The Creature Keeper - chapter 21

This is the most dangerous place in the entire Babel Tower.

Tang Rou had heard of this giant water tank. Legend had it that the bottom of the tank was connected to the ocean, plunging hundreds of meters deep, and inside was held the most powerful and terrifying Experimental Subject the Babel Tower Base had ever contained.

“Clang-”

A faint metallic sound rang out behind her.

It was an evil sensation, an indescribable, nameless malice coiling around her heart, like a cold serpent’s tongue licking the nape of her neck.

Tang Rou turned around warily, but there was nothing behind her.

Her bleeding foot dragged a long trail of blood across the ground, gradually washed away by the rain.

This was Tang Rou’s first time in this mysterious Hexagonal Plaza. The feeling of being watched overwhelmed her like a tide; from the moment she stepped in, she had become a pitiful lamb exposed under a chilling gaze, waiting to be slaughtered. The species from the deep sea could see in the dark even without light, but Tang Rou could not.

She searched for a new escape route, trying to leave, but as she moved, she noticed something on the ground seeping out pale blue blood.

A severed, semi-transparent horn, faintly glowing blue.

Tang Rou stopped in her tracks.

The cross-section of the tentacle was oozing Blue Blood, not yet dried-it had only just been severed.

This was Number 17’s tentacle. He had been attacked.

Looking further ahead, she saw the scattered corpses of unknown creatures, each dead in a different way. It looked as if a fierce conflict had taken place here. Overturned Armored Vehicles and fragments of water tanks littered the ground, mixed with the motionless bodies of Experimental Subjects. The liquid on the ground was no longer just rainwater; most of it was the blood of unknown creatures.

Fortunately, she did not see Number 17. Her Little Octopus must have escaped alone under these circumstances.

As long as he was still alive, there was hope.

A hand reached out from an Armored Vehicle, the voice weak as a thread, “Help…”

Tang Rou bent down to look and found that the person’s lower body had been crushed by the deformed Armored Vehicle. She tore off a piece of dangling fabric and tied it tightly around the person’s thigh to slow the blood loss.

This was all she could do for him.

The person stared at her face and said, “Thank you…”

Then, pressing his lips together, he warned her, “Don’t go any further in. It’s dangerous. They… are out of control.”

He was a stranger, a Transport Personnel Tang Rou had never met before.

She wanted to ask what had happened, why Babel Tower had suddenly lost control of the Experimental Subjects, but the man no longer had the strength to answer.

His face was deathly pale, clearly having lost too much blood.

Tang Rou herself was not in much better shape. She staggered forward, unaware that the trail of blood she left behind was being sniffed by a massive creature, which was now following her silhouette.

For a long time, Tang Rou had wondered: Babel Tower kept forcing these mysterious deep-sea creatures to develop greater and more terrifying powers-what would happen if, one day, humans could no longer control them?

Would the world spiral out of control? Would humanity be trapped by its own web?

The Superiors of Sector S were willing to pay any price to obtain the power to conquer the ocean. Every Biological Engineer’s contract included a Life-or-Death Contract clause, a responsibility agreement that carried infinite danger.

In the Experimental Base, death was almost a commonplace occurrence.

Deaths caused by rampaging creatures during transport, deaths caused by the Experimental Subjects’ rage during experiments, deaths where Feeders were dragged into the tank and became the Experimental Subjects’ lunch during feeding-all these were frequent.
These deaths were all too common, but ultimately they were small in scale. Now, though?

Sector S, the most dangerous area in the entire Babel Tower Base, had suddenly spiraled out of control.

A bolt of lightning split the earth, illuminating everything in an instant. A massive shadow appeared on the ground.

Tang Rou turned around, chilled to the bone.

Not far away, a colossal creature was crawling forward, drawn by the scent of her blood. Its body was covered in wrinkled, gray-brown skin. There were no eyes on its face, only two nostril-like openings sniffing the ground, and on the sides, enormous ear flaps.

Tang Rou was cornered, shrinking beside a giant glass tank, carefully hiding her body.

Behind her, the transparent glass revealed dark, endless seawater.

She couldn’t stop the bleeding from her foot, nor could she prevent herself from exuding the tempting aroma of fresh blood, like a delicacy, letting the monster approach step by step to devour her.

She had no strength left to resist.

Step by step.

Each step sent a subtle tremor through the ground.

The huge, ugly monster was already looming before her. Tang Rou squeezed her eyes shut.

But the pain she expected didn’t come.

From behind, a pair of long, slender, pale arms reached out, encircling her waist. Someone covered her mouth, stifling her cry.

Cold seawater enveloped her body. Tang Rou’s heart pounded as she was dragged into the water.

The splash sent ripples across the surface. She was pulled down into the wide tank, only her eyes and nose left above water.

A thunderous crash-something heavy struck the ground.

The massive beast lowered its head, sniffing the spot where she had just fallen. At such close range, Tang Rou was forced to see everything clearly-even the moist, writhing blood vessels beneath the thin membrane, squirming like countless worms.

The cold embrace held her tightly.

Tang Rou’s clothes were already soaked by the artificial seawater, clinging to her body. Around her waist was an unmistakable slender arm, flawless and delicate like fine jade-a bright spot in the midst of all this darkness.

“Shh.” The person behind her whispered, “Be quiet. They can’t see.”

That faint breath of a whisper inexplicably brought her a sense of safety.

The monster didn’t approach the pool, only sniffed around on the ground. Failing to find its prey, it dragged its massive body away, slow and lumbering.

Just as he said-they couldn’t see.

Yet Tang Rou couldn’t help but be drawn to the person behind her.

Wet hair fell over her shoulder, pale gold strands winding down like seaweed, or perhaps like holy sunlight falling into the water.

Between the long, pale fingers was a translucent membrane, the contours exquisitely beautiful, like a work of art.

They floated together in the cold seawater, the water masking the scent of blood from her feet. The person behind her seemed to move slightly, then spoke in a low voice, “You’re hurt.”

Tang Rou turned her head.

An impossibly beautiful face was right before her, striking her vision with force. Damp, delicate lashes seemed to cradle butterflies, half-veiling gem-like eyes. Under the crystalline platinum-silver hue, a faint, cold light flickered with scrutiny and indifference.

She was surprised. “It’s you?”

That stunning Mermaid.

Beneath the deep, mysterious artificial seawater, the shadow of a broad tail fin floated. The face, favored by the Creator, now carried a hint of hostility-far less friendly than when Tang Rou had last seen him.