14 Monster (14)

The fortress had a limited power supply; at the designated hour, all lights would be extinguished. When the last flicker faded, the room was plunged into darkness. The sky above held neither stars nor moon, and after lights out, it was so black one could not see a hand before their face.

Xue Ning lay flat on her back. In the corner, a shadow loomed so large it could not be ignored. Amid the thick, murky darkness, that figure was the most distinct presence.

The reason was simple: damp, cold air swirled about him, occasionally punctuated by the sound of a tail striking the floor and the gurgle of viscous fluid.

It was destined to be a sleepless night.

The subject from Room 01 was right beside her—no chains, no iron bars, no security intervention—only the fragile, ordinary Xue Ning.

Her mind churned with thoughts, yet it felt as though nothing concrete stayed. She endured until the second half of the night; perhaps because the corner remained silent, sleep washed over her like a tide, her eyelids heavy, the day’s events blurred as if in a dream.

The subject from Room 01... had he truly escaped?

Was he really at her side?

—How could that be?

A voice argued back.

If the subject from Room 01 still retained human consciousness, would the institute have kept him confined? He had once been a prominent researcher; surely they would have brought him into the lab to continue his work.

The institute possessed advanced equipment, yet even they could not ascertain the subject’s condition. That meant he was still a dangerous being.

If he truly appeared at her side, how could she rest peacefully in bed?

She would have been gutted long ago...

With these muddled worries crowding her mind, Xue Ning drifted into sleep.

Her own pre-bed reasoning proved so effective that, when she opened her eyes and met a pair of crimson eyes, she thought she was still dreaming.

She squeezed her eyes shut, opened them again, and saw a man curled up in the corner.

She remembered now—this was no stranger, but the subject from Room 01.

Light slanting in through the window spilled across the man’s body, bathing his skin in shimmering specks. Xue Ning knew those were his scales. He watched her unwaveringly, his crimson gaze chilling and cold. As their eyes met, the corners of his lips slowly tilted upward, forming a slightly twisted smile.

Freshly awakened, Xue Ning nearly broke into a cold sweat.

The subject from Room 01 spoke: "Good morning."

Xue Ning stared at him, noticing the stiffness in his face, as though he could not quite control his facial muscles. His smile grew slowly, as if he were acclimating to the movements, his muscles occasionally twitching uncontrollably.

...No wonder his smile appeared so uncanny.

Xue Ning replied, "Good morning."

She pondered how to get him to leave. One night had been more than enough; another day and she feared she would break down. After all, spending time with a subject who could kill at any moment was a true test of nerve.

Other concerns aside, the first priority was to fill the subject’s stomach, lest he turn on her.

"We have no food left at home. I need to go out."

Xue Ning left. Though she had anticipated this, seeing the subject from Room 01 trailing behind her sparked disappointment.

She quickly adjusted, heading toward the daily management office.

From the corner of her eye, she stole a glance at the man by her side, noting that he seemed to have retained some memory; when leaving her home, he had somehow acquired clean clothes, wrapping himself tightly, with the brim of his cap pulled low, his features hidden save for nose and lips.

His clothes were baggy, concealing his tail, though a careful observer might just glimpse its outline—but no one paid attention to such things.

...He looked rather like a normal person.

Xue Ning withdrew her gaze and reached the daily management office, not seeing a single colleague along the way.

She sighed quietly and entered.

The daily management office distributed necessities to fortress residents. Those with jobs received food according to their work type; the unemployed were given relief meals at set times and in set quantities.

Today was relief meal day. Xue Ning would usually avoid collecting food on this day.

There were many people; she queued at the back, Chen Song following behind.

Staff in the front handed out food; behind them stood storerooms lined with shelves, stocked with various supplies and foodstuffs. Though greed shone in some eyes, no one dared snatch—such behavior violated fortress rules and would be punished, and armed security stood nearby.

Xue Ning straightened her back, trying to ignore the gaze glued to her, moving swiftly as those in front advanced, even hopping slightly to widen the gap between herself and the subject from Room 01.

They were separated by several arm-lengths.

Chen Song did not close the distance, but the gaze on Xue Ning’s back grew icy and terrifying, like a blade intent on peeling her flesh from bone.

Cold sweat broke out under the scrutiny. Suddenly, a strange sensation crawled across her leg. She suspected it was the subject’s tail, but he would never expose himself in public—she lowered her head, uncertain.

Instantly, she froze.

A dried-up man clung to her calf, his face upturned, lips twisted into a grotesque smile that pulled at his wrinkled face.

He mumbled incoherently, "...Help me, I’m in pain...it hurts...hurts, my bones are cracked...my organs are ruptured, I’m suffering...hungry, so hungry, please, give me something to eat...just a little..."

His eyes were bloodshot, the entire eyeball ballooning like an overinflated sphere.

Xue Ning barely caught his words, only his deranged repetition of "hungry." Had he fainted from starvation?

She considered herself mild-tempered, willing to help when it didn’t threaten her interests or safety—but the man’s sudden grip on her leg felt like a violation, and his ugly face, those red eyes, looked like a highly contagious disease.

"Let go," she said coldly.

Suddenly, pain shot through her leg.

Her elbow came down hard, aimed at the man’s head.

"Crack—"

She missed, but a sharp sound rang out.

Startled, she looked down and was stunned.

Amid screams, her vision blurred by fear, she saw the man clinging to her leg was now only half a body; his hands still gripped her, but blood spurted from his neck like a fountain.

As the blood splattered, a foot swung over, kicking the corpse away.

Xue Ning’s gaze shifted to the man wrapped head to toe, his face obscured. He withdrew his foot, lips pressed tight, a fierce hostility radiating from him. Blood dripped from his fingertips, pooling beneath a severed head, its last expression frozen in shock.

More screams echoed. Suddenly, the space around Xue Ning emptied, her face pale as she stared helplessly at Chen Song.

He stared back, his shadowed brow dark with violent intent.

His chest felt gripped by a massive, icy hand; every breath was a struggle, air slicing his organs like blades. He could not bear to be touched. When he saw the man holding Xue Ning’s leg, rage surged in waves, wanting to crush his bones, chop off his hands—but he restrained himself...

He struggled to suppress it.

Yet when he heard Xue Ning’s angry voice, it was like a beast emboldened by its master, snapping the intruder’s neck without hesitation.

—He could not touch her; nor could anyone else.

Not allowed.

Not allowed.

Not allowed.

A domineering, twisted voice thundered in his mind.

Chen Song lifted his brow, gaze chilling, staring at Xue Ning. She trembled slightly, her eyes wide with fear. He sensed her stiffness, her body rigid as wood, only her eyes moving, but the emotion within confused him.

...Was she afraid?

—She had always feared you.

Was it because...of what he’d just done?

Chen Song frowned, "You’re afraid of me."

Xue Ning: "..."

Wasn’t that obvious?

He asked, "You don’t want me..." He searched his mind for the right words, then continued, "to kill?"

The shrill cries nearby grew sharper; Xue Ning instinctively turned to survey her surroundings.

Something was off. Chen Song’s actions had violated fortress rules—he had made a scene in the management office—yet security did nothing.

This was abnormal.

Soon, she understood why.

At first, the screams were triggered by Chen Song’s actions; but soon chaos reigned. Outside the management office, people yelled, some biting those knocked to the ground, victims gasping for breath after being bitten in vital spots...

"Bang, bang, bang—" Security fired shots to maintain order, but it was impossible to distinguish the normal from the violent. They could only fire when a crisis erupted.

The scene was chaotic, awash with blood.

A manager shouted, "Infected people have mixed in! Don’t panic—they’re infected by the Slaughterers and show strange symptoms. Stay away from anyone acting abnormally, gather behind me, don’t panic! If you’re all in chaos, we can’t tell who’s infected! Hurry, get behind me!"

Xue Ning kicked one aside, telling a crouched girl, "Get behind the manager, quickly!" Her elbow came down hard, like a stone slamming into a stomach; the infected person with bursting eyes grunted.

Her arm followed through, bracing the infected’s jaw, lifting upward—there was a heavy thud, and the infected fell silent.

She faced subjects far more formidable than the infected; dealing with them was no trouble.

Since the infected had infiltrated, the man who had grabbed her leg was certainly infected. She owed the subject from Room 01 her thanks.

Looking around, she did not see him; she no longer worried about his safety—his abilities far surpassed hers, these infected were nothing to him.

Xue Ning focused on dealing with the infected.

"Help...help!" someone cried, falling to the ground, a chunk of flesh torn from their shoulder.

After finishing off another infected, Xue Ning saw the man’s shoulder wound spreading with dark veins. She said calmly, "You’re injured. If your vaccine didn’t take effect, inject the inhibitor quickly, or when time’s up..."

The man shouted, "Don’t talk nonsense, I wasn’t bitten, it’s just a scrape!"

Xue Ning ignored him. After dispatching another infected, the scraped man was already lying on the ground, gasping.

She was about to act when—"Bang!"—security cursed, "Last bullet! Damn these infected, why are there so many!"

The infected themselves weren’t terrifying; what was terrifying was their rate of transmission.

The X Research Base had developed an infection-blocking vaccine; medical staff administered it as soon as survivors arrived at the fortress.

But the Slaughterer’s virus was highly contagious, destructive, and latent. The vaccine required three or more injections to be effective, depending on individual tolerance.

The guard cursed as infected flooded in, "What’s wrong with the hospital? Why are today’s relief meal recipients so easily infected? The vaccine’s useless, huh? Damn! Call for backup..."

Today was relief meal day; besides the usual unemployed, many recent survivors queued up. They should have been quarantined until fully vaccinated, but somehow the hospital had let most of them come.

Now, the entrance was packed wall-to-wall with infected.

Just then, Xue Ning spotted Chen Song a few steps away.

He wore black clothes, now sticky as if soaked in water; at his feet pooled thick blood. Xue Ning knew his abilities; she was about to look away when she suddenly froze.

He...

Xue Ning frowned, unable to believe what she saw.

Chen Song was surrounded by infected; their claws tore through his clothes, stabbing at his chest. When blocked by scales, they growled, scratching again, scales falling and blood oozing. Chen Song dodged but did not retaliate.

His hood fell back, and when he saw Xue Ning’s gaze, he looked at her, his eyes fierce, then suddenly shifting to aggrieved, like a bullied cub pleading for help.

Xue Ning’s eyes widened.

This...

At that moment, Chen Song collapsed. The infected bit into his shoulder, another moved toward his neck, saliva dripping onto his clothes.

...Is he insane?!

Xue Ning rushed over, kicking the infected away.

"Why aren’t you fighting back?"

Her breath was ragged, her gaze puzzled as she stared at the subject from Room 01, unable to understand his intent.

Chen Song lay in a pool of blood, Xue Ning’s shadow cast over him. He looked up at her, his eyes deep crimson, as if hiding a thousand words. Blood dripped, mixing with the mucus secreted beneath his scales, pooling beneath him like a watery puddle.

The corners of his lips twitched, his voice slow, "No killing."

Don’t be afraid of me.