Chapter 25: The Intern

So, when Sun Ning scrambled out of the elevator shaft on all fours, the first thing she saw was her own team leader being aggressively ruffled by a half-naked maniac.

“Stop! Let her go!!”

A surge of outrage exploded in her heart. The team leader was definitely being coerced, forced to endure the humiliation of having her head touched!

She had to prove herself now and rescue her leader!

Mu Yu paused, turning his head toward the filthy, wild-eyed creature scrambling toward him as if she meant to eat him alive.

His tone carried a hint of uncertainty.

“Is this your friend?”

In his view, this humanoid didn’t have the disgusting stench of the Shadowkin—she must be human.

But that appearance…

Crimson stared at Mu Yu’s utterly bewildered expression, her tail ramrod-straight behind her. Instinctively, she wanted to distance herself from this embarrassing spectacle.

“No, she’s not…”

“Leader! Don’t be afraid! I’m here to save you!”

She managed a classic mud-faceplant landing, clutching her waist as she struggled upright, glaring furiously at Mu Yu.

“A colleague… she’s really just a colleague…”

Crimson met Mu Yu’s gaze again, her voice trembling with embarrassment as she traced circles on the ground with her finger.

“Sun Ning, stop it. He saved me…”

“Call me Dark Crow! Captain, how can you say my real name out loud? Unless…”

A flash of cunning shone behind her grimy glasses. Sun Ning felt she’d uncovered the truth.

The captain must be hinting—the enemy was too powerful, so she had no choice but to use this tactic!

Ahahaha, she really was the one who understood the captain best!

“What on earth…”

Mu Yu felt his whole worldview shift. How could anyone declare such a ridiculously dramatic alias as “Dark Crow” with a straight face?

Maybe this alternate reality was just beyond him, an old man who’d bought a knight’s body pillow as a joke…

“Never mind, since your friend is here, you two find somewhere safe. I need to—”

“Oh no! I’ve fallen…”

Her performance was as fake as could be. Mu Yu stared, dumbfounded, as the filthy humanoid slowly collapsed into his arms.

Crimson’s fur bristled instantly, the tiger’s expression atop her head morphing into a furious glare.

“What are you doing…”

Before she could finish, Mu Yu suddenly felt a tremendous power within him being restrained, dragged inward toward his core.

Pain. Fear. Disgust. A flood of negative emotions twisted his face.

“Hahahahaha! Is that all?! Leader, this time I—”

“Sun Ning! What do you think you’re doing?!”

Her triumphant grin froze, her neck creaking as she slowly turned.

“Lea… Leader…”

Crimson’s face contorted into a ghastly smile, the tiger’s eyes atop her head glowing red.

“Release him, or you’ll spend the night in the brig!”

“Yes, yes, yes!”

Sun Ning quaked with terror.

………………………………………………

“We are so sorry!!”

Crimson pressed Sun Ning’s head down, bowing deeply. Her tail hung limp behind her.

“She’s just an idiot! Please don’t take it to heart!”

Mu Yu leaned against the cleanest section of wall, his face so pale that Crimson worried he was suppressing his anger.

With the strength this man had just displayed, killing the two of them would be effortless.

The image of him casually snapping the Shadowkin’s neck was still vivid in Crimson’s mind—an aura of invincibility that crushed any thought of resistance.

The Shadowkin had only been so frenzied because it was fleeing for its life—not because it had noticed Sun Ning.

“It’s fine… What department are you from? Abilities like that aren’t normal at all.”

Mu Yu rubbed his stomach, feeling utterly drained, unable to muster any strength.

Thinking back to his recent slaughter, his stomach churned.

It was a strange sensation—his mind had been clear, but it was as though he’d become someone else.

Bloodthirsty. Violent. Immune to pain. Even…

Mu Yu glanced at the heap of corpses, cold sweat beading on his brow.

Did he… want to stockpile food?

That surging power seemed to carry another consciousness—a purely bestial instinct.

Even with his mind in control, Mu Yu couldn’t help being influenced.

Was this a side effect…?

“We’re from the Combat Unit… Are you here to support us, sir?”

Crimson’s cautious words interrupted Mu Yu’s thoughts. Her ears drooped atop her head like a chastised kitten.

“Combat Unit?”

Mu Yu looked up at the two odd-looking humanoids.

One was filthy, with round black-rimmed glasses—completely the image of a timid schoolgirl.

The other was even more absurd—in a cat-themed onesie. Wait, had the cat head always looked like that? (Tiger: flips table)

Still, she was kind of cute…

Mu Yu coughed twice and forced his gaze away from Crimson’s childish face, suppressing the urge to ruffle her hair.

So these were members of the Combat Unit, the team as famous as the Investigation Unit? They seemed anything but professional…

“You must be trainees, right?”

Mu Yu remembered Mo Yan mentioning their ranking system—maybe these two were first or second-level interns?

Crimson and Sun Ning exchanged a confused look.

The main requirement for joining the Combat Unit was mastery over an item or an inherent ability.

Upon joining, members were automatically level eight—was he mocking their lack of skill?

With that thought, Crimson’s head drooped again, the tiger atop it growing listless.

“Sorry for the trouble.”

Mu Yu looked at the two apologetic trainees and decided not to scold them further. After all, he was technically their senior.

Well, a rather unqualified one.

“In that case, stick with me. I can protect—”

Mu Yu tried to summon the power in his abdomen but got no response.

Tch.

His face darkened.

Even if the power had side effects, in times like this, anything was better than nothing!

Why had it stopped working?

“What did you just do to me?”

Mu Yu suddenly thought of something, turning to the innocent-looking Sun Ning.

But all he saw were two terrified faces and the girls edging away.

“Senior, she knows she was wrong. She doesn’t deserve to die!”

Crimson’s fur bristled, her healing leg opening up to bleed again, her tail stiff as a rod.

“Please, don’t kill me! I’m useful! I—I can keep your bed warm!”

Sun Ning, trembling violently, blurted out the first excuse she could think of, tears nearly spilling over.

Looking back on her life, she realized she knew nothing except eating, drinking, playing, gaming, and watching anime.

Sobbing internally, she swore never to complain about her mother urging her to learn more again!

Mu Yu watched the two overreacting trainees, completely at a loss.

Suddenly, pale, almost translucent hands reached from behind, stroking Mu Yu’s cheek with icy fingertips.

Yet their beauty was undiminished—soft and delicate, frozen in time.

Mu Yu’s expression stiffened as he looked up.

A familiar face—no, to call it a face was too generous. It was merely a set of features.

“Ha, ha... Long time no see... or, um…”

Mu Yu tripped over his words, unable to form a coherent sentence.

After all, he’d just devoured the creature with his shadow—apologizing immediately after seemed insincere.

Eight pure white spider legs curled forward, locking tightly around Mu Yu’s body.

The enormous form hung weightlessly from him.

Mu Yu hesitated, then realized the gesture felt familiar.

Those slender hands slid downward, encircling his battered chest. The sharp pain seemed to vanish in an instant.

In its place came a strange sense of comfort.

Like… being swaddled?

Before Mu Yu could react, a thin body pressed against his back.

Cold. Frail. And trembling slightly, as if in fear.

Mu Yu turned his head, meeting the monstrous face resting on his shoulder, staring straight at him.

What could make a monster afraid?

This terror wasn’t of Mu Yu but of something that haunted it constantly.

Mu Yu was silent for a moment, then leaned closer to the face.

Rough, damp, like a burlap sack soaked in water—it made him instinctively recoil.

Yet he pressed forward, undeterred.

Hot breath warmed the creature’s cheek, leaving it flustered, its arms tightening reflexively.

It was a bloody, monstrous embrace.

A spear drove deep into Mu Yu’s body, sending droplets of blood spattering across the floor—human and monster pressed together.

Like lovers whispering to each other.

Or patients seeking mutual solace.

Mu Yu felt the body behind him suddenly grow still, the trembling ceasing.

The face before him—one that would haunt anyone’s nightmares—softened with a sense of peace, as if drifting into sleep.

Then it dissolved into shadow, flowing into Mu Yu’s body.

That immense power returned to Mu Yu, his wounds closing and scabbing over at a rate visible to the naked eye.

He let out a slow breath, though a strange emptiness lingered in his heart.

“So, um… do you still need someone to warm your bed?”

The silence shattered as Sun Ning timidly raised her hand like a schoolgirl.

Crimson immediately thumped her on the head.

“What nonsense are you spouting!”

Even if it was about warming a bed… Ahhhh!

Crimson’s face flushed red at the thought, smacking Sun Ning again.

Sun Ning clutched her head, teary-eyed.

“Ow, you hit me again…”