"I’ll just have to forcibly absorb it."

A moment later, Tang Ming shook his head, took off his protective gloves, and gathered a ball of black energy in his hand, preparing to directly use his cultivation to devour the monster’s poison. This method was both the most direct and the most ruthless. Regardless of the monster’s survival, he decided to first absorb the poison into himself.

"Roar, roar, roar!"

Just as Tang Ming was about to make his move, the monster suddenly stopped and opened its mouth wide, letting out a series of roars.

"Huh? I haven’t even started yet!"

Tang Ming was startled and hurried to the front of the monster, suspiciously examining its "face."

He waved his hand twice in front of the monster’s eyes, which were covered by decaying flesh. Tang Ming was puzzled: "How can this thing still roar? It shouldn’t have any lethality."

As Tang Ming was observing, the monster’s previously dim eyes suddenly brightened, and then Tang Ming’s image appeared in its pupils.

"Whoa, I actually saw myself."

Tang Ming touched his face mask, curiously staring into the monster’s eyes.

"Roar!"

At that moment, the monster suddenly raised its arm and struck at Tang Ming’s chest.

"Bang!"

With a dull thud, Tang Ming, who had always thought the monster was harmless, was hit squarely, and his body flew out, landing heavily on the ground.

"Damn, what the hell just happened?"

Tang Ming clutched his chest and got up, horrified to see black smoke rising from where his protective suit had been attacked.

"That was close. Luckily, I had the protective suit. Otherwise, even if the poison didn’t kill me, that hit would have seriously injured me."

Tang Ming quickly removed his protective suit, cautiously watching the monster that had started emitting a dark black glow.

"Screech, screech!"

Seeing this, Little Red flew immediately above Tang Ming’s head, excitedly staring at the monster.

"I don’t need your help, I can handle it myself."

Responding decisively, Tang Ming waved his hand and summoned his Gang Qi, entering a combat state.

"Whoosh!"

The next moment, the glowing monster vanished from its spot.

"So fast!"

Tang Ming’s expression changed drastically, and he immediately used his movement technique to shift his position while the monster struck the spot he had just vacated.

"What’s going on? It still has such speed and strength in this state—it’s not logical."

After dodging the attack, Tang Ming concentrated his Gang Qi for a counter-attack against the monster, all the while closely observing its condition. He discovered that the virus on the monster had mutated, transforming from an initially docile state to one of ferocity, and...

When Tang Ming’s attack hit the monster, it caused no harm.

It was unclear if the opponent’s defensive power was formidable or if the poisonous state made it insensitive to pain, but it had no effect on the monster’s speed or strength.

Tang Ming inexplicably found himself in a battle with the monster, and although he had the absolute advantage, the monster seemed invincible, impervious to his attacks.

"How the hell do you fight something like this?"

Chased by the monster, Tang Ming dashed around the room. His attacks were ineffective, whereas the monster’s strikes posed a real danger. Even though taking a couple of hits didn’t affect Tang Ming much, the monster’s powerful attacks could cause discomfort, especially given their overwhelming force, posing a serious threat to Tang Ming.

"Screech, screech!"

Watching Tang Ming being chased by the monster, Little Red fluttered its wings wildly in the air.

"Hmph, if you’ve got the guts, go ahead."

Unable to deal with the monster, Tang Ming bleakly gestured for Little Red to step in.

"Screech, screech!"

Excited by this, Little Red screeched twice, instantly transforming into a red light that shot toward the monster’s head.

"Roar, roar, roar."

The monster halted its pursuit of Tang Ming, clutching its head and roaring wildly.

Little Red, now glowing with a dark red light, clung to the monster’s head, sinking its teeth in and refusing to let go. The monster’s black glow intensified several shades and started wriggling.

"Can it really do that?"

Tang Ming watched in disbelief at the scene unfolding before him.

The decaying flesh on the monster liquefied, merging into the black light, then gathering at the top of its head, ultimately entering Little Red’s mouth.

The monster collapsed to the ground, motionless, while Little Red greedily devoured the black light.

"Hey, leave some for me!"

Watching as Little Red absorbed all of the black light from the monster, Tang Ming was nearly in tears—his opportunity to break through, gone, just like that!

Soon after, the black light on the monster dimmed. Little Red perched on Tang Ming’s shoulder, belly up and content: "Screech..."

"You’re satisfied, but I’ve lost my breakthrough chance."

With a pained expression, Tang Ming picked up Little Red, feeling the urge to squeeze it to death, yet knowing he wasn’t Little Red’s match in a fight.

"Screech, screech."

Little Red opened its mouth, looking at the previous monster.

"What’s happened to it?"

Grinding his teeth, Tang Ming glanced at the ground, only to find the previous monster gone, replaced by a naked, grimy middle-aged man.

"Huh? How is it a person?"

Tang Ming rushed incredulously toward the man to diagnose him, "Organ functions failed, metabolic system failed, bone tissue failed... Damn, this should be a dead man already, how is he still alive?"

After examining him, Tang Ming was perplexed; this person had long been corroded by poison and should have died, yet now...

"Thank you, thank you."

The middle-aged man whispered a relieved thanks, then went still.

"Hey, that’s too fast, dying just like that. Tell me what on earth happened."

Tang Ming shook the man’s shoulders desperately, though his medical skills offered no hope.

"What on earth is going on?"

Tang Ming sat on the floor, troubled as he looked at the man’s corpse. How did a living person become such a monster? The poison should have been lethal, yet he survived so long in monster form—it’s completely illogical.

At this point, Tang Ming felt an unprecedented aversion to the medical competition; in its first layer, so many patients with mysterious illnesses were understandable, but now encountering a monster demonized by poison was simply unacceptable.

"What the hell are those people doing, and what kind of situation have we gotten ourselves into?"

Tang Ming’s face darkened as he looked at several destroyed cameras; everything was under surveillance—clearly, the medical competition had taken a nasty turn.

"Screech, screech."

Little Red was laid out on Tang Ming’s shoulder, blissfully unconcerned, having enjoyed a bountiful feast.