In the desolate surroundings of Hecheng Industrial Park, Lin Mo, propped against the worn-out factory wall, struggled to open his heavy eyes.
His gaze fell upon a young girl, no older than six or seven, with disheveled hair, ragged clothes, and a wan, dirt-streaked face. She stood nearby, her worried eyes fixed on him.
"I..." Lin Mo's voice faltered, and he quickly averted his gaze, turning his attention elsewhere.
Spread throughout the dark, cavernous factory building were numerous trembling figures, huddled together in the shadows. They formed a tight circle around a small open space.
Within that space stood a large pot.
Its rim and sides were stained crimson, drenched in blood.
Occasionally, one of the cold-hearted men would cast a glance in their direction, as if eagerly awaiting Lin Mo's demise.
Lin Mo's mind swayed, his consciousness hazy. He stared at the grotesque scene before him for what felt like an eternity before slowly regaining his senses.
His memories from before were blurred and fragmented. He recalled being relentlessly pursued by monsters, and how the battle had intensified his own dire transformation.
For him, the escalating mutation was more terrifying than the relentless monsters hunting him down.
It turned him bloodthirsty and unhinged, transforming him into a monstrosity.
But now...
Lin Mo examined his hands; he had returned to his human form.
He had no recollection of how he had arrived here, nor the circumstances that led to his current predicament. He vaguely remembered colliding with the shadow that had relentlessly pursued him, consuming something... and then, as he gazed upon himself, he had reverted back to his human form. The traces of his ghastly transformation had vanished, as if the nightmare creature he had become had never existed.
And then...
He encountered the little girl beside him.
Her eyes, pale as snow.
A haunting white...
"Big brother, are you alright?" The girl's voice quivered, as she cautiously retrieved a nearly concealed piece of chocolate from her tattered garments. She unwrapped it and gently placed it in Lin Mo's mouth. "This is the last one you told me to keep. I couldn't bring myself to eat it. You must be famished. Just have it. Mom always said that chocolate is the most calorie-dense food... eating it will surely make you feel better..."
Without warning, Lin Mo's hand shot out, gripping the young girl's hand tightly. He shook his head, a silent warning, before redirecting his gaze towards the gruesome cauldron.
His lucid memories whispered to him.
Human flesh simmered within that pot.
The people gathered here were consuming their own kind.
Lin Mo had no knowledge of the factory's location, but rumors spoke of sinister specters haunting the area, trapping these individuals within its walls. Those who couldn't bear the torment had attempted to flee, only to be slaughtered by the lurking monsters. Those who remained were forced to abide by a twisted new order—starve or feast.
Initially, they resorted to devouring the deceased, victims of their own starvation. But as time wore on and hunger gnawed deeper, something sinister began to take hold...
A virus, more dreadful than any monster, more deranged than any mold, began to spread its tendrils.
Humanity was descending into savagery.
Bai Motong had been rescued by Lin Mo. As a frail young girl, she had naturally become a prime target for the ravenous beasts among them.
According to Bai Motong, her parents had also been laborers in this forsaken factory district. In their desperate bid to escape the monsters, they had sent her here, assuring her they would return after running a few errands. The girl had believed their words, perpetually fiddling with her phone watch, waiting for their long-awaited return.
But they would never come back.
Perhaps it was her innocence, or perhaps it was Lin Mo's own awakening from the brink of thirst and starvation, but the foolish girl had shared most of her meager rations with him. And on that fateful day, when she was about to be devoured by the feral brutes, he had intervened, smashing a man's leg and instilling fear in the others. He had spared her from becoming another bone in the iron pot.
But that was the extent of his mercy. In the days that followed, Lin Mo's condition had deteriorated, akin to a grave illness. At first, it had been manageable, but with each passing moment, his strength waned, as though destined to wither away.
Sensations of something growing within his body plagued him. Just yesterday, he had coughed up blood—dark, tainted crimson, entangled with mold-like remnants carried by the monsters.
The weight of powerlessness settled upon Lin Mo's frail frame, making even the simplest movements arduous. Hunger, a bottomless pit within him, gnawed incessantly. The single piece of chocolate offered by the girl was a mere drop in the vast ocean of his cravings. He needed sustenance, protein to satiate his insatiable appetite.
But deep within, Lin Mo knew that indulging this hunger would unleash his monstrous form once more. He had neither the abundance of food required nor the desire to transform into a nightmarish creature again.
He understood that if he continued on this path, death was inevitable.
He had resigned himself to its embrace.
Survival had never been his objective. This twisted existence as a monstrous being left him yearning for release... Yet, he couldn't let go of the bond he had formed with the two companions he had met at the Cloud City store, nor the foolish girl by his side.
With great effort, Lin Mo turned his head, his weary eyes falling upon Bai Motong, who struggled to present him with the last morsel of chocolate. She faltered, her feeble body giving way, collapsing to the ground with a cry. Yet, her joy returned when she realized the chocolate had not fallen. She stared at it intently, swallowing and salivating, before looking up at Lin Mo.
"Big brother, take a bite. I know you wanted to save it for me, but I'm not hungry. Honestly, I'm not. When my mom and dad find us, we'll have plenty to eat... You said you have no family, right? You can join us... we can live together..."
Such innocence... such foolishness.
How could one survive in this desolation, devoid of companionship...
The man whose leg Lin Mo had broken lay dead, reduced to a mere ingredient in the boiling pot. The ravenous beasts had gone without food for nearly a day, their eyes fixed upon this scene. Lin Mo knew that once he perished, the girl's fate would be sealed.
The factory loomed large, leaving them with nowhere to run.
No escape...
Gradually, Lin Mo's consciousness waned. He couldn't discern how much time had passed before he regained awareness. Bai Motong crouched before him, her eyes filled with concern.
Lin Mo attempted to raise his hand, to offer a comforting touch to the girl's head. But his feeble effort proved futile, his arm falling limply to his side, devoid of strength.
Just as he mustered the resolve to speak, a shadow loomed over him.
Swiftly, he turned his head, his gaze slowly ascending.
The cold man and several other "beasts" had silently encircled them, their presence unnoticed until now.
"Boy, can you still move?" sneered the cold man.
Bai Motong's face contorted, stumbling forward to shield Lin Mo. Her small frame stood as a barrier against the impending danger. "You... you..."
Realizing Lin Mo's ailing condition, they hesitated to approach him directly. They wouldn't risk killing someone already on the verge of death, for fear of contracting the unknown sickness.
The cold man reached out, seizing the little girl.
Bai Motong flailed like a captured bird, her screams muffled as her mouth was covered. Her tiny feet thrashed wildly until she was forcefully thrown to the ground, She fought valiantly for a while before abruptly ceasing.
In her eyes, there was an absence of panic or fear, not even a hint of alarm as Lin Mo's condition deteriorated further. It seemed as though she had comprehended, from the very beginning, everything that unfolded around her.
She wasn't the foolish girl that Lin Mo had assumed her to be.
Instead, she possessed a childlike innocence, an unwillingness to acknowledge the harsh reality.
Silently, she gazed at the figure lurking in the corner, neither fully human nor ghost. Her thoughts centered around her elder brother—Lin Mo, plagued by illness. Perhaps, she thought, he wouldn't be devoured by these creatures. But if she were to die...
The watch dropped in front of Lin Mo.
He stared at it...
Stared at...
Death.
Hunger.
Monstrosity.
—
In this world, who truly embodies the essence of a monster?
—
What defines a person as a monster? Should they even be labeled as such?
—
The boiling cauldron emitted steam, intensifying the heat within a confined space.
The flickering flames cast their glow upon a limited area, while the darkness beyond remained untouched by warmth or light.
Amidst the obscurity, a shadow struggled, gradually rising to its feet.
Crimson eyes, more seductive than blood, began to shimmer.
Quivering, stumbling, advancing.
The cold man, dragging Bai Motong, suddenly halted.
For an incredibly feeble hand had grasped his own.
It was the ailing man, on the brink of death.
Taken aback, the cold man swiftly recoiled and flung him aside.
The man was undeniably frail, crashing heavily upon impact.
Yet, in that instant, the fallen figure reached out and firmly clutched the cold man's trousers.
"You... you wretch..." The cold man's curse transformed into a bloodcurdling scream.
For the feeble man was no longer alone—more hands seized hold of his trousers.
A mouth, once stained with blood, clamped down, revealing the emergence of elongated fangs. It skillfully tore through flesh, rending skin and shattering bone.
Screams and howls reverberated, a chorus of terror and horror.
"Monster!"
"Monsters!"
The people wailed in sheer dread, their voices piercing the air as they fled.
And the cold man... was torn asunder, reduced to mere shreds of flesh.
In that moment, Bai Motong's pupils were consumed entirely by a deep, blood-red hue.
Yet, she merely raised her head slightly, gripping the watch tightly in her hand, silently observing... watching.
Upon the wall, illuminated by the dancing flames, the shadow of immense, dark wings unfurled gradually.
Monsters from the depths of hell began their reign, dominating all.
...
Beyond the confines of Hecheng factory, in the sky, a distant silhouette gradually materialized.
Several colossal, bloodthirsty behemoths, towering at a terrifying twenty meters in height, roared and descended upon the scene, ruthlessly carving a path of destruction towards their intended destination.
...