Chapter 198 (First Release)...
Ning Wanwan was called over, and a sharp, narrow, silver knife, about the size of a scalpel, was shoved into her hand.
They urged Ning Wanwan to cut off a part of the little monster.
Ning Wanwan thought, it's just a monster, a man-eating monster at that, might as well cut it off.
There's nothing to pity about such things.
The little monster seemed to know that Ning Wanwan didn't like seeing it in its human form on the lab table, because Ning Wanwan would never appear there at such times.
So at this moment, it looked like a monster, a soft, shiny, sticky, gelatinous substance flowing on the lab table, which reduced her psychological discomfort.
Ning Wanwan made her cut, severing a small portion of the little monster.
She cut very slowly, from the moment she pulled up one of the little monster's tentacles to the moment she made the cut; she was even prepared to be killed by the little monster.
But the little monster didn't resist. Instead, it seemed delighted by the rare "closeness" she felt from the touch and rubbed against her fingertips.
It was very soft and cool, a clear reminder that the other person's touch was not human.
Ning Wanwan threw the cut-off portion directly into the container that had been prepared beforehand.
"It worked! It actually cut through! Nobody had ever done it before!"
A cheer erupted from the crowd, and the researchers eagerly grabbed the jars to begin a new round of experiments.
Ning Wanwan suddenly felt very tired.
She looked at the little monster, one of its tentacles still tightly wrapped around her little finger, as if it were licking it.
Just as it was about to lick her wrist, Ning Wanwan snapped out of her daze, jolted, and abruptly shook off the little monster's tentacles.
"Splat, splat—" the little monster grumbled pitifully, thinking that Ning Wanwan would do the same as before and leave without looking back.
This time, however, Ning Wanwan did not leave immediately.
She had never looked at the monster so closely before.
"Don't you want to kill me? Why are you so close to me?" Ning Wanwan asked, puzzled.
She pointed to the cut that had just been made on the little monster, "Don't you resent me at all? Don't you feel any pain?"
She was genuinely confused.
She vaguely understood that many people were actually very kind to her, even excessively so, but she always thought that it was either an illusion or just related to the "love at first sight" halo she had acquired.
Those emotions, in essence, do not belong to oneself.
Ning Wanwan rarely worries about whether those feelings are real or not—because she simply doesn't accept any of them.
So, is this little monster in front of us also affected by the halo?
Even against monsters—can it work?
So, how effective is it exactly?
The little monster couldn't understand Ning Wanwan's words. It only knew that it really, really liked the human in front of it, so much so that it would give anything just to get a glance from her.
Look at me! Look at me!
You can do anything to me as long as you're willing to look at me.
It doesn't hurt at all.
The little monster's tentacles were about to cling to him again, sticky and affectionate, not afraid at all that Ning Wanwan would cut this part off again.
Ning Wanwan looked at it with an incredulous yet subtly expectant gaze.
"Is that so..."
Previously, she couldn't figure out how to kill this unkillable monster.
Moreover, even if a "king" kills a beast, won't another one appear to replace it?
Ning Wanwan thought that perhaps there was a better way now.
She decided to try to tame the little monster.
...
The little monster has been feeling especially happy lately.
The human it liked and wanted to be close to had previously been very resistant to it, not even wanting to look at it twice. But recently, for some reason, she seems less resistant to it.
She began to touch it, stroke it, talk to it, and share a lot of knowledge about humans.
It seems to be related to morality, ethics, rules, or something like that.
The little monster doesn't understand these things, but if Wanwan wants it to learn, it will try its best to remember.
Her face seemed to smile more as a result.
The little monster thought, "This is so wonderful."
If only time could stand still at this moment.
...
Ning Wanwan felt that her recent efforts to teach the little monster had been quite effective.
Hopefully, after learning these things, the little monster will stop killing and eating people. If even the "King" of the monsters is willing to do this, will the other monsters follow suit?
Ning Wanwan wasn't sure if the result would meet her expectations, but she was willing to give it a try regardless.
This is easier said than done; teaching a little monster who has absolutely no empathy is no easy task. Ning Wanwan also put in a lot of effort for this.
Moreover, this couldn't be done in front of the people at the research institute. Therefore, Ning Wanwan pretended to be very resistant to the little monster on the surface, but in reality, she would sneak away to teach the little monster whenever she had free time.
Fortunately, the little monster was very powerful and seemed to have done something to the surveillance system. In addition, the technology from thirty years ago was not very sensitive, so Ning Wanwan's actions went unnoticed.
"It's really strange... Recently, Number 001 has stopped eating people and won't touch them at all. It wasn't like this before."
"Could it be that he/she developed sympathy for people?"
"Ha, are you kidding me? How could that be..."
Several researchers walked past her, and Ning Wanwan listened to their conversation silently, feeling a sense of accomplishment.
It's definitely effective.
With her in a better mood, Ning Wanwan found the little monster a bit more agreeable, and in their private interactions, she was more willing to comfort it more.
The little monster became increasingly attached to her.
It was very obedient to her, becoming increasingly well-behaved in her presence. If Ning Wanwan said east, it wouldn't go west. If you ignored its appearance, it was practically like a puppy.
However, Ning Wanwan is not needed for the recent experiments. She has been transferred to another experimental project, which greatly reduces her opportunities to come and find the little monster.
Ning Wanwan was a little disappointed, but taking things slowly wasn't a bad thing; this unexpected incident was within her tolerance.
But she didn't expect that such a small thing would cause the little monster to cause an even bigger accident.
These past few days, the little monster has noticed that he sees Ning Wanwan less and less often.
Why is that? Why not come to see it?
Do you hate it?
The little monster was puzzled and annoyed, but the next time Ning Wanwan had a chance to come to it, it caught the smile on Ning Wanwan's face, which was no different from before.
There was no difference in the action of touching it.
Splat, splat.
So Wanwan didn't dislike it after all.
That's good, that's good.
The little monster breathed a huge sigh of relief, its trembling tentacles calming down. Just the thought of Ning Wanwan hating it and refusing to even look at it, as before, filled it with immense fear.
They were so terrified that they wanted to destroy the entire world.
No, no—Wanwan is smiling at it more and more these days. How could she possibly dislike it?
If that's the case, if that's the case...
The little monster didn't even want to imagine such a scene.
Even the non-existent heart felt as if it were being torn apart by excruciating pain.
—If that were the case, it would definitely go crazy.
But since it's not because I dislike it, there must be another reason why I haven't been looking for it much lately.
The little monster observed carefully, and the little monster thought seriously.
"Why hasn't that assistant named Ning Wanwan been around lately? Could she have been fed to Number 001 as well?"
"No, such a precious existence is the only one that can attract the attention of Number 001. We won't just use it as consumables so easily."
"I heard that the experiments here have recently entered a phase where other external influencing factors need to be eliminated. She has too much influence on No. 001."
"Yes, so let's temporarily transfer that assistant to another project team, and then..."
The little monster stayed in the square, transparent lab dish, listening attentively to the conversation, and finally understood.
So it turns out Wanwan didn't want to leave on her own; someone drove her away.
How could you do this? You can't do this.
These people are the culprits who separated it from the humans it loves.
The little monster slowly straightened up, revealing its tentacles.
It wants to eliminate everything that stands in its way of being with her.
The little monster gradually changed; its originally small body kept expanding until it filled the entire giant culture tank.
Black liquid seeped from the cracks, spreading into spiderwebs that gradually covered every corner of the research institute. Everyone could only become weak prey helplessly waiting to be killed in the spiderweb.
They couldn't even detect that something was wrong.
"Huh, what's going on?" Finally, someone noticed the situation, looked up, and their voice started to tremble.
"How...how could it have turned out like this..."
Before he could finish speaking, he was completely swallowed up by a black, tidal wave.
...
Ning Wanwan felt a little sleepy.
She kept yawning because she had been thinking about how to better teach the little monster, and she stayed up all night thinking about it.
While cleaning the measuring cup, she was so dazed that she almost bumped her head.
However, this also made her a little more awake.
Hmm... why is it so quiet?
Ning Wanwan suddenly felt something was off, realizing that the laboratory was too quiet.
No, it wasn't just the lab. She went outside and found the entire research institute had become quiet.
The originally stark white walls, floors, and lights all seemed to be shrouded in a black shadow.
Squeak, squeak... It feels like I stepped on something very soft.
Ning Wanwan hesitated for a moment, then looked down at her feet. The black, gelatinous substance was constantly wriggling, covering everything visible to the naked eye.
When Ning Wanwan lowered her gaze, they seemed even more excited, wriggling violently and rapidly, trying to climb up from under her feet—
"Get away, get away..." Ning Wanwan realized something, kicked away forcefully, and strode towards the core laboratory.
The sticky, wet sound under her feet seemed to be trying to hold her back, or perhaps it was a reluctant licking.
*Snap!* Ning Wanwan pushed open the door to the core laboratory.
Then, she saw a scene that was deeply etched into her mind.
The little boy sat casually on the lab table, his legs swinging slightly, looking relaxed and adorable.
"Wanwan, you're here! Now, no one can stop us from meeting."
The little boy blinked and spoke cheerfully, his tone filled with joy.
Beneath its feet lay countless bloody corpses.
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