{Note : For several chapter The Vampire name will be called Dan as this is a disguise for it to use}
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Inside the Fenix-class Light Cruiser
After the surviving crew manage to rest from the previous attack, the Light Cruiser slowly ascends through the planet's atmosphere, swiftly escaping its gravitational pull as it heads toward the Iron Corpse Team's main ship.
While Rando pilots the ship, the cockpit door slides open, and the battered Captain and Lag enter. The Captain takes the co-pilot seat as Lag leans against the wall.
Rando : Damn, Cap. I hardly ever see you this wiped out, even on dangerous missions.
Captain : You see those countless scarlet spikes? It was like a crimson tidal wave crashing down, trying to swallow us whole.
Lag : And to make things worse, nearly all of us got injured—some critically.
Rando : You're lucky I showed up when I did.
Captain : Yeah. By the way, Lag, do you have any idea what that thing was? It was strange. I don't know any living creature that grows that fast and in such huge numbers.
Lag : No clue, Cap. Nothing in the databases I know of. Maybe it's a racial skill?
Captain : Racial skill? Possibly. But what race? I don't know any that have such devastating abilities—devouring blood, rapid growth, and spikes sharp and durable enough to withstand multiple rounds of ammo.
Rando : Not to be rude, but the moment I arrived, I recorded the battle and sent it to the main ship. Their database shows nothing close to what we faced—no race, living being, or cursed object.
Rando : The closest match they found is something called Blood Vine.
Lag: Blood Vine? What's that?
Captain : It's a plant that grows quickly when exposed to enough blood. Used as emergency medical aid on some backward planets, since it can hold broken bones together fast. But Blood Vine doesn't have sharp tips, and it only grows so much before withering in days. It's a temporary fix, not a permanent solution.
Lag : We should include this in our report to the federation.
Captain : Definitely. By the way, how many did we lose today?
Lag : For starters, Dan's in critical condition. Two of his team members are dead. Jansson's team lost one too, and Reed's team lost one member completely and another is critical, just like Dan.
Captain : Damn... Four men lost, and two critical. I hope the federation's reward is worth it.
The Fenix-class Light Cruiser swiftly heads for the main ship. Once docked, the medical crew rushes aboard and swiftly takes the injured to the medical bay, urgently treating Dan and the other critically wounded crew member.
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Inside Medical Bay
Dan and the other injured man lie inside tube-like machines, surrounded by laser scanners analyzing their bodies. The doctor wears a grim expression.
Captain: What's wrong, Doc? Why the serious look?
Doctor: It's... hard to explain... well—
Reed suddenly grabs the doctor's collar, shaking him tremblingly.
Reed: Don't tell me, Doc—they can't be saved! (yelling frantically)
Lag: (smacks Reed's head) Let the doctor speak, idiot.
Reed calms down reluctantly, releasing the collar but barely holding back tears—Dan is his best friend, and bad news in this room only means one thing.
Doctor: Alright, let me continue... These two might survive, but what worries me is this—
The doctor turns the monitor toward the crew, showing X-rays of Dan and the other man. Their blood flow is dangerously slow, with dark patches spreading through muscles—clear signs of serious tissue damage. The scarlet spikes have effectively shut down their lifeblood, pushing their bodies to the edge.
Reed: Can't you just pump them full of blood again?
Doctor: It's not that simple.
Reed: What's so hard about injecting their blood and letting them recover?
Doctor: Normally, we would do exactly that—inject He4L nanobots to clear blood clots, administer pain relief, and help repair damaged tissue. But that's not working this time.
Reed: Why not?
Captain: Is there another problem, Doc?
Doctor: Yes, Cap. The issue is this—
He points to the wounds where Dan and the other man were stabbed, where small remnants remain.
Doctor: I don't know what you fought out there, but it was a costly victory. Whatever it was, it left something behind—like a parasite. Fortunately, I think it's dead. It's spread like branches throughout their bodies but isn't actively sucking them dry. Look here.
The doctor shows images of their blood flow, revealing the remnants branching like a life-draining curse. The growth is constant but slow, more like a passive presence than an aggressive one.
Captain: Can you remove it?
Doctor: I've never seen anything like this before. To remove it, I'd have to open their entire bodies and carefully extract it. This thing feeds on their blood and can spread rapidly, so the surgery would take hours.
Captain: Do it.
The doctor begins surgery on the other patient, but halfway through, the remnants suddenly activate fiercely. Branches sprout rapidly, puncturing internal organs from the inside out. The growth stops only when all the blood is drained, leaving a mummified corpse. The spikes wither and decompose into dust, which the ship's ventilation quickly clears.
Everyone is stunned by the speed and unpredictability of the reaction. What they don't know is that the dust wasn't cleared by the ship ventilation but siphoned by Dan himself. The doctor or nurse accidentally dropped a drop of blood near the remnant, which then Dan triggering the rapid growth to make it like the Blood was the Trigger.
The crew and medical staff are shocked but slowly regain composure.
Reed: Doc, what did you do? Why did the parasite spring back to life? Didn't you say it was dead?
Doctor: It was inactive when scanned... but yes, I believe it was the blood.
Captain: What do you mean?
Doctor: During the operation, we kept blood flowing to avoid pushing the patients closer to death. But that caused some blood to spill on the remnants. The pieces removed had some blood on them, but the ones left inside this time were reactivated... it's strange, very strange.
Reed: Enough! Can you save Dan or not?
Doctor: I can try. But if blood keeps flowing, the remnants will reactivate. Block the blood, and the patient risks severe damage—including muscle death and more.
Captain: Do what you have to, Doc. Save him any way you can.
Doctor: Okay. Let's hope this works.
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Word Count = 1100
Thx for reading Chapter 5 and have join reading and waiting for this thx for all those who read this
once again thx for all see you in chapter 6