The Creature Keeper - chapter 41

The people trapped inside the shop had no idea that the Sea Monsters outside were aberrant creatures from the ocean.

Judging by their appearance, their rating was at most E, considered low-level.

They lacked advanced intelligence, possessed no special powers, and were large and clumsy-utterly worthless in the eyes of the major biological Bases.

After being caught, these creatures were usually ground up as feed and given to the Experimental Subjects in Zone BCD.

Yet when they appeared in human society, they became exceptionally dangerous.

City dwellers were unaware that such creatures even existed in the world.

Moreover, the morphological traits of humans doomed them to physical weakness; even the gorilla, which most closely resembles humans, has 1.45 times the strength of an adult male.

Faced with such large creatures, humans were no different from the delicate dodder flowers in the ivory tower, untouched by wind or sun.

Aselan, carrying the packed little wontons, said seriously to Tang Rou, “Looks like we won’t be leaving anytime soon.”

Tang Rou tried to gauge her meaning. “So… ?”

“Why not eat first? They’ll be all soggy by the time we get back.”

“…” Well, she had a point.

With the lockdown outside, there was no use worrying. Braving the occasional strange glances, the two of them sat inside, opened the lids, and began eating the little wontons.

“Why did they suddenly enter the city?”

“Who knows.” Aselan took a bite of wonton, her voice lowered. “Those things in the Base are all hauled up from the sea. The ocean is so vast, there’s no way to catch them all. It’s normal for some to crawl out. I think this is just the beginning.”

In the future, such incidents would only become more frequent.

Tang Rou lowered her eyes and scooped up a steaming little wonton.

Before she could bring it to her mouth, her phone vibrated on her wrist-someone was calling her.

She answered, and a slightly panicked voice came through. “Feeder Tang, hello, I’m the captain of Security Team A from the medical center. May I ask, are you responsible for Experimental Subject Number 17?”

Number 17? What happened to him?

Tang Rou put down her chopsticks. “Yes, I am.”

The caller sounded a bit unsteady. “Um, here’s the thing. After you left this afternoon, Number 17 also left the Treatment Pod…

Our people followed him and found that he went to your former Office, where there are still maintenance staff working. They’re now trapped inside, and the situation is a bit tricky.”

Tang Rou didn’t quite understand. “What do you mean? Did Number 17 run out of the treatment center?”

There was a brief silence on the other end. “Why don’t we turn on the video? It might be more intuitive for you to see than for me to describe.”

Once the video connected, Tang Rou stared at the screen, deep in thought.

The captain of the Security Team was clearly being diplomatic.

The scene in the video could only be described as utter chaos. It was obvious this was the laboratory that had been violently wrecked by the Electric Eel and Sea Slug a few days ago.

The difference was that the entire Office was now covered in dark green, semi-transparent tentacles.

In her absence, those tentacles looked terrifying-sharp keratinous spikes poked out from beneath them, leaving no doubt about their destructive power.

A handsome, dark-haired young man sat with his chin propped on his hand atop his former Treatment Pod lid, gazing down at the floor. Dozens of maintenance staff huddled in the corners, their faces ashen, not daring to move.

Surrounding them were those menacing, predatory tentacles, as if they might tear them to shreds at any moment.

The person filming clearly didn’t dare get close; the shot was taken from a distance and was hard to see clearly.

Tang Rou said, “…Could you hand the phone to Number 17? I’ll talk to him.”

The caller was trembling even more, almost choking up. “You mean, you want me to go over there and hand it to him myself?”

“…”

Tang Rou could feel his fear even through the screen. She gently reassured him, “Don’t be afraid. You can turn on the speaker first. If he hears my voice, he’ll calm down a bit.”

Aselan asked curiously, “What’s wrong? Did something happen with Number 17?”

Not far away sat a woman who had run in from outside, looking lost and distraught. The seven- or eight-year-old boy beside her stared wide-eyed, drawn by the commotion from Tang Rou’s phone.

He slowly walked over behind Tang Rou, curiously peering at the screen.

The shaky footage was filled with menacing, dark green.

“Ah…” The little boy opened his mouth wide, but before he could make a sound, the pretty big sister turned around, put a finger to her lips, and made a “shh” gesture.

He covered his mouth and saw the sister wink at him. “It’s a secret, okay?”
At that moment, the trembling voice of the Security Officer came through the receiver, “Feeder Tang, please say something…”

Tang Rou quickly responded, “Sorry, sorry. Is Number 17 next to you?”

“He is… ah!”

The Security Officer’s voice was cut off as the image on the screen shook and then went dark for a moment, as if something had snatched the device away.

Soon, an impeccably handsome face filled the entire screen.

The young man poked at the screen, his eyes widening slightly. His face was expressionless and devoid of warmth, yet one could still sense a trace of delight.

“Rou…”

He shook the screen and asked in confusion, “Are you… inside…?”

“…” Tang Rou replied, “Why did you go to the previous Office? Didn’t I tell you to go to the temporary Office from this morning? And why are you blocking people? They’re just staff repairing damaged items.”

He retorted, “Rou, where… did you go?”

Tang Rou gave him a quick and simple answer, trying to soothe him as fast as possible, “I went out to buy you some candy.”

The young man’s eyelashes trembled, and he looked a bit embarrassed.

With only his face visible on the screen, Tang Rou couldn’t see the group of Office staff who were all dumbfounded by the drastic change in Number 17’s demeanor.

After a bit of soft and hard persuasion, Tang Rou promised to chat with Number 17 in the evening when she got back. Only then did he reluctantly retract his tentacles.

The screen swept past the blue glass walls, and Tang Rou said, “Let me see Number Four.”

Instead, he blocked the screen even more tightly, guarding every corner, his flawless, inhumanly handsome face taking up the entire frame.

“Look at me, Rou…”

Tang Rou: “…”

After hanging up, Tang Rou felt a burning gaze from her side.

The little boy looked at her, asking with a solemn and respectful tone, “Sister, are you a superhero?”

“…” Tang Rou smiled and shook her head. “I’m not.”

But the little boy insisted, “You must be. Only superheroes can conquer monsters.”

“Pfft…” Aselan let out a chuckle.

Alright then.

If a child says so, then so be it.

Tang Rou’s expression was numb.

“Bzz bzz…”

Another vibration came from her wrist. Thinking it was Number 17 again, Tang Rou looked down, only to see an emergency return order from the Base.

Aselan received it as well.

A red-marked emergency recall-something important had happened.

There would be no time to finish the wontons.

The two walked to the door and said to the boss, “Could you please open the door? We have an urgent matter and need to leave.”

“No way! It’s dangerous outside. There are monsters. You can’t go out!”

“Thank you, but we really have something urgent.”

“No, absolutely not.” A burly man stepped forward and planted himself at the doorway like a mountain. “It’s so terrifying out there. The two of you are unarmed girls-going out would be suicide!”

“Yeah! The Military told us all to stay inside. No matter how important your work is, is it more important than staying alive?”

“Haven’t you seen the videos online? I have-they’re terrifying!”

Since work at the Experimental Base was classified, they couldn’t explain to everyone. “Thank you, but we have to go. Please let us out.”

Someone suddenly stood up in the back, shouting loudly, “If they want to die, let them! Hurry up and open the door. Don’t let them get us killed, too!”

Aselan frowned but ultimately said nothing.

She could understand the anger; the information gap was too wide.

The boss hesitated, then unlocked the door. Tang Rou said sincerely, “Your wontons are delicious. If we get the chance, we’ll come again.”

“Sigh… Take care of yourselves.”

Armed soldiers stationed on the street saw them come out and immediately moved to block their way. “It’s dangerous outside. You can’t go out. Return inside at once!”

Tang Rou took out her work ID from her collar. “We’re from Babel Tower Base. We received an emergency order. Please escort us back.”

The armed personnel checked their credentials, immediately put away their weapons, and led them to the riot control vehicle.

“This way, please.”

Behind the glass windows, a number of curious eyes watched as the two girls were escorted by armed personnel onto a Military riot vehicle. They exchanged glances, huddling together and whispering.

“How did they get on that kind of vehicle? Do they really have some kind of background?”

“But they don’t look like it-they’re so young.”

“They’re actually quite pretty… but you can’t judge a book by its cover!”