Despair Swamp

"Hmm?"

Xiao Xiao's heart leaped, and he quickly turned around, only to find nothing behind him.

He was currently standing on a small platform protruding from a second-floor room. The door behind him was locked, and the platform was so small that there was nowhere to hide.

However, he had distinctly heard that voice; it was no hallucination.

The ghostly weirdness made him slightly nervous. His mind raced as he quickly scanned the platform again.

Every subtle trace fell into his eyes, quickly filtered, and analyzed. Finally, his pupils constricted slightly, and he fixed his gaze, with some disbelief, on a hole in the upper left corner of the small platform.

It seemed to be a hole that had once been used for some kind of pipe, no more than twenty centimeters in diameter, dark and leading to who knows where.

And now, someone was crawling out of that hole.

His face was pale as he slowly squeezed out, a dark red card in his mouth, identical to the one Xiao Xiao had, seemingly indicating that he had the same identity.

Xiao Xiao was actually startled, but because he was too nervous, his expression couldn't keep up, making him appear unusually calm, only showing a hint of curiosity:

"Who are you?"

"..."

"I'm Little Four, an investigator from the Outsider organization in Black Gate City. Yang Jia ordered me to come and investigate something."

The person in the hole had a card in his mouth, but his voice was clear. As he spoke, he reached out a hand that was so thin it seemed to be just bones toward Xiao Xiao.

"Little Four?"

He thought about the name, vaguely remembering that Ruan Ruan had mentioned him.

The Outsiders in Black Gate had also formed an organization to help each other, which Ruan Ruan said was very powerful.

He hadn't joined this organization yet, and the only people who knew about it were Yang Jia and Ruan Ruan. This Little Four was someone he had heard Ruan Ruan mention in passing before.

He just didn't expect to meet him here.

He was still a bit wary, but after a moment's hesitation, he took the hand that was offered and shook it up and down: "Hello."

"Hello to you too..."

The person replied weakly, still holding Xiao Xiao's hand, and said awkwardly, "But I actually wanted you to pull me out..."

"..."

Xiao Xiao expressionlessly took his hand and pulled him out of the hole.

Only then did he see the person's appearance clearly. He seemed very young, with a pale face and eyes habitually narrowed into slits, as if he didn't dare to look people in the eye.

He was so thin that it was unbelievable, as if he had no bones, but it was still hard to imagine how he had crawled out of such a small hole.

Slightly curious, he said, "You know me?"

"I've heard of you..."

Little Four seemed a little surprised by Xiao Xiao's calm and composed demeanor. He glanced at him, then looked away and said in a low voice, "Sister Hard said you're a super promising newbie."

"Very handsome, and also a pervert."

"Can solve C-level incidents without injury as a newbie, but also likes to feed dead people's hands to dogs..."

"..."

"?"

Xiao Xiao was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly realized who he was talking about.

Compared to Ruan Ruan, Sister Hard was indeed more suited to her, but... was she going a bit too far by saying that about him outside?

"It's all a misunderstanding; she must be joking..."

He shook his head awkwardly and glanced at the alley where the battle was nearing its end, changing the subject: "But, what you just mentioned about Pain Substance is..."

"You haven't learned about this part yet?"

Little Four looked at Xiao Xiao in surprise and said, "The Pain Substance in that girl's body has reached the critical point and is about to undergo Aberrant Creature."

"If we wait for her Aberrant Creature to appear and then eliminate her, we can immediately gain a lot of Points."

"..."

"Aberrant Creature?"

Xiao Xiao's expression changed slightly, thinking of the Rat-Man and the Suffocation Puppet.

Was that little girl next door almost turned into that kind of twisted Aberrant Creature just now?

It didn't seem strange, he had felt such intense despair and pain from her just now...

Many thoughts flashed through his mind, but Xiao Xiao completed them all in an instant, his expression showing no change, only nodding and saying calmly, "She's my neighbor."

"Neighbor?"

Little Four nodded silently and said, "No wonder you saved her. Now that her pain has been released, she won't undergo Aberrant Creature anymore."

Saying that, he glanced at the alley: "Those three dogs, did you buy them after you woke up?"

Xiao Xiao was a little embarrassed and turned to look at the alley, saying, "They're very cute, aren't they?"

"Hmm…"

Little Four looked at the bloody, gruesome scene in the alley and muttered, "It's different when you feed them human flesh…"

"?"

Xiao Xiao felt a strange, indescribable sensation.

I really didn't, though. I threw that dead person's hand into the fire pretty quickly last time.

But looking at Little Four's scrutinizing yet fearful gaze, he suddenly realized that no matter what he said, he probably wouldn't believe him…

At the same time, the alley was a scene of carnage.

The girls, who had been arrogant and high-spirited just minutes before, were now torn and bloody, crying out in agony.

Some had shrunk into trash cans, shivering, while others scrambled out of the alley, but the mark of fear had been deeply imprinted on everyone's mental world.

And Nuonuo was hugging the big black dog's neck, sobbing.

But for some reason, her crying seemed to carry a hint of happiness.

The three vicious dogs, however, were tilting their heads, thinking, The master is right here. This girl is acting so close to us. Is the master going to be jealous?

"Things have gotten out of hand. Let's leave…"

On the second-floor platform, Little Four shook his head, nodded to Xiao Xiao, and sighed, "Although we lost a lot of Points, it seems worth it to see this girl crying so pitifully…"

Xiao Xiao nodded as well, planning to head back. After all, it was just a chance encounter, and he didn't feel like he had lost any Points.

He was more concerned about figuring out the Pain Substance and why the Points for strengthening these three vicious dogs were decreasing.

But just then, he suddenly broke out in goosebumps.

He looked up abruptly in one direction, a sense of crisis washing over him like a tidal wave.

Even Little Four was startled, an incomprehensible expression on his pale face: "Is our luck really this good?"

In a street-side cafe, the clerk looked at the woman in sunglasses, whose body was trembling slightly, and seemed a little guilty, lowering her voice:

"Don't be like this, Zhang Xiao. It's all in the past, isn't it?"

She clearly felt some remorse, smiling as she said, "We had a little conflict back then, but we were all young, weren't we?"

"Haha, looking at the clothes you're wearing now, you're doing really well…"

"Let's exchange contact information later. If we have the chance, let's go out for a meal together. I'll treat you to coffee today as an apology for my past ignorance, okay?"

"…"

"Ap… apology…"

The woman in sunglasses finally spoke, but her voice trembled slightly, as if she was straining to control herself.

The coffee cup in her hand suddenly fell to the ground, shattering and splashing the clerk's shoes. The clerk quickly backed away, while the woman in sunglasses' voice became uncontrollably shrill, even hysterical:

"How could you…"

"How could you just appear in front of me like this, making me remember everything all at once…"

"You even want me to forgive you, forgive you…"

"Just because you're offering me a cup of coffee, am I supposed to forget everything that happened before? Am I supposed to forgive you?"

"…"

"Ouch…"

The female clerk hurriedly stomped her feet, then squatted down to wipe the coffee off her new shoes. The woman's voice was so loud that it attracted the attention of everyone in the cafe.

Especially her exaggerated accusations, which made her feel very embarrassed.

Her temper flared up instantly, and she cursed, "What are you doing? I came over to talk to you nicely, what are you yelling at me for? Do you think you're a big deal now that you're doing well?"

"You really think you're somebody, you piece of shit…"

"…"

"Ah…"

As the title "piece of shit" rang out, the woman in sunglasses suddenly screamed in agony. She clutched her head and crouched on the ground.

The painful scream was so intense that even the glass windows of the cafe vibrated.

A couple of coffee cups trembled and suddenly cracked.

"Why, why…"

She covered her head, shouting loudly, as if her mind was already in chaos, her body trembling, completely devoid of her elegant and refined appearance, just like a curled-up, terrified little beast.

"I've forgotten, I've forgotten…"

"Why do you have to make me remember again? I took so many pills to forget, why do you have to make me remember..."

"..."

"Is that even necessary?"

The clerk was already feeling the fear, and couldn't help but back away, wanting to leave, muttering, "I was just joking with you back then..."

"How old were we back then..."

"..."

But her voice was quickly drowned out by the woman's scream.

The scream seemed full of pain, and exceeded the limits of an ordinary person's voice. The woman curled up and squatted on the ground. This scream seemed to shatter something invisible, and her body was invisibly cracked, and some kind of bright red tentacles emerged from her body, like slender crystal vines, instantly spreading, clinging to the floor and walls, growing rapidly...

"What is that?"

Only one building away from the coffee shop, Xiao Xiao felt the strong sense of crisis and saw the wildly growing red tentacles.

"Despair Swamp..."

Little Four's pale face flushed slightly, and he said excitedly, "I was just saying we lost some Points, but I didn't expect to encounter a big score..."

"Let's go, we're going to be rich..."

Huh, when I mentioned it yesterday, there were a lot more votes. This method works well, so I'll keep reminding everyone!