Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat!-Chapter 203: Broodmother

The spirit was translucent and blurry, but Ethan could still make out who it was.

It was Jade Taylor—the very woman who had driven him to buy out the gym and fire her in a fit of anger.

No matter how hard he tried to wrap his head around it, he never imagined he'd see her again like this, two months later.

She was no longer human. She was a spirit.

Which meant she was dead.

How had she died?

"If she's destroyed, those four in the hospital are done for too." Ryan muttered from behind Ethan.

Everyone turned to him, puzzled. He continued, "I miscalculated. She wasn't raising the Ghost Parasites. She was the parasite. Someone turned her into a Broodmother.

If the person who turned her is killed, the parasites become wild. Over time, they'll fade away on their own. The infected can be cured if treated in time. But if the Broodmother is killed, the parasites go berserk. They'll devour each other until only one remains, becoming the new Broodmother or king.

During this process, the four in the hospital will be eaten alive, their flesh and even their souls consumed by the parasites."

After Ryan finished speaking, he fell silent again. Ethan's mind, however, was in turmoil.

Jade had fallen into the enemy's hands. Regardless of how she died, she was someone he had known, and now the lives of his four roommates were tied to her fate.

Why did she hate him so much? Was it just because he had fired her?

If he wanted to find out the truth and save his friends, the only way was to rescue Jade first.

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

But how? That was the problem.

Earlier, Ethan thought he had the upper hand. He had taken down one enemy and captured another—their illusionist, no less.

When they arrived, they had been caught in an illusion. It was supposed to be just past two in the afternoon, but in reality, it was already past five, and the sky had darkened. Yet, in the illusion, time had barely moved.

Now, with Jade's spirit appearing, Ethan's advantage was slipping away. He was hesitant to act, fearing the consequences.

The fox girl in his hand, having been held loosely for a while, suddenly stirred awake. She thrashed violently, shouting, "Let me go! Let me go! I'll kill you!"

Ethan glanced at her, then lifted her up, addressing the older woman: "How about a trade? You hand her over to me, and I'll let your fox go."

The older woman struck a pose she clearly thought was seductive and let out a cackling laugh. "Not a chance! Bringing back a parasite controller means more reward for me, and with two fewer people to split it with, I should be thanking you, sweetheart…"

Her words left Ethan stunned.

He scanned the faces of the others, but none of them showed any reaction. Not even the fox girl in his hand seemed shocked by what the woman had said.

What was going on? Ethan's eyes turned cold. Is this what the Ninth Division is like? he thought. They don't care about their own teammates' lives?

In fact, their expressions suggested this was normal to them. What kind of people were they, claiming to protect others while being so heartless?

If this was what the Ninth Division was really like, then maybe it wasn't worth staying.

The woman had just mentioned Bringing the parasite controller back!

This meant they weren't planning to destroy Jade's spirit right away.

Once Ethan figured this out, he didn't hesitate any longer.

With the agility of his Panther Form, he moved like a blur, almost teleporting across the space.

At the same time, he hurled the fox-girl in his hand like a cannonball toward the man in slippers.

The four enemies were caught off guard by Ethan's sudden attack. Even Victor and the others hadn't expected it.

The opposing group was no pushover, though. The older woman flicked her whip, sending Jade's spirit flying to the side.

The man in slippers kicked the fox-girl mid-air, sending her crashing to the ground with a sickening crunch of bones.

This time, Ethan was fighting in the real world, and he noticed something astonishing—his speed was far beyond what it had been back in Ravenwood.

It felt as though his gear from Ethereal wasn't just boosting his in-game stats. It was enhancing his real-world abilities too.

The increase in speed was like the difference between wielding Twilight War Spear in the game and fighting without it.

This realization sent a surge of exhilaration through him.

Someone once said, "In combat, speed is everything."

With a subtle shift of his body, Ethan dodged the older woman's whip and closed the distance in an instant.

He swung his hand, aiming for a slap.

Ethan wasn't sure when he'd developed a fondness for slapping people, but he found it incredibly effective. It was fast, accurate, and oddly satisfying.

Maybe it was because he'd spent so much time playing as a Feral Druid in the game, constantly swiping with claw attacks. Or maybe it was just the sheer joy of delivering a good, solid slap.

Either way, it felt damn good.

But when his hand connected with the woman's face, a puff of white smoke erupted, accompanied by a sharp, acrid scent.

Ethan recoiled, leaping back several steps and covering his nose. What the hell? Poison? he thought.

A moment later, he noticed something strange. The woman's face looked… lopsided.

Normally, the side that got slapped would swell up, but with her, it was the opposite. The side he hadn't hit was raised, while the slapped side remained flat.

Upon closer inspection, he realized he'd just wiped off half her makeup—foundation, blush, and whatever else she'd caked on.

No wonder his hand felt greasy.

Ethan looked down at his palm, now coated in a thick layer of white powder. He clapped his hands together, sending clouds of the stuff into the air.

It reminded him of gymnasts dusting their hands with chalk before gripping the parallel bars.

"Ahhh!" The woman let out a piercing scream, clutching her slapped cheek.

She pointed her whip at Ethan, trembling with rage. "You bastard! I haven't taken my makeup off in over a decade, and you dare… you dare… slap me! Today, I'm going to drain you dry! What are you all staring at? Kill them!"

As she shrieked, her whip suddenly burst into black flames—cold, soul-chilling flames that seemed to freeze the very air around them.

At the same time, everyone on her side sprang into action. Victor and Williams charged forward, intercepting the two people who had emerged from the diner earlier.

Leeroy hesitated for a moment, then transformed. His ears, nose, and claws elongated, taking on the appearance of a massive wolf. He moved swiftly, blocking the man in slippers.

Ethan, meanwhile, lunged at the older woman. In an instant, the battlefield had shifted into a series of one-on-one duels.