Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The brawl in the clearing raged on, but its end was in sight.

Bodies lay strewn across the ground. He Xu’s side, vastly outnumbered, had fought valiantly, but the odds were insurmountable. Even Yu Ling, the feisty girl with the steel pipe, lay gasping for air.

The pipe remained by her side, but no one dared to claim it. The remaining fighters had rallied around He Xu.

Compared to He Xu’s side, where he was the sole man standing, Boss Xiao still had a few men left. Yet, in truth, Boss Xiao’s losses were far heavier. He Xu’s group had numbered only twelve or thirteen, while Boss Xiao commanded over thirty. Now, including Boss Xiao himself, only seven or eight remained on their feet.

Half of the fallen thugs were He Xu’s handiwork.

Now, facing a renewed assault from several attackers, He Xu’s power showed no signs of waning despite the prolonged fight. With a single punch to a thug’s gut, the man shrieked, clutching his stomach as he crumpled to the ground.

Another one down. He Xu spat a mouthful of bloody phlegm, sweat clinging to his eyelashes. He blinked hard, clearing his vision, his dark eyes fixed on the remaining thugs. His muscular frame stood out among the disheveled delinquents like a sleek black panther, brimming with explosive power.

Every thug who met his gaze instinctively recoiled, fearing they would be the next target of this menacing figure.

As his gaze swept across them, everyone instinctively took a half-step back. For a moment, no one dared to charge forward.

He Xu let out a low, mocking chuckle.

Boss Xiao’s face flushed crimson. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth—a fresh wound from He Xu’s fists. He glared at He Xu, who stood with his head slightly raised, a picture of disdain.

"Get him!" Boss Xiao snarled. "He’s been fighting this long—there’s no way he’s not tired!"

The thugs, jolted by his words, suddenly realized the truth. They themselves were exhausted after such a prolonged fight; how could He Xu possibly still have strength left? Their expressions shifted, now viewing He Xu as nothing more than a paper tiger, all bluster and no substance.

He Xu merely scoffed, then extended a finger, beckoning them forward in a blatant act of provocation.

This was the last straw!

The seven or eight thugs, as if injected with adrenaline, charged forward!

A flurry of thuds and crashes later, they were sent sprawling back like wilted chickens, groaning on the ground.

Boss Xiao watched his men sprawled across the ground, then turned to see He Xu rolling his wrists, advancing step by step toward him. He swallowed hard: "Y-You stay back, or else…"

His face was a mask of panic, but his hand subtly crept behind him, feeling for something hard in his pocket. He gripped its handle.

He Xu seemed oblivious, continuing his advance.

"Don’t come closer…" Boss Xiao stammered, his eyes fixed on He Xu. As He Xu drew near, his expression suddenly hardened. He thrust the object forward—"Die!"

A flicker of surprise crossed He Xu’s face, as if he hadn’t anticipated the move. Boss Xiao was about to smile, but his expression froze, then twisted in agony: "Agh—! It hurts—!"

His arm was still outstretched, the object aimed directly at He Xu’s abdomen, but his wrist was caught in an unyielding grip, rendering him immobile.

He Xu eyed the buzzing black rod in his hand. "All that secrecy, and this is what you pull? Just a stun baton."

He scoffed with disdain. "Guess I overestimated you."

He snatched the baton, then, with a swift motion, jabbed it into Boss Xiao’s side. Boss Xiao immediately convulsed, collapsing to the ground, eyes rolling back. Even his stiff mohawk drooped.

"Tch."

He Xu switched off the baton and tossed it onto Boss Xiao’s twitching body. He pulled out a cigarette pack, shook one out, cupped his hand to light it, and took a deep drag. His mood brightened considerably.

The young delinquents hobbled over, supporting each other, their eyes shining with admiration. "Boss, you’re incredible!"

"Yeah, taking on ten at once!"

"Bullshit, it was twenty!"

"How does that saying go? ‘One man guards the pass, ten thousand cannot breach it!’ That’s you, Boss! You’re the man!" He gave a thumbs-up. "Awesome!"

He Xu took a drag from his cigarette and glanced at them. "Enough chatter. Go home."

"Oh, okay!" The group of younger gang members obediently started to leave. After a few steps, they looked back to find him still standing there.

Sun Ran asked curiously, "Boss, aren’t you coming?"

He Xu grunted. "I’ll stay a bit longer."

Sun Ran was about to say something else when he felt a sharp tug on his shirt. He turned to see Yu Ling frantically signaling him with her eyes.

"Why’d you pull me?" he whispered, confused.

Yu Ling leaned in, her voice barely audible: "Did you forget? Today’s Boss’s…"

"What?" Sun Ran still didn’t understand.

"That!" Yu Ling was practically tearing her hair out. She gestured wildly, drawing a circle in the air with both hands, then mimed flicking a lighter. "That."

Sun Ran froze, then suddenly understood. "Oh, you mean Boss’s…"

Before he could finish, he clapped a hand over his mouth, quickly glancing at their boss. Seeing that He Xu hadn’t noticed, he hurried off with the rest of the group.

Only after they had walked some distance did he release his hand, letting out a sigh of relief.

Yu Ling rolled her eyes. "You’re going to get yourself killed by your stupidity one day."

Sun Ran scratched his head. "No wonder Boss was in a bad mood today. He fought so fiercely, and he’s been chain-smoking—I think he’s gone through half a pack already."

"Alright, let’s go. Let Boss have his space," Yu Ling said, patting his shoulder. "Go see him early tomorrow morning. Remember to be extra attentive, don’t act like a big shot all the time."

"Me? Not attentive? I think I’m attentive enough! If Boss says east, I never dare say west…"

"I also think Brother Ran is super attentive, practically the boss’s number one bootlicker."

"I think so too…"

"Exactly… Wait, you bunch of dogs, are you indirectly insulting me? I’ll beat you all up! Don’t run! Stop right there!"

"Hahahahaha…"

The young delinquents chased each other into the distance.

He Xu sat atop the stacked culverts, glancing at the playful antics of the group before turning his gaze back to his cigarette, smoking in silence.

Unnoticed, a pile of ash accumulated at his feet, slowly spreading across the ground.

Meanwhile, the thugs had recovered enough to stealthily help their leader up and slip away.

He Xu pretended not to hear their movements, his elbows resting on his knees, taking slow, deliberate drags from his cigarette.

Once everyone was gone, the abandoned construction site fell into complete silence.

Zhang Yu poked his head out from behind a pile of building materials, looking at the figure with his back to him in the distance. He thought to himself:

"By the way, System, I haven’t asked yet—why does He Xu have to get pregnant? Can’t I just keep his attention on me and stop him from targeting the protagonist like I’m doing now?"

The mechanical voice replied calmly, "Because this is the Fertility System. The hard requirement for activation is for the target to become pregnant and give birth to at least one child."

Zhang Yu grumbled, "Your systems are so weird, having activation criteria and all. What if he can’t give birth? I’m an octopus—can humans even give birth to octopuses?"

"Rest assured, Host. The pregnancy program will ensure the safety of the carrier. As long as the target becomes pregnant, smooth delivery is guaranteed."

"Fine, I’m going then."

His dark pupils dilated slightly, and mottled colors flickered across his pale face as his body gradually collapsed.

In the silent night, a faint, slithering sound emerged, flowing toward the person perched on the culvert pipes.

...

The last trace of light disappeared from the horizon.

The construction site had been abandoned for a long time, with no lighting. The nearest streetlight was hundreds of meters away, leaving the site pitch black once night fell.

A small ember glowed in the dark before slowly extinguishing.

He Xu tossed away the finished cigarette butt and shook the pack, hoping for another. He tapped it against his palm, but nothing came out.

He froze momentarily, then shook the pack again—empty.

"Tch." Annoyed, he tossed the pack aside, grabbed his jacket, and jumped down from the culvert.

Landing safely from memory, He Xu glanced at the distant pinpricks of light and fumbled through his jacket for his phone to use as a flashlight.

The jacket was all bunched up, making it hard to distinguish one end from the other. After some groping, he finally found his phone, only to fumble and drop it.

A muffled thud sounded as the phone hit the ground. He Xu frowned, his frustration growing.

Crouching down, he felt around for the phone, missing a few times before his fingers finally brushed against its cold surface.

His frown eased slightly as he reached to pick it up—but then his fingertips touched something else.

Slimy, somewhat soft, and... moving.

At the same time, he faintly heard the sound of something moving through the dirt, as if crawling across the ground.

Late at night, an abandoned construction site, an eerie sensation, crawling noises—these keywords flashed through He Xu’s mind, triggering memories of horror movies.

He went still, then slowly retracted his fingers.

Darkness naturally eroded one’s sense of security, and this site had been abandoned precisely because of past incidents.

With all these factors combined, even someone as bold as He Xu couldn’t help but feel goosebumps rising.

His heart pounded as he carefully picked up the phone and rose painfully slowly, his senses sharpened to extremes.

But even after standing up completely, he encountered nothing else. The faint crawling sounds had stopped, leaving silence.

Was it just his imagination?

He listened carefully—still nothing.

Maybe what he’d touched was just a slug. The night was humid, and the area under the culvert was cool and damp, perfect for slugs to crawl around.

He Xu let out a relieved breath, his tension easing.

He groped for the phone’s button to turn on the flashlight—when suddenly, something wrapped around his ankle and yanked hard!

Taken by surprise, He Xu lost his grip on the phone and lurched sideways. Instinctively, he threw out a hand to brace himself—only for something thick and rope-like to wrap around his waist and yank him backward, making him fall into something soft.

"What the hell?!" He Xu’s eyes widened as he instinctively grabbed at the thing around his waist. His fingers closed around a thick, tapered cylinder—coated in a slick membrane, with a small suction cup on the underside that contracted at his touch, sucking lightly at his finger.

...Was that a tentacle?

The idea had just formed when another coiled around his wrist, winding up his arm like it meant to lift him up.

"Fuck! Let go! What the hell is this?! Let me go!"

He Xu roared, struggling wildly—but more tentacles surged forward, restraining him tightly.

Amid his struggles, he heard the noise of being dragged away, the echoes suggesting they’d entered the nearby unfinished building.

"Let me go!"

His furious shouts reverberated through the hollow space, but the creature only tightened its grip. More tentacles slithered over him, coating his skin in a slimy, sticky liquid.

A sudden chill at his waist—his undershirt was pushed up as several tentacles eagerly squirmed underneath.

He Xu stiffened, then fought even harder.

"Let—mmph!"

The moment he opened his mouth to shout, a tentacle pushed inside, its tip pressing against his throat as it forced a sweet-salty fluid down.

He gagged reflexively, but his mouth was too full to swallow. Tears welled in his eyes, spilling over with the excess drool.

Another tentacle slithered into his ear, the slick sensation sliding deeper with squelching, wet sounds—as if it meant to puncture his eardrum and burrow into his brain.

He Xu shuddered, still trying to struggle, but his limbs had gone inexplicably weak, his body growing increasingly hot by the second.

It was whatever he’d swallowed!

Panic flashed across his face, but in the darkness, he could see nothing.

What the hell were these damn tentacles trying to do to him?!

He writhed desperately, but his limp body couldn’t muster any strength. Surges of heat spread through him, impossible to ignore.

The silver skull chain on his belt swayed then abruptly fell, hanging midair as it trembled violently.

"Mmmph—!!"

He tried to scream, but the sound was trapped in his throat, coming out as nothing but muffled, high-pitched whimpers.

Get off! Get the fuck off!!

The skull chain swung rhythmically, occasionally jerking sharply.

Tears streamed down his face as his stifled moans grew increasingly nasal, trembling with restraint.

Then, something bit his chin—not hard, just a tingling, teasing nip.

In his haze, He Xu realized with terrifying clarity: he was like a delicacy, being slowly savored by this monster.

The suffocating mass of tentacles formed an inescapable cocoon, his body burning hotter beyond his control.

Extreme fear and overwhelming pleasure crashed over him in tandem.

His limbs went slack as he twisted helplessly, dragged under by endless waves until he was swallowed whole by the abyss.