The Creature Keeper - Chapter 6

When Number 17 woke up, Tang Rou was sitting by the glass vessel, applying medicine to his wound.

“You’re awake. Are you still feeling uncomfortable anywhere?”

The woman’s voice was gentle, like a feather brushing past his ear.

On the glass behind her, the Sea Rabbit, eyes red, lay at the edge of the water tank, staring intently at her, his eyes brimming with mist.

The youth tried to get Tang Rou’s attention, his delicate, porcelain-white arm reaching out of the water toward her, but Tang Rou’s gaze remained fixed on Number 17, paying no heed to the Sea Rabbit behind her.

Number 17 reclined sideways in the glass water tank, his injured tentacle-still unhealed-resting in his Feeder’s palm. The cool ointment spread from her fingertips, sending an uncontrollable tingling sensation through him.

The young man’s eyes lowered, his long, fine lashes fluttering incessantly like butterflies caught in someone’s grasp, unable to break free.

His heart was filled with overwhelming joy and happiness.

So pain could earn her attention.

How wonderful.

He couldn’t help but lift his upper body, pressing his handsome face next to her hand, his moist, newly-grown tentacle gently latching onto her clothes.

The suckers latched on without biting, sighing contentedly.

It was a cold-blooded creature’s icy touch of dependence and affection.

Tang Rou brushed aside his wet bangs, revealing that beautiful, inhuman face. Meeting his bewildered gaze, she said, “Open your mouth.”

Number 17 obediently opened his mouth, revealing the sharp, venomous, barbed mandible inside his lips.

Tang Rou fed him a piece of candy.

“Alright.” She raised her hand and closed his jaw, asking, “How is it?”

The young man couldn’t smile; his face showed no emotion. He pressed against Tang Rou’s withdrawn hand, nestling beside her, uttering a cold, single syllable:

“Sweet.”

Like.

He felt her body heat, an unfamiliar warmth spreading through his chest.

This was her usual way of comforting him-feeding him a piece of compressed carbohydrate called candy.

Even if he couldn’t taste it, the youth still sensed wisps of sweetness flowing into his cold blood.

The Sea Rabbit stretched his hands out even more, jealousy twisting his beautiful face, biting his lower lip as he glared at the Half-Octopus Youth, his eyes brimming with hostility.

If Tang Rou turned around at this moment, she would see the jealous and gloomy side of the once gentle and adorable Sea Rabbit.

Who says cold-blooded creatures can’t disguise themselves?

Every member of the natural world has an instinct for self-protection and is skilled at relying on camouflage to deceive opponents. Take the chameleon, the dead leaf butterfly, and even octopuses-they all excel at color-changing camouflage, blending seamlessly with their surroundings when sensing danger.

Using appearances to mislead prey is a hunting instinct etched into DNA through hundreds of millions of years of brutal evolution and natural selection.

She liked those who behaved. So they could be very obedient.

The Half-Octopus Youth could be, too.

He shifted his body, whether intentionally or not, revealing the serious wound from the Division Experiment to his Feeder.

In fact, most of the scars had long healed-he had torn them open again himself, just to earn her sympathy.

As expected, Tang Rou’s eyes filled with tenderness.

“Why hasn’t it healed yet?” Her delicate human fingers landed on the broken tentacle, gently stroking it, sending an uncontrollable shiver through him.

The youth lowered his head in embarrassment, barely managing to hide the storm in his eyes.

His Feeder was touching his wound, so gently.

That was a sensory stimulus tens of thousands of times more intense than pain.

The Sea Rabbit grew even more agitated, his eyes red as he banged against the glass again and again.
“Soft… I hurt too…”

He almost hurt himself from the collision.

Tang Rou scolded with a headache, “Stop messing around. Behave.”

But soon, these two cold-blooded creatures, jealous and competitive, became alert.

The Half-Octopus Youth’s icy eyes glanced indifferently toward the door, his firm and handsome muscles instantly tensing.

Tang Rou noticed his abnormality and looked over as well, seeing Song Yina standing outside the door, stunned.

“Why are you here?”

“Why can’t I come?” She met Tang Rou’s gaze, withdrew her infatuated look, and slowly, arrogantly crossed her arms.

“I heard your Experimental Subject passed the Division Test. I came to congratulate you.”

Her words said congratulations, but her tone did not match.

Tang Rou patted Number 17’s tense arm, signaling him to relax. The youth obediently and reluctantly withdrew his tentacles. When he looked again at the uninvited guest at the door, his eyes were filled with undisguised murderous intent.

“This is my section. You shouldn’t be here.” Tang Rou stepped forward, blocking her view.

Song Yina fiddled with her hair, not taking this First-Class Keeper seriously at all.

As fellow researchers of Zone A, the Experimental Subjects Song Yina kept were completely different from Tang Rou’s-hideous and ferocious, cruel and indifferent by nature, evoking fear.

Marine creatures have never truly been domesticated.

Even the dolphins and killer whales closest to humans cannot fully follow human commands, let alone these fierce and untamable exotic marine creatures.

Thus, Tang Rou’s Experimental Subjects had become legendary throughout the Experimental Base, with everyone marveling at her achievements.

Because of this, Song Yina always eyed Tang Rou’s Experimental Subjects covetously.

She stared thoughtfully at the handsome creature behind the water tank.

Her expression seemed somewhat ambiguous.

“That’s right, you should spend more time with them.”

After all, there isn’t much time left.

Tang Rou frowned, feeling a suspicious hint of pride in her tone. “What do you mean?”

Song Yina fiddled with her hair, smiled, and winked at the humanoid creature behind the glass.

Then she turned and left, as if she had really just come to say hello.

.

Aselan’s car arrived on schedule after work, inviting Tang Rou out to the city center for drinks.

The Experimental Base offered salaries as high as its danger level. Under the neon lights of the night, people lived on land, enjoying what seemed to be a peaceful life.

Tang Rou drank a bit too much.

Aselan was crying about a breakup, clinking glasses with her one after another, quickly losing track of how much they’d had.

Fortunately, the car had an autopilot function.

At the next table, people were chatting about exotic creatures, bursting into laughter. “That’s all fake. You guys actually believe that?”

“But I really saw one recently-half its face was human, the other half… rotten, like a sea anemone.”

“You must be drunk out of your mind! How could something like that exist in the world?”

Tang Rou and Aselan exchanged a glance.

Aselan said, “A Low-Grade Living Experimental Subject from Zone D escaped recently. It was quickly caught… and already executed.”

Tang Rou silently put down her glass. Aselan was quiet for a while, then did the same.

Death, spoken of lightly, was the final destination for most Experimental Subjects without value.

How could human imagination ever be richer than cruel reality?”