"Pfft…"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!…"
Sparkles flew everywhere.
The scorching flames were a dazzling, brilliant gold, not the blood-red of Alexia. Each T-Veronica Virus infected individual had their own flame color. The evil Alexia had fierce, monstrous blood-red flames, while Lisa, due to the G Virus, turned purple. Only the kind and pure Manuela produced a miracle of brilliant gold!
This light could dispel all evil,
including the V-Complex monster in front of them. The moment it was touched, the plant tentacles rapidly charred to ash, dissipating into dust.
There was no possibility of even blocking it, like snow approaching high heat; simply standing near it would cause it to melt completely from the scorching temperature.
After all,
the T-Veronica Virus's blood bio-flame was not ordinary fire. Its temperature was dozens of times higher than regular flames. Flames burning in the air, without special heating methods,
usually only reach a few hundred degrees. However, the T-Veronica Virus's blood bio-flame could easily reach over a thousand degrees Celsius and had extremely strong destructive power against biological structures, thus easily destroying the plant tentacles released by the V-Complex.
Of course,
this was not without cost.
Aside from perfectly integrated infected individuals like Alexia and Lisa, infected individuals like Manuela, who were only highly integrated,
would have their bodies, which were undergoing fusion and transformation, unable to withstand the T-Veronica Virus's power if it was forcibly used, causing them to instantly explode into fragments.
This was also the real reason why Javier had tried so hard to stop Manuela from using the T-Veronica Virus's power within her body.
Her already weak body would completely dissipate into golden particles in the air after using the power. That ending seemed beautiful, but Javier did not like it.
And now, looking at it…
Manuela had only used the T-Veronica Virus's bio-flame once, and her arm had already completely turned to charcoal. Her already thin skin had been completely charred and shrunken by the golden flames, emitting thick white smoke. Her bones were clearly visible, looking horrifyingly like a thin layer of charred flesh clinging to a bone.
This was the price—
"Manuela…!"
Seeing this,
Javier couldn't help but cry out in distress.
This was the limit. After just one use, her arm was charred. She couldn't use it a second time. If she stopped now, she would only lose an arm, which was still salvageable. But if she continued, the virus's power would consume her entire body.
However,
facing such a situation,
Manuela merely smiled slightly. She still had two more chances to use it, and two bursts of power would be enough for her to stop her father. She didn't care about the fate of this body.
On the contrary… if this could end the life of the gigantic monster before her, it would be a good deal for Manuela.
This was the last chance Heaven had given her,
to atone for the mistakes she had made…
"Roar! Roar! Roar!—"
On the other side,
the drug lord Idalgo, who had merged with the V-Complex, had completely lost his mind. The intense pain from being burned by his daughter Manuela's flames had clouded his judgment with rage.
He was determined to crush the creature attacking him, having long forgotten that the white figure before him was his beloved daughter.
"Buzz!—"
The tumor on its abdomen writhed.
Clusters of spore bombs were ready, their sharp heads poking out, prepared to unleash the most brutal bombardment on Manuela. Not only that, the V-Complex even raised its massive bone hook, like a towering pillar, resembling a giant crane.
If it slammed down, anything would be crushed into paste. This giant hook, like a scorpion's stinger, could easily pierce through several layers of basement steel plates; it was a terrifying weapon.
"Whoosh!—"
"Boom!—"
Just like that,
not only were there dense spore bombs,
but the heavy, powerful giant hook also slammed down, determined to instantly kill Manuela.
Upon seeing her father lose his mind and attack her mercilessly, Manuela's expression subtly changed. She gritted her teeth, ignoring her already charred arm, and continued to extend it, closing her eyes and beginning to channel the power within her body.
The next second…
"Pfft… Boom!—"
There was another loud bang.
Brilliant golden flames erupted, forming a golden flame membrane shield around her. While the flames attacked the massive bone hook, they also instinctively began to protect Manuela.
Dense spore bombs impacted the outer layer of the flame membrane shield, causing extremely violent explosions. Fortunately, these spore bombs could not break through the flame's defense and were all blocked outside.
As for the heavy, powerful bone hook, it was firmly resisted. The scorching golden flames surged upwards like a pillar of fire, the two forces balancing each other, like a clash of light waves.
It was just a pity… due to Manuela's weak constitution, her continuous output of flame power was becoming weaker and weaker, vaguely appearing to be on the verge of collapsing. The heavy giant hook was slowly sinking downwards.
"Cough, cough…"
Supporting herself with both hands above her head, Manuela's hair flew wildly, her pure white dress swayed, and her grey-blue eyes struggled to stay open. A trickle of crimson blood flowed from the corner of her mouth.
Her small face was filled with pain, but even so, she continued to grit her teeth and hold on, not caring if her body turned to ash here.
A mortal body rivaling a god,
that tiny white figure showed an unyielding, powerful will…
Could it be,
that this was truly the end?
…
No,
of course not.
Just as Manuela endured the pain and struggled with her father Idalgo and the V-Complex monster, a change occurred in her mother Hilda's body back at the dam stronghold. Mother and daughter were connected by heart. Feeling her daughter's pain, the mutated Hilda also reacted. Her massive dragonfly larva body was trembling.
What…?
Was it not dead?
No, I never described Hilda as a dead corpse. The T-Virus's mutation power was incredibly strong. In the final moments, it was only half-blown apart by a High-explosive grenade and had a bloody hole opened in its weak point, its neck, by an explosive arrow.
Until its head truly turned into fragments, no one could definitively say whether a mutated biochemical monster was truly dead.
Furthermore…
Hilda, having suffered such severe injuries, was indeed close to death—
If no one had intervened, it might have died over time. However… at this critical moment, it heard its daughter's call. It felt its daughter's painful plea for help from afar.
As a mother, it had the obligation and responsibility to protect its daughter. This was the true love of a mother…
…
Inside the dam stronghold—
"Buzz…"
"Crack… Gurgle…"
On Hilda's massive body, an unimaginable mutation was occurring at this very moment. Its originally reddish shell was gradually hardening, turning yellow, then black, and its hard carapace began to slowly crack like shattered armor. A distinct tear extended from its head all the way to its tail.
"Hiss, hiss, hiss…"
A low hissing sound quickly followed.
As if its emotions were unusually anxious, which was normal, because at this moment, Manuela was waiting for her mother's protection. Therefore, as a mother, Hilda didn't want to delay. It was struggling to twist its body, as if some new flesh inside the entire hard outer shell was about to break free.
What was it doing?
Evolving?!
Yes,
that's right, it was evolution.
The original Hilda was an aquatic monster, its biological form similar to a dragonfly larva, also known as a nymph. It was a very ferocious insect in water, easily catching and devouring large numbers of mayflies, tadpoles, and small fish as food. It would even catch and eat its own kind, dragonflies, on the water's surface.
It typically needed to undergo more than 11 molts to complete its evolution, which took about two years. With each molt, its body would grow larger, and finally, during its last molt, it would climb onto aquatic plants to emerge as an adult, meaning it would become a dragonfly—
Compared to larvae,
dragonflies are very short-lived creatures. After evolving from nymphs into dragonflies, their sole purpose is to reproduce. After mating with other dragonflies, they will scatter their eggs from the air into the water,
or lay eggs directly in the water, thereby repeatedly giving birth to nymphs to continue the cycle. The meaning of life… sometimes it's that simple.
They only live for 1 to 8 months. After mating and laying eggs, they will slowly die, belonging to a fleeting species. Therefore, dragonflies can only be seen during specific seasons.
And the aquatic monster Hilda before them,
it wanted to evolve into a dragonfly at this very moment!
Without hesitation, solely to rescue her daughter Manuela, as the red shell gradually hardened and cracked, a mass of new flesh inside also gradually broke free.
"Roar…"
"Crack!—"
Low roars emanated.
First, a pair of folded wings broke free from the constraints of the carapace. They were thin and transparent, folded together, as large as curtains. Then came the head. Was it the head of a dragonfly, with large eyes concealing thousands of small compound eyes, providing 360-degree vision without blind spots, and a jaw as sharp as a saw?
No,
it wasn't…
It was a human head. Black flesh twisted and coiled into human hair. Although there were no fine strands, its shape and color were quite similar.
Just like Alexia before, the petals of a plant had formed her hair, piled together, and the situation now was just as similar.
Black antennae grew on its forehead. The oval face did not have the skin color of a normal human, but rather special patterns layered together, though lips and nose tip were not missing.
Its eyes had no whites, but were pure black, splitting into countless small, rice-grain-like facets, which were compound eyes.
This dragonfly-mutated human head was seventy percent similar to Hilda in appearance. This was replicated from her internal DNA and was Hilda's last obsession and wish. She wanted to use this head, completely devoid of offensive weapons, to see Manuela one last time,
and,
as a "human," a "mother," not a monster. That was why it took on such an appearance…
"…"
"Crack, crack…"
The evolution continued.
As Hilda's head broke free, her entire body gradually emerged from the massive aquatic monster's body. Next came the torso; an insect-like segmented body finally appeared. Although it still had human female breasts,
they were all encased in carapace. Especially at the arms, curved hooks grew from the elbows, and all five-fingered hands were covered in insect barbs.
At the abdomen,
there were even several more arms. It was completely an insect's body, and the lower half was the same. Although the head was Hilda's obsession,
the body… was the instinctive evolution of a dragonfly larva. Red and blue markings appeared on its skin and carapace, and with the unfolding of its huge wings, this indicated that Hilda had now completely finished her evolution—
From a nymph to a dragonfly…
"Hiss, hiss, hiss…"