Puppet Master!

Inside Chen Ye's apartment in North Ridge City.

At his computer, Chen Ye had compiled the five sequences currently used on living organisms.

Number 001: Mimic.

Number 002: Deep One.

Number 003: Invisible Man.

Number 004: Queen Bee.

Number 005: Wall Breaker.

"004's blood gave Number 002 the ability to create kin, but it was still conversion, not self-creation."

"Hmm... I really should consider planarians."

Chen Ye updated the information on Deep One Generation 2 on his computer, then looked at the two bottles of potion beside him.

Both bottles were bright red, like blood.

They were Vampire Potion No. 1 and Vampire Potion No. 2.

Their ingredients differed slightly.

The main ingredients of Potion No. 1 were human blood, bats, and salamanders.

The main ingredients of Potion No. 2 were leeches, bats, and salamanders.

In addition, both potions had been mixed with the blood of Deep One Generation 2.

"So, the question is, who should I find to test them on?"

"Tch..."

If he had those five people catch someone, who knew what sort of specimens they would bring back.

Besides, relying on others was worse than relying on himself.

"I'll do it myself."

As he spoke, Chen Ye looked at a photograph on the computer beside him.

The photo showed a man holding Silk Thread. Beneath him was a stage, where countless people stood, controlled by the threads.

Potion designation: Puppet Master.

Main ingredients: spider (species undetermined) + puppets used for puppet shows.

Supplementary ingredients: Invisible Man Potion + Queen Bee Potion + Wall Breaker Potion.

North Ridge City.

Fishman walked down the street, still wearing the same raincoat.

But since it was sunny, quite a few people gave him strange looks.

Fishman did not care. Every so often, he would close his eyes and stand there blankly for a while.

Within the darkness invisible to ordinary people, the outline of the entire city transformed into shadows in his mind.

Ripples spread through Shadow City, all pointing toward one place.

The police station.

Someone was listening to his recording.

The recording had to contain his crying. He could feel it—deeply and clearly.

"One, two, three... nineteen. Nineteen people in total. One is holding a cup and looking at something. One is holding a pen and writing something on a whiteboard."

Opening his eyes, Fishman entered a noodle shop.

"Fried noodles."

The owner looked at him, then lowered his head and continued stretching the noodles.

"Sir, have you been coming here often lately?"

"Would you like to try our noodle soup?"

Fishman frowned. "No."

The owner sighed helplessly. "That's people for you. Everyone has different tastes. Some like noodle soup, while some like fried noodles. You can't please everyone."

Fishman picked up a pair of chopsticks from the side. "But sometimes, the choices people make on the surface may not come from their hearts."

"They may simply be compromises made out of helplessness."

The owner thought for a moment. "True. Life always forces us to make choices, whether we want to or not."

A little later, the owner brought over a plate of fried noodles.

"Come to think of it, when I was young, I wanted to be a guitarist. Back then, I was pretty popular at school, hahaha."

"You don't mind if I indulge myself for a while, do you?"

"Do as you please."

After receiving Fishman's answer, the owner went into the kitchen, took out a guitar, and began playing by himself.

Fishman knew nothing about music, but he could tell that the owner had real skill. At the very least, ordinary people could not play at that level.

Listening to the tune the owner played, Fishman suddenly fell silent for a moment.

He remembered the old man he had encountered at the school entrance that day.

He had not intended to make things difficult for the old man, but the man had stopped him again and again.

He was a madman.

He knew he could not win, yet he had still stopped Fishman time and time again.

If Fishman had revealed his identity as Fishman back then, would the old man have dared to stop him again?

But conversely, if the man saw Fishman's monstrous form, then he would have to die.

That was why, until the very end, Fishman had not transformed into a monster in front of him.

He had no grudge against the old man, and the other man was not his target. It had been an unnecessary conflict to begin with.

So in the end, Fishman had merely stepped on and broken one of the old man's hands.

After that, the old man had been taken away by an ambulance.

Yesterday, Fishman had passed by that high school again and happened to see the old man, his hand in a cast and wrapped in white bandages.

What a tough life.

"Li... Yuan?"

Just then, a female college student suddenly entered the noodle shop.

She seemed to know Fishman and was no stranger to that face.

Fishman ignored her and continued eating with his head lowered.

Seeing that he ignored her, the female student said nothing and simply sat across from him.

"I heard you got expelled from school?"

"Why? Did you get into trouble?"

"But you're such an honest person. You don't fight or smoke, and when you argue with someone, you can't squeeze out a single sentence even after half a day. I really can't imagine what mistake you could have made."

Fishman still ignored the female student.

"Li Yuan, say something. It's been two years, and you're still as silent as ever?"

Li Yuan...

Li Yuan raised his head. The female student before him was not exactly pretty, but she had good taste in clothes.

She was Li Yuan's high school classmate.

"The rain has stopped."

"Huh?"

"What rain? It's not even raining outside." The female student did not understand.

"Oh, you're not talking again. I really can't stand how slow and hesitant you are." The girl sighed as she spoke.

"Boss, two bottles of soda."

The owner took two bottles of cola from the refrigerator and handed them to the female student.

"Thanks."

After thanking him, the female student took one of them and handed it to Li Yuan.

"Here, have a soda."

The soda she offered was in a glass bottle. Since it had been stored in the refrigerator, it was covered in droplets of water.

Li Yuan did not take it.

"I don't drink soda."

"Oh, come on, if I'm treating you, just drink it! Why are you still the same as before?" As she spoke, the girl placed the cola directly in front of him.

"Not fun at all."

"When are you going to change that personality of yours?"

Li Yuan put the last bite of fried noodles into his mouth, then took a crumpled ten-yuan bill from his pocket.

The female student froze when she saw it. "You... where's your phone?"

"Afraid it would get wet, so I didn't bring it with me." Li Yuan turned to leave as he spoke.

"Afraid it would get wet?"

"Come to think of it, ever since I came in, I've smelled a fishy odor. Boss, do you serve fish here too?"

The female student looked at the owner, who merely shrugged. "That kid smells fishy every time he comes in."

"When I ask what job he does, he won't say. I figure he probably kills fish at RT-Mart."