Chapter 156 Blackout. (5)

Words : 1026 Updated : Sep 29th, 2025

"Mmm? What's this?" Ys muttered, tugging at the appendage and realizing what it was. Slowly, she turned her head to glare at Carlos, her glowing eyes narrowing with accusation. Carlos noticed her stare and immediately raised his hands defensively. "Hey! Don't look at me like that! I had no choice, okay?!" Ys arched an eyebrow, holding up the severed spider leg that had been lodged in a rather compromising position on the creature's backside. "Really, Carlos? You stabbed it there? Was that necessary?" "It was trying to eat me!" Carlos shouted, pointing at the corpse as if it could defend itself. "I had to use everything I had to fight back! It's not my fault; that's where the blade landed!" She sighed heavily, shaking her head. "Sure, let's call it that," she said sarcastically, tossing the limb aside. "You humans are so weird sometimes." Carlos glared at her, his frustration mounting. "Hey, I saved myself, didn't I? You should be impressed!" Ys smirked slightly, folding her arms. "Impressed isn't the word I'd use. But fine. You survived. Good job, baldy." As the tension settled, Ys stood, brushing off her hands. Her playful expression grew more serious as she adjusted her stance. "Anyway, enough of this. We need to regroup with Cleo at the medical bay. By the look of things, we don't have much time." Carlos nodded, glancing down at the creature's mutilated body one last time before stepping over it. "Yeah, let's get moving. I don't want to deal with any more surprises like this one." Ys was about to take off at full speed, but she stopped abruptly, turning her head slightly without looking at Carlos directly. "Carlos," she said after a moment, her voice unusually calm. Carlos frowned, tilting his head. "Mmm? What is it now?" Ys hesitated for a moment before asking, "I'm just curious... How exactly are you walking so normally when there's no gravity?" Carlos froze midstep, his gaze flicking between Ys and his own feet. For a moment, there was nothing but silence. Then Carlos let out a nervous chuckle, scratching the back of his bald head. "Uh... well... I guess I'm just, uh, naturally gifted?" Ys finally turned to face him, her expression blank but her glowing eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Naturally gifted, huh?" Carlos coughed awkwardly, muttering under his breath. "Yeah, let's go with that." "Uh-huh," Ys said, her lips curling into a faint smirk. Without another word, she turned around and didn't say anything; she just stood there.Nôv(el)B\\jnn As Ys turned her head slightly to face Carlos, her sharp gaze caught something unusual. Her playful smirk froze, replaced by a look of confusion, then alarm. Carlos's mouth... it was changing. The edges of his lips twitched unnaturally, stretching wider than they should have been. The skin around his jawline started to split and peel back, revealing something grotesque beneath a jagged, serrated set of spider-like mandibles. His teeth sharpened unnaturally as the transformation continued, and a sickening wet sound accompanied the grotesque change. Cleo, who was working on one of the room's maintenance terminals, didn't look up as she responded. "It's possible. This situation isn't normal. But Ys is capable, and Carlos, well, he's stubborn enough to survive anything. I'm more worried about what else is out there." As if on cue, Cleo's radar pinged faintly in her HUD. Her golden eyes flickered as the radar feed projected a silhouette of something moving in the corridor outside. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Sharon, stay away from the door. Something's coming." Sharon frozen, her eyes widening. "What? Could it be another passenger?" Cleo shook her head, her voice cold and firm. "I don't think so. The radar signature doesn't match any of the passenger profiles in my database." Sharon's breath hitched. "What does that mean?" Cleo didn't answer immediately. Instead, she studied the radar feed closely. The images showed multiple humanoid figures, but they weren't moving like normal passengers. Some were crawling on the walls, others on the ceiling. Their movements were erratic, unnervingly fast, and accompanied by the faint clicking sound of metallic limbs scraping against the corridor. "They're all over the place," Cleo muttered under her breath, gripping her energy blade tightly. The sound of skittering legs grew louder, echoing through the medical bay. Cleo's body tensed, her golden eyes scanning the room for entry points. She tossed a small laser pistol to Sharon, along with two energy cells. "Take this," Cleo said. "For self-defense." Sharon stared at the weapon, her hands trembling as she clutched it tightly. She nodded silently, her fear palpable as she moved to take cover behind one of the medical desks. The clicking sounds grew louder, almost deafening now. Cleo pressed herself against the wall beside the broken door, her energy blade poised to strike at anything that entered. The tension in the room was suffocating. Sharon held her breath, gripping the pistol tightly as her eyes darted toward the open doorway. And then they saw it. A long, skeletal leg with jagged metal edges slowly reached through the doorway, tapping against the ground. Another followed, then another. The creature crawled into view, its emaciated body hunched over unnaturally. Its eyes glowed a sickly green, and its back was adorned with jagged, spider-like limbs made of bone and metal. Behind it, more figures appeared, crawling along the walls and ceiling, their glowing eyes piercing through the darkness. Cleo's grip on her energy blade tightened. "Sharon," she whispered without turning her head. "Stay behind cover. Don't make a sound." Sharon nodded, barely able to breathe as the creatures began spilling into the room. Cleo's golden eyes glowed faintly in the dim light, her voice cold and steady. "Come on, then," she muttered under her breath. She then jumped from the dark corner and swinged her energy sword toward the head of the first creature that stepped inside.

Chapter 156 Blackout. (5)

Comments (0)