The Creature Keeper - Chapter 8

Tang Rou had harmed it.

She was finally returned to her own laboratory.

The Experimental Subjects became very agitated when they saw Tang Rou. The Octopus Youth stubbornly stared in her direction, his pitch-black eyes concealing an indescribable vortex. The Sea Rabbit had already started crying; he climbed out of the glass tank, nearly collapsing to the ground, calling her name over and over again in a soft, trembling voice.

But Tang Rou could not respond to them. She walked straight toward the deep-water area of Number 4.

Amidst a magnificent blue, the Jellyfish slowly swam up from the depths. Its semi-transparent body was graceful and ethereal, ribbon-like tentacles brushing past where she stood, lingeringly outlining her figure.

“What happened?”

Tang Rou asked haltingly, her mind seemingly unable to process it.

This Jellyfish was always so gentle and distant, never close to her, and had never shown even the slightest aggression.

How could this be?

She was puzzled, yet unable to see through the ocean creature behind the glass.

.

Blue Bottle Mutant Box Jellyfish.

This was the name on Number 4’s information card.

No one knew what kind of obscure secret this enormous and beautiful creature held.

The Jellyfish loved his Feeder deeply, but could not touch her.

Among his hundreds of graceful tentacles were billions of nematocysts, which, when stimulated, would uncontrollably shoot out from the ribbons and pierce the skin of anyone who touched them. The venom could instantly stop a human heart, taking their life.

The mutated Jellyfish possessed near-human intelligence and loved Tang Rou deeply. He knew he could not endure her touch; the pleasurable stimulation would harm her, so he always silently watched her through the thick glass.

He had no senses, yet knew of her existence; no eyes, but every cell could sense her approach. Yet this deep love was destined never to be spoken aloud.

He had no organs to express affection, and at the same time, his potent toxicity doomed him to never be able to touch the one he loved, turning this love into a secret that would die in loneliness.

He cherished his Feeder more than life itself, forcing himself never to touch her, but this did not include others.

If the one he loved was replaced, he would not allow anyone to destroy the bond between him and his Feeder.

At last, she had returned.

Perhaps the price would be his own death.

Tang Rou gazed at the beautiful Jellyfish through the glass, her fingers sliding across the glass panel. The slender tentacles followed her movements, brushing against the transparent, solid glass.

As if, in this way, he could touch the one he loved.

Tang Rou knew nothing of his affection. He was so undemanding, never making a sound, never seeking her company like the Octopus Youth and the Sea Rabbit.

He simply guarded her in silence, drifting alone behind the glass. When she arrived, he would sway his tentacles, revealing a hint of secret, unspoken shyness and joy.

Executing Number 4 would be a tremendous loss for the Experimental Base.

Gritting their teeth, they released poison into that vast tank. Before that, for the first time, Tang Rou opened the tank panel.

The Jellyfish floated up, carefully gathering his ribbons to ensure not a single strand would touch his Feeder, and brought his soft head closer.

Tang Rou gently touched his fragile bell and found him trembling.

The ribbons quivered in the water, sending out tiny ripples.

“Are you afraid?”

Of course, it was not fear.

It was intense, unparalleled happiness.

And reluctant attachment.

This was the first time he had direct contact with his Feeder. He trembled, controlling his tentacles.

Cannot touch, cannot touch her.

This was his first time, and also his last.
“Prepare for execution.”

“Begin execution.”

“Commence execution countdown.”

“Feeder Tang, please leave the cultivation chamber. Do not interfere with the execution.”

The urging of the execution personnel came through her headset.

Tang Rou closed her eyes.

.

However, the Mutant Blue Bottle Jellyfish proved to be far more toxic than they had imagined.

After the first poisoning attempt, the Jellyfish continued to drift in that stretch of water, seemingly unharmed, so the number of poisonings was increased to a second time.

Then a third time was added, each with a higher level of toxicity than the last.

Yet after three attempts, although part of the Jellyfish’s body tissue had dissolved, it miraculously adapted to those potent toxins.

What does adaptation mean?

This was a major discovery; even without formal testing, it had already surpassed the expectations of everyone at the Base.

It was so ethereal and graceful, yet so terrifying and astonishing. It actually absorbed all the toxins-enough to kill every marine creature within thousands of cubic meters!

After absorbing all the injected poison, the Jellyfish’s body underwent some changes. White and blue ripples appeared on its bell, like some ancient and mysterious incantation.

This mutation led the Base to immediately abandon the plan to kill this Experimental Subject and launch a series of tests in Tang Rou’s sector.

However, when Tang Rou was required to leave, the Jellyfish fell into an unprecedented depression.

It stopped struggling, and the toxins quickly damaged its tentacles, causing them to melt.

They were astonished and invited Tang Rou back again. When the female Feeder stood outside the glass, the Jellyfish regained its vitality and began to resist the toxins once more.

It was truly miraculous; they had never believed that a Jellyfish could possess emotions.

This was the greatest surprise Zone A had seen in recent times-so much so that they falsely reported the Jellyfish’s death, gave Song Family a fabricated explanation, and registered a brand-new number for the Jellyfish.

S-103.

.

The light screen, spanning three floors in height, scrolled to display a new round of personnel assignments.

Tang Rou’s name had disappeared from the list.

People speculated whether her Experimental Subject had harmed Song Yina, implicating her and leading to her dismissal from the Experimental Base.

Rumors grew more and more intense, even sounding increasingly true. Some caught Aselan, who was close to Tang Rou, and asked if she knew anything. Aselan just blinked and told them to mind their own business.

Finally, a few days later, someone saw her again.

Tang Rou was wearing a different uniform; her access had changed from card swipe to iris recognition, and she entered the tightly sealed, heavily guarded Sector S.

.

When Aselan knocked and entered, Tang Rou was organizing her new office space.

She walked over to Tang Rou, congratulating her while gossiping, “Congratulations! The whole place is in an uproar. You have no idea how ugly your former colleagues in Zone A look-like they’ve eaten shit. Some are even spreading rumors that you bribed the higher-ups. Please, can they get a grip? Is Sector S a place you can get into just by giving gifts?”

“Did you not get along with them? Why can’t they stand to see you succeed?”

Tang Rou couldn’t be bothered to care about them.

This brand-new workspace radiated a high level of metallic security everywhere, with an entire wall made of transparent glass.

Behind the hidden tempered patterns was a deep blue stretch of water. Her Jellyfish-once Number 4, now S-103-drifted in this aquatic space, its long, graceful tentacles occasionally brushing against the glass, as if trying to attract her attention.