The mascot of the wishing shop is a cat.

Chapter 36: A Corner Revealed

It's already four in the morning, and the purplish-red moon has taken up a third of the sky. If someone looks up, they can even stand on the ground and see the large and small craters on the moon with the naked eye.

"Ah! Why is the moon red tonight? Did I drink too much again?"

A man who was already quite drunk had just come out of the store and subconsciously looked up. He saw the oppressive moon and scratched his head, saying with some confusion.

"You must have been drunk. Last time you saw someone having a barbecue on the moon. You dragged me there excitedly, only to find it was just a barbecue stall and its lights across the street."

The person behind him saw that he was standing still, nudged him, and then complained.

"Holy crap, I'm not drunk, look! The moon is so close to us, and it's really red! Look!! (?`?′?)?"

The person in front was pushed by the person behind, stumbled, and sobered up completely, finally able to see the moon clearly now.

"Huh? Let me see... Holy crap! What's going on?! Is this the end of the world?"

The person behind him also came out. When he looked up, he found that, just as the person before him had said, the moon was big and red. He was so frightened that he shouted loudly.

Wow! It's so big!

Another person who came out after him also sighed.

"Yes, it's red light. I've never seen it before."

"Is it possible to create colored light? Like at a disco?"

"Come on, if you want to go clubbing, turn around and go back. We just came out, haven't you had enough yet?"

"If this were the end of the world, I'd take all my money and go have a blast! I've had my eye on Xiaoli for ages, but she's just too expensive o(╥﹏╥)o"

"What about my daughter? I'd better go home first!"

"I'm still a single magician! I'm not going to die a virgin, am I?!"

"Ah! I want to go back to my crush, I want to die with him!"

"Is this going to be another big battle between superpowered individuals? I remember there was one more than ten years ago, and I think half a city was destroyed that time!"

"..."

Since it was already past midnight, the men and women who had been in the store for almost the entire night gradually came out.

After the first person noticed something was wrong with the moon and shouted out, the others who came out also subconsciously looked up at the sky.

After everyone saw this strange moon, they all started discussing it. Some stood by and watched indifferently, some wanted to have one last good time before they died, and others wanted to go home and be with their families. In short, when crisis strikes, you really see all sorts of human nature.

Of course, these people who frequent the red-light district don't really care about the dangers. After all, for them, what if they die tomorrow? They just want to have fun first.

Anyway, this red-light district is a place where people from all walks of life can find entertainment.

From drinks—from cheap, low-quality beer to attractive male and female escorts promoting various beverages—there's something for everyone.

From small games like poker and slot machines to all sorts of high-end gambling methods, everything is available.

It can be said that, apart from not using marijuana, there are all sorts of entertainment options here, satisfying the entertainment needs of different social classes. Many people indulge in a life of pleasure and forget about reality, becoming addicted to it.

"Hey! Look, isn't there something on the moon?!"

The people who were leisurely discussing the moon suddenly heard someone shouting.

Everyone instinctively looked up at the sky.

Suddenly, a small black dot appeared on the large moon, and then grew at a speed visible to the naked eye. By the time people saw it, it was already the size of a basketball.

The black dots were very noticeable in the area that had been completely stained reddish-purple by the light, and people could see them wriggling and growing, like a large lump of slime.

"Ah, is that a new alien race?"

"Yes, I've memorized the official alien manual, and it doesn't mention anything about people living on the moon."

"Should we run?"

"Can you run away?"

"Let's run first and see who can do the best!"

"Huh? Why are you running so fast? Didn't you say everything was fine before?"

"Ah! Wait for me! I'm running too!"

As they spoke, everyone scattered and fled. In less than ten minutes, the entire street was empty, with only plastic bags spinning in the air, blown by the wind.

……

Inside the "Encounter" store—yes, the store Lin Xiyue went into before was called Encounter. A very artsy name, it doesn't seem to fit at all with the red light. —While Lin Xiyue was chatting with Louis, a child suddenly walked in.

"Brother Lu, something's happened outside."

The child nervously reported to Louis as soon as he entered.

"What happened?"

Louis frowned slightly, after all, he was discussing serious matters with Lin Xiyue.

"The guests discovered the moon outside, and everyone was terrified."

The child seemed a little panicked and frightened.

"Huh? It's just a color change? Didn't you see that before? Or is there some new change?"

Louis frowned. The shop assistants should already know that the moon had changed color and gotten bigger.

"No, no. The guests didn't react much when they saw the color change after they went outside, but later they discovered something strange on the moon. That thing kept getting bigger!"

The more the child spoke, the more terrified and louder his voice became, probably trying to use volume to suppress his fear.

"what?!"

Louis jumped to his feet.

"Something's wrong, let's go check it out. Lingye! Something's changed, quick!"

Lin Xiyue sensed something was wrong upon hearing this and hurriedly rushed out of the private room's barrier, shouting loudly at Ling Ye, who was still outside gathering information.

"it is good."

Hearing Lin Xiyue's shout, Ling Ye also sensed the urgency of the situation and, like Lin Xiyue and Louis, quickly walked towards the front door.

Hearing the shout and seeing the owner walking out, the people in the shop, out of curiosity or caution, began to follow. In the end, only a few shop assistants and people who were drunk and unconscious remained in the shop.

After arriving at the door, everyone looked up at the night sky.

The night sky, which should have been dark, was now half-occupied by the moon. Its crimson light illuminated everything like a giant light bulb throughout the night.

On the moon, a conspicuous black sludge, roughly the size of half a basketball court, was churning everywhere, rolling from left to right and then back again.

What is this thing doing?

When Louis went outside, he saw this thing rolling around everywhere and exclaimed in surprise, "It smells like corn!"

"(⊙o⊙)...Are you playing around?"

Lin Xiyue looked at it for a while, then spoke uncertainly.

"This alien race is unlike anything I've ever seen before; it's very dangerous."

As expected of an enforcer, Ling Ye's first reaction was to assess the threat level of this alien race.

"So, what do we do next?"

Lin Xiyue was somewhat at a loss. To be honest, this was only the second time she had been in such close contact with a different race, and the first time was with Fugui in front of her.

"Arrange for everyone to go to the underground shelter first. I'll notify the system to open the shelter's doors right away. Those of you who are capable, please assist."

Let's determine the order of evacuation.

Ling Ye glanced at Lin Xiyue, sighed, and then spoke firmly while typing something on the terminal.

"how about you?"

Lin Xiyue looked at him with some confusion.

"Me? Ha, I'm going to do something that's worth my salary."

Ling Ye smiled, uttered those words with an ambiguous meaning, then turned and walked towards a nearby open space. He walked with a nonchalant air, giving off a thug-like vibe.

As Lin Xiyue watched Ling Ye's departing figure, she felt that there was a strange sense of tragic grandeur in his departure.

"Hey, you'll come back, right? You promised to take me home safely."

Lin Xiyue hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help but call out to Ling Ye.

Ling Ye didn't reply. Instead, with her back to everyone, she raised her hand and waved to Lin Xiyue to indicate that she had heard her, before continuing on her way.

“Let’s go, let’s help evacuate the crowd. The slums are a mess, and the entrance to the shelter might be blocked. We need to find a location.”

Louis tugged at Lin Xiyue and said to her.

"Ok."

Lin Xiyue snapped out of her daze and prepared to cooperate with Louis in doing what she could.

..............................

Meanwhile, Meros and Earl finally reached their destination.

"Meros, is this what you're looking for? ヾ(??﹏?)??"

Earl and the whole dog were shocked.

Before them lay a vast open space, surrounded by a void shimmering with starlight. In the center of the open space stood a gigantic tumor.

The tumor was entirely purplish-red, with thick blood vessels running across it like a net. The tumor was constantly contracting and expanding, as if breathing, and the blood vessels were continuously supplying something to it.

Upon closer inspection, there are tiny granulation tissues on the blood vessels, covered with countless suckers. They are even constantly wriggling, as if trying to capture something in the air, just like coral in the sea, which continuously feeds on and filters nutrients from the air.

Beneath the tumor, blood vessels spread out, covering the entire open space and even extending outwards, reaching into the void somewhere unknown.

"Sniff... Achoo... Meros, what is this thing? (⊙x⊙;) It feels like one of our kind, but not quite. It feels like a forced mix."

Earl moved closer, sniffed, sneezed, rubbed his nose, and muttered a complaint to Meros.

"Let me see."

Meros also went forward to take a look.

"This is man-made. I can feel that a portion of my power has been forcibly incorporated into it, which is why it can influence a part of the night."

Meros frowned, speaking with barely suppressed urges. He was a germaphobe, and the thought of a portion of his power being mixed into this thing made him want to vomit. It was going too far for him; it was simply unbearable.

"Hahahaha! That's like a part of you being inside this thing! Hahahahahahaha I'm going to tell Li Si this! Hahahaha ヾ(?°?°?)??"

Earl laughed so hard he tumbled through the air, his scarlet wings even dripping red liquid.

"boom--"

After a loud bang, a cloud of smoke rose from the ground near the tumor.

"(?｀?Д?′)!! Ouch! If you're going to hit me, don't hit me here! This stuff is sticky and disgusting!"

Earl's voice came from within, and as the smoke slowly dissipated, Earl was seen lying in the center of a large crater, the very hole he had created upon impact with the ground. Because he had damaged the ground, the surrounding blood vessels had also been destroyed, writhing segment by segment within the crater. Simultaneously, a purplish-red, viscous liquid was gushing out from the severed sections, rapidly filling the crater.

Earl, covered in a sticky, purplish-red liquid, lay in the middle of the pit, struggling to get up.

"Click——"

"Kacha kacha——"

Upon seeing this, Meros swiftly pulled out his terminal and fired three shots at Earl.

"Hey! Hey! Stop! This looks awful! Please, please stop taking pictures!"

Earl, inside the crater, saw Meros taking pictures and panicked. He began to struggle frantically, trying to fly up quickly to seize Meros's terminal and delete the photos.

"(⊙o⊙)...Melos! Something's wrong! Come and help me, I can't get up no matter what I do. There's something pulling me down here!"

Earl struggled for a while and found that he couldn't get up no matter what he did. He felt something pulling at his feet, so he quickly called for Meros to come and help him.

"Wait."

Meros frowned upon hearing Earl's words. After a moment's thought, he sent out a single tentacle to investigate.

The tentacles quickly fell down and sank into the purplish-red liquid.

Through empathy, Meros saw what was gripping Earl—twisted, interconnected blood vessels. They were previously severed vessels that had reconnected in the purplish-red liquid, twisting and grasping at the only thing inside that was different from them.

Now, they saw that single tentacle!

Upon realizing he had been discovered, Meros decisively extended his tentacles to grab Earl and the tentacles that had dived down to observe, then spat out several light blades toward the group of blood vessels.

"Pfft-"

"Puff puff puff——"

Several consecutive sounds of gas bursting rang out, and several segments of blood vessels floated to the surface in the liquid. At the same time, Meros pulled Earl out and retracted his tentacles.

"Huh? This thing is way too weird for us aliens. What do we call it in human terms? Hmm... Oh! I remember now, it lowers SAN value. This thing looks disgusting, and it even clung to me just now! Aa ...

Earl was still complaining, but then he remembered that he was still being pestered, so he started shaking wildly, like a dog that had just taken a bath and was shaking off water.

"Can't you use your brain?"

Meros was somewhat disappointed in his son.

"Huh? Isn't it enough that you guys just need to have that thing?"

Earl seemed somewhat dazed.

……