharmacist's disappointed voice came from behind.

"Where did your bold statement about killing me go?!"

He began to roar.

Jim ignored his taunts and rushed toward Oriole, who was surrounded by several symbiotes, while drawing his "Persuader" pistol from his waist.

At this moment, four symbiotes were scurrying across the corridor ceiling. These creatures, resembling a hybrid of a hairless cat and a spider, moved swiftly across the ceiling and walls on their six legs, their compound eyes fixed on Jim's every move.

"Oh? You want to save someone?"

The pharmacist rushed over when he saw this.

Jim remained silent. He swung his rapier horizontally, splitting the field of force and slicing the two disgusting-looking symbiotes surrounding Wang Ying in half.

At the same time, he raised the "Persuader," the barrel of which gleamed with a warm metallic sheen under the light.

He flicked the hammer with his thumb, and in the chamber of six bullets, three were standard armor-piercing rounds, and the other three were specially made Nyx factor chaff rounds.

"Snapped--"

Gunshots rang out, and the symbiote on the ceiling fell—an armor-piercing bullet precisely pierced its main ganglion, and its six legs twitched twice in the air before coming to a stop.

Then came a second shot, and a second sentry was blown in the head.

The third shot rang out, and the third sentry tried to jump away, but Jim anticipated its movement and pinned it to the wall.

"You actually have the mind to save people? Aren't you taking me too lightly?"

At that moment, the pharmacist rushed up behind Jim. It was unclear what combat gene he had activated, but the muscle fibers under his skin writhed and swelled like snakes, his bones made a cracking sound, and he grew a head taller in a few seconds—the corridor of this apartment was now far too narrow for the pharmacist.

His body suddenly rushed towards Jim, so fast that Ye Sui almost couldn't keep up.

As the bone blade slashed down, there was no time to use a sword, so Jim immediately raised the Alder Crossbow prosthetic arm to block it.

Fragments of the shattered bone blade scattered everywhere.

Fortunately, the corridor was too narrow, and the pharmacist's constantly mutating body was too tall, so the power accumulated in the previous slash was not too great.

Even so, the bone blade still left a dent in Jim's prosthetic arm, and the enormous impact traveled through his arm to Jim's body.

He felt an ominous creaking sound coming from the joint of his shoulder and from his knee, one in front of the other.

"It's a bit restrictive here..."

The pharmacist swung his sword down, then licked his lips with his forked tongue. A tumor began to grow on the hand connected to the bone blade.

When the tumor grew to the size of an orange, he lunged forward again and slashed at Jim with his knife.

The seven-stringed zither is plucked, stirring the very essence of the night.

Jim thrust his sword into the man's head.

But when the tip of the sword with its disintegrating force was still half a meter away from the apothecary's head, a sharp pain came from Jim's abdomen.

It was the pharmacist's bone blade that sliced ​​through his ribs, cutting a deep gash.

Blood immediately soaked through his coat, and warm liquid trickled down his side. Jim gritted his teeth, aimed "The Persuader" at the apothecary's abdomen, and pulled the trigger. The first two chaff deflected off the scales on the apothecary's body, but the third shot pierced through and released the Nyx Factor into the apothecary's body.

How could that be...?

Night Marrow controlled Jim to jump backward, dodging the opponent's subsequent pursuit.

The opponent's intentions, and his own perception of distorted space, both made it impossible for that strike to hit him...

Finally, Jim's gaze settled on the pharmacist's shoulder.

It's that tumor!
"Did you notice?"

The pharmacist touched the citrus-sized tumor, and an eye had somehow grown out of the middle of it.

"Nowadays, my body's movements are controlled by more than just the brain."

He pointed to his head, then looked at Jim and said:
"It just observes and anticipates your actions, then swings its knife... The Nyx Factor can't control neural structures that lack self-awareness."

Jim didn't speak, but simply hunched his back again, sword in hand.

He was now backed up to the end of the corridor, seemingly with nowhere left to retreat.

"You just injected Nyx Factor into my body, didn't you? I suppose you can now clearly sense my thoughts. Have you read into them how you're going to die?"

He dragged the bone blade, leaving a mark on the ground, and slowly walked towards Jim.

Jim tilted his head and said:
“I read this.”

The pharmacist stopped and asked with interest:
"What did you read? Tell me about it."

Mainard's position!
Jim held his breath and focused intently, directly controlling the surge of Nyx factors within the other's body.

The pharmacist's left hand rose uncontrollably, and then, under his puzzled gaze, clenched into a fist.

"you--"

For the first time, genuine anger appeared in the pharmacist's voice.

Even with distributed nerve centers, the brain is still the supreme commander with the highest authority.

In the frenzied atmosphere of Mynard, the apothecary suddenly punched himself in the head.

At the same time, his right hand, with its bony blade, trembled as he reversed the blade, pointing it at his own throat. (End of Chapter)