"Wah-wah"
Just when the darkness was about to devour the boy, an unknown voice shattered the silence of the darkness.
The darkness ceased its encroachment, emitting a cracking sound.
Then,
all the darkness shattered like glass.
...
Shao Zifeng opened his eyes.
Perhaps the incandescent light on the ceiling was a bit dazzling; he raised his hand to shield his eyes.
Crystal clear drops of water slid down his cheeks.
After a moment of silence, Shao Zifeng turned his head, lying on the floor, and looked at the armadillo lizard: "Was it you just now?"
The little creature seemed a bit shy, curling into a ball again, with only a pair of black eyes peering quietly at Shao Zifeng.
⁄(⁄⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄⁄)⁄
Shao Zifeng smirked; he had no idea what the South African armadillo lizard wanted to express.
After lying on the floor for a while, he decided to get up and feed the armadillo lizard something.
"Ding"~
At this moment, the phone that had fallen to the side rang.
Shao Zifeng picked up the phone and sat cross-legged on the ground.
Glancing at the caller ID, he hesitated for a moment before deciding to pick up.
"Junior, hope I didn't disturb your rest."
Shao Zifeng tilted his head, holding the phone between his shoulder and ear, while using tweezers to pick up mealworms to tease the little creature: "Feeding the snake, is there something urgent you're calling about, senior?"
"Hey, hold on, don't feed it yet!!!" As soon as Shao Zifeng finished speaking, the other person's voice raised a decibel, startling him.
"Haha, you see, I forgot to explain something to you in a rush today. It's still about identifying mutant creatures," Wang Hao awkwardly laughed, explaining.
"It's like this, because uncovenanted mutant creatures generally do not follow commands, and it's hard for us to directly see the skills they possess. Therefore, in most cases, the Identification Bureau uses practical identification."
"To stimulate the aggressiveness of the mutant creatures, it's best not to feed them before identification."
After hearing Wang Hao's words, Shao Zifeng pondered for a moment. It seemed that the identification methods in this space-time were rougher than he had imagined, but that might not be bad.
"Junior, are you still there? Please remember this!" Wang Hao said loudly again after not hearing a response for a while.
"Got it..."
After finishing the main topic, Wang Hao tried to chat to build a rapport, but Shao Zifeng quickly ended the call after a few casual responses.
Unexpectedly, this guy, despite his thick eyebrows and large eyes, had a bit of a chatterbox trait.
After feeding the little creature, Shao Zifeng put it back in the aquarium and scratched its scales with his fingers. This made the little one so angry that it kept pawing at his big hand with its little claws.
Finally, the little guy couldn't bear it anymore. It rolled a few times to the side and hid in the corner, angrily staring at him.
After finishing all this, Shao Zifeng dragged his exhausted body to the bed.
Listening to the occasional honking outside the window, he slowly drifted into sleep.
The next morning.
Shao Zifeng was brushing his teeth while swiping through the news on his phone.
"Good news! The Abnormal Administration Bureau takes swift action, exterminates all the rat plague in Jiang City."
In the photo under the headline, there was a man whose face had been blurred. Next to him sat a canine creature.
Its furry ears hung down the sides of its head; the distance between the ears was small, the head was narrow and long, and its nose and eyes were fiery red. It had a slender neck and a bow-shaped body, with short black fur that seemed to have faint dark red patterns. Although not very strong, it had a sense of slender beauty.
Staring at the photo for a while, several blue dots remained motionless.
Useless Golden Finger!
Couldn't even identify a picture.
Gurgle-gurgle~
Shao Zifeng rinsed his mouth, spitting out the toothpaste foam.
After putting down his toothbrush, he checked the time on his phone and swiped away the newly popped-up news.
"Local news: A series of outdoor murders have occurred in the city recently. Residents are advised to avoid going out at night."
...
Shao Zifeng held a pet box, looking perplexedly at the round spot viper inside.
He originally thought he'd have to go through a thrilling struggle to get it into the pet box, but surprisingly, it didn't resist at all. Looking at the round spot viper, which seemed like a lifeless snake, he found the mysterious water stain next to it a bit suspicious.
Glancing at its attributes, its status was shown as listless.
This guy, compared to that little sprite in another space-time that couldn't be touched or stroked, might just be a useless snake?
Just as Shao Zifeng was lost in thought, something wriggled in his shirt pocket, and two little claws gripped the edge of the pocket. Then, a small brownish-yellow head cautiously peeked out.
Hmm.
Strictly speaking, only half a head because everything below the eyes was still blocked by the pocket.
The armadillo lizard stared blankly at everything before it; it was all scenery it had never seen before.
A car sped past, startling the little guy, who quickly ducked back into the pocket.
Moments later, it poked its head out again, tentatively.
The recent experience made it feel very happy.
≧ω≦ "Happy"
Sneaking glances at the round spot viper now and then, Shao Zifeng suddenly felt a surge of happiness for no apparent reason.
?
He was a bit confused, how could walking make him happy?
Hiss.
Could it be that he had some sort of 'borderline personality disorder'?
But thinking carefully, he realized something was off. 'Borderline personality disorder' was known for irritability and impulsiveness, not for bouts of happiness.
This surge of happiness came quickly and left quickly as well.
After pondering for a long time, he concluded that maybe it was because he would no longer have to see the weak snake soon?
.....
Su City's Identification Bureau.
When Shao Zifeng arrived, Wang Hao was anxiously looking around.
Seeing him, Wang Hao was delighted and immediately went up to greet him.
"Junior, you're finally here." Before Shao Zifeng could say anything, Wang Hao's attention was already captivated by the pet box: "This is the round spot viper, right? Wow, such a delicate thing, it suits my taste."
Wang Hao bent over, almost pressing his face against the pet box.
The round spot viper turned slightly when it heard the noise, and upon seeing the bipedal creature disturbing its reverie, its scales instantly bristled. How could this bipedal creature be so ugly!
"Senior, let's handle the official business first; I still have classes in the afternoon." Shao Zifeng lightly coughed, not used to others being so close.
"Look at me, I got too excited, haha. Junior, this way please." Though he said that, his eyes seemed glued to the box; he couldn't take them off for a moment.
...
Inside Su City's Identification Bureau, several staff members were sitting in the hall, chatting idly out of boredom.
It wasn't that they were slacking off; it was just that this Identification Bureau was too idle.
The number of Combat Training Master registrations couldn't keep up with other units, and there were few famous Combat Training Masters. Every day, they just waited around, hoping for someone to visit, even if just for a tour.
Performance targets weren't met, so no bonuses either; it felt like early retirement.
But it couldn't be helped.
Su City was just a remote inland city, which had developed in early years due to a nearby coal mine discovery.
For economic purposes, trees were cut down extensively, damaging the environment, leading to the extinction of most wild animals around Su City.
Now, with coal resources depleted, the city had no development prospects. Local Combat Training Masters could only choose common mutant creatures as their first pets, which generally had poor aptitude.
In recent years, as society stabilized and people had more disposable income, parents whose children aspired to become Combat Training Masters would take them to nature reserves to select their first pet, registering directly there once the selection was complete.
This led to the fact that most city residents had almost forgotten there was an Identification Bureau in some part of the city.
...
Shao Zifeng and Wang Hao had just walked into the Identification Bureau when the eyes of a few white-coated staff members lit up instantly.
They eagerly crowded around, with someone enthusiastically taking the pet box from Shao Zifeng's hands.
Feeling a bit dizzy from being pushed around, Shao Zifeng found himself sitting on a sofa, looking at the coffee, fruits, and a small plate of what were obviously someone's private snacks in front of him.
Raising his head to see the sincere joy on the staff members' faces, Shao Zifeng couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
Was the service attitude in this space-time so thorough?
This was completely different from his impression of overworked employees now!