Chapter 597

Ahhhhh!!!!!

Zhang Jie!!! What is this thing!!!

Zhang Jie, flushed and exhausted after a busy day, returned home, had just finished washing his tired body when he heard his older sister's signature loud voice.

Zhang Jie's eyes went black—this was bad. He had been hiding the watermelon rind well all along, afraid of scaring his older sister, so they never met.

But who would have thought? Today his older sister suddenly felt like wandering around the house, and that's how she discovered this strange thing.

When Zhang Jie arrived, his older sister was clutching her chest and pointing at the watermelon rind, shouting strangely.

As for the watermelon rind, this little thing actually displayed its signature action toward his older sister—using its little hand to point at its own mouth.

You you you! Look, it wants to eat me!!!

His older sister crossed her arms and wailed, and Zhang Jie felt like his life was over.

Zhang Jie could clearly see that the watermelon rind's small mouth had two neat rows of tiny teeth, with four particularly sharp ones that looked like a vampire's fangs.

The watermelon rind seemed a bit tired from holding up, tilted its head, as if it couldn't understand the person's words before it; its dull eyes flickered, and somehow saliva dripped from its mouth.

Say something, buddy!

Cough, older sister, let me explain....

What explanation?! Have you been poisoned by eating mushrooms? You dare to raise anything!

Zhang Jie ignored his frazzled older sister, scooped a spoonful of pig feed and fed it to the watermelon rind, then took a deep breath and sincerely looked at his older sister......

Even if it's not polluted... you can't just pick up random things!

This kind of thing! Isn't it exactly what all the theories about anomalies say?

Indeed, but the definition of an anomaly refers to everything whose form does not conform to that of a normal human or normal living being.

What exactly is the watermelon rind? Some kind of... creature's larva?

Who knows, but since Zhang Jie picked it up, their fate has become an unbreakable thread.

I know, but....

Don't 'but' me! Come clean—how long have you been raising it?

Um.... almost two months.

Two months! Good, good, good! Little Zhang Jie! You've kept it from your sister this long!

Afterwards, there was no avoiding a bout of nagging; Zhang Jie had no choice but to silently listen, and only the sound of Watermelon Rind dry-chewing the feed could be heard.

"Forget it, forget it! Be careful next time!"

Older sister still easily forgave Zhang Jie; in her view, as long as Zhang Jie was fine, it wasn't really a big deal at all.

"Hey, you better not say it, but this little thing is really quite cute."

Older sister poked Watermelon Rind's head with her finger; Watermelon Rind didn't react, so she poked it a few more times.

Then Watermelon Rind revealed those dead-fish eyes, looking at Zhang Yan, stuck out its tongue and licked her fingers, indicating she should get lost.

Zhang Yan was made to giggle nonstop; it seemed Zhang Jie didn't need to explain anything further, as Zhang Yan herself took a liking to this little thing.

After two months of growth, Watermelon Rind had grown a full pair of arms, with all fingers present; next... it should probably start growing legs, right?

"By the way, why are you feeding it pig feed?"

Zhang Jie's mouth twitched; well, that's a long story....

"Hungry!!!"

"If you're hungry, eat!"

Zhang Jie scooped two big spoonfuls of pig feed into it....

"......"

"Brother-in-law, I think I get why you're feeding it pig feed...."

Zhang Jie: Glad you understand....

"From now on, while you look after this little Watermelon Rind, you must follow the phone's tasks, continually improving your physique."

"Strangely, completing the phone's tasks seems to offer no reward other than physique improvement; you only feel yourself getting harder and harder...."

"Now you have confidence that even against a B-rank anomaly, you can handle it!"

"And the situation that follows is just as you expected: you have successfully reached Tier 3 Will, qualifying you for promotion to senior investigator, but having the qualification and actually having the ability are two different things."

"You're now like that thirty-year-old who earned enough for a small goal—only reached thirty, lacking the small goal...."

"However, it's not all bad news: you not only found a decent-looking intern investigator, but also successfully dragged older sister back to serve as a conscript."

"Older sister directly started as a junior investigator; you lead the team, forming a newbie forbidden-zone exploration squad, but you still need to work out the kinks."

"Age 18: the 'Hundred No Taboos' supernatural ability is sufficient in most situations, and you finally feel the teamwork is mostly smoothed out, anomalies appear less frequently, and you now have the capability to apply to superiors for forbidden-zone exploration."

"You have added a new ranged weapon for yourself, the Shotgun, which is the most useful weapon against anomalies, a C-rank supernatural item that consumes internal supernatural power as ammunition, and it's very handy."

"And as for little Watermelon Rind, it has also grown quite a bit, seeming much smarter; its eyes are no longer that clueless look, but.... have gained some lively light..."

Zhang Jie watched Watermelon Rind crawling all over the ground, feeling a bit worried.

Its legs have grown quite a bit, but it still won't walk, preferring to crawl all over the ground; to the uninformed, it looks like someone's robotic vacuum cleaner.

In less than a year, it ate fifteen bags of pig feed, and only under those circumstances did it grow to the size of a computer case.

"Hungry!!!"

"Zh.... Zhang...."

The intermittent sounds came through; Zhang Jie knew this little thing was calling him, helpless, he could only go up and add feed.

On its body hung something that could barely be called clothing, which Zhang Yan made for it.

Neither sibling knows how to sew, so they can only make do with it for now.

And the reason for making the clothes is actually simple: during Watermelon Rind's growth, it inadvertently showed quite a few feminine traits.

This made Zhang Yan instantly alert; after a very careful examination of its body, Zhang Yan told Zhang Jie with a sorrowful face.

This kid..... is a female!!!

Although I don't know why she's so grief-stricken, anyway Zhang Jie was shocked—can this thing even have genders?

"Now I'm worried about what to do if this little thing wrecks my house...."

The Watermelon Peel crawling all over the ground glanced at Zhang Jie, then actively climbed onto his feet, its curious eyes fixed on him.

"What are you doing...."

"Teach... teach...."

She tugged at Zhang Jie's shirt corner, pointing toward the kitchen.

"Teach... water.... faucet!"

(Chapter 2 upload failed, don't know why, can only merge chapters)

It seemed to know Zhang Jie was going on a long trip; the little Watermelon Peel tugged at his pant leg, wanting to learn how to drink water.

After all, she eats so much pig feed; the Watermelon Peel drinks water like a cow—no idea how her little belly can hold all that stuff.

Creatures that understand human nature are always well-liked, especially cute ones.

Now if others came to see the Watermelon Peel, they might find it terrifying, but in Zhang Jie and Zhang Yan's eyes, this little thing is extremely cute.

"Got it?"

The Watermelon Peel used its little paw to pull at the faucet, stuck out its tongue to lick the flowing water a few times, and nodded at Zhang Jie.

"Awesome!"

Zhang Jie rubbed the Watermelon Peel's head; now he should be able to leave with peace of mind.

The three different kinds of pig feed he ordered online are almost here; Zhang Jie also bought her some cat canned food—she'll eat anything, but she seems to favor seafood products.

Things like crabs, she loves to eat—she doesn't even spit out the shells.

"Watermelon Peel, no sneaking out, got it?"

"Be good and wait for me to come back!"

The Watermelon Peel nodded; she isn't curious about the outside world, she just hopes Zhang Jie returns soon—her pig feed might not be enough...

Soon after, Zhang Jie set off with his own team; before leaving, the Watermelon Peel watched him at the door, both paws wrapped in long sleeves, looking pitiful.

"Bye...."

"Bye!"

Zhang Jie waved his hand, left the villa, the Watermelon Peel watched him go, then turned and crawled back inside.

To keep her from being lonely, Zhang Jie taught her to watch TV; she turned it on with ease.

"Spring has come, all things revive, and it's mating season for animals again."

"This is a transparent-winged butterfly; its forewings are transparent, its hindwings have two rose-colored patches with a red halo...."

The Watermelon Peel was drawn to the butterflies inside; she watched those butterflies, then looked at her own little paws, and began to think.

"This one is a Helena Flash Butterfly, and it's also acclaimed as the most beautiful butterfly in the world."

"Look, their wings have a special dust layer, and they refract a deep blue gradient—this is nature's treasure...."

Meanwhile, Zhang Jie's team had already passed review, passed contamination testing, passed cognition testing, and successfully entered the interior of the Forbidden Zone.

Upon entering the Forbidden Zone, a feeling of chest tightness surged up, as if a heavy stone were pressing on the lungs.

Thought also began to grow somewhat dull, and ringing in the ears often sounded.

Medium-intensity pollution, unlike the trace pollution outside, in Zhang Jie's field of vision these black pollutants had already condensed into substance.

The outside pollution was unavoidable for him; here the pollution eagerly rushed into his body, sending a tingling, numb sensation, but Zhang Jie didn't feel uncomfortable.

Looking at others, they all looked half-dead; Zhang Jie found it strange—could it be that his physique has something special?

"Old Zhang, you couldn't be some abnormal metamorphosis, could you...."

Huang Mao looked half-dead, existing in a quantum superposition of comfort and discomfort; the others were the same.

"My willpower level is high, no problem, I'll back you up."

Inside the Forbidden Zone, not only are there stronger anomalies, but also various anomalous entities and supernatural items—it's a great place to make money.

But likewise, the risk is extremely high; however, for us Old Zhang, it seems not difficult.

"Stay close to me."

In the Forbidden Land, the sky is deep blue, and strange odd plants grow everywhere; whether stone, plant, or earth, everything is twisted.

That distortion... cannot be described in words; when Zhang Jie looked at those things, he felt like looking at a painful humanoid shape.

"Damn..... in this situation... my combat power can only reach seventy percent; I truly don't know how terrifying the high-intensity zone would be."

Zhang Jie nodded; he, however, was like a fish in water, as if.... he actually belonged here all along.

"Up ahead is the area where Bullet Time appears—stay on guard."

In the distance, a tall, slender figure was squatting on the ground, gnawing on those twisted plants.

Hearing the footsteps, it jerked to a halt, slowly turned, and a ghostly face with an extremely wide mouth appeared before their eyes.

This thing's eye sockets were empty, its body pure white, except for its mouth stretched extremely long.

"That thing..... is it Bullet Time?"

"Looks not like it..."

Xu Sheng was the first to notice something off; he remembered Bullet Time was a flesh-colored anomaly—could it have mutated?

Zhang Jie looked at this thing, and the more he looked, the more wrong it felt.

"That's not Bullet Time!!!"

As Zhang Jie shouted, everyone suddenly realized, their first reaction was to run.

"Don't move! Stare at his eyes!!!"

"That's an A-rank anomaly, Vision!"

Within the field of view lies truth; as long as he is not in your sight, he will appear directly behind you! At that point, aside from having a sufficiently tough eight characters, nothing can protect you.

The way to deal with it is also simple: those lacking strength stare at him, while the strongest person duels him one-on-one.

That's simple.

As long as you don't move, it won't move, nor will it attack you.

Once you master the anomaly's rules, its threat will greatly diminish, reduced to a level one person can handle.

"What do we do, Old Zhang!"

Huang Mao panicked, while Zhang Jie looked at that thing, reached into his pocket, and pulled out that necklace.

"Don't move, all of you, watch my back."

Zhang Jie stepped forward slowly, and the field of view also moved then, maintaining the same speed as Zhang Jie, the two quickly approached.

"Xiao Jie! You!"

Zhang Yan shouted anxiously, but Zhang Jie at least gave an OK sign.

"Believe me."

Those words seemed to have magic, pinning Zhang Yan firmly in place, but her slightly trembling legs still revealed her current unease.

At that moment, a voice completely unrelated to the team suddenly sounded.

"You brat, you're crazy! Going head-on with that thing!"

Zhang Jie stared; that voice.... was very familiar, like.... Chang Ban?

Sure enough, a figure appeared beside him; in the blink of an eye, the field of view surged forward a great distance.

"Master?"

Chang Ban appeared beside him, wearing the familiar Zhongshan suit that Zhang Jie knew, his eyes showing both shock and frustration at his inability to become steel.

"You little bastard, you're really something, daring to go head-to-head with that thing? Have you learned the investigator's rules into your dog's belly?"

Zhang Jie:???

"Bu'er, Master, how did you come here?"

Zhang Jie sized up Chang Ban from head to toe, a doubtful look flitting across his eyes as he pondered how to speak.

"This is a forbidden zone, right?"

"Chang Ban, Teacher, how do you prove you are Chang Ban?"

"You couldn't be.... an anomaly, could you?"