A Sense of the World Collapsing

Xiao Xiao was still not quite sure how exactly to go about it.

The main problem was that his understanding of this world and its enhancement paths was still too shallow. He could not figure out the logic behind them, so he did not dare take risks.

If he enhanced these three adorable hounds, to what extent would their strength increase?

What were the core factors that determined whether the enhancement would succeed?

Xiao Xiao understood none of this, which was why he truly felt that every point he spent now carried an innate element of gambling.

Unfortunately, this was not the sort of question he could ask Ruan Ruan.

Those enhancement designers clearly despised this kind of reckless gambling, and asking Yang Jia would not be appropriate either.

He still owed her a hundred points, yet he had gone and taken another hundred points to enhance three dogs. That would sound a little too outrageous.

What difference was there between that and borrowing money to go get a foot massage?!

When he arrived at work, he changed into his work clothes and began another day of earning money and tempering himself.

He had just lent Nuo Nuo two thousand yuan—four full days of his wages. He wondered whether she would pay him back.

But it did not matter if she did not. He could bring the dogs from her house over instead. These three Demolition Hounds were a little dim-witted, but their pedigree was genuinely pure. They could fetch quite a lot of money...

As Xiao Xiao let his imagination run wild, he suddenly discovered a new path to wealth.

These three dogs were so obedient. What if he stole them and sold them, then secretly ordered them to run back, only to sell them to another buyer...

...If he kept rolling this snowball, he would soon become rich, right?

With this thought in mind, he dawdled until noon. After lunch, Xiao Xiao sat on the sofa in Warehouse Two, enjoying the air-conditioning.

Foreman walked past him with a temporary cargo dispatch order in hand and glanced over from the corner of his eye.

If he saw someone else sitting here enjoying the air-conditioning, he would probably start cursing immediately. Although the air-conditioning stayed on even when he was absent, he simply could not stand people coming here to freeload on the cool air.

But since it was Xiao Xiao, it was fine.

This kid who worked as if his life depended on it had finally learned to rest. Foreman actually felt a little gratified...

"Hey, kid. There's a delivery job. Go make the trip."

Huang Mao, however, could not stand seeing Xiao Xiao lazing around like this. He flicked away his cigarette butt, walked over, and spoke to him.

There were often orders at the docks to deliver goods outside, but they paid extra, and most of the money went into Foreman's pocket. As a result, no one was willing to do them. They preferred to stay here and rest.

This delivery order had originally fallen to Huang Mao, but he had come over to order Xiao Xiao around instead.

Xiao Xiao glanced at the temporary dispatch order Foreman had left on the table. Without saying anything, he silently followed him out. He had only just helped load the cargo onto the truck when he saw Foreman approaching with several people.

Seeing Xiao Xiao climb into the truck, Foreman asked curiously, "Why are you going?"

Xiao Xiao said, "Huang Mao said his foot hurt, so he asked me to take this delivery for him."

"His foot hurt?"

Foreman let out a cold laugh and did not ask any further. He waved to the remaining workers. "Come on, come on, all of you, follow me. The West Warehouse needs a temporary transfer. We have to finish moving it in three hours."

All the loaders were startled. They had thought the afternoon would be easy—playing cards and chatting until the day was over. Who would have expected a sudden emergency cargo transfer? It was exhausting work.

Huang Mao immediately ran toward the truck. "Foreman, we agreed this morning that I was going out to make a delivery..."

"Fuck your mother..."

Foreman grabbed him and hauled him back. "Didn't you just say your foot hurt and you couldn't make the delivery?"

Huang Mao protested, "If my foot hurts, I can't move cargo either..."

"Fuck your mother. If you can't move it, get your Uncle Wang over here to do it for me..."

Foreman dragged him into the crowd, cursing all the while. "All you think about every day is slacking off. You really think my wool is that easy to fleece?"

"I'm half a capitalist, at least..."

"..."

Under the envious gazes of the workers—especially Huang Mao—Xiao Xiao followed the truck out of the docks.

Xiao Xiao did not need to worry about where the delivery was going. He only had to follow them there, unload the cargo, and be done.

Although this trip did not pay much, compared with staying at the docks for three hours to handle an emergency cargo transfer, it was extremely easy.

Soon, they arrived at a shopping mall in the Downtown District. They unloaded the cargo and signed for it, completing the job in less than an hour.

There was still plenty of time, so Xiao Xiao rested by the roadside with the truck driver and another loader.

Everyone had the same idea: none of them would return before the work at the docks was finished.

Although one of Xiao Xiao's purposes in working at the docks was to temper himself, he also felt that he ought to respect this job.

Whenever there was a chance to slack off, one had to slack off. That was the most basic form of respect for work.

The street was bustling. To these renovation workers, who spent every day at the docks facing towering, cold warehouses and a bunch of men, it was a dazzling world that seemed forever out of reach. They watched exquisitely dressed girls stride proudly down the street and elegant women with handbags while away an entire afternoon in cafés. Smoking, they sighed, "Damn, that woman's legs are really long..."

Xiao Xiao could not completely join in their circle of conversation, but he could not help thinking.

The same scenery really could produce different impressions in different people's eyes. For example, he was only thinking that if he tore off the glamorous skin of those people...

...would there be a sticky tentacle monster underneath?

As he let his thoughts wander, a group of girls in revealing clothes came from across the street. Some even had tattoos reaching up to their necks. With their arms around each other's shoulders, they laughed loudly as they passed in front of them.

The loaders smoking hurriedly shifted their gazes away from the girls. They dared to stare at the elegant women in the cafés, their eyes blazing—What, you have the guts to come out and hit me?

But they did not dare look too closely at these more scantily dressed and sexier delinquents—because these girls really would hit them.

Xiao Xiao, however, suddenly froze. In the middle of the group of delinquents was Nuo Nuo, dressed in a white skirt. A girl with tattoos covering both arms had an arm around her neck as she walked among them.

He turned his gaze toward her, preparing to say hello.

Unexpectedly, Nuo Nuo saw him. Her expression immediately turned awkward, and she deliberately looked away, pretending not to see him.

Xiao Xiao swallowed his greeting and watched as they laughed loudly and disappeared into the alley behind the shopping mall.

Inside the café sat a refined woman in sunglasses and tasteful clothes. She occupied a seat by the window, with the sunlight quietly spilling over her and forming one of the city's most pleasing sights.

She held a cup of coffee and watched the group of young girls laughing and joking as they passed the glass window. In particular, she noticed the fear on the face of the girl among them.

The coffee nearing her lips paused slightly, and she fell into thought.

"Another bunch of little bastards skipping school..."

Outside the café, the loaders waited until the laughing girls had vanished from sight before cursing under their breath. "If I'd had those conditions back then, I definitely would've studied hard."

The person beside him laughed. "Didn't you end up doing this precisely because you didn't study hard?"

"If I'd known I'd be doing this now, I would've studied hard back then..."

The driver laughed. "But it's too late for us to talk about that. Little Xiao still has a chance. Hey, where's Little Xiao?"

While they chatted, Xiao Xiao felt that something was strange, so he followed the group of girls to the second-floor platform beside the shopping mall. If he followed too closely, someone would inevitably notice him. In particular, since Nuo Nuo had been unwilling to acknowledge him on the street, appearing again would make things rather awkward. Thus, he silently stood on the second floor and listened to the girls below, right beneath his feet, giggling and talking about something.

"Didn't you say it would be two thousand?"

Nuo Nuo's voice sounded like that of a frightened little animal. "I already gave it to you. Let me go home..."

"Who said it would be two thousand?"

The girl with a high ponytail and a tattoo reaching up to her chin smiled brightly. "Besides, isn't your family rich? Is two thousand even worth mentioning to you?"

"I really don't have any money left..."

Nuo Nuo pleaded, "My mom only gives me money once a month. I borrowed this money from a neighbor..."

"Then go borrow some more..."

A girl beside her turned fierce. "Didn't you say you wanted to apologize to us? Shouldn't an apology have some sincerity?"

"..."

"They're just bullying a child?"

After listening from the second floor for a while, Xiao Xiao understood what was happening below. He shook his head and prepared to leave.

He had not expected that, in a world that had already become a paradise for monsters, he would still see something like this. He was more or less uninterested. He had seen the look of his own mother wanting to chop him apart with a knife, seen a high school classmate crawl out from inside human skin, and endured four years of painful torment. In this twisted and absurd city, he had even subconsciously felt that this was merely a trivial matter.

"Please, I'm begging you. Let me go..."

Nuo Nuo's sobs rose from below. "I'll agree to anything you say. Why won't you let me go..."

Her voice made Xiao Xiao stop in silence.

Perhaps it really was only a trivial matter. They were all monsters, part of this enormous city, and everything happening between them was merely a kind of objective law in operation.

But the despair and pain in the little girl's sobs made it impossible for Xiao Xiao to stand by.

This was the only thing he could feel was real right now.

As usual, he shouted for everyone to vote. Maybe someone really would.