Mother

The ghoul crouched on the ground, inching toward her bit by bit.

Near it lay a corpse whose insides had already been gnawed hollow, its face a mangled mess.

The ghoul growled, its entire body fully exposed under the dim light. A chain was fastened around its neck, clanging and rattling as it moved.

Xu Xiaoyou held her breath.

It would be troublesome if she made any noise here.

"Grrr..."

Seeing that the ghoul was still warily testing the waters rather than pouncing directly, Xu Xiaoyou quickly made a shushing gesture.

"Shh, shh. Good doggy, good boy."

As she spoke, she pulled several pieces of fresh raw meat from her tool card and gently tossed them in front of the ghoul.

Sure enough, the ghoul stopped upon smelling the scent of fresh blood and flesh. It leaned down, its nose twitching as it sniffed the raw meat, and began to gorge itself.

"That’s a good boy."

Before Xu Xiaoyou could breathe a sigh of relief, the ghoul’s face suddenly contorted into a snarl. It flung the meat aside and lunged toward her with explosive speed!

In its blood-red eyes, the aura emanating from the girl was far sweeter and more enticing than that piece of raw meat!

"Tsk..."

Xu Xiaoyou gritted her teeth slightly, flames condensing in her hand.

Boom—

The sound of the rattling chains and the violent explosion instantly drew the attention of the two patrolling figures.

"There’s a commotion! A-Huang ran into someone!"

The two dismantlers looked at each other and then ran quickly toward the source of the sound.

After rounding a few corners, they saw the scene.

A figure, also encased in heavy alchemical armor, was currently choking the ghoul. It looked as if a slight exertion of force would snap the creature's neck.

Flames erupted from the gaps in the figure's armor, scorching the ghoul's body and eliciting agonized wails.

"A-Huang!"

The short, chubby dismantler cried out in surprise.

From beneath her metal mask, Xu Xiaoyou gave a cold snort before tossing the ghoul into a corner.

She hadn't expected that set of alchemical armor she had kept previously to come in handy now. Although it didn't fit perfectly, she had simply discarded the pieces that didn't work.

"What happened?"

The tall, thin dismantler asked.

Xu Xiaoyou didn't answer, merely glancing at the ghoul cowering in the corner.

She knew these creatures had no sense of loyalty and possessed low intelligence; they only submitted to violence and superior strength. After the lesson she just gave it, it didn't dare show her any more hostility.

Feeling the cold gaze from beneath the metal mask, the ghoul whimpered like a wounded animal, its long crimson tongue licking the burns on its body.

When the tall dismantler saw the hollowed-out corpse and the scattered raw meat nearby, a look of realization dawned on its face.

"Was this guy being protective of his food again?"

With that, it stepped forward and delivered a harsh kick to the ghoul.

"Dishonest brat, you need a lesson!"

"Don't hit my A-Huang!"

Seeing the tall dismantler about to add more kicks, the chubby dismantler rushed over to the ghoul's side, shielding its body.

"A-Huang, don't hit A-Huang anymore."

"It’s all because of you, Neo. You spoil this guy too much. How long has he had this food-guarding problem without fixing it?" the tall dismantler scolded.

"A-Huang, only I am good to you, you must remember..."

Neo, the chubby dismantler, acted as if he hadn't heard a word, tightly hugging the ghoul in his arms.

If she hadn't noticed the ghoul's expression of extreme terror, Xu Xiaoyou might have thought this was some heartwarming moment between a pet and its owner.

The ghoul was being squeezed so hard it couldn't breathe, flailing its sharp claws and snarling as it struggled.

Suddenly, as if provoked by the creature in its arms, Neo's aura turned terrifying. His large hand grabbed the ghoul's head, lifting it high before slamming it violently against the wall.

With a loud thud, red and white bits splattered all over the wall.

"Why!"

"I was so good to you, why do you still resist me!"

Neo panted heavily like a demon.

After a moment, he let out a simple-minded laugh, his large belly jiggling as he jogged to the side. He pulled back a dusty cloth, revealing a giant cage filled with ghouls. Their red eyes shrank into the shadows as they were suddenly exposed to the light.

There were nearly dozens of pale, sickly figures in the massive cage, which rattled as they bumped against the metal bars. Watching this, Xu Xiaoyou silently took a step back.

Neo opened the cage, dragged out another ghoul, and patiently fastened a chain to it. He then patted the ghoul on the head.

"Now, you are A-Huang. Remember, from now on, only I am good to you."

The ghoul looked at the still-warm corpse of its companion nearby: "..."

Seeing that their attention was not on her, Xu Xiaoyou planned to slip away, but a sharp shout came from behind.

"Wait!"

The tall dismantler stared at Xu Xiaoyou's figure and suddenly spoke.

Xu Xiaoyou turned around. The scrutinizing gaze through the slits of the other's mask seemed to want to pierce right through her.

"What is your name?"

The more it looked at Xu Xiaoyou’s armor, the stranger it felt. She wobbled slightly as she walked, a clear sign it didn't fit. More importantly, the armor gave it a sense of familiarity.

Where had it seen this fellow before?

Searching its memory, it couldn't find a family member that matched.

"Soya," Xu Xiaoyou said in a low voice.

"Soya?"

The tall dismantler’s suspicion deepened.

It hadn't heard that name before. Although there were many branches of the dismantler family, it remembered the names of every family member clearly.

However, the other party could communicate with it and spoke their language.

Only family members could speak the language of the family.

"I am here to find Mother," Xu Xiaoyou added calmly.

"You... are looking for Mother?"

"Yes. I want to go home."

The tall dismantler suddenly froze, the rusted hook on its arm swaying.

A heavy oppression, like the calm before a storm, filled the air.

Xu Xiaoyou swallowed hard, staring fixedly at the figure before her. If the opponent made any sudden move, she would strike instantly!

"Could it be that you... were left behind from the very moment you were born?"

Hearing the sob in the other's voice, Xu Xiaoyou was stunned.

The tall dismantler was wallowing in its own sorrow, as if it had thought of something incredibly tragic. Tears and snot began to flow as it said:

"I can understand you, truly."

"Family is very important to each of us."

The tall dismantler put an arm around her shoulder and led her deeper into the sewers.

"It hasn't been easy on the road, has it?"

Xu Xiaoyou opened her mouth to speak, but the tall dismantler shook its head and interrupted: "You don't need to say anything. I understand. I truly understand you."

"You must have suffered so much on your way home."

"You haven't had a good sleep, have you? Haven't had a full meal? Those annoying cookies must have hurt you."

"We are all Mother's children. The family will surely welcome you home."

"Come, I can't wait to share this good news with everyone."

"Welcome home, Soya."

Anya, hiding around the corner, saw Xu Xiaoyou being taken away and her expression changed. She was about to move forward.

Xu Xiaoyou made a hand gesture behind her back, signaling her not to worry and to wait for an opportunity.

Anya nodded and watched as the girl walked away.

"Eh? Wait for me!"

Seeing the two walking away, the chubby dismantler jogged to catch up.

Throughout the walk, Xu Xiaoyou was completely dazed. She had somehow managed to get the tall dismantler to lead her into the depths of the nest.

After she mentioned 'Mother' and wanting to go home, the other party had completely dropped its suspicions.

When it asked her key questions, she didn't even need to speak; it would automatically come up with an explanation out of sheer "understanding."

The two chatted sporadically along the way, and Xu Xiaoyou vaguely felt that the other's attitude toward her was slowly changing.

It was shifting from the affection one has for a family member toward something deeper and far more bizarre.

It made her skin crawl.

"Soya, actually, I lost a little sister years ago. I watched with my own eyes as those hateful cookies cornered her... and finally killed her."

The tall dismantler's voice was trembling uncontrollably.

"So I truly understand you—that feeling of wanting to go home, to return to the side of family."

"Can you call me big sister?" The tall dismantler blinked. "Call me Big Sister Alina."

Xu Xiaoyou’s lip twitched, but she cleared her throat and whispered:

"Big Sister Alina..."

"Oh oh oh oh oh!"

Upon hearing the title, Alina rubbed her arms, her whole body squirming like a maggot. She looked extremely excited.

"I love Little Sister Soya the m-m-m-most!"

Xu Xiaoyou was pulled into the tall dismantler's embrace. Even through the thick alchemical armor, that deeply loving hug made her feel like she was suffocating.

Even though they had just met, Xu Xiaoyou felt the other party's favorability toward her was about to hit the roof. Was this the power of the Social Master and Linguistic Artist combo?

Or did the word 'family' simply mean too much to a dismantler?

Or maybe this tall dismantler was just an irredeemable sis-con!

"Little Sister Soya, your scent is so strange. Why do you smell like cookies?" Alina asked suddenly.

Before Xu Xiaoyou could get on guard, Alina shook her head.

"There's no need to explain. It's okay, Soya. I will always understand you."

"It must be because I care about Little Sister Soya too much that I smell the fragrance of cookies."

"I love cookies the most."

"The family always says that when you're near someone you care about, you'll smell the scents you like."

Since things had already reached this point, Xu Xiaoyou felt it wouldn't hurt to add more fuel to the fire. She suppressed her disgust and spoke weakly:

"But didn't Big Sister Alina just say she likes Soya the most?"

Alina froze.

She looked at the small figure before her, clad in alchemical armor covered in rust and scars that spoke of suffering. Those black, hollow eye sockets seemed to be conveying a silent, pitiful grievance.

Xu Xiaoyou didn't realize that in the dismantlers' aesthetic, her current look was actually quite appealing.

Alina waved her hands frantically. "No, no, no! It’s not like that! I don't like cookies, I like Soya!"

Sensing the deep apology in the other's tone, Xu Xiaoyou felt strangely guilty.

These dismantlers were truly simple-minded.

Their intelligence was only at the level of a seven or eight-year-old child to begin with. With her two cards and a performance of vivid acting, she had completely bamboozled them.

She felt that even if she asked the other to literally pour their heart out right now, they would probably do it without hesitation.

As they went deeper into the nest, the scenery within the sewers gradually opened up. It changed from pipes that could only fit four or five people to tunnels large enough for a dozen to walk abreast.

The deeper they went, the more bizarre the scenery became. Fleshy tissues distributed throughout the pipes grew more frequent until finally, the metal pipes were almost entirely replaced by red flesh that rippled slightly.

The air temperature rose, and the humidity followed. Along with it came a foul, fishy stench, as if they had stepped into the digestive tract of some massive creature.

Eyeballs opened one by one on the blood-red fleshy walls, staring at Xu Xiaoyou for a while before slowly closing again.

Xu Xiaoyou knew she was currently inside the body of Alley No. 5.

And Alley No. 5 was exactly as she had predicted: it was in a weakened, dormant state.

As they rounded a corner, a sleeping blood-red tentacle seemed to catch her scent. It twitched, reared up, and stabbed toward her back.

Alina noticed it just in time, grabbing the tentacle and ripping it off. She tore it right out of the fleshy wall and threw it violently to the ground.

"Don't you dare touch Soya!"

Hearing the shrill cry of the tentacle, Xu Xiaoyou’s expression shifted slightly.

The dismantler she had casually bluffed seemed to have quite a high combat capacity.

At the very least, she was significantly stronger than the dismantlers she had encountered in Alley No. 5 that day...

Xu Xiaoyou quietly checked the location of her Substitute.

They were getting closer and closer to the center of the nest.

The faint sense of foreboding in her heart grew stronger as well.

Finally, she entered a vast space. Looking at the surrounding scenery, she paused.

Countless holes were densely distributed throughout this underground space, resembling a honeycomb.

She slowly looked up.

At the top of the nest, a massive heart hung down. Numerous blood-red mouths were scattered across the surface of that heart, opening and closing like hungry chicks, emitting jarring, hoarse notes with every beat.

It cast a wide swathe of blood-red light, dyeing the entire nest in an eerie hue. Thick blood vessels branched out from it like a giant spiderweb, spreading across the ceiling of the nest and deep into the fleshy walls.

The heart was beating, and every pulse caused the entire nest to tremor.

The air was damp, and the stench of decay and blood was so thick it was almost tangible.

Thump!

The heartbeat sounded like a tolling bell.

Moist, flesh-colored tissue rose and fell like waves on the walls with each beat, squirming as if it might break through at any moment.

The sound of dripping water echoed.

Thick, viscous white liquid hung down from the giant heart. Thousands of people were suspended by those silken white threads, wrapped up like white cocoons.

It was hard to tell if the dripping liquid was the viscous white fluid itself or the dissolved body tissues of the people inside.

She looked up at the scene in the air, stunned with horror.

A strange sense of worship arose in her heart.

It was as if the scene before her wasn't grotesque, but a masterpiece—an artwork that deserved to be enshrined in a temple.

Thump!

That heart possessed a magical power, locking her gaze onto it as if it intended to swallow her whole.

There was no mistake,

This beating heart was the 'Mother' the dismantlers spoke of.