Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The Baiye District was like cancer spreading in the middle of the city, rotting, crumbling, revolting.
As time passed, the district began to look even more out of place in the midst of all the development going on around it, like an old-timer who could no longer keep up with the times.
An iridescent flow of sludge flowed down the drains next to the roads, carrying pieces of garbage along with it. A putrid stench permeated the air.
“Ever since the appearance of the spatial rift, the smell in the Baiye District has grown worse,” said a bespectacled civil servant in a worried tone.
“Worse how?” asked Gao Peng, who was looking around. He could feel that he was being watched through the cracks and windows on some of the buildings.
“It’s just up ahead,” said the civil servant quietly.
Up ahead was a roadblock blocking the road beyond.
There were many soldiers who were armed to the teeth standing guard around the area, as well as a couple of trainers with their familiars.
Two of the familiars had their ears pricked up like radars, their huge, watery eyes alert to the slightest movement in their surroundings. Their slender bodies swayed about powerfully as they paced the area. At times, they would casually spit flames out of their mouths…
The soldiers saluted Gao Peng and his party as soon as they saw him.
Gao Peng made his way through three metal doors and two metal fences. Finally, they arrived at an unfinished building, or at least, that’s what it seemed like to Gao Peng.
The building was completely enshrouded in a thick, black fog. The black fog roiled unsettlingly before them, at times showing a glimpse of the building behind it.
What appeared to be geckoes flitted through the black fog rapidly. Their limbs were slender like bamboo stalks, their movements agile.
Gao Peng narrowed his eyes at the geckoes. In an instant, rows of numbers appeared before him.
[Monster Name]: Black Jacket Gecko
[Monster Level]: Level 20
[Monster Grade]: Normal
[Monster Type]: Shadow
[Monster Ability]: Shadow Power Level 1
[Description]: A Black Jacket Gecko, as its name suggests, is usually clad in a black coat. It is capable of moving nimbly with its slender body. It loves to eat fresh meat.
“Did you see them? These creatures are the main inhabitants of the black fog. Guns and other modern weaponry that we have at our disposal don’t seem to have any effect on them,” said the bespectacled man calmly, adjusting his spectacles slightly on his nose.
“I see,” said Gao Peng, nodding.
“And the spatial rift is here?”
“Yes, the black fog weakens greatly in the afternoon, when its diffusion rate is considerably suppressed. However, at night, it envelops the entire building, completely concealing it from sight.”
“I don’t think there are any Lord-tier monsters inside,” said Gao Peng, putting a hand on Goldie beside him.
Goldie quacked in agreement. Its senses were now so keen that it could pick up any sign of danger from a mile away. If there was any danger inside the building, it would be the first to know.
Goldie turned around and saw the hand that Gao Peng had placed on its behind. It let out a small sigh, then placed a huge wing on Gao Peng’s head.
Pat! Silly, who was sitting on Gao Peng’s head, smacked Goldie’s wing away. What’s the big idea? No touchy!
Due to the height difference between Gao Peng and Goldie, the duck’s buttocks were the only place Gao Peng could reach. Of course, he didn’t mean anything by it.
“Goldie, go and take a look inside.”
Goldie nodded and strode into the black fog.
“Team two, you’re on standby,” said the civil servant into a microphone that was clipped on his collar. He carried himself like a high-ranking official in the government.
“No need. You guys don’t need to do anything,” said Gao Peng. “Goldie can handle this alone.”
The civil servant looked at Gao Peng, stunned. Then he nodded obediently at him.
Suddenly, a resounding bang sounded from the black fog. A strange sound followed shortly after. It sounded like a block of wood hitting the ground.
The civil servant anxiously strained his eyes in the darkness, worrying that something bad had happened to the duck.
“Sounds like the lizards are crying out in pain,” whispered someone beside him.
The civil servant sighed in relief.
Woo, woo, woo—
From the darkness echoed strange, quickening sounds, punctuated by the sound of walls being smashed inside the building.
The sounds grew quicker by the minute.
Finally, the sounds stopped. From the black fog, a huge black figure stepped out into the outside world.
Everyone outside the black fog tensed up like a new enemy had appeared before them.
The huge black figure before them stood at least 20 feet tall. It looked almost human. Has a new monster appeared in this world? was everyone’s thought at that moment.
Goldie emerged from the black fog with a wistful look on its face, its body now bulked up.
Its Buddhist prayer beads seemed to be hanging loosely around its neck. There were palm-sized gaps between the beads. It was a good thing that the prayer beads had been strung together using an extremely malleable material that could be stretched to a hundred times its length. The material had been obtained from a Plant-type monster.
Goldie lovingly touched its prayer beads. It happily quacked when it realized that the beads were still intact.
Amitabha, quack, quarck!
“Quarck. Gao Peng, I beat up all the monsters inside…” After hesitating for a while, it continued, “They were all fish, fish that could walk on four legs.”
After saying this, Goldie turned around and reached into the black fog behind it and pulled out a 13-foot-long Black Jacket Gecko from the fog. The gecko wasn’t exactly small, but in Goldie’s wing, it was like a toy, completely at the mercy of the duck.
“It’s a gecko,” said Gao Peng, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. What a rascal.
Goldie paused for a few seconds, then lowered its gaze at the gecko in its wing and said slowly, “Why can’t it be a fish?”
“Fish don’t have legs. Most fish don’t, anyway,” explained Gao Peng.
Goldie slowly nodded. It took hold of the Black Jacket Gecko’s neck with its right wing and began ripping off its limbs one by one with its left wing. When it was done, it threw the gecko’s limbs into the black fog behind it. “Now it’s a fish.”
The Black Jacket Gecko hadn’t seemed to feel any pain when it had its limbs torn off by Goldie, nor had it seemed to mind Goldie casually discarding its limbs. It was looking at the duck excitedly.
“See, its legs are fake. It’s even smiling right now,” said Goldie, still playing with the Black Jacket Gecko in its wings.
“So, it’s a fish!” the duck concluded.
Gao Peng silently looked at it. All this just for 500 Alliance dollars…
“All right, fine. I’ll give you 500 bucks for it,” said Gao Peng with a strained smile, spreading out his hand to show the duck five of his fingers.
Gao Peng and Goldie were probably the only ones who understood what was going on between them. The bespectacled civil servant looked at both of them in confusion. What the hell are they gesturing about? Are they saying that there are still five other monsters in the building? he thought.
