Chapter 45: Isn't It Good to Stay Alive?

  Hearing the gunshot, Alex's eyelid twitched. He g the smoking bullet hole nearby and turned around helplessly.

  Behind him, six or seven young men were pointing pistols at him. Leading them was the thug leader Alex had beaten up earlier, his face still bruised.

  "Hey, you bastard!"

  The thug leader raised his gun and gred at Alex. The others, emboldened by their ons, looked cocky and self-assured.

  It seemed having guns made them feel invincible. Earlier, these three were practically groveling before Alex, but now they wanted him to grovel instead.

  "You had a lot of fun hitting me, didn't you? Think you're tough? e o's see if your fists are strohan my gun!"

  "Sigh..."

  Fag the dark barrels of their guns, Alex felt no fear, only amusement. He couldn't believe these thugs had followed him out here for revenge. What a joke!

  "So, what do you wao do?"

  "Simple."

  Seeing Alex's calm expression, the thug leader grinned. He sigo his panions and then looked back at Alex, raising his gun.

  "Give me back my mohe on your knees so we teach you a lesson! Oh, and strip naked so we take pictures and post them ohat's what you get for messing with the 'Krafter Brothers!' Now, grab him, and you—"

  He gestured to a heavily made-up woman beside him, her face painted like a ghost.

  "Make sure to get good shots. This will be tonight's trending news!"

  The woman giggled and pointed her pho Alex.

  "Sigh..."

  Alex shook his head in exasperation. He looked at the thug leader and spread his hands.

  "Sorry, but I have important things to do. I don't have time to py with you. How about I give you the rest of the money, and you leave? I don't want any trouble, and I doubt you actually want to kill someone."

  "Why wouldn't I?"

  The thug leader's face twisted with a cruel smile.

  "Who knows when those damned aliens will attack again? People disappear in the forest all the time, killed by aliens. I doubt the police will care about one more missing person. Now, raise your hands! I won't say it again! Grab him and show him what we do!"

  His two ckeys grinned and rolled up their sleeves, reag out to grab Alex. But just as they were about to touch him, a parasite jumped out from beside Alex's foot, making a high-pitched screech.

  "What the hell is that?!"

  Startled by the sudden appearance of the parasite, the two thugs stumbled back. But the parasite wasn't do leapt onto one of them, its tendrils pierg his body.

  "Ahhh!!"

  The man screamed and turo his panion, eyes red with rage, swinging a steel pipe at him.

  "Hey, stop!"

  The thug leader shouted in arm, raising his gun to aim at his frenzied ckey. But before he could pull the trigger, his panion exploded into a bloody mess, and the attacked thug began to scream, clutg his head in agony. The leader's face turned pale.

  "What did you do to them?!"

  He yelled, aiming his gun at Alex and trying to fire. But before he could, his expression ged dramatically. His face flushed red, mouth opening without a sound, as a mysterious, powerful force seized him and his gang, holding them immobile.

  "Sigh... isn't it good to stay alive?"

  Alex sighed, looking at the struggling, red-faced men. He didn't enjoy killing, but these thugs were asking for it. Worse, they had seen the parasite, which meant he couldn't let them go.

  "They leave me no choice but to keep them here."

  Thinking about this, Alex didn't have much more to say. Just as he was about to end the lives of these thugs, the parasite suddenly hopped over and made a "chittering" sound. Although Alex couldn't uand what it was saying, he got the gist of its message.

  "You want to absorb their bio-energy?"

  Hearing the parasite's request, Alex paused and looked at the struggling thugs suspended in mid-air by psioniergy. After a moment's thought, he nodded.

  "Alright... just be quick about it."

  "Chitter!!"

  The parasite chirped happily at Alex's respohen bounced over to the thugs. Meanwhile, Alex waved his hand, g the psionic lock. The thugs fell heavily to the ground.

  "Gasp... gasp..."

  The thug leader panted heavily, his whole body ag. He had no idea what had just happened—only that an invisible force had lifted him by the throat, rendering all his struggles useless. He felt that if it had sted a moment longer, he might have suffocated to death.

  "Chitter!"

  Just then, a strange sound caught the thug leader's attention. He instinctively turned his head to see what it was. As he did, he saw a dark shado and tto his body.

  "Aaaahhh!!"

  A series of screams echoed through the forest, then silence fell. Moments ter, everything was still once again.

  "Sigh..."

  Alex shook his head at the bloody remains on the ground. These thugs had really sealed their own fate by following him for revenge. Well, they wouldn't have to worry about that anymore.

  Alex didn't dwell on it. The men were dead, and although he felt a bit guilty, it was self-defense. He turned his attention te egg nearby, almost as tall as a person.

  This was the result of the parasite's transformation after abs the thugs' life energy. Alex wasn't sure how long it would take for the egg to hatch, but reality often differed from games.

  Time passed, and the egg began to ge. Initially, it looked like an opaque, oval balloon. As time went on, it grew rger and began thten from within, revealing a creature moving ihe creature grew bigger, and the egg's interior turned dark and murky.

  The rge egg trembled slightly, then began to deform at the sides. With a "pop," the egg burst like an overinfted balloon, and a tall figure emerged before Alex.

  It was a broodmother.

  Uhe broodmothers Alex was familiar with, this one looked mraceful."

  Her upper body resembled that of a human woman, while her lower body was not the spider-like form seen in games. Perhaps because the parasite had been on a deer, her lower body took on a deer-like form.

  "Master..."

  The broodmother bowed respectfully to Alex. He noticed her hair was simir tan's, with tendril-like strands. Despite her differences from a human, she had a unique charm.

  Hmm... acc to the swarm's traditions, she should be given a name now...

  Recalling Luna's data, Alex thought for a moment, then smiled at the broodmother.

  "Alright, from now on, you shall be called Miruune."

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