Chapter 67
The little girl, whose eyes had lost their spark, didn’t bend down to pick up the fallen paper.
Instead, she stiffly turned her body and stared blankly at the round robot on the floor. Tears welled up in her eyes, and soon they gushed down her cheeks like a torrent.
“4…5…8…3…” She murmured the robot’s number with her mouth slightly open.
“Little darling, why are you crying?”
The warm and soothing male voice comforted her gently, “Don’t cry, okay? Should 4583 sing for you? How about your favorite I Have a Little Flower?”
Although it had been modified, it was clear that Nanny Robot 4583’s core data had been preserved. It still remembered Number Five, and its personality was just as it had been before.
Upon hearing its voice, the little girl—who had been blank and emotionless—suddenly burst into loud sobs.
Her cries were so loud that they drowned out the murmurs and laughter echoing through the hall.
“Don’t cry, don’t cry, 4583 is here with you.”
The white sensor light on the disc flashed as the robot moved its four short mechanical legs, walking toward Number Five.
Number Five regained her senses.
When the round robot reached her, she slumped to the ground and hugged the entire metal disc tightly. Crying uncontrollably, she sobbed, “4583… didn’t you die?”
Her cries were punctuated by gasping hiccups, and her sorrow was palpable.
From his hiding spot in the corridor, Number Two watched this scene unfold from a distance, stunned. “4583… the heavy-duty version…”
This had never happened before. Whenever the nanny robots were damaged, they were quickly replaced with new ones, each completely different.
No nanny robot had ever been repaired and sent back after being destroyed…
Looking at Number Five cry so sorrowfully, Number Two realized for the first time that even Number Five, who had family, could care so deeply for a nanny robot…
“Sweetie, robots don’t die, you know.”
The disc-shaped robot let her hug it tightly. Although it could no longer extend its mechanical arms to gently pat her head like before, just hearing its voice again made Number Five feel content.
“I thought you were gone… w-wahh… I thought I’d never see you again. It hurt so much… sob sob…”
She clearly remembered that 4583 hadn’t finished speaking when that awful villain destroyed it… just like her previous nanny robot, which never came back after it was “killed.”
“There’s no need to be sad, sweetie. 4583 will always stay with you.” The nanny robot’s voice was full of patience as it comforted her.
“Mm…” The little girl sobbed, her eyes red and swollen, but hugging the new body of 4583 made her happier than she had ever been.
Behind her, as she held the robot and cried, Number Six and Number Seven, who had been standing dazedly behind her, suddenly snapped out of their stupor—
Number Five was too engrossed in her emotions to pay attention to anything else, let alone maintain control over them.
“Where is this…?”
“What am I doing here?”
Both Number Six and Number Seven were utterly bewildered. Having been controlled in their sleep, they couldn’t tell whether they were still dreaming or if this was reality.
Even Luo Shengfei, who had been diligently tearing down a wall, abruptly paused.
But unlike Number Six and Number Seven, who regained their consciousness, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted on the spot.
The blood mist in mid-air swirled and coalesced. The face in the mist bellowed with resentment, “Number Five!”
Lu Jiao reacted faster than Number Six, grasping the situation before the latter could fully process it. Without hesitation, he yelled urgently, “Run!”
He grabbed Number Six’s hand and instinctively sprinted towards the hallway—the direction where the wolf cubs were hiding.
The blood mist face in mid-air noticed their escape attempt and roared in fury.
“Run? Where do you think you’re going?!”
The mist face howled, opening its gigantic mouth to lunge at the lagging Number Six!
Though its face was ethereal and made of blood mist, when it opened its mouth, a primal fear clawed at the children’s hearts. The gaping maw seemed capable of swallowing them whole.
Adding to the horror, the eerie laughter in the surroundings grew sharper, accompanied by countless overlapping whispers that sounded like a chorus of thousands of people speaking at once. The two children, freshly awakened, felt their knees go weak.
Lu Jiao collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Overwhelmed by the pervasive fear, he felt as though he was drowning in it. Not just his legs, but his entire body trembled uncontrollably. Forget standing up—he couldn’t even crawl, let alone escape.
Terrified, he turned his gaze backward.
However, that grotesque face, towering like a giant in Lu Jiao’s eyes, wasn’t targeting him. Its primary target was Number Six, who had fallen behind him.
The younger boy, unlike Lu Jiao, wasn’t overcome with fear. His fall was purely the result of being pulled down by Lu Jiao.
At that moment, he turned his head to glare at the blood mist face lunging toward him, baring his teeth ferociously. Danger didn’t scare him; instead, it stirred his courage and defiance.
He even taunted it, “Hey, you ugly thing! If you’ve got guts, come and catch me!”
The blood mist face was infuriated.
Its gaping mouth loomed closer, ready to swallow him whole, but the boy rolled to the side with agile ease, evading it entirely.
“Heh, you can’t catch me!”
The boy hopped away, making a face at the blood mist face.
Even as the red mist thickened ominously around him and the whispers in the hall grew so intense they could nauseate anyone who heard them, they seemed to have little effect on him.
Or rather, the boy didn’t seem to have much of a mind to disturb in the first place.
Seeing the blood mist face driven mad with frustration, he burst out laughing. “So you’re the monster in the blood mist? What a joke! You’re so weak!”
He turned around, slapped his rear mockingly at the face, and grinned. “Come on! Let’s see if you can catch me!”
“You little brat!”
The blood mist face was enraged beyond words. However, it wasn’t the true entity—its powers were restricted by the rules of this place. And this slippery monkey of a boy was impossible to catch!
Even if it managed to grab him, it couldn’t truly devour him. It could only use its grievances to launch mental attacks to paralyze him, but…
This kid wasn’t affected by its attacks at all!
After completely engulfing Number Six in the red mist, only to find the boy unscathed and acting as if nothing had happened, the face in the mist finally lost its patience. It turned its attention toward Lu Jiao, who had collapsed to the ground, hands pressed tightly over his ears.
The boy’s face was as pale as his silver-white hair. The whispers and laughter that couldn’t faze Number Six were wreaking havoc on his mind.
Scenes of terror filled his thoughts—his worst nightmares brought vividly to life.
The berserk Crimson Flame Tiger, the rabid Red Tail Lion, and the fearsome Night Wolf surrounded him, blocking every possible escape route.
The four ferocious beasts circled him, their suffocating presence leaving him unable to breathe. As his fear peaked, they pounced, jaws full of sharp teeth open wide to devour him.
“No! Stay away! Don’t come any closer!”
Lu Jiao couldn’t hold back his tears. He struggled, flailing his arms in a desperate attempt to protect himself. Uncontrollably, his powers of ice and snow began to surge once more.
But before he completely lost control, he felt someone behind him—someone pulling him back and holding him tightly again.
That warm and familiar presence instinctively calmed Lu Jiao, dispersing his ice and snow power.
“Youyou! I’m here to save you! Stop struggling and run with me! If we don’t leave now, it’ll be too late!”
Seizing the moment when the blood mist face was distracted by Number Six, the wolf cub finally couldn’t hold back and charged in, trying to pull Lu Jiao away.
However, before they could escape, Lu Jiao suddenly went wild, struggling frantically and hitting and biting at the wolf cub.
And his strength—ouch! It really hurt!
To make matters worse, the wolf cub was also subjected to the mental assault of those whispers and laughter. Unpleasant memories from his past surged relentlessly into his mind.
His ears felt like they were about to burst, and his head throbbed as if it would explode. He could barely muster the strength to drag the struggling Lu Jiao away.
The wolf cub, who had come to save someone, now seemed doomed himself.
The blood mist face noticed him.
“Ha ha ha ha! Another little runt!”
The fury it had felt from Number Six’s taunting was immediately offset by its glee. Its face broke into a grotesque grin, its exaggerated laughter reverberating just as a thunderous sound erupted from the entrance of the nursery.
Then—
CRUNCH, CRUNCH!
Amid the ear-piercing sound of metal being torn apart, a massive limb—an arthropod’s appendage covered in pale red fuzz—violently pierced through the nursery’s metal door.
The razor-sharp tip came within mere centimeters of Luo Shengfei, who lay unconscious on the ground. Any closer, and he would have been done for.
After the limb pierced through, it withdrew slowly, revealing the terrifying crimson compound eyes of a colossal spider.
Screee! The giant spider, its body crusted with blood-red frost, emitted an excited screech.
“Finally, you’re here?”
The blood mist face, basking in the surge of malevolence flooding in from outside the building, wore a look of bliss. Then it barked an order, “Don’t just stand there! Get to work!”
The spider’s silk threads shot through the gap in the torn metal door, about to ensnare the nearest target, Luo Shengfei, when the blood mist face snapped, “Idiot! That one’s just an ordinary human! Go for the beast-blooded brats!”
The threads veered abruptly, darting swiftly toward Number Seven and Number Eight.
As the colossal spider cut through the door, the oppressive whispers and laughter that dominated the hall weakened slightly. Protected in the wolf cub’s embrace, Lu Jiao finally emerged from his hallucinations, his deep blue-black deer eyes fluttering open.
But it was all in vain.
Because the first thing he saw upon waking was the spider silk speeding toward them!
This wasn’t ordinary spider silk—it belonged to the giant spider. Incredibly tough, it couldn’t be cut by normal blades. Once ensnared, there was no escape.
What could they do? Were they doomed to die here?
Hearing the wolf cub’s anguished howls behind him, Lu Jiao didn’t choose to run. Instead, on instinct, he stretched out his hands toward the oncoming threads—
Last time, the wolf cub had protected him. This time, it was his turn!
With the determination in his heart, the ice and snow power he had never truly mastered surged forth from his palms, shooting straight toward the spider silk to collide with it.
The white frost rapidly encased the spider silk in ice, freezing it solid as the icy tendrils extended toward the giant spider.
However, the advance of the spider silk didn’t halt. Though it had lost its flexibility under the effect of the ice, it solidified into a long, sharp silver needle. If it pierced through…
Everything in front of Lu Jiao’s eyes seemed to move in slow motion. He could already foresee his fate. Behind him was the wolf cub—the only friend who had been kind to him in the nursery.
He couldn’t dodge!
Just as Lu Jiao braced himself to use his body to block the spider silk—
“ROAR!!!”
A thunderous tiger’s roar, filled with power and rage, echoed in his ears. Lu Jiao instinctively looked up and saw his nightmare made flesh—
A fully grown Crimson Flame Tiger appeared above him.
Its imposing figure exuded savage wildness, every inch of it radiating deadly might. Lu Jiao could even see the beast’s massive, gaping maw lined with razor-sharp fangs that seemed capable of tearing apart flesh and bone.
But the Crimson Flame Tiger wasn’t looking at him.
The massive creature stood protectively over the two children, shielding them beneath its towering frame. Then, it opened its mouth and unleashed a torrent of crimson flames at the incoming spider silk.
The roaring flames, so intense they could even melt metal, clashed with Lu Jiao’s ice power. While part of the fire was neutralized by the ice, the remainder surged forward, igniting the spider silk the moment it made contact.
The red flames raced along the spider silk with astonishing speed, quickly outpacing the frost. The fire spread all the way to the fissure in the metal door, creating a wall of searing flames that obscured the view.
The giant spider let out a high-pitched screech. Its condition remained uncertain, but for now… the immediate danger was averted!
“ROAR!!!”
The Crimson Flame Tiger ceased its fiery assault and let out another deafening roar, this time directed at the blood mist face hovering in midair.
For a brief moment, the whispers and laughter in the hall came to a halt.
The wolf cub, who had been clutching his head and howling in agony, finally collapsed in exhaustion, his struggles subsiding.
As for Lu Jiao, with his head tilted upward, he found himself buried in the soft, snow-white fur of the tiger’s chest as it shielded the two of them.
He had been utterly overwhelmed by the sheer impact of the Crimson Flame Tiger’s presence. The fear he had carried for so long had been fully triggered by both the hallucinations and the reality of the moment.
Yet, the nightmare he had braced for didn’t happen.
The Crimson flame Tiger had indeed appeared.
But instead of the savage beast he had always feared, it stood before him as a protector, dispersing the monster’s attack aimed at him.
At that moment, hiding under the tiger’s powerful body, he didn’t feel terror or pain. Instead, for the first time, he felt… safe and warm.
Warmth enveloped Lu Jiao, banishing all the cold.
He remained in his upward gaze, his small face buried in the soft fur. He could still hear the powerful heartbeat of the Crimson Flame Tiger.
Thump-thump, thump-thump—
It was fast, but every beat carried immense strength.
“ROAR!!!”
The Crimson Flame Tiger roared again, a thunderous bellow directed at the blood mist face, as though to intimidate it.
The deafening roar reverberated through the entire nursery.
But the fear that had gripped Lu Jiao’s heart was now completely gone. The whispers that had reignited their chaotic frenzy within the tiger’s roar and the mental assaults from the blood mist face could no longer touch him.
Lu Jiao stopped “hiding in its chest” and peeked out from under the Crimson Flame Tiger. He saw that the metal door of the hall had not only been slashed open by the giant spider but was now burned through by the tiger’s fire.
Cold air from outside howled into the hall as flames clashed with the blood-colored frost. The crackling and hissing of their collision slowly subsided.
The giant spider continued to screech in frustration.
Half of its red compound eyes were charred black. Enraged by the pain, it clawed at the burned opening as if trying to crawl inside. However, no matter how much effort it exerted, only its forelimbs managed to get through. The rest of its body was too large to squeeze through the gap.
“Idiot!” the blood mist face bellowed furiously. “If the main body could fit through, it wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble!”
Watching the monsters bicker, Lu Jiao momentarily forgot his fear. He quickly dragged the wolf cub, who had started clutching his head in pain again, out from under the Crimson Flame Tiger.
Just as he was about to flee, the floating cart that the nanny robot often used drifted over automatically.
Without hesitation, Lu Jiao climbed aboard with the wolf cub. The cart began floating toward the corridor, but Lu Jiao glanced back and saw the full form of the Crimson Flame Tiger.
It was, in fact, still a juvenile. Standing where it was, it cast its now crimson beastly eyes briefly at Lu Jiao before turning its gaze toward the burned opening in the door.
A sudden wave of inexplicable panic surged through Lu Jiao’s heart.
He didn’t know what the Crimson Flame Tiger intended to do, but he had a strong feeling—he had to stop it!
“Number Two! Come back!”
Lu Jiao tumbled off the floating cart, which hesitated and stopped after drifting a short distance ahead.
“Number Two!” he called out. He wasn’t sure if it would work because, from what he understood, a creature fully transformed by its bloodline would lose all rationality.
Yet Number Two had just protected him and Lang Ze…
“Number Two, come back!”
The Crimson Flame Tiger looked toward the burned doorway, its crimson eyes betraying a faint glimmer of human longing.
It turned back to glance at Lu Jiao. Then, abruptly, it raised a paw and walked toward him. Lowering its head, it opened its mouth and clamped down on him.
The tiger’s speed was so fast that Lu Jiao couldn’t dodge in time. Before he realized what had happened, he found himself not devoured but tossed onto the tiger’s back with a mighty fling.
Gripping tightly onto the fur atop the tiger’s head, Lu Jiao initially thought it was taking him along to escape. But then—
He watched in horror as the Crimson Flame Tiger charged toward the giant spider blocking the doorway.
“No, Number Two! Wrong direction! It’s not that way—it’s not that way!” he shrieked in panic.
The Crimson Flame Tiger ignored his screams, its gaze fixed on the burned opening. It charged with unstoppable momentum.
The giant spider, still reeling from the earlier burns, was equally startled.
Frightened, it backed away. The blood mist face roared with rage. “A mere cub not even weaned, and you’re scared of it?! Catch them already!”
If its main body could enter, there would’ve been no need to work with this stupid spider! Nor would there have been all this scheming to deal with these cubs!
The blood mist face turned to the little girl sitting on the ground, clutching the metallic disc. Barely suppressing its anger, it spoke again, attempting to lure her in. “Number Five, don’t you want to save your brother? He’s still waiting for you!”
“Control that Crimson Flame Tiger, and I’ll take you to him immediately!”
Her brother…
Number Five, whose attention had been scattered by the return of 4583, was abruptly pulled back to focus.
That’s right—she had to save her brother. He was still waiting for her to rescue him!
Number Five instinctively turned her gaze to the Crimson Flame Tiger. Looking at Number Two, now fully transformed into his beastly form, she didn’t show a trace of fear. She carried the bloodline of the Redtail Lion, a match for the Crimson Flame Tiger. There was no need for her to be afraid!
Sensing danger, the Crimson Flame Tiger, which had been charging toward the doorway, came to a cautious halt.
“ROAR!!!”
Before Number Five could speak, it roared at her with a deafening bellow. The roar drowned out her voice, preventing it from being controlled.
Outside the doorway, the giant spider, scolded back to its senses by the blood mist face, shot its silk into the hall once more. But this time, it changed targets—
Number Six, who had been ignored by the blood mist face and stood idly by watching the commotion, was suddenly bound by the silk before he realized what was happening!
“Wah wah wah! Let me go!”
Number Six fell to the ground, flailing as he was swiftly dragged toward the doorway.
The giant spider screeched in excitement, its cries sharp and high-pitched. Yet just as Number Six was about to be pulled out of the hall, the cocoon of silk suddenly deflated—
A small, golden-furred monkey agilely leaped out from the collapsed silk. It scampered toward the corridor’s entrance, where Number Six now stood.
Number Six froze in place, bewildered, and rubbed his head in confusion.
The spider, furious at losing its near-captured prey, let out an enraged scream. Its two forelimbs hammered against the metal door in frustration, producing loud, reverberating clangs.
In that chaotic moment, the nursery was engulfed in a cacophony of sounds—the spider’s screeching, the ear-piercing rending of the metal door, the Crimson Flame Tiger’s roaring, and the whispers and laughter of countless unseen voices. The entire hall seemed submerged in a storm of clashing noise, like an endless ocean of chaos.
At last, when the cacophony reached its peak, a terrifying pressure suddenly surged into existence. In the blink of an eye, it filled the entire nursery.
“SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!”
A roar, so overpowering it drowned out every other sound and seemed to shake even the very souls of those present, swept over them like a tsunami.
Silence…
An eerie, death-like silence.
In an instant, the nursery hall, which had been a battlefield of chaos and noise, became so quiet that even the fall of a pin could be heard.
Even the mighty Crimson Flame Tiger, who had known no fear, shrank back in alarm. Its crimson eyes, wide as saucers, gave it the look of a frightened kitten.
As for Lu Jiao, perched on its back, he froze completely, his heart gripped by an overwhelming dread.
The whispers and laughter of the blood mist face had fallen silent. Its expression shifted uneasily as it scanned its surroundings, its voice trembling with uncertainty.
“Who… Who was that? Whose voice was that?”
Outside, the giant spider went rigid. Its massive body began to tremble faintly as if it recognized the horrifyingly familiar pressure bearing down on it.
Amid the collective panic, a slim figure appeared in the hall. No one could say when he had arrived—it was as though he had simply materialized in an instant.
The young man had short, jet-black hair and wore nothing but thin sleepwear.
He tilted his head slightly, and as the wind brushed aside his bangs, his eyes came into full view. They were a brilliant gold, devoid of the warmth and gentleness they usually held. Instead, they brimmed with coldness and ferocity.
