The sewage zone deep beneath the Monster Association's cavern was the filthiest, most repulsive corner of their vast underground domain.
Dampness, rot, and choking stench filled every inch of the twisting passageways. Only the lowest-tier monsters were stationed in such a miserable place.
Right now, two hunched figures trudged through the muck on "patrol," hooves splashing through foul water.
"Hey, Brother Ali," the Horse-faced Monster nudged the sturdy but perpetually troubled Ox-headed Monster beside him. "Did you hear? Big news!"
The Ox-headed Monster snorted. "What news, Little Six? Another unlucky guy who got eaten by those big shots upstairs?"
"Not that kind of news!" The Horse-faced Monster's hooves scratched the ground excitedly. "It's the Eradication Plan! Great Eyes' grand blueprint has officially started! I overheard some others saying the Dragon-level cadres have already rushed to the surface to start 'purifying' the human world!"
His voice trembled with excitement.
"A new world—a world belonging only to us monsters—is finally coming!"
The Ox-headed Monster's dull eyes suddenly widened, stirred from deep exhaustion rooted in a lifetime of suffering.
Before becoming monsters, he and Ma Liu had been bottom-tier corporate drones—crushed by mortgages, car loans, and manipulative bosses who drained them dry day after day.
After one catastrophic emotional collapse, horns had sprouted from Ali's head, and Ma Liu's face had twisted into that of a horse.
But even after becoming monsters… they were still the lowest of the low.
Still drones, even in this underground world.
Human society wouldn't take them back. They could only hide here like sewer rats, scraping by, dreaming of the day they could "change the sun and moon for a new sky."
"Good! It's about time! Let those so-called superior humans taste despair!"
But his brief joy evaporated instantly. Worry crept back into his expression.
"B-But… I'm still short two hundred contribution points… and Lianlian… she still hasn't become a monster. If I can't exchange points for Monster Cells, what will happen to her when the new world comes? She's still just an ordinary human…"
After he mutated, his wife had neither abandoned nor despised him. She had followed him into the Monster Association's den without hesitation.
"You're worrying again!" The Horse-faced Monster slapped his friend's shoulder with a loud thwack, acting like a hero from a cheap drama. "Your brother is here, isn't he? I've got two hundred points saved up—I'll give them to you! No big deal!"
"This— I… how could I possibly accept that?" Ali was stunned and moved. "Little Six! You're truly… you're truly my good brother! I'll remember this kindness for life!"
"Don't get all mushy! We're brothers—what's there to be polite about? But…"
The Horse-faced Monster rubbed his hooves together, grinning.
"After patrol tonight, how about sister-in-law makes some dumplings? I've been craving her chive-and-pork filling… That taste… tsk tsk…"
"She'll make them! Definitely!"
Ali puffed out two streams of white air from his nostrils and pounded his chest. "Forget dumplings—after Lianlian becomes a monster and we settle down, you can order anything you want! Mountain delicacies, seafood, whatever! I won't even blink!"
As the two walked forward arm in arm, a faint "gurgling" sound echoed from a cracked rock formation ahead.
A small lump of pink flesh—like a swollen abscess squeezed out from the earth—slowly pushed its way from the crevice.
It pulsed rhythmically. Dark red vein-like tendrils coursed across its surface, and a rotten, sweet, fishy odor seeped into the air.
"Hm? What's that?" The Ox-headed Monster instantly snapped to alertness, lifting his spear defensively.
The Horse-faced Monster shrank back, raising his lantern with trembling hands as the light quivered over the grotesque mass.
"Monster… monster remains? Or the egg of some new species?"
"Stay back. Something's wrong."
The Ox-headed Monster gestured for him to retreat, then cautiously reached out with his spear to inspect the pink mass.
Their patrol duty required them to identify anything unusual—reporting it would earn them precious contribution points.
But the moment the spear touched the surface—
The flesh split open into a gaping maw lined with three rows of jagged fangs.
"Watch out!" Little Six shouted, but it was already too late.
The grotesque mass launched upward with shocking speed, latching onto Ali's face with a wet slap.
A chilling crunch echoed through the tunnel.
The Ox-headed Monster's powerful body convulsed violently a few times… then collapsed to the ground with a dull thud.
"Br… Brother Ali?!"
The Horse-faced Monster felt his soul flee his body.
Warmth spread down his legs.
He had wet himself in terror.
"Help… h-help me!!!"
He turned and fled, hooves slipping repeatedly on the wet stone floor.
Behind him, chewing noises—wet, slick, and rhythmic—echoed closer and closer.
He didn't dare look back.
He knew that if he did, he would never make it out of this corridor alive.
After running for who knows how long, the Horse-faced Monster finally collapsed at a crossroads, gasping for breath.
His heart hammered violently in his chest—so loud it felt as if it might burst through his ribs.
He pricked up his ears, desperately listening for any sound behind him.
Silence.
Only the distant drip-drip of leaking water and his own ragged, almost bovine panting echoed through the tunnel.
That thing… didn't chase him?
Fear slowly drained from his body, replaced by exhaustion—and then, simmering beneath it all… a twisted, indescribable ecstasy.
"Heh… heh heh…" His shoulders shook. "Brother Ali… my good big brother. You… you can rest in peace!"
His chuckle deepened. Grew louder. Louder.
Until it broke into manic, unrestrained laughter.
"Hahaha! Sister-in-law… hah… don't worry! Your brother… will definitely take care of you! I'll feed you full—every… single… night!!"
Just then—
Drip…
Something cold, sticky, and viscous dropped onto his forehead with unnatural precision.
His triumphant smile froze instantly.
A suffocating sense of dread—far worse than what he felt facing that pink flesh mass—poured over him like a bucket of glacial water.
His neck creaked upward…
inch by inch…
as if someone else were forcing it from above.
And there—
Suspended in the shadows of a massive drainage pipe—
A pair of vertical pupils the size of millstones glowed with ravenous green light, staring straight at him.
The Demon-Level Monster—
*Great Esophagus Lizard.*
Its huge head, encased in pitch-dark scales, nearly blocked the entire pipe opening.
"Hissss… so hungry… I want to eat meat… so badly…"
Its jaws parted.
Rows of spiral teeth gleamed wetly, saliva dripping in ropes as its mouth slowly opened wider… and wider…
The Horse-faced Monster's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
His mind went white with despair.
"D-Damn it! Sister-in-law, I haven't even—"
Crunch!!
SPLAT—!
The enormous maw snapped shut.
The impact crushed him instantly, devouring him whole in a single bite.
The Great Esophagus Lizard let out a satisfied, blood-tinged belch.
But a mere Wolf-level snack wasn't even enough to scrape between its teeth. Its stomach remained an endless void—an abyss of eternal hunger.
Then—
Its nostrils flared sharply.
A new scent drifted from deeper within the corridor.
No—
Not just one scent.
Many.
Layers upon layers of intoxicating aromas.
Fresh flesh.
Tender flesh.
Flesh brimming with evolutionary potential.
Without hesitation, the lizard lunged forward, charging down the passage like a runaway boulder, hunger blazing hotter with every step.
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