C96 — [4.9 – The Shelter]

Bonus Chap

Thanks for the ko-fi ✨ ✨ ✨ Nix ✨✨✨

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“Don’t be afraid; you can leave here now.”

 

Saying that, Lu Wen released the last of the shelters in the nearby glass cages.

 

Most of these shelters released by Lu Wen were skinny and tortured by hunger and pain.

 

The blo*od soaked through their dirty clothes and matted their furs.

 

The more Lu Wen looked, the more sad he became.

 

He really sympathized with them.

 

He also knew that he could only play a role in drawing away the guards by releasing them, and he couldn’t really set them free at all.

 

Most of them would still end up being taken back.

 

Perhaps they would die even more tragically under the gunfire of the guards.

 

But Lu Wen really couldn’t do anything about it.

He could only choose to save 301 first, and only after that could he think of a way to save them.

 

For the young Lu Wen, this was a dilemma.

 

It made him deeply appreciate the sense of pressure brought to him by this cruel society.

 

In the face of this dark social environment, he had sworn to fight for the freedom of the shelters, but now he could only watch the shelters struggling in hell.

 

This gave Lu Wen a deep sense of guilt.

 

 

He didn’t know what he could do to relieve this guilt.

He could only reach out his hand, wanting to touch these poor and miserable beings.

As beings on the same planet, they should never be imprisoned in a cage like this.

But the next moment, Lu Wen’s outstretched hand suddenly stopped.

 

He looked with some consternation at the nearby shelters that raised their eyes to look at him.

 

Although many of them had run away as soon as they were released, there were still quite a few that hadn’t left the corridor.

 

Just then, Lu Wen hadn’t realized that something was wrong, but now he realized that something was wrong.

 

He found that almost every one of them in the corridor had hollow amber eyes.

 

Inexplicably, Lu Wen felt that these eyes were a bit horrible.

 

He gulped.

The fear spreading in his heart made his original sympathy dissipate quite a bit.

He subconsciously took a step back, he  avoided and wanted to go find No. 301.

 

It was better for them to get out of here.

Not only because of the guards, but also because of these shelters, which had become very strange.

He had a bad feeling about this.

It felt as if these shelters with amber eyes had been stripped of their souls by something, leaving only empty shells.

 

“No. 301……?”

After lifting his head, Lu Wen saw that Jiu Shu, who had always treated him indifferently, was in the middle of the many shelters, looking at them with downcast eyes.

 

He even allowed them to hug him.

 

From a distance, the curvature of his lips looked as if he were smiling at the shelters.

 

His porcelain-white face was still beautiful.

 

But it was a bit bizarre to be surrounded by those ugly and hideous shelters.

 

However, those eerie and weird shelters didn’t cause any harm to No. 301; instead, they came together at his side as if they were intimate and kept making noisy chirping noises.

 

Lu Wen even felt that they were talking to 301.

 

But he couldn’t understand what they were saying.

 

Lu Wen wanted to remind 301 to be careful of these strange shelters.

 

Before he could make a sound, he noticed the sound of guards firing in the corridor behind him.

 

Apparently, they had realized that all the shelters had been discharged.

 

Clustered in the corridor, the large number of shelters was still horrifying to look at.

 

The guards thought that Lu Wen and Jiu Shu were ordinary researchers who were innocently caught up in this, so they immediately opened fire, trying to save them.

 

Bang Bang…

 

After the gu*nshots fell, Lu Wen saw several shelters beside him looking down at the blo*ody holes in their bodies after being shot, their eyes still empty.

 

It was as if he didn’t feel the slightest bit of pain.

 

A moment later, the eyes moved and looked at him.

 

Those dead, lightless eyes looked at Lu Wen, causing a chill in his heart.

 

He really didn’t know why these shelters were staring at him with such eyes.

 

He could only back up as far as possible, wanting to get as far away from these weird shelters as possible.
But in this not-so-spacious corridor, there weren’t many ways for him to retreat.

 

 

Soon enough, he was surrounded by the shelters, until finally, he couldn’t even see the shadow of 301.

 

Raising his eyes, Lu Wen, who was in the corner, could only see the eerie eyes of the shelters looking down on him.

 

Unlike the clueless kindness when they looked at No. 301, their eyes were now all filled with k*illing intent.

 

 

Lu Wen subconsciously let out a scream of terror.

 

For the first time, he realized that these shelters were not as weak and pitiful as he had imagined.

 

Each and every one of them possessed the ability to easily eat him.

 

Splat-

 

On the other side, Xi Han, who was circling around the base under Duan An’s guidance, stopped in his tracks.

 

The leather boots stepped on the smooth floor, which was still vaguely stained with the blo*od of the shelters.
Xi Han’s face looked a little pale at this moment but his brows were furrowed.

 

His fingers also pressed down on his temples, which were constantly throbbing.

 

Since just now, his head had been throbbing terribly.

 

His mind had also become extremely tired.

 

If it weren’t for the urgency in his heart supporting him, Xi Han even had the feeling that he would faint and lose consciousness at any moment.

 

But now wasn’t the time to relax; he hadn’t yet found number 301 and hadn’t yet received number 301’s forgiveness.

 

He couldn’t collapse.

 

Duan An, who was leading the way ahead, also noticed Xi Han’s weakness.

 

Although he didn’t know the reason, it was good for Duan An.

 

At least it would make this gloomy and scary man less threatening.

 

Duan An, who had been shocked to the point of losing his three souls, was completely terrified of Xi Han at this point.

 

He had no doubt that this man would k*ill him when he discovered his deception.

 

Even though the rumors of the base in the past described Xi Han as a superior who treated humans with incomparable friendliness, this time, the incident of the shelters escaping was enough to tear through his mask of hypocrisy.

 

He wasn’t a friendly person at all.

When dealing with humans, he became just as cold and horrible as when dealing with shelters.

 

He was simply a sociopath.

 

The g*un that was pointed at him was proof of that.

 

“A mass exodus of shelters from the Western District.”

 

Suddenly, an emergency briefing came from Xi Han’s communicator.

 

The alarms in the corridor also grew sharper.

 

Duan An’s face turned pale.

 

Such a big commotion must have been made by Lu Wen.

 

This was undoubtedly telling others that Lu Wen’s escape route with No. 301 was where the shelter had exited.

 

Not this exit that he was now leading the way towards.

 

The people around them all looked at Duan An.

 

They all saw that Duan An had guided them in the wrong direction.

 

And it was in a direction that was diametrically opposed to the Western District.

 

“I was probably too scared at the time and remembered the wrong direction.”

 

Duan An explained, looking somewhat pale, “I just came to the base half a month ago, and I haven’t familiarized myself with the entire route yet.”

 

Duan An’s explanation was barely believable to the surrounding guards.

 

But it was useless to Xi Han.

 

Duan An saw that Xi Han gave him an expressionless look; his amber eyes were devoid of any emotions, but they were so frozen that he couldn’t help but shiver.

 

Afterwards, Xi Han turned around and walked in the direction of the Western District.

 

Duan An hesitated for a moment and followed suit.

 

If Xi Han really discovered the trail, he might still be able to cover up for Lu Wen and the others.

 

It’d been hard to muddle through, so he couldn’t give up halfway.

 

301’s fate would only be worse than death if he fell into the hands of Xi Han.

 

Looking at Xi Han’s gloomy back, Duan An clenched his teeth.

 

Soon after arriving in the Western District, Duan An heard the screams of the humans.

 

Most of the released shelters were mentally tense and irritable, and they would easily want to take revenge on the humans who had tormented them in the past.

 

 

Click-click-click-

 

The sound of monsters chewing on bones came.

 

Before Duan An could react, gu*nshots rang out one after another.

 

It was Xi Han who fired.

 

He shattered the head of the monster that was chewing on the human’s thigh, revealing bright red flesh and white brain flowers.

 

The next moment, he aimed his g*un at another skinny shelter that was hiding and shivering.

 

“Wait, maybe he didn’t ki*ll anyone!” Duan An spoke out, trying to stop it.

 

 

This skinny shelter had a cute face like a human baby, and its eyes, which took up a third of its face, were filled with tears.

 

Duan An didn’t feel that it had committed any unforgivable crimes.

 

However, Xi Han didn’t pause for a moment and continued onward after striking this shelter down.

 

Duan An mournfully looked at the shelters that were ki*lled by Xi Han along the way.

 

Although some of them had to be k*illed after ki*lling someone, more of them were just bewildered innocents who had escaped.

 

Xi Han, however, ki*lled them all indiscriminately.

 

Duan An even watched as Xi Han k*illed a shelter that was protecting a child, and the way they trembled and kissed each other’s cheeks didn’t move Xi Han in the slightest.

 

It was a one-sided slaughter.

Duan An witnessed a tragedy, looking at Xi Han’s pale face splattered with bl*ood and the sickening intent in his eyes that he didn’t care about.

 

He was already crying so hard that he couldn’t stop sobbing.

 

Finally, when Xi Han was about to shoot a shelter with pure white wings, Duan An couldn’t hold back anymore.

 

He took advantage of Xi Han’s inattention to run in front of the g*un and shield the fear-filled shelter.

But the next moment, Xi Han still didn’t lower his g*un.

His amber pupils carried an icy chill.

 

Although Duan An was still terrified of facing Xi Han’s gaze, he wouldn’t retreat anymore.

 

He would no longer allow Xi Han to kidnap innocents indiscriminately in front of him.

“Shelters that escaped the shelter should be recaptured when they are harmless, not k*illed on the spot!”

 

Duan An spoke of the base’s rules in an outwardly strong manner, trying to use the base’s rules to suppress this emotionless research madman.

His gaze looked straight at Xi Han, his eyes reflecting Xi Han’s gloomy appearance at this moment.

 

His formerly well-kept hair had become disheveled, the smile on his pale face had dissipated, and although he was still handsome, he had a gloomy and appalling aura.

 

Even his arm had been wounded in the carnage all the way through just now.

 

Blo*od pierced through the uniform and continuously flowed downwards.

 

Xi Han, however, was oblivious to it.

“……”

His pupils were cold as he looked at Duan An, then he suddenly laughed.

 

The laughter grew happier and happier, as if he couldn’t really hold back his laughter.

His chest shook, causing his bl*ood-stained hair to move around.

 

Until finally, the laughter came to an abrupt end.

 

Only then did Xi Han look at Duan An, who looked vaguely uneasy.

He didn’t know what Xi Han was up to; his laughter made his heart ache.

 

“As a human that is food in the eyes of monsters, you seem to really like them.”

 

Xi Han’s voice held curiosity.

 

His face, which was expressionless just a moment ago, had his usual smile again.

Only this time, the smile looked strange.

 

His eyes widened, and he asked back as if he were pretending to be surprised, “But if you like them so much, why don’t you feed them with your own meat so that they don’t have to eat the meat of those of us who are here, and they don’t have to hurt those of us who are here?”

 

Instead of being generous at the expense of others.

 

“Dr. Xi Han, I’m just reminding you to follow the rules and regulations of the base; please don’t misinterpret what I’m saying.”

 

Duan An replied in a deep voice, seeming to not have any personal feelings.

 

 

When Xi Han heard this, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he withdrew his pistol.

 

The smile tugging at the corners of his mouth carried an undetectable hint of bl*oodthirst.

 

“Well, then, it’s up to you to send it back.”

After saying that, Xi Han watched with interest as Duan An turned his head.

 

It was right up against the pure white winged shelter’s open mouth.

 

The mouth, which was half a person tall, was densely packed with sharp teeth.

 

Duan An fell to the ground in fear, his screams piercing the ears.

Xi Han looked at this fellow, who was the same kind as himself, with downcast eyes, without the slightest bit of pity in his heart.

 

Obviously, he used to be very tolerant towards his fellow humans, rarely getting angry.

 

But now, he seemed to have changed a lot.

After falling in love with a monster, he also began to hate humans.

 

Xi Han didn’t know what he would become in the end; he only knew that he couldn’t find 301 now.

 

Duan An was the stumbling block that was holding him back.

 

A stumbling block that should be kicked away.

 

“Ahhhh..! Help! Help!” Duan An dodged the attacks of the pure white wings in terror.

 

The time he had been in this base was still too short.

 

 

So short that he hadn’t yet had time to make his intentions clear with the shelters and dissolve their rejection of humans.

 

So it was normal for these shelters to have the intention of attacking him.

 

But Duan An didn’t want to die here, so he could only desperately beg for help.

 

 

It wasn’t until he had a large portion of his arm’s flesh bitten off that the sound of gu*nfire finally rang out.

 

“Monsters are only the most docile when they’re locked up; are you not clear about this?”

 

 

Duan An, who was in pain and had snot all over his face, heard Xi Han’s gentle voice ringing in his ears and raised his eyes tremblingly.

 

 

He only saw the creepy smile at the corner of Xi Han’s mouth and the suppressed madness in his eyes.

 

 

Xi Han’s sanity was on the verge of collapsing.

A long time had passed since the shelters were discharged from the containers.

 

Humans weren’t the only ones who had been k-illed or injured in the base; there were also some weak shelters.
These monsters were capable of killing each other.
If No. 301 was surrounded by these crazy monsters, then even with the ability to compel, it was likely that it would be harmed.

Just now, along the way, whenever he saw a limb similar to Jiu Shu appear, Xi Han would become more and more nervous and depressed.
Until now, he, who had never found Jiu Shu, was already close to despair.

He didn’t even dare to look at the human remains stacked in the corridor anymore.

Fearing that he might see Jiu Shu’s limbs in it.

“…… Yeah, it’s only best to be locked up.”
He repeated it in a mutter and withdrew his gaze, overlooking Duan An in boredom.
If only 301 had been locked up more tightly to begin with.

That way, it wouldn’t have been at any risk of injury.
It also wouldn’t have tried to escape from him like it did now.
301 shouldn’t have been allowed the slightest bit of freedom from the start.
Xi Han thought so somewhat morbidly, his face pale and bloated.

He didn’t pay any more attention to Duan An behind him and continued to walk forward.

Those shelters that had been released actually didn’t have particularly high combat power; it was only because they had caught many of the researchers in the experimental base off guard that so many of them had died.

Now, after the sweeping of the guard force, the shelters had almost been slaughtered to death.

And Xi Han still hadn’t seen any sign of Jiu Shu.

 

The entrances to the base were all searched and checked, and there were no traces of any escape.

Everything seemed to indicate to Xi Han that 301 was dead.

Had left him forever.

 

“Doctor? Are you alright?”

 

The captain of the guards, who had come to report on his work, looked worried.

 

Xi Han looked bad now; the white coat on his body was stained red with blood, and his face was getting paler and paler.

 

At this moment, he was hanging his head in a daze, making them unable to see the expression on his face.

 

It was a far cry from the doctor, who had a gentle smile on his face before.
“Continue searching.”

 

A short while later, Xi Han gave the order in a hoarse voice, ignoring the concerns of others.

 

After the chief of the guards left, Xi Han looked down at his blo*od-soaked palm, each finger trembling.

 

The collapse of his sanity was no longer enough to keep him awake.

 

Every thought in his brain now was if only he had kept 301 more secluded in captivity in the first place.

He had done too many things wrong.

 

His biggest mistake was not keeping number 301 by his side forever.

 

He always thought about begging for its forgiveness, but in the end, there was nothing left.

 

He was so indecisive.

Since it was a monster, it should have been locked up.

 

He shouldn’t have bothered worrying about whether it would have a more comfortable life, making him change the room.

 

Giving that damned researcher an opportunity to take advantage of it.

 

If it had been imprisoned in a petri dish all this time, it would never have left now; it would have just stayed with him forever.

 

If he could still find 301, he would wrap it up more carefully.

 

 

Staying forever in the transparent glass jar; it would only show him a sweet and well-behaved smile through the glass.

 

Xi Han’s pupils dilated, empty and lifeless, as he thought.

 

It was as if putting all the blame on himself and being crushed by the heavy yoke would make his empty heart feel better.

 

Boing-

Suddenly, the sound of a shelter came through.

Xi Han looked up, his gaze dead and lifeless.

 

He took his gu*n and followed the sound.

If Jiu Shu died, then it was only right that all of these shelters should go and be buried with him.

 

 

The disgusting grunting noises they made made his stomach turn.

 

 

Whimper-

 

The sound continued.

 

After pushing open the door of the lab room, Xi Han finally found the source of the sound.

 

A group of shelters were clustered in the lab, and a human sitting at a table was laughing at the nearby shelters.

 

His long black hair was tied behind his head, and he turned his face sideways at the sound of the noise.

 

 

Its porcelain-white cheeks looked more delicate in the light.

 

Its beautiful pupils reflected his wolfish appearance.

 

“Take you… ”

 

“Imprisoned ……”

“Get up….”

There were talking ones among the shelters that spoke his chaotic and morbid thoughts as if they could read minds.

 

Jiu Shu sniffed, a meaningful smile in his eyes as he glanced at Xi Han.

“!!!”

 

Looking at the gentle smile on Jiu Shu’s face, Xi Han, who was still staring blankly at Jiu Shu, was stunned, his pupils carrying a slight tremor.

 

 

Those crazy thoughts of wanting to imprison Jiu Shu just now instantly dissipated.

 

He just greedily watched every subtle expression of his.

 

Fearing that this was just a short-lived dream.

 

Jiu Shu cocked his head and extended his hand towards him.

 

“Come here.”

 

Number 301’s voice was even nicer than Xi Han had imagined.

 

 

It was soft enough to fill one’s heart.

 

Xi Han subconsciously followed its orders and went closer and closer.

 

The g*un in his hand was also put away for fear of it going off and hurting Jiu Shu.

 

His mind was now blank.

 

 

Unable to think at all under the great sadness he had felt, he could only hold onto 301’s outstretched fingers.

 

 

“Don’t be so sad; smile.”

 

“……”

Xi Han obediently tried to pull up the corners of his mouth.

“A sweet, well-behaved smile.”

 

Jiu Shu said, grinning as he wiped the bl*ood stains from Xi Han’s face, as well as the teardrops that subconsciously slipped out of his eyes.

 

Xi Han almost drowned under 301’s gentle gaze.

 

He remained dumbfounded and tried to smile again.

 

 

In the end, he managed to show a well-behaved smile.

 

It was still stiff, but much better than before.

 

“Very good.”

 

 

Jiu Shu pressed his forehead against Xi Han’s and praised him softly.

 

Xi Han froze as he watched Jiu Shu get close to him, his eyes suddenly becoming much redder.

 

The knot in his throat rolled as he tentatively reached out his hand, only to greedily hug Jiu Shu after receiving no refusal.

 

 

His head was buried in the nape of Jiu Shu’s neck, his long black hair hiding his face, and he didn’t make a sound for a long time.

 

 

Jiu Shu felt the wetness on his neck and lost his smile a little.

 

 

Today, Xi Han’s mental energy consumption was too much; so many shelters were possessed; he was still human, so he couldn’t bear it at all; his mind became fragile; and it was normal for him to be emotional and shed tears.

 

 

Thinking like this, Jiu Shu looked at the nearby shelters.

 

He could sense that Xi Han had fallen asleep.

 

 

Under the extreme tightness of his spirit, he violently relaxed and just fell into a deep sleep while hugging him.

 

 

However, the shelters that he possessed seemed to be more energetic as a result.

 

 

Although their amber eyes were still empty, they had already learned to fight for his favor.

 

 

Just a moment ago, the shelters were quiet as they just stayed peacefully by his side, but now they began to constantly crowd forward.

 

 

Looking at the few shelters next to him that were fighting openly and tearing each other’s fur, Jiu Shu was somewhat helpless.

 

 

Even though he only subconsciously possessed them, he still hadn’t forgotten that he was jealous of himself.

 

 

Whimpering — The shelters let out shrieks in an attempt to attract Jiu Shu’s attention.

 

 

The only thing that was better than before was that they at least didn’t stare at him expressionlessly while constantly crying.

 

 

Just now, they had been dropping tears for so long that Jiu Shu almost thought they would cry until they were dehydrated.

 

 

The chaos within the base didn’t end until the next day.

 

 

Due to the fact that many researchers were shocked when the shelters escaped from the holding area, the atmosphere in the entire base became heavy.

 

 

The voices caring for the shelters at the base were much less vocal all of a sudden.

 

 

The assistant knew that this must have pleased Xi Han.

 

 

He had been trying to get everyone to agree with him about slaughtering all monsters.

 

 

Now there must be a lot more people who were in agreement.

 

 

But the assistant didn’t expect Xi Han to be so happy.

 

 

It was a bit incomprehensible for the assistant as he looked at the way Xi Han smiled in the mirror.

 

 

Today, Xi Han had already stood in front of the mirror for over an hour, constantly showing a smile, and every now and then he would ask him.

 

“Does this smile look better?”

 

 

The assistant looked at the smile on his face and felt his heart skip a beat. He even had a sense of seeing a girl that was deeply in love.

 

 

The assistant was thunderstruck on the outside by this thought of his.

 

 

But after all, he was the superior and had to be pleased, so he replied fawningly, “Of course, you are good-looking.”

 

“I asked about the smile.” Xi Han glanced at the assistant.

 

 

The assistant was shocked. “Ah, the smile is nice.”

 

Satisfied, Xi Han finally left.

 

 

The assistant, however, felt his heartache; he was almost certain that Xi Han must have recently reached menopause.

 

 

But it seemed like he was now going to see No. 301 again.

 

The assistant remembered that ridiculous conjecture he had earlier, that Xi Han was in love with number 301 or something.

 

That was why he had deliberately cleaned up and dressed up, and he was extra concerned about whether his smile looked good or not.

 

No, how could that be? This was Dr. Xi Han!

 

Dr. Xi Han, who hated monsters the most!

 

 

But if he really fell in love, Xi Han would only have the fate of being abandoned after being compelled by the monster, right?

 

 

Or, the monster that abandoned Xi Han would be dissected by Xi Han himself or something like that.

 

 

After all, it was well known that monsters wouldn’t fall in love with humans, just like humans wouldn’t fall in love with their food, which Xi Han should know better.

 

 

The assistant shuddered, not daring to think further.

 

 

The sight of Xi Han holding a scalpel and kissing the remains of his lover with morbid fascination was already imaginable.

 

But that would be too sick—not something a normal person like him should fantasize about.

 

On the other hand, Xi Han had arrived outside Jiu Shu’s room.

 

 

He looked at the door of the room that separated him from Jiu Shu and paused, his lightly furrowed brows hiding the thick love in his eyes.

 

 

It was okay; even if it wanted to use him, it was okay for it to pretend to love him briefly.

 

As long as it was still by his side, it was fine.

 

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