Deer College, Wing E (Basement Level Two)-Medium-Security Control Area.
[Ding-] [Authorization verified-] [Please ensure your own safety. In the event of runaway meme contamination, Deer Spirit will forcibly log you out!]
The elevator doors slowly opened before Xia Xiu. Carrying the bag he had collected from the Think Tank, he stepped out and looked around.
The floors and walls were steel throughout. Unique thaumaturgic lamps were set into the structure, their light illuminating the entire metal corridor before him.
Xia Xiu walked across the steel floor and surveyed his surroundings. Both sides of the corridor were lined with enormous metal doors over twenty meters tall, numbered in descending order starting from 0-99.
When Xia Xiu reached 0-60, Jarvis popped up.
[Sir, area 0-66 is the [Black Demon Hound]'s living chamber.]
Xia Xiu stopped and looked up at the metal door marked 0-66 towering before him.
That was right-Xia Xiu had come to feed the [Black Demon Hound] today. After his Classics class ended, he had collected the [Black Demon Hound]'s food from the Think Tank, then followed the mission navigation here.
[Warning! Warning!!!] [You are undertaking a high-risk mission. You may choose to turn back now. The Think Tank will impose no penalty for abandoning this assignment. If you still wish to proceed, please sign the "Deer College Student Accident Liability Waiver {link+}".]
A red pop-up appeared before Xia Xiu.
Knowing how Terra's major supernatural powers operate, I'm 99.99 percent certain they've loaded the waiver with meme contamination.
Xia Xiu thought this to himself.
Sure enough, the moment he clicked the link and opened it, he was hit.
[To ensure that you read carefully, we have attached a [Forced Reading] meme to this document. You must read the entire waiver to remove this meme contamination.]
These damn coercive memes really are the same all across Terra.
Rolling his eyes inwardly, Xia Xiu dutifully scrolled through the interface and carefully read the disclaimer.
Twenty minutes later, he finally pressed the confirmation button.
Clank-
Shhh-
The safety locks on metal door 0-66 automatically disengaged and rotated, and the door slowly slid open to either side.
[Think Tank message: Good luck, brave little deer!]
Tsk, tsk.
Reading the Think Tank's pop-up, Xia Xiu couldn't help pursing his lips. Then he strode straight through the doorway, and the doors slowly closed again behind him.
The space beyond the metal doors was unusually dim. The lighting was a bizarre dark red, and the temperature was much lower than outside. When Xia Xiu exhaled, his breath immediately turned into white mist.
Tap, tap, tap-
Xia Xiu's footsteps echoed through the enclosed space as he walked forward.
When Xia Xiu reached the end, he saw four rune-covered pillars, each over three meters tall.
Red beams shot from the tops of the four pillars and linked together, forming a square fence of red light.
Inside the fence lay a black, long-haired canine creature, its eyes obscured by a black hood.
The hood wrapped around its entire head. In addition to covering its eyes, it was firmly secured around the Black Demon Hound's neck.
A red device embedded at its neck was also emitting a series of beeps.
Four [Reality-Warping Reality-Stabilizing Anchors] to prevent the [Black Demon Hound] from etherizing. The thing on its neck should be an explosive device, to stop it from going out of control.
Xia Xiu recognized the surrounding equipment almost immediately.
The [Reality-Warping Reality-Stabilizing Anchor] was worth mentioning. It suppressed other morphogenetic fields by projecting a stronger one, and most were made from the remains of reality warpers-those belonging to the anomaly spectrum.
"Grrraaah-"
The [Black Demon Hound]'s nostrils twitched as it lay inside. Seemingly sensing someone's arrival, it rose onto all fours, opened its gaping maw, and roared toward Xia Xiu. Thick mist poured from its open mouth.
"Hey there, doggy. I'm here to bring you food." Xia Xiu casually shook the bag in his hand.
"I hear you have a strange little problem. You can't eat unless a highly intelligent creature is there watching you. That's quite an interesting quirk." Xia Xiu opened the bag as he continued speaking to the snarling Black Demon Hound.
"Come on, eat up. Deer College prepared this dog food for you. It should count as gourmet stuff in the dog world." Xia Xiu's tone remained languid, but that languor sounded thoroughly mocking.
The Black Demon Hound understood the Terra language, so it could no longer restrain the murderous intent it had kept hidden. Vast quantities of black smoke began rising from its body, spreading outward until they quickly shrouded the entire room.
Roooaaar-
An enormous beast made of black smoke appeared before Xia Xiu. It resembled the Black Demon Hound and stood over twenty meters tall, its body filling the entire room. It crouched with its head lowered, its orange-red eyes fixed on the blond brat before it.
The black smoke hound roared at Xia Xiu with its cavernous maw.
The gale blasting from its mouth tossed Xia Xiu's blond hair in every direction. His brilliant golden eyes calmly regarded the black smoke hound before him.
"Whoo, whoo~"
Not only was Xia Xiu unafraid, he even whistled. The [Light Attendant Circuit] on his body automatically lit up, covering his hands and feet with red thaumaturgic circuits.
Light Attendant-Thaumaturgic Circuit (Type III-Hands and Feet-Strength Form): Activate.
"[Fear Intimidation], one of the types of meme contamination exclusive to monsters. If someone fails the willpower check, the contamination takes root in their mind and steadily eats away at their will."
"Is that why you need someone to feed you? Because you have this ridiculous notion of scaring as many people to death as you can? Seriously? Seriously? Is that all the Black Demon Hound amounts to?"
Roar, roar, roar-
An utterly furious roar rang out, and fierce winds battered Xia Xiu. Unfortunately, they could do little harm to him with his [Type III Light Attendant Circuit] active. Type III's physical enhancement was barely inferior to a body that had undergone siliconization.
Xia Xiu walked forward. His hand passed through the black smoke, then seized the real [Black Demon Hound] inside the cage by the neck with unerring precision.
Clang-
With his immense grip strength, he effortlessly pinned the real Black Demon Hound to the floor, and the black smoke immediately dispersed. The blond youth held the Black Demon Hound down through the cage's red bars, his golden eyes shining like the sun. He bared his teeth in a smile and said:
"Don't throw my kindness back in my face. You'd better learn who you can bark at, you little mon~grel~"
"Awooo~"
(End of chapter)
Before you continue