"Damn it!"
Chen Fan shouted at the sky. No—it wasn't the rain. It was that damn debt collector calling right in the middle of his deliveries.
"Chen Fan, listen carefully," the old bastard barked. "By midnight, if you don't have 300,000 yuan, your gambler dad might come after you. Or… we can settle it our way. Your choice."
He hung up immediately. Chen Fan didn't even get a word in.
Three hundred thousand… Only 125.38 yuan left. Where the hell was he supposed to get that kind of money?!
To pay off his father's endless debts, he took every group order he could. Besides sleeping in his coffin-sized rental, he spent every waking second on his e-bike.
Thinking of the times debt collectors smashed doors and threw paint… Please, Dad, survive this one…
But he didn't have time to dwell. His phone pinged:
[Ding! Hey Rider! I'm starving! Deliver fast or get a bad review!]
Ah! Running late!
He gunned the throttle, running calculations in his head… Finish this order today, and at least he could withdraw a few hundred yuan for Dad. Every little bit counts.
Distracted, he didn't notice a hidden puddle masked by the rain.
The bike tilted—bam!—Chen Fan went flying, landing hard in a roadside gutter. His hood soaked in filthy water.
"Ugh! Sh*t! That hurts!"
Half his body went numb. His head spun. When the pain finally dulled, he staggered to his feet and grabbed the claypot chicken rice that had landed in the puddle…
The bag was drenched, the container burst open, spilling everything.
Great… just perfect.
Even his delivery helmet was now in the gutter.
Nearby, in a flowerbed, he spotted a forgotten black safety helmet. Somehow, it looked clean, even under the gloomy rain.
Sighing, Chen Fan left his soaked helmet behind and put on the found one. Back on the bike—let's keep moving.
Then, a cold, mechanical voice echoed in his head:
[SYSTEM]: Beep—New lifeform signal detected… Neural connection established… Anomalous Delivery System activated.
A string of code-like sounds followed. A huge pale-blue holographic screen floated in front of his eyes:
[SYSTEM — Containment Order (Mandatory Acceptance)]
[Destination: Apartment 13, Yushu Street, 4th-floor corridor. Items: High-Strength Tranquilizers x3 (deploy on-site).]
[Order Notes: Extremely dangerous! Anomalous activity detected! Wear protective gear. Partner "Armed Operative – Gengwu-7" en route.]
[Delivery Reward: 100 points + ¥100,000.]
[Overtime/Cancel Penalty: Level-3 electric shock. Capable of severe physiological disruption and life-threatening injury.]
Chen Fan slid slightly on the seat… okay, didn't fall this time.
What the hell? Delivery… tranquilizers? Containment order?
The floating order froze him in place.
"Tranquilizers… containment order… ¥100,000?!"
His heart nearly stopped.
Before he could even think, the AI spoke again:
[SYSTEM]: Order confirmed. Navigation activated. Rider, obey all traffic rules. Reach the destination ASAP.
Like some unarguable command—
"Cancel! Cancel it! Did you hear me?!" Chen Fan screamed, grabbing the helmet, trying to rip it off.
This damn helmet! Ever since he put it on, all this weird stuff started happening!
The helmet felt rooted to his head. No way to take it off.
Another AI warning:
[SYSTEM — Recommendation: Execute. Level-3 electric shock may cause incontinence and cardiac arrest.]
Wait… it's threatening me too?!
Chen Fan gritted his teeth, muttering curses under his breath. Back on the bike. If he could finish this order, Dad's debt would drop by a huge chunk…
As the rain eased, he neared Yushu Street. Something was off—yellow tape stretched across the intersection, control vehicles blocking the road. People in "municipal work" vests were evacuating.
What's going on?
"Gas leak ahead! Extremely dangerous! Evacuate immediately!" a faint broadcast warned.
Some officers spotted him. Quick, make up an excuse!
"Big brother! My wife and kid are up there! I have to save them! Please!" Chen Fan yelled in his head, gunning the bike to sneak past the barricade.
"Stop! I order you to stop!"
Bang!
They had guns! Not municipal workers at all! Bullets whizzed past his cheek.
Heart pounding, adrenaline spiking, he remembered the Level-3 shock warning. No… can't stop now!
Throttle to the max. Smash through a barricade, weave between officers—barely slipped past.
13! Right ahead!
Into the apartment's covered walkway he rode, snatched the drenched claypot chicken rice, and ducked through a slightly open door.
Order reminder: 4th-floor corridor. Deploy items on-site.
Climbing the stairs, faint voices reached him:
"Mom…"
"Mom, are you there? I'm scared…"
The cries sounded like a little girl's desperate pleas.
What… the hell is this?!
The tone wasn't human. Chen Fan froze, heart racing. Whatever was upstairs seemed far more dangerous than any debt or electric shock warning.
He had to reach the 4th floor but didn't want to confront whatever was up there…
The emergency ladder at the back! That's it!
He snuck around, climbing quietly, psyching himself up: Just reach the 4th floor… ¥100,000 is mine!
Each step higher made the fear worse. He tiptoed like a ghost.
Finally… the 4th floor.
There it was.
A massive, dark-red creature. Eyeless, with a gaping mouth. A mutilated, bloody body lay at its feet.
The cries for "Mom" came from it. The monster, oblivious to Chen Fan, fed with its back turned.
Chen Fan froze, breath caught, cold sweat pouring. I'm gonna die… just like that body… a snack for that thing!
Suddenly, the monster spun around. The cries morphed into a deep male voice:
"Support team? Is the support team here? Hurry, come in!"
It saw me…