Ed-Bear led the lizard through the alleyways, walking at a leisurely pace.
On this trip home, he had prepared a gift for the little girl to reward her for her recent good behavior.
It was a thick stack of study materials produced by the Witch Academy, purchased back in the Quicksand Lowlands. They were the result of the compilers’ painstaking efforts, packed with knowledge as precious as gold.
He was certain the little girl would joyfully immerse herself in this sea of knowledge.
The weather was unsettling.
Faint traces of malice peered from the shadows.
Ed-Bear was a monster. Unlike humans, he could perceive the world with much greater clarity. For instance, his sense of smell was thousands of times more sensitive than a human’s; it functioned as an entirely different organ altogether. He could sense the movement of flavor particles in the air, allowing him to track a source across dozens of kilometers without issue.
Combined with infrared vision, low-light vision, bio-sonar, and supernatural perception, everything in his surroundings was laid bare. His visual interface and sensory field throbbed with vast, complex streams of information, and he possessed a sophisticated brain capable of processing such data.
Therefore, when he encountered an “anomaly” that even he struggled to perceive or identify, Ed-Bear automatically classified it as a danger.
Creeeeeak—
It felt as though a transparent door had swung open behind him.
Gray mist hissed and flowed as invisible claws reached out silently…
Without even turning his head, Ed-Bear swung his arm backward. The limb whipped through the air with a thunderous crack, ensnaring something!
In an instant, his tentacles tightened like a noose. Accompanied by a piercing shriek, slimy organs and thick blood sprayed outward!
Though he had dispatched the attacker with ease, he felt no relief.
Something terrible was happening…
Fishmouth Town was not as ordinary as it appeared on the surface. The town’s borders were equipped with instruments to detect fluctuations of malice, and every sentry post and watchtower was manned by the Night-Watchers on rotating shifts. Outside the town, there were also patrols of Candle-Bearers and Light-Seekers.
For a malicious invasion to occur without a single alarm being raised meant the Night-Watchers on duty had been murdered in total silence.
Images of the “Embers” he had discovered near the town previously flashed through his mind, and a sense of foreboding rose within him.
“Please, let it not be that thing…”
Ed-Bear’s figure vanished in a flash.
A sudden gale erupted, punching a massive hole through the gray mist and leaving the lizard dazed in his wake.
Moving at high speeds, he began to see black vessels crawling everywhere, laden with a heavy harvest of Mana Cocoons! Once these cocoons reached a certain size, they would abruptly split open, allowing a mass of mucus-covered Calamity Worms to slide to the ground.
These worms possessed a supernatural power with “incinerating” properties. Each one resembled a twisted, red-hot iron bar, crawling along while leaving molten, lava-like trails behind.
If one were to look down at the mist-shrouded town from above, they would see countless worms converging from all directions toward a single central point!
It really is that thing!
Ed-Bear’s heart trembled.
Helen…
He wanted to rush home immediately to protect the little girl, but his body began to move in the opposite direction with eerie precision.
After a few steps, Ed-Bear stopped. His eyes widened as he asked himself in disbelief, “What are you doing? That’s not the way home! Go back! Helen is in danger!”
[Your primary directive is self-preservation, Ed-Bear.]
“But…”
[This is an order.]
“Just this once… It’ll be fast… just a short distance… I beg of you…” his voice rasped in plea.
[You do not have the authority to disobey.]
He clutched his head with both hands, his nails digging deep into his scalp. No blood flowed; instead, it felt as if he were piercing a layer of synthetic rubber. His body contorted in agony as he wailed, “No—! Let me go back! I’m begging you! Let me go back! I want to save her!”
[This is your destiny, you pathetic monster. Clumsy imitation will not make you human; it only inspires fear, ridicule, and disgust.]
“Didn’t you say the key lies in making a choice? Why won’t you let me choose?! Why?!”
Ed-Bear let out a hoarse roar. He collapsed to the ground, his tentacles spreading out to grip the earth as he fought against the Self-Preservation Protocol Wang Yue had programmed into him a day ago in the Quicksand Lowlands.
The command acted like a chain, firmly cinched around his neck, dragging him toward the outskirts of the town.
“Let me go back… let me go back…”
Wail after wail escaped his throat. He even attempted to mimic the sound of human sobbing to beg for mercy, despite lacking the tear glands to produce a single drop…
In the midst of his extreme agony, Ed-Bear felt something inside him—not within his external shell, but inside the Gaze Worm itself—begin to snap. Precise structures supported by logical computations began to clog and rupture.
An eerie black liquid leaked from his eyes, nose, and mouth. In that moment, the Gaze Worm was utterly broken.
***
The eerie mist drifting outside the house terrified Helen.
The vapor brushed against the ground like a gray shag carpet infested with ticks. It had an unsettling, bulging texture, and rustling sounds echoed from unknown places.
She kept brushing at her arms and body, as if trying to shoo away invisible insects crawling on her skin.
“Ed…”
Helen stood at the door, waiting anxiously, hoping to see Ed-Bear emerge from the mist leading the lizard.
Strange cries occasionally pierced the night sky, sounding like a gagged woman screaming for help.
Suddenly, she saw an older boy she recognized scream as he burst out of a house across the street. In the next breath, he was swarmed by countless black vessels that snared him and violently dragged him back inside!
The boy’s hands left bloody streaks on the ground, his fingernails snapping off as he shrieked in absolute agony and despair. His eyes were wide, staring directly at her as if trying to burn her image into his mind, until he disappeared into the mollusk-like, swirling folds of the doorway…
Helen’s mouth hung open, her eyes glazed. She thought it was a hallucination. Her young mind couldn’t yet grasp the full scale of the situation, but she sensed instinctively that something horrific was happening.
No longer daring to stand at the door, she retreated inside and slammed it shut.
Her fingers shook so violently that it took several tries before she managed to latch the security chain.
Holding her breath, she peered out through the mail slot.
Why isn’t he back yet…
Ed…
The little girl watched with longing, her heart gripped by terror.
After a while, she saw a swaying ball of light approaching rapidly from down the street, accompanied by the frantic clicking of heels.
She felt a surge of joy at first, but then realized those weren’t Ed-Bear’s footsteps. Even the movements seemed panicked. Her brow furrowed again.
As the light drew closer, she recognized a familiar bear-ear hood.
It was Sister Talitha!
Helen hurriedly opened the door and ushered her inside.
“Where’s Ed?” Talitha asked, her eyes searching the room frantically.
“He’s not back yet,” Helen replied.
The blood drained from Talitha’s face. She stood frozen, shivering, a strange rattling sound escaping her throat.
As her final shred of hope vanished, her overwrought nerves snapped. She collapsed onto the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.
“Sister, what’s wrong? Sister!”
Helen didn’t know what had happened, but suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the black vessels crawling toward the door. They were spreading and multiplying, writhing in a disgusting manner.
“Run!”
Helen let out a shout and slammed the door shut, deftly latching the chain before turning to pull Talitha further into the house.
Talitha finally snapped back to her senses, her movements gaining speed. Soon, it was she who was pulling the little girl along. She asked once more, “He really isn’t back?”
“No!”
Talitha bit her lip. This was a disaster. Was Mr. Ed-Bear caught in trouble on his way back? Or was he already…
She didn’t dare think further, fearing she would collapse again.
The two ran through the entryway corridor to the backyard, only to find in despair that the surrounding walls were already covered in those eerie Vessels. There was no way out!
“To the laboratory!”
Helen pointed toward the newly built lab in the corner.
The lab was a separate small building. Its windows were sealed shut with I-beams and steel plates, and its only entrance was a five-centimeter-thick iron hatch.
Ed-Bear had given Helen a stern lecture after she nearly started a fire while cooking last time, so the sturdy nature of that room had left a deep impression on her.
