Chapter 14 The Fool Has Nothing (14)

Chapter 14 A Fool Owns Nothing (Part 14)

The supervisor brandished his baton like an out-of-control dump truck, intent on giving Xu Jiu a vicious thrashing without a second thought.

His violent movement set Number Six into motion. It lowered its "head" toward the supervisor—its "face" devoid of features, let alone expression—yet that empty, icy gaze unmistakably projected a bone-chilling murderous aura to Xu Jiu.

In a split second, the supervisor lunged at Xu Jiu, swinging his baton wildly, while Number Six lunged at the supervisor, its tendrils lashing like whips. Xu Jiu… Xu Jiu could only grip his mop handle tightly, shaking his head in panic and shouting, "Don't—"

Number Six’s tendrils flowed like liquid mercury, swiftly morphing into serrated scythes midair. A single flick would be enough to slice a grown man clean in half.

But the voice of its host caused its movements to falter visibly. Seeing Xu Jiu’s frightened, pleading expression, it hesitated, ultimately refraining from executing the head-chopping maneuver on the fat man before it. Instead, another tendril lashed out horizontally, striking the supervisor across the legs.

A thunderous *boom!* The supervisor, mid-charge, lost his balance and was sent flying through the air. His 200-pound body hit the alloy floor with the impact of half a ton, shaking the alloy flooring.

Xu Jiu even heard a crisp *crack*—no telling which bone had just snapped.

"—D-don’t… don’t bust a hip…" Xu Jiu stammered weakly.

A stunned silence fell over the room, broken only by the supervisor writhing on the floor, clutching his knee and gasping in pain.

After a moment’s thought, Xu Jiu added in a hushed voice, "Uh… the floor was just mopped… it’s really slippery…"

This was no small matter. The supervisor, dazed from the impact, struggled to get up for a long while, while the bystanders didn’t dare lift a finger, merely crossing their arms and watching the spectacle.

Xu Jiu had no idea how this would end. But with all that commotion just now, how had nobody spotted Number Six?

Wary, he scanned the room before looking up at the jellyfish floating in the air.

Number Six was gone.

Just as he sighed in relief, a slick sensation brushed against his earlobe. Xu Jiu jolted as if electrocuted.

The massive jellyfish had silently drifted behind him, a slick tendril tip teasing his earlobe with eerie curiosity.

"Kill him?" A faint vibration whispered into his ear canal, as if the voice had emerged directly from the depths of his brain. "Kill him."

"...No," Xu Jiu pressed his lips together, hissing the words under his breath. "Not here."

Number Six let out a disturbingly human-like sigh of disappointment. Before Xu Jiu could react—or even think to stop it—a thin tendril slithered under his collar without hesitation, sliding down to the spot where the baton had struck him earlier, tenderly massaging the welt.

Xu Jiu’s eyes widened.

The tendril was disconcertingly velvety, unnervingly soft, and Number Six had thoughtfully adjusted its temperature, rubbing circles around the bruised area in a way that nearly mimicked the sensation of nursing.

The moment the thought crossed his mind, the tip of the tendril *split open*! Something small and sharp grazed his skin with tiny, needle-like nips.

Xu Jiu’s pupils dilated violently.

It was hard to describe the sensation—Number Six had soothed the pain in his flesh, only to replace it with an electric prickling. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Xu Jiu’s face burned uncontrollably, flushing crimson.

As a beast, Number Six understood neither human customs nor shame. There was no way Xu Jiu could calmly accept… *this*.

Blushing furiously, he began to squirm uncomfortably.

Noticing its host’s body temperature rising at an unnatural rate, Number Six grew intrigued. It found this reaction fascinating.

Human senses were dull, but it could clearly detect the increasing pheromones in the air. To Number Six, this was an indescribable fragrance—one that stirred not just hunger, but something more.

*He smells like clean rain, crushed grass, and apple blossoms*, it thought.

The mother body's skin was delicate and thin, its organs tender, yet it carried a sweet fragrance. Number Six cradled Xu Jiu like a juicy piece of candy, reluctant to swallow or spit him out. Just as it contemplated doing something even more excessive—like gently chewing on the human or applying a bit more pressure to elicit panicked squeaks—the supervisor on the ground finally regained his bearings.

Though he had taken quite the fall, with Number Six whipping his kneecap out of place, anger and humiliation proved to be one hell of a motivator. A boss who’s always strutted around could never tolerate such a humiliating spectacle in front of his subordinates.

Hauling himself up shaky-legged, using the stun baton as a crutch, the supervisor panted heavily. Without even glancing his way, Number Six gave a lazy whip of its appendage, sending the baton flying out of his grip.

Suddenly deprived of support, the man’s nose geysered blood. Before he could even cry out in pain, his own body inadvertently pressed against the baton, flipping the high-voltage switch. A crackling white light erupted as arcs of electricity surged through him, and the supervisor instantly let out slaughterhouse-worthy shrieks, jerking like a marionette in a lightning storm, convulsing violently on the floor.

Xu Jiu: "..."

Others: "..."

Now, no one dared to step forward to help. The cleaners exchanged uneasy glances, watching as their supervisor’s ample frame writhed and spasmed on the ground for over a minute before Xu Jiu finally shouted, "Quick, save him!"

In an instant, dozens of mop handles rained down, whistling through the air—everyone swarmed in from all directions, frantically poking at their boss’s sprawled bulk. After two minutes of such reckless "rescue efforts," they finally managed to separate the supervisor from the baton.

"Christ, what a workout."

In the crowd, Xu Jiu wiped sweat from his forehead, barely suppressing the urge to burst into laughter—monitoring cameras made it impossible, leaving him with a constipated-looking grimace.

"Yeah, pretty tiring."

"Right, saving someone’s such a workout."

The group chimed in unanimously, talking over each other, nodding politely at each other, completely ignoring the fact that their supervisor was still sprawled on the floor, oozing like a punctured juice box.

"Hey," Xu Jiu seized the moment to whisper, "why can’t they see you?"

In response, Number Six extended a tentacle, gently stroking his eyes.

"Interference. Camouflage. Humans trust their eyes too much," it said. "You’re different."

Xu Jiu only half-understood its answer, but before he could press further, security guards who had noticed the disturbance on the monitors finally arrived at the scene.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Several guards waved their nightsticks, bellowed. "Are you trying to start a riot?!"

"No, sirs!" The cleaners retorted confidently, voices overlapping. "The floor was slippery, the supervisor fell—"

"He fell really hard, even turned on his own baton—"

"If we hadn’t saved him, he’d have been zapped into next Tuesday!"

"We were just trying to help—"

Overwhelmed, the guards had no choice but to concede—the footage clearly showed the supervisor lunging at someone, only to slip and fall, then accidentally activate the baton while trying to stand. It sounded absurd, but coincidences happened. He was just unlucky.

As for the cleaners, while they might have taken the chance to vent their frustrations, they *had* technically saved their boss. Had they waited for security to intervene, he’d have been fried into a vegetable by then.

"HQ’s gonna hear about this," the guards snapped impatiently, waving them back. "Maybe the suits’ll buy it, maybe not."

They left it hanging before finally saying nothing more, unfolding a makeshift stretcher and swiftly carrying the unconscious supervisor away.

---

Xu Jiu couldn’t hold back any longer. The moment the guards were out of sight, he turned into a corner, shoulders heaving as he silently laughed for a long while.

"Happy?" Number Six booped his chin lightly, whispering.

Xu Jiu swatted at it irritably. "Knock it off! Who told you to come out on your own? And what was that earlier? I told you not to touch me randomly!" Number Six ignored the latter scolding, only answering the first part. "Danger. Keeping you safe."

Xu Jiu felt a pang in his chest. He thought of the mutant jellyfish that had slipped in and decided it was better to discuss this later—this wasn’t the place to talk.

"Forget it," he said helplessly. "Just behave yourself, alright?"

Number Six fell silent, pressing its cool body closer to him instead. With the supervisor gone, a new manager was quickly assigned, driving the cleaners without giving them a moment’s rest.

Number Six nestled against Xu Jiu’s back, its four or five tentacles slipping under his collar, winding around his arms and wrists. Before Xu Jiu could protest, the translucent appendages extended past his sleeves, lifting the heavy, full buckets and the jagged, heavy boxes for him.

Even for more intricate tasks that required full-body effort—like standing on a ladder to clean ventilation ducts, inspecting exhaust fan parts, or wiping down tangled cables—Number Six handled them surprisingly well.

...Almost like a bionic prosthetic.

Xu Jiu was astonished and tickled, so he let it be. Soon, lunch break arrived. While the others were panting from exhaustion, Xu Jiu looked like he hadn't broken a sweat. After a few more reprimands from the new manager, everyone filed out toward the cafeteria.

"Want some?" Lunch was the usual compressed biscuits and mushy nutrient glop—decent meals only came in the evening. Sitting alone, Xu Jiu held up a biscuit and whispered.

Number Six, still in its transparent form, leaned in close to Xu Jiu’s cheek and took a small bite from his hand.

This wasn't prey it would hunt, nor food humans would enjoy. It knew that, for over a month, the host had been saving portions from these meager rations to fuel its growth.

It didn't need to investigate—Number Six was well aware. Behind the transparent windows and steel railings, food was piled high, supplies boxed and canned. Human chefs cooked rich meats of poultry and livestock, using intricate techniques and sprinkling them with countless spices. They stuffed their own stomachs while filling the host’s plate with synthetic slop even stray dogs would ignore...

And he ate this. And he still went hungry.

The stark contrast fueled its anger—ever since following the host outside, its rage seemed endless.

"No," it said stiffly. "You shouldn’t eat it either."

I’ll hunt for you. Don’t swallow this artificial junk anymore. It’s unworthy of you. This place is unworthy of you. You are my precious, precious...

...precious what?

"Why not?" Xu Jiu was baffled. "We can’t waste food!"

He nibbled on the biscuit, muttering, "Wasting's bad. Really bad."