In the dim night, the supermarket's glass door had long been shattered, and sounds of rummaging and men's curses continually echoed from between the collapsed shelves.
Tendo stood in the shadows of the outside corridor, silently looking into the supermarket.
A group of adults, dressed in ragged tactical gear, were frantically searching for supplies inside the supermarket. Their clothes were stained with dark red smudges, and their eyes were a mixture of despair and madness, like starved wild dogs.
Seeing this, Tendo frowned. He strongly disliked that look; it lacked any trace of human "warmth."
Thinking this, Tendo prepared to turn and leave, looking for a new hunting ground.
Just as he was about to quietly slip away, the corner of his eye caught a glimpse of a small figure cautiously moving in the shadow of the supermarket's outer wall.
It was a little girl about his age, her messy brown hair clinging to her face. She was clutching a deflated cloth bag and tiptoeing to peer into the supermarket. Her eyes held apprehension, but even more so, a stubborn determination.
Tendo watched her, then looked back at the adults with twisted eyes inside the supermarket. After a moment of thought, he picked up a fist-sized stone and threw it hard, like pitching a baseball.
Smash!
The stone accurately shattered the display window on the other side of the supermarket. The sharp sound of breaking glass was particularly grating in the silent night.
The little girl in the shadows trembled from the sudden noise, then scrambled and crawled into a nearby doorway for cover.
At the same time, the adults in the supermarket were alarmed.
Cursing, they rushed out with steel pipes to check, but they saw nothing except the empty street and the shattered window.
After the group of people swore and returned to the supermarket, the little girl in the doorway finally peeked out. After confirming it was safe, she quietly ran off in the opposite direction.
Because little Chen Xing knew very well that survivors in this era were far more terrifying than the monsters roaming the city ruins.
What she didn't see was that in the shadows of a street corner not far away, a silver-haired boy leaned against the wall, a slight smile curving his lips as he watched her retreating figure.
Tendo didn't usually like to meddle, but he quite liked the girl's eyes.
Because he saw "warmth" in those eyes.
Watching this heart-warming scene from Tendo, the Tendo-Xing Party in the bullet comments immediately became excited.
'It's little Chen Xing! Little Tendo had already met little Chen Xing at this time!'
'Little Tendo's move is so subtle! He didn't even show his face, just helped her avoid danger!'
'So, he had already appeared early on, without her knowing?'
'This is the true definition of childhood sweethearts; I suggest they be locked together!'
'A debt of life? Looks like Xingxing can only repay him with herself.'
After making sure little Chen Xing was out of danger, Tendo glanced at the supermarket nearby and mocked softly, "Rushing in without even checking what's inside. Such easy, naive prey."
With that, Tendo turned and left the supermarket.
Shortly after, screams and the sight of flames emerged from the supermarket, indicating that something had clearly gone wrong.
Once the commotion died down, a hairy spider leg stepped on the broken glass, appearing in the center of the episode's screen.
As the camera zoomed out, a black spider filled the screen.
The black spider's four pairs of shadowy scythe-like legs gleamed coldly. It was clutching a constantly twitching survivor in front of it.
Ignoring the adult survivor's pleas and wails, it began to lower its head and feast on his body, eating heartily...
[Name: Shadow Spider]
[Level: One]
[Description: Has four pairs of freely retractable 'Shadow Scythe Legs,' sharp enough to cut through alloy. Sprays 'Shadow Web' laced with paralyzing toxin from its tail.]
Seeing this Shadow Spider, some of the dimensional viewers immediately recalled Chen Xing's "Memory Arc."
In that memory arc, the young little Chen Xing first encountered little Tendo in a post-disaster supermarket.
At that time, little Tendo was sitting on the corpse of a black spider, indirectly saving Chen Xing, who had rashly walked in.
It was also then that the young Tendo left an indelible impression deep in the heart of the young Chen Xing.
The dimensional viewers had previously thought that was the fated first encounter between Tendo and Chen Xing, but they never expected that Tendo had secretly saved Chen Xing once before that day arrived.
It could be said that without Tendo's covert assistance just now, Chen Xing, even if she had avoided the 'humanity-lost' adult survivors in the supermarket, would have been quickly hunted down by the Shadow Spider hiding in the dark.
In other words, without Tendo, the future Red Flame Demon Blade, Star NO. 2, would not exist.
At this point, the side story had passed through two-thirds of its runtime.
Although the Stars production team had not explicitly given any descriptions of Tendo's "constitution" in these plotlines, the dimensional viewers still accurately caught on to Tendo's abnormal physique.
At the same time, they completely understood why Tendo had carried the label of 'obsessed with sweets' from his very first appearance at the beginning of Season One of Stars.
This was certainly partly due to Tendo's own craving for sweets.
But another, more important reason was clearly related to his extraordinary physique.
After all, if he didn't possess some kind of special constitution, how could Tendo rapidly recover from injuries just by eating "sweets"?
The mystery was now almost ready to be unveiled, needing only one final piece of 'concrete evidence.'
The episode's camera switched, and Tendo in the screen had dragged his heavily wounded body back to his room.
His school uniform was torn open with large gashes, stained with dark red and dark green blood. A deep, bone-visible wound on his arm was still oozing blood.
Seeing this, the dimensional viewers were stunned.
When had the person who was the uncontested top of the Stars group—the one who dominated the heavens and the earth, aside from his solo confrontation with most Association Astral Envoys at the end of Season One—ever appeared in such a 'battered' state?
Yet, even with such heavy injuries, Tendo's eyes remained bright.
Fighting against physical exhaustion, he pulled out a blood-stained Astral Core from his backpack.
Then, under the gaze of the dimensional viewers, Tendo directly placed the Astral Core into his mouth.
The next second, cold sweat broke out on Tendo's forehead, and his body trembled slightly, seemingly enduring intense pain.
But soon, the pain faded from his face, and his wounds healed at a visible speed.
Having done all this, Tendo took off his bloody clothes as if nothing had happened, lay down on the sofa, and closed his eyes to rest.
The clear moonlight streamed through the dusty window, casting dappled light onto Tendo's silver bangs.
Before long, the only things left in the room were the faint glow of the chocolate foil and the boy's steady breathing.
Tendo's secret quietly awakened in this unknown, apocalyptic ruin.
Subsequently, the camera zoomed out, finally settling on the city ruins and the brilliant, endless starry sky above.
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An Important Announcement: Time to Write Our Own Novel!
Hello everyone!
Thank you all so much for your support; it truly helps me keep going!
I have some exciting news: after translating many fanfics, I've decided it's time to start writing my own Novels! I plan to begin with a new fanfic—I'm currently thinking of either the Avatar: The Last Airbender or Douluo Dalu universe, featuring a Neutral protagonist.That is exactly what I meant by Neutral Protagonist (This refers to the character's Alignment. A Neutral Protagonist is not strictly bound by concepts of absolute good or evil, nor are they necessarily tied to Law or Chaos. Their actions are generally motivated by their own survival, personal goals, or a desire for balance, operating in a morally gray area.)
Once I've written a few fanfics and gained more experience, I can then move on to developing my own original novel soon after.
If you want a direct hand in shaping the main character's destiny and giving input, be sure to join the poll!
I've launched a poll on my P@t reon page!
HOW YOU CAN PARTICIPATE:
1. Head over to our P@t reon page and become a member. (Don't worry, even those with a free membership can join the poll and share their input!)
2. Select any option you desire in the poll
3. Leave a comment on the poll post or send me a DM if you have any specific thoughts or ideas!
p@treon HongMengZi