The iron ring on the drain was clearly old, covered in a layer of dark red rust.
When she touched it, rust flakes clung to her fingertips.
White Li had a slight aversion to dirt, but she couldn’t care less at this moment.
This was the moment that would decide her fate.
A little grime was nothing to worry about.
She took a deep breath, carefully extended a finger, and tried to pry the iron ring off the edge of the drain.
It wasn’t as easy as she imagined.
The ring was rusted solid, its edges practically fused with the cement floor.
Her fingertips were too short to get leverage.
After two attempts with her nails, the pain made her wince.
Taking a short break, she switched to using her middle and ring fingers together, hooking the inner edge of the ring with her finger pads and pulling outward.
The ring didn’t budge, but a red line was left across her knuckles.
“Whew——whew——”
White Li shook her hands, blew on her fingers, rubbed her palms together, and crouched down again.
Times like this required patience.
This time, she changed her approach.
She pressed her thumb against the outer edge of the ring and hooked the inner edge with her other four fingers, twisting counterclockwise like opening a bottle cap.
“Nnn——!”
She gritted her teeth, her tail stiffening straight behind her.
Creak.
The iron ring let out a dull sound, as if an ancient relic rusted for centuries had finally loosened.
“Heh, success. That wasn’t so hard.”
White Li increased her effort, sweat starting to form on her forehead.
The ring loosened bit by bit, rust flakes falling from the gaps.
She used both hands, all ten fingers gripping the ring tightly as she pulled it out.
Click.
The iron ring finally came free from the cement.
White Li sat flat on the ground, the heavy ring clutched in her hands, gasping for air.
Her fingers were bright red, and beads of sweat ran down her cheeks, dripping onto the collar of her prison uniform, leaving small dark stains.
“Haah… haah…”
She placed the ring on the ground in front of her and wiped her forehead with her sleeve.
It wasn’t over yet; this was just basic success.
She stood up, positioned the ring, then crouched down, stepping onto it with both feet, putting all her weight onto it.
The ring bent slightly under pressure, letting out a screeching sound of metal deformation.
White Li thought it wasn’t enough, so she jumped lightly a few times on the spot until the ring was flattened into an irregular piece of metal.
She picked up the ring and examined it closely.
The surface was pitted, but it was thin enough now, thin enough to wedge into the gap of the door frame.
After a few more stomps, White Li picked up the metal piece and weighed it in her hand.
It wasn’t sharp, but it was hard.
It should be enough to pry out the hinge pins.
“Alright, that’s enough for today…”
White Li carefully hid the metal piece in her pocket, then leaned against the wall, hugged her tail, and closed her eyes.
She was too tired.
From last night until now, she had hardly slept, and all her strength was drained.
White Li’s breathing gradually became steady.
Her tail slipped from her arms and drooped to the ground.
Her ears also flopped down, pressed against her hair on both sides.
Her eyelashes fluttered slightly as she drifted off to sleep.
…
The next day, White Li was woken by a beam of light.
She squinted and rolled over drowsily.
A thin ray of light slanted in through the crack in the door, landing on the floor.
Golden, warm.
White Li blinked and took a few seconds to remember where she was.
Solitary confinement, the shelter, she was going to… escape.
She pushed herself up, rubbed her eyes, and looked toward the door crack.
That light was coming from a window in the corridor.
The angle was low, the color warm – that afternoon light with an orange tint.
Afternoon.
She had slept the whole day.
White Li patted her face to wake herself up.
Sure enough, no food meant an empty stomach.
Her belly growled, and she could only tighten her pants belt.
She got up, stretched her stiff arms and neck, then crawled to the door and peered through the crack.
The corridor was empty.
No one.
In the distance was a window, the setting sun shining through it, dyeing the entire corridor orange-red.
Soon.
In another two or three hours, it would be dark.
White Li backed off, pulled the flattened metal piece from her pocket, and crouched by the door frame again.
She looked up at the three cylindrical hinges on the door frame.
Each hinge had a semicircular metal cover fixed to the door frame.
The cover served to hide the hinge pin and prevent the screws inside from corroding.
White Li reached out, hooked the edge of the cover with her nail, and pulled gently.
Click.
The cover popped open, revealing the thin metal pin inside.
The top of the pin had a small groove that locked the cover in place.
She didn’t need to touch the pin itself; she just needed to unscrew the fixing screws on the hinge.
She sharpened one corner of the metal piece against the ground, creating a sharp bevel, then aligned it with the first screw head on the hinge, fitted it into the cross slot, and started turning.
Creeeeak——
The rusty screw made an earsplitting scraping sound, startlingly loud in the quiet solitary cell.
White Li’s ears shot up.
She held her breath and listened.
No footsteps in the corridor, no movement at all.
She let out a sigh of relief and continued turning.
The screw loosened bit by bit.
White Li gritted her teeth, sweat beading on her forehead again.
The fleshy part of her thumb ached, and her fingers were about to cramp, but she didn’t dare stop.
She couldn’t stop.
Creeeak——creeeak——creeeak——
Each turn of the screw felt like scratching a blackboard with her nails.
White Li’s heart was in her throat, her ears constantly catching any sound from the corridor.
Just then, footsteps came from the end of the corridor, approaching steadily, unhurried.
White Li’s hand froze.
She gripped the metal piece in her palm, pressed herself against the wall, and shrank into the shadow behind the door.
The footsteps grew closer, more distinct – the sound of leather shoes on cement, along with the bang bang of an electric baton tapping against the wall.
It tapped once at every door.
White Li held her breath, not even daring to move her tail.
A pale beam of light swept in through the door crack, scanning the floor of the solitary cell.
“Normal.”
A guard’s low voice came from outside, then the footsteps continued forward, gradually fading away.
White Li waited for a while.
After confirming the footsteps had completely disappeared, she poked her head out from behind the door.
She took a deep breath and crouched back down in front of the hinge, continuing to unscrew.
This time, White Li sped up.
She had to remove all three hinges before dark.
The metal piece became more comfortable in her hand, and the screw turned faster and faster.
Click.
The first screw fell.
White Li quickly caught it and clutched it in her palm.
The metal felt cool in her hand.
She carefully placed the screw in the corner and continued on the second one.
After all three screws on the first hinge were removed, White Li carefully lifted the hinge off the door frame.
The door frame wobbled slightly, emitting a low hum.
She quickly used the removed cover to prop up the edge of the door frame, preventing the door from suddenly falling and making a loud noise.
“Haah——!”
White Li wiped the sweat off her forehead, a corner of her mouth lifting, and crouched in front of the second hinge to continue.
…
Meanwhile, on the second basement level of the shelter.
The walls were dark gray, the cold lights glaring, the air filled with a damp, moldy smell.
Here, the most dangerous monsters were held.
Every door was a thick metal blast door with multiple electronic locks, and two fully armed guards stood outside each door.
Lin Du was wearing a white lab coat with an “Intern Assistant” badge hanging on his chest, following behind a gray-haired researcher.
He hadn’t transformed.
He wore a mask on his face, only his eyes visible.
The off-campus internship was part of the school’s assessment.
With the Chief’s help, he could visit the shelter as an intern.
After checking on the Yellow-Haired Monster, he planned to go look for Li Ya for a talk.
“This way.”
The researcher stopped in front of a door and swiped his ID badge.
The door lock clicked open.
Lin Du followed him inside.
The room had no windows.
The lights were cold white, making everything appear shadowless.
In the center of the room was a metal bed, on which lay the Yellow-Haired Monster.
No, it was hard to call it a “human” anymore.
His body was firmly strapped to the bed with multiple alloy restraints.
His skin was deep purple, covered in twisted vein patterns, and bone spurs jutted out from his shoulders and back.
His eyes were closed, his mouth slightly open, revealing two rows of uneven, jagged teeth.
“It’s completely impossible to tell he was once human.”
The researcher sighed, picked up the tablet hanging at the foot of the bed, and pulled up data for Lin Du to see.
“Genetic test results show that his current gene sequence has a very low similarity to humans—lower than a banana!”
Lin Du took the tablet and looked down at the dense data on the screen.
His gaze paused on the line that read “Gene Similarity: 40%.”
His fingers tightened slightly.
“Furthermore,” the researcher continued, “his body is still changing. Muscle density is increasing, bones are proliferating, and his metabolic rate is over ten times that of a normal person. At this rate, the current restraints might not hold much longer.”
“Okay, thank you.”
Lin Du handed the tablet back, his gaze falling on the Yellow-Haired Monster’s twisted face.
He recalled the Chief’s words:
“The erosion isn’t advanced yet, but constantly using power might accelerate the process.”
He looked down at his own hand.
Under the sleeve, transparent scales had spread all the way to his elbow.
‘Will he end up like this one day?’
“Time is almost up.”
A hoarse voice suddenly rang out.
Lin Du’s head snapped up.
The Yellow-Haired Monster’s eyes opened.
Those murky eyes stared straight at the ceiling, pupils unfocused, as if looking at nothing.
His lips quivered slightly as he repeated the same phrase over and over.
“Time is almost up… time is almost up…”
The researcher’s face changed color, and he took a step back.
“H-He never spoke before!”
Lin Du stared at the Yellow-Haired Monster, his fists slowly clenching.