Aruba

The origin of the name Syndicate also traced back to six months ago, when a research scholar named Snow Crow Ming inadvertently resonated with the consciousness of the Eight-Spider Hive Mother and defected from the Chi family.

Since then, they had discovered more and more people appearing who resonated with the Eight-Spider Hive Mother. Whether they were decadent street punks, resolute frontline soldiers, research scholars, or even powerful nobles in the upper echelons of the family, they all developed a near-obsessive worship of the Eight-Spider Hive Mother after the resonance. It was fortunate if they were madmen who lost self-control, as they were discovered and dealt with immediately.

However, some individuals with high endurance learned to disguise themselves, staying at their posts as usual, no different from their daily routines; no one could see anything abnormal about them. These people acted in the shadows, constantly stealing secret intelligence from Red Heaven, which led to the consecutive defeats of the armies of the four Tower Cities on the front lines and the fall of countless fortresses and outposts.

These people united and called themselves the Syndicate. These Syndicate members had long since unknowingly infiltrated every level of human society, like time bombs ready to detonate at any moment.

For so many years, the Zerg had been trying to infiltrate human society but had never succeeded before. Amoebas could not completely detach from swarm life, and those close to the original hosts could easily see through their disguises.

Presumably, that hive mother had changed her method. Rather than letting her subordinates infiltrate human society, it was better to directly resonate with a human's consciousness, influencing and subtly changing their memes. Like picking agents, she directly planted pins outside the city, waiting until the time was right to make these agents move.

Unlike amoebas, the person chosen to be a Syndicate member was still that same person, only with a different way of thinking. Their past manner of speaking and habits would be preserved, as would their scent. Humans were not a race that lived by pheromones, but for those close to them, smelling a familiar scent would always cause them to subconsciously lower their guard.

The terrifying thing about the Syndicate was that there were currently no means to detect them, and the Main House still lacked a sufficiently effective solution.

No one knew if the people close to them today were actually Syndicate members.

"That guy named Heisenberg told me he planned to launch a new type of moon sugar, targeting the youth demographic. The product name for that moon sugar is 'Family Values,' using the cinnabar drool component as bait to entice people to try it."

"He hoped I could add a small amount of inducer into the cinnabar drool. Just like those soldiers, long-term consumption of this inducer would turn them into those monsters, but short-term use would only make people feel fatigued."

"He hoped to spread the inducer to junkies through this method, and after those scum experienced this moon sugar, they would spontaneously pass the inducer to even more people, like a plague of locusts crossing the land!"

Mountain Crow's gaze darkened.

One must understand that for those sugarheads addicted to moon sugar, both moon sugar and cinnabar drool were indispensable parts of life.

Spreading it this way would neither kill the source of infection in the short term nor prevent the wide-scale transmission of the inducer, and it would ensure they continued long-term consumption.

Worst of all, young people loved novelty and excitement most and were easily led into the abyss. The moment Family Values exploded among the youth demographic, an unprecedented disaster would erupt in Red Heaven.

"Damn it!" Mountain Crow couldn't help but curse. "Don't let me find him, or I'll definitely Aruba that bastard to death!"

"We must confirm whether these moon sugars are already circulating on the market," Snow Crow Ji spoke up.

"I only tested them on these soldiers; I haven't handed the finished product to him yet..." Dr. Klef said timidly.

Cloud Magpie pondered for a moment, then looked sharply at Dr. Klef, who was sprawled on the ground. "So, you clearly weren't chosen by the Hive Mother's will. Why did you help that Syndicate member?"

These words seemed to sting Dr. Klef's heart, and the man stood up with extreme agitation. "Just because I wasn't chosen, does it mean I can't follow from the bottom of my heart?"

"What do you people even understand? That is such a great and perfect creature. I bet any research scholar would go mad upon uncovering its mysterious veil!"

"It's just... it's just that it hasn't seen me yet. This isn't a problem with my talent, and it's certainly not that my faith isn't pure enough. As long as I keep following, I will surely be noticed."

"Shut up, your noise makes my ears ache." Mountain Crow dug at his ear. "We've finished asking what needs to be asked. Two minutes are up. Come on, give me a hand."

Being lifted up, Dr. Klef was filled with terror. "What else are you going to do? I've already told you everything! You can't do this!"

Cloud Magpie gave a faint, insincere smile. "We never said we wouldn't Aruba you after you confessed."

"For any unpardonable traitor like you, we uphold the principle of Aruba-ing them to death." The frost in Snow Crow Ji's eyes faded, revealing a sweet smile.

"You are three family heads! How can you do something so undignified!" Dr. Klef roared. "This is so childish, stupid, and unreasonable! If outsiders knew, what would they think of you!!"

"You don't need to worry about that. We never leave survivors in these matters. Qing, lift his right leg a bit higher. So, no outsiders will ever know." Mountain Crow waved his hand.

At this moment, Dr. Klef felt deep fear. He finally knew how the nickname 'Cerberus' given to this trio among the common folk had come about.

"Heave-ho!"

"You can't do this... Argh!"

"Move it a bit to the left, it seems like we hit it crooked."

"You bunch of savage mad dogs... Argh!"

"Have you two even eaten? Why can he still talk?"

"You two savage monkeys with degenerated brains, you shameless bitches who know no eti— Arghhh!!"

"How about we freeze him? It seems we haven't tried that yet?"

"I beg you, please don't do this, I will forever be loyal to the Main House..."

The man's shrill screams echoed beneath the sky.

"It's a deal then, the old rule: the last hit goes to me!"

Snow Crow Ji stepped forward with a light pace and delivered a powerful kick as if shooting a goal. Dr. Klef fell completely silent.

"Whew, job's done. Doing this periodically makes my mood much better." Snow Crow Ji patted her hands. "I feel like I've become quite a bit younger."

"What a pity, I feel like I used less than twenty percent of my strength," Cloud Magpie said.

"So it turns out I was the only one putting in effort?" Mountain Crow panted.

The three of them looked at each other and burst into laughter, leaning on each other's shoulders and laughing so hard their chests touched their backs, until a weak voice interrupted them.

"Um," Xiao Liu raised his hand weakly. "Can I leave now?"

"Oh right, I forgot there's a living person here."

"Should we silence him?"

"As expected, we still need to block the news. It's too shameful to let others know about this kind of thing."

Seeing the three of them approaching, Xiao Liu squeezed out a hideous smile through his snot. "Eh??"