Chapter 59: The Luminous Substance

Inside several main load-bearing pillars of Apartment Building 3, a bizarre layer of substance emitting a faint, ghostly glow was surprisingly adsorbed!

That substance was continuously releasing a faint yet distinct radiation!

"How is that possible?!" Mu Chen abruptly stood up, a chill shooting straight from the soles of his feet to the top of his head!

"Brother Mu Chen, what's wrong?" Xie Youyou was startled by his sudden reaction.

Mu Chen did not answer, walking briskly toward a load-bearing pillar closest to him, extending a hand, only to stop mid-air.

He activated [Wall Perspective] to observe closely.

Beneath the surface concrete of the load-bearing pillar, those glowing substances were actually writhing, slowly seeping toward the surface of the wall!

"Not good!" Mu Chen let out a low roar, turning to bark urgently at the others, "Get out of here immediately! There's something wrong with this building!"

No sooner had the words fallen than a new mutation occurred!

On the surface of that load-bearing pillar, the concrete suddenly cracked silently, and wisps of black crystals, deeper and darker than India ink, slowly "grew" out of the cracks, spreading across the wall!

The black crystals exuded an ominous aura, causing everyone present to tighten their chests.

"W-What on earth is that?" One of Pan Guang's recently surrendered subordinates was closest to the pillar. Terrified, he scrambled backward, only to accidentally trip over some debris on the ground, his hand instinctively bracing against the wall covered entirely in black crystals!

"Ah—!"

A scream so wretched and inhuman suddenly pierced the air!

The others watched in horror as the survivor's palm, along with his forearm that had touched the black crystals, hardened and blackened at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning into the exact same black crystals as those on the wall!

"S-Save me! My hand... Ah, ah, ah!" He rolled and wailed in agony on the ground, trying to pull his hand away from the wall, only to find it had fused completely with the black crystals, making it utterly impossible to break free!

In a mere dozen seconds or so, his screams weakened, and after convulsing a few times, he stopped moving altogether.

Half of his body was now completely covered by the black crystals, turning into a grotesque black statue!

"Hiss—" Chen Si drew a sharp breath.

"What... what on earth is this damn thing?!" Chen Jiahe's voice trembled.

Mu Chen's heart sank; the crisis in this building was far more terrifying than he had imagined!

At that moment, hurried footsteps sounded from the stairwell. A somewhat disheveled middle-aged woman wearing glasses and a white lab coat ran in—it was Dr. Li, who had been selling medicine at the trading gathering earlier.

"Something's wrong! Downstairs... downstairs, these black crystals have appeared too!" Dr. Li pointed to the black substance on the wall, completely out of breath.

When she saw the corpse on the ground devoured by the black crystals, she gasped, "As expected... just as I thought. Once you touch this radiation crystallization, there is simply no cure!"

"Dr. Li, do you know what this is?" Mu Chen immediately pressed for answers.

Catching her breath, Dr. Li pulled a small medicine bottle from her bosom containing some dark green ointment: "I analyzed the black mist residue left on Pan Guang and his men's bodies earlier and discovered a special kind of radiation. I've preliminarily developed this 'Radiation Neutralizing Ointment,' which might inhibit the spread of this crystallization."

Hearing this, everyone caught a glimpse of a lifeline.

"However," Dr. Li changed the subject, pointing toward the direction of the 10th to 15th floors, "the most crucial raw material for making the neutralizing ointment—a mutated moss—only grows in the fire escape areas completely sealed off by these black crystals. Moreover, the older it is, the better the effect. Now it seems the fire escapes on the 10th to 15th floors are likely completely covered by these crystals!"

Mu Chen's gaze lingered on the black crystal statue rapidly mutated from a living human. On the wall, the bizarre crystals continued to erode and spread, and the air was filled with a sickeningly sweet, fishy odor.

"Dr. Li, is this what you call... radiation crystallization?" Chen Jiahe forced herself to stay calm, but the tremor in her voice was impossible to hide.

Dr. Li pushed up her glasses: "Yes. This black crystal has extremely high corrosiveness and assimilation capabilities. Once it touches skin, living tissue rapidly transforms into the same crystals. Right now, we can only rely on physical isolation for prevention, but if someone has already made contact..." She glanced sidelong at the statue, leaving the sentence unfinished.

"How confident are you in your neutralizing ointment?" Mu Chen asked Dr. Li, getting straight to the point.

Dr. Li took out the small bottle filled with dark green ointment: "Based on the black mist residue from Pan Guang's group and emergency analyses of the lobby's air samples, this is a preliminary mix. Theoretically, it can neutralize radiation and halt crystallization. But..."

"But what?" Xie Youyou crossed her arms, her voice tight.

"The ointment's most critical catalyst is a special mutated moss," Dr. Li pointed downstairs. "From my observations and pre-apocalypse data, this moss only grows in specific radiation zones, and the older, the better. When I was looking for things downstairs earlier, I probably saw it on the inner walls of the fire escapes between the 10th and 15th floors. At the time, I wasn't sure and didn't dare look closely. Now, those places are probably completely blanketed in black crystals."

"You mean you want us to go looking for moss in a hellhole like that?" One of Pan Guang's surrendered men had his voice crack, laced with a crying tone. "Isn't that walking to our deaths?!"

"Not going, and staying here to wait for death?" Mu Chen retorted, his tone icy.

The surrendered soldier instantly clamped his mouth shut, lowered his head, and shook even harder.

"Big Mouth, get ready to warm up." Mu Chen patted the giant hound's head.

Big Mouth let out a low growl and shook its head. The wounds from fighting the giant python had mostly healed thanks to the low-grade healing crystal core, and it bared its teeth.

"Chen Jiahe, Chen Si, Xie Youyou, the three of you grab your weapons and come with me." Mu Chen called out their names.

"Mu Chen, it's too dangerous!" Chen Si hurried forward. "We..."

"I know what I'm doing," Mu Chen interrupted. "Dr. Li, you lead the way. You three," he swept a glance over Pan Guang's surrenders, "you're coming too—carry supplies and keep watch. Anyone who tries any clever tricks will end up worse off than that statue."

None of the three surrenders dared to utter a single word of objection, trembling as they nodded repeatedly.

Just as the group was about to set off from the property lobby's main entrance toward the fire stairs, a sudden commotion arose at the door.

"Yo, it's lively in here! Holding a funeral?" A sharp, monkey-faced man's voice drifted in, reeking of cheap insolence.

Xiao Mu blocked the lobby entrance with six burly, thick-waisted thugs, all hefting steel pipes and machetes. Evidently, they had come down via the exterior stairs, completely missing the lobby's horrifying spectacle of the giant python and black crystals, and assumed Mu Chen and Pan Guang had engaged in a mutual slaughter, leaving both sides battered.

Xiao Mu swept his gaze around the hall, landing on Pan Guang—who was covered in blood and barely breathing on the floor—before turning back to Mu Chen's group, lingering for a few extra seconds on the three women as the corners of his mouth split into a grin.

"Brother Mu Chen, not bad at all. You took out that old bastard Pan Guang? Truly young and promising, I'm impressed!" Xiao Mu rubbed his hands together, stepping inside with a fake smile. "However, the good stuff in this property lobby and throughout this building used to belong to Pan Guang, but now... I'd say it's time for a new master."

Behind him, a bald, burly thug hoisted a steel pipe and stepped forward menacingly, barking, "Kid, if you know what's good for you, hand over the loot and those broads! Our Brother Xiao will show some mercy and give you a quick death!"

Mu Chen looked them up and down. "Are you guys genuinely fearless, or do you just not know how to spell death?"