Xu Xingyuan felt as if his body had sunk into a quagmire.
His limbs couldn’t move, his senses were dulled, and he felt like he was drowning, falling endlessly.
But Xu Xingyuan didn’t feel afraid.
He slowly closed his eyes, awaiting the destiny of being torn apart and devoured.
As the caretaker for these Little Monsters, Xu Xingyuan knew exactly how sharp their teeth were.
The entire Infinite Flow world was composed of small instances (dungeons).
Every small instance had a Boss that supported the entire dungeon.
These Little Monsters, raised in the basement of the Monster Apartment, were called “Seeds” by the Doctor.
Once they matured, they would be sent by “Ferrymen” to various Infinite Flow dungeons to maintain stability and balance.
The Little Monsters varied in strength. Upon reaching adulthood, the Doctor would evaluate their power.
The strong ones would be sent to large dungeons.
Conversely, the weak ones would be sent to small dungeons.
Facing death, Xu Xingyuan felt unusually calm. He even rested his hands obediently on his stomach, waiting for the end.
But the first sensation wasn’t the pain of being bitten by sharp teeth, but a wet feeling.
“That tickles…”
Xu Xingyuan instinctively opened his eyes and met over a dozen pairs of large, blood-red eyes.
Contrary to the fate of being eaten that he had imagined, the Little Monsters were affectionately licking his cheeks with tongues that had barbs like a cat’s.
Xu Xingyuan was a bit flustered. In the moment he was dazed, his hair fell victim too.
For some reason, these very cat-like Little Monsters liked Xu Xingyuan excessively.
One naughty one had already climbed onto his head, kneading with its four paws.
It stomped a little nest into Xu Xingyuan’s hair, then comfortably burrowed in, curling itself into a ball.
Xu Xingyuan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He tried to move his body but was pinned down.
More and more Little Monsters tried to climb onto him. Just as he was trying to figure out how to get up—
“Meow.”
A cat’s cry suddenly came from directly in front of him.
A magical phenomenon occurred.
It was just a meow, but the mischievous Little Monsters seemed to sense something terrifying.
In less than a second, the Little Monsters that had been clinging to Xu Xingyuan like rascals all jumped off. They lined up consciously in a small corner.
Their perky cat ears turned into “airplane ears,” flattened against their heads in fear, and they didn’t even dare to wag their heart-tipped tails.
Their pupils, which had turned blood-red from excitement, reverted to black in their fearful state.
“Huh?”
Xu Xingyuan, sporting a bird’s nest hairstyle, looked up blankly and met a pair of vertical red pupils.
Unlike the blood-red pupils of the Little Monsters, this jet-black cat had vertical pupils that looked like pigeon-blood rubies worth tens of millions.
It had a graceful posture, sitting upright on the fence. Its long, soft tail wrapped reservedly around its body as it looked down at Xu Xingyuan imperiously.
It was strange. It was clearly just a cat, yet Xu Xingyuan felt inexplicably nervous.
He swallowed hard. He opened his mouth to say “You,” but what came out was the respectful form:
“Sir…”
The black cat stared at Xu Xingyuan for a few seconds, then rose on its tiptoes and executed a nimble leap, landing squarely in Xu Xingyuan’s arms.
Xu Xingyuan’s body stiffened. looking down at the little black cat in his arms. He wanted to pet it, but he didn’t have the guts.
The moment the Little Monsters saw the black cat, they recoiled like rabbits seeing a tiger, pressing themselves even harder into the corner, their airplane ears flattened to the extreme.
Meanwhile, this black cat, radiating the word “Nobility” from every pore, had jumped into Xu Xingyuan’s arms and—
It kneaded with its paws, walked two circles in his embrace, found a comfortable position to curl up in, and closed its eyes, motionless.
The initially chaotic breeding room fell silent.
It was so quiet that Xu Xingyuan could hear the sound of his own nervous gulping.
He held the black cat stiffly for a while. After secretly hyping himself up in his mind, he finally found the courage to speak:
“Sir… where did you come from?”
“Can you speak, Sir?”
“Shall I take you out?”
If an outsider saw Xu Xingyuan using honorifics for a cat, they would definitely think he had lost his mind.
But Xu Xingyuan just felt that the cat in his arms had a complex identity and could definitely understand human speech.
Sure enough, the black cat lazily opened one eye, lifted a paw as if bestowing a great honor, and pointed toward the door.
“Meow.”
Xu Xingyuan let out a long breath and carefully carried the black cat out of the basement.
Leaving the dark, damp basement, the air above ground was much smoother.
Xu Xingyuan looked down at the cat, which was fake-sleeping again, and felt unsure.
He hadn’t even secured his own footing in the Monster Apartment yet and could barely feed himself. How could he have the spare capacity to raise a little black cat that had suddenly appeared?
Just as Xu Xingyuan was torn about what to do with it, he ran into the Doctor, who was out for a stroll.
“Xingyuan?”
The Doctor greeted Xu Xingyuan with a smile. Just as he was about to exchange pleasantries, his gaze drifted downward—
And happened to land right on the black cat in Xu Xingyuan’s arms.
“Cough cough… Cough!”
The Doctor broke into a violent fit of coughing, looking as if he had seen something incredibly shocking and terrifying!
“Doctor?”
Xu Xingyuan didn’t notice the Doctor’s fear at all. Holding the cat, he took two concerned steps forward.
But the Doctor retreated several steps in a row, putting distance between himself and Xu Xingyuan.
The Doctor, who always liked to smile with his eyes narrowed, now had his eyes wide open, revealing snake-like vertical pupils.
He took a deep breath, stared at Xu Xingyuan for several seconds, then gritted his teeth and stomped his foot!
He suddenly rushed forward, snatched the black cat from Xu Xingyuan’s arms, and while carrying the cat back toward the infirmary, shouted:
“Xingyuan! This cat is mine now!”
A question mark slowly floated up above Xu Xingyuan’s head. “?”
He stood there, bewildered, watching the Doctor’s retreating back as he fled with the cat. He raised a hand in confusion and scratched the back of his head.
One second, Xu Xingyuan was worried about the cat’s fate.
The next second, the beautiful and kind-hearted Doctor had snatched the cat away.
Before Xu Xingyuan could process it, a roguish, carefree voice came from behind him:
“Xingyuan!”
When Xu Xingyuan turned around, he was met with the handsome, flamboyant face of the Apartment Security Guard.
The guy seemed to have just returned from outside. His combat boots were stained with crimson mud, and his black trench coat was soaking wet, dripping red liquid.
He was carrying a white box, which he tossed heartily into Xu Xingyuan’s arms.
Some liquid seeped through the bottom of the box, dampening Xu Xingyuan’s dry palms.
The Guard continued to smile, urging him impatiently:
“Xingyuan, hurry up and open it! See the gift I got you!”
Xu Xingyuan went quiet for two seconds. But under the other’s starry-eyed anticipation, he slowly opened the box.
In an instant, the thick smell of blood filled Xu Xingyuan’s nose.
He looked down instinctively and met a pair of bloodshot, terrified eyes—
Inside the gift box…
Was Lin Zhe’s head.