Mysterious Creature

He strolled along, taking in all sorts of sounds—big and small—and the rich, vivid colors, along with a keener sense of smell.

On this street he'd walked countless times, long since taken for granted, he now saw something new; the whole world seemed to have become more colorful and vibrant.

Before he knew it, he arrived at the Unfinished Building again.

He stopped, hesitated for a moment, then, seizing a moment when no one was looking, he darted quickly toward the building.

Soon, familiar with the route, he reached the Space Channel and entered the Otherworld once more.

Breathing in the thick air here, a certain power seemed to stir back to life inside him, and a sense of familiarity welled up.

He glanced at the Status Panel; Beginner Self-Healing had already changed back to Natural Healing.

It was already afternoon in the Otherworld, roughly around two o'clock by Earth time, when the sun was at its harshest.

He took a few steps, readjusting to the gravity here, then practiced the Thirty-Six Body Tempering Forms several times to loosen up.

Under three times the gravity, this training was far more strenuous; every movement demanded enormous physical effort.

Still, he was no longer what he used to be—among all his attributes, stamina was his strongest.

After a full five rounds, he only felt slightly tired.

But he didn't dare exhaust himself too much here, so he soon stopped, picked up the wooden stick he'd left behind yesterday, and continued exploring the Small Island.

Though he'd given it a rough look yesterday and found no danger on the Small Island, he wasn't about to let his guard down.

The Otherworld was a world utterly different from Earth.

Compared to Earth, while the material elements in the Otherworld were no different, the entire world had an extra mysterious force field, which the Barbarians called Natural Force or Primal Force.

It was everywhere, penetrating every atom, even finer structures of matter.

It greatly interfered with the movement of electrons, making it hard for them to gain or lose charge; any chemical reaction became extremely slow, and even lighting a fire here was difficult.

By all logic, such a world should be a dead one, with no life able to survive.

Yet in reality, the Otherworld was brimming with vitality.

According to the most common explanation from scientists, this mysterious force field could be easily disturbed by living organisms—from low-level microbes to advanced intelligent beings—all of which had active biochemical reactions.

Even after death, souls could survive independently, lingering for long periods without fading away.

Ghosts, Spirits, and even more terrifying Nature Spirits were mere legends on Earth, but in this world, they were real and everywhere.

And in such an environment, the creatures here—let alone animals—even many plants had individual consciousness, or even intelligence, and the ability to move.

Chen Shouyi, holding the wooden stick, carefully climbed step by step toward the Hilltop.

He had to admit, this was truly a barren Small Island—covered only in weeds and wildflowers, with oddly shaped rocks, not a single tree in sight. He suspected the island had only recently risen above the sea.

In no time, he reached the Hilltop.

The sea wind howled, whipping his hair around; all around was the endless Great Sea, a sight that lifted his spirits.

Chen Shouyi couldn't help but let out a long shout, venting his excitement.

After a good while, he came down from the hill and headed to the Beach.

The Great Sea's tides rose and fell, ceaselessly washing the shore. A few crustacean-like creatures scurried quickly across the sand, and occasionally he spotted colorful shells glinting brilliantly in the sunlight.

He was immediately drawn to the shells' colors. Compared to Earth's shells, these were not only stranger in shape but also more vivid and varied in hue.

He'd always been interested in items from the Otherworld; he planned to take one back and put it in his bedroom as a decoration.

If Chen Xingyue saw it, she'd probably be green with envy.

He carefully picked through suitable candidates, aiming to choose the prettiest one.

Then his eyes lit up.

It was a palm-sized shell, lying on a boulder a full meter above the sea. Under the sun, it radiated a multicolored halo, carrying a dreamy luster that made it stand out among the other shells.

Its shell was half-open, and the area around it was quite dry—clearly a dead thing.

Chen Shouyi still felt a instinctive wariness toward the creatures here, but since it was dead, there was no psychological burden.

He strode over quickly, reached out, and picked it up from the boulder.

But before he could examine it closely, something unexpected happened.

The shell suddenly opened, and a tiny figure floated an inch above it, starting to wave its arms and legs, striking poses, with specks of light dancing around.

Chen Shouyi, startled by this sudden oddity, widened his eyes and nearly threw the shell away.

Fortunately, he quickly realized this Mysterious Creature didn't seem to pose any threat to him.

It left the shell, hovering in midair, with lights flickering around it, looking quite enigmatic. But its Body Size was so small—only about the length of Chen Shouyi's finger—that he couldn't muster much sense of danger.

Suppressing his fear, Chen Shouyi studied the Mysterious Creature closely. It had a form similar to a human female, completely naked.

And as for its strange behavior, he slowly began to understand—it seemed to be dancing.

"But what's the point of this? Does it think putting on this spooky act will scare me off?"

He curiously poked her with a finger. The Shell Girl was indeed a paper tiger—the touch sent her tumbling back into her shell, where she cowered in terror, soon sobbing softly.

But Chen Shouyi had little sympathy for alien creatures.

"This species must be a first for humanity too. If I put it on a video site, it'd probably cause a sensation," he thought, watching the weeping Shell Girl.

Yet the idea barely crossed his mind before he abandoned it.

If he posted this creature online, an investigation would follow, and the Space Channel would be fully exposed.

He still hadn't decided whether to report the Space Channel.

He resolved to observe a while longer. If real danger emerged, he'd report it immediately; if not, he'd stall for time.

After all, this Space Channel probably hadn't appeared just yesterday. If it posed any risk, it would have shown itself by now, not waited until today.

Just then, the Shell Girl's face flickered with uncertainty. Seeming to steel herself, she gritted her teeth, and while the "giant" was distracted, she suddenly launched from her shell and flew off into the distance.

A trail of beautiful, fine light dust streamed behind her as she desperately flew toward the Great Sea.

But before she got half a meter, her head went dark, a gale roared up, and the next moment, a massive hand clamped around her.

"Ah!" A sharp, despairing scream erupted from the Shell Girl, her face twisted in terror.

Her cry rang like the hum of a tuning fork, making Chen Shouyi's ears itch.

He then stuffed the wondrous Shell Girl back into her pretty shell, closed it tight, and the endless screams turned muffled and drawn-out.

Chen Shouyi was in good spirits. This captured Mysterious Creature had sparked his keen interest.

He decided not to stay on the Beach any longer and returned to the channel entrance.

Then he noticed the Shell Girl had gone still. Minutes ago, he could feel her pounding against the shell, but now there was no movement at all.

"Not suffocated, is she?" He gently shook the shell.

He felt something roll inside, but nothing more.

He quickly pried the shell open a crack and saw the Shell Girl had indeed fainted, tear streaks on her pale face, traces of terror still lingering.

Fortunately, Chen Shouyi could see her chest faintly rising and falling, which let him breathe a sigh of relief.

He rubbed his chin and thought:

"Guess I need a different way to keep her locked up."

His eyes caught the weeds on the ground, and an idea struck him.

Soon, he found a tough vine, stripped off its bark, and twisted it into a long, thin rope. He grabbed both ends and pulled hard—it was sturdy, unbreakable even with all his strength.

Then he picked up the Shell Girl by one foot.

He glanced curiously between her legs and felt his face flush:

"It's... it's just like a woman's!"

His heart pounded. He averted his gaze, forcing himself not to stare, and only relaxed when he tied the string around her foot with trembling hands.

In real life, he'd sneaked peeks at plenty of videos, but seeing it face-to-face was a first.

Still, the Shell Girl was so tiny that the initial shock faded quickly, and he soon calmed down.

He set her on his palm, occasionally nudging her body.

Before long, she woke up.

She blinked groggily, stretched, still disoriented—until she saw a pair of enormous eyes.

She screamed again, shot into the air, and tried to flee.

But before she got far, a rope yanked her back.

It reminded him of the sparrows his father caught for him as a child—none ever survived, dying after a few days of play.

The Shell Girl collapsed in despair, tears streaming. After a moment, she started speaking, her tone shifting from fierce anger to plaintive sorrow, but her voice was too faint, like a mosquito's buzz.

Chen Shouyi leaned in to hear better.

The next second, the Shell Girl spat a gob of saliva right at him.