Chapter 33, First Official Release, Birdcage
The dark alley was illuminated only by the faint light of the setting sun, casting a few bright spots.
After the boy attacked by the black coal ball escaped, only Yu Xiao and the black coal ball remained, facing off.
Black Coal Ball seemed to realize that it could not compete with Yu Xiao, so it stopped running away and started circling around in place.
And it seems that this pollutant, which is not very intelligent, has realized that Yu Xiao does not really like to have close contact with him, so it keeps a certain distance and hovers around Yu Xiao's feet.
At this moment, the pollutants no longer seem like pollutants, but rather like a puppy that stays by its owner's side and can't bear to leave its owner no matter what.
Because of the unusual behavior of the black coal ball, Yu Xiao did not launch another attack on it.
He awoke on a mountain of bones as soon as he became conscious, without any awareness whatsoever.
Who created the mountain of corpses, and what was the connection between those bones and Yu Xiao? Yu Xiao had no idea.
So Yu Xiao sat on the mountain of bones for a long time. He didn't have any special feelings about the overwhelming white bones; he just wanted to sit there and daydream.
After an unknown amount of time, a pollutant hunter finally arrived and spoke with him.
"What a pitiful young man, attacked by pollutants, and all his relatives died..."
Yu Xiao looked around at the mountain of bones behind her and the collapsed houses not far away.
“Yu Xiao… My name is Yu Xiao.”
Yu Xiao, dressed in rags, finally remembered that she should introduce herself to the group of people passing by.
Fortunately, he lost his memory rather than his common sense, and his memory did not seem to be completely lost; he still remembered some things.
After the initial conversation, Yu Xiao continued to communicate with the hunters, learning about the world's setting and the origin of pollutants from their words.
Humans are hiding in the post-apocalyptic wasteland, and the weaker humans only need to do everything they can to save their lives.
Some brave and capable individuals chose to become hunters.
Official agencies reward hunters for cleaning up the pollutants, in order to encourage people to stand up and fight against them.
The hunters who appeared before the White Bone Deleted and discovered Yu Xiao were a small group who started hunting for the reward.
Yu Xiao lacks common sense, yet she managed to remain unharmed on the Mountain of Bones. She shouldn't be considered one of the same kind by humans.
The hunters who saved Yu Xiao, without prior agreement, all considered her one of their own because they sensed that she posed no threat.
It was as if some unseen force was demanding that they treat Yu Xiao well and never doubt her.
In the end, Yu Xiao chose to travel with this group, but the time they spent together did not last long.
The hunters who took Yu Xiao from the piles of bones in the mountains all died soon afterward.
They weren't good people either. They invited Yu Xiao to become one of the pollutant hunters and work with them, but in one operation they tried to use Yu Xiao as bait.
After that, Yu Xiao's memory was somewhat hazy, and he didn't remember what happened next. However, when he regained his memory, the hunters' nuclear contaminants were all dead on the ground.
Collecting pollutants and the remains left behind after death can make one stronger. This is the knowledge Yu Xiao obtained from the hunters. So he didn't have time to grieve for those companions who might or might not have feelings. He gathered the fragments he could see and began his lonely journey.
Yu Xiao's heart remained calm, and she did not feel sad for the hunters. She simply packed up their weapons and documents and set off alone on her hunting journey.
It seems that Yu Xiao is meant to be cold and ruthless. He cannot develop any extra feelings for other people. He hunts alone until he is killed by pollutants at some point, or until he is fortunate enough to live to see the day when humanity completely removes pollutants from the earth.
Yu Xiao couldn't remember what she was supposed to do, so she could only continue killing pollutants and collecting rewards.
Gradually, many people began to look at him with increasing respect.
They even called Yu Xiao "the strongest hunter".
Yu Xiao didn't know how strong he was, nor did he really want to become stronger. He just mechanically stopped the pollutants day after day, hoping to get a reward and then find information related to the pollutants in order to regain his connection with the world.
In the post-apocalyptic world after the arrival of pollutants, electronic devices are no longer usable, and Yu Xiao's temporary residence is filled with many laptops.
Temperament has reverted to the most primitive recording methods of the feudal era. Those general equivalents have basically lost their meaning. When people want to communicate with each other, they generally use barter.
Therefore, Yu Xiao has very low material desires and uses everything she can get her hands on to enhance her own strength.
If Yu Xiao had memories of what happened before the apocalypse, she would know that these things could be called superpowers.
An ordinary person who originally appeared to have superpowers can summon white light at will after gaining them.
But she quickly accepted the fact that she had superpowers and used them as much as possible in every way she could, and she was very good at it. She didn't seem like someone who couldn't adapt to having superpowers at all.
He has no memories of the past; his birth point can only be traced back to that mountain of bones. Yet, something in the darkness seems to be telling him that as long as he continues to kill the pollutants, all the problems in his heart will be solved.
So Yu Xiao used everything she could get to enhance her strength.
And remember to gather as much information as possible that you can foresee, so that you can become stronger and more invincible in the face of pollutants.
The notebook was Yu Xiao's attempt to record everything he saw in the most primitive way, and then to seek out the future that he had no idea when he would be able to see clearly.
Given Yu Xiao's reputation as a ruthless hunter, he should have killed the black lump of coal as quickly as possible...
It's not necessarily possible to kill them. According to information exchanged among hunters, the mutated species that attack humans seem to be difficult to kill.
Yu Xiao was constantly on the go, while in his little apartment he was always writing notes.
Until one day, when he went out to kill the pollutants, he encountered this black lump of coal.
After failing to kill the little boy, the black coal ball stretched out its long tentacles, attempting to wrap around Yu Xiao.
"It's...delicious..."
The only food among the pollutants is other pollutants; they need to devour each other to consume the remaining pollutants. As for the reason, neither Yu Xiao nor the pollutant researchers she encountered could analyze it.
Just as humans are born needing to eat and breathe, swallowing pollutants means that the pollutants are feeding.
It's important to understand that pollutants don't use human corpses after they kill them; they often just dump the bodies on the ground, as if the killing is merely a way for them to vent their desires.
When the black coal ball saw Yu Xiao, it stretched out its tentacles toward her. Yu Xiao, who was fluent in the language of pollutants, knew that this little black coal ball might eat her.
The pollutants, wanting to devour Yu Xiao, would naturally have to consider their own strength, and so the very weak black coal ball was sent flying.
And it was controlled on the ground by the white light generated by Yu Xiao's superpower, but it still couldn't help but crawl towards Yu Xiao, for some reason.
Yu Xiao's derived superpower is countless white lights like these. Although it is unknown what they are used for, they will undoubtedly frighten the black coal ball.
Black Coal Ball seems no different from the pollutants that Yu Xiao killed in the past, except that it treats Yu Xiao as its food, probably because it sees Yu Xiao as a pollutant.
It seems that the longer hunters are exposed to pollutants, the less human they become.
Some hunters, while constantly hunting pollutants to purify themselves and protect themselves, eventually disappeared before people's eyes, and no one knows where they went.
At this point, a theory emerged that hunters would turn into pollutants.
Yu Xiao covered her face with her hands, her half-long, silvery-white hair swaying in the evening breeze.
The little black coal ball seems to want to eat him, which means he may gradually transform into a pollutant... I didn't expect this day to come so soon.
Yu Xiao accepted the fact that she would soon be transformed into pollutants without feeling any fear or anything.
He even had the leisure to squat down and study the little black lump of coal he had just met.
Yu Xiao's usual weapon is a silver chain. Pollutants seem to be afraid of silver, but the reason is unknown.
Especially those pollutants that are so weak that they can only bully children are even more afraid of money, and they keep moving around on the ground with a "gurgling" sound.
It seems that when he reached out to Yu Xiao, it wasn't to attack or kill him, but because he genuinely wanted to make contact with him.
Do pollutants also evoke the urge to "hug"?
The chains that had been tightly binding the black coal briquettes loosened slightly.
Since she could remember, Yu Xiao had been wandering the world killing countless alien species. But when she saw this little black lump of coal, she felt a little soft-hearted and seemed reluctant to kill her.
"Gurgle, gurgle!"
Black Coal Ball couldn't resist sticking closer to Yu Xiao again; no one knew why he was so clingy.
So Yu Xiao decided not to kill this interesting black coal ball for the time being, but to keep him by her side. As for other things, they could be dealt with later.
So Yu Xiao picked up the black coal ball, held it in her hand, and shook it around.
[Beep, unique host Yu Xiao detected, system now bound]
An unexpected inorganic sound entered Yu Xiao's ears, followed by a flood of text content that played in her mind like a slideshow.
In fact, Yu Xiao was only in a daze for a moment. When he opened his eyes again, he found that the black coal ball that he had nailed to his hand was staring at him.
"Gurgle, woof..."
The black coal ball cautiously extended a tentacle, then retracted it.
The pollutants were clearly afraid of Yu Xiao's superpowers and had been terrified of him, so they dared not extend any thoughts of offending Yu Xiao and could only continue to be obediently molded and manipulated by him.
Yu Xiao shook the black coal ball, almost turning the little guy's eyes into mosquito coil shapes.
It turns out that even black coal has eyes; right in the center of the fuzzy ball are two hemispherical glass beads, just like a puppy's eyes.
Furthermore, the black coal ball that looks like a puppy can actually bark like a dog, making the juvenile pollutant protagonist, who doesn't seem threatening to people, even more like a puppy.
It turns out that he is in a post-apocalyptic world. The protagonist starts as a weak little black lump of coal, but gradually grows stronger through constant struggles with humans and pollutants, eventually becoming the top pollutant that dominates this wasteland planet.
As for Yu Xiao, he was a pollutant hunter who "imprisoned" and "enslaved" the black coal balls for a period of time during their early growth.
He found the black coal ball quite pleasing to the eye while hunting pollutants, so he temporarily spared it and took it home as a "pet".
Of course, as the male protagonist, Black Coal Ball has to constantly sacrifice himself to all the villains he encounters during his growth process. Yu Xiao was killed after Black Coal Ball successfully evolved one of his evolutions.
Furthermore, since this is a novel with a non-human protagonist, the author did not give the male protagonist a name when writing this book.
The lack of information isn't limited to the male protagonist's name; the system also doesn't provide any background information on the NPC Yu Xiao. This is probably because, during the writing process, it was impossible to cover everything in detail in order to maintain a proper balance between detail and brevity.
This is probably why Yu Xiao had absolutely no memory when she woke up on the mountain of bones.
As a tool set up by the system to provide obstacles in the male protagonist's early leveling process, he certainly doesn't need too much detailed setting, so it's normal that Yu Xiao doesn't have any memories of that.
Including those random passersby who met Yu Xiao by chance, it's clear that Yu Xiao isn't the type to easily strike up a conversation with people. It's difficult for her to chat with them to the point where they can confide in each other and learn about each other's backgrounds. Perhaps when Yu Xiao asks these characters who are just tools in the plot, they won't even know what they are.
Furthermore, since this world is set up around pollutants, trying to find out what these seemingly normal NPCs are could potentially lead to very serious consequences.
As for any missing settings, Yu Xiao would simply imagine a rough logic to make it easier for herself to understand, and then she could start using it herself.
For example, the male protagonist's gender may not necessarily be male. Sometimes pollutants choose to transform into human form and use a male appearance when interacting with humans. Therefore, Yu Xiao subconsciously felt that the black coal ball should be the male protagonist.
Throughout the writing, the male protagonist's current appearance is primarily used as a reference point.
For example, the male protagonist at this stage is like a little black lump of coal.
Not only Yu Xiao, but even the author of this book refers to the male protagonist in this way.
The two coincidentally came together by sheer coincidence.
After the system finished telling Yu Xiao the so-called original plot of the book, it stopped making any noise.
Floating around Yu Xiao was only an electronic screen that shimmered with silver light and whose end could not be seen even after scrolling down for a long time.
[■■'s Body Data]
Even this system, which on the surface seems to be something from a higher-dimensional world, he didn't know what the little black coal ball's name was, so he could only use a black square as a substitute.
But it was at this moment that Yu Xiao discovered that his usually accurate intuition had come into play again.
It's like how he evaded the hunters he first met, or how he repeatedly escaped death while hunting pollutants over the years.
Yu Xiao's intuition has always been very accurate.
At this moment, Yu Xiao was thinking that the little black lump of coal in front of her must have a name.
Just like when he had no memory of the beginning, he remembered that his name was Yu Xiao.
So Yu Xiao picked up the little black coal ball and shook it, "What's your name?"
Although pollutants don't need names, Yu Xiao decided to raise this pollutant, so giving it a name wouldn't hurt.
"..."
The black coal lumps emitted indistinct syllables that sounded somewhat terrifying, but seasoned hunters were not afraid.
Since Little Black Coal Ball is now too weak to pose a threat to Yu Xiao, an NPC who has killed countless alien species, Yu Xiao is even less afraid of him.
"Ling Yue".
For some reason, when the hunter saw this strange creature and heard its voice answer when asked its name, this was the first name that came to mind.
It's as if he was born to be named Yu Xiao, and Xiao Hei Mei Qiu was born to be named Ling Yue. There's no reason why, but as soon as they meet, they can remember the meaning of their names.
"Gurgle, gurgle!"
The little black coal ball clearly understood Yu Xiao's words. After hearing its own name, it was very happy and stretched out its tentacles, waving them continuously.
It tried to stick its tentacles to Yu Xiao, wanting to continue its intimate contact with her, but Yu Xiao slapped them away without hesitation.
This little black lump of coal is a very bad pollutant. Yu Xiao will definitely not tolerate him and will discipline him strictly so that he will not dare to do bad things again in the future.
Yu Xiao doesn't really like this world, but he wants to live and wants to find the memories he has lost.
Therefore, Yu Xiao cannot easily allow the little black lump of coal to grow into something capable of destroying the world...
Yu Xiao also couldn't quite describe what the little black coal ball would eventually grow into, or the description of the male protagonist's final form was quite cringe-worthy.
It's difficult to repeat all the descriptions of the top pollutants of the future, so Yu Xiao decided to stop looking at the so-called physical descriptions and instead focus her attention on the small black coal ball in front of her.
No matter what terrible thing it grows into in the future, the little black lump of coal is just a little black lump of coal now, completely harmless.
Yu Xiao decided to follow the system's instructions and go through the storyline.
As for the method of writing the plot, Yu Xiao carefully typed in the system for a long time, but found that the system could not provide anything except for all the real-time status of Little Black Coal Ball.
The system did not provide any instructions to Yu Xiao on how to complete the task.
Finally, Yu Xiao, while clutching the small black coal ball and making her way along, pondered the situation based on the old books she occasionally found in the ruins, and came to the following conclusion:
The system probably doesn't want this world to be destroyed, so it sent Yu Xiao with the redemption script to save and reform Little Black Coal Ball.
As for the process of redemption, it is probably based on the classic redemption novels, where endless love is constantly poured into those who are about to fall into darkness.
Yu Xiao didn't quite believe that love could save the world and transform everything, but since he was in a novel, was it feasible to act according to the inherent logic of the novel?
The system screen flickered again.
It seemed to confirm the host's thoughts, but the text on it still fluctuated from time to time, seemingly implying that the system also possessed a certain degree of intelligence. However, it was unclear what the system was thinking at the moment.
Yu Xiao tapped the system panel, "Do you think I'm incapable of redeeming the male protagonist who ultimately wants to destroy the world?"
The system didn't respond, but Yu Xiao felt that this was probably what the system meant.
That's understandable. Over the years, when Yu Xiao went hunting for pollutants alone, all the traits she displayed highlighted that she actually had no heart.
So, it's difficult for this heartless person to speak and ultimately destroy the world.
However, Yu Xiao cooperated well with the system and even decided to take on the task.
Yu Xiao didn't have any particularly deep feelings for this world, but he wanted to live and wanted to find out why he had lost his memory since he woke up.
The system's task gave Yu Xiao a new direction, so Yu Xiao will try to implement it.
Even if he fails to discipline his child and is killed by Little Black Coal Ball in the future, he decides to make his life better before that happens.
What to do next is up to Yu Xiao to decide.
The original book's plot is vague about Yu Xiao's part, only mentioning that Yu Xiao kept the male protagonist by her side for a period of time and constantly bullied him, but it doesn't ask Yu Xiao to do anything.
So Yu Xiao, who had decided to discipline Little Black Coal Ball properly, bullied the little black coal ball, which he could now play with at will, severely.
Despite his usually calm and collected demeanor, he felt quite pleased.
I'm in such a good mood! The novel's ending mentions that the male protagonist will become the most potent pollutant.
This non-human being, who will one day rule the world, is currently only able to be toyed with by Yu Xiao at will. Yu Xiao finds this quite interesting, and thus his interest in bullying Little Black Coal Ball has increased considerably.
On her way home, Yu Xiao squeezed the little black coal ball as if it were silicone.
Only when they got home did they put the little black coal ball down from their hands.
Before the soft, black ball could even take in its new home, Yu Xiao tossed it into a tiny birdcage no bigger than a teapot, making it difficult to even turn around.
...
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