Everyone evacuated to the safe zone, making way for the birth of the new divine offspring. Only the director remained in his office on the lowest level, standing on the door that led to the deep wells.
Eight deep wells sealed eight of the most troublesome A-level special items, each stained with the blood of countless special agents. They slept under the never-ending drumbeats of A0018.
If nothing unexpected happened, they would coexist with the Institute—and even C City—until the end.
But now, the unexpected had occurred as expected.
The director heard the sound of the elevator and gripped the switch tightly, his hand turning white from the pressure. In the midst of extreme tension and stress, he briefly lost focus, thinking of his predecessor.
Twelve years ago, when the former director decided to sign a contract with the “Jellyfish,” he might have felt the same way—standing at a crossroads of fate, unsure whether salvation or an abyss lay ahead.
History had proven the former director’s decision correct. Among those invincible monsters, there existed “freaks” who were friendly to humans, even willingly confining themselves, forming families with humans, and raising offspring.
But whether his current decision was correct remained unknown. The only certainty was that once the “Jellyfish’s” offspring was born, the entire world would undergo subtle changes.
This was a hybrid embryo.
It might even be the first new deity with human blood in hundreds of millions of years.
All risks were worth it. He thought firmly.
In a cold sweat, the elevator dinged. The monster, dragging its pregnant sac, crawled into the lowest level, causing the surrounding air to boil instantly.
Even with thick glasses, the director didn’t dare look directly at the “Jellyfish” in this state. He only caught a glimpse of a terrifying, massive figure in his peripheral vision, its body protecting a fragile, swaying sac.
The sac was already covered in bright red patterns, blood dripping from the tentacles, filling the air with an indescribably rich scent.
This scent caused the eight deep wells beneath his feet to tremble simultaneously, and an extremely dangerous aura began to spread.
A weakened mother on the verge of labor.
A fragile embryo that had just fully developed.
No monster could resist such an opportunity. The drumbeats of A0018 continued, but the top-tier special items, dormant for decades, began to struggle, even resonating in unison, attempting to resist the drumbeats together.
“Thud”
“Thud”
“Thud”
The drumbeats grew louder, faintly audible even in the director’s office, like the heartbeat of some creature.
The director’s heart gradually synchronized with the drumbeats. An irresistible drowsiness washed over him, as if countless invisible hands were grabbing his consciousness, dragging him into an endless abyss…
“Mr. Lu…” he struggled to speak, “the switch… in my hand…”
A sharp screech came from the sac.
Brainwaves surged toward the director, clearing all the malevolent thoughts around him.
His consciousness instantly cleared, and he broke out in a cold sweat from the lingering fear. Grateful, he thanked the “Jellyfish” and quickly said, “The switch in my hand can briefly silence the drumbeats for three seconds. But what happens in those three seconds is unpredictable. The worst-case scenario is that all eight special items in the deep wells escape within those three seconds…”
Lu Jianchuan interrupted him: “No.”
The director was momentarily confused: “What?”
The “Jellyfish’s” voice was hoarse and slow, as if enduring extreme pain.
“There’s no need to silence the Chaos Drum. Just tell me which well the Nightmare Serpent is in.”
The director was stunned for half a second.
A0018 was a drum that played automatically without anyone striking it. Any creature that heard its beats would fall into a deep sleep. They had tried countless methods to stop the drumbeats but failed, eventually building the Institute above it to use its power to seal away troublesome evil gods.
The director, worried that Lu Jianchuan didn’t understand A0018’s power, anxiously said, “If you enter the deep well while the drumbeats are playing, you’ll definitely lose consciousness!”
Lu Jianchuan had no more patience. He crawled toward the director, snatched the switch from his hand, and, enduring the pain in his abdomen, coiled him into the elevator.
Before the director could speak, the elevator dinged and automatically ascended to the lobby.
Only Lu Jianchuan remained.
The air seemed to solidify, clinging to the skin. Several terrifying auras intertwined, causing a massive whirlpool to form in the ocean depths without anyone noticing.
The cracks in the sac widened further, leaving only a paper-thin layer of translucent skin. Through it, one could see the blood-stained white eggshell inside.
A pair of crimson eyes appeared on the eggshell, scanning the entrances to the eight wells before settling on the fourth well. It let out a sharp cry toward the mother.
Lu Jianchuan received the message and, without hesitation, lifted a bleeding tentacle to press the switch for the fourth well.
The well cover, sealed with the ashes of a special creature, slowly slid open in response to the signal.
As soon as the gap appeared, the mesmerizing drumbeats became clearer, sounding deep and powerful, as if striking the skin of a living creature. The sound rippled outward, forming waves that spread through the space, rushing toward Lu Jianchuan.
Luck always played its part at the right time.
Lu Jianchuan’s blood carried the lineage of an ancient deity. His genes, honed over billions of years of slumber, had developed an immunity to the drumbeats, allowing him to endure them for three seconds.
Three.
His tentacles swiftly entered the well, twisting space and teleporting to the bottom. In the thick darkness, he saw the coiled figure of the massive serpent.
Two.
A dozen tentacles wrapped around the serpent, opening their suckers and mouthparts, sinking sharp teeth into its flesh, firmly capturing it before rapidly retreating.
One.
The golden serpent was dragged into the office, and the remaining tentacles pressed the close button.
However, the well cover, weighing dozens of tons, moved slowly and couldn’t close immediately.
The drumbeats grew clearer. Without the cover’s obstruction, they directly struck Lu Jianchuan’s sensitive auditory system.
Thud, thud, thud…
The tentacles stiffened, and the brain matter felt as if it had been filled with cement. Even the pain of labor eased, and an irresistible drowsiness tried to drag him into darkness…
The crimson eyes on the brain matter gradually closed.
The embryo, buffered by the eggshell, resisted longer than the mother.
It grew anxious, releasing a burst of divine power from the sac, piercing into Lu Jianchuan’s fading consciousness like an invisible knife, stabbing into the mother’s body.
Lu Jianchuan woke from the pain.
The eyes snapped open in agony, the tentacles writhing as he hissed, “Be gentle!”
At the same time, the well cover slammed shut, cutting off the eerie drumbeats.
Lu Jianchuan quickly regained consciousness and looked at his prize.
The eerie golden scales shimmered under the light, and the serpent’s triangular head swayed sluggishly. The Nightmare Serpent, imprisoned by the drumbeats for ten years, couldn’t wake as quickly as Lu Jianchuan and remained in a daze.
Their feast was still asleep.
The egg screeched in excitement, urging the mother, corroding a small hole in the sac to reveal the blood-stained eggshell.
Lu Jianchuan could no longer endure the pain of labor. Seizing the opportunity, he coiled around the serpent, his mouthparts spinning as he began to feast.
…The taste was as good as he remembered.
The serpent’s flesh was sweet and tender, its blood refreshing, and its scales crispy and hard, carrying the tang of nightmares that perfectly balanced the sweetness.
The pain jolted the serpent, hastening its awakening. It let out an angry hiss, its tail thrashing wildly.
Ten years ago, it had been easily subdued by Lu Jianchuan.
Ten years later, even though Lu Jianchuan was in labor, his tentacles weak and being torn apart from the inside by his own child, the serpent still couldn’t escape his mouthparts.
The serpent struggled in despair, its green eyes blazing with ghostly flames as they met the dozens of pupils on the brain matter.
Endless nightmares unfolded in the ocean depths, darkness and cold spreading.
As the dream consumed him, Lu Jianchuan once again lost focus, as if seeing two parallel lines intertwining into an unsolvable knot.
—The time had come.
The egg finally reached the moment it had longed for.
Before Lu Jianchuan could react, he felt the entire dream enveloped by the eggshell.
The Nightmare Serpent seemed equally shocked, instinctively unleashing more divine power to break free from the eggshell’s grip.
However, the stronger the power, the tighter the eggshell contracted, as if an invisible monster were feasting on the terrifying dream.
At the same time, in the real world, the sac convulsed with intense pain. Lu Jianchuan heard the sound of his flesh tearing, the overwhelming scent of blood drowning out the serpent’s aura.
A part of his body was severed from itself. Lu Jianchuan was instantly drained of all strength and fell into unconsciousness.
…
Fang Xingzhou stood in the safe zone, staring intently at the camera feed.
The alarms had blared all night, and the magnetic field detector had long since maxed out.
Outside the Institute, the deep sea roared. Tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and massive whirlpools followed one after another…
He didn’t even know how he had endured this time, standing motionless in front of the monitor, watching more and more blood seep through the door crack, feeling his own life force draining away with the blood, as if he had turned into a long-dead statue.
All night, the words he had spoken to Lu Jianchuan in the car two years ago echoed in his mind.
“Between us, there are only two options: coexistence or shared death.”
The longer he waited, the deeper those words carved into him. Despair and fear, colder than the deep sea, seeped into his skin, freezing him slowly and cruelly.
Until someone in the silent safe zone suddenly whispered in awe, “Look, what a beautiful sunrise!”
Everyone turned to look in the direction he pointed, and Fang Xingzhou followed suit.
To prevent psychological issues among the staff, the ceilings of every room in the Institute projected real-time scenes from the surface. Now, they displayed a beautiful image of warmth and hope.
Outside, dawn had broken.
The golden sun lazily climbed over the horizon, dispelling the oppressive deep blue night. It splashed vibrant, dazzling colors across the sky, layer upon layer, creating a stunning, richly colored masterpiece.
Then, the blaring alarms suddenly stopped.
The abnormal magnetic field slowly returned to normal levels, and the blood seeping through the door crack began to disappear, as if the horrors of the previous night had never happened.
Someone else exclaimed joyfully, “The magnetic field has stabilized. Mr. Lu must have given birth!”
Fang Xingzhou’s frozen heart finally began to beat. He took a deep breath, coming back to life, and eagerly stepped forward. But his limbs, stiff from standing too long, refused to cooperate, and he nearly fell.
Beside him, Li Xuan was equally excited, his hands and feet numb. He steadied Fang Xingzhou and said, “Dr. Fang, wait a few minutes. We’ll confirm the situation. If it’s safe, we’ll go down together…”
Before he could finish, Fang Xingzhou had already vanished from his side, striding toward the elevator and pressing the button for the lowest level.
Li Xuan was momentarily stunned, then, disregarding any preparations, quickly called Yan Xin and rushed into the neighboring elevator, following closely behind.
Negative eighteenth floor.
The elevator’s speed felt infinitely slower under the weight of tension. Fang Xingzhou’s hands and feet trembled, his face pale, his mind entirely focused on one thing—
How was Lu Jianchuan?
Had he eaten the serpent he had longed for? Was he injured? Had he successfully shed the heavy sac?
“Ding.”
The interminable descent finally ended. Fang Xingzhou’s limbs were so stiff that he nearly fell again as he stepped out. He steadied himself against the elevator frame, then broke into a run, charging toward the massive wooden door.
The door was slightly ajar, not fully closed.
Fang Xingzhou, breathing heavily, pushed it open.
—The familiar large monster lay in the center of the office, its tentacles still unconsciously gnawing at the bare serpent bones, occasionally smacking its lips as if savoring the feast.
It was clearly just waking up, its dozens of eyes dazed. It shook its brain matter, lifted a tentacle to feel for the sac, and found nothing.
The large monster froze.
The strength drained during labor had returned. It moved its tentacles, lowering its brain matter to look at the belly that had tormented it for nearly twenty months.
It was empty.
The sac, along with the nutrient fluid, had vanished.
Slowly, it realized something. Its eighteen tentacles began to writhe in panic, carefully and urgently searching beneath itself until it found something round.
…It was a pristine white egg.
A fully developed egg, ready to hatch at any moment.
The eyes widened, staring motionlessly at the eggshell. The brain matter went blank for a moment, unable to believe it had truly given birth to this miraculous little thing.
After a pause, the brain matter lit up with ecstatic joy, turning from pink to a brilliant blue.
It leaned close to the eggshell, planting several kisses on it, then carefully tucked the egg into the depths of its tentacles.
The tentacles moved swiftly, rushing toward the door, eager to share the good news with its wife.
After moving a few meters, it saw Fang Xingzhou standing at the doorway.
Its lover’s eyes were red, his lips trembling slightly, his hand gripping the doorframe tightly as he stared at the bloodstains on the tentacles.
Lu Jianchuan froze again, its eyes darting around, taking in the messy office, the serpent stripped to the bone, and the stains on its own body.
Afraid it looked too dirty, it frantically tried to clean itself but only made things worse. In the end, it chose to transform into human form, though only halfway, fearing it might drop the egg, making it look even more terrifying.
It didn’t notice anything amiss. Its handsome human head turned to Fang Xingzhou with a wide, joyful smile, its mouth stretching almost to its ears.
The tentacles lifted the pristine egg high, spinning it twice to proudly show their creation to its lover, then announced in a hoarse voice:
“Wife, look at our child!”
The eggshell let out an excited chirp in response.
___________________________________________________________
T/N:
YOOOOOO finally!!!
finally got to the lines in the intoduction (clap clap)
