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“Assimilated? What are you talking about? What is the ‘Bug Cage’?’ Ji Bingyao asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.
“Oh, my, my, let’s not overwhelm ourselves with so many questions at once. Fortunately, your current location is relatively safe, so I suppose I can reluctantly step in for our feigning-innocence Mother and enlighten you with some facts,” Salome announced. “Firstly, this is not the world you once inhabited – although it is still Earth, mind you. You might consider it a ‘possible parallel world’.”
“A parallel world! I knew it—” Xia Hua excitedly began to exclaim, only for Ji Bingyao to swiftly cover her mouth.
“Indeed, you have likely heard of this concept: a singular, pivotal event diverging into different outcomes, thereby creating ‘worldline discrepancies’. Our world and yours emerged from precisely such a divergence. My dearest Mother and I, whom you know as Shirley, are native inhabitants of this world. Mother also has eleven other daughters, all as clever, obedient, and adorable as myself. Three years ago, we gathered to celebrate the most crucial moment of Mother’s life, striving to reciprocate the love she bestowed upon us… Regrettably, she vanished abruptly at that very time, escaping into your world.”
Ji Bingyao scratched her forehead. “‘Are you saying it’s like those trashy Isekai anime series…'”
“I am unfamiliar with the term ‘trashy anime series’, but yes, half a century ago, this world had already begun researching translocation technology to breach the walls between parallel worlds. However, this technology was initially developed because the major corporations forming the Global Innovation Alliance at the time sought to harness energy by exploiting the ‘disparities’ between different worlds… You might envision it as akin to hydroelectric power, generating electricity from the gravitational potential energy created by differences in elevation. Furthermore, they aimed to acquire scarce resources and unique scientific advancements from those parallel worlds.”
“And then what?”
Salome let out a cold laugh. “What happened next, you ask? They botched it. They tore open the world barrier but proved incapable of controlling the very achievements they had wrought. For decades, portals began to appear entirely at random across various regions of the globe, giving rise to what became known as the ‘Portal Cataclysm’. These portals would naturally connect to worlds with the greatest ‘disparity’ and the smallest parallel world relative to this one, and from one such world, a multitude of troublesome creatures poured forth.”
“Are you referring to those… bugs and the mist?” Eileen inquired.
“Only the bugs. As for the mist, it’s merely a result of the significant temperature difference between your point of origin and your arrival destination; it will dissipate after a while,” Salome explained. “Incidentally, the ‘true forms’ of those bugs are not actually the insects you perceive. As for what they truly are, I wouldn’t mind letting you witness it firsthand.”
A few seconds later, another fissure, shimmering with a faint golden light, materialized beside them. This time, a sealed, disposable syringe dropped from within. “This is the most common B-725 dewormer. It’s typically administered within 10 to 12 hours after initial infection. It’s no longer meaningful for that young lady, but it remains effective for ‘deworming’, at least. Simply inject it directly into her.”
“Alright, then.” Ji Bingyao hesitated for a moment before tearing open the syringe’s packaging and plunging the needle into the bound girl’s body. As she depressed the plunger, the girl thrashed wildly, much like a live fish pinned to a cutting board. Copious amounts of green liquid spewed from every orifice of her body, and the pervasive stench made breathing nearly impossible. This frenzied struggle only subsided half a minute after the injection concluded. The girl’s eyes rolled back, a puddle of genuine excrement seeped between her legs, and then she became utterly still.
“Is the injection complete? Now, please remove whatever is gagging her mouth, thank you.”
“Ah, alright.” Ji Bingyao pinched her nose as she pulled out the wad of handkerchief from the girl’s mouth. Immediately, a torrent of vomit, mixed with a green, oily substance, erupted forth, nearly splattering across her face.
Yet, what emerged next was far more horrifying.
The creature resembled a mass of writhing gel, or perhaps, somewhat like the common “Slime” monster found in Japanese ‘Dragon Quest’ games, yet it largely maintained a slug-like silhouette, its translucent body constantly shifting colors.
“What is that? An amoeba?” Xia Hua, like an eager child, excitedly reached out a hand… only for Shirley to swiftly seize her wrist, stopping her.
“In fact, it’s somewhat more advanced than it appears,” Salome remarked. “Let me see… Hmm, if Linnaean taxonomy still holds any relevance in that world, it would likely be classified under the subphylum Crustacea, class Cirripedia, within the phylum Arthropoda, wouldn’t it? Making it a distant relative to shrimp, crabs, or barnacles.”
“But it doesn’t look like it,” Xia Hua said, scratching her small head. “Where are the segmented limbs? The carapace? How can this soft, squishy blob be an ‘arthropod’? Are you joking?”
“Hmph, my dear child, allow me to offer a piece of advice: never display your intellectual shortcomings before our beloved Mother – she despises mediocrity above all else. To her, fools are merely prey, livestock, and emergency rations for the intelligent, destined to be ‘consumed’ in myriad ways,” Salome scoffed, a few cold laughs escaping her lips. “To take names literally in taxonomy is utterly foolish. Whales and dolphins, for instance, belong to the even-toed ungulate lineage, just like cattle and sheep, yet they possess no hooves.”
“I don’t dislike foolish people… No, no, no, Xia Hua, I… I wasn’t calling you foolish! I think you’re incredibly smart, astonishingly wise, truly!” Shirley hastily clarified, her cheeks flushed crimson – only then realizing she had seemingly tacitly accepted Salome calling her “Mother.”
“Very well, let’s return to the main topic: within the phylum Arthropoda, numerous species have evolved a completely parasitic mode of life. Some of these animals have even fully degenerated their locomotor and sensory organs, learning instead to manipulate their hosts… A prime example being the Sacculina,” Salome continued. “However, in that parallel world, the situation grew even more intriguing.”
“Are you saying they parasitize humans?” Xia Hua asked.
“Strictly speaking, various higher vertebrates can be parasitized,” Salome replied. “These creatures are quite… unique, employing a two-stage parasitic strategy: they first parasitize various arthropods as intermediate hosts, modifying the latter’s reproductive organs to produce their own offspring. Subsequently, these intermediate hosts attack higher vertebrates, serving as their ‘vassal species’.”
“What?!” Shirley and her companions all gasped in unison.
“Precisely. After all, higher vertebrates possess a superior evolutionary level, with greater mobility, survival skills, and combat prowess than mere insects… even colossal ones. Some hosts undergo further mutations to adapt to various requirements. After attacking a higher vertebrate via an intermediate host, the parasites concealed within them swiftly infiltrate the brain tissue, beginning to permeate the cerebrum within 10 to 12 hours. Initially, the host retains its own consciousness, but under pheromonal inducement, they subconsciously prioritize the interests of the parasite colony.”
“A-and then what?” Xia Hua stammered.
“After 12 hours, and no more than 18 hours post-parasitism, the parasites gradually devour most of the host’s cerebral cortex, replacing it with themselves… much like a tongue-eating louse replaces the atrophied tongue of a fish it has drained. Thereafter, based on the needs of the parasite colony, the host will find its place within the collective over the next few days to one or two months… perhaps as a ‘soldier ant’ responsible for repelling external threats, or a ‘worker ant’ tasked with labor. They might also be assigned other complex missions. Some hosts undergo physical mutations, while others might retain a portion of their memories and skills…”
“Stop, stop, that’s horrifying!” Eileen cried out. “But… uh… since we’ve expelled the parasite from this classmate, doesn’t that mean…”
“Useless. Anyone in this state has been parasitized for at least 20 hours, if not longer. She was likely infected shortly after your school arrived in our world,” Salome interjected, immediately dousing Eileen’s nascent hope with a splash of cold water. “After those uncontrolled portals appeared, this world suffered decades of invasion by otherworldly parasites, so we are intimately familiar with her condition: expelling the parasite will leave her utterly brain-damaged and incapable of self-care. In the best-case scenario, her intellect will not surpass that of a one-year-old infant.”
“Ugh…” Ji Bingyao’s face began to turn green, whether from nausea or the foul stench of mucus and copious excretions emanating from the unfortunate girl, she couldn’t tell.
“Yes, this is the world my dearest Mother and I were born and raised in. After the Portal Cataclysm erupted, people gradually began to call it the ‘Bug Cage’,” Salome’s tone grew somewhat somber. “Most people feel pain and indignation over the world’s current state, yet some have seized power amidst the fracturing world, acting with impunity… Oh, that reminds me.”
“What is it?” Shirley asked.
“I forgot to mention. Although your classmate has been reduced to this state, she is still a living person, not some ‘zombie’. In other words, even though she has lost everything, she still possesses one life.”
“Uh… one life… Right!” Ji Bingyao emphatically slapped her palm. “You mentioned in your previous pricing that ‘lives’ could be exchanged for weapons and ammunition…”
“Exactly!” Salome declared. “Whether adult, elder, child, or even a defenseless infant or a person in a vegetative state – each counts as one life! The sole requirement is that you personally take that life! In this world, the laws and rules you once adhered to no longer exist. Over 90% of Earth’s surface is, in effect, a lawless zone. And I keep my word: the lives you claim can be exchanged for weapons and ammunition.”
“Er… mm…” Shirley’s hands trembled slightly, but ultimately, she said nothing. Beside her, Ji Bingyao took a deliberate deep breath. Her gaze then fell upon a stone used to adorn the garden.
The stone, though not massive, weighed around twenty kilograms. Ji Bingyao let out a low growl, directly wrenching it from the earth, hoisted it high above her head, and then steadily walked towards the girl with rolled-back eyes and incontinent bowels.
“I’m sorry… but we… we must…”
“No!”