Searching the bodies, Li Qingyu rejoiced: he found a special syringe.
Name: Toxic Needle
Estimated cost: 25 coupons
Effect: A powerful painkiller and hallucinogen, causes severe addiction. Causes immense damage to the liver, kidneys, and immune system. Prolonged use leads to decreased intelligence.
Note: Despite being a sinister drug, when diluted and mixed with other chemicals, it can be used to produce many normal medicines.
Li Qingyu was delighted. This was the basic material for producing medications! He had a Medbay module in his shelter that could be upgraded. By finding special components, he could build a full-fledged medical station.
At such a station, he could craft first-aid kits, surgical kits, painkillers, and hemostatic agents.
And also – various functional stimulants. For example, the "Loader" injector to increase strength and carrying capacity.
An endurance injector, doubling stamina for marathon runs.
A regenerator, also known as the "Void Blood Pump"! If a limb hadn't yet turned black from necrosis, one injection – and health would recover like yeast!
Li Qingyu didn't expect such valuable loot to drop from these Chem-swines, and immediately began a thorough search.
From eleven bodies, he collected 11 toxic needles. One, who looked like the squad leader, also had a homemade gas grenade.
This thing created a toxic cloud with an area of approximately 20 by 20 meters. The gas caused continuous coughing for 80 seconds.
Li Qingyu was again pleased with the successful surprise attack. If this petty leader had managed to throw the grenade, everything could have ended badly.
Putting away the syringes and the grenade, he decided that Chem-swines were simply ideal guys for farming materials. Even without the black merchant's quest, it was worth visiting them more often!
Thinking about this, he took out a knife, intending to cut the periodic table tattoos from the corpses' shoulders, but then heavy footsteps were heard.
*BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!!*
*CRASH!!*
Amidst flying brick debris and screeching metal, a monster appeared: a fat monster two and a half meters tall!!
It was a super-fatty, whose shoulder width was almost equal to its height. Layers of iron plates hung on its body, nailed with steel nails directly to the fatty layer.
On the monster's head was a helmet welded from scrap metal, with a pair of pig ears. The helmet transitioned into an iron mask with an abstract pig snout.
Chem-swine. A disposable living weapon of the Chemical gang. They were usually made from captured Underhive inhabitants, guilty gang members, or enemies.
The victims were injected with huge doses of veterinary growth stimulants, regenerative serums, and other chemicals. The body began to develop secondarily, gaining flesh and acquiring unimaginable strength.
The downside was obvious: the brain turned into the brain of a beast, controlled by chemicals. Such a creature could only kill everything alive around it, obeying instincts. And it could only be activated once!
From the moment the transformation began, the Chem-swine was in hibernation. After chemical activation, it fell into a rage and rampaged for about an hour. Then it died of heart failure – its small heart simply could not cope with supplying blood to such a carcass.
This squad of Chem-swines was sent by "Mother" to scout the reactor, and they brought a sleeping Chem-swine with them, leaving it at the entrance.
The squad leader, realizing they were under attack, managed to press a button on the radio transmitter in his pocket, activating the monster.
On the Chem-swine's spine was a device called the "Spine of Wrath," connected to the mask.
It not only woke the monster but also injected "Serum of Rage" into its brain and spinal cord, keeping it in a state of permanent frenzy and giving it extreme combat power!
Upon waking, the Chem-swine roared furiously and rushed at Li Qingyu.
Imagine: a carcass two and a half meters tall and almost as wide, in a pig mask and with armor nailed to its body, rushing at you.
Li Qingyu's hair stood on end. Without a second's hesitation, he turned and ran up the stairs.
The Chem-swine did not lag behind. Despite its fat and size, it was surprisingly fast and literally on its heels.
Li Qingyu was shocked. If this creature was so fast, then when his stamina ran out, he was finished!
By the way, his full stamina was enough to run at marathon pace for about three kilometers. Pace – about 3 minutes per kilometer.
And even at such a speed, the mountain of flesh behind did not lag behind, making grunting sounds. The floor under his steps thundered so much that Li Qingyu's heart sank into his boots.
In danger, people run where they feel safer. The path he had come seemed the most reliable, so he flew up to the 5th floor. But the Chem-swine followed him. He had to keep going.
The Reactor map was a small square. Each floor – about 500 square meters, with a bunch of small rooms. At the corners – stairs, in the center – the reactor cylinder.
Li Qingyu ran in circles on the 5th floor, trying to find shelter, but in vain. All the passages and doors were wide enough for the Chem-swine to squeeze through. There was nowhere to hide!
Logically: chemicals were produced here, and raw materials needed to be transported, so the passages were made wide.
For Li Qingyu, this turned into a problem. Half of his stamina was already gone, and how much longer this pig could run – was unknown!
Dying wasn't so scary, but losing the reagents obtained with such difficulty – that was offensive!
Sweating, he looked back. The Chem-swine grunted and snorted behind him. Saliva dripped from its mouth, visible under the mask, and rotten teeth gaped blackly.
"Merciful Emperor!!"
The prospect of being eaten by a Chem-swine did not inspire him. Li Qingyu frantically searched for an exit.
Suddenly, he noticed a gap between the central reactor cylinder and the floor slabs. The crack was just wide enough for a person to squeeze through!
Delighted, Li Qingyu jumped, hugged the reactor with his arms and legs, and, as if on a fire pole, slid from the 5th floor straight to the first.
Upon landing, he looked up. The Chem-swine on the 5th floor was stretching its paws and trying to push its head into the gap, but nowhere near – it wouldn't fit.
Li Qingyu grinned. Looking at the regenerating stamina bar, he came up with a way to kill the creature: exhaust it!
Given: Li Qingyu can run up to the 5th floor and slide down. The Chem-swine can only run up and down the stairs, using twice as much energy. And while the monster rushes down, Li Qingyu rests.
If this is repeated several times, the pig will get tired, right?
Pleased with his plan, he began to wait for the Chem-swine to descend.
But the stamina bar was already full, and the monster was still not there. Only a shriek could be heard from above, as if someone was being cut.
Li Qingyu was puzzled. "What is that pig doing up there?"
He looked through the gap from the first floor upwards. The Chem-swine was stuck!
This carcass's brain worked linearly: saw the victim dive into the gap and followed. So diligently that it jammed itself permanently.