Chapter 161 Mind Parasite
William lay on the rooftop with Candice and Michelle, scanning the area through a pair of binoculars.
"Aren't we supposed to lure the monsters? Why are we just sitting here?" Candice asked, squatting next to William and eyeing the horde of corpses below.
Michelle looked just as confused. William had gone through a lot to set this up, yet they had been idle for over ten minutes.
"I'm looking for someone," William replied calmly.
"Who?" Michelle asked.
William didn't answer. Even if he explained, they wouldn't get it. He was searching for a "hypothesis" he had confirmed before.
To control a horde of corpses and mutated animals to attack a city at this point, only one thing could do it, and it would definitely likely take on a human form.
In his previous life, people called this thing a Mind Parasite.
Mind Parasites weren't very strong on their own. They were fast, small, good at hiding and ambushing, and could change color to blend in perfectly. In other ways, they were as fragile as ordinary humans who hadn't evolved.
But if you weren't careful, you could easily fall prey to their attacks.
Once a Mind Parasite hit a human, it could enter the body from any part, travel through the blood vessels to the brain, and rapidly grow and mutate inside.
This parasite didn't kill immediately but caused the person to lose self-awareness, becoming a living puppet.
Humans controlled by Mind Parasites weren't especially talented. Aside from having good stamina and strong recovery capabilities, their greatest asset was their control over Magic Crystal creatures.
Any mutated creature with a Magic Crystal would be influenced by humans controlled by Mind Parasites.
The stronger the Mind Parasite, the higher the evolutionary level of the Magic Crystal creatures it could control, and the more of them it could control.
Of course, this level of control and the number of creatures controlled weren't simply additive. It was a complex relationship. For instance, Mind Parasites of the same level controlled roughly the same number of creatures with Magic Crystal but it varied by individual.
Even equally strong Mind Parasites controlled different numbers based on the strength of the Magic Crystal creatures. The stronger the Magic Crystal creature, the fewer it could control, and vice versa.
In the early days of the apocalypse, whether zombies, mutated plants and animals, or monsters, they were all in the initial stages of frenzied evolution.
Aside from humans, they would also see each other as stepping stones for evolution. A situation like now, where they didn't attack each other, was impossible.
Perhaps as the apocalypse deepened and higher-level evolved creatures appear, their intelligence would increase, and they might cooperate for mutual benefits, but that was for the future, not now.
However, the situation outside Hope Base was precisely this impossible scenario. William had guessed that a Mind Parasite might have appeared, controlling and directing this Hope Base siege.
During the Ruins Defense Battle, he had seen a vague figure from afar. Now, he was looking for that figure.
However, after searching for so long, he found nothing. He knew Mind Parasites were very cunning and had no idea where it was hiding.
After thinking for a moment, he suddenly took out the Edge of the Moon and cut a wound on his arm, causing blood to flow out.
"Are you nuts?" Michelle gasped, reaching to bandage William, but he stopped her.
"If I can't find it, I'll make it come to me," William said calmly.
Candice and Michelle exchanged puzzled glances, not understanding William's plan.
"We don't have much fresh meat. Making noise won't attract all the corpses from this side of the base. If we only draw some of them, it might be safe, but inefficient. Once it gets dark, our combat power will drop, while mutated creatures won't be affected. Instead of that, I'll let it come to me," William explained patiently.
"It? Who's 'it'?" Candice asked, still confused.
"The thing controlling these guys," William said, nodding towards the horde and extending his arm to the edge of the rooftop, letting the blood drip down.
A Mind Parasite wouldn't attack the base without a reason. It must have a purpose. For these parasites, whose minds were filled with thoughts of feeding and evolving, something in Hope Base must be attracting it.
Maybe others didn't know, but William realized that the target of this parasite was likely himself.
Because he was the highest-level evolved person in Hope Base, if it wanted to evolve, he was the most suitable host.
Mind Parasites evolved differently from other Magic Crystal creatures. Each time they evolved, after accumulating enough energy, they needed to switch to a stronger host. The host's strength directly affected their ability to evolve.
Every Mind Parasite started very weak, controlling ordinary people first. After evolving in their brains, they would seek one-star, two-star, three-star Evolving persons...
Theoretically, they could control up to nine-star Evolving persons.
In the ten years of his previous life, the highest level of Evolving person controlled by a Mind Parasite was of an eight-star. No nine-star Evolving person had been affected.
But even so, the Mind Parasite occupying the body of an eight-star Evolving person was one of the most terrifying existences in the apocalypse.
The number and quality of corpses and mutated creatures it controlled made every survivor tremble. Wherever it and its army went, even nine-star Evolving persons had to avoid it!
Someone once said that if there were more Mind Parasites, humans, zombies, mutated creatures, and monsters would all be trash, and the world would have long been dominated by Mind Parasites.
This showed how terrifying these things were.
Now, William was almost certain that in a time when two-star Evolving persons were still very rare, this Mind Parasite's target was himself!
Mind Parasites had a characteristic: they were less active at night, so they generally didn't act at night. This was why the siege stopped after sunset yesterday.
William was even more certain of the Mind Parasite's presence from this evidence. Now that it was daytime, it was active. So he came closer, cut his arm, and let the blood flow. With its keen sense of smell, it would definitely detect it.
Without the barrier of high walls, William believed the Mind Parasite wouldn't pass up such an opportunity.
He was right.
A minute after he let the blood drip, the horde of corpses and many mutated creatures outside the base seemed to receive an order and began moving towards him!
Candice and Michelle were so astonished by this miraculous scene that they were speechless.
"Let's go. They will follow!" William ordered.
With that, he took a deep look at the dark mass of monsters and turned to leave.
