Taking Precautions

Someone was assembling a gun.

Behind this wall was the living room, not the master bedroom.

Meng Chao's gaze turned dangerous. He picked up the emergency flashlight and, like a ghost, silently floated out of the room.

His footsteps were very strange. As his toes touched down, he slid forward lightly, like a prowling cheetah, without making the slightest sound.

From a corner of the living room came the sound of even breathing.

Bai Jiacao seemed to be asleep.

Meng Chao smiled, then suddenly turned on the flashlight and shone it over.

He caught sight of the little girl's bright, sparkling eyes. She wasn't asleep at all, but was fiddling with a strange-looking gun.

Bai Jiacao was wearing pink pajamas covered in puppy patterns.

Her face, illuminated by the bright light, looked as dazed as a puppy's.

Half a second later, she quickly tried to hide the gun behind her back.

But she wasn't fast enough for Meng Chao.

The little girl's eyes blurred, and the gun was in her brother's hands.

"Where did you get this gun?"

Meng Chao examined the gun, and suddenly it felt strangely familiar.

The gun turned into a red-hot branding iron, and a stinging pain ran from his fingertips all the way to his brow. Memories from his past life danced like butterflies, and the nightmare flashback reappeared.

Flames, screams, a mysterious monster.

Bai Jiacao, wearing her puppy pajamas, gripped the gun tightly in both hands and fired, trembling.

Sparks flew, smoke filled the air, and the recoil knocked her over.

Burning, collapsing, his father's roar, his mother's screams, his own roar, and his sister's remorseful weeping.

It was this gun!

Meng Chao realized that in his previous life, when the mist descended, it was Bai Jiacao, with the fearlessness of youth, who fired this gun at a mysterious monster.

That was what attracted the monster's attention and made it charge toward their house.

His mother, due to her mobility issues, was seriously injured.

Distraught by this sudden change, he became agitated. At school, he couldn't bear the class monitor's sarcasm any longer and finally had a fierce fight with Zuo Haoran.

At that time, how could he have been a match for Zuo Haoran?

He was injured by the class monitor using extremely insidious methods. He didn't notice it at the time, but in the days leading up to the college entrance exam, his breathing was faintly painful, and his maximum punching power plummeted by 30%.

In the end, he missed the mark by a few points and didn't even get into a junior college.

Bai Jiacao deeply blamed herself, believing that her mother's serious injury and her brother's failure in the college entrance exam were all caused by her recklessness.

Perhaps it was this incident that became her inner demon, the starting point for her... fall into the demonic path.

"Brother, what's wrong? Don't scare me, brother!" The little girl's voice came from beside him.

Meng Chao shuddered and snapped back to reality, replying with an "Mm."

Bai Jiacao breathed a sigh of relief, "This is what we made in handicrafts class. I secretly brought it home to play with. Brother, give it back to me quickly. If our old-fashioned dad finds out, I'll be scolded!"

The little girl had a flattering smile on her face, almost wagging her tail.

She reached out to grab it, but came up empty.

"Confiscated."

Crack, crack, Meng Chao disassembled the gun into parts with one hand.

"Ah, my gun!"

The flattering smile instantly turned into an angry expression. The little girl jumped off the cot, baring her fangs and claws, "This is what I finally managed to make. The Survival Committee has issued a decree that when the mist descends, all citizens over the age of fourteen can legally possess swords and guns to defend their lives and homes. I have the right to fight!"

"Go play somewhere else."

"Why?"

"Because the gun you assembled is trash. The parts aren't even finely polished, and you dare to pursue maximum power. This kind of scrap metal will explode with thick smoke and fire when fired, more dazzling than setting off firecrackers. You'll definitely be discovered by monsters."

"Who said that? The gun I assembled was the best in the class, and I got ninety-nine points on the midterm exam."

Bai Jiacao was exasperated, waving her small fists and threatening, "Bad brother, stinky brother, rotten brother, give it back to me, or I'll snatch it!"

"Snatch?"

Meng Chao heard a joke.

"That's right, don't force this young lady to take action. You have no idea how powerful I am now."

Bai Jiacao rolled up her sleeves, not without pride, "Brother, I'm not lying to you, you're really no match for me. It's not too late to surrender now."

"Based on you?" Meng Chao crooked his finger.

The future Black Night Witch was furious.

She pounced on her brother like a hungry tiger.

Ever since teaching seven or eight hooligans a lesson in the school alley last time, the little girl had been very confident in her growing strength.

She kept reminding herself in her heart.

Take it easy, be careful, don't hurt my stinky brother.

Otherwise, if he screams and tells Dad, that won't be good.

Unexpectedly, this thought had just flashed through her mind.

Bai Jiacao felt dizzy and fell back lightly, her whole body's strength collapsing like a house of cards.

Her brother also flashed out two fingers and pinched her nose.

The fingers were like iron pliers, merciless.

"Ugh!"

The little girl couldn't breathe through her nose, and tears streamed down her face from the pain.

Her mind was even more of a mess. What was going on? She was the invincible powerhouse beauty of middle school!

Bai Jiacao squirmed desperately, trying to break free from the clutches.

Her struggles only resulted in suppression. Meng Chao had no sympathy. "Say it, you were wrong."

"Wrong your sister!"

The future Black Night Witch had a lot of backbone.

"Indeed, my sister was wrong."

Meng Chao nodded, a smile appearing between his brows.

"You—"

Bai Jiacao took a deep breath, wanting to scream.

"Go ahead and scream. Call Mom and Dad out and let them see the good gun you assembled." Meng Chao was very calm.

This struck Bai Jiacao's weak spot. The little girl's eyes widened, and she immediately deflated.

After a few more seconds of stalemate, silver tears fell from her eyes, and she reluctantly hummed, "Brother, I, I was wrong."

"That's more like it, good girl." Meng Chao released her hand with satisfaction.

Bai Jiacao covered her nose, rubbing it for a long time.

Watching the gun she had painstakingly modified turn into parts in her brother's hands, she wanted to cry but had no tears.

"Help, my brother has turned into a great demon king! Someone, come and save the innocent little sister who is suffering!"

The future Black Night Witch covered her mouth and nose, screaming in the smallest, most mosquito-like voice.

In her heart, she waved her little fists and vowed, Don't bully a young girl for being poor. One day, she will defeat her brother, the great demon king, and trample him under her feet.

"Hmm?"

Meng Chao narrowed his eyes, releasing a wisp of killing intent. "What's that sound?"

"It's... a mosquito."

Bai Jiacao stuttered in fright, "The fog is getting thicker and thicker, and the mosquitoes have mutated. I just saw a big tiger mosquito fly past."

"It's okay. If I hear it again, I'll slap it to death."

Looking at his obedient sister, Meng Chao was very satisfied.

Confiscating the homemade gun and solving the mysterious monster, the tragedy in the nightmare wouldn't happen. His sister wouldn't have to blame herself, so she wouldn't become the Black Night Witch, right?

Thinking like this, in front of Meng Chao's eyes, strange flames flickered, and information popped up:

[Special Citizen Bai Jiacao (Black Night Witch), probability of corruption reduced by 1%. The future chaos in Dragon City has been reduced. Congratulations on your outstanding contribution to civilization, contribution value +500]

"As expected!"

Meng Chao was pleasantly surprised; that was a huge wave of contribution points.

He vaguely remembered that in his previous life, his sister had become the Black Night Witch, not only causing great trouble in Dragon City but also running amok in other worlds, forging countless grudges, and the storms she stirred up had also affected Dragon City.

If he could prevent his sister from turning evil...

It would definitely be a great thing to promote righteousness, foster harmony, and make the future brighter.

Wait, why did the "probability of turning evil" only decrease by 1%?

Thinking about it carefully, in his previous life, his sister's probability of turning evil was at least 95% or even 100%.

Even with a 100% probability of turning evil, it only decreased by 1%.

Doesn't that mean this damned girl is incorrigible and will most likely still turn evil?

Meng Chao looked at his sister with a forced smile.

Sensing the dangerous aura spreading in the darkness, Bai Jiacao trembled like a little fox facing a big tiger.

"Brother, wh-what's wrong?"

She squeezed out a smile and said obediently, "I promise, I won't play with firearms randomly anymore. I'll definitely listen to the words of the world's most handsome, best, and greatest brother."

"Is that so? Hehe."

Meng Chao cracked his knuckles, pondering how to deal with the future Black Night Witch.

Suddenly, an ear-piercing alarm sounded outside the window.

Three rapid beeps were followed by a long siren, signaling a level-one combat readiness.

The mist had descended, and the monsters had appeared!

"Meng Chao, prepare for battle!"

Meng Yishan rushed out like a whirlwind, "Jiacao, prepare the medical kit and food cans, watch your mother, I'll go next door to invite Grandma Wang."

As soon as the door opened, the alarm became even louder.

Upstairs and downstairs, there were hurried but not chaotic footsteps.

Regardless of gender or age, all residents were mobilized.

Among the able-bodied, those skilled in swords and other cold weapons were incorporated into the Bayonet Squad, going downstairs to assemble and prepare for close combat.

The elite shooters from the former army were all at their own windows and balconies, forming a crossfire through the shooting holes.

The old, weak, women, and children also prepared emergency food and medical kits, and picked up daggers, bayonets, and engineer shovels.

In case monsters broke into the residential buildings, they would put up a final resistance.

After decades of trials and tribulations, the nerves of the Dragon City people had become extremely tough.

Even if a monster appeared in the toilet, people would not change their expressions and would wield toilet plungers to fight the monster to the bitter end.