Chapter 346: The Prettiest Toy, Good Night

Freshly relaid tiles, and loose soil trickled down into the pitch-black hole beneath.

Shredded, bloodstained clothes fell along with a mobile phone, crashing into the drainage pipe that had been torn open.

The drainage pipes buried deep underground had existed since before the Great Cataclysm, like an unseen venous network winding and twisting beneath the city's skin.

The pipe walls were coated in layer upon layer of thick moss, slick and cold; the pipe walls, seeming like stone yet also like metal, bore faint rusted cracks, and a pitch-black liquid seeped from the fissures, like the black blood of ancient corpses not yet fully drained.

Thick iron pipes thrust inward; some were blocked and dried up, others still seeped water, like capillary vessels dense with corpses.

Rings of iron rust spread outward from the pipe mouths like annual rings, and years of grime were embedded in every groove.

A rotten, sweet fishy smell floated in the damp air — the unique breath of the sewer, blended with mold and the body odor of unknown creatures.

From the pipe depths came a rustling sound, like countless tiny claws scratching against the metal inner walls.

Suddenly, a deathly pale face emerged from the darkness — a face near-human, yet covered in fine scales that gave off a sickly fluorescence in the dim light.

Its eyes were extraordinarily large, pupils vertical slits contracting in the dark like a feline's.

The monster's twisted body crawled from the pipe; its limbs were abnormally long, its skin semi-transparent, with writhing blood vessels faintly visible beneath.

It seemed to be searching for something; its deformed neck rotated slowly like a rusted mechanical axle, emitting a tooth-aching bone-grinding sound.

Suddenly, its movement froze, and it pressed its scale-covered face against the clothes on the ground.

The soft touch of the clothes and the faint, uniquely human body scent were like a warm current injected into its icy body, making it tremble with excitement.

A gurgling sound rose from its throat, just like a child in a dream who has obtained a beloved toy.

Then, clumsily yet skillfully, it unfastened the clothes and put them on its own body.

It was skillful because it clearly knew how to undo buttons, how to dress, and even knew which hole on the clothes was for the head and which for the arms.

It was clumsy because, relative to its bizarre physique, the garment was far too small; the collar stretched deformed just to fit over its neck, yet its arms could not be forced into the sleeves no matter what.

Even so, it did not take the clothes off, letting them hang around its neck like a colorful scarf.

Next, it picked up the mobile phone from the ground, fiddled with it for a while, then aimed the shattered screen at itself, and its sharp fingers made a gesture beside its head.

It seemed to be imitating a human taking a selfie?

But it seemed to know how to use a phone, yet also not entirely; because it apparently had not realized the phone was smashed.

Click—

A flash emitted piercing light, driving back the darkness.

But this beam did not come from the monster's phone; it came from a figure farther behind it.

It was a man in a white coat, wearing black-rimmed glasses, a gentle smile on his face, using his own phone to photograph the monster, just like a considerate boyfriend recording his girlfriend's beautiful moment.

Behind him crouched several similar monsters, each emitting a low whimper from its throat.

"Worthy of being the prettiest toy in this batch; you still love selfies so much. I remember I chose you because I saw your selfie photo."

In his magnetic voice, the man beckoned.

The clothed monster's face actually showed a hint of anthropomorphic fear; it obediently lowered its body, arched its back, like a dog currying favor before its master, and slowly crawled toward the man, mouth opening, extending a long bright-red tongue.

"Oh, no no no, in your current state doing that is inappropriate, though I still like you very much."

The man reached out and gently stroked the monster's cheek, then touched the clothes on its neck; he took the shattered phone from the monster's hand, a flicker of doubt flashing in his eyes, but he quickly regained his calm, as if such trifles were not worth his attention.

His voice was low:

"Don't be anxious; one phone cannot capture your beauty. I have already chosen the stage for you, for all of you. Soon, you will get your wish and stand at the center of that stage surrounded by flashbulbs, letting countless cameras record your figures, letting countless people witness your beauty."

The man paused for a moment, as if he had already placed himself in that thrilling instant, an intoxicated expression surfacing on his face:

"I seem to already hear countless people screaming for your beauty. Not tomorrow, then the day after, at latest the day after that — okay?"

As if receiving the man's promise, the crowd of humanoid monsters clustered around him, and in unison their throats emitted a sound like kittens purring.

"Mhm, mhm, mhm, not lying to you; when have I ever lied to you? Mhm, I'll give you the signal to take the stage when the time comes."

As the man spoke, he casually slipped the shattered phone screen into his own pocket.

The clothed monster grinned, its eyes holding a trace of reluctance.

The man noticed this, and smiling, took out a brand-new phone from his pocket.

He lightly lit up the phone screen, then casually stuffed it back into the monster's hand.

The monster carefully accepted the phone, eyes fixed on the glowing screen, pupils flickering with an excited ghostly light.

"When this phone vibrates, that is your stage signal. You may make your entrance then, understand? At that time, you may enjoy yourselves to the fullest, only..."

The clothed monster did not know whether it could understand human speech; it just carefully clutched the phone, and when the surrounding monsters tried to reach out, it glared them back with a fierce grin.

The man did not mind, continuing in a lingering tone:

"Only you must help me bring the girl in the photo back here; she will be your future new companion!!!"

Slowly pushing open the dormitory door, Feng Yuhuai scanned the room; Cui Cui was wrapped in her blanket fast asleep, still grinding her teeth restlessly, Zhang Liyou's face pressed against the wall, the back of her head half-hidden in the blanket, breathing even and deep, as if also sleeping extremely soundly.

Feng Yuhuai slipped back into the covers lightly, the smile on her face returning to the vivid liveliness of when she first enrolled; she closed her eyes, and a sleep-talk-like murmur escaped her lips:

"Everyone, good night!"

She was not saying good night to the already-sleeping Zhang Liyou and Cui Cui; she was saying good night to Lu Yazhi and Xiao Juan, who were embracing her in the same blanket!

End of Chapter