DOMINION'S END

Volume 1, Chapter 2: The Black Fog Unveils

Translator: Elkin

It was only after all the supplies had been piled into the basement and some of the excess tossed into the kitchen that I felt more at ease. With these supplies, as long as Jiang Shutian could make it back and protect these supplies, this family would be able to survive.

When we had gotten back home, the nurse was so angry she was about to explode. But I insisted on making sure all the supplies were taken care of before I was willing to rest, so her face transformed into that of man-eating tigress as she worked with Lin-bó to force me into the bathroom to clean up. Then, she ordered me to lie on the bed so she could check my various vital stats.

The moment I hit the bed, I was so exhausted that I passed out until the next day. By the time I woke up and looked at the clock, it was already past noon.

Getting up, I called the nurse and Lin-bó to take me to the bathroom so I could do my business and tidy up.

Confronted with an unfamiliar male body, I was still fairly calm for a woman who had turned into a man. After all, what hadn’t I seen to date? But the nurse was surprisingly shy, perhaps because she was still young, not even thirty judging from her looks. I, on the other hand, had the body of a fine, young lad. There simply wasn’t a woman in this world who hadn’t thought of gobbling up a delectable young man!

After washing up, I was planning to eat a little something, ideally topped off by some more chicken soup as well. Although it’s a little too late to start nursing this body back to health…

“Xiao Yu.”

I lifted my head. It was Uncle and Auntie. Yesterday, Shujun said that they had gone out to meet up with a friend, and by the time we got back, they were already asleep. We had even specially requested the transporters to carry on their business quietly to avoid waking them up.

“Good afternoon, Uncle, Auntie.”

I gauged the two of them. They looked only forty-odd or so, and Auntie seemed like she hadn’t even hit her forties yet, but maybe they were simply really good at maintaining themselves. There was simply no way they hadn’t reached their forties yet. This Uncle and his dead brother might have had a bit of an age gap.

The two seemed really bookish, which was really bad news. I’d sincerely hoped that this Uncle was a muscle man, and it was best if he had trained in judo, taekwondo and martial arts, and was well versed in sword play and shooting or something. Sadly, while my dream Uncle was quite a hefty man, the reality was that he was a skinny bag of bones.

Auntie asked, puzzled, “Xiao Yu, why are there so many things in the kitchen? Did you buy all of that?”

I gave a nod, replying, “Yesterday, I went with Junjun to buy some things. I’m not sure what came over me to make me buy so much.” Thankfully, they hadn’t seen the basement. Otherwise, they wouldn’t believe me even if I said I’d gone stir crazy.

Auntie reassured me gently, “It doesn’t matter if you bought a lot. None of these are perishable, so we can just go through them slowly.”

“Will Uncle and Auntie go out today?” If so, I’ll immediately faint on the spot and force them to stay to look after me.

“Of course not,” Auntie said a little apologetically, “Yesterday was just because a good friend of ours we hadn’t seen in a while was leaving, so we just had to say goodbye. Otherwise, Uncle and I will never leave at a time like this. I still need to make sure you’re eating right!”

Her eyes reddened, and she said fretfully, “Just look at you, you’re nothing but skin and bones.”

Uncle snapped with a tone of disagreement, “Come now, what’s there to cry about? Xiao Yu’s awake and the doc’s already said that there shouldn’t be many aftereffects either. Just give him some time, and he’ll be back to the same old Xiao Yu.”

“That’s right.” Auntie quickly hid her sorrowful expression and grasped my hand, telling me, “Quick, go eat! Even Junjun refused to eat without you awake!”

I complied with a smile. When we got to the dining room, the entire table was covered with dishes. However, all the food was stewed so soft that it was on the point of disintegration, probably so it’d be easier for me to eat.

I silently ate the food. Although I wanted to eat more and quickly recover my strength, this body couldn’t handle it, taking in far less than what a healthy youngster should be eating. But if I forced anymore down, I was worried I’d throw up, so I could only give up and put down my bowl and chopsticks to wait for the others to eat their fill for a bit.

“There’s something I want to say to everyone.”

Everyone looked up at me.

“No one should go out today. And tonight, everyone should sleep in separate rooms.” I looked at Uncle and Auntie. “Including Uncle and Auntie. Also, everyone needs to lock their door before sleeping. Make sure that you push something to block the door as well.”

At that, Lin-bó, the nurse, and Shujun took it relatively well—they had already seen me shopping like crazy last night, so these words couldn’t shock them. However, Uncle and Auntie looked absolutely astonished.

“What for?” Uncle asked as he set down his bowl and chopsticks, looking a little stern even. That said, he wasn’t the head of the family. After all, the most authoritative person in this family had to be Jiang Shutian!

I could only use my dream as an excuse, but this only tickled Uncle and Auntie to the point where they didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“It’s fine.” Shujun immediately took my side, saying, “Dàgē allowed it. Since the twenty-first is tomorrow already, everyone listen to èrgē!”

Like I thought, Jiang Shutian held absolute power. Just one line of “Dàgē allowed it” was enough to make it the word of law.

Everyone agreed to it without any other questions or comments. Judging from their expressions, perhaps even Jiang Shujun didn’t believe me, but they were more than willing to accommodate the wishes of a grievously injured young man who had just woken up from a coma.

This family is truly worth putting in extra effort to protect, it’s just that…

After the meal, I walked around to check the surroundings and asked Shujun a bunch of questions. This house was much better than I had imagined; it turned out that we were in the suburbs of the capital, where every house was standalone. Each house even had its own courtyard and walls.

All the windows in this house were sealed off with iron bars, probably as an anti-theft measure, and there were two sets of doors making up the front entrance of the house. The inner doors were even made of pure stainless-steel.

This set-up is just incredible!

We even had a fair bit of supplies on hand, so if Jiang Shutian could just make it back, then we’d be ready for anything the world could throw at us.

Thinking of that imposing Dàgē, I couldn’t resist calling to ask where he was right now, but the call didn’t connect. Is he still on the plane? I really hoped he wasn’t just deceiving me, and thus refused to answer the phone.

“Gē.”

I turned to see Shujun standing on veranda looking at me, her face a little pale.

“What’s the matter?”

My heart sank when she pointed outside of the veranda. Although I knew that all of this would be coming when I had seen the red meteor shower, I had always carried a thread of hope, thinking that what came next might be different… but hope always ends in disappointment.

Shujun pushed me out to the veranda. When I looked into the distance, I saw a layer of faint, black fog clouding the horizon. Normally, no one would be bothered by this. After all, there wasn’t anything strange about such changes in this heavily polluted world. Half the time, the cause would probably be man-made. Even sea water could turn mustard yellow.

But after I had described the impending disaster of the twenty-first, Shujun had become much more sensitive to the possibility, so she was unable to remain calm in the face of this black fog.

I never imagined that the black fog would start spreading so soon. Is it because we are in a different area? I remembered that back then it wasn’t until six or seven in the evening that I started noticing something was wrong.

Thinking back, it was probably because I had been working until six or seven before I finally stepped out of the office building, which was why I had discovered the strangeness so late. It seems the fog had started spreading much earlier.

I started getting a bit worried about the flight. It was only 3pm in the afternoon, but I couldn’t get through to Jiang Shutian’s cell phone.

“Junjun, give Dàgē a call every half an hour.”

Hearing that, Shujun paled even more and nodded vigorously. She even ran to make a call immediately, but there was still no answer.

“What’s this?” Auntie came onto the veranda holding a bowl of chicken soup. She looked a little puzzled by the distant black fog, but she didn’t seem too bothered as she remarked, “The air pollution has been really bad recently. Come now, Xiao Yu, have a little more broth.”

Although I wasn’t hungry at all, I still obediently drank it all. I needed to regain however much strength I could.

At six in the evening, we still couldn’t contact Jiang Shutian. At this point, the black fog was so dense even Uncle and Auntie felt that something was off. They even dialed the emergency number, 110, to ask about what was going on, but they couldn’t get through. The lines were all busy.

“Xiao Yu, what’s happening?”

During dinner, Uncle finally blurted out the question.

I calmly said, “Listen, everyone sleeps in a separate room tonight. Lock your door and block it. Tomorrow morning, if someone hasn’t left their room, the people outside need to first shout and get an answer before opening the door. If no one responds, do NOT open the door!”

Uncle obviously found this all to be very strange and asked in a tone of incomprehension, “Why is it that we shouldn’t open the door if we don’t get a response? What’s wrong with the person inside?”

Uncle looked at me, alarmed, and even the others were focused on my words now.

“Whatever is inside might not be human anymore,” I replied lightly.

Everyone’s expressions took a 180 degree turn. Uncle opened his mouth to ask another question, but I cut in before he could even get a word in, begging them, “Look, just listen to what I say, okay? It’s just for one day, and if nothing happens tomorrow, I’ll make sure to apologize to everyone. But for now, just listen to what I say?”

Uncle started, but in the end he just nodded without saying anything more.

“After the twenty-first, lock all the windows and doors, don’t go out, absolutely do not let anyone in. Don’t switch on the lights at night, don’t make any loud noises, and best not let anyone know that there are people in this house.”

But what next? Looking at this family, I didn’t know what more to do. There were only two men here, but while Uncle still looked to be in his prime, Lin-bó looked like he was pushing close to his sixties. How much combat power could they have?

“Anyway, just don’t go out,” I concluded helplessly.

Uncle chuckled wryly, “We can’t spend our entire life locked up here, though?”

“The rest can wait until Dàgē is back.”

The moment “Dàgē” was mentioned, everyone nodded in agreement. Are they just that gullible or does everyone think that, even if the plane dropped from the sky, Jiang Shutian could still sprout a pair of wings and fly back?

I was exasperated, but I could see where they were coming from. It hadn’t even been three days since I woke up, and while I’d only seen Jiang Shutian on the first day, to say nothing about my still-blurry vision then, his air of authority had already made a deep impression on me. So for these people who had been living with Jiang Shutian for at least a dozen or so years, they must be bursting with their confidence in him!

Seeing these people with identical looks of “let’s wait for Dàgē to get back,” I grew increasingly worried. Jiang Shutian might not be able to make it back! I could only continue passing on what knowledge I had.

“If you see anyone who looks odd and aggressive, immediately strike at their head. You have to be sure that you beat the head to a pulp. Don’t just go lightly tapping at it.”

Everyone stared at me with sheet-white faces. They probably could guess what was going on. After all, this had been in so many movies before. Now that I thought about it, they were almost prophetic, but when reality struck, it was much more brutal and terrifying than fiction. It was hard to say which was the made-up story anymore—movies or reality.

After we finished the meal, Junjun, Uncle, Auntie, and I sat in the living room to chat. I learned a fair bit about Jiang Shuyu. It turned out that he was a miniature version of Jiang Shutian—the head honcho in the family was Jiang Shutian, but the second most influential person actually wasn’t Uncle, but Jiang Shuyu!

Uncle explained with some embarrassment that he and Auntie were always out on archaeological studies for most of the year and were rarely at home, so they had no way of managing the household. However, Auntie’s and Junjun’s expressions completely betrayed him. This Uncle was a good-for-nothing, carefree guy whose brains were only stuffed with archaeology. He even needed to be taken care of! In the past, his older brother had taken care of him, and when his older brother passed away, his nephew ended up continuing to take care of him.

Hearing that, I became even more troubled.

We ended up chatting the whole time, and because my condition was very poor, I soon grew so exhausted that I could barely keep my eyes open. Although I knew I should preserve my strength, I couldn’t tear myself away from the conversation and just wanted it to keep going.

It wasn’t until it was past ten pm when I really couldn’t take it anymore that I chased everyone back to their rooms. I made sure that each person had a box of drinks, food, first aid kit and the like, just in case.

I didn’t move away from each person’s door until after I heard them lock the doors and move things to block the doorway.

When it was Shujun’s turn, she bit her lip and refused to lock the door, asking, “Gē, can’t I sleep with you? You’re not doing well and need someone to take care of you!”

“No,” I said jokingly. “If you were to bully me, I won’t be able to win with my body like this.”

Hearing that, Shujun’s face paled but she managed to muster a smile and nodded. “That’s true. Then I’m locking the door!”

Finally, there were just Lin-bó and me left. Lin-bó helped me move a study desk to the door, leaving just enough space for him to slip out of the door.

For some reason, Lin-bó hesitated just before he left, turning his head to look back at me.

“Young Master, my son and daughter-in-law are in the city. If something happens, can we bring them over?”

I frowned. Honestly, I wasn’t comfortable with doing that. If Jiang Shutian were here, there wouldn’t be any problem in taking in those two, but currently, aside from Lin-bó, the only other guy was Uncle. If Lin-bó’s son and daughter-in-law came, then they could very well take over this place like cuckoos hijacking a nest.

“Let’s wait until tomorrow. Maybe my dream won’t come true.”

I sent Lin-bó away by delaying my decision, even though I knew all too well that if they didn’t come over tonight, then they never would.

Lin-bó nodded as he left, not wanting to press the point. Perhaps it was because he still didn’t fully believe in my story, which was only natural. After all, life had been fine until now. Most people would not be able to accept being suddenly thrust into a situation like what happens in movies.

Next was a grueling battle—even though the desk was right by the door, with only enough space to open the door a crack, I was on a wheelchair. It was no easy task to push this heavy desk flush against the closed door.

Finally, after becoming drenched in sweat from head-to-toe was I finished dealing with the bedroom door. After a short break, I took a dozen odd belts from the wardrobe. This was really more than enough. In my previous life, I’d really never used something like belts more than a few times.

After a final surge of effort to climb onto the bed, I was panting so badly that my chest felt like it was going to explode. I had to rest for a long while before I had the energy to continue moving. Then, I bound both my legs securely to the railing of the hospital bed using the belts. After some thought, I also tied my left hand, though there was nothing I could do about my right.

I quietly lay on the bed, unsure of when the moment of the final judgment would arrive. I waited but got bored. I grew sleepy but didn’t want to go to sleep just like that. So I turned my head left and right, trying to find something interesting to distract me.

The moment I looked to my left, I was instantly captivated. There were a few photo frames there, with photos of Jiang Shuyu, Jiang Shujun, the imposing Dàgē, Jiang Shutian, Uncle, Auntie, and an unknown couple. I didn’t even need to guess to know that they were the biological parents of this body.

If the entire family were here, then perhaps there really would be some meaning in living. Even if I wasn’t Jiang Shuyu, if I stayed around long enough, then I’d become Jiang Shuyu, wouldn’t I?

Such a pity…

The person least likely to make it past the twenty-first would be me. The moment the judgment descended, weak people had the hardest time surviving. Right now, I didn’t even have the strength to stand, so how would it be possible for me to survive?

I’d originally thought that the Heavens had mercifully given me a second chance in life, letting me live a new life in this peaceful, albeit mundane, world. It wouldn’t matter even if it were a boring life.

But then I discovered that the Heavens were going to cruelly make me experience this once again…

The apocalypse.

Originally, my plan was that Jiang Shutian would be able to make it home in time, then I would resolutely kill myself before midnight of the twenty first and save myself from this torture. Yet, he couldn’t make it back in time, or perhaps his promise to me back then was a lie, and he simply hadn’t planned on coming back. However, it was just as likely that the plane had crashed, and I had doomed him to his death.

I strongly felt that it was the last. I had some kind of feeling that if Jiang Shutian had made a promise, then he would come back. He would never blow off his younger brother, so he was probably dead because of me?

So, to repay my debt to him as well as to Shujun, who had been taking care of me for the past few days, I had to try my best to survive no matter what. If I could survive, I might be able to protect Shujun using my past experience, and pray that Jiang Shutian was still alive.

It was about time. I looked to the floor-length window and, as expected, the black fog had started creeping in. Even if you sealed the doors and windows beforehand, it was pointless. Nothing could stop this black fog. This was the same no matter where you went.

I glanced at the clock. It read 12:01. Guess it’s the twenty first already.

Lying on the bed, I quietly waited. The black fog first spread across the entire floor, then slowly climbed up until it was level with the top of the bed, and then it started surging across the surface of the bed.

I watched with my eyes wide open. Even after ten times of experiencing this, there was simply no way I could ever get used to it. The first jab of pain came from the soles of my feet, like they were being burned, but I didn’t yank my feet back and just let them roast.

Next, the black fog bit into my pinkie, hurting the entire finger like it was being chewed on, but this wasn’t the end to the agony. Different types of pain started assaulting all four limbs—I was cut, burned, frozen, crushed…

Pain!

There is only pain!

I practically tasted every single possible pain in the world, and there was nothing I could do except hurt. My mouth fell open. I moaned, tears pouring uncontrollably from my eyes.

The agony made me unable to breathe even though I had strained open my mouth and jaw to their widest, and my chest felt like I was suffocating…

I won’t make it, can’t make it… I…

Will turn into an aberrant.

Gē…

Xiao Yu, Xiao Yu!

èrgē… Answer me, Gē… Sob… èrgē…

“èrgē!”

My eyes sprang open and I gasped, my chest expanding and contracting so violently I felt like I was nearly about to burst. For a fair bit of time, I could only pant forcefully, listening to the wailing outside the door.

“Junjun…”

I tried shouting but could only make a whisper so soft that even I myself could barely hear it. My body was weak to the point where I couldn’t move, and the sheets under me were completely soaked with sweat. I had to be dehydrated, and if I didn’t quickly replenish the water, I would really die!

“Jun…”

This time, I couldn’t even manage two syllables. Shit, I didn’t die during the moment of judgment but instead will die from dehydration. Even I myself found the entire thing deplorable.

“Gē, Gē! I don’t care anymore, I’m going to open the door now. I’m opening it!”

“All right, let’s do it!” Uncle actually went along with her nonsense, completely forgetting what I had told them. Didn’t I tell you not to open the door without a response?

From the door came the sound of the lock being opened, and next came the sound of crashing against the door. Once, twice, and with a big “bang” on the third, the desk holding the door shut was knocked awry, and the three of them rushed in, looking at me with panic.

I looked back, so dehydrated that I couldn’t even squeeze out tears, and mouthed silently, “Water…”

Auntie rushed forward and held a bowl to my lips. It was chicken soup again.

I drank three whole big bowls of chicken soup, to the point where I was almost sick from it, before I could finally manage to ask for a glass of clear water to rinse my mouth. The oiliness clinging to my mouth was unbearable, but after drinking the chicken soup, my body felt much better. Ten minutes ago, I’d felt like I was going to die, but now I was pretty sure I could survive.

“What about Lin-bó and the nurse?” I could only count three people. I already had a bad feeling about it.

The three of them looked at each other, before finally, Uncle spoke for them. “The nurse was collapsed in the kitchen. We called her but she didn’t respond, so I guess she might be dead. We didn’t dare to touch her. Don’t know about Lin-bó, we haven’t been to his room yet. We went to the kitchen to get the soup before coming straight to you.”

Hearing that the nurse had collapsed in the kitchen, my expression darkened. Why the hell was she in the kitchen? She must have ignored my instructions to stay in the room and ran off to the kitchen in the middle of the night, and there she encountered the moment of judgment.

“Why’d you tie up yourself like this?” Uncle scolded me as he undid the belt around my hand, “Look, your whole wrist is chafed.”

Because I was worried that you people wouldn’t listen to me and would rush in even without getting a response. Why else would I go to such pains to tie myself up?

In the end, you guys really did rush in. I had to admire my own powers of prediction, but there wasn’t much point in complaining about this. If they hadn’t come in, I might really have died in here.

I slowly sat up, and although everyone looked like they wanted to ask me to lie back down, this really wasn’t the time to be resting. There were a million things we had to deal with, as soon as possible.

“Uncle, move some stuff to block the kitchen entrance. No matter what, don’t touch the nurse, and try not to make any sounds. If she moves, come back immediately!”

Uncle nodded and instantly moved off to do as told without even a question or comment. It seemed like this body of mine really was the second-in-command in this family. Even Uncle, who was my senior in years, leaped to obey without question.

“Then I’ll find Lin-bó,” Shujun said immediately.

“Don’t bother,” I replied tiredly, “You guys were shouting so loudly, and you even bashed through the door, yet he still hasn’t come out. You won’t get a response. You’re better off getting one of those baseball bats there.”

I spoke as I pointed to the three baseball bats by the door, which we had bought from the department store.

I had guessed that even if they hadn’t gotten any response, Shujun and the other two simply couldn’t let their èrgē be and would definitely barge into the room. I also had no way of guaranteeing that the belts could stop “me,” so I had left some weapons there for them to defend themselves in case of emergencies.

“Xiao Yu.” Auntie picked up the baseball bat as told, but seeing how uncomfortable she was handling it, I was suspicious whether she would even be able to use it.

“What’s going on? That black fog yesterday…”

Here, she shivered, and even Shujun paled.

“Will that fog come again?” Shujun asked in a shaking voice, “You’re not telling me that even tonight—“

“No, it won’t come tonight,” I hastily interjected.

Just once a year. I didn’t say it out loud. After all, I didn’t even know if we could survive for one year. There wasn’t any need to tell them beforehand to make them feel worse.

Shujun and Auntie heaved huge sighs of relief. I was extremely sympathetic. That pain was really worse than death, and many people in the past had chosen to commit suicide after learning that they had to experience that pain once a year.

Suddenly, the sound of intense fighting broke out in the distance and a man yelled. It sounds like Uncle…

My heart sank. So something happened after all? But we had to send Uncle out. If the nurse came over, then that may spell the end for all of us.

“Darling!” Auntie immediately ran out. Shujun stood there for a moment, stunned, then hurried after her.

I couldn’t stop them and could only yell, “Hit the head! You have to destroy the head! Junjun, don’t be nice, don’t be afraid! You have to protect Uncle and Auntie.”

Auntie had dashed off far into the distance, but Shujun stopped, her pretty face startling pale, but she still nodded at me and closed the door. If this door was locked, then it would be impossible to open it from the outside without a key. The little missy could still think about protecting me at a time like this…

I have to do my best as well!

Before the moment of judgment, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to stand without a few more days of rest. But after the moment of judgment, it was hard to say.

I strained to twist my waist, straightened my spine, sat on the bed, set my feet against the floor, and first tried to move my toes. After I was sure I could move, I took a deep breath and stood right up, but I immediately groaned and almost sat back down on the bed. Thankfully, I managed to remain standing upright by just the tiniest of margins.

Taking slow, deliberate steps, I shuffled to the door where I picked up the third baseball bat and pulled open the door. Just as I was able to move over to help, I saw Auntie and Shujun coming over, with Uncle supported between the two of them. Not far behind them, that nurse headed our way in a strange, contorted way. Fortunately, she wasn’t moving too fast as her limbs didn’t seem very coordinated.

Half of Uncle’s body was stained blood-red all over. I couldn’t tell where his injuries were. He shouted at the two women, “Go! Darling, Junjun, run! I’ve already been bitten, there’s no helping me! Go!”

The two women’s faces were pale, but they refused to let go. In turn, Uncle started struggling, wanting to push them away.

“Bring him over!” I yelled, “Uncle, you’re fine, trust me!”

Hearing that, Uncle stilled and stopped struggling. The three of them made a concerted effort to run away, but it seemed Uncle had injured his right leg and could only drag that leg forward, so progress couldn’t be anything but slow.

I approached them, my faltering pace not much better than Uncle’s with the injured leg.

Seeing my current state, Uncle shouted urgently, “Xiao Yu, go back to your room!”

I ignored him, looking instead at Shujun, and said, “Junjujn, don’t look back. Keep going.”

By this time, the nurse was only a few steps behind them. Junjun nodded, obediently keeping her head forward, and focused on hauling Uncle forward.

I moved in front of the three of them, who remained oblivious to the fact that the nurse was currently lunging in mid-air at them, her ten fingers double their original length, their joints swollen like small balls. Her mouth was wide open to the point where the edges of her mouth had ripped open, every one of her teeth sharp and pointed and even dripping fresh blood.

I leaned to one side to let them past, then swung outward with the baseball bat as hard as I could. The bat connected with the nurse’s skull, knocking her from mid-air straight to the ground.

I looked down coldly at the nurse. She was clinging to her head, keening, but I brought down the bat again in one sweep, thinking to burst her brains, but her skull was harder than I expected, or perhaps I was simply too weak, and the bat could only make a small dent in her head.

“èrgē, come back, there’s another one!” Shujun screamed.

What? I lifted my head. There really was another figure there. This fellow’s movements were even slower, so he was still at the other end of the corridor, plodding his way forward one step at a time. But although he was moving so slowly, I felt he was even scarier than the nurse. What the hell is with that mountain of muscle?

Even though his face was swollen with muscles, I could tell that he wasn’t Lin-bó. Where did he come from? Has the front door been opened already?

With no time to care about busting open the nurse’s head, I immediately turned to leave, but something gripped my ankle, and before I could react, I fell to the ground. The damned nurse is actually holding onto my ankle! I kicked at her wildly, and even used the bat to pummel her face to prevent her from biting my leg.

I really was too weak. I couldn’t get rid of her no matter how much I kicked. Although the bat had broken a number of her teeth, this damage wasn’t enough to make her let go.

The muscle man was drawing closer. He was only wearing a pair of pants, with the lower half ripped apart by bulging muscles, transforming them into something closer to boxers. Every muscle on his torso was larger than a basketball, to the point where he was close to losing even the basic form of a human. The ground shook with every step that he took.

He was very slow. If we really wanted to run away, it wouldn’t be a problem. But if we didn’t want to give up this house, then he would be even harder to deal with than the nurse!

“Ah—!”

Pain suddenly seized my ankle. The stupid bitch actually tried to crush my ankle! I frantically hit her wrist with the baseball bat, again and again, and she kept giving hair-raising shrieks as her hand became deformed, but still she refused to let go. A throbbing pain started from my ankle.

“Hyah!”

A baseball bat slammed down repeatedly against the nurse’s skull. I started. Within a few blows, even a pinkish white material started flying out, each blow much more powerful than mine by far.

“Let go! Let go! Let go of my brother—”

Shujun hammered at the nurse’s skull like a frenzied woman, crying all the while as tears and snot streamed from her eyes and nose. There wasn’t a trace of the pretty girl left.

As for the nurse, she was beaten to a pulp and not far from death’s door. Finally, I was able to kick away her hand and crawl to my feet, all the while bearing with the pain in my ankle. Then, I grabbed the crazed Shujun and rushed into the room.

“Quick, block the door!”

I pushed the study desk against the door again, but this wasn’t enough. Cupboards, sofas, the bed—everyone acted like they’d lost their minds as they frantically crammed everything moveable in the room against the door, but I really wasn’t sure this would be enough. Judging from that muscle man’s appearance, he was obviously the power-type aberrant. Would these things really be enough?

What should we do if they aren’t?