Tian Shuangxin returned to her apartment complex.
The moment she pushed open the door, she felt as if she had stepped into a different dimension.
Outside the door was nothing but cold metal—the black armor of the warriors reflecting a chilling glint, and two "Loong Shadow" armored vehicles crouching below like lurking beasts.
Inside the door, however, was the home she had lived in for over twenty years, though it was still missing its full complement of "family".
She stood at the entrance for a moment, whispering to herself: One day, every member of this family will return, not one left behind.
With that thought, she forced herself to keep moving despite her near-exhaustion and wiped her face. She bowed deeply to the black-armored soldier guarding her door, stammered a quiet "thank you for your hard work", and hurried into the kitchen.
The refrigerator door opened; the strawberries were a brilliant, glowing red. She reached into the cabinets to pull out the dust-covered molds and rolling pins, washing them thoroughly and setting them aside.
Three months ago, seeing these tools made her want to weep; now, they were the only hope to wake Zhizhi.
She kept her head down, washing the fruit, draining the water, and dicing. Every piece of strawberry was cut to a precise half-millimeter—Zhizhi's favorite texture.
As the butter melted in the pan, a milky fragrance filled the room, a scent entirely discordant with the chaotic, blood-stench world outside.
The oven emitted a low hum, its orange light illuminating Tian Shuangxin's trembling hands. This wasn't just a tray of cookies; to her, it was the final silken thread tethering Zhizhi's soul.
While the cookies baked, she scurried through the apartment, gathering yarn balls, small rubber balls, and the plastic toys Zhizhi used to chew on from every corner, packing them neatly into a box. Bring themall, she thought, just in case she wakes up and wants to play.
At the same moment, in the Central Hospital.
The "Phantom Scale" tucked beneath the quilt finally ignited. Golden light seeped from the cracks of the scale like countless microscopic needles, frantically capturing the invisible black threads drifting in the air. That was the "blood" leaking from Zhizhi's damaged soul.
The scale acted like a miniature vacuum, devouring the black threads and converting them into a violent surge of energy poured into Zhizhi's body.
This forceful tug of energy caused ripples of distortion in the air surrounding the hospital bed. Beneath the quilt, the once-withered yellow fur of the little fancy rat began to turn snow-white and lustrous at a visible speed; its ears and nose slowly regained their healthy pink hue.
Deep within its consciousness, Zhizhi was trapped in a mire. It walked across an endless black wasteland, its feet sinking into a sea of sludge formed by tens of thousands of abused creatures. Countless skeletal claws tugged at her legs, and screams threatened to tear her soul apart.
"Stay here... this is where home is."
Just as Zhizhi's gaze began to scatter and she prepared to give up, a faint scent—milky and slightly tart—forcibly tore through the deathly air, descending from above.
It was the scent of strawberry cookies. It was the final connection projected by the woman in the kitchen, sweating and desperately kneading dough.
"Home..."
Zhizhi's dying rat-eyes suddenly exploded with light. Like a predator, she lunged upward and bit down hard on that transparent Red Thread!
CRACK!
The Phantom Scale in its embrace shattered into dust. The energy transformed into a warm torrent, violently flushing through its skeletal structure. On the bed, a brilliant flash of platinum light erupted.
The pet expert guarding the door witnessed the tiny fancy rat instantly expand and elongate within the light, transforming back into the shell of that man.
The disturbance stopped abruptly. All the white light was absorbed by the skin, eventually condensing into a green-gold totem on the nape of Zhizhi's neck.
GASP—
The man on the bed sat up violently. He opened his eyes. The left was platinum-white, cold as a god in the heavens; the right was a ghostly green, as wicked as a demon from hell. The two lights flashed and then sank into his pitch-black pupils.
He sat on the edge of the bed, feet hanging down, his gaze colder than a special forces blade. At the door, the pet expert, who had been pretending to check Tian mother's medical records, froze.
They stared at each other for three seconds. The expert awkwardly retracted his hand and let out a dry cough.
"A nice gift," Zhizhi spoke, his voice low and speaking in perfect, standard GreenPheasant dialect. "Tell me—who sent you?"
The pen in the expert's hand hit the floor with a clack.
Outside the window, the once-dim sky was suddenly illuminated. Zhizhi turned around, meeting a massive, golden vertical pupil the size of a sun.
The Golden Loong was right outside the window. Within that colossal pupil, Zhizhi saw his own reflection with terrifying clarity.
"Within that scale just now, I placed a dream-shards woven by the Nightmare Beast," the Golden Loong spoke first. Its voice was heavy, carrying a majesty that felt as though It could crush the heavens.
Zhizhi felt his entire body go rigid. Though he was currently draped in the skin of a five-foot-tall man, the soul in his depths was still that of a fancy rat. This bloodline suppression made his every instinct scream to find a hole to crawl into.
Swallowing hard, he asked tentatively in Green Pheasant dialect, "May I ask... which Divine Beast are you? Are you with that 'Big Guy' Divine Beast?"
The totem on the nape of his neck flashed. It allowed the Golden Loong to connect to Zhizhi's consciousness, effectively reading his brain waves.
The loong's eye, larger than a millstone, blinked in confusion. Big guy? Who? It had lived for hundreds of millions of years; in terms of size, none of the peers who followed The Great One to the Blue Planet this time could match it.
It wondered if he meant the WealthDevourer. That glutton? Aside from Its stomach, what part of It is big?
Seeing the little fellow shivering in terror, the Golden Loong softened. It figured Its "sky-blotting" size was simply too intimidating, so It decided to demonstrate some "Divine Beast Approachability".
Without special effects or flashes, the Golden Loong acted like a leaking balloon, Its body rapidly shrinking. Within seconds, It transformed from a hundred-meter titan into a "Small Loong" roughly the size of a giant zoo python.
However, It failed to account for one thing. To a fancy rat, a dragon is just "big", but a snake is the literal personification of Death.
Seeing a massive "serpent" slithering through the window, Zhizhi burst into tears on the spot. His heart wailed: Mama, I might have to wait until my next life to eat those strawberry cookies...
"I am the—" The Golden Loong was halfway through the window, preparing a magnificent self-introduction, when the man before it performed a standing leap and scrambled under Tian mother's hospital bed, his backside still visible and twitching in terror.
"—Golden... Loong..." As the last two words left its mouth, the dragon completely petrified.
The Golden Loong was bewildered. It was the totem of the Long Nation, the head of all beasts! Everywhere It went, souls bowed in worship. Yet here It was, descending to deliver a divine blessing, and the beneficiary had dived under a bed?
The Golden Loong was incensed. It had shrunk Itself into this undignified form just to be "approachable", and It was being mistaken for a snake?
It felt its professional career had hit a Waterloo. "Get out here!"
The loong's whiskers trembled with rage, Its tail slapping against the windowsill with a crack. "Look closely! I have claws! Five of them! These are claws, not decorations! Have you ever seen a snake with feet?" As It spoke, It brandished Its divine claws in the air.
Zhizhi huddled under the bed, his voice sobbing. "If you pull the feet back in, I'll believe you're a loong..."
The Golden Loong nearly coughed up a pint of divine blood. "These are Loong Claws! Pulling them back would make me a cripple! I descended to settle the Karmic, not to play dress-up with you!"
It spun in circles in mid-air, fuming. "Oh, I see. Did that Wealth Devourer say something to you? How did that big-bellied glutton communicate with you? Did it speak ill of me? Did it say I look like a hemp rope?!"
At the door, the pet expert—who had just picked up his pen—stared agape. He had lived half a lifetime and seen many things, but he had never seen a Divine Loong in a hospital ward, frantically trying to prove its identity to a "Rat-Man" under a bed like an aggrieved customer service rep.
The "Mythical Realism" of the scene had shattered into dust.
After a long and awkward explanation—including a forced demonstration of "Claw Gripping" and "Scale Magnification"—Zhizhi finally crept out from under the bed. Although he was a man now, his hunched shoulders and hands crossed over his chest made him look like nothing more than a giant, startled marmot.
The Golden Loong hovered in the air, Its whiskers crooked with irritation. After a long silence, It managed to squeeze out: "Truly... as timid as a mouse."
Zhizhi sniffled and defended himself in a small voice, "I am a mouse, and the most timid kind of fancy rat at that."
The Golden Loong looked at his human frame and began to educate him solemnly: "Since the karma is set and you are using this shell, can you not be a bit more firm and masculine? You are now a man who stands tall between heaven and earth."
This statement only made things worse.
Upon hearing it, Zhizhi's tears instantly burst through the floodgates. He began to hiccup with grievance: "I... I was a girl to begin with... I'm not even an adult yet... who wants to be a man... waaaa... hmph... sob..."
The Golden Loong's massive vertical pupils dilated instantly. The entire dragon froze in the air like a fluorescent light tube that had just suffered a power cut.
It had lived for hundreds of millions of years. It had seen demons that overturned seas, gods that split the heavens, and even lunatics who sought to slaughter deities—but It had never seen a "burly man-rat" throw a tantrum and act spoiled in front of It. At this moment, Its divine majesty was smashed to pieces by a giant wave known as "Species Recognition Disorder".
Its head, which could see through the karma of all things, was now left with only one thought: I want to smack him, but the rules don't allow it.
And so, the Golden Loong decided... to wait until he finished crying.
A bizarre silence fell over the ward. The pet expert crouched by the door, counting the cracks in the floor tiles; the loong coiled in mid-air to vent its frustration; and Zhizhi huddled in the corner, using Sato's broad palms to wipe away tears, emitting occasional, heart-wrenching sobs.
After a long while, Zhizhi finally finished crying. He stood up shakily and used the sleeve of his hospital gown to messily wipe his face. Seeing this, the Golden Loong immediately straightened Its body, attempting to reclaim some of Its pitiful dignity. It cleared Its throat, making the window glass hum, before returning to business:
"Enough, stop wailing. I ask thee—dost thou remember the dream thou hadst just now?"
Zhizhi's expression stiffened. A flash of confusion crossed his eyes, followed by gravity. He looked down at those large-knuckled hands that did not belong to him, and his voice deepened:
"I remember... it was the pain of many, and the despair of many animals."
The Golden Loong nodded slightly, its whiskers swaying. "That was the 'Collective Memory' extracted by the Nightmare Beast. The Beast God showed thee those visions not to frighten thee. Thou must understand that the totem on the nape of thy neck is not merely power; it is a one-way covenant. Since thou hast carried the sin of 'Sato' and received the fruit of 'Zhizhi', thou must stand as the final line of defense for those creatures who have no voice."
Zhizhi looked up. His left eye was platinum-white and his right was ghostly green, emitting a chilling coldness in the dim ward that made the heart tremble.
"Defend... what?"
"Defend 'Awe'," the Golden Loong's voice became low and murderous. "Humans may kill for survival, but they must never abuse for sport. This is the 'Logic' thou art to maintain henceforth."
As It spoke, the loong's claw silently emitted a golden light, stringing together invisible golden threads into a net that gradually enveloped everyone until it was completely sealed.