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| Descend from the Stars (STARS) |
Three votes in favor, two against.
Du Ruo, Wen Shu, and Lin Banxia voted in favor, while Bai Xuanming and Xu Rongchuan opposed.
An expected outcome. Wen Shu and Lin Banxia were often on field assignments, operating on the frontlines of mysterious incidents, making them more accepting of high-risk gambles. As for Bai Xuanming—in a sense, he was Pangu, and Pangu was him. As the final human defense line for the entire project, he hadn’t left the facility even once in five years, naturally leaning toward conservatism.
The remaining two votes were crucial—one belonged to Tang Sumu, the other to Chen Lian, who was still away on an external assignment.
Chen Lian couldn’t be reached for the time being, so Du Ruo contacted Tang Sumu first. Team Leader Tang was still inside the Containment Unit, "communicating" with the little creature. After hearing Du Ruo’s explanation, he deliberately left the unit and took half an hour to cast his vote.
Tang Sumu voted in favor.
Four to two—the outcome was clear.
Xu Rongchuan’s expression darkened. Rationally, he understood today’s voting results, but his instincts told him something had been overlooked.
Though he had terrible luck, his intuition had never failed him. Trusting it was a key reason he’d survived this long.
What exactly was wrong?
Du Ruo remained at the front of the meeting room. "I’ll report the voting results to the highest level. As for its management, I have some preliminary thoughts: it will be classified as S+, but granted limited freedom of movement—on the condition that it signs a contract with the underground agreement and wears a Restriction Collar. If it shows any abnormal activity, we can immediately mobilize our strongest forces to destroy it."
"And if we can’t destroy it?" Xu Rongchuan asked.
Lin Banxia chuckled beside him. "If even that can’t kill it, then what difference does keeping or discarding it make?"
This argument even convinced Bai Xuanming, who had initially opposed. He nodded solemnly. "Agreed. I’ll cooperate."
With that, the meeting concluded. Only Xu Rongchuan remained steadfast in his opposition—though clearly, his dissent was overruled...
............
Inside the Containment Unit.
A… Devotee, carrying the familiar scent of a juvenile. Beside it sat… a human, ordinary and fragile, just like Mother. They’re afraid of me… Why?
Humans are so interesting… They can even play films inside dark, inorganic structures. They showed me Animal World.
So Mother threw me into hot water to "hatch" me… Mother is so kind… But I’d rather Mother buried me beneath his belly—the most vulnerable part of a human, and surely the warmest place…
They observe me, and I observe them. Humans are so interesting +1. So fragile… they could be crushed at any moment, yet they’ve created so many wondrous things and possess such rich emotions. Boring. I want to be human…
…I’ve seen everything here. Even more boring now. I miss Mother.
Why do they keep asking me questions? What answer do they want from me? Why are they so afraid of me? …I miss Mother.
The red-haired Devotee came again. His aura feels so familiar, but who does it belong to? I must know him, but I can't remember... I can't remember many things... They ask me questions, but I can't answer... Who am I? Where did I come from? What do I want to do? Why am I pretending to be human? Do I really want to eat people?... I don't know. I miss Mom. Mom would definitely know, right?
Today, a new group of humans came to question me. Humans are so interesting +2.
Mom said he would come to pick me up in a few days, but why hasn't he arrived yet? Is he lying to me?... Angry, bored. If I crush a fragile human, will he appear before me immediately?
The red-haired one says I can see Mom now!
Mom doesn’t seem to like me. He says if I don’t behave, he’ll destroy me...
……
……
"Vault No.: 2
Confidentiality Level: S+
Code: L-2-02
Usage Protocol: Limited utilization permitted only within the effective period of the Book of Contracts. If leaving Pangu, must additionally wear a Restriction Collar and be supervised by at least one or more team leader-level members.
Abilities: Level 5 (indicating regeneration speed), regenerative immortality. For specifics, refer to experimental records [L-2-02]-test01 and interview transcript [L-2-02]-Interview01 (subject: protagonist). Due to its unique nature and special safety protocols, further high-stimulus experiments regarding other abilities are currently suspended. Research will proceed only with low-stimulus experiments and observation.
Description: This is a humanoid creature hatched from an egg, possessing a complete Anomalous Object form. Upon full transformation into an Anomalous Object, mere eye contact can cause humans to bleed from their eyes and lose consciousness. It exhibits sentience, with an intelligence level of S. During experimental research, it demonstrated terrifying learning and mimicry abilities, mastering Chinese language skills in just three days through educational videos and can now express its opinions accurately in human language. As of the recording date, this Anomalous Object has shown no hostility toward humans. Additionally, it appears to harbor special feelings toward Sixth Division team leader Xu Rongchuan, speculated by researchers to be because Xu Rongchuan was the first living being it saw after hatching.
Special Note: Highly suspected to be one of the divine offspring mentioned in the ancient ruins' prophecy."
Xu Rongchuan closed the freshly compiled confidential file. After the Eye of Doom, Pangu had finally acquired its second S+-level Anomalous Object.
He raised his head and cast his gaze toward Pangu’s heavily guarded treasure at the bottom—the Book of Contracts.
Tang Sumu and Bai Xuanming stood on either side of a boy who appeared to be around thirteen years old. Over four days of investigation and research, it had likely encountered batches of researchers and learned from them how to act human. When Xu Rongchuan’s gaze fell upon it, it turned its head and smiled at him—just like a real human would.
Xu Rongchuan hated the face on its head, yet that smile made his heart skip a beat.
That smile seemed to bring Xu Wanghai back to life.
He averted his eyes and heard the little monster inside signing the contract under the supervision of the two team leaders.
The Book of Contracts is an Anomalous Object that emerged after the death of the former Pangu leader and ex-captain of the First Division. It possesses a certain degree of sentience. In life, the ex-captain's ability resembled that of a word spirit. After his death, his Anomalous Object condensed and amplified this ability, transforming it into a Book of Contracts capable of manifesting reality through spoken words. Rated as an S-class entity, its existence is bound to Pangu.
The Book of Contracts emitted a faint yellow glow, signifying that the contract had been sealed. Should it ever betray Pangu, the power of the contract would utterly annihilate it.
Tang Sumu and Bai Xuanming carried it toward Xu Rongchuan. Since the decision had been made to accept it into Pangu, they fully respected its autonomy, allowing it to choose which division it wished to join. Unsurprisingly, it selected the Sixth Division.
After months without new recruits, the Sixth Division finally welcomed its first peculiar newcomer.
Xu Rongchuan narrowed his eyes at the creature wearing his younger brother’s face. The matter had reached this point, and he would abide by Pangu’s decision, trusting the judgment of its higher-ups. He would strive to accept it as a normal new team member.
Perhaps it needed to be put in its place.
The thought had barely crossed his mind when the little creature widened its smile, opened its mouth, and enunciated clearly:
"Mom."
Tang Sumu, Bai Xuanming, Xu Rongchuan: "..."
"Pfft—" Tang Sumu was the first to burst into laughter. "Pangu now has a male mom... HAHAHAHA!"
Xu Rongchuan inhaled sharply while glaring at the little creature as he corrected through gritted teeth, "Call me Captain."
The creature looked puzzled, its speech fluent yet distinctly inhuman: "You hatched me. Why can’t I call you Mom?"
Tang Sumu laughed even harder, while even Bai Xuanming’s perpetually icy expression cracked. Xu Rongchuan’s ears turned red as he turned to Tang Sumu. "What exactly have you been showing it?"
Tang Sumu quickly distanced himself. "We only showed it proper documentaries. By the way, it needs a name—for its ID."
Xu Rongchuan blinked. "Me? You want me to name it?"
Tang Sumu nodded. "It requested you."
The little creature gazed at him expectantly, the same way Xu Wanghai used to when he wanted something expensive.
Xu Rongchuan had never named anyone before. Staring into those eyes, he momentarily faltered—but the words spilled out anyway: "Then let’s call it Xu Dan."
Tang Sumu: "...You can’t just name it ‘Egg’ because it’s oviparous."
"Dàn as in Yuándàn (New Year’s Day)," Xu Rongchuan clarified. "Symbolizing a hopeful dawn."
Tang Sumu wore an expression that screamed, "Keep spinning your tales." Meanwhile, the freshly christened Xu Dan readily accepted its new name, eyes gleaming as it smiled. "Thank you, Mom."
Xu Rongchuan ground his teeth. "Don’t call me Mom!"
"Then what should I call you?"
"Call me Captain Xu."
"Those words are hard to say," the little creature tilted its head slightly, its pupils shifting as it studied Xu Rongchuan’s facial muscles. Suddenly, it declared: "Gege (Older Brother)."
Xu Rongchuan fell silent.
Xu Dan immediately brightened, like a cunning child who’d uncovered a secret, and asserted confidently: "You like it when I call you Gege."
Captain Tang coughed and changed the subject, saying, "Xiao Bai and I have other matters to attend to. According to the management regulations, after signing the contract and properly wearing the restraint collar, he can leave Pangu with you, but must not go beyond the boundaries of S City. Contact Xiao Bai through the restraint collar if any special circumstances arise."
Xu Rongchuan nodded. Captain Tang and Bai Xuanming left, leaving only him and the little monster behind.
As long as he stayed by Xu Rongchuan's side, Xu Dan seemed perpetually happy. His burning gaze rested on him as he took his hand and proudly showed off his newest learned word: "Mommy, off work, go home."
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