Reborn with Nothing but My Farm and Vengeance in the Apocalypse

Chapter 542: Chapter 542: Three-colored Parasitic Wasp

Grace Sutton’s mind was still reeling from the image of Howard Fletcher killing Zara Walsh. When someone suddenly grabbed her wrist, she jumped in terror.

Grace Sutton instinctively jerked her arm, violently shaking off the hand that had grabbed her.

She spun around to see a man and a woman standing before her.

The man looked to be about fifty. His hair was graying, his body was hunched, and his cheeks were sunken. His mouth and eyes were slightly crooked, perhaps due to some illness, and a bit of drool hung from the corner of his lips.

The woman beside him also appeared to be in her fifties. Her eyes were red and swollen like walnuts, narrowed to mere slits, as if she had been crying for a very long time. Her gaze was vacant, and it was unclear whether she was looking at Grace Sutton or into the empty space before her.

Seeing how filthy the pair was, Grace Sutton assumed they were refugees who had come to beg. "...I don’t have anything!" she said hurriedly. "...I don’t have any food or money in the house. You... you should go ask somewhere else!"

Grace Sutton felt a pang of guilt for lying and uncomfortably averted her gaze. But she had no other choice.

If she gave them food, they would very likely latch onto her and refuse to leave. Worse, they might call others over, and she’d have a whole group at her door trying to rob her. That would be a disaster.

But the man and woman showed no intention of leaving. The man opened his drooling mouth and mumbled, "...Daugh... daughter... looking for my... daughter..."

His speech was slurred, and Grace Sutton couldn’t understand him at all. Seeing his crooked mouth and eyes, she just assumed he was mentally unhinged.

Grace Sutton cautiously backed up two steps, slowly making her way to her front door. "...I really don’t have any food to give you," she told them. "If you keep going forward, you’ll reach the supply distribution point. They have mushrooms there."

As she spoke, she raised a hand and pointed in the direction of the supply point. Since the torrential rains began, the quantity of Desert Vines had plummeted. Thankfully, edible fungi like mushrooms and wood ear, which thrived in damp environments, had begun to proliferate wildly.

During this period, the disaster relief rations distributed at the supply point had changed from sand vine cakes to mushrooms and wood ear boiled in salt water. Everyone who had long grown sick of sand vine cakes cheered for the change in fare.

However, the man and woman in front of her didn’t seem to hear a word she said. The man, still drooling, slurred, "...Call... daughter... my own daughter... food box..."

He moved forward as he spoke, reaching for Grace Sutton’s hand.

As the man approached, a foul, sour stench washed over her—the smell of mildew from days of dampness without sun, mixed with the grime of an unwashed body. Overwhelmed by the odor, Grace Sutton stumbled back. She hastily covered her nose and fumbled with the door, desperate to get back inside.

Seeing Grace Sutton get inside the villa and try to shut the door, the man grew frantic. He lunged forward, wedging his body in the doorway to keep her from closing it.

He was still mumbling indistinctly. "...Let me... in... you bitch..."

Those two words, Grace Sutton understood perfectly.

Hearing the man trying to force his way into her home while calling her a bitch, her eyes flew wide with fury.

Any shred of sympathy she’d felt vanished instantly. Seeing the man trying to squeeze through the gap, Grace Sutton grabbed the garden hoe from behind the door, jabbed it hard into his stomach, and shoved him back outside!

The man staggered back from the force of the blow and collapsed on the ground. He seemed to have twisted his ankle. He rolled around, clutching his shin and crying out, "Ow... ow..."

The woman who had come with him, who had been standing silently in a daze, was jolted awake by the sight of the man collapsing and wailing. She snapped back to her senses, ran over, and threw herself on top of him. "Husband!" she cried out. "Are you all right?!"

The man didn’t answer her. He just pointed toward the villa and struggled to say, "...Get inside... find... the... food box..."

Hearing the man’s words, the woman staggered to her feet and lunged at Grace Sutton in the doorway. "Get out of the way!" she shrieked. "Let us in! ...We’re the ones who should be living here!"

Grace Sutton’s brow furrowed. As the woman lunged, she quickly blocked her with the hoe, jabbing it into her stomach. With another hard shove, she sent the woman tumbling to the ground as well.

"AH!" the woman cried, scrambling to get up. Grace Sutton didn’t hesitate. She raised the hoe high, threatening to bring it down on their heads.

Seeing this, the man and woman on the ground broke out in a cold sweat. They rolled around frantically, trying to dodge the blow. The woman was more agile; she scrambled to her feet and tried to snatch the hoe from Grace Sutton’s hands.

But Grace Sutton had eaten a hearty breakfast and was full of energy. The sallow, emaciated pair was no match for her.

In the ensuing struggle, she landed several solid blows on their backs and arms with the hoe. They howled in pain, scurrying back and forth to avoid her.

When Grace Sutton raised the hoe to strike again, the pair didn’t dare press their luck. They scrambled to help each other up and staggered away.

Watching them support each other as they fled, Grace Sutton lowered the hoe, panting. She put her hands on her hips and yelled after them, "If you dare come back and cause trouble again, I swear I’ll crack your skulls open!"

Certain the man and woman wouldn’t dare return, Grace Sutton finally closed the door and went back into the living room. There, Melody Summers was sitting on the sofa, her attention fixed on the television.

The television was broadcasting a news report about the "Tricolor Parasitoid Wasp."

As a new species that had appeared after the floods, humans knew very little about the Tricolor Parasitoid Wasp. It was only known that the recent rainwater contained its eggs, which fell into standing water, where they would hatch and multiply.

Because the Tricolor Parasitoid Wasp, much like the earlier Sandvine Worms, was not venomous and generally did not actively attack humans, scientists initially believed it posed no threat to people.

However, recent studies revealed that the Tricolor Parasitoid Wasp could, in fact, parasitize human hosts, release toxins, and control their bodies.

"...According to the latest findings, the eggs of the Tricolor Parasitoid Wasp can enter the human body through broken skin and become parasitic within..."

"...Once inside a human host, the eggs will hatch and release a type of dissolving enzyme, which liquefies and absorbs nearby human tissue..."

"...Once the larvae grow to about two centimeters, they release a toxin that controls the host’s cranial nerves, creating hallucinations and manipulating the body into performing a series of uncontrollable actions. These include, but are not limited to, self-harm, suicide, and attacking others..."

"...Based on currently observed cases, there is an extremely high probability of an infected host being manipulated into jumping into a river. Experts speculate that this is because the Tricolor Parasitoid Wasp reproduces in water, so it induces its host to enter a river to facilitate its life cycle..."

"...At present, a number of residents have already been driven by the parasite’s toxin to jump into rivers and drown. We urge the public to be vigilant. If you experience frequent and unexplained dizziness, tinnitus, or other similar symptoms, please seek medical attention immediately or contact your community’s emergency response office for help..."