Chapter 36
The next morning, the little hamster shook his head groggily, wiggling his plump rear as he pulled himself out of his miniature wooden house.
“Squeak?”
Through the morning quiet, he faintly caught the low, rhythmic whir of a printer running in the ground-floor study.
Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, the hamster clambered out of his enclosure. With a soft thud, he dropped onto the floorboards, momentarily flattening into a plush little pancake. Wiggling back onto his feet, he nuzzled the cracked door with his snout and pushed it open with two tiny pink paws.
“Squeak, squeak, squeak?” What’s all the commotion?
“Your uncle thought of printing maps.”
Yu Tianwei sat behind a desk stacked high with tech gear. Gesturing toward twenty-five brand-new iPads, high-end laptops, precision mice, and external keyboards lined up on the credenza, she said, “Stash these into your spatial pocket first. I’ve downloaded complete offline national navigation suites and detailed topographic datasets onto every unit. Still, physical paper is indispensable. Electronic devices are great, but they aren’t omnipotent.”
Laminated paper, on the other hand, was practically indestructible.
“Oh.”
The little hamster waddled over, climbed onto the low cabinet with painstaking effort, and plopped down with a soft plump. Reaching out with both paws, he picked up a tablet and shoved the entire unit straight into his cheek pouch.
Apple tablets came in distinct tiers. The simplest way to categorize them was by the price tag. Entry-level models were modest, mostly good for streaming dramas. Then there were the flagship pro versions, easily costing nearly ten thousand yuan apiece.
The little hamster hadn’t known the difference at first. When he originally bought his own gear, he had blindly picked the most expensive flagship model, only to discover later that ordinary, budget-friendly versions existed!
What an absolute rip-off!
Back when he worked his mortal shift at the pet boutique, his monthly wage had been five thousand yuan! Exactly five thousand! That single tablet had swallowed two full months of hard-earned labor!
Thinking about it made his fur bristle with indignation!
And out of that five thousand, the municipal bureau had deducted social security and housing fund taxes. Setting aside regular deductions, wasn’t withholding a public pension fund just a bit excessive for a centuries-old spirit beast?!
“Ow, ow!” Grumbling under his breath, the little hamster swept the hardware into his personal spatial pocket, routing the excess into the Kuntian Jade.
“I calculated the hardware based on our projected usage over the next ten to twenty years,” Tianwei noted, watching the hamster flop onto his side across the desk. “Tablets and laptops generally hold up for three to five years before internal components degrade.”
Seeing the creature lazily scratch his round tummy with a hind paw, her eyes lit up. “Here, let Sister scratch it for you. You shouldn’t have to do heavy lifting like scratching your own belly.”
Let Sister cuddle! Come on, let me touch!
“Hmph.” The little hamster tossed his head in disdain.
He couldn’t resist rolling his dark eyes right at her. She just wanted an excuse to pet his fur—why did she always invent such ridiculous pretexts?
Yet in Tianwei’s eyes, even a hamster rolling its eyes was heart-meltingly precious!
Abandoning the humming printer, she leaned down, buried her nose in his fluff, and took a long, greedy sniff!
“Squeak, squeak, squeak!” Aaaah, so annoying! Let go of me!
“These local maps are just our municipal sector,” she said, finally releasing him with an air of immense satisfaction. “I’ve already booked a commercial print shop that specializes in large-format municipal drafting. They can run high-density paper and laminate every single sheet.”
“Oh.” The little hamster sat up, using both front paws to smooth down the ruffled fur across his belly.
“I won’t be joining you on supply runs today, and neither will your uncle; he has specialized logistics to oversee,” Tianwei said, leaning down to plant a soft kiss on his furry crown. “Dad left at dawn. You’ll need to coordinate your own pickup routes today.
“I’ve placed massive orders for peanut milk tea through both my corporate profile and personal accounts. Deliveries will hit three hubs: this estate, our secondary guest villa, and your downtown apartment. Bulk freight—mostly cured meats, frozen poultry, and cold-weather thermal wear—is en route to all three locations as well.
“Dad made the final call last night: we are holding our ground in this community. We will wait until the neighborhood residents evacuate, and only then make our move.”
Tianwei gently stroked the creature’s back. “When the time comes… can you truly haul the foundation along with the house?”
“The foundation?” The little hamster hadn’t even planned on taking the subterranean basement. “To preserve the foundation, you either have to expose the pilings on flat bedrock, or dig out the surrounding earth to sever the anchor points cleanly.”
“That makes perfect sense. I’ll have Dad source commercial excavators for you. You’d better instruct your little slave in the jade realm to start training immediately,” Tianwei said with zero mercy. “Give him heavy diesel machinery, and even without food, water, or sleep, he should have plenty of time to dig out the perimeter.”
“Sister is brilliant~” The little hamster beamed. He was always eager to see that treacherous artifact spirit put to hard labor.
“I’ll text you the pickup coordinates for the backhoes and heavy forklifts shortly. The original architectural blueprints for the entire development are laid out in your uncle’s study. Dad went through the records and flagged the five specific residences he wants to preserve. Can your dimension accommodate five full estates?”
“As long as the foundational earth is cleared, yes,” the little hamster calculated. “Though hauling five monolithic structures will take at least a day or two.” Moving that much physical mass in succession would drain his spiritual reserves, requiring mandatory rest intervals.
“That’s fine; we’ll adapt as the situation develops.” Tianwei was determined to secure all five if possible, or as many as his capacity allowed.
Their decision to remain behind and claim the buildings was another reason they needed to keep Yu Xiaoyuan’s true capabilities strictly under wraps. In the early days of the collapse, when superpowers first began manifesting, he would simply pose as an ordinary spatial scout—possessing a standard dimensional bag, not the terrifying divine power to swallow entire city blocks whole.
The little hamster hadn’t realized his family was orchestrating such deep strategic maneuvers, but he was content to follow their lead. With his smooth, unwrinkled brain, complicated long-term politics were a headache anyway.
Still, while he might be simple, he had a remarkably long memory for petty grudges!
Glancing out the sunlit bay window, his thoughts abruptly screeched to a halt.
“Squeak???”
The already plump hamster puffed up into a rigid, bristling sphere, his fur standing straight on end until he looked like a slick, terrified tennis ball.
Tianwei paused, noticing the sudden transformation. Reaching out, she touched his bristling back. “What happened? Why are you puffed up like a balloon?”
“S-Sister… can’t you see it?” The little hamster trembled, pointing a shaking paw toward the manicured lawn outside. “Black mist… thick, black vapor is coiling up from the soil and dissolving into the sky!”
“I don’t see anything.”
Tianwei’s expression darkened, the warmth draining from her voice. “Then again… the countdown is running out, isn’t it?”
Turning back to the printer with a cold, hardened calm, she added, “Under these conditions, whatever happens is to be expected.”
“I… I suppose so.” While her practical logic was sound, watching the sinister vapor seep from the earth sent shivers down his spine.
What on earth is that stuff?!
“I’m heading out,” Tianwei said, her internal urgency spiking. The signs were manifesting; the zero hour was arriving far faster than anticipated.
A wave of self-reproach washed over her. Looking back on the past few days, she cursed herself for wasting precious hours curating takeout orders and luxury snacks, leaving the grueling work of survival to a tiny hamster. It was utterly shameful.
“The second shipment of solid alcohol fuel blocks will be delivered directly to the front gates; make sure you’re here to sign for it. I just spoke with the freight dispatcher, and they’ll arrive within thirty minutes,” she instructed, leaning down to press a quick kiss to the back of his head. “Finish your breakfast, stow the crates into your space, and then start your pickup circuit.”
“Squeak, squeak, squeak.” Understood.
He waved a tiny paw, watching his sister stride out the door.
Once her car rumbled down the driveway, the hamster scampered to the wide windowsill, his dark eyes wide as he tracked the thin ribbons of black miasma rising from the soil, coiling like smoke before vanishing into the clear blue sky.
“Is… is the entire mortal world covered in this?” he murmured under his breath.
“Indeed it is.”
Perched on the swaying branch of a camphor tree right outside the glass, a miniature sphere of crackling lightning swung its stubby legs back and forth.
The air immediately surrounding the spark remained pristine and clear. The murky, foul miasma dared not approach the heavenly ember, which radiated the pure, searing heat of the celestial sun.
The little hamster studied the spark with mild curiosity. He wasn’t particularly well-acquainted with celestial envoys; as a desert-dwelling hamster demon, his ancestral home had been the vast, arid dunes, where he had lived a remarkably comfortable life.
Like other hamster spirits, he had initially followed the traditional path: hoarding grain, digging burrows, and steadily growing stronger.
Yet an ancient spirit lived an exceptionally long life, and endless hoarding across empty sand dunes quickly grew tedious. So, the enterprising little hamster had packed his bindle and entered the workforce!
His first gig had been serving as the personal housekeeper for a young divine Phoenix.
Armed with a miniature feather duster and a soft cotton rag, he had swept down antique perches, polished fine wutong wood, and kept the sanctum spotless.
Along the way, he had diligently harvested the rare wutong ash left behind whenever the Phoenix underwent nirvana, scooped up the golden down that shed whenever the great bird stretched its wings, bottled the bird’s tears whenever it cried after losing an argument, collected stray droppings of saliva when the beast dozed off, trimmed its sacred claws…
In short, while working as an honest domestic servant, he had systematically plucked the young Phoenix practically bald. He had even scavenged every scrap shed by the divine beast’s visiting dignitaries.
Eventually, that young Phoenix had grown up, found a lifelong partner, and flown off to build an ancestral nest, casually recommending his loyal housekeeper to his eternal rival—a sharp-tongued, gloriously lazy ancient Dragon.
And so, the little hamster had taken up residence in the Dragon’s cavernous lair. He scrubbed the subterranean halls clean, while gathering fallen dragon scales, shed talons, discarded antler tips, and generous tufts of dorsal mane fur.
When that Dragon entered a century-long slumber, the little hamster packed his bindle once more. He did tours of duty for the sacred Qilin, the northern Xuanwu, the savage Qiongqi, the ravenous Taotie, the primordial Taowu, the fiery Vermilion Bird, and the ferocious White Tiger.
He worked his way through the entire pantheon of divine deities and primordial beasts, collecting a staggering treasure trove along the way.
By the time he had served every immortal beast on the roster, the boundary between the spirit realm and the mortal plane had shifted. Packing his monumental hoard, the little hamster slipped into the human world to enjoy a quiet, carefree retirement.
Mortal employment had paid terribly, of course. Yet all he had to do was sleep inside a polished wooden box, nibble on gourmet snacks, watch morning cartoons, and play tablet games. Whenever he deigned to let humans stroke his fur, they rewarded him with giant bags of roasted melon seeds.
He had heard rumors that the Heavenly Dao occasionally recruited lower-tier spirits for cosmic assignments, which vastly boosted one’s odds of ascension. Still, the little hamster had never imagined the lottery would land on his head.
“Your previous employers submitted a joint petition to recommend you,” the Little Lightning ball explained, unrolling a shimmering celestial scroll. “The young Phoenix spearheaded the initiative the moment he caught wind of the opportunity. He tracked down every beast on your former employer registry, badgering them until every single one of them signed off on the petition to Heaven.”
The little hamster was genuinely shocked. The Phoenix had been his very first master. Back in those days, he had been notoriously brazen with his feather collection, occasionally sneaking up to yank loose pristine plumage while the bird was napping. He was fortunate that the Phoenix had possessed a remarkably gentle temper; had he pulled those stunts in the lair of the Taotie, he would have ended up as an afternoon snack.
“He was genuinely fond of you,” Little Lightning said with a crackle of laughter, deliberately omitting the fact that every single primordial beast had signed the petition with suspicious eagerness—the ferocious beasts included. Several ancient monsters had practically sprinted to the Phoenix’s nest the second they heard about the initiative, eager to sign the little menace away to another realm.
“In all fairness, your track record is impressive,” the lightning spark continued, gazing up at the tainted atmosphere. “Which is why Heaven selected a mortal realm that aligns with your specific talents.”
“And then went and confiscated my entire personal vault, didn’t you?!” the hamster snapped, puffing his cheeks.
He had spent countless millennia building that hoard! To have celestial auditors freeze his life’s savings in a single afternoon was an absolute outrage!
“Your assets will be returned in full once you successfully complete your mission and depart this world,” Little Lightning countered defensively. “The foundational laws of this mortal plane do not support cultivation. Carrying a single divine phoenix feather would barely pass cosmic muster, but your dimensional vault contained a staggering sixty-seven thousand primary flight feathers from that single bird! Isn’t that just a bit excessive?!”
The little hamster scratched behind his ear, his whiskers drooping with guilt. “Were… were there really that many?”
His confidence evaporated in an instant.
“Yes! Sixty-seven thousand feathers, every single one harvested from the exact same Phoenix!” Little Lightning crackled in exasperation. “Just how long were you plucking that poor bird? It’s no wonder the creature was constantly shivering and refused to sleep without burrowing under his partner’s wings!”
“Nonsense! He was just frail in his youth and shed constantly!” the little hamster protested, refusing to yield the moral high ground. “You have no idea how grueling it was to keep his sanctum clean! If I skipped sweeping for a single day, the floor was covered in an inch of golden down! I only actively pulled feathers… maybe twenty times!”
“Brilliant. A tiny hamster managed to scramble onto a divine Phoenix’s head and pluck its sacred feathers twenty times, and you stand there boasting about it,” Little Lightning scoffed.
“Well, that was different. We were remarkably close,” the little hamster muttered fondly.
That tail feather had simply been too magnificent to resist. He had waited patiently for it to drop naturally, but the plumage had clung to the quill for centuries, until he simply couldn’t restrain his sinful little paws any longer.
Truth be told, that young Phoenix had been exceptionally kind. Even after moving away with his partner, he had repeatedly sent invitations, warmly welcoming the little hamster to come and visit his new home.
Living alongside the Little Phoenix for so many centuries had eventually left the little hamster restless. He wanted to see broader horizons, explore new realms, and—more importantly—find another generous host to exploit. So, he had politely declined the invitation.
Worried about the hamster’s future, the young Phoenix had gone out of his way to find him a new master: his eternal rival, the Azure Dragon.
The Azure Dragon turned out to be an exceptional host as well. While he and the Little Phoenix fought like sworn enemies, the ancient serpent treated the little hamster with remarkable courtesy. Best of all, unlike the bird, the Dragon didn’t shed downy fluff everywhere.
Instead, every few weeks, he retreated to an inner sanctum to scrape away his old skin and slough off loose jade scales.
The only real drawback was the Dragon’s combative nature. Whenever he was in high spirits, he soared into the clouds to pick fights with other ancient beasts, inevitably returning battered and bruised. At those times, the little hamster had to play battlefield medic, tending to a massive, grumbling wyrm.
Still, the little hamster hadn’t minded in the slightest—it had given him the golden opportunity to collect tubs of pure, divine dragon blood.
Hehehe~
“Everything will be returned to you the moment your assignment concludes and you leave this mortal plane,” Little Lightning said, hopping onto the sunny sill. “This world was chosen because it fits your specific talents, and it offers an immense harvest of cosmic merit. Work hard.”
The heavenly spark reached out, lightly patting the hamster’s velvety crown.
The little hamster peered through the window, longing and sadness mingling in his dark eyes. “Can the disaster truly not be prevented?”
He was eager to earn his heavenly ascension, of course, but the thought of countless mortal lives vanishing into thin air weighed heavily on his heart. It felt needlessly cruel.
“There is no escaping it; the cyclical collapse of this realm is an unavoidable law of nature. If Heaven had not dispatched you, other spirit beasts would have been assigned in your place,” Little Lightning sighed, watching the foul black vapor seep from the soil. “This is planetary necrosis—the death aura of an expiring world, bleeding out from its core.”
“Is there really no hope for them?” the hamster asked, stunned.
“That depends entirely on humanity’s fortune. This world operates on material science. If survivors endure the opening tribulation and advance their technology into an interstellar civilization, they can migrate across the dimensional barrier and thrive elsewhere,” Little Lightning explained with a shrug. “If they fail to evolve, the planet’s ultimate fate is sealed.”
“Oh.” The little hamster nodded, absorbing the cosmic weight. “Then I will simply do everything within my power.”
If he could save more people, provide better supplies, and keep their spirits intact, the pool of survivors would grow—and only then would humanity have the numbers to rewrite their destiny.
A relieved smile flickered across the spark of lightning. “Precisely. Complete your tasks diligently, and you give mortal civilization a fighting chance.”
“I will!” The hamster nodded vigorously, staring ahead with newfound resolve.
“Once the crisis begins, you may share the broader situation with your uncle and sister as you see fit. But not a single word to outsiders,” Little Lightning warned, rising into the air. “We can only aid those in the present, and every ounce of effort must be rooted in the here and now.
“little hamster Demon, do not betray the faith of your former employers, nor the trust of the Heavenly Dao.”
With a soft crackle, the spark dissolved into the air.
Dangling his tiny pink paws over the sill, the little hamster exhaled slowly. “Understood.”
It was just another job, wasn’t it? He had worked for millennia, an exemplary model employee who had earned glowing recommendations across the three realms.
Still… “The little hamster misses that Little Phoenix.”
When they first crossed paths, the fledgeling Phoenix had been tiny, naive, and hopelessly pitiful, sheltering in a damp cave along the fringes of the spirit realm. Small, weak, and utterly alone, no one had wanted to play with him.
The wandering hamster had happened to pass by and spotted the tiny ball of feathers shivering in the dirt, gazing out at the vast world with wide, longing eyes. Unable to ignore the sight, the hamster had trotted over, asking, “Do you need an experienced housekeeper?”
The fledgeling had looked at him blankly. “I… I have no spirit stones to pay you.”
“I don’t need your money; just let me collect the feathers you shed.”
From that quiet morning on, the little hamster had taken charge of the nest.
The dilapidated cave was scrubbed until it shone, and under his care, the young Phoenix grew taller, stronger, and full of spirited joy. He ventured out, discovered his own mystical inheritances, and eventually courted a lifelong mate.
Watching the fledgeling grow into a majestic celestial sovereign had filled the little hamster with quiet pride.
The bird had always loved nesting in the soft grass beds the hamster wove for him from spirit reeds. Back when the hamster first ventured out of the desert, he had assumed that because chickens slept in woven straw, all birds naturally needed grass nests.
The fledgeling had loved that first woven bed so much he refused to sleep anywhere else. Later in life, even after the divine bird mined radiant fire jade to carve a regal bedstead, he had insisted on keeping a woven grass nest resting on top of the jade.
On quiet nights, the little hamster used to sneak onto the warm, fluffy plumage of the slumbering bird, curling up in the feathers like a child. He loved soft, warm spaces—and building an inner nest out of divine Phoenix down had been pure luxury!
Sadly, birds grew up; it had been time for the Phoenix to spread his wings and claim the sky.
I’ll have to visit his nest the moment I leave this world, the little hamster thought, eager to thank his first master.
The sharp ring of the front doorbell shattered his reverie. It was likely the freight shipment of charcoal and solid fuel blocks Tianwei had booked.
Leaping from the windowsill, the hamster dashed across the floorboards—pat-pat-pat—shifting into his human form as he sprinted for the foyer.
“Coming! I’m right here!” he called out.
Panting slightly, Yu Xiaoyuan pulled the heavy door open, offering the courier a polite, sunny smile. “Thank you for the delivery.”
“Not at all, sir, just doing my job. Sign on the pad here, please.” The driver handed over the digital stylus.
Seeing the volume of crates, the driver kindly helped haul the heaviest containers across the threshold. Fortunately, the shipment was relatively compact, saving the man from falling behind his schedule.
After transferring a generous tip, Yu Xiaoyuan waved the van off, bolted the front door, and smoothly swept the flammable fuel blocks into his spatial storage.
“Time to hit the road,” he said, rolling his shoulders as he checked the glowing timer in his peripheral vision.
Barely two days left.
Since his uncle intended to hold their ground in the suburban estate, they could afford to pack the residence with even more defensive provisions.
Slipping into the garage, his eyes scanned the row of luxury vehicles before settling on a sleek sports car. “I should swap this out.” High-performance luxury sports coupes were glamorous, but their low ground clearance made them death traps on broken roads. He would leave it parked in the secondary villa’s lot and drive a rugged utility vehicle back.
He made a quick run to the secondary villa to sweep up newly delivered freight before returning to his old apartment across town. His goal was straightforward: strip the flat of everything usable—mattresses, cookware, dining sets, and ceramic bowls.
Parking along the curb, he strolled into the familiar garden courtyard, only to spot Grandpa Zhang seated on a stone bench, coughing into a handkerchief while stroking the fat calico cat resting on his knee.
The calico wasn’t in a playful mood today; instead, it sat unusually still, pressing its soft head against the frail old man’s hand.
A heavy ache settled in Yu Xiaoyuan’s chest. The old man’s persistent, dry cough was undoubtedly an early reaction to the foul miasma rising from the soil. His weathered skin had already taken on a dull, grayish cast. It took no supernatural wisdom to know that someone of his fragile constitution would never survive the initial ninety percent infection wave.
How many elderly mortals could realistically weather the change?
Even if their bodies resisted the opening airborne pathogen, could frail bones endure the blistering heatwaves, tectonic quakes, and frozen horrors of the Seven Catastrophes?
Netizens often joked online that if an apocalypse struck, they would rather turn into zombies in the opening wave—painless, free from terror, and spending the rest of their days aimlessly chasing survivors. While made in jest, it reflected a grim truth: when faced with absolute ruin, many humans simply lacked the will to claw through hell.
“Little Yu? Are you back to stay for the week?” Grandpa Zhang called out weakly, his pale face breaking into a warm smile as he waved.
“Just stopping by to collect a few things,” Yu Xiaoyuan said, jogging over. “Grandpa Zhang, drink some fresh water.”
Reaching into his canvas bag, he produced a bottle of mineral water, having infused it with a few drops of spiritual spring essence.
Yet deep down, he knew the spring was not an omnipotent cure; the laws of this mortal domain placed strict boundaries on divine intervention.
Sure enough, while the old man’s violent coughing eased after a few deep swallows, the dull, ashen pallor clinging to his skin remained unchanged.
The world’s cyclical decline could not be dismantled by a cheat code.
If mortal rules permitted, Yu Xiaoyuan would have happily emptied the entire spiritual spring into the metropolitan reservoir to inoculate the millions living downstream. But cosmic balance forbade it; the spring could only fortify vitality within natural limits.
Watching the old man’s frail frame, the youth’s heart sank.
His uncle and sister had to survive. If the heavens took them too, he would go on strike and abandon the mission entirely! The little hamster had a remarkably stubborn streak when pushed.
“Don’t look so mournful, young man,” Grandpa Zhang said gently, misinterpreting the youth’s solemn gaze.
Though they had only crossed paths a few times through neighborhood walks and chats about his pet hamster, the elder had always felt a fond kinship with this gentle, clear-eyed boy.
“Do you know how old I am?” Grandpa Zhang tapped his chest with frail pride. “Eighty-nine! I was preparing to celebrate my ninetieth birthday this autumn!”
He gave a dismissive flick of his wrist. “At my age, I stopped fearing life and death long ago. My children are established, my grandchildren are honorable citizens, and none of them turned out to be deadbeats. I’ve lived a full, respectable life. When my time comes, I will close my eyes without a single regret.”
“Grandpa Zhang…” Yu Xiaoyuan began, the words catching in his throat.
The old man shook his head, cutting him off softly. “My only lingering worry is this fat calico here. He was born just last spring. His mother was a starving stray I used to feed during my morning walks. When she grew weak and realized she was dying, she carried the kitten through the alleys, searching for someone she could trust.
“And she crossed paths with me.
“I still remember how she limped across the stones, trembling from exhaustion, carrying her baby in her jaws while watching every passerby, terrified of picking the wrong human.
“She stood there until her back legs collapsed beneath her.
“In pure desperation, she dropped the kitten onto my shoes. But look at me—I’m an old relic. I don’t even know how many days I have left.
“My children will keep his food bowl filled, of course, but they will never love him the way I do.
“Humans, dogs, cats—we all need genuine love to survive. Merely keeping an animal fed isn’t enough.
“I worry so much about what will happen to this little fellow,” the elder murmured, his gnarled hand gently smoothing the calico’s thick fur. “When I’m gone, will he be lonely?
“If the stray toms down the street corner him and beat him, who will stand up to protect him?
“Sigh…”
