Before Xu Xiaoyou could say anything more, the other side hung up the phone.
"Tch."
Xu Xiaoyou’s eyes were calm. With a flick of her finger, she slit the throat of the wolf head drawn on the window; water droplets slowly slid down along the mark.
She turned and left.
Over the next two days, panic ensued every time it approached 8:15.
However, Alley No. 5 seemed to have vanished into thin air. Since the violent incident two days ago, it had not appeared again.
Over those two days, no news similar to Alley No. 5 surfaced in the city. A small number of vagrants disappearing at night was the norm and failed to attract any attention.
The people living in this world had strong adaptability. By the second day after Alley No. 5 disappeared, most city residents were back on the streets as usual, working their jobs. It was as if the disaster from two days ago had become a page in a history book that had been turned and forgotten.
Only when they were in Sector 9, seeing the empty and desolate landscape between the high-rises, would they remember that nearly ten thousand people had vanished in a single night two days ago.
"Mr. Visminsk, may I ask for your opinion on Alley No. 5, which was rated as a disaster-level threat by the association two days ago?"
On the news station, an interview segment was playing.
The elderly man being interviewed had deep furrows on his face and wore a monocle over a pair of shrewd eyes.
"I believe the association overestimated the hazard level of Alley No. 5. I have studied many urban eldritch creatures, and I believe the association's direction of judgment was flawed."
The background behind them was a memorial park. Figures could be seen mourning in the park; many of those who died in Alley No. 5 were relatives of these mourners.
Their crying affected the interview, and a look of displeasure appeared on the old man's face.
The reporters interviewing him took the hint. One of them strode over to the memorial park and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Keep the crying down! Can't you see we're doing an interview over here? Mr. Visminsk is an expert in studying urban eldritch creatures. If you upset the expert, can you afford the losses caused?"
The crowd turned toward them with blank stares.
The interview continued.
"What unique insights do you have?"
"I believe Alley No. 5 is not a growth-type urban eldritch creature, but rather a cyclical one," the old man said, adjusting his glasses.
"At the very least, based on its current behavior, it can be judged that its biological activity gradually strengthens at intervals."
"When it appeared a month ago, its initial range of influence was only a single alley, and the victims were just a few vagrants."
"Until two days ago, its activity reached its peak. The scale and degree of hazard reached their maximum, leading to that disaster."
"I do not believe the Engel coefficient of this hive city is capable of birthing a growth-type urban eldritch creature with such potential."
"Even in history, urban legends rated as disaster-level have basically descended upon hive cities with happiness indices far greater than the Corrupt Hive City and superior technological levels. Not to mention, their initial manifestations of harm were far inferior to Alley No. 5."
"Therefore, I conclude that Alley No. 5 does not possess growth potential. When its periodic activity reaches its maximum and it completes a large-scale feeding, its scale and hazard level will drop to the lowest point, entering a state of dormancy called the 'atrophy phase.'"
The surrounding reporters all showed expressions of realization.
"Your insights are indeed profound! An expert is truly an expert!"
"Thus, I believe there is no need for excessive anxiety. For at least the next six months, Alley No. 5 will be in a state of dormancy. Even if it awakens and a few residents at the bottom of the hive city die, it will only benefit the hive city's ecology..."
Before the old man could finish his sentence, a commotion broke out behind him. The families of the deceased were brawling with the reporters, and it didn't take long for the expert to be caught in the fray.
His hair was yanked, and he was knocked to the ground by the angry crowd. In the end, even his dentures were knocked out, and he was buried under the surge of people.
Xu Xiaoyou turned off the television.
"Eh? What are you doing? It was just getting good!" Lin Ran waved her fist in dissatisfaction.
"Seeing these so-called experts get what's coming to them is so interesting."
Xu Xiaoyou shrugged.
The most unreliable people were experts. These fellows enjoyed the society's resources while failing to utter a single helpful word.
After finishing breakfast, Xu Xiaoyou took Anya out of the house.
Before even heading downstairs, she turned around with a helpless tone:
"Youyou, stop following me. I need a little private space too, okay?"
A black-haired girl wearing sunglasses and everyday clothes, wrapped up tightly in the hallway, poked her head out. Her outfit made her look like a member of a celebrity's paparazzi squad.
"Ah? I-Is that so? No, Yuzu, I just happened to be passing by this way too."
Bai Youyou smiled awkwardly after being exposed.
"Alley No. 5 has quieted down these last two days, so I'm just taking Anya out for a walk to clear her head. Is that okay?"
"Alright, alright, I get it," Bai Youyou said, unable to argue further.
After all, she had indeed caused a lot of trouble for the other girl over the last two days.
Before leaving, Bai Youyou gave another serious reminder: "Try to be back before the afternoon."
"I have something to do from the afternoon until the evening—something very important. If anything happens on your end, I won't be able to look after you."
Seeing the girl look so serious, Xu Xiaoyou asked half-jokingly, "What is it?"
"Catching a criminal."
Bai Youyou's gaze turned cold.
The temperature in the air seemed to drop by several degrees.
"Someone reported information to me about a criminal and her current hiding spot."
"She definitely won't escape this time," Bai Youyou said through gritted teeth. "I will definitely bring that damn person to justice."
"Is that so?" Xu Xiaoyou nodded. "Then I wish you luck."
"Alright, Yuzu, let's talk later. I'm heading out first."
Watching Bai Youyou walk away, Anya tilted her head toward Xu Xiaoyou in confusion.
Xu Xiaoyou had no expression on her face. She simply signaled Anya to follow and began walking forward on her own.
...
Somewhere on the outskirts of the city.
Weeds were overgrown; wild grass nearly as tall as a person covered the desolate landscape. The mud where these weeds grew was filled with sulfides and various microbes, emitting a foul odor.
Black sewage constantly flowed out from a two-meter-wide pipe, projecting various shimmering colors.
This water, polluted by heavy metals, was haphazardly discharged to the outskirts through the city's sewer network, seeping into the soil and nearby vegetation.
This place was like a forgotten corner of the city, surrounded by small mountains of plastic waste.
Xu Xiaoyou stepped onto the muddy road and looked up. She could faintly see the figures of several children nearby.
One brave little girl was crouching on the drainage pipe of the sewer, her feet in the flowing black waste liquid as she looked inside. Before long, she let out a scream.
As if suddenly dragged down by something, the girl's body vanished from the mouth of the pipe in an instant, pulled toward the interior.
The surrounding children were all terrified and rushed forward to grab her hand, trying to pull her out.
But the thing inside seemed to have inexhaustible strength. Just as all the children were about to be dragged to the ground and pulled into the drainage pipe, Xu Xiaoyou stepped forward. A fireball condensed and blasted toward the inside of the pipe.
A sharp scream rang out from the darkness, sounding like the wail of some creature.
In the darkness, a bright red tentacle lined with sharp teeth retracted.
The children were freed, and one by one, they looked at Xu Xiaoyou with grateful and admiring eyes.
This big sister wasn't tall. Well... she might not have had enough sleep; she looked a bit listless and had slightly dead-looking eyes, but her face was delicate. With a single ahoge poking up from her forehead, she had the kind of look that children liked. No matter how one looked at it, she seemed very easy to get along with.
Xu Xiaoyou waved her hand:
"A bunch of little brats whose hair hasn't even grown in yet, always thinking about urban exploration. Hurry up and get home."
The children shrunk their necks and scattered.
A moment later, a shout from a child came from the weeds in the distance:
"Bleh! They say the smaller the chest, the worse the temper!"
Rate on N.U.
