Chapter 121: Sudden Mutation

The train stopped at the L District branch of the Guardian Army. Two soldiers carried each stretcher, followed by a group of women who looked utterly miserable.

As they passed through the black mist, more than a dozen abnormal individuals had already appeared. All those rescued were anxious and wore expressions of fear.

Ye Qing found Fang Tang and clung tightly to his sleeve, pleading, "Save me, I don’t want to die."

Fang Tang coldly pulled his sleeve away. "You should be begging the Guardian Army, not me."

Ye Qing looked utterly bereft, her face drained of life, blending into the crowd like a ghost.

These women were sent to different rooms. Fortunately, the Guardian Army branch was large enough and well-equipped, so these frightened women wouldn’t suffer secondary trauma.

Fang Tang followed Liu Yiran and the others to an isolation chamber. Inside was a massive machine, and lying on it was the first woman who had undergone a change.

She was unconscious, foaming milky white bubbles from her mouth.

Data he couldn’t understand flickered across the machine’s display.

Though Fang Tang was clueless, he noticed Leng Shan’s increasingly cold demeanor and knew this matter was far from simple.

“This result is very bad,” Liu Yiran said, his smile gone, eyes narrowed as he sighed deeply, hands tucked into his sleeves.

“The Abyss Shop has gone too far!” Leng Shan, rarely emotional, spoke with a hint of anger.

“What’s happening to them?” Fang Tang asked, puzzled.

Liu Yiran smiled faintly, pointing at the machine as he addressed Fang Tang: “This machine is for genetic testing. The data represent the condition of this woman’s body.”

“From the data, we can conclude she no longer falls within the human category. Her genes are undergoing some kind of mutation.”

“Mutation?” Fang Tang looked at the woman in surprise.

Liu Yiran nodded. “Rather than mutation, it’s more like degradation—becoming a degenerate accepted by the Abyss rules.”

“???”

Fang Tang was instantly stunned.

Degenerates accepted by the Abyss rules?

What was the Abyss Shop trying to do, playing such a dangerous game? Were they trying to oppose the entire Abyss?

It must be known that the Abyss world is protected by rules that preserve humanity.

Anyone or beast corrupted by twisted rules cannot appear in the Abyss world—unless it’s like the Infinite Abyss, where the Abyss rules are weak and twisted rules briefly invaded for a few days.

Even then, once the twisted rules are dispelled, the weak Abyss rules instantly and mercilessly eradicate every remaining degenerate.

Therefore, the Abyss is humanity’s last refuge, a sanctuary.

But what the Abyss Shop was doing was akin to destroying humanity’s final sanctuary.

It was like a nation’s scientists breeding flies that could survive winter—disgusting enough.

But this was far worse.

“Are they courting their own destruction?” Fang Tang asked in disbelief.

Liu Yiran laughed bitterly. “No matter the world, there are always some people with a screw loose, right? We fight twisted rules and degenerates to find the root cause and end the distortion.”

“And what is the Abyss Shop doing? Turning degenerates into species that can survive under Abyss rules? Turning all humans into degenerates?”

The joker was himself.

Honestly, Liu Yiran’s heart was growing cold.

If the Abyss Shop succeeded, all his previous efforts would be in vain.

Then what was the point?

Why not just return to the Infinite Abyss and enjoy life?

Even Fang Tang felt the same.

He had intended to follow the captain to seek the source of the distortion and end the disaster threatening all humanity—but now, the Abyss Shop had done this.

It made everything meaningless; better to stay in the Infinite Abyss, with food, drink, and strength, and no worries.

The atmosphere fell into an eerie silence.

Suddenly, the woman in the isolation chamber began to change again.

Her hands morphed into scythe-like shapes, but before fully transforming, her body crumbled to dust, turning into a pile of humanoid gray ash in the blink of an eye.

Fang Tang was speechless.

Liu Yiran was shocked.

Leng Shan was confused.

The three exchanged looks, each seeing a flicker of joy in the others’ eyes.

The woman was undergoing degradation but hadn’t fully started before being erased by the Abyss rules.

This meant the Abyss rules rejected what the Abyss Shop was doing.

In other words, there was still hope!

“Then we’ll take them down!” Leng Shan said coldly, his gaze resolute.

Liu Yiran smiled again, calm and collected. “You handle reconnaissance; we’ll handle combat. In the Abyss, explorers never lose fights.”

Fang Tang slammed the Great Summer Dragon Sparrow on the ground. “The power structure in the Abyss needs reshuffling.”

“This is a revolution. Our strength is still too small. We must plan carefully and act after thorough preparation to completely overturn the Abyss Shop.”

Leng Shan looked meaningfully at the two and continued, “The fewer people who know about this, even the closest ones, the better. I’ll plan; you execute.”

Liu Yiran nodded with a smile. “Plan well. I hope you won’t let us down.”

Leng Shan looked seriously at Liu Yiran and Fang Tang. “You need to increase your strength. Fifth and sixth tiers seem impressive, but we don’t know if there are ninth tiers or above in Districts A and B, nor if District S will intervene.”

“Mm,” Liu Yiran agreed. “We’ll head into heavy distortion next to strengthen ourselves as much as possible. The task of maneuvering within the Abyss is yours—don’t let the brothers down.”

“Absolutely!” Leng Shan was sincere. “In heavy distortion, you must ensure safety. Only by returning alive can infinite possibilities exist.”

Fang Tang looked at the two and clicked his tongue.

Why did this scene feel so charged with camaraderie?

He couldn’t figure it out.

Liu Yiran smiled at Fang Tang and gently patted his shoulder. “You’re a participant now. I hope you’ll shoulder more responsibility and protect your teammates.”

“That’s what I should do,” Fang Tang said earnestly.

Knock, knock, knock!

The isolation chamber door was knocked.

Outside, Leng Shan’s secretary waited.

Leng Shan waved the secretary in and asked, “What is it?”

“Nearly half of those rescued have abnormalities. The earliest cases showed... showed...” The secretary glanced at Liu Yiran and Fang Tang, hesitating and trailing off.

“I understand,” Leng Shan waved dismissively, signaling the secretary to leave.

With the Abyss rules in place, degenerates shouldn’t appear, so they felt confident.

Leng Shan looked at Liu Yiran and Fang Tang. “No time to waste!”

Liu Yiran smiled warmly. “You really don’t hold back. Shouldn’t you at least let us rest a bit?”