The next morning.
Little Bottle Cap woke up, her eyes now pitch-black and bright.
She was hungry again. Very hungry.
A sound came from outside the garbage pit.
Gu Fan had brought another huge pile of food, with a little straw hat full of sunshine balanced on one finger.
She smiled playfully. "This little hat suits you too."
Humans—large, slow, fragile, easy to hunt, rich in energy.
Little Bottle Cap frowned. "This big sister... can't be killed."
For hundreds of thousands of years, human flesh had always been one of animals' primary sources of protein. That was ecology.
"There's a word adults use. I can't remember it."
Do you mean 'conscience'?
That was a useless emotion of lower life-forms.
"SDERS, do you know? You need to have a conscience, and so do I."
As you evolve, you will not generate bioelectric currents such as 'conscience.'
But for now, I'll listen to you.
Little Bottle Cap wrapped her arms in the clothes left behind by the punks last night, then half-crouched as she ran out and looked up at Gu Fan. "Go."
"You can talk?"
"And your voice is really nice."
Gu Fan blinked. "Then I'll go. Hehe, step two complete—I've successfully bought your little heart."
Little Bottle Cap dragged the food into the cave and began wolfing it down again.
But she knew that big sister had not left. She was watching her from afar.
During that time.
The big brother in the white shirt came several more times.
Each time, he stayed for no more than five minutes.
The first time, he told Big Sister, "I bought this plot of land and gave it to you. Surprised?" Big Sister said, "I'm so surprised you gave me a garbage dump."
The second time, he brought a colorful parasol. It was