Jing Shu didn't deny the accusation. She looked at the grotesque fusion before her, her eyes taking in the way the pale human skin met the thick, chitinous plates of the bug's shell. A damp, earthy scent mingled with a metallic tang from the monster's lower half. "If I had known it was like this, I definitely wouldn't have bothered you. Wen Jun, you said you saved everyone, but I was wondering how a girl who has lost her legs could manage it. So this is how your food comes. We were too reckless; it's our fault. But… this isn't natural, right? Do you want to go out with us and see a doctor for surgery to restore your original form?"
"Yeah, yeah, now technology is so advanced, even conjoined people who share a single heart can be separated. You could do the same. If you want, I can find someone to perform a separation surgery for you and fit prosthetics. Of course, once you recover, the condition is that your lower bug half will be given to us for research," Jun Bao said from the side. He leaned forward slightly, his mind already calculating. He still hoped to study the real gastropod queen to help with mass breeding and the human food supply. This deal wouldn't cost him anything; he would be getting a reproductive queen in the process.
"Restore?" Xiao Wei gave a bitter laugh, the sound hollow in the dim, cold room. Her thirty-six legs skittered against the wooden frame with a dry, clicking noise. "How is that possible? We are already a symbiotic body. Without me, it's like it's headless—how could it survive? Without it, I'm like a heartless corpse—how could I live?" She gestured weakly toward the massive, pulsating abdomen beneath her, which seemed to thrum with a life of its own.
Jun Bao let out a small, regretful sigh, his shoulders slumping.
Jing Shu's expression grew complex. The Cube Space in her mind was vibrating with a strange, low-frequency hum that grew stronger as she stared at the girl. "Exactly how did this happen? If you tell us, maybe we can help."
First impressions still mattered. Even witnessing something so grotesque, the two hadn't shouted 'monster' or 'demon,' which eased Wen Jun's nerves. Seeing that Jing Shu and her group showed no malice, he finally began to speak after getting Xiao Wei's silent consent.
"This goes back more than half a year. Our village suddenly faced a catastrophe. The mountains swallowed more than half of it. Countless people died, including the village chief's family; they were right at the center, and they were completely gone. Xiao Wei's family didn't survive either. At the time, we didn't expect her to still be alive. We found her on the fifth day after the village was swallowed."
Xiao Wei's hands trembled, her fingers plucking at the quilt's edge. Thinking back, she still felt the lingering fear, a coldness that started in her spine. Slowly, she said, "The gastropod bugs had taken over the earth under the village. There were maze-like tunnels, and the queen's place happened to be beneath my house. That's why we weren't crushed into patties. We just fell. Many others who were crushed were dragged to the queen's mouth and eaten… I was no exception, but something unexpected happened while I was halfway eaten."
Jing Shu perked up, listening closely. The air in the room felt heavy.
Jun Bao's eyes widened. "What unexpected thing?"
Xiao Wei slowly closed her eyes, her voice dropping to a whisper. "I woke up in pain. I would have preferred being eaten like my family, but it hurt so badly. While struggling on the damp ground, I grabbed a random stone. Suddenly, it turned into liquid inside my body. It felt like fire. Then I blacked out. After that, I saw Gou Tou and Wen Jun dragging me out. I realized I had become a monster. This monster probably ate my family, my friends… and now I'm fused with it. Does that mean I also ate them?"
"No, Xiao Wei, don't think like that!" Wen Jun hugged her, his touch gentle against her narrow, shaking shoulders. He turned his head toward her and said, "You wanted to give up back then. You said life had no meaning. But how could it have no meaning? You saved all of us survivors. Without you, we would be dead already. You are our lifesaver. If not for you, the gastropod queen would have sent two- or three-meter bugs to kill and eat all of us."
The gastropod bugs were fierce, their shells hard as iron. They were a new species evolved from the harsh conditions of the apocalypse.
"Exactly. My reason to live is you all. Gou Tou said I must survive to take revenge for the village. These bugs ate the villagers, so now it's our turn to eat the bugs! Tit for tat!" Xiao Wei smiled lightly, finding her reason to live in the grim cycle of survival. Even as a monster, these people still needed her, and that was enough to keep the darkness at bay.
If one day she wasn't needed, she would die with all the bugs, completely and utterly. If Wen Jun and Gou Tou took the others away, maybe then she could finally leave the world peacefully. She had long wanted to stop living.
Xiao Wei's lower abdomen's mouth continued feeding, with smaller worker bugs constantly bringing bits of unidentifiable meat.
Jing Shu moved closer, her skin prickling with heat as the Space's reactions became more obvious. "Is it the black stone crystal?"
"At first, I couldn't see anything, just knew a monster was eating me. Later, in the cave, I never saw that stone again, but I found a pool of black liquid. The gastropod bugs avoided it like the plague. I guess it isn't something good," Xiao Wei replied.
Jing Shu's eyes lit up even more, and Jun Bao's eyes brightened too. Could this be the substance they had been studying these past days?
At that moment, Gou Tou's voice came from outside. "Wen Jun, have you figured out how to deal with these outsiders?"
Wen Jun gritted his teeth, his expression hardening. "Xiao Wei's situation can't get out. Since you know this much already, stay. Who knows if you would bring others to destroy our village and take Xiao Wei for experiments?"
Jun Bao nodded seriously, his gaze still fixed on the bug's legs. "You are thinking ahead. This is a real risk. Xiao Wei definitely can't go back to the city—not yet."
Jing Shu sensed Jun Bao was scheming. She remembered his supposed anorexia. Why was he so interested in livelihood and increasing the food supply in the apocalypse?
"We really mean no harm. How can you trust us to keep this secret? Well, I have an idea," she said.
Xiao Wei blinked, her expression softening. "I actually do trust you, or I would not have said so much. I know food is scarce, and I know you have tricks up your sleeves, but you still gave us compressed biscuits. Like my aunt and the others, you feel sympathy for me."
"Xiao Wei! Let's hear what this lady has to say first," Wen Jun frowned. Protecting Xiao Wei's interests was his priority. He couldn't risk what outsiders might do if they knew.
"It's actually very simple," Jing Shu said.