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Parasitic Child

Parasitic Child: Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Out of control riot.

Xiao Zhen opened the door.

Liu Xingquan was standing at the entrance, his eyes fixed on his shoes. This was their first meeting since the funeral.

“Hello.”

Liu Xingquan lifted his head, but his gaze remained on the ground. “…My mom asked me to bring this over. Uncle and Auntie forgot it last time.” He stretched out his hand and handed Xiao Zhen a gift bag.

Xiao Zhen reached out and took it. Only then did Liu Xingquan look at him. His dark eyes flickered slightly as he asked, “Are you not going to let me in?”

“No,” Xiao Zhen replied firmly. “The house is a bit busy right now.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Xingquan’s face turned bright red as if he had been pricked. Xiao Zhen heard him mutter in a muffled voice, “I get it.” The young man quickly turned around and left.

The chicken flew onto Xiao Zhen’s head and asked, “Did you just send him away?”

“Yes.” Xiao Zhen thought to himself, I probably offended this boy’s pride somehow. If Yan Zhen’s mother were here, she would have warmly and lovingly welcomed this grieving boy into the house to comfort him. Xiao Zhen had the feeling he’d missed a prime opportunity to solve some of the mysteries surrounding his host, Xiao Zhen, and to reconcile with Liu Xingquan, clearing the air between them. But there was no time now to analyze and understand human adolescent psychology. If the out-of-control plant growth inside the villa wasn’t dealt with soon, the entire neighborhood would turn into a primitive jungle.

Inside, Mr. Mao was darting around, cutting down the vines. He had enhanced his cat claws, and they flew through the air like blades, slicing through the plant stems in an instant, separating and scattering them.

The severed vines on the floor quickly branched out, taking root and entangling themselves around the furniture, twisting like wild beasts.

Xiao Zhen said, “Thank you for tirelessly contributing to the planet’s forest expansion efforts.”

Mr. Mao angrily jumped to the floor, swiping at the leaves with his paw and said, “Would you care to suggest any practical solutions?”

“Of course, call customer service.” Xiao Zhen said, pulling the business card from his pocket and dialing Han Junqian’s number.

When the call connected, Xiao Zhen didn’t waste time and explained the situation concisely.

Han Junqian’s voice on the other end was unusually cheerful.

“No problem! We’ve definitely considered this type of unexpected situation. Don’t worry, don’t worry, we certainly have after-sales service. I’ll provide a solution immediately.”

“Please hurry, my family could come back at any moment.”

“Relax! I’ll deliver everything to your door and resolve any risks in a flash.”

Xiao Zhen hung up. Mr. Mao, standing beside him, said, “I have a feeling that fox merchant was just waiting for us to contact him.”

“I feel the same,” Xiao Zhen glared at Captain Ban, “but there’s no way he could’ve known we had an idiot here.”

“I already told you, it wasn’t on purpose!!”

Thud, thud, thud.

Someone was knocking on the door.

Xiao Zhen looked through the peephole but saw no one outside.

Thud, thud, thud. Three more knocks.

Xiao Zhen opened the door, and there was no one outside. Just as he was about to close it, a tiny voice came from near his feet, “I was sent by Mr. Han for after-sales service.”

Standing on the doormat was a small mouse.

“…”

Under the intense stares of Xiao Zhen, Captain Ban, and Mr. Mao, the little mouse swaggered into the room.

“You’re the after-sales service?”

“I am the XR3B2 bio-inspired service robot, here to serve you,” the mouse’s eyes flashed red, scanning the plants around the room.

“Why a mouse?”

“This appearance was custom-made by Mr. Han. He thought it would not alarm the local humans.”

Mr. Mao said, “No, I think your appearance will not only throw the local humans into hysteria, but also cause a commotion among the local cats.”

“Rats are the most common creature in the cities of this planet. My form was designed with careful consideration.”

“To be honest, the mere fact that you’re on my carpet is enough to make me instinctively want to smash you with a broom,” Xiao Zhen said candidly, feeling his human body subconsciously tensing.

“Please remain calm, I’ll finish the analysis shortly.” The red light quickly swept across the room, and the bio-inspired mouse said, “Data collection complete.”

“Based on analysis, given that this residence is regularly occupied, we do not recommend using chemical gas or poisonous substances. 

Given these circumstances, we have three solutions for you to choose from. Solution one: plant a Greedy Vine inside your house. This vine loves to entangle itself with green plants. Once attached, it secretes digestive enzymes and feeds by breaking down the plants, using numerous absorption nodes along its stems. Once it has devoured all the plants, the vine will produce seeds and die. Given that the plants in your home have already mutated, this is the safest and most affordable solution.”

“So how long would it take for the Greedy Vine to break down the crazy plants here?” 

The mouse replied, “Approximately ten days.”

“Next option!!”

“Solution two: use a plasma cannon to sweep through the crazed plants. This will eliminate all targets in the shortest possible time. However, it should be noted that all indoor items will also be destroyed…”

“Next option!!”

“Solution three: order a batch of Blue Locusts.”

The chicken asked, “What are Blue Locusts?”

“A type of locust from Kangkang Star. They devour every plant they come across. Their feeding speed is like a storm. It would only take about eight minutes to clear out the rogue plants in this house.”

“Sounds promising,” Xiao Zhen asked, “How do you retrieve the Blue Locusts after the job’s done?”

“All the Blue Locusts are implanted with neural chips. Once the task is complete, they will be immediately recalled. It’s safe and efficient, but not cheap.”

(What do you think?) Xiao Zhen asked Mr. Mao and the chicken through brainwaves.

Mr. Mao sneered, (The third option sounds the most acceptable. I don’t trust that fox merchant, but we don’t have any other choice right now.)

The chicken looked dejected, (I’m the one paying, after all.)

“1,200 credit coins, thank you for your patronage.”

The chicken screeched, “You’re practically sucking the life out of us—this is daylight robbery!”

A few minutes later, the door was knocked on once again.

This time, two small mice swaggered in, carrying a delivery box.

“Your blue locusts have arrived~”

Xiao Zhen picked up one of the little mice. It had soft, fine fur, shiny black eyes, and long whiskers. By all appearances, it was a real, living mouse. He pinched it gently; it felt very soft.

“Dear customer, I’m not for sale, so please refrain from interfering with my work.”

“I’m just wondering what my neighbors would think if they saw one mouse after another waltzing into my house,” Xiao Zhen said, putting the mouse back down.

“We’re programmed to hide ourselves at the appropriate time,” replied the bionic mouse. It pointed into the air, and a floating window popped up. “Please sign for the package.”

Captain Ban extended his paw to operate the window, grumbling, “Why am I spending my savings on buying locusts?!”

The blue locusts were just like their name implied—blue-green in color, with long bodies and flexible antennae swaying on either side. Their round, pale-yellow abdomens gleamed. One leapt out of the box, landing in Xiao Zhen’s palm, its antennae twitching slightly before it flapped its wings and dove into the green vines. Soon after, more blue locusts flew out, like a pale mist of blue-green, swarming toward the plants in the room.

As they landed, the room filled with a faint rustling sound—the sound of the locusts gnawing on the plants.

Rustle, rustle, rustle. The rhythmic sound echoed throughout the room as the green foliage started to diminish. The furniture, once obscured by the vines, began to emerge.

The ceiling, covered with leaves, revealed its plaster decorations, while the floor, blanketed by creeping roots, slowly showed its original color. Rustle, rustle, rustle—the blue locusts kept eating.

The plants seemed to realize their impending doom and struggled to branch out further, but the locusts devoured them far faster. Countless leaves rustled, lamenting the end of their lives.

This should be over soon, thought Xiao Zhen, Mr. Mao, and Captain Ban alike. The situation should have ended when the blue locusts finished their feast.

Xiao Zhen pointed at one of the locusts. “Hey, after-sales mouse, can you make sure the locusts don’t poop all over my house after they’re done eating?”

The bionic mouse raised its whiskers. “The blue locusts’ chips are programmed to prevent excretion during work. That’s not possible.”

“Look, it’s doing it right now,” Xiao Zhen pointed at a locust that was dropping tiny round pellets from its tail.

“Denied, the chip does not allow excretion.”

“Why don’t you take a good look at what’s happening right in front of you?”

Captain Ban pecked a locust out of the air and tossed it onto the table. Its tail twitched, expelling a milky-white round pellet. Mr. Mao leaned in to sniff it. The chicken screeched, “That’s definitely not poop.”

Mr. Mao said, “It’s laying eggs.”

“I think the issue here isn’t just laying eggs,” Xiao Zhen said, staring at the locust under Captain Ban’s claws. The eggs it had just laid quickly changed from milky-white to pale yellow, and within seconds, they cracked open. A tiny nymph crawled out of the eggshell, its forewings faintly green, with blue-tipped wings. The nymph fluttered its wings and immediately joined the swarm of its parents, chewing away at the plants.

“This breeding rate is too fast.” Xiao Zhen looked around; in just a few minutes, the number of blue locusts had multiplied several times and was still doubling at an alarming rate.

Mr. Mao glanced at the bionic mouse. “Is this one of the settings you programmed into the blue locusts?”

The mouse’s eyes flashed red, scanning the surroundings. After a moment, it responded, “This happened because the blue locusts fed on plants containing excessive amounts of a rapid-growth agent, causing their reproduction and growth to accelerate and mutate.”

“Then this insane plant can be destroyed early,” said the chicken.

The red light in the mouse’s eyes flickered. “Sorry, there’s a small problem.”

“What problem?”

“The neural chips were only implanted in the first-generation blue locusts. Their offspring, born from egg-laying, don’t have neural chips. So…”

“So what?”

“We can’t recover or control any blue locusts beyond the first generation.”

“…”

Xiao Zhen pointed at the room. “Thanks a lot for sharing this wonderful news! The locusts have already reproduced up to the third generation! And from the looks of it, their numbers are about 30 times the original amount!!”

“No, it’s 300 times. Once the third generation matures, in about half an hour, we’ll be dealing with a locust swarm thousands or even tens of thousands of times the original number, completely out of control!!”

“The plants in this house are almost all eaten,” Xiao Zhen remembered something and ran toward the garden. Shortly after, his angry voice echoed back, “My garden’s been stripped bare by the blue locusts!!”

The bionic mouse retracted its scanning red light. “According to my calculations, in approximately two hours, all the greenery in the city will be devoured by the new generation of locusts. In 12 hours, half the country’s plants will be completely consumed, and within a few days, the vegetation of this entire planet will be obliterated.”

Mr. Mao roared in anger, “I knew we couldn’t trust those fox merchants!!!”

The chicken shouted, “We paid you! You’re the after-sales service! You must clean up this mess!!”

“Please remain calm. I’m currently searching for a solution,” the mouse’s eyes turned blue. “The Interstellar Plant Protection Research Institute sells a happy appetite stimulant.”

“I think they’re already eating crazily enough. No need to stimulate their appetite any further!!”

The bionic mouse’s whiskers twitched, and it spoke in a soft voice, “Please calm down. This stimulant is for birds. It can enhance their appetite, prompting them to immediately attack the pests that are damaging the plants. We can use this stimulant to attract birds to clean up the subsequent locusts.”

“Hurry up and bring it out!” 

“Dear customer, given the current situation, ordering the bird-specific happy appetite stimulant requires an additional payment of 1,500 credit coins, so if you could…” 

Before it could finish, Mr. Mao swatted the mouse away with a paw, then pounced on it, pinning it down. “Believe me, I can swallow you right now.” 

“Please, dear customer, remain calm. I’m a bionic mouse and do not possess the functionality of actual mouse meat.”

“That doesn’t matter. You just need to let your owner know that I can shred all three of you mice right now. This locust disaster is the result of your negligence. If they don’t clean this up fast and the Supervisory Eye is alerted, they’ll be in far worse trouble than us!”

“I will convey your message.” The mouse’s eyes lit up, and a screen projected into the air, showing Han Junqian’s smiling face. “Don’t worry, I’ll release the stimulant immediately and get the birds to take care of this.”

“Hurry up!!”

“Wait.” Xiao Zhen interjected, “These locusts are mutated from eating the growth agent. Will the birds be affected if they eat them?”

“You don’t need to worry about that. Your out-of-control plants have already been eaten clean. After being passed down through several generations of locusts, the potency of the growth agent has greatly diminished and won’t affect the birds. Additionally, we’ll add a small amount of the growth agent’s antibody into the happy appetite stimulant to minimize any potential risk.”

“I sure hope so.”

Han Junqian’s follow-up service was swift. First, two swallows flew in through the window, tilting their heads as they eyed the locusts swarming around the room. They chirped twice in delight at the feast awaiting them. Soon, the sound of more wings flapping filled the air. Xiao Zhen leaned on the windowsill and saw countless birds in large flocks approaching from the horizon.

It was a banquet for the birds.

Their joyful chirping wove into a symphony as they darted through the air, feasting on the locusts. Sensing the danger, the blue locusts clustered together into a dark, swirling mass and attempted to escape outside. But perched on the walls, shrubs, trees, and telephone poles were sparrows, blackbirds, spotted doves, white-vented bulbuls, pigeons, magpies, swallows, and other birds usually hidden in the corners of the city. Now, they had all come out in droves, soaring through the sky, tracing beautiful arcs as they chased after the locusts.

Pedestrians began to notice the rare spectacle of the birds dancing in the sky. They stopped, watching in awe. “So beautiful,” a child said, tugging at her mother’s hand.

Father Yan was sitting in his car, reviewing documents. The driver turned to tell him that there was a traffic jam up ahead. “Mr. Yan, look at all these birds. I have no idea where they came from.”

Father Yan leaned out of the window and saw, in the sunset-colored sky, countless flocks of birds swirling and diving, their wings edged in glowing light from the setting sun. He gazed at the scene in a daze, reminiscent of the sight he had seen years ago—on a certain day after school, riding his bike home, he had watched a massive migration of birds.

A small bird landed on their car. It was a beautiful little bird with a slender beak, gray body, and soft green wings and tail. The driver reached for the wipers to shoo it away, but Father Yan shook his head, stopping him.

“What kind of bird is that?”

“It’s a green-winged short-legged bulbul,” Father Yan said. In his ear, an old voice seemed to echo from the past, “Yan An, look, what kind of bird is this?”

“It’s a green-winged short-legged bulbul,” he repeated softly. The little bird flapped its wings and flew off toward the sky. Father Yan followed its flight with his eyes, watching it join the swirling mass of birds. The setting sun painted the sky behind them in vibrant golds and reds.

Father Yan stared for a long time, and when he finally realized, his eyes had already turned red.

*

Back at the Yan household.

The chicken asked, “So, did we just save the planet today?”

Mr. Mao growled, “And now we’re back to square one. What are we going to do about that cursed bean sprout?”

“All I know is, it’s not just my sister who wants to kill me now,” Xiao Zhen said calmly, staring at his barren garden.

TN:

You can’t tell me this was not a conspiracy by that cunning fox! Mr. Mao is right not to trust foxes.

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