At dusk, the cargo district of First Starport on the Capital Star remained bustling, with containers of all colors constantly rising and descending, piling up into a small mountain, reflecting the light spilling from the terminal building nearby.
Ground crew members were busy, coming and going in the twilight. But none of them noticed that from a small container at the edge of the cargo district, a strange “thump, thump” sound was coming—
Five minutes ago, Fufu woke up in the dark container.
He had originally been a carefree little bat, living with his mother in the forest, active at night and resting by day, flying around, and his favorite pastime was hanging from trees and sipping mango juice.
Until a few days ago, when he was clinging to Mama Bat and about to fall asleep, he actually heard her speak.
She said: “Fufu, you’ve grown up now. Leave this place and go find your big brother and your father. They live at…”
At the time, Fufu was half-asleep and didn’t understand a thing, and soon drifted off to sleep.
But when he woke up, he found himself in a strange place—no forest, no mangoes, no mother, everything cold and unfamiliar.
Not only that, he had turned into a soft, squishy human baby. His wings were gone, his fur was gone, his claws had become round and tiny, and he couldn’t even hang upside down properly anymore!
He was sad and scared, and he missed his mother. Where had she gone? And where was he supposed to find his big brother and father?!
Fufu didn’t know. He could only forage for food first, wandering for a few days with little to eat or drink, until he ran into some people who came at him fiercely, trying to catch him, calling him a little monster.
Fufu thought to himself, You’re the monsters, and turned to run. But in his current form, he couldn’t fly and couldn’t run fast either, so he was naturally caught. Someone pressed a wet cloth over his mouth, and he fell asleep.
Until just now, when he woke up in this pitch-black square box.
Fufu was a little bat, so he could see clearly even in the dark. He saw that in this box, besides himself, there were seven or eight other little babies. Some had furry ears, some had fish tails, and some had wings. All of them were bound hand and foot, huddled in the corner, sobbing.
Fufu immediately understood—they had all been kidnapped and brought here!
The little bat felt both angry and scared. What were those people going to do with them?
It was already bad enough that he had suddenly lost his wings—why did those people have to tie him up too?!
Fufu was very upset. He struggled hard with his hands and feet, lowering his head to bite at the rope around his wrist.
But the rope was made of something unknown, and it was incredibly tough. The little bat bit at it several times but couldn’t break through.
Fufu grew even angrier. He struggled a few more times, and suddenly felt the space beneath him give way!
The little bat went “thump” as he flopped onto the bottom of the box.
Fufu was a bit dazed from the fall. He shook his head, looked down, and was delighted—he had turned back into a little bat again!
The little bat’s body was only the size of a palm, and the rope that had been tightly bound around his hands had become a loose loop several times bigger than his entire body.
Fufu was overjoyed. He immediately shook off the rope, flapped his wings, and flew up again!
The space inside the container was very small. Fufu circled around once and found a gap at the container door—very narrow, but just wide enough for his little bat body to squeeze through.
Fufu landed at the gap, folded his wings, braced his little claws on both sides, and slipped out. Then he spread his wings again and flew into the night sky.
Haha, the little bat was free again!
But before he could let out a joyful cry, he suddenly heard a familiar voice from nearby: “Damn! One just crawled out—grab him, don’t let him get away!”
Fufu looked over and saw the tall, burly man lunging straight at him. Startled, he let out a yelp and quickly flapped his wings to dodge.
But the next second, he saw another burly man with a full beard closing in from the other side!
Fufu panicked and flapped his wings hard to change direction.
However, having spent a few days as a human, he had suddenly reverted to being a little bat and wasn’t yet skilled at flying. Combined with the sharp turn, he lost his balance and tumbled sideways, crashing to the ground.
Falling while learning to fly is common for bats. But just as Fufu was about to regroup and take off again, he realized his wings were gone. He looked down and saw only a pair of chubby little hands—he had turned back into a human baby!
Fufu almost burst into tears. He could only scramble to his feet and run forward on his legs, trying to escape the humans chasing him.
He barely made it two steps before he tripped and fell: “Oof!”
His knees slammed against the hard concrete pavement, sending a sharp pain through him. Fufu’s little face scrunched up, tears nearly spilling out before he forced them back.
He tried to get up and run again, but felt a tight grip on the back of his neck—the man behind him had grabbed him by the collar and lifted him entirely off the ground.
“Run, huh? Thought you could get away? Hmph, you little monster…”
“Waaah—”
Fufu grew even angrier, shrieking as he kicked his hands and feet wildly in the air, even twisting his head to try to bite the man.
The man seemed taken aback by how much strength he had, flinching and glancing around nervously before shoving Fufu firmly against his chest and clamping a large hand over his mouth.
“Mmph mmph—”
Just then, Fufu suddenly heard a strange hissing sound above him. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a bizarre dark shadow writhing behind the bright floor-to-ceiling window of a nearby building…
The next second, with a sharp crack, the glass near that shadow shattered instantly!
Then, a figure leaped down from the second floor, landing nimbly, the hem of their coat fluttering.
For a moment, both Fufu and the thug holding him were frozen in shock.
The person wore a vintage-style suit, with shoulder-length auburn hair tied back. His face was pale, but his deep black eyes were strikingly sharp as he stared straight at them.
He raised his hand, and in an instant, a tangible shadow emerged from beneath his feet and shot toward them!
The three thugs immediately turned to run, but before they could take a single step, they all let out agonized screams.
At the same time, Fufu felt the grip on his collar loosen, and he dropped back to the ground.
He looked back in confusion and saw that the three men who had been so arrogant moments ago were now sprawled on the ground, with eerie shadows piercing through their hands and feet—like thick, sticky asphalt, or writhing tentacles—binding them firmly to the pavement.
Fufu was stunned for a moment, then turned his gaze to the man who had saved him, standing just a few steps away.
The man was also looking down at him, studying him. His brows were furrowed, his gaze cold, and he looked somewhat fierce, but…
But Fufu noticed that the man had the same auburn hair, black pupils, and long fangs as him—he seemed to be a bat too.
And more importantly, the man carried a familiar scent, something like the smell of his mother…
Fufu’s eyes lit up instantly. No wonder the man had saved him—this person was his big brother—
He had found his brother—an incredibly formidable brother!
Realizing this, Fufu had no time to feel surprised. All the grievance and fear he had bottled up since entering this world burst forth in an instant. His nose tingled and his eyes burned, and he could no longer hold it in.
He scrunched up his little face, stumbled over unsteadily, and threw himself at the man’s legs, wailing loudly:
“Waaah—Brother, they’re bullying me!!”