I Am Your Natural Enemy

Wen Yan endured the awkward discomfort and quickly arrived at the bridge, entering through the left door and picked up his phone to check the video he recorded.

Over there it seemed to be devouring itself from the outside, while the twisted and bizarre creature here seemed to be consuming itself from the inside, vanishing completely.

Wen Yan turned off the phone; just watching the video gave him an extreme sense of awkward discomfort.

Back in this world, the already capsized Dahlia had righted itself, and the water that had entered was draining out on its own.

Only a few damaged areas hadn’t been repaired yet.

Wen Yan glanced at the doors on both sides of the bridge. The doors had reverted to their original form, contrasting with the surrounding area because they looked brand new without any signs of age.

Wen Yan patted the helm.

"How did you become enemies with that guy? Allowing it to pursue you across dimensions?"

"Why isn’t it looking for you over there? Why does it have to come over here?"

The Dahlia’s whistle sounded long and loud; what it intended to express was unknown.

Wen Yan sighed, "I’ll slowly find out later."

Having inexplicably been attacked, he originally suspected the giant squid had some flaw in its abilities. After being teleported once, he recalled some past erratic thoughts.

Like, can a portal transport itself?

So he impulsively decided to try it.

Unexpectedly, that mouth capable of moving freely over the whole body could indeed swallow itself.

It seemed like it triggered something akin to a bug, making him feel uneasy all over, like he was about to vomit.

Holding the phone, he gazed into the distance and saw a fighter plane rapidly approaching, circling around him.

Then his phone rang.

"Are you okay? I couldn’t reach you just now; were you in a no-signal area?"

"Yeah, was in a signal-less zone, suddenly got attacked. It’s Dahlia’s enemies, not related to me or anyone else. It’s all fine now; the attacking beast is gone."

"What beast?"

"Huh?"

"Hold on!" On the other end, Feng Yao quickly checked a satellite image. As he saw the Dahlia capsized with a massive squid on top, he felt dumbfounded.

He could hardly remember, seeing the image made him uncomfortable, nauseated to the point of throwing up.

After a moment’s glance, he vomited loudly.

Swiftly, he closed the image and vomited twice more before feeling slightly better.

"Feng Yao? What’s happening?"

"Nothing, saw something I shouldn’t have, couldn’t help throwing up – it’s a normal physiological response."

"Huh?"

"It’s an instinctive rescue response interrupting what I was doing.

That intense physiological impulse at the moment suppresses all thoughts and reactions, forcibly breaking the influence on me – it’s a creature’s instinct.

The Scorching Sun Department records similar incidents due to seeing things that shouldn’t exist naturally.

Inside there’s an expert who once proposed a hypothesis that couldn’t be fully verified.

He said it was something that once existed, suddenly vanished entirely, like it never existed, matter suddenly ceased to be.

Existing matter usually merely transfers components from one place to another.

When matter disappears, it becomes energy.

When this energy doesn’t directly discharge, it transforms into something else.

For instance, the image of something that may have existed, confirming what once existed becomes a baffling bug.

When creatures see it again, it triggers this instinctive reaction.

Over time, this method gradually consumes that energy until the bug becomes something mundane, causing no further impact.

That’s about it; with your permissions, you should be able to see it. If you’re interested, go take a look.

Ugh...

As he spoke, Feng Yao started vomiting again.

"Are you okay?" Wen Yan listened to the retching on the phone, sensing Feng Yao was almost vomiting out his stomach.

"No...nothing..."

"If you’re okay, can you send me what you saw?"

"..."

Feng Yao hung up.

Wen Yan listened to the busy tone on the phone and chuckled silently.

Gazing at the traces left here, he vividly remembered what just happened, not forgetting. Just recalling the distorted scene of the squid’s disappearance made him feel sick.

Enough, better return first.

After returning, properly feed the Dahlia. At least it can communicate more smoothly; the current Dahlia merely has spiritual intelligence.

...

Yu State.

Ji Youli tuned his electric vehicle, carrying takeout, ready to head home.

Two young people downstairs were discussing something.

"It’s definitely true, no picture and no proof are normal, it’s usual for cameras not to capture ghosts, no matter how fake it is, it’s impossible for everyone to say the same, I surfed the wall to see – lots of ordinary people say it."

"I think so too, maybe it’s the spiritual qi resurgence."

"At my house, there’s a book my grandpa left, saying it’s Ba Duan Jin, somewhat different from online versions, I’ll go practice it."

"Oh, don’t be silly, if practicing based just on books worked, it’d have spread everywhere."

"You jerk, can’t you say something nice? If I master it and feel good, maybe I’ll teach you."

"Handsome, you’ll definitely learn it! By the way, did your grandpa leave any light-step technique?"

Ji Youli listened to the teenagers discussing animatedly, chuckled, didn’t give it much thought, and went upstairs with the takeout.

At the doorstep, he saw heavily made-up woman talking on the phone at the door across from his.

"Yeah, forgot the keys, how much to unlock? A hundred? Why don’t you go rob!"

Seeing Ji Youli, her eyes brightened, she immediately hung up the phone.

"Big brother, I remember you know how to unlock, right? How much to unlock?"

Ji Youli chuckled, saying.

"We’re neighbors..."

"Then a hundred! Better than those shady merchants, I’d rather treat brother to tea!" Without a word, she pulled a hundred yuan from her bag and forcefully stuffed it into Ji Youli’s pocket.

Ji Youli wanted to say, we’re neighbors, just helping is enough without charging.

But she cut him short.

"Can you hurry? I need to pee."

"Just wait a moment."

Ji Youli hurriedly opened the door, headed in to find tools, forgetting to let her into his home for the toilet.

Outside, she held her phone, thinking her forgetfulness made her often leave keys behind, this time giving a hundred meant should this happen again, he’d hesitate to charge again.

Ji Youli found a flexible plastic card, slid it into the door gap, pricked it slightly, and with a pull and slide, the door made a click and opened.

She watched, startled at the simplicity.

"Your landlord’s door and lock aren’t great, hence this can work. A better lock or if it’s locked from inside, no dice. Weren’t you going to the toilet?"

"Oh, oh..." She dashed towards the bathroom, hesitated at the door, then turned back to say: "Big brother, remember to charge in the future. Last time you unlocked for the lady upstairs, didn’t charge, she then spread rumors maligning you, making everyone upgrade their locks – truly good intentions met with ingratitude."

She finished and dashed into the bathroom.

Ji Youli stood there, bewildered, finally chuckled. He placed the hundred yuan on the table, turned, and left.