Shadows of the Deep Space

Su Ming watched the scene unfold, dumbfounded. What was going on? Wasn't the teacher supposed to be comforting him? How did it end up with the teacher breaking down first?

He helplessly stretched out his hand, gently patting Mr. Tang Yan's back to console him.

"Teacher, don't be sad, you have to learn to make peace with yourself!"

"Ah~"

Hearing Su Ming's words, Mr. Tang Yan cried even harder.

At that moment, Mink and the other students, hearing the crying, all quieted down. They turned their heads toward Mr. Tang Yan, looking at each other in confusion as they walked over.

"Su Ming, what's happened? What's with Mr. Tang?"

"Why is he crying so sadly?"

...

Su Ming, feeling helpless, spread his hands and could only say to everyone,

"Maybe it's his mid-life crisis, he's just a bit sensitive and fragile right now. It's okay, crying it out will help."

"Wuwu~"

Mr. Tang Yan totally broke down, beginning to sob uncontrollably.

Su Ming touched his forehead, sighing helplessly.

"Sigh~"

...

--------------------

Late at night.

Lower City District of the Thirteenth District · Inside the Yuanda Garbage Processing Plant.

Broken furniture, damaged electrical appliances, tattered plastic products, and sticky household waste piled up into mountains, stretching for kilometers.

The air was filled with the pungent stench of rot, as swarms of flies buzzed over the heaps of garbage.

At this time, two men in gray work clothes, wearing headlamps and holding metal shovels, their skin darkened from toil, were inspecting the piles of trash.

"Zhao Yuan, it's almost four in the morning. Can we take a break now?"

"Wu An, check your side, I'll go look at the other. The hole in the fence was just patched up a few days ago. Who knows if those guys have dug through again to sneak in and steal stuff."

"Ugh, it's constant trouble with these thieves. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't have to work so hard."

Wu An let out a sigh.

"There's no choice, it's all for survival. Honestly, I don't want to make things difficult for them. But they steal so excessively that we could lose our jobs. We too have families to support."

Zhao Yuan shook his head, responding with a somewhat dejected voice.

Despite being seen as trash by people from the Upper City District, to the residents of the Lower City District, this place was a vast treasure trove.

Not to mention that the broken electrical appliances could be exchanged for food, if one was lucky, one might even find expired medicine here.

"Alright."

Wu An replied reluctantly and then walked toward a corner in the distance.

Wu An quickly reached the pile of garbage near the fence. He scanned the area to make sure no one was around and turned to leave.

Just as Wu An was about to step away, suddenly, the sound of a metal can rolling down came from behind him.

"Who's there? Show yourself!"

Wu An immediately turned around, raising his shovel as he shouted.

However, the pile of garbage in front of him was eerily silent, with no response at all.

Wu An didn't think it was his imagination. These thieves were cunning. Holding his shovel at the ready, he approached, continuously calling out.

"Come out, I see you."

As Wu An inched forward, the metal can that rolled down moved slightly again, making a faint noise.

Wu An was startled and looked down at the can in front of him.

At that moment, a rat, its body covered with raised black spores and eyes a dark red, crawled out, baring its teeth at Wu An.

Hiss~

Wu An's heart lurched, and he swung his shovel down hard.

Thwack~

The rat was instantly flattened, and Wu An let out a slight sigh of relief as he slowly lifted the shovel.

But then Wu An saw that the flattened rat actually got up again, its eyes wide, showing an expression of utter disbelief.

At that moment, the deformed rat violently lunged at Wu An.

"Ah!"

Wu An frantically backed away, lifting the shovel to strike again, but unfortunately, his blow went awry this time.

The mutant rat suddenly leaped onto Wu An's right foot, he looked down in horror and violently kicked his leg in an attempt to fling it off.

But the rat clung to his foot as if glued on, impossible to shake off.

Then the deformed rat suddenly opened its mouth and bit down.

"Ah~"

Wu An let out a scream and fell to the ground.

The mutant rat's mouth oozed a cluster of black cells that bored into his body through the wound on his foot.

Not far away, Zhao Yuan, hearing Wu An's scream, immediately rushed over.

As he got closer, he saw Wu An lying on the ground at a distance and called out anxiously,

"Wu An, what happened to you?"

At this time, Wu An unsteadily got up from the ground.

Zhao Yuan instinctively felt something was amiss and immediately stopped in his tracks, looking uneasily at Wu An.

"Wu An, are you okay? Say something."

Then Wu An also slowly raised his head.

Zhao Yuan saw Wu An's face, his pupils dilated in shock, and he staggered back.

At this moment, Wu An's entire body was riddled with black protruding veins, black stripes appeared on his face, his fingernails began to elongate and sharpen, his eyes turned a dark red, and he looked like a deformed monster as he slowly walked towards Zhao Yuan.

"Don't come any closer, stay away!"

Zhao Yuan kept retreating while shouting in horror. Seeing Wu An still advancing, he steeled his heart, swung the shovel, and crashed it onto Wu An's head.

Bang~

Wu An came to an abrupt stop.

Zhao Yuan looked away from the shovel in fear, only to see Wu An's head was crooked.

But then Wu An twisted his head back into place with a snap, grabbing the shovel at the same time.

Zhao Yuan was startled, and before he could react, Wu An had already forcefully snatched the shovel and flung it at him.

Bang~

Zhao Yuan was sent flying two to three meters and smashed to the ground, the severe pain preventing him from getting up immediately.

He looked painfully at Wu An as he approached step by step, his face filled with terror and then his expression shifted into one of despair.

Behind Wu An, pairs of dark red eyes began to glow.

One after another, swarms of mutant rats rushed forth!

A strong desire to survive forced him to scramble up from the ground. But at that moment, the swarm of deformed rats overcame Wu An and pounced directly on Zhao Yuan.

Zhao Yuan hadn't even steadied himself when he was instantly knocked down by the swarm of rats.

Then bunches of black cellular material began to seep out of the rats' bodies.

"No, no..."

Zhao Yuan's last scream was heart-wrenchingly loud.

The black cellular material writhed as if alive, burrowing into Zhao Yuan through his mouth.

...

-----------------------------------

The next morning.

Mint Middle School, Classroom.

Su Ming and others were sitting in their seats early on.

The incessant sound of the school bell for class rang out.

Everyone's gaze unconsciously shifted towards the open door, yet when the bell stopped ringing, they didn't see Mr. Tang, who should have appeared.

"Mr. Tang is actually late? Did the sun rise from the west?"

"It's really strange!"

...

The classmates kept talking in the classroom.