Shu Tang has disappeared.
Her presence vanished from the mermaid’s lair, from the entire restricted zone.
A tall, dark figure slowly traversed the ruins of the entire restricted area, searching every corner.
But the old, dilapidated ruins were empty.
In the reflection of the shattered glass, the mermaid met its own pitch-black eyes, like a strange monster in the darkness.
After a long time, the mermaid slowly turned its head, looking towards the caution line outside the forbidden area.
Droplets of water trailed on the ground, spreading into the deep, dark abyss.
—He had to find her.
…
The entire restricted area was awakened by alarms, but before Chen Sheng could hurriedly assign evacuation tasks, his footsteps suddenly stopped.
He saw, not far away, the numbers on the digital screen rapidly dropping to zero.
There was only one possibility: the monitored subject was no longer within the monitoring range.
“What’s going on, check the surveillance!”
Everyone realized something was amiss.
However, even with constant switching of camera positions and numerous small screens, they could not find the mermaid in the restricted area.
The monitoring room fell into dead silence, a chill running down everyone’s spine.
Chen Sheng’s face turned pale: “How did he get out?”
Someone trembled: “The elevator.”
In the surveillance, there was a clear puddle of water in front of the elevator, spreading outward.
There were no other exits in the restricted area, yet, the mermaid had learned to use the elevator.
Compared to humans, his current “self,” whether in thinking or behavior, was more akin to that of a monster.
However, now, the “monster” has demonstrated a remarkable learning ability!
It must be noted that the elevator is hidden in a very concealed underground location, operates in a highly complex manner, and involves intricate passwords. The elevator had only been activated once, and it was even less likely that anyone had told “him” the password—how did “he” learn it?
Confusion, fear.
But one thing is certain—
In the darkness, the cornered monster learned to open its cage.
The noise in the control room vanished, as quiet as a grave.
Chen Sheng took a deep breath:
“Notify Director Qiu, quickly.”
“Have him coordinate the evacuation, evacuate everyone who can be evacuated!”
He could no longer afford to worry about other matters.
Yet, contrary to wishes—
The next second, the lights flickered, and the entire Zone 01 was plunged into darkness.
The signal was also instantly cut off.
In the control room, the air became unusually stagnant.
Director Qiu had once hypothesized, after No. 001 woke up, that No. 001’s mental power had transformed into a strong magnetic field, thus enabling it to cut off signals and eliminate electromagnetic interference.
However, this mutation had surpassed human understanding.
This is also why, initially, some therapists in Zone 01 insisted that “he” was no longer considered human.
At this moment, someone spoke tremblingly:
“But previously, his mental power magnetic field did not have such a wide range of influence.”
Cutting off the signal was only limited within the forbidden zone.
“Is he… still evolving?”
A deathly silence.
Now, this monster that surpassed human understanding was set free—
And no one knew what he intended to do.
In the middle of the night, rain began to fall again, and a tall, dark figure walked in the rainy night, his long hair dripping with water.
Around him, electric wires popped and sizzled as they shorted out, and signals disappeared without reason, as if a strange magnetic field was expanding around “him.”
Eventually, the last bit of light in the sanatorium fizzled out.
After an unknown amount of time, “he” finally stopped.
The tall, dark figure slowly turned his head, looking toward a building obscured by the rain curtain.
“He” smelled a familiar pheromone.
In the dormitory building’s surveillance, a tall, dark figure appeared, and then, with a snap, the screen went dark and even the faintest hum of electricity vanished.
The brightly lit sanatorium seemed to instantly transform from a human-made edifice to a dark, primordial jungle.
In the darkness, a large predatory monster moved slowly.
The dormitory was eerily quiet, with only the sound of footsteps and a “drip, drip.”
An alpha, yawning, was heading downstairs but turned around and bumped into the tall, dark figure under the dim light of the stairwell.
Confronted with those eerie and pitch-black eyes, he felt an instant terror as if being stared at by a massive and terrifying presence, which froze him in place.
Fortunately, “he” showed no interest in others, only slowly shifting his dark gaze away, leaving a trail of water marks behind him.
The mermaid who had awakened three months ago had never stepped beyond the forbidden area.
Everything outside the forbidden area was extremely foreign to the mermaid, and he did not understand what this place was, but “he” followed the scent and found her in this completely unknown world.
At that moment, Shu Tang was sleeping deeply, breathing evenly, completely unaware of the danger approaching.
The pale blue fins behind the mermaid’s ears fluttered open, his pitch-black eyes fixed on her as he slowly approached her.
Angered displeasure and intense loss made “him” emit a very angry, dangerous hiss as he approached her.
Normally, mermaid would not hesitate to tear apart anyone who angered them, but Shu Tang was unlike any creature the sea lord had ever encountered; she was light as a piece of seaweed, soft as a bird’s down.
Her departure had enraged the sea lord—
The mermaid hunted for her, brought her back to his nest, and her departure infuriated “him” to the extreme.
Along with a deep sense of loss and bewilderment.
This emotion reached its peak when he could not find her in the empty forbidden area after a long search.
“He” now looks terrifying, with pitch-black pupils and ear fins flared from anger. Even when he hisses at her, his expression appears somewhat fierce.
But after hissing at her for a while, “he” simply maintained that posture and did not immediately kill Shu Tang.
Even the mermaid, who had just awoken, couldn’t control his own strength well, and dared not touch such fragile creatures.
The mermaid angrily hissed at her for a while.
But perhaps, after seeing too many screaming and frightened humans today, “he” finally realized the answer:
—It was because of the same fear of him that she chose to run away.
For the first time in the pitch-black hollow of the mermaid’s eyes surged a strong sense of desolation, mixed with anger and loss. Having been awake for three months, this was the first time “he” exhibited very clear and strong emotions.
“He” wanted to continue hissing at her, wanted to immediately snatch her away, but “he” gradually calmed down, his beautiful face returning to expressionless, and his ear fins slowly returned to normal, finally not looking so scary.
The mermaid did not wake her, but slowly retreated and leaned against her little bed.
The tall dark shadow melancholically hid in the dark, his legs transformed into a fishtail, quietly curled up beside her.
The space was barely enough for Shu Tang, and extremely cramped for the tall mermaid. His fishtail could not stretch out fully, and it curled somewhat pitifully at the edge of her bed.
It was uncomfortable, but the place was filled with her pleasant scent, even the air and the carpet were infused with it.
The mermaid’s hollow black eyes stared at her from afar, no longer approaching, just listening to her even breathing, and closed his eyes.
…
When the sky began to lighten slightly, the mermaid opened his eyes.
The intelligent mermaid had a strong learning ability; “he” had slowly realized that in the “humans'” eyes, he is a large predator. When “he” approaches, they stiffen, fear, and want to run away.
Therefore, the mermaid would leave before she woke up.
In the darkness, the mermaid, who had spent the entire night in a cramped corner, quietly stared at her for a long time, then slowly stood up and walked toward the nest within the restricted area.
Before leaving, he left behind a fish.
However, “he” had already remembered her “nest.” And after a whole night, the range of the mermaid’s mental force field had expanded, the area “he” could perceive had grown—
Enough to include her “nest” within it.
…
In the morning, Shu Tang was awoken by the scent of fish. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw a tuna on the table.
Shu Tang was very surprised: “Yin Yin, did you buy fish?”
The tuna was as long as Shu Tang’s arm and looked very appetizing.
Su Yin rubbed her eyes groggily as she woke up. She hadn’t slept well the night before, having heard some noises in a semi-dream state. Confused, she said, “No, my spirit is a wolf; I don’t even like fish!”
It seemed more likely that if one of them had bought the fish, it would have been Shu Tang.
Su Yin reached for the communicator and habitually turned it on to browse the forum.
That woke her up completely.
—The forum at the sanatorium was buzzing with posts about last night’s mysterious blackout.
Last night, the sanatorium had a sudden, extensive power outage, which was very strange.
But that alone wouldn’t have made this post get hundreds of replies by six in the morning—
Because the real mystery came after.
It was said that the dormitory door was bizarrely destroyed, someone named A noticed something was off, went to check the surveillance, and found it had also failed;
It was said that an alpha woke up early and was found fainted in the stairwell by a roommate;
It was said that someone heard eerie dripping sounds in the night.
…
Su Yin read with great interest, and was just about to call Shu Tang when she suddenly froze.
She stiffly lowered her head and saw an inexplicably long trail of water on the dormitory floor, extending out of the room.
Instantly, Su Yin remembered the mysteriously appearing tuna from that morning and the faint noises from last night. Connecting these to the post, she broke out in a cold sweat.
Su Yin was extremely agitated, screaming as she urged Shu Tang to quickly check the forum.
Shu Tang pulled out her communicator and skimmed through it: “Oh my god, this is terrifying.”
Su Yin turned her head in shock: “Why did you grill the fish?”
Yes, Shu Tang had already set up a portable stove and started cooking the fish.
Su Yin panicked: “Little Tang, aren’t you scared?”
She lowered her voice, her face a bit pale.
Shu Tang looked around and whispered, “Scared, yes. Do you want to eat half?”
Su Yin: “…”
Despite her fear, Su Yin weakly replied: “Let’s eat, eat it.”
……
A fish falls from the sky, how could a cat resist eating it!
Shu Tang had only one thing to say about today’s dormitory ghost stories:
Amen, thankful for the blessing from above!