Dust filled the air.
The aftershock created a strong wind that tousled Mu’en’s hair.
His heart was also in disarray.
Fortunately, his heart was strong.
Holding a grilled fish in his hand, Mu’en pondered for a moment before silently turning his head back.
— Let’s pretend I didn’t see anything.
It was just a mere meteorite impact; it couldn’t possibly mean a symbiotic alien creature would emerge to conquer the world or something like that. What was there to make a fuss about?
He was a man who had gone through the baptism of mud trucks and even experienced a dimensional shift; how could he not have this little bit of composure?
Eat the fish, eat the fish, ignore it.
Creak—
Just as Mu’en was about to take a bite of the delicious grilled fish, he suddenly heard a sharp sound that made his teeth ache, coming from the location of the impact, surrounded by swirling dust.
It sounded like metal opening and closing.
Huh?
Mu’en opened his mouth, his expression slightly changing.
Metal opening and closing?
How could a mere meteorite produce such a sound?
Could it be…
A spaceship?
Mu’en’s eyes widened suddenly.
The impact wasn’t a meteorite, but a lost spaceship!
And the sound now was the spaceship’s hatch opening, with aliens about to emerge for an exciting first walk on earth.
This is a small step for me, but a giant leap for all of extraterrestrial beings.
Sorry for getting sidetracked.
But aliens… I really want to see…
Wait, how could it be aliens? This is a Western fantasy world! If aliens really appeared, readers would probably curse the author for writing nonsensically.
It must be something else.
But, that doesn’t matter.
Today, I must finish eating the fish in my hand.
I mean it, even Jesus couldn’t stop me.
“Ahem…”
As Mu’en tried to bring the grilled fish to his mouth again, he suddenly heard a familiar coughing sound from behind, as if choked by the dust.
That voice sounded very familiar.
It seemed like An.
Haha, how could that be? He had run so far; how could An find him?
An wasn’t a dog, she couldn’t smell him from kilometers away.
“…”
But, I mean, but.
There was really a tiny bit of possibility that it was An?
That sound of metal opening—if it was An’s ability… it would make sense.
Mu’en looked down at the fish in his hand, paused in silence for a moment… and then suddenly threw it on the ground.
“Damn it, you scared the hell out of me!”
Without saying anything more, he prepared to make a run for it.
Jesus might not be able to stop him, but An was far scarier than Jesus.
Jesus wouldn’t play confinement games with him!
But—
“Young Master?”
It seemed it was too late.
A familiar, puzzled voice came from behind.
It really was An!
“Haha…”
Mu’en emitted a dry laugh from his throat, awkwardly turned around, and said:
“Long time no see, An. Have you been… well?”
Mu’en had initially planned to use his scumbag charm to stabilize An first, but before he could even start, he silently withdrew that tactic.
Something seemed off with An now.
Her hair was disheveled, her expression haggard, and her usually neat maid outfit was now soiled, even having several tears that exposed her fair skin.
Behind her, in the large pit formed by the impact, An’s actively condensed metal sphere lay quietly, but the surface of the sphere was now covered in grim scars and dents, as if it had suffered some fierce attack.
“An, what happened?”
Even if he was slow on the uptake, Mu’en could sense something was wrong; he retracted his smile, and his expression immediately became serious.
“Were you fighting someone?”
“…”
An didn’t answer directly. She stared unblinkingly at Mu’en for a moment, then took a deep breath, her expression returning to normal as she smiled:
“It’s nothing, Young Master.”
“Nonsense, you look like this…”
“I just tripped, that’s all.”
“Are you trying to fool a fool?”
“I’m telling the truth.”
An adjusted herself and said:
“And besides, aren’t you going to run away? If you don’t, I’ll just have to take you back.”
“This time, I’ll lock you in a special cage so you can never escape.”
While saying this, An took a couple of steps forward, seemingly really intending to catch Mu’en.
But Mu’en didn’t move.
He stared fixedly at An.
Watching her step by step approach.
A rarely seen air of authority belonging to the Duke’s son, Campbell’s young master, appeared on his face.
“Then come catch me.”
“…”
“An, come catch me. I won’t run!”
“…”
An’s hand, halfway reaching out, suddenly drooped down in defeat.
A helpless bitter smile appeared on her face:
“At this time, shouldn’t you be taking the opportunity to sneak away? It’s clearly a once-in-a-lifetime chance.”
“If you chase me, I’ll run; if you don’t, why would I run?”
Mu’en shrugged, giving a reason he didn’t even believe himself, then quietly asked:
“Tell me, what exactly happened, An.”
“Actually…”
An sighed helplessly, about to say something when she was suddenly interrupted by a loud roar.
A sound like a great earthquake came from behind the small mountain opposite Mu’en.
On the top of the small mountain, countless trees were suddenly uprooted, and the migratory birds that hadn’t had time to leave the woods flew out like they were escaping from something.
“Master—”
“Where are you? Come accept my love.”
“I love you!”
As if hundreds of people shouted together, many voices mixed together, resounding throughout the mountains and forests, making Mu’en’s ears ache.
Instinctively covering his ears, Mu’en hadn’t had time to think about the meaning of those words when he saw…
A monster nearly the height of the small mountain slowly emerged from the other side of the mountain.
“What is that—”
Mu’en couldn’t help but widen his eyes, his mouth unintentionally agape like he could swallow a duck egg.
Deformed flesh grew riotously, forming bizarre limbs that flailed wildly, like a body stitched together from countless humans slowly crawling on the ground, leaving behind traces that seemed soaked in fresh blood, causing the surrounding plants to wither instantly.
Countless twisted hands or feet moved chaotically on the monster’s skin, like weeds swaying in the autumn wind.
And on the chest of that monster, hundreds of human faces were densely packed, crying, laughing, sad, angry, numb, or despairing.
But regardless of the emotions in their eyes, they all wore a smile, passionately calling out:
“I love you!”
“Holy crap.”
Looking at that monster, Mu’en couldn’t help but shiver, feeling his sanity rapidly dropping.
He was just trying to catch some fish; how did something this bizarre suddenly appear?
In his memory, there was no monster that looked this uniquely strange.
A new species mutated from drinking nuclear waste?
No, no, this world doesn’t have pranking nations.
And…
Mu’en’s gaze swept over that monster again, especially those densely packed human faces on its chest, making him feel some claustrophobia creeping in.
No matter how he looked at it, this thing… had something to do with humans, right?
