The Creature Keeper - chapter 27

A series of crisp “da-da-da” sounds rang out-the spider-like creature, the Sea Spider, had returned, its forelimbs still stained with the golden-red blood of the Mermaid.

The culprit that had pierced the Mermaid’s tail was back again.

Despite being several times larger than the Mermaid, the arthropod was tense and rigid, as if some invisible force was shackling its body.

The Mermaid lowered her eyes languidly, spreading out her tail wrapped in the Chain, turning to face the Sea Spider.

The opponent’s hard brown limbs lifted uncontrollably. The Sea Spider, its expression taut, stabbed its legs into the place where the Chain pierced through, then forcefully tore downward, ripping the slender tail in two.

With a “crash,” the Chain slid out along with the motion.

Despite suffering such a terrifying injury, the Mermaid merely fluttered her lashes, her face calm, showing not the slightest sign of pain.

After finishing its task, the Sea Spider tried to slip away quietly, but its will was somehow seized. Its six pitch-black eyes rotated once, and it crawled straight toward the endless darkness of the pool.

……

Under the Out-of-Control Alarm, Sector S was like a massive, real-life haunted house. Tang Rou felt as if she was risking her life just to fetch the Electric Cart, occasionally glimpsing strange and terrifying creatures crawling through the corridors or around the corners.

She held her breath carefully, and as she passed a certain room, she heard a faint, almost imperceptible moan-a familiar voice. But when she stopped to listen more closely, the sound vanished again.

Tang Rou pushed the Electric Cart away, unaware that pale blue blood was seeping from beneath the door she had just passed.

In the shadows, a translucent broken horn curled up, leaking pale blood, just like its slowly dying owner.

The way back seemed dangerous, and Tang Rou moved cautiously, not knowing that many things in the darkness were also avoiding her. Some even pretended not to see her when they accidentally crossed paths, calmly looking in another direction as they passed by.

Tang Rou was oblivious, thinking she had dodged one danger after another, never realizing the Experimental Subjects’ superb acting skills.

She hadn’t expected that in the short time she’d been gone and returned, the Mermaid had become extremely fragile.

She was already unconscious, the water plants on her body gone, and her shimmering tail had been torn into two pieces. Blood gushed from the wound, blooming in vast golden-red patches beneath her.

Like flowers in full, decadent bloom.

She was very weak, her pale, beautiful body stained with blood, eyes tightly shut. Upon hearing Tang Rou’s footsteps, her lifeless eyes slowly opened, long, curled lashes tracing a fragile arc-like a butterfly falling into a spider’s web, making its final struggle.

“You’re back.”

Her voice was calm, her platinum-silver eyes reflecting Tang Rou’s figure; apart from that, there was only endless emptiness, as if Tang Rou was the last living being in the world.

Tang Rou’s mind went blank for a moment. Even in her semi-conscious state, the Mermaid still clung tightly to the coat Tang Rou had left behind, as if grasping at a lifeline.

“I found the cart.”

She raised her hand to support the Mermaid’s shoulder. The Mermaid gripped her arm in turn, and together they managed to lift her onto the Electric Cart.

During the process, the fragile tail oozed copious amounts of blood. Tang Rou watched, her nerves stretched to the limit like a taut bow, ready to snap with just a bit more pressure.

As the Electric Cart started up, the Mermaid slowly lifted her lashes. She was awake, her pale eyes flickering with dim light, her whole being radiating a weak, vulnerable aura of impending death.

This Mermaid truly tugged at the heartstrings.
Tang Rou lowered her voice and said to him, “I’ll take you to my Office first. There are medicines there.”

The Mermaid nodded without any hesitation.

Such unconditional trust even surprised her.

A layer of mucus was secreted at the severed tail, seemingly protecting the wounded flesh. The severely injured fish tail was slowly and subtly healing.

Tang Rou made her way through the vast and perilous Hexagonal Plaza. Fortunately, this time, she didn’t encounter any strange creatures.

In the narrow metal corridor, faint red lights flickered in the corners. Cameras were hidden in the shadows, silently capturing everything.

Suddenly, after they left, the Mermaid on the metal panel flicked her tail. Strange creatures covered in suction cups crawled over the smooth metal walls, hung upside down from the ceiling, and easily crushed the cameras flashing with red light.

Tang Rou’s laboratory had three layers of defense. The outermost door had been violently destroyed, but the two inner layers were spared because they were left open.

The journey to the laboratory was so smooth it felt almost unreal.

She checked to make sure there were no dangerous creatures hiding in the Office, then carefully pushed the half-unconscious Mermaid inside and closed the door cautiously.

The huge glass tank occupying an entire wall was still intact. The Jellyfish was swimming inside, and its previously calm demeanor turned urgent the moment it sensed Tang Rou’s return. Yet, in the next second, it felt some kind of danger approaching, and its gentle ribbons bristled into sharp stinging bundles, pressing tightly against the glass.

It even seemed to be pounding, making faint noises.

Tang Rou frowned and whispered, “Number Four, quiet down. It’s dangerous outside.”

But the usually obedient Jellyfish was relentless, its ribbons swiftly scraping across the glass.

Tang Rou attributed the Jellyfish’s abnormal behavior to the Base losing control-after all, even Number 17 was missing.

Thinking of Number 17 made Tang Rou uneasy again.

After cleaning her hands, she put on clean Rubber Gloves and carefully disinfected the Mermaid’s severed tail with wound antiseptic.

“Bear with it,” she murmured in his ear.

Unable to find any anesthetic, the disinfectant stung a little. The wound on the fish tail was large, even exposing pale fish bones, and the luminous white flesh clinging to them twitched with nerve pain.

If one ignored the long fish tail, lying on the cart was a young man with an extraordinarily beautiful face.

His body curled slightly, his skin was extremely pale, and his messy light golden hair fell across his face, neck, and shoulders, like a fallen noble in an oil painting-elegant yet fragile.

A suffering beauty.

Tang Rou sighed and muttered to herself, “Clearly an Experimental Subject from Sector S, how can he be so delicate?”

In his unconsciousness, the Mermaid seemed to feel pain. The thin muscles covering his bones tensed, as if resisting the pain.

“Don’t be afraid,” Tang Rou said gently. “It’ll be over soon. I’m treating your wound, so don’t be nervous.”

As if comforted, although he didn’t wake, the tense and fearful emotion eased a little.

There was a simple medical kit in the Office. She found an ointment for treating wounds, emulsified it between her fingers, and slowly applied it to the disinfected injury.

The shocking, narrow wound had torn nearly a meter of the tail, splitting it in two like two long, strange legs. Perhaps because the blood had all flowed out, the wide wound had stopped bleeding and was secreting a thin layer of transparent mucus.

The sight made Tang Rou’s scalp tingle.