Steam Old Days: The Extraordinary Begins with a Corpse Collector

It was a huge worm.

Its size is about the same as that of a medium-sized dog.

Its abdomen is very plump, and its carapace is shiny, as if it is covered with a layer of slippery oil.

Its entire body has a sickly purplish-red color.

Lyndon didn't know what kind of monster it was. Its head looked like a combination of a beetle and a fly, with a pair of narrow, small, murky gray-white compound eyes.

It has two pairs of sharp mouthparts, with a long, thin spike protruding from its mouth.

The spikes swung up and down at a strange speed, hissing like a snake flicking its tongue.

Seeing this, Lyndon pressed his back against the wall, gripped the saw with both hands, and assumed a defensive stance.

The strange insect's six barbed limbs trod on the floor, its claws scrambling across the ground.

But the strange insect did not attack Lyndon. It didn't even look at Lyndon. Instead, it lowered its head and let the purplish-red spike swing wildly in the air.

It licked the corpse with its spikes, then licked the floor, as if searching for something.

"It can't see?"

Lyndon quickly realized this.

Since that's the case, Lyndon didn't want to fight the monster in this hut.

He tried to move to the right, to get to the door, and leave the hut.

Linden held his breath and slowed his movements.

At first, everything went smoothly; the strange insects merely lingered around the corpse and did not find any trace of Lyndon.

However, just as Lyndon was only two meters away from the wooden door, the worm's spikes suddenly shot up, locking onto Lyndon's position.

Its massive body suddenly unleashed a speed completely disproportionate to its size.

The strange insect exerted force with all six legs, and even its short wings flapped a few times in the air.

It was like a purple lightning bolt, instantly darting to the bottom of the door frame and blocking the doorway.

At the same time, the strange insect also shot out a pool of green liquid from its spikes.

Lyndon couldn't dodge in time, and a puddle of green slime hit him precisely on the right leg.

Just as he was trying to distance himself from the strange insect, he suddenly discovered that his right foot was firmly stuck to the floor and he could not move.

"This slime is even more potent than super glue!"

Lyndon gritted his teeth and strained with all his might.

No matter how hard he tried, his right foot remained motionless, as if the sole of his foot had taken root and grown onto the floor.

"Damn it! Move!"

Lyndon cursed inwardly, and when he heard the hissing sound coming from beside him, he felt a chill run down his spine.

The worm's spikes swayed in the air, eventually pointing back at Lyndon.

After confirming its target, the strange insect adjusted its plump body, opened its mouthparts completely, and let out a series of roars.

A foul stench filled the air!

With a sudden burst of energy from its six segmented limbs, the monstrous insect leaped into the air once more, its entire body hurtling towards Lyndon, who was trapped in place, like a meteor hammer!

In a life-or-death situation, Lyndon's body once again unleashed its potential.

He gripped his trouser legs with both hands, slammed his left foot into the ground, and pulled with all his might in one direction!

"Sizzle!"

A crisp sound.

Lyndon's trouser leg was ripped open, and even his leather shoe was left behind.

Using the force, Lyndon rolled to the left like a ball, and the back of his head accidentally hit the wall, but compared to losing his life, this little pain was nothing.

The strange insect missed again, and its head bumped into the same wall it had started with.

thump!

With a dull thud, the strange insect crashed onto the corpse, causing a lot of dust to fall from the roof.

The strange insect missed its target three times in a row and got a little angry.

It spread its short wings behind it, and the wings flapped, making a buzzing sound.

The strange insects began to attack their surroundings indiscriminately.

The sharp spikes sliced ​​through the air, and even Lyndon clung to the wall, not daring to take another step forward.

He was still holding the dining saw in his hand.

Lyndon already knew that the strange insect was actually blind, and it relied entirely on its long, pointed spines to probe its surroundings, probably in a similar way to a snake's forked tongue.

"As long as we can remove that spike, this guy is no threat."

As Lyndon was thinking, he noticed a half-empty bucket of paint in the corner.

In an instant, a plan took shape in Lyndon's mind.

While the monster was still angry, he bent down, picked up the oil bucket, and splashed most of the paint onto the enraged monster.

Whoosh—!

The sticky paint was instantly poured all over the strange insect's head and body!

The strong, pungent smell of paint instantly filled the entire small house!

"hiss!!!"

The strange insect bounced around in the hut, emitting an unprecedentedly sharp hiss from its mouthparts!

Paint covered its already tiny compound eyes, and worse, paint dripped down its long, thin spikes.

At this moment, the strange insect smelled nothing but paint; there was no other scent to be detected.

It was like a cat or dog that had been soaked in the rain, frantically shaking its body and head, trying to get rid of the paint on itself.

However, this method only makes the paint cover a larger area and flow more evenly, and it has no other effect.

The pungent smell of paint completely destroyed the strange insect's sense of smell.

It can no longer discern directions or lock onto its prey.

It became completely blind and deaf, only able to helplessly vent its anger in place.

"A great opportunity!"

A cold glint flashed in Lyndon's eyes.

The saying goes, "Take advantage of someone's illness to kill them."

Beat up the drowning dog!

Lyndon grabbed the saw and charged forward.

He grabbed the strange insect's flying spikes with one hand and sliced ​​it off completely with a single cut.

puff!

Foul-smelling blood gushed from the wound.

But Lyndon's actions did not stop there.

He flipped over and straddled the strange insect, using his weight to suppress it.

Lyndon pressed its head down firmly with his hand, then aimed at the middle of the shell seam and stabbed the saw into it.

The blade sank deep into the gaps in the strange insect's carapace.

Blood splattered out!

It splashed onto Lyndon's chest, face, and eyes.

At this moment, the world in Lyndon's eyes was filled with crimson.

Lyndon pressed down hard on the knife handle and used his knee to hold down the struggling body of the strange insect.

He gripped the knife handle and cut downwards with all his might, like the most skilled slaughterhouse worker butchering a disobedient fat pig.

"hiss!!!"

The strange insect let out a final, mournful howl.

Its body was completely severed by Lyndon, splitting it in two.

Finally, the purplish-red monster collapsed in the hut.

The paint and insect blood mixed together, emitting a nauseating smell.

Linden, panting heavily, loosened his grip on the knife handle, staggered back a step, and leaned against the wall of the hut.

He was in a terrible state, looking like a beggar on the street.

His right trouser leg was torn, and his socks were covered in paint, clearly unwearable.

Those brown pupils were fixed on the insect corpse on the ground.

My heart was filled with the lingering fear of surviving a disaster.

Suddenly, he noticed a green dot peeking out from the cut of the strange insect.

He crouched down and began to turn over the half-dead body of the strange insect.

Using a saw to cut open the strange insect's abdomen, Lyndon dug out a green, translucent sac about the size of a fist from among a pile of insect entrails.

[Inspect the corpse of the Soul-Eating Beetle; Corpse Collector Proficiency +5]

[Obtained the sac-like object of the Soul-Eating Beetle; Corpse Collector Proficiency +10]

"So this beast is called the Soul-Eating Beetle."

Lyndon squeezed the sac; it felt wonderful to the touch, cool and soft, like a balloon filled with glowing liquid.

There appeared to be some kind of liquid slowly flowing inside the capsule.

Lyndon's knowledge of Xenomorphs was very superficial; apart from some very common low-level Xenomorphs, he knew almost nothing about the others.

"It seems we still need to go back to Alastor; maybe we can get a good amount of money from him."

Linden weighed the pouch in his hand, pondering to himself.

Then he wondered where the strange insect came from.

Is it from the new urban area? Did it come from some remote corner?

As Lyndon thought about it, he slapped his thigh with the back of the knife.

Suddenly, an idea popped into my head.

He looked up sharply, his gaze piercing through the walls of the small house, looking down at the second floor of the Phoenix mansion.

Mr. Wendell's body is kept there!

"Wendel!"

Lyndon's heart sank.

He hid the bag, then, barefoot and clutching the saw, stumbled out of the hut and ran wildly toward the main house.

The servants in the mansion avoided Lyndon when they saw his blood-soaked, demon-like appearance.

Even Emily and her daughter, who had come out of their room to take a look after hearing the noise, were so frightened by Lyndon's terrifying appearance that they gasped in shock.

Ignoring their gazes, Lyndon rushed upstairs in three strides, heading straight for the door where Wendell's body was kept.

He snatched the candle from a maid and then pushed open the door!

The tiny candle flame seemed so insignificant in the dark room.

Lyndon lit the candlestick on the cabinet again before he could see Wendell's current appearance.

He was still lying in bed, but the blanket covering him had been pulled off.

His chest was no longer intact as before; instead, a huge hole had been torn open!

The surrounding skin and flesh were rolled up, showing signs of being cut and torn.

Black blood flowed onto the expensive silk pajamas and sheets.

Lyndon used a saw to completely cut open the chest.

The scene inside sent chills down Lyndon's spine.

All of Mr. Wendell's organs had vanished without a trace.

Including his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys...

Instead, there were countless, layered orange-yellow insect eggs!

Each of these insect eggs was the size of a pigeon egg, like caviar on a plate, filling Wendell's empty body.

It shimmered with an eerie luster in the dim light.

Lyndon burped twice as stomach acid churned up, irritating his esophagus.

"vomit!"

Lyndon slammed his fist against the wall of the room, regret and anger gripping him in an instant.

"I was so stupid!"

As a corpse collector, one's vigilance towards corpses should be ingrained to the bone.

When he first saw Mr. Wendell's body that morning, he noticed something unusual about it, and he should have taken some action then.

But because of his fear of nightmares, he did not do that and instead chose to leave the body there.

This is what gave the so-called Soul-Eating Beetle an opportunity to take advantage.

I almost lost my life because of my own stupidity.

"These insect eggs must be disposed of immediately!"

Lyndon's eyes hardened.

He ran to the stairwell and yelled at the still-shaken people downstairs, "Go find a big basin! The biggest one, a laundry basin or a bathtub will do! Put it in the yard outside, and get a few buckets of kerosene! Quickly! Now! Right now!"

The servants were terrified by his ferocious appearance and commands. Without hesitation, they scattered and ran off to find what he wanted.

Emily lifted her skirt, wanting to go upstairs to check on the situation, but was stopped by Lyndon.

"Miss Emily, you'd better not come over." Lyndon's face was grave, his eyes dark. "The scene inside is not something you can accept."

Upon hearing this, Emily stopped in her tracks, looked up at Lyndon who was leaning against the railing, and silently retreated downstairs.

"Miss Emily..."

Lyndon spoke again.

"Could you find me a bag? A big one."

……

Soon, Emily and the servants had prepared everything Lyndon wanted.

Alone in the room, Lyndon carefully used a knife to cut off the worm eggs attached to the flesh and blood, then stuffed them into a bag.

During this process, the corpse collector's skill level also increases continuously.

Finally, Lyndon cleaned all the worm eggs out of Wendell's body.

Lyndon, carrying a bag full of insect eggs, looked at Wendell's empty chest and suddenly leaned down, whispering, "I know you're still in there. I'm waiting for you to come to me..."

After saying that, Lyndon left the room.

in the courtyard.

A huge iron basin was carried to the open space in front of the door.

Emily directed several male servants to pour kerosene into the basin.

Seeing Lyndon walking over with the bag, Emily ran up to him and whispered, "Everything's ready."

"Um."

Lyndon personally tossed the bag into the iron basin, and a few drops of kerosene splashed out.

The viscous kerosene quickly soaked into the entire bag.

Of everyone present, except Lyndon, no one knew what was in the bag.

"Fire!" Lyndon stretched out his hand, his voice icy.

A servant trembled as he handed over a match.

Lyndon took the matches, staring coldly at the bag in the basin, his eyes devoid of any emotion.

He took a deep breath, slid the match, and threw it into the basin!

boom!

The kerosene was ignited, and flames shot up instantly!

The flames greedily licked the kerosene, bursting forth with blazing light and billowing black smoke!

A burnt smell quickly spread.

The burning bag was crackling and popping.

The firelight illuminated Lyndon's blood-stained face, making him appear exceptionally cold and stern.

Linden looked at the raging flames in the basin, feeling no relief whatsoever.

His thoughts drifted back to the scene with Alastor in the bar.

Alastor told him.

Each time Nightmare kills, it resides in the victim's body for a period of time before seeking its next target.

Those possessed by the nightmare have at least four days to live, during which time the nightmare will not leave the victim's body.

So his plan was to have Lyndon deliberately get attacked by the Nightmare, so he could take the Nightmare away and then find a mental potion to deal with it.

That's why Lyndon decided to stay.

This step is risky, but the profits are equally valuable.

Lyndon remembered a sentence from his past life.

If there's a 10% profit, people will be eager to make money; if there's a 100% profit, people will dare to trample on all the rules; if there's a 300% profit, people will dare to take any risk.

He was indeed a gambler in some things, Lyndon admitted.

But he had no choice but to gamble!

The flames were still burning, but Lyndon's gaze had already transcended the firelight, becoming firm and sharp.

He no longer hesitated.

Ring ring... Ring ring...

A clear and rhythmic carriage bell rang out, approaching from afar and reaching everyone's ears.

A carriage came to a smooth stop outside the gates of the Phoenix mansion.

Lyndon's expression froze, and his heart sank.

"How could it be so fast..."

He slowly turned his head and looked in the direction of the wrought iron gate.

People from the church have arrived.