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| Descend from the Stars (STARS) |
Huff... Huff... Huff...
Xu Rongchuan could hear his own ragged breathing, along with the indescribable squelching sound of flesh regenerating. First came the brain matter, then the medulla, skull, scalp, hair... In the blink of an eye, the monster several meters away had restored itself to its pre-shot appearance. This time, it even made improvements—mimicking Xu Rongchuan's features, its eyes now had the distinct black-and-white appearance of human eyes.
It wasn't quite accustomed to this overly fragile new body yet. Its pupils darted around its eye sockets at an eerie speed before finally settling on Xu Rongchuan. Then, with visible awkwardness, it attempted to curl its lips into a chilling smile.
At this point, it was indistinguishable from a human.
And from the Xu Wanghai in Xu Rongchuan's memories.
His hands trembled.
What exactly was this thing? What did it want? What should he do next?
Xu Rongchuan had faced countless life-and-death situations and killed too many mutated monsters and humans, but he had never felt this disoriented and terrified. Judging by the intensity of his psychic intuition, whatever stood before him far surpassed any S-rated Anomalous Object in Pangu—even exceeding the S+ Eye of Doom stored in Warehouse One.
His gun was once again aimed at its forehead. Sweat-slicked fingers tightened around the trigger. A soft click—no bullet fired. A jam.
Just another unlucky day.
Strangely, Xu Rongchuan calmed down. His gaze shifted to the phone on the ground. This wasn't a situation he could handle alone. He needed to alert Pangu as quickly as possible.
Then, he heard a strange noise.
The monster across from him opened its mouth, attempting to speak. Its human throat produced a sharp, grating sound that made Xu Rongchuan's temples throb. Gradually, the noise adjusted and coalesced into syllables recognizable to human ears: "...Ma... Mom... ma..."
A bold idea suddenly struck Xu Rongchuan. This monster seemed to possess intelligence.
Slowly, he lowered his gun and casually picked up his phone, pretending nonchalance. When the monster showed no signs of aggression in response to his movements, he took another step forward.
The monster watched him. A flash of crimson flickered in its pupils before it smiled again and clumsily stepping toward Xu Rongchuan until it stood right beside him.
Every muscle in Xu Rongchuan's body trembled as he fought to suppress his terror while standing rigidly in place while the creature opened its mouth to reveal pearly white teeth and a red tongue.
It leaned in, its icy tongue licking his cheek.
Xu Rongchuan's fingers twitched reflexively, but he allowed it to continue licking his cheek, hair, and ear. As it did, its body temperature began to change, matching his own 37 degrees Celsius.
Xu Rongchuan's voice was taut as a nearly snapped string: "Do you want to eat me?"
The licking stopped. The monster tilted its head slightly again, wearing his younger brother's face with an expression of confusion. Its pupils shifted, settling on Xu Rongchuan's lips as it imitated his speech with terrifying learning ability: "You... want... to... eat... me...?"
Goosebumps erupted across Xu Rongchuan's skin. He inhaled slowly, exhaled, forcing himself to remain calm. Then he said, "Come with me somewhere, okay?"
The monster's unblinking eyes locked onto him: "Some... where... you... with..."
It was actually starting to distinguish word meanings and grammar from just a few short sentences!
Xu Rongchuan tightened his grip on the phone, as if making some kind of resolution, while his other hand held the monster's hand.
Soft and warm, just like the always frail and sickly Xu Wanghai in his memories.
His mind wandered for half a second at an inopportune moment. The monster was still watching him, seemingly fond of this gesture, and revealed a row of white teeth again, gripping his hand tightly in return: "You... me... ma... ma..."
Xu Rongchuan heard the sound of his hand bones cracking, the pain sending cold sweat pouring down his back but he didn't dare let go, using their clasped hands to try and lead the monster outside. As soon as he took a step, the monster followed, matching his pace perfectly, step for step.
The two reached the door and exited smoothly before entering the elevator. Around eight o'clock was the peak time for post-dinner walks. Living on the top floor, the elevator stopped at many levels, with neighbors constantly getting on. Xu Rongchuan nervously hid the monster behind him, not noticing its pupils rapidly rotating 360 degrees, taking in every person and object in sight.
Third floor, someone entered with a large golden retriever.
The moment the dog stepped in, it tucked its tail between its legs and trembling against its owner. The owner, puzzled, patted its head and asked what was wrong.
A sharp pain in his hand made Xu Rongchuan turn around. The little monster was grinning eerily while staring at the golden retriever, lost in thought. During the standoff, the elevator stopped at the first floor. Everyone, including the dog, exited, leaving only him and the little monster inside as it continued down to the basement level.
Xu Rongchuan exhaled deeply in relief. To divert attention, he spoke up: "Golden one, is a dog."
"Dog..." The little monster stared at him.
"Ding," the elevator stopped.
Leading the monster felt like holding a ticking time bomb. Not daring to linger, Xu Rongchuan strode quickly to his car, opened the passenger door first, coaxed it to sit down, and even fastened its seatbelt to avoid drawing suspicion.
The monster's pupils began rotating again, scanning every detail of the machine before finally settling back on Xu Rongchuan's profile, its gaze burning, as if awaiting an explanation.
Xu Rongchuan felt unnerved by the stare. As he started the car, he explained, "Car."
"Car," it repeated, satisfied, and grasped Xu Rongchuan's already fractured right hand again.
Now driving with only one hand, Xu Rongchuan sped onto the highway after leaving the residential area while simultaneously managing to dial the emergency assistance center.
"Hello, Operator 0434 at your service," came a mechanical voice. Today, the center was manned by D-class Anomalous Object Mechanical Heart, number 0434. As usual, Xu Rongchuan's luck was abysmal.
Keeping an eye on the monster beside him while driving, his mind raced. Finally, he spoke: "Immediately contact Dr. Du, Captain Tang and Alice. Emergency status S+ or above. Requesting backup one kilometer outside Pangu's southeast gate in 20 minutes."
"Bzz... bzz..." 0434 emitted sluggish static and remaining silent for over ten seconds amidst Xu Rongchuan's pounding heartbeat. "Okay... received. Now relaying to, Dr. Du, Captain Tang and Alice."
The call ended.
Xu Rongchuan subtly adjusted the right-side rearview mirror, catching the little monster's reflection—its face adorned with a bright yet eerie smile and staring straight at him through the mirror.
He had never driven such a nerve-wracking car before.
The highway wasn’t crowded, and he sped up to 140, the high-performance engine roaring as he raced toward the outskirts.
Pangu was built on wasteland outside the city, and was normally over an hour’s drive during rush hour, but Xu Rongchuan pushed the speed limit all the way, managing to reach the reed fields near Pangu’s southeastern gate in just half an hour.
From a distance, he spotted a head of fiery red hair—it was Tang Sumu, the captain of Containment Unit One. About 50 meters behind Tang Sumu stood Du Ruo and Alice on higher ground, with Su Dongxia beside them, with a gun slung over her back.
Xu Rongchuan coaxed the monster beside him out of the car. The creature, which had been smiling all along, had somehow stopped grinning at some point. Its pitch-black eyes, stark against the white, faintly glowed with a bloody hue in the dim reed field, its pupils rotating as its gaze swept over Tang Sumu, Du Ruo, Alice, Su Dongxia, and the Superhumans hidden further away in the shadows.
Xu Rongchuan took the initiative to grab its hand, making his voice sound as gentle and friendly as possible: "Come with me quietly, okay? Don’t attack them. Don’t. Attack."
Whether it understood or not, the monster withdrew its gaze, focusing on their intertwined hands. Its mouth stretched into a grin again, and it resumed repeating those syllables: "Ma… ma… you… me… dog…"
In the distance, Alice, who still wore sunglasses even at night, suddenly spoke: "Intense malice… No, wait."
She frowned in confusion, hesitated for a few seconds, then carefully lowered her "sunglasses."
Beneath them lay a pair of golden eyes.
Her golden pupils contracted, but before she could even get a clear look at the thing beside Xu Rongchuan, they involuntarily squeezed shut. She quickly readjusted her sunglasses, her frown deepening as she shook her head. "No malice. That thing has no malice right now. But… it’s strange. Strong. I don’t dare look."
Tang Sumu heard these words through his earpiece and immediately strode toward Xu Rongchuan. The captain of Containment Unit One was the most unique Superhuman in all of Pangu—his power wasn’t acquired through sacrifice but was innate. Xu Rongchuan had once heard Du Ruo refer to him as God-Touched.
Tang Sumu’s primary ability was luck.
Luck shouldn’t have been considered an ability, but Xu Rongchuan had personally witnessed Tang Sumu in battle—enemies tripping over themselves to their deaths, choking on their own spit while cursing, dropping dead from sudden heart attacks, or being struck by lightning out of nowhere…
Luck to this degree had long surpassed the meaning of the word itself, existing in a realm that the perpetually unlucky Xu Rongchuan couldn’t comprehend.
In front of the reed field, Tang Sumu locked eyes with the little monster. The air grew heavy, and cold sweat trickled down Xu Rongchuan’s back. He had no idea what kind of unseen exchange or contest was happening between them, but then Tang Sumu smiled and cheerfully greeted the creature: "Seems like today’s another lucky day~ Welcome to Pangu."
The monster smiled back, its eerie movements vanishing without a trace. With Xu Wanghai’s face, it now looked like an utterly ordinary high school student—just as it had once pretended to be an utterly ordinary egg.
Captain Tang turned to Xu Rongchuan. "It’s harmless for now. I’ll take it to the Containment Unit for examination."
Harmless?
How could it possibly be harmless?!
Xu Rongchuan glanced at the monster beside him. It stared back, and in the dim light, he could clearly see the bloody glow in its eyes.
His heart stirred slightly. Whether it had malicious intent or not, the Containment Unit in Captain Tang's hands was their only option.
Still holding hands, Xu Rongchuan led it all the way into Pangu. The first unit was located deep underground in Pangu, and all personnel had already been evacuated, leaving only them with an unknown monster. When the elevator stopped, Xu Rongchuan looked at the Containment Unit right before him and spoke: "Stay here quietly for a few days. I’ll come back for you."
"If you agree, nod your head—like this." Xu Rongchuan nodded. "If you refuse, shake your head. But if you shake your head, I won’t come back for you."
The monster stopped smiling and stared at him. After a long pause, it slowly nodded.
Xu Rongchuan carefully let go of its hand. The monster didn’t move.
Tang Sumu stepped into the Containment Unit and snapped his fingers. The monster, which should have been standing in the elevator, suddenly teleported inside the unit. It was still watching Xu Rongchuan until the heavy doors of the Containment Unit descended, cutting off their line of sight.
Xu Rongchuan abruptly relaxed, his legs going weak. He had to brace himself against the wall.
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