Chapter 59: Lu Xiao's Mysterious Maneuvers

At this moment, the driver and the other four finally recovered from the initial shock of the Empress.

Taking in the scene before them, the group exchanged glances in silence.

Dante wiped the blood flowing from the corner of his eye, then tremblingly produced a cigarette, though he completely forgot to light it.

"Xiaoyu! Go quickly and check if his life is in danger!"

Xiaoyu nodded and walked over toward Lu Xiao.

Lu Xiao currently presented a horrifying sight. The organs in his abdomen were completely exposed, and stark white bones were visible everywhere across his thighs and arms.

Traces of decay were still apparent around his wounds.

His entire body was a shattered ruin.

Just as Xiaoyu reached out to check Lu Xiao's heartbeat and breathing, Dante suddenly let out a sharp bark of warning.

"Don't touch his body with your bare hands! He's gripping S097 - The Corrupted Revolver!"

Hearing this, Xiaoyu instinctively jerked her hand back.

She was well aware of the properties of S097.

At this stage, Lu Xiao should be enduring the curse period immediately following a gunshot.

If anyone were to make direct skin contact with him right now, they would be corrupted by S097's curse into a pool of bloody pus.

Liuguang handed over the rifle he was holding.

"Use this to pry S097 out of his hand!"

Xiaoyu nodded, took the rifle, and used the muzzle to nudge Lu Xiao's right hand, which held the weapon.

However, Lu Xiao's grip on the gun seemed impossibly tight.

No matter how hard Xiaoyu tried to pry, she could not separate the two.

Witnessing this, Dante slightly furrowed his brow and said in a deep voice:

"Switch weapons! Smash it with the butt of the stock!"

Xiaoyu swapped for another rifle, then fiercely brought the butt of the gun down onto Lu Xiao's right hand.

Still, it didn't budge an inch.

Seeing this, Liuguang and Slicker stepped in to help.

The three of them, each holding a rifle, rained heavy blows with the stocks onto Lu Xiao's hand.

Slicker was soon covered in sweat from the exertion.

"Is this guy made of iron? Why is he so stubborn?"

The driver, watching from the side, could no longer just stand by.

"Move aside! Let me handle this!"

He fetched a massive boulder from somewhere nearby.

"Bang!"

The stone came crashing down violently.

As an anomalous entity, the driver's strength vastly exceeded that of an ordinary human.

Staring at the rock shattered into countless debris scattered across the ground, the driver fell deep into thought.

Xiaoyu said with mounting anxiety:

"What should we do? If this keeps up, his wounds will never heal!"

Dante cast his gaze around, his eyes eventually landing on the pool of bloody pus left behind by Lu Xiao.

"I've got it!"

He immediately rushed over and began rummaging through the puddle of gore.

A moment later, a triumphant cry broke out.

The others looked over to see Dante cupping a pink, tumor-like object in his hands.

"What on earth is that?"

The driver asked with curiosity.

Dante stared intently at the pink growth in his palm.

"This is an unlaid egg belonging to this Masked Moth Empress!"

Seeing the driver's bewildered expression, Dante explained in a low voice:

"The Empress that Lu Xiao just destroyed must have been spawned by a previous one!"

"We spent a tremendous amount of effort back then, but we never managed to find that egg!"

"We originally assumed it hadn't laid it yet, but it seems the Empress hid it away!"

"Judging by its size, this Empress must have hatched not too long ago!"

"A fully grown Empress is massive enough to blot out the sky."

With that, he slipped the egg through Lu Xiao's open abdomen, placing it right against his heart.

The moment the egg made contact with Lu Xiao's heart, it instantly sprang to life.

Tiny tentacles burrowed into Lu Xiao's heart, beginning to feed on his blood.

At the same time, the insect egg began to pulse in rhythm with his heartbeat.

Before long, Lu Xiao's wounds, previously ravaged by the corruption curse, began to heal in a bizarre display.

Countless granules of flesh sprouted from both edges, intertwining tightly together.

It looked remarkably like melted, stretchy cheese.

Immediately afterward, new flesh rapidly regenerated.

The process was extraordinarily swift, taking less than an hour.

The lost flesh and blood on Lu Xiao's body had completely grown back.

"Is this thing really that miraculous?"

The driver inquired curiously.

Although the driver himself was an anomalous entity, when it came to profound knowledge regarding such anomalies, he fell far short of Dante.

Dante nodded.

"The larvae of a Masked Moth can boost spiritual power, and the larvae of a Masked Moth Empress yield the exact same effect!"

"But the Empress is, after all, a supernatural anomaly, possessing an inherently supreme status!"

"Such supernatural entities are born with a tremendously high standing!"

"They possess a certain suppressive effect against curses!"

Pointing at Lu Xiao, he continued:

"The Empress larva absorbed a portion of the S097 curse contained within Lu Xiao's blood, which is why his wounds stopped rotting!"

"At the same time, the Empress larva is now effectively parasitizing his body!"

"Naturally, it will do everything in its power to preserve its host's life."

It had to be said that Dante truly lived up to his reputation as a qualified sacrifice.

When it came to knowledge regarding anomalies, he knew far more than the average research personnel of the Prison Keepers.

Hearing Dante's words, Liuguang's expression turned somewhat grim.

Having previously been a victim parasitized by a Masked Moth larva himself, he held a deep-seated aversion to the idea.

Liuguang asked in a heavy tone:

"If S292 is parasitized by an Empress larva, won't his life still be in grave danger?"

"When he wakes up and finds out about this, are you certain he won't kill you first?"

Dante shrugged, only then remembering that the cigarette dangling from his lips had never been lit.

After igniting it and taking a deep drag, he replied nonchalantly:

"Judging by his personality, once he realizes he's been parasitized by an Empress larva, I'm certain he would say something like this."

He mimicked Lu Xiao's tone of voice.

"Now isn't that just thrilling!"

For a moment, everyone fell speechless.

Upon closer reflection, that outcome seemed entirely possible.

Several more hours elapsed.

Lu Xiao finally stirred back to consciousness.

He first surveyed his surroundings, and upon seeing that everyone was still present, he slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position.

Seeing him awake, Xiaoyu opened her mouth to speak, but—

Lu Xiao suddenly let out a shriek of absolute terror.

Immediately following that, his entire body began to tremble violently.

The voice of the Omniscient Mirror echoed in his mind:

"Please immediately cease your train of thought! You are currently experiencing an extreme terror of thinking!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiao raised his hand without a moment's hesitation and delivered a fierce slap to his own temple.

Following the blow, his gaze grew vacant, and a trail of saliva leaked from the corner of his mouth.

"Hehe!"

A foolish, idiotic grin spread across Lu Xiao's face as he continued to chuckle mindlessly.

He looked precisely like a fool with arrested development.

This series of actions left everyone completely baffled.

What kind of maneuver was this supposed to be?

Dante quickly pieced it together.

"It must be a side effect of S097, causing him to develop a phobia toward something!"

"That slap he gave himself probably induced a concussion, turning him into an absolute moron!"

He took another deep drag from his cigarette.

"And idiots, as a rule, don't feel fear."