The Creature Keeper - Chapter 3

The situation was far more serious than imagined.

More and more explosions and violent tremors came from Sector S. Many fully armed Security Officers and guards rushed over, running toward the main gate.

Tang Rou watched helplessly as the piercing security alert escalated from Level One to Level Two, then Level Three…

Finally, it became an unprecedented Level Four.

It was said that in the deepest part of Sector S, there was a high-density water tank hundreds of meters deep, containing the most outstanding Special Grade Creature ever held by Babel Tower.

This creature had recently shown a reaction to the outside world, displaying extremely dangerous aggression.

The alarm grew louder and louder.

The laboratory where Number 17 was located suddenly lit up with yellow lights. The doors opened, and the engineers inside were urgently packing up machines and computers.

Someone hurried out to inform Tang Rou, “Please leave immediately. There is an emergency.”

“What about Number 17?”

“His condition is somewhat out of control. He’s locked in the observation area.”

The engineer didn’t elaborate. Meanwhile, from another experimental chamber came the sound of banging and startled cries.

The Experimental Subjects inside had lost control and gone berserk, as if responding to some kind of summons, attacking the staff with reckless abandon.

The ground beneath her feet transmitted violent tremors, as if some ferocious monster was about to burst out from below.

Evacuation broadcasts blared overhead, alarms sounding one after another. Tang Rou had never seen such a large-scale evacuation before.

She had just reached the escape corridor when she was suddenly grabbed by someone, and a metal briefcase was shoved into her arms.

“Take the solution inside and release it into the experimental chamber with the red alarm light!”

Tang Rou frowned, about to refuse, when the other party spoke forcefully, “That’s an order!”

The person revealed a shoulder insignia-Director level, three ranks above Tang Rou. In the militarized management of the Babel Tower Base, orders from superiors were as binding as military commands and must be obeyed without question.

The woman masked her panic, raising her voice, “Hurry!”

“…Understood,” Tang Rou was forced to take the briefcase.

As the crowd evacuated, a large amount of blood-tinged water surged from the crack of Sector S’s gate, quickly spreading to ankle depth.

From inside the gate came heart-wrenching cries for help. Some people fled, some screamed and wept, but only Tang Rou walked deeper inside.

This was a world she had never set foot in before-

The Special Grade Creature Zone.

The narrow corridor was like a tunnel to hell, the metal walls reflecting a cold light, as if they could cut flesh. In the pitch-black, icy space, only her footsteps echoed.

The experimental chambers were unrecognizable, their original forms lost. The silence all around was chilling.

She reached the place the woman had described. The door was open. Tang Rou raised her hand and gently pushed-it was like opening the mouth of an abyss.

“Splash-”

In the darkness, the sound of trickling water echoed.

As if something had crawled out of the water.

The circuits were destroyed; there was no light. Tang Rou steadied herself against the wall, carefully feeling her way in the dark.

In the center of the vast, shadowy space stood a massive cylindrical water tank, a gorgeous deep blue gleaming behind the glass.

She opened the briefcase, took out the reagent inside, and stepped onto the stairs at the side of the tank, each step filled with caution.

Something was watching her in the darkness.

A cold gaze, almost tangible, clung to her back like a snake’s tongue.

Tang Rou forced down her fear, struggling to find the release port and pushing open the heavy metal cover.

With a soft splash, she poured all the reagent into the glass tank as instructed by the woman.

But immediately, the tank began to shake violently, so much so that she could barely stand on the steps.

“Boom-”

The intense tremor felt as if the earth itself had been torn open. Caught off guard, Tang Rou’s fingers slipped from the railing, and her whole body fell backward uncontrollably.

There was nearly a ten-meter drop to the ground below-such a fall would mean certain death or serious injury.

She squeezed her eyes shut, not even having time to react defensively.

Yet the expected pain of impact never came.

At the critical moment, an icy sensation wrapped around her waist, as if something had suddenly hooked her in midair-so brief it felt like an illusion.
The tremendous inertia sent Tang Rou into a dizzy spell as she was flung aside by something, stumbling and falling to the ground.

She was actually still alive!

Tang Rou lifted her head and caught a fleeting streak of pale blue in the reflection of the glass.

That glimpse, like a startled bird, left her frozen-slender and dreamlike, as ethereal as gauze or shadow.

What was that?

Tang Rou couldn’t snap out of it for a long while, her mind blank.

What had saved her?

At the same time, alarms blared in her mind.

Tang Rou saw a massive crack had appeared on the cylindrical chamber, with nothing left behind the glass.

-The Special Grade Creature had escaped.

She felt extremely uneasy, when suddenly the sound of scraping-“clang…”-came from behind her, like a metal chain being dragged across the floor, unusually clear in the dim light.

A chill crept inch by inch up her spine.

Tang Rou felt as if she was being watched by some terrifying creature.

Right now, she was like pitiful prey exposed to a predator’s gaze, surrounded by darkness.

In the vast laboratory, only the sound of her own breathing remained.

“Crack…”

A faint noise of glass shards being crushed by something heavy sounded very close to her.

Something was coming.

Tang Rou forced herself to calm down and looked back.

Amid the toppled experimental equipment, she caught a vague glimpse of a slender human silhouette.

The blue water tank refracted a dim light, illuminating a pair of cold eyes hidden in the shadows.

Tang Rou held her breath, feeling even her blood flow slow.

It was hard to describe what kind of eyes those were.

Only half of the head was visible, the figure cloaked in darkness.

Platinum-silver pupils shone like gemstones, glowing faintly even in the blackness.

Then, Tang Rou smelled a strange, bloody scent.

There was no one else in the room, and she herself was uninjured; combined with the earlier sound of glass being crushed, the other party was likely wounded and bleeding heavily.

After considering, she raised both hands.

“I mean no harm, and I won’t hurt you.”

Soothing was what a Feeder did best. “Are you hurt?”

Her voice was gentle.

The other party was very quiet, a silence that signaled a certain docility and allowed her to approach.

Tang Rou tried to stand up, keeping her hands raised, and slowly walked toward the figure.

“Don’t be afraid. See, I have nothing in my hands.”

Those eyes followed her every move, full of wariness.

As the distance closed, Tang Rou drew in a sharp breath.

On the shattered glass lay a beautiful creature favored by the creator.

Its soft, pale golden hair was damp and draped over its shoulders like seaweed. Its lips were vivid and enchanting, its skin the pallor of a deep-sea species that had never seen daylight-so beautiful it seemed like an illusion.

Such exquisite features could never belong to a human.

“Are you hurt?”

Tang Rou’s voice was even softer, afraid of scaring the other.

He still watched her quietly, unknown emotions flickering in his eyes, hidden by the darkness.

Tang Rou slowly reached out, showing she meant no harm.

“Don’t be afraid. I’m a Feeder. I can treat your wounds and take you out…”

Halfway through, her hand froze.

Because she saw, at the other’s slender neck, a prominent Adam’s apple.

Tang Rou was startled, then noticed the beautifully contoured muscles and broad shoulders.

Every feature before her told her: this stranded beauty was male.

In the darkness, something shimmered faintly with light.

Tang Rou’s gaze traveled downward, her mind going blank.

A fishtail.

A beautiful, slender fishtail, with a huge tail fin spread out and trailing across the floor.

This was a mermaid.