C105.2 —- [4.18—- The Shelter][End]

Xi Han couldn’t help but kiss Jiu Shu’s cheek before setting his eyes on the travel magazine in his hand.

 

 

“No comment, but next time, why don’t we get a bigger house? It’ll be more comfortable.”

 

And more convenient for hiding bodies.

 

 

This house had become a bit cramped.

 

 

Next time, it would be better to get a bigger garden.

 

 

Although Xi Han was born an orphan, because of his outstanding scientific talent, the patent fees that had been accrued one after another over the years had accumulated to an astronomical amount.

 

 

He felt that he had to give Jiu Shu the best life and the biggest house to be able to do so.

 

 

At the same time, he also had to work harder to earn money; he couldn’t just sit on his laurels.

 

 

Jiu Shu looked through the recommendations of places to visit in the magazine, and his eyes stopped at a new city that was currently under construction.

 

 

The name was Xindu.

 

 

In the original plot, this was the new city in the second film where humans and monsters coexisted, claiming that it would lead to the advent of a new era.

 

 

Allowing humans and monsters to better co-exist together.

 

 

He didn’t realize construction had begun so early.

 

 

It looked like the group of executives from the Monster Protection Organization couldn’t wait.

 

 

Swallowing the marshmallow in his mouth, Jiu Shu’s fingertips gently rubbed the edge of his bright red lips.

 

 

 

In fact, although the original plot didn’t explicitly say so, from the hints between the lines, it could be seen that the Monster Protection Organization’s executives were by no means simple ordinary people.

 

It was very likely that they were monsters disguised as humans from the Monster Camp.

 

 

Probably due to the fact that 001 was becoming more and more active under the stimulation of human experiments, the monsters were evolving faster and faster.
 

They had long since evolved into human forms, enough to pass off as a true human.

 

 

These human forms, which evolved from monsters, were rarely captured by the human military because they were good at camouflage.

 

 

They had also learned about human hypocrisy and schemes.

 

 

They aggravated various class conflicts in society as a way to disrupt the social order, taking the opportunity to make a living out of it.

 

 

It was a very clever ploy, and it did work in the original plot.

 

 

Under the leadership of Duan An, the protagonist who was fooled and crippled, the whole world began to sympathize with those man-eating monsters, sympathizing with them being transformed into monsters by human experi-ments.

 

 

They sympathized more with them being framed by irrational lunatics like Xi Han, which made humans biased against monsters due to a series of monster k-illing incidents.

 

 

The monsters were thus ostracized by the human world and suffered a lot.

 

 

No one cared about Xi Han’s death.

 

 

However, it wasn’t difficult to imagine that Xi Han, as the main consciousness of 001, would inevitably affect 001’s understanding of humanity after returning to it after death.

 

 

It was disappointed in the human race.

 

 

However, since in the original plot, 001 still hated monsters, it was only after Duan An’s death that countless humans with the same amber eyes appeared.

 

 

Their hearts would only be filled with the same disgust for monsters as Xi Han.

 

 

So in the ending not written in the original, there might have still been a wa-r between humans and monsters.

 

 

Only this time, without 001’s favoritism, the monsters might be wiped out.

 

 

Humans, however, were unlikely to be able to return to normal life in just a few decades, as they had done before, in one piece.

 

 

“My hair is done; come here; it’s my turn to blow-dry your hair.”

 

 

Jiu Shu touched his dry hair; his pretty almond-shaped eyes curved as he smiled and looked at Xi Han behind him.

 

 

With some reluctance, Xi Han loosened the strands of hair in his hands and tied them up with a hair tie.

 

 

Jiu Shu’s hair was as soft and beautiful as his entire person.

 

 

It was silky to the touch and gave off the faint aroma of shampoo, as well as the rose-like dark scent on Jiu Shu’s body.

 

 

It fascinated Xi Han.

 

 

But Jiu Shu blow-drying his own hair was just as enjoyable.

 

 

Xi Han sat down, leaned against the couch, and took the initiative to rest his head on Jiu Shu’s lap, his eyes shining brightly as he looked at Jiu Shu.
Jiu Shu raised an eyebrow slightly and couldn’t help but aim the hair dryer that he had been holding up at Xi Han’s hair to his face.

 

 

Lowering his eyes to look at the expression of enjoyment on Xi Han’s face, Jiu Shu faintly smiled.

 

 

The current Xi Han was no longer as bitter and hateful as he was in the original.

 

 

Always having too many unrealistic expectations of humans, always wanting to seek more benefits for them.

 

 

Crazy to the point of losing himself for this reason, but in the end, he only got a crippled end, and he was spurned by thousands of people.

 

 

Pillowed on Jiu Shu’s warm and soft thigh, Xi Han enjoyed the tingling sensation of Jiu Shu’s fingertips passing through his scalp and squinted his eyes in happiness.

 

 

He only wished that such blissful times could last longer.

 

 

But it was summertime now, and hair dried out quickly.

 

 

Plus, Xi Han’s hair wasn’t as long as Jiu Shu’s, so the time spent blow-drying her hair went by in the blink of an eye.
 

 

Sitting up fondly, Xi Han hugged Jiu Shu, burying his face between his rose-scented hair for a long time, unwilling to lift it up.

 

 

He was so happy now—so happy that he couldn’t believe it.

 

 

Jiu Shu was held tightly in his arms, and he laughed with some fear of being tickled.

 

 

Since he had just come out of the shower and was now wearing only a bathrobe, most of his skin was pressed tightly against him from the hug.

 

 

Xi Han quickly whispered in Jiu Shu’s ear, “Is it okay?”

 

 

Even though that was why he had just gone to take a bath, he couldn’t help but want to kiss Jiu Shu’s slightly cool cheek.

 

 

Then his hands wandered over Jiu Shu’s porcelain white skin.

 

 

Xi Han’s favorite thing was to hear Jiu Shu’s gasps from being unable to resist.

 

 

If he pecked and kissed Jiu Shu’s sweaty forehead at that time, he would make an even more beautiful sound.

 

 

He never got tired of hearing it.

 

 

Jiu Shu hugged Xi Han back, not refusing.

 

 

The living room was soon filled with nothing but suppressed gasps.

 

 

It wasn’t until late in the in the afternoon that the movement stopped.

 

 

This time, Jiu Shu was really tired; he was carried by Xi Han and cleaned before lying down on the bed and falling into a deep sleep.

 

 

Xi Han lay beside Jiu Shu and looked at him for a long time without getting tired.

 

 

Then he also hugged Jiu Shu tightly and closed his eyes.

 

 

Meanwhile, at a certain base in the distance,.

 

 

The researchers, who were constantly monitoring 001’s mental fluctuations, stopped what they were doing.

 

 

Recently, 001’s mental fluctuations had become more and more abnormal, actually somewhat similar to humans’ work and rest season: active during the day, even more active at night, and it wouldn’t stop until late at night.
 

Occasionally, it wouldn’t even stop late at night.

 

 

However, once this happened, 001’s spirit fluctuations would become extraordinarily depressed the next day, as if it had been severely reprimanded.
 

 

The shelters held within the base would also become depressed by the mental fluctuations.

 

 

Many of them would even cry uncontrollably, and there was even a strange phenomenon where they would cry themselves unconscious and still have tears flowing.

 

 

It wasn’t until a certain point in time arrived that the emotions would turn back around and repeat the previous mental fluctuations.

 

 

Even though the researchers had studied it for a long time, they were unable to figure out what exactly 001 was thinking.

 

 

“It must be because you guys didn’t study it with due diligence!”

 

 

The old man sitting in the wheelchair coughed and angrily scolded this group of confused researchers.

 

 

After researching for so long, it still wasn’t easy for 001 to react, yet they were never able to awaken him further.

 

 

This was simply a waste of time; they spent so much money to raise them, just for them to do nothing!

 

 

The reprimanded researchers were silenced, not daring to say more.

 

 

After all, the one in front of them was their top boss, the person in charge of the group that gave them the research funds; they couldn’t afford to offend him and had long since become accustomed to these reprimands.

 

 

“Forget it; keep sacrificing the consciousness bodies to 001. As long as enough is sacrificed, 001 will definitely wake up!”

 

 

The researchers had long discovered that when the body of consciousness died, 001’s mental fluctuations would become very active, as if it was happy about it.

 

 

This made the old man also feel that 001 was happy with such a sacrifice and that he was also longing for awakening, so he wanted to retrieve all the consciousness bodies.

 

 

He firmly believed that as long as he ki-lled enough of them, 001 would awaken one day and grant him the eternal life he longed for.
 

 

“But there are only two or three conscious bodies left now.”

 

 

The researcher was a bit hesitant, but under the old man’s sinister gaze, his voice was quickly silenced.

 

 

A man with amber eyes walked out from the researchers without the slightest expression of fear on his face.

 

 

It seemed as if sacrificing his life for 001’s awakening was an incomparably natural thing to do, and he did so voluntarily.

 

 

The sacrifice site was located in the huge hollow in the center of the base.

 

 

That was where 001 was first discovered.

 

 

A large pit with no bottom seemed to go straight to the center of the earth, and this base covering thousands of square meters was built around this huge hollow.

 

 

On top of the hollow were layers and layers of buildings.

 

 

The spiraling railing rose straight up to the artificial sky that capped it.

 

 

He quickly walked next to the underground hollow where 001 was located.

 

 

The man looked down at the dark, deep hole behind the railing that was whistling with the sound of the wind, and couldn’t see the end at a glance.

 

 

Suddenly opening his mouth, he asked, “Were you this glib when you transformed humans into monsters?”

 

The old man, who was in a wheelchair and was overlooking the man’s impending sacrifice from behind the railing on a higher level, smiled contemptuously at his words.

 

 

“Hmph, you’re actually starting to care about other humans.”

 

 

As they grew older, these 001’s bodies of consciousness only knew how to k-ill monsters and were simply not in the habit of casually communicating with others.

 

 

Therefore, the old man felt a little strange about the man’s question.

 

 

But he thought that this body of consciousness might be so talkative because it was dying.

 

 

The old man then mercifully granted his wish to dialogue with him.

 

 

“I never pay attention to those things; I only give orders.”

 

 

Apparently, in the old man’s eyes, those humans who were used as test subjects didn’t even have the value of being cared about by him.

 

 

“Hurry up and jump; the faster the better; that way, 001 can wake up a little faster.”

 

 

Normally, the consciousnesses that cared about the interests of humans would have jumped immediately upon hearing those words.

 

This time, however, the old man didn’t see the man jump down into the hollow.

 

 

Instead, he saw him raise his head and look at him with amber-colored pupils.

 

 

The pupils were cold.

 

 

It was only after a long time that he lowered his head again, he covered his face with the palms of his hands, and his shoulders trembled slightly.

 

 

It was as if he was crying.

 

 

“So pitiful…”

 

 

“… so heartbreaking…”

 

 

The man’s voice was hoarse and trembling, as if he were suppressing his sadness.

 

 

As the old man looked at the man’s strange appearance, an inexplicable chill ran from the soles of his feet all the way to his chest.

 

 

Because he heard voices with the same tone as the man’s coming from behind him.

 

 

“It hurts so much…”

 

 

“It must hurt…”

 

 

“Why did he have to suffer all that pain?”

 

 

Turning his head, the old man’s heart tightened as he watched every single person in the vicinity lower their heads and cover their faces as they cried silently.
 

 

“What the hell are you guys up to? Don’t pretend in front of me!”

 

 

The old man was outwardly strong, struggling to maintain his superficial composure.

 

 

But the trembling palms had revealed his inner fear.

 

 

No one could maintain composure in the face of such a situation.
From the old man’s viewpoint, every spiral staircase was filled with people covering their faces and crying.

 

 

Men and women, everyone was sobbing to themselves, unable to control their sadness.

 

 

Even the huge hollow behind the railing had a horrible echo coming from it, as if it were the sound of 001 crying.

 

 

This kind of scene was so shocking that the old man’s face turned white, and he moved his wheelchair to escape.

 

 

But those people who had originally lowered their heads all turned their heads with his movements and looked at him.

 

 

Inside the reddish eye sockets were empty and lifeless eyes.

 

 

Like puppets.

 

“So sad….”

 

 

The overlapping voices converged together, almost driving him crazy.

 

 

When the old man saw the people nearby gradually pressing towards him, he panicked in fear and desperately moved towards the stairs, but ended up accidentally falling onto the platform.

 

 

Blo-od flowed straight out.
 

 

In his vision, which was stained red with blo-od, he saw everyone behind the railing lowering their heads to look down at his miserable state.

 

 

The corners of their mouths grinned up to their ears.

 

 

The smiles were wide to the extreme.

 

 

001.

 

 

It was 001.

 

 

The old man’s eyes widened, and he reached out his hand thirstily, trying to pray for eternal life to the god he had prayed to for so long.

 

 

But the god was unmoved.

 

 

It just watched with a smile and empty eyes as his breath faded away.

 

 

Only to finally look away in disinterest and walk away in all directions.

 

 

 

He walked over to a computer with records of experiments.

 

 

He opened one of the detailed experiment records.

 

 

It was a strange yet familiar face.

 

 

It wasn’t quite the same as the current Jiu Shu, but a slight outline could be seen.

 

 

A series of experimental records were written on it.

 

 

Day one: puncture of bone marrow.

 

 

 

On day two, take a quarter of the body’s blo-od and replace it with that of the 301.

 

 

Day three, cut away all proliferating deformed limbs.

 

 

……

 

 

On day fifteen, the experiment died and was discarded.

 

 

Snap-

 

 

Tears dripped down his jaw and onto the keyboard.

 

 

He cocked his head, wiped away the tears with an expressionless face, and destroyed all the information.

 

 

Including this sin-stained base.

 

 

He should have done this earlier, instead of stalling to let them k-ill a little more bodies of consciousness.
 

 

In the early hours of the morning, a huge plume of smoke rose above the base hidden in the desert.

 

 

The researchers fled in all directions.

 

 

Bewildered, they watched the huge base go up in smoke in front of them.

 

 

Even the hollow that seemed to lead to the ground had disappeared.

 

 

Some of the researchers tried to call for help from other research bases; however, they were unable to contact them.

 

 

It wasn’t until they were saved the next day that they realized that the other bases were in the same situation, as something similar had happened.

 

 

It seemed that they were all people who had done human exper-iments.

 

 

Humanity’s greed dissipated in front of the fire that came from nowhere.

 

 

Afterwards, some personnel who were in charge came to investigate, but they found that many survivors were mentally deranged, mumbling the name 001 and covering their faces from time to time, not daring to make a sound.

 

 

In the end, after consulting the only remaining surveillance data in the base, it was found that the video was full of people covering their faces, shoulders trembling, and strangely walking towards the front.

 

 

Soon, everyone who had watched the videos had also become psychotic, like an unknown contagion that had infected hundreds of people in a matter of days.

 

 

Everyone who was infected couldn’t help but cover their faces and cry, and they wouldn’t stop even if they were dehydrated and on the verge of death.

 

 

In the end, the top could only seal this incident up completely.

 

 

Not daring to touch it again.

 

 

“……”

 

 

Jiu Shu, who was sleeping, was woken up by an ardent kiss. He frowned slightly, and when he opened his eyes, he only saw Xi Han’s reddened eyes.

 

 

Then, as if a little embarrassed, Xi Han buried his face in the nest of his Jiu Shu’s neck.

 

 

“I’m sorry I woke you up.”

 

 

“I just had a nightmare.”

 

 

A very painful nightmare.

 

 

Jiu Shu felt wetness on his neck and his movements paused, then his palm caressed the back of Xi Han’s head.

 

 

His fingertips brought a soft sensation through his hair.

 

 

“It’s okay; I’m here for you; I’ll never leave you.”

 

 

Xi Han tightened his grip on him.

 

 

“Hmm.”

 

 

His voice was muffled, not daring to let Jiu Shu notice his tears, but the corners of his mouth hooked up.

 

 

He loved to hear Jiu Shu’s sweet words, and even more so, he loved to hear Jiu Shu promise that he would never leave.

 

 

Even though he had heard it countless times, it still felt insufficient each time.

 

 

“I’ll never leave you either, ever.”

 

 

Xi Han’s voice was magnetic, and his eyes were filled with thick love.

 

 

Not even death could separate them.
 

 

Jack watched the television and sipped his coffee, waiting for his final fate.
 

If there was no mistake, the assassin would arrive in a few moments.

 

It would be up to Xi Han to spread the truth then.

 

 

Hopefully, his sacrifice would be worth it.

 

 

Jack looked resolute.

 

 

“Now inserting urgent news: the general research base located in the southeast region has suffered a fire; other than the chairman of the XX group, no other corpse has been found yet.”

 

 

“At the same time, the other two research bases have both suffered similar fire accidents; at that time, XX Group’s senior management was visiting the base, thus falling into a coma, and has now been sent to the hospital for resuscitation.”
 

“The cause of the fire is unknown and is still under investigation.”

 

 

“The Monster Protection Organization campaign is still ongoing; see the scene below.”

 

 

Snap-

 

 

The coffee in Jack’s hand fell to the ground, and he looked at the picture of the dead man on the news in a bit of a daze.

 

 

It was one of the masterminds behind the base he had investigated earlier.

 

 

He was actually dead.

 

 

As if remembering something, Jack hurriedly went online to investigate the number of people who had died in the base accident, and it just so happened that they were all plutocrats who had participated in human experi-ments in his investigation.

 

Could it be the work of Xi Han?

 

 

But how could Xi Han have such great ability? Wait, he did.

 

 

Jack suddenly remembered the identity of Xi Han as a consciousness body that he had been ignoring before.

 

 

001.

 

 

It had to be related to 001.

 

 

Jack was so excited that his fingers were trembling. For a researcher, studying the unknown had always been their favorite thing.

 

 

He was no exception.

 

 

The secret of 001 was right in front of his eyes.

 

 

As long as he went to find Xi Han, he could completely unlock 001’s secret—why exactly he was sleeping on the ground.

 

 

Exactly when did he sleep there?

 

 

And how long was it prepared to sleep for?

 

 

All these questions could be answered.

 

 

But then Jack calmed down; now this was already the best outcome.

 

 

It wasn’t good to keep pushing.

 

 

He was well aware of Xi Han’s xenophobic character, and now that he had a lover, he would definitely be even less likely to welcome outsiders.

 

 

And if he had really become 001’s master consciousness now, then he would never be reasonable enough to answer these questions.
 

 

Being able to help him get rid of these troubles was already benevolent.

 

 

Indeed, he couldn’t ask for more.
 

 

Although Jack had some regrets, he still put away his thoughts that he shouldn’t have.

 

 

He continued to watch TV.
 

 

On the TV, a demonstration was being shown.
 

 

The people from the Monster Protection Organization were hissing with red faces, demanding the government release the poor shelters immediately.
 

 

Duan An was standing right at the front of the crowd.

 

 

His face was still intact and normal, no different than before, but the area below his neck was wrapped in gauze and hidden.

 

 

All that could be detected was the thick smell of blo-od.

 

 

 

This was the price he paid for being near that shelter in the first place.

 

 

But Duan An didn’t regret it.

 

 

That shelter was only frightened and didn’t mean to hurt him.

 

 

He couldn’t be clearer about this, especially after he let the shelter eat the bl-ood and flesh on his body. The shelter quieted down.

 

 

It no longer attacked him.

 

 

He could see the guilt in the shelter’s eyes.
 

 

“Yes, many of the shelters are like that; they may have cannibalism engraved in their genes, but they don’t want it either; it’s just a matter of being too hungry.”

 

 

“We have now developed artificial meat to replace human meat; it will soon be available on the market, and when that time comes, it will be the time for humans to truly co-exist with monsters!”

 

The organization’s top brass in the car spoke to Duan An in a pleasant manner.

 

 

 

Duan An also nodded excitedly.

 

 

He was looking forward to that day.

 

 

When he was a child, he had been saved once by a monster, a small, innocent monster.
 

Not only did it save him, but it also fed him.

 

 

Although he didn’t eat it because it was human flesh, even after he grew up, Duan An felt that shelters all had a kind side.

 

 

They just didn’t know how to restrain themselves, and as long as they had a chance to survive properly, they would be kinder than humans.

 

Outside the car, the parade continued.

 

 

Duan An rested for a few moments before he started to speak on stage again.

 

 

Now that he was the face of the entire Monster Protection Organization, countless pairs of eyes were watching him, following his every move.

 

 

All the more reason for him to fight hard for those innocent and kind monsters.

 

 

Inside the car, the executives, who had been so pleasant just a moment ago, revealed the sharp teeth at the corners of their mouths and smiled.

 

 

The naivety of humans was indeed commendable.
 

Artificial meat could indeed replace human meat.

 

 

But in the end, it wasn’t as tasty as human meat.

 

 

It was fine; it was enough to give the artificial meat to those bottom monsters.
 

 

Human meat was, of course, only available to those of high status.

 

 

Just like rich human beings, this situation couldn’t be more normal.
 

 

After all, monsters were originally a more advanced species than humans, with god-given abilities, long lifespans, and the ability to evolve continuously.

 

 

From the initial inhuman form, they could perfectly simulate the human form, and they also had special abilities.

 

 

Who could say that they were not favored by god?

 

 

The few executives sitting in the car looked at each other for a few moments and smiled.

 

 

No one noticed the feeling of weakness and powerlessness that gradually increased in their bodies.

 

 

The awakening of the divine consciousness was destined to take back the power that the monsters had stolen from the god.

 

 

And inflict double the punishment.

 

 

Jiu Shu once again began his travels around the world.

 

 

The planetary landscape of this world was subtly different from the other worlds, much larger than the previous one, and they traveled in a different style.

 

 

Sitting in the open-topped car, Jiu Shu looked at the gradually hot sun above his head and put on his sunglasses.

 

 

And next to him, Xi Han, who was in charge of driving, also wore sunglasses, but he was only trying to cover the dark circles on his face.

 

 

He hadn’t been allowed to go to bed all night last night.

 

 

“Will you dare next time?”

 

 

“Won’t dare.”

 

 

Xi Han’s voice was downcast.

 

 

Jiu Shu glanced at him, and his expression looked a little better this time.

 

 

Obviously, he had said he was tired, but in the middle of the night, he actually sneakily started doing little things again.

 

It caused him to be sleep-deprived for the last few days.

 

“We need to be there by tonight, so you can drive slowly.”

 

Jiu Shu leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes for a moment of shut-eye.

 

 

After a few moments, just as he was about to fall asleep, a wet sensation suddenly came to his palms.

 

 

When he opened his eyes, it was a mass of translucent gel-like creature.
 

 

It resembled the 175 that was once in the third experimental base.

 

 

Now it wasn’t jealous.

 

 

Jiu Shu glanced at Xi Han, who was pretending to be fine but was actually stealing glances at the co-pilot’s situation, and held the translucent creature up.

 

 

“Let’s call you 175.”

 

“…”
 

 

175 seemed a little upset.

 

 

It felt like Jiu Shu liked that #175 too much to actually remember its number after all this time.

 

Obviously, it was nothing like #175 now.

 

 

“Unhappy?”

 

Jiu Shu said this while glancing at Xi Han beside him.

 

 

Xi Han’s palms on the steering wheel tensed nervously.
 

 

No. 175 immediately hugged Jiu Shu’s hand as if it were acting spoiled, indicating that he was happy and wouldn’t be jealous because Jiu Shu still remembered No. 175’s name.

 

After all, he had learned not to be jealous and was now able to keep the body of such a small shelter close to Jiu Shu.

 

 

Jiu Shu puts the cold #175 on his forehead and feels much cooler.

 

 

But the shy #175 slid down slowly in a liquid manner and touched Jiu Shu’s cheek.

 

Like a kiss.

 

 

“…”
 

 

The speed of the moving car began to increase, and the No. 175 returned to his forehead under the effect of inertia.

 

 

 

At the sight of Jiu Shu’s eyes, Xi Han was silent for a moment then blurted out, “I’m not jealous.”

 

 

175 nodded back.

 

 

Although they were both bodies under his control, they were different after all, and he was just reacting subconsciously.

 

 

It wasn’t jealousy.

 

 

“…”

 

 

Jiu Shu sighed and put 175 down, starting to scroll through the news on his phone.
 

 

There has been quite a bit of news lately.

 

 

Unlike the original, the Monster Protection Organization was having a rough time this time, with frequent accidents as if it were cursed.

 

 

Firstly, the construction of the new capital, which was about to be completed, was halted, and then the media discovered that the Monster Protection Organization’s executives were revealing monster-like features.

 

They were obviously monsters in disguise.

 

And they hadn’t even noticed for nearly two years.

 

 

It was followed by the revelation that these executives were consuming human flesh on a daily basis.
 

 

This created a heated debate about the coexistence of monsters and humans.
 

 

Many people had become resistant to monsters.
 

 

The prestige of the Monster Protection Organization collapsed overnight.
 

 

Only a small number of people still held that picture of Jiu Shu that was stolen in the first place, proclaiming that humans were the same as monsters and that there was nothing wrong with that.

 

 

They were all intelligent beings, like humans.

 

 

They needed to be protected.
 

 

With the collapse of many of the financial conglomerates a few years ago, the government gradually stabilized society and dissipated the violent conflicts in society.

 

 

In their place were the conflicts between humans and monsters, and such ideas of protecting monsters were gradually abandoned.

 

 

Especially in the last two years, there were fewer and fewer monsters that retained their sanity, and there were frequent incidents of monsters hurting people.

 

 

The seemingly innocent shelters that they had forced the experimental base to release had also begun to cause injuries.

 

 

After all, by placing a carnivore among unsuspecting herbivores, few carnivores could resist the temptation.
 

 

 

Clicking on the news video, Jiu Shu saw a much paler Duan An still holding a sign in protest.
 

 

But the followers behind him were already few and far between.

 

 

Jiu Shu admitted that he had tampered with the internet a bit, spreading news about monsters hurting people from time to time and also blurring that picture of him across the board, making it lose most of its compelling power.

 

 

That was what stopped the followers from compelling a whole bunch of people to take the bait as soon as they pulled out the photo.

 

 

But Jiu Shu also didn’t think that he hadn’t used much force before the people fell.

 

001 must have done something as well.

 

 

 

Jiu Shu looked at Xi Han beside him.

 

He could detect the energy in Xi Han’s body that was gradually synchronized with 001, even though 001 hadn’t yet awakened.

 

 

But Xi Han was basically the equivalent of 001’s consciousness walking in the outside world.

 

 

It was normal to have some ability to influence monsters.

 

 

But this was good; it saved him more effort.

 

 

It was good that things ended up like this.

 

 

“We’re almost there, Jiu Shu; you can just rest a little more.”

 

 

Xi Han hooked up his lips, revealing his best side angle with a wide smile.

 

 

“Okay.”

 

 

Jiu Shu smiled beautifully.

 

 

Number 175, which he held in his hand, was stunned and didn’t react for a long time.

 

 

Xi Han also drove the car to the side in silence, but was unable to resist moving closer and kissing Jiu Shu’s sweaty temple.
 

 

No matter how many times, Jiu Shu was so cute that he couldn’t help himself.

 

 

That was until Jiu Shu got too hot and pushed Xi Han away.

 

 

Only then did Xi Han reluctantly continue to start driving, his eyes glowing in anticipation of the evening together.

 

 

He’d learned to be restrained this time, just like he’d learned not to be jealous.

 

 

“Jiu Shu, why do you keep not looking at me?”

 

 

After driving for a while, Xi Han sulked.
 

 

It was because he noticed that Jiu Shu was always teasing the 175 in his hand instead of him.

 

He obviously fixed his hair and wore the most figure-flattering clothes to show off his well-worked muscles.

 

 

Totally following the internet’s guide to love, he showed off his half-hidden abs and his strong biceps, just so he could keep Jiu Shu’s eyes on him more.

 

 

 

But it wasn’t as good as rubbing 175.

 

 

“…”

 

 

Jiu Shu held his forehead.

 

 

Then he simply closed his eyes and rested, not looking at anyone.
 

 

But in this way, Xi Han fell a little bit behind again.
 

 

He didn’t even care about the 175 he was manipulating anymore.

 

 

 

Had Jiu Shu grown tired of his body?

 

 

Maybe a different body would be more refreshing.

 

 

“… Alright, stop thinking so hard. My heart has already spoken.”
 

 

“…!!!”

 

 

Xi Han gripped the steering wheel tightly and looked at Jiu Shu with wide eyes.

 

 

But he found that Jiu Shu had just removed his sunglasses, looked at him with a smirk, and stuck out his tongue.

 

 

“Fooled you.”

 

 

He didn’t need him to say it out loud to know what the object of discipline was thinking.

 

 

 

It was fine for now; switching bodies was something he was really afraid the guy would do as multi-sports if he got addicted to it.
 

 

Jiu Shu was pretty sure that if Xi Han wasn’t so possessive that he couldn’t allow anyone else to touch him, he would have wanted something heavier a long time ago.

 

 

He felt that it was enough for now; a few more bodies would really be too much for him.
 

 

“I love you best the way you are right now.”

 

 

Kissing Xi Han’s cheek, Jiu Shu’s eyes were warm.
 

 

Xi Han was stunned; red-faced, he stared straight at the road in front of him, and only after a long time did he respond with a muffled hmph.

 

 

The curve of his mouth seemed incomparably sweet.

 

 

They soon reached the city, not far away.

 

 

It was a very prosperous metropolis, with cars and buildings everywhere.
 

 

The front, however, was a bit jammed with traffic.

 

 

It was because of the Monster Protection Organization’s parade.

 

 

 

Duan An shouted slogans at the top of his voice, and the members behind him followed him.

 

 

However, the passersby around him just stood by with cold eyes.

 

 

People nowadays were much more apathetic than before.

 

 

Duan An wasn’t actually tired; he was just numb.

 

 

 

No one could understand how he felt when he learned that the higher-ups were all monsters that ate human flesh.

 

 

But even so, he still had to fight for the other kind-hearted shelters.
 

 

Although those bases had backed down and released a number of humanoid shelters, it wasn’t enough.

 

 

If he couldn’t reach the goal of humans and monsters coexisting, then wouldn’t all the efforts he had made over the years be in vain?

 

 

Everything would be meaningless.

 

 

Duan An couldn’t bear this result.

 

 

 

But even though he worked very hard, fewer and fewer people joined the organization.

 

 

 

It was no longer possible to form a scale like before.
 

 

Human society was this fickle; once the video of humans torturing monsters broke out, countless humans followed him in protest.

 

 

Now that the video of the monster eating people came out, they left him again.
 

 

Duan An sometimes wondered if he should give up and forget about it; this endeavor hadn’t brought him any reward at all.

 

 

But remembering the words 301 had said to him—that he didn’t believe he was really so selfless—Duan An wasn’t willing to give up.

 

 

He wanted to prove to 301 that he was a more reliable and selfless person than Xi Han.

 

 

Choosing him was the right thing to do.

 

 

Xi Han drove the car around the side road.

 

 

Dr. Jack, who was on leave, stood on the side of the road, shaking his head as he watched the parade, which was less than half as loud as the previous days.

 

Just as he was about to leave, his eyes swept over familiar figures.

 

 

Xi Han and a beautiful young man.
 

 

They were sitting in a car, driving away.

 

 

Jack opened his mouth to call out to them.

 

 

After a long time, he didn’t make a sound.

 

 

 

That was it; that had been the best ending for Xi Han.

 

 

It was the best ending for mankind, too.

 

 

Jack turned and left the place.

 

 

 

After that, he never said anything to outsiders about Xi Han and his lover for the rest of his life.

 

 

It was only when his descendant sorted through his belongings after his death that he found the notebook in which he had recorded his secrets.
 

 

On it was written 001.
 

 

After clicking on the document, he only saw some simple written records.
 

 

It told the story of a simple researcher who fell in love with a shelter.
 

 

At the end of the story, Jack wrote in a warning tone.
 

 

[They might fall into a peaceful sleep together or perhaps He alone will be left.]

 

 

[But either way, humans must not go near.]

 

 

[For He welcomes only His beloved.]
 

 

Unsure, the descendant put the notebook away.
 

 

The world was as calm as ever.
 

 

Only on one calm afternoon did a despondent mood come from the center of the earth, but it dissipated in a moment.
 

 

It seemed that someone was content to sleep with their lover, no longer alone.

 

---

TN:

To the new arcccccc. lessgooooooo.