Chapter 1141 - 823: Injured Test Subject

Chapter 1141: Chapter 823: Injured Test Subject

"Huh, what’s a bride?" Xiao Xi asked blankly.

"It’s a person’s wife, I suppose. A mother is a father’s wife, they’re partners, companions to each other, very important people!" Xiao Xue said confidently.

Xiao Xi nodded, half-understanding.

So, when they grow up, they’ll be with someone else and become ’his’ bride.

Xiao Xi asked curiously and naively, "Who’s that adult?"

Xiao Xue shook her head, "Father and mother didn’t say, I don’t know either. But they seemed very reverent, so it must be someone really important."

Xiao Xi tilted her head and suddenly remembered something, "One of us needs to be a bride, what about the other person?"

Xiao Xue’s gaze was somewhat evasive, "Who knows."

Xiao Xi softly said "Oh." Kids at this age have little concept of these things, and aren’t very interested, lacking the ability to delve deeper. At most, they’re curious about the so-called important person but soon forget, leaving it all behind.

They didn’t discuss the matter further.

Unconsciously, a seed of curiosity was planted in the hearts of the two little girls. They began fantasizing about what the outside world looked like.

Xiao Xue always wanted Xiao Xi to go out with her.

Finally, one day, their father and mother were not home. It seemed they had something important to deal with, needed to leave for a while, and wouldn’t be back for the next few days.

Xiao Xue said to Xiao Xi, "Let’s sneak out this time ~ We’ll return before father and mother come back, they won’t find out."

"But..."

"Oh come on, dear sister, just agree with me! I promise we’ll just have a peek and come right back. No one will notice."

Xiao Xi, pestered by Xiao Xue, had no choice but to agree.

They seized the opportunity and sneaked out of the room.

Unlike what they imagined, the world outside their cozy home was cold and indifferent, surrounded by gray-white metal wall panels, with a faint smell of disinfectant in the air.

In the distance, there seemed to be Beastmen in white coats approaching.

Xiao Xi panicked, afraid of being seen, turning to ask her sister what to do, only to find out that her sister Xiao Xue was gone, leaving her alone in that spot.

What to do?

Had she lost Xiao Xue?

Where was the way home?

She seemed to be lost, unable to find her way back.

Xiao Xi was so anxious she was about to cry, she didn’t dare shout out loud or ask for help. Suddenly, she spotted a ventilation duct nearby just wide enough for a young Cat Beast to crawl through.

She instantly transformed into her original form and crawled into the duct.

The passing guard saw clothes on the ground, their expression immediately changed, "Not good, someone’s escaped."

...

Xiao Xi had no idea where the ventilation duct would lead, she just crawled aimlessly through the dark passage.

After an unknown amount of time, a light finally appeared.

Bang ～

She fell out into a place resembling a junkyard.

"Ugh..."

The little girl crawled out from the pile of trash, her delicate, snow-white face dirty, a plastic bag atop her head filled with unknown contents that smelled pungent.

She quickly shook her head, wanting to crawl out of the smelly place when she suddenly heard the rumbling sound of a truck nearby.

Soon, a large mass of stuff fell down mixed with the complaints of several Beastmen.

"Sigh, the defect rate of the experimental bodies is exceedingly high these days. Some embryos can’t form; others die shortly after hatching. Some can survive, but can’t even control the basic shapeshifting, living would be a waste of resources... These unqualified defective products are treated as junk by the lab."

"It’s a hassle having to handle so much junk every time."

"Just throw it here; these defectives will soon enter the disposal program, so we don’t have to worry."

"Let’s go, this place really stinks; let’s finish handling this junk and get out of here."

Those Beastmen quickly drove away.

Xiao Xi crawled out from the garbage again and, after hesitating for a while, staggered toward where the waste was being dumped.

She saw the ground littered with experimental specimens.

Most hadn’t even formed embryos; they looked like lumps of flesh.

Most of the specimens were lower-grade Insect Clan Beastmen, hardly any had human-like forms, and most were already dead.

A rank odor of rot permeated the air.

Shen Tang, like a soul who had strayed into this place, floated invisibly following the little girl’s path.

At this moment, looking at the deceased defectives on the ground, a wave of compassion seemed to swell in Shen Tang’s heart.

Was this the emotion of the little girl?

Was this little girl...her?

Shen Tang felt a tightness in her chest, as a familiar yet strange emotion spread, bringing forth many dormant memories.

But for now, all she could do was watch the story unfold.

The little girl searched the vicinity for a while before hearing a weak groan.

"Who... who’s there?"

At this age, children’s curiosity was particularly strong, and being as fearless as newborn calves, initial fear vanished without a trace.

She walked toward the sound and saw a young black-haired boy lying in a pool of blood.

He was extremely handsome, blood staining the corner of his mouth, and had beautiful, unique silver eyes.

Yet behind him appeared a segmented black scorpion tail, his body covered in various dark scales. Black armor-like scales had reached up to his neck, threatening to spread to his chin.

Should the scales continue to spread, his entire body would be covered in beastly black armor, becoming grotesque and terrifying.

This uncontrollable beastification is also referred to as half-beastification.

Beastmen who couldn’t control their transformations, unable to live normal lives, were deemed half-beastmen—the lowest and weakest among beastmen, seen as defective, often scorned and ridiculed since birth.

Most half-beastmen were abandoned by the Beast Mother, left to fend for themselves, and seldom grew up normally.

Clearly.

The black scorpion boy was a discarded defective experimental product.

Unable to control his beastification, he was to be disposed of by the lab. His survival instincts drove him to struggle to a corner of this wasteland, but his body had been injected with euthanasia drugs.

Now, he was exceedingly weak, close to death.

Upon hearing the noise, despair clouded the boy’s eyes, thinking someone had come to catch him. He used the last of his strength to retract into his original form—a half-palm-sized black scorpion—and squeezed into a corner of the rubble.

Don’t find me...

Don’t catch me...

I don’t want to die...

Little Scorpion curled up in fear, trembling in the corner, awaiting death.

Unexpectedly, a soft little hand struggled to part the debris and gently scooped it into the palm.

The little girl’s face was smudged like a little flower cat, yet her round eyes were large and bright, "I found you!"

Little Scorpion froze, could it be...a little girl?

Was she also an abandoned experimental subject?

Despite being dirty, she was exquisitely crafted and beautiful, her hair gleaming like satin, adorned with cute and delicate hairpins, evidently well-nurtured, unlike batch-produced lab specimens.

Suddenly, the ground shook violently.

Their feet seemed to glide forward as if on wheels, with masses of junk rapidly rolling forward.

Not far ahead, it seemed like an abyssal maw had opened, swallowing all the garbage inside.

Little Scorpion trembled even more fiercely, knowing the disposal program had started; these beings abandoned by the lab would be swallowed by this abyss, ground up, and processed into waste.

Though Xiao Xi didn’t know what it was, she instinctively felt it was something terrifying.

Her face instantly paled as she hugged Little Scorpion closely, turned, and desperately ran against the swallowing direction.

How could she outrun the machine’s devouring speed?

Soon, she screamed, tripped by debris, heading into the maw with the surrounding trash.

She still held onto Little Scorpion tightly, like clutching a precious toy.

In that moment, held tightly in her arms, enveloped in a warmth never felt before, Little Scorpion surprisingly found it less frightening.