Chapter 38

Chapter 38: A Filthy Little Monster

A tremendous wail exploded in the air—

Strictly speaking, it wasn't a sound but rather a "sonic wave."

The human ear could typically perceive frequencies ranging from 20 to 20,000 Hertz, with some variation depending on individual physiological conditions. However, the range generally wouldn't exceed this limit.

For the vast majority of humans, this sound was "nonexistent."

But not being able to hear something didn't mean it didn't exist.

Many animals had a broader range of audible frequencies than humans. For instance, dogs and cats, while dolphins could hear at frequencies seven times higher than humans. Prior to great disasters, many animals displayed unusual behaviors due to their ability to detect infrasound or ultrasound that humans couldn't perceive.

The monster's emitted sound fell precisely within the range beyond human perception.

Just as that monster was about to sink its teeth into Ah Ye, Hei Dan released an ultrasonic wave far beyond the human hearing range! The sound was so terrifying that even before its sharp fangs touched Ah Ye's scales, the opportunistic monster suddenly froze. Black liquid spewed out of its body, swiftly turning into black powder. In the next second, the monster plummeted straight down from the air, its plump form shriveling into a shriveled disk within three seconds.

This wasn't an isolated incident. In the darkness, the other monsters that were scavenging for food also abruptly ceased their actions just like it, only to die the next moment.

Outside the corridor, a patrolling supervisor suddenly collapsed, a puddle of vomit hanging from his mouth. He instantly lost consciousness.

Vomiting and fainting were mere basics. Within a 150-meter radius, a staff member strolling in the garden suddenly started bleeding from all seven orifices, her heart stopping abruptly. She collapsed to the ground instantly.

Invisible sonics pierced through walls, soared over dense forests, and wherever they reached, people fell to the ground.

No resistance was possible, and all fell.

The middle-aged man, who had been standing respectfully by the bedside, listening attentively, also suddenly collapsed without a sound. The richly patterned, deep crimson carpet, woven with blossoming flowers symbolizing prosperity, cushioned his fall silently.

The vast courtyard, already eerily quiet, fell into an even deeper stillness.

No trace of life, no chirping of insects or singing of birds—only an eerie, deathly stillness.

It seemed... that everyone had fallen.

Yet, right at this moment, a pair of jade-like feet suddenly descended.

No, comparing them to white jade wouldn't be apt. Though those feet were indeed snowy white, they lacked any hint of vitality; they didn't possess the lustrous translucence of jade, but rather bore an eerie, pallid stiffness akin to lifeless stone.

Silently, those feet landed on the carpet, and he rose to his feet.

Long, slender fingers as pale as his own toes gently pulled aside the bed curtains, revealing a gaunt, pallid face behind them.

He cast a glance at the middle-aged man lying on the ground, then stepped over him, heading for the door.

A gray-brown sparrow lay motionless on the long wooden corridor outside, its stillness a stark contrast to its surroundings.

Passing by several more fallen figures, he continued his path without pause, heading straight for the southwestern corner.

The wreckage of two helicopters, still smoking, sprawled across the grass. They must have plummeted from the sky, crashing into and collapsing part of a wall in the process. Their descent couldn't have been that long ago, for one of the damaged rotors was still spinning when the man arrived.

The whirring sound was now the only noise in the area.

After a while, the rotor's momentum finally ran out, and even that last vestige of sound vanished.

Blind to the surroundings, the man kept walking, maintaining the same pace since he began.

Not too swift, nor too slow.

Maintaining this pace, he marched straight into the structure concealed by layers of trees. At the end on his left, a staircase descended, its steps so numerous they seemed to extend endlessly.

He stepped onto the staircase, descending step by step.

By the time his entire body had submerged beneath ground level, the air around him had transformed dramatically from that above! Amidst the roars of beasts and the thuds of heavy objects colliding with walls, the atmosphere felt compressed, filling him with an eerie shiver.

As his feet touched solid ground after the last step, the space before him branched out like veins, forming several deep, seemingly bottomless paths.

The roars and impacts echoed through these sturdy "veins" like thunder in his ears. Among these sounds, a sharp cry of an infant stood out prominently. After listening attentively for a moment, the man took the third path on his left.

After retrieving a key from the unconscious man at the entrance, he unlocked the door at the very end – the crying was emanating from within.

He pushed the door open.

In that instant when the door swung wide, it was as if a spell of frozen time had been lifted: the fine, black powder, suspended in the air like mist, began to fall like rain.

A rain of black.

The room was filled with the black powder, but the man remained completely unaffected, his white robe as pristine as new.

His pitch-black eyes, like stagnant water, fixated on an unseen spot in the darkness from where the infant's sobs originated.

In the dark, two faint "lamps" hovered like will-o'-the-wisps, flat and spectral. The man flipped an invisible light switch on the wall, revealing the lurking black creature hidden within the night.

It was an unusually tiny monster, sprawled upon another creature covered in ashen-gray bone scales. One could barely discern its presence without careful observation.

The crying came from its mouth.

Staring expressionlessly at the small monster, the man lifted it effortlessly with one hand.

The little monster's claws clung desperately to the white monster's scales, but its strength was no match for the man's. Amidst the sound of falling white bone scales, the tiny creature was forcibly detached from the larger one.

Its crimson mouth opened, emitting a soft, shrill scream that only other monsters could hear.

As the white-eyed monster met the man's lifeless black gaze in terror, droplets trickled down the man's wrist, dripping onto the soles of his feet with a soft pattering sound.

The water had seeped out from a peculiar, paper-wrapped bundle adorning the small monster.

Upon closer inspection of the soiled paper item around the little creature's waist, the man incredulously realized that it was...

A disposable diaper?!

This monster was actually wearing a diaper?

What else could have leaked from the diaper but...

His hand trembled, and in an instant, he released his grip on the tiny monster.

With a thud, it fell to the ground, promptly scurrying back towards the ashen-gray monster lying there.

Swiftly and skillfully, it nestled itself beneath the long fur at the neck of the gray monster.