It was a day of gentle breezes and radiant sun, and he was out on the lake with his wife and children. His wife and daughter played merrily at the stern, splashing water with carefree delight, while he sat serenely at the bow, fishing in quiet contentment. His young son clung to his back, arms draped around his neck, swaying back and forth in innocent joy. Suddenly, from the sky above, a colossal figure descended—a giant whose enormous hand seized him in its palm and lifted him high into the air. The other hand came crashing down in an instant, shattering the boat into splinters. "No! No! No!" Li Zhui screamed, thrashing violently—until he jolted awake.
"Thank heaven! A Bebi, you're finally awake!" Shen Jilan cried out, her voice trembling with emotion. A Bebi? Since when did I become A Bebi? What utter nonsense.
"A Bebi, what's the matter? Why won't you say anything?" Shen Jilan asked, seemingly with genuine concern.
"Sorry, but… who are you?"
"Oh, A Bebi, you've forgotten me again! I'm Lanlan—your dearest Lanlan, the one who loves you most!"
Li Zhui looked at the alluring woman before him in utter confusion. Though she had adorned herself with meticulous care and appeared a full twenty years younger than her actual age, there was still something incongruous—why on earth was she dressed like a schoolgirl?
"I remember now… You're a doctor. You just gave me an injection, and then I must've fallen asleep."
"Hmm, that's better—at least you haven't forgotten everything. Alright then, up we get!"
She helped Li Zhui sit upright, guiding him through a series of warm-ups—rotating his arms, expanding his chest, twisting his waist, hugging his knees and stretching out.
Only after this light exercise did she allow him to get out of bed and move around. Compared to his condition just a few days earlier, he was clearly much stronger. He could now walk with relative steadiness, though he still had to move with extreme care; if he took a step too wide, his knees would bend backward without warning.
Moreover, Li Zhui began to notice that his joints were far from ordinary. At the elbows and knees, there were thick rings of muscle protruding outward.
"This reverse-joint ability, with the right training, could become a terrifying weapon," she remarked.
"But Doctor, how did I end up like this? Surely I wasn't born this way?"
"Ugh, you little rascal!" Shen Jilan scolded playfully. "Fine, unless I tell you everything, it seems you won't give me a moment's peace."
She pulled up a file on her tablet and showed it to him. The dossier identified him as He Xuetong, formerly an engineer at one of Dongtai Corporation's subsidiaries.
On January 4th, Year 84 of the Beiming Era, a radical faction sabotaged the factory, triggering a massive explosion. He Xuetong suffered catastrophic burns—his body reduced to little more than bone. No hospital could save him. Thus, he was transferred to the research institute.
To preserve his life, scientists first placed him in suspended animation, then began reconstructing his body by grafting genetically modified salamander muscle. The process took eighteen full years.
"So my real name is He Xuetong… but a few days ago, you called me He Xiaoqiang."
"Heehee, that's just a nickname I gave you! You're my indestructible little pest—you just won't die or stay down. If you're not a Xiaoqiang, then what are you?"
Suddenly, the entire room trembled violently. A thunderous boom echoed through the air. Shen Jilan's expression changed at once, and she rushed to the surveillance monitor.
Onscreen, the octopus monstrosity had wrapped its tentacles around a massive iron battering ram. Positioned ten meters from the steel wall, it began to gather momentum—its limbs mimicking the gallop of a horse.
When it reached roughly five meters from the wall, it launched itself into the air. Its jet orifice expelled a powerful burst of water, propelling it forward with explosive speed toward the breach.
Another deafening crash rang out. The battering ram struck the edge of the opening with surgical precision. Even the 50mm-thick steel plating buckled inward under the force.
Shen Jilan's face turned ashen in an instant, pale as death itself, and her body slackened, unable to remain upright. Li Zhui stepped forward to catch her from behind.
"This creature has evolved again! Not only in strength—but in intelligence! A few days ago, it merely flailed the iron ram blindly. Now it knows how to channel its full body weight into the blow!"
If not for the breach, even a force of ten tons might not pierce the steel wall—but now, with that opening, it was only a matter of time.
"Is there no countermeasure? Electric shocks or something?" Li Zhui asked.
"No! Nothing! Not even a d*mn spark! If there were, do you think I'd need to wake you up?" Shen Jilan shrieked in near hysteria.
Then, a sudden spark lit her eyes. "Yes—yes—electric shock! We'll wire it up and fry the b*st*rd! A Bebi, you're a genius! I'm sorry—I didn't mean to yell at you earlier. I was just terrified. Come on—quickly, follow me!"
Like a woman reborn, she sprang to her feet and dashed toward the supply room. Li Zhui followed close behind.
She flung open a heavy toolbox. "A Bebi, everything we need is here. Find a way to bore through this wall—just on the other side is the power distribution chamber. There are batteries, transformers—if we tap in, we can electrocute the octopus monster!"
Li Zhui nodded and got straight to work. After a quick survey of the tools, he selected a power drill, fitted it with a bit, plugged it in, then drew a circle on the steel wall with a grease pen. He even measured against his torso to ensure the opening would fit, before beginning to drill.
After its third charge, the octopus monster suddenly fell silent. Unbeknownst to them, the serpent creature had seized a fire extinguisher mounted on the wall and blasted a stream of foam through the breach. Octopuses are naturally timid creatures, and confronted by the unknown bubbles, it panicked and fled.
Shen Jilan was both elated and alarmed—elated that the serpent could fend off the octopus, and alarmed that it clearly possessed human-level intelligence. Not even unit 1024 might be its match!
Though the entire core zone was constructed from steel, the inner and outer layers were vastly different. The inner layer was a single sheet of 10mm stainless steel. In under ten minutes, Li Zhui had already drilled a tight ring of holes.
He then picked up the heaviest sledgehammer and swung it with all his might. But disaster struck—his arm recoiled backward mid-swing, and the hammer struck his own thigh!
Li Zhui leapt as if bitten by a snake, stumbling and falling, but he rose almost instantly. A large bruise had blossomed across his left thigh, blood seeping through the torn skin.
Yet strangely, he felt no pain. Not from numbness, but because his neural cells, upon reaching their pain threshold, had autonomously shut down the sodium ion channels—halting the action potentials.
In other words, no matter how severe the injury, not only would he feel nothing, but even the memory of earlier pain would vanish with the Na⁺ channels closed.
As if nothing had happened, he resumed hammering. This time, he was more cautious, starting with gentle taps to let his arm learn the movement.
Soon, he discovered that the backward-bending joints weren't a flaw after all—if mastered, they allowed him to wield his limbs like flexible wax rods.
From outside came another thunderous boom—the octopus monster had returned. But this time, when the serpent sprayed foam, it didn't retreat far. Instead, it slowly crept toward the foam.
Realizing the bubbles caused it no harm, the creature writhed with joy, its limbs wriggling in ecstatic glee.
Then came an even more violent assault—each blow more frenzied than the last. The breach widened with each strike. The serpent, now truly terrified, grabbed an iron plate and began pounding the living quarters' door. After a few blows, it turned and began battering the wall itself.
She had found the right spot—the wall here was far easier to break through.
"Hurry up! If you don't, we're really going to die!" Shen Jilan screamed.
Li Zhui tossed aside the sledgehammer and seized a medium-sized fire extinguisher from the corner. In a few swift blows, he shattered the remaining steel within the circle he had cut.
He crawled into the power distribution room, followed the manual to shut down the main circuit breaker, connected the backup cable to the transformer, and welded the end directly onto the steel wall facing the corridor.
Just as the serpent struck the steel wall again with her iron plate, a piercing shriek escaped her lips. She recoiled violently, her head slamming into the ceiling above.
Every surface within the room—walls, floor, and ceiling—was layered with insulation. As long as no water seeped in, there was no fear of electrocution. The advantage had finally shifted back into Shen Jilan's hands.
The power room had a door leading into the cryo-chamber. Li Zhui suggested using it as their final battleground, and proposed joining forces with the serpent. Shen Jilan readily agreed on the location, but vehemently rejected the idea of an alliance.
"No, no, A Bebi, you don't understand what that creature is. The serpent may possess human-level intelligence, but she's far more savage than any beast. And the most terrifying part is—when she's at a disadvantage, she'll pretend to be docile, but the moment she sees an opening, she'll strike without mercy!"
Just speaking of the serpent brought a flicker of fear to Shen Jilan's face. Though she had risen to the position of director, it was only with that creature's help.
After hammering away for hours, the octopus monster suddenly disappeared. With the external cables and fiber optics on Level Four cut by Shi Weikang, they had no way of tracking where it had gone.
An hour later, the monster returned, more vigorous than ever. It had gone off to feed. As for what it had eaten—well, one could imagine.
The octopus resumed its pounding, retreating only when hungry, returning each time with renewed ferocity. It seemed tireless, needing neither rest nor sleep.
Eventually, the breach had widened enough to allow even a bull to pass through—the final hour had arrived.
Having learned from past injuries, the creature remained cautious. It first extended a single arm, gripping the iron ram and flailing it through the corridor.
Then came a second, a third, and a fourth arm—whipping through the corridor like flailing whips—before cautiously inserting half of its massive head.
The corridor was long since flooded. The serpent clung to the ventilation shaft near the ceiling.
Upon spotting its ancient foe, the octopus monster went into a frenzy, lashing its limbs forward in attack. The serpent dropped to the floor, seized the iron plate, and brought it crashing down on the tentacles.
It was utterly ineffective. Two arms instantly coiled around her torso, yanked in opposite directions—about to tear her apart.
The serpent quickly coiled herself like a python, entwining her body with the tentacles. Against one limb, she held her own. But the octopus had eight.
Two more arms swept toward her head. All she could do was scream—a scream filled with helpless despair.
And at that moment, Li Zhui flipped the circuit breaker.
The octopus convulsed violently, released the serpent, and lunged for the opening in the wall. Two of its limbs hooked onto the breach's edges, and with a jet of water from its siphon, it rocketed out of the corridor.
The serpent, however, was even more sensitive to the current. Her body seized in spasms, convulsing like an epileptic, before she lost consciousness entirely.
Li Zhui cut the power and exhaled slowly.
Shen Jilan, on the other hand, flew into a rage. "Are you insane?! You let the octopus escape! We'll never leave this place now!"
"Enough, Director Shen," Li Zhui said calmly. "Put on your exoskeleton. When I open the cryo-chamber, you'll carry the serpent inside."
"What? You're giving me orders now? Who do you think you are? You ungrateful wretch! Have you forgotten who saved your life?" Shen Jilan shouted, nearly hysterical with rage. "Very well, I'll go move her," Li Zhui replied with a calm smile. "But before I do, I must ask a small favor of you, my esteemed Director Shen—please endure the inconvenience of staying inside the cryo-chamber for a little while." "You… you… how… ruthless…" Shen Jilan clutched her chest with both hands and collapsed to the floor. This time, it seemed she was genuinely suffering a myocardial infarction. Li Zhui paid her no mind. He opened one of the cryo-pods, hoisted her up, and tossed her in unceremoniously. "Director Shen, you'd better teach me how to operate this thing—otherwise, I might accidentally suffocate you." "You… you heartless… monster… wuuu…" Shen Jilan burst into sobs, her cries echoing in the chamber. Who would have thought that after all her careful planning and efforts, she would end up paving the way for someone else's rise? Li Zhui shut the lid and pressed the activation button before turning back to his task. Shen Jilan pounded on the pod's cover with all her might, but the cryo-chamber lid was built for far more than she could damage. The protective suit didn't fit Li Zhui's new frame, and the exoskeleton required biometric clearance. Left with no other choice, he opened the door and dragged the serpent into the cryo-chamber room as he was. Only then did he get a proper look at the creature. The only part of her body not sheathed in thick serpent hide was her face. It was the face of a little girl—not exactly beautiful, but endearingly sweet and intelligent in expression. And yet, the thick scales encircling that innocent visage lent her a chilling, almost otherworldly air.