The next day, on the Xingchuan University campus.
Chen Zhang spotted that lithe silhouette emerging from the department building. His gaze instantly sharpened, and he began tailing her at a measured pace.
The figure was none other than Zheng Yueling.
Keeping a distance of roughly thirty meters, Chen Zhang watched as Zheng Yueling melted into the after-school crowd flowing out of the campus. He was about to speed up when a stunning young woman stepped into his path, blocking his way.
The woman wore a tight white blouse that accentuated her proud curves, paired with a khaki plaid miniskirt that exposed long, pale, shapely thighs. Black fishnet stockings and ankle boots completed the look — equal parts sexy and suggestive.
"Who are you? Do you need something?" Chen Zhang narrowed his eyes and asked.
The woman simply lifted the corners of her lips into an alluring smile but said nothing.
Chen Zhang gave her a strange look, decided to ignore her, and stepped around the girl.
But then the girl suddenly said a single sentence that froze him solid where he stood.
"You're following Senior Zheng."
The voice was crisp as a yellow oriole — and it wasn't a question. It was a statement.
Chen Zhang cranked his head around like a rusty robot, his expression awkward as he faced the smiling, beautiful girl.
"What do you mean?" Chen Zhang said stiffly.
"My name is Wang Miaoyin. I'm from the New Media class next door. You probably don't remember me, but I remember you. You're our department's top student, you're called... Chen Zhang?" The girl smiled.
Her smile was a thousand charms in one — alluring without being cheap, radiating an indescribable magnetism.
But Chen Zhang was completely unmoved. He collected himself and said coldly: "I don't know you. I have other business. I'm leaving."
With that, he brushed past her and strode toward the campus gate.
As he passed Wang Miaoyin, an imperceptible flash of cold steel crossed Chen Zhang's eyes.
Unsurprisingly, he had lost track of Zheng Yueling.
...
Perhaps she had no classes that day, because Zheng Yueling returned to her rented apartment early, in the afternoon.
"Huh? Nyx, how did you suddenly get a whole size bigger?" Zheng Yueling walked up to the glass box, surprised.
Bai Jie raised his front legs to express indignant fury.
"Haha, how come you've gotten more active? Looks like you really liked yesterday's Second Doggo, didn't you?"
Like hell I did! That nearly disgusted me to death.
Bai Jie screamed silently.
Right now, Bai Jie was like burnt charcoal in a sealed jar — full of fire with nowhere to vent.
Zheng Yueling figured the spider must be hungry, so she fetched a mealworm and offered it.
Naturally, Bai Jie wasn't about to refuse. While mealworms couldn't boost Vitality, they could satisfy his Satiety.
In the blink of an eye, night arrived again, and Zheng Yueling started her livestream right on schedule.
"Ta-daaa! Welcome to the Gu-Raising Livestream!"
The Sub-Laser Tarantula's fangs twitched almost imperceptibly. Bai Jie's mood was a bit complicated.
Based on last night's experience, he'd discovered that only by devouring venomous creatures could his Vitality grow.
But that also meant he was forced into brutal, life-or-death combat.
Would he have an opponent today?
After the usual feeding preliminaries, Zheng Yueling said, "Looks like a lot of fans still can't get enough of yesterday's Night Goddess."
"Even though she's currently my biggest spider, today I'd like to introduce everyone to an even bigger new friend."
As she spoke, Zheng Yueling pulled out a transparent plastic breeding box and opened the lid — but aside from a roof tile, nothing was visible.
The danmaku at this point:
[A new friend? The streamer really is loaded. New exotic pets every single day.]
[I don't care, I wanna see my goddess Nyx!]
[Bigger how? Whip it out — bigger than me?]
[Mods? Can we ban this cringe low-confidence dude for a bit?]
[Why can't we see anything?]
"Next up, brace yourselves for high-impact content." Zheng Yueling suddenly lowered her voice.
She actually used tweezers to pick up — from who-knows-where — a fuzzy, brownish-black spider and dropped it into the plastic box.
Danmaku reactions:
[That's it?]
[Should be a Salomon Tarantula.]
[18cm max. What happened to the friend who's bigger than Nyx?]
Just as the danmaku buzzed with confusion, the Salomon Tarantula slowly crawled toward the tile...
But the next moment, as if startled by something, the Salomon scrambled frantically backward, then immediately tried to scale the walls of the breeding box.
Nearly at the same instant, a black shape as thick as a belt violently shot out from beneath the tile!
The black shape rapidly reached the Salomon, its distinctly segmented body coiling and wrapping around it.
The black shape was, unmistakably, a horrifyingly thick, long centipede!
Its body length alone was at least 30cm. Its outrageous proportions could make anyone's scalp crawl.
The danmaku exploded:
[Holy crap! That scared the hell out of me!]
[What kind of centipede IS that? Did it grow up drinking nuclear wastewater?]
[RIP Salomon. Is this what they call a domineering CEO's embrace?]
"This is our new friend here. It's a 30cm-class Galapagos Giant Centipede," Zheng Yueling explained.
"This species of centipede currently ranks first in known body length worldwide. The longest specimens can even reach 40cm."
Danmaku:
[666, that body length is unbeatable.]
[Yueling, close that lid tight! I'm scared it'll get out.]
Bai Jie couldn't see the danmaku, and his viewing angle was too limited to make out the fight inside the box. But hearing Zheng Yueling's voice still made him jolt.
A centipede that absurdly long... surely she wouldn't make me fight it?
Would she? WOULD SHE?
Zheng Yueling laughed. "Everyone's reactions to Gala are pretty intense. How about we watch Nyx and Gala go on a date?"
"Press 1 if you want to see it, press... well, press out your eyeballs if you don't... just kidding, press 2 if you don't wanna see it."
A massive wave of "1" flooded the danmaku!
Only a small minority were pleading:
[Our goddess is only 23cm, and that's counting those long legs! Please, let her off!]
[22222222]
Bai Jie felt a chill in his heart. Was this Murphy's Law?
When the familiar tweezers lifted Bai Jie into the air, Bai Jie sighed inwardly.
When Bai Jie saw the enormous centipede in his line of sight, he was already cursing inwardly.
Zheng Yueling! You're really pushing it way too far!
A string of data appeared.
[Target]: Galapagos Giant Centipede (Adult)
[Vitality]: 0.12
[Body Length]: 32cm
[Status]: Good
...
Its Vitality was 0.02 higher than his. He didn't know how big a difference that would make. The thought flickered through Bai Jie's mind.
The moment the Sub-Laser Tarantula appeared in the livestream, the danmaku erupted with surprise:
[How come the goddess's legs look even longer, her figure even fuller?]
[Nyx, are you pregnant?]
[How did she grow so much overnight? But if she's bigger now, Gala should have a harder time swallowing her.]
After being dropped onto the soil — the Giant Centipede's home turf — Bai Jie stared warily at his opponent, his entire body tensed.
But the Giant Centipede was still enjoying the meal in its embrace, oblivious to the intruder violating its territory.
Hold on, this thing had just eaten, and you throw me in here? Aren't you worried about giving it indigestion?
Bai Jie grumbled to himself.
"Gala." Zheng Yueling suddenly called out.
Not good!
That witch was about to use that mental-control-like occult art.
Bai Jie suppressed the urge to kick hairs from sheer nerves — and suddenly lunged forward!
He had to strike first before the Giant Centipede's ferocity could be roused by Zheng Yueling. If the centipede reacted and the size difference came into play, he might end up at a disadvantage.
"Gala, sweetie?" Zheng Yueling called a second time.
Before her words even finished, Bai Jie's two great fangs had already stabbed viciously into the Giant Centipede's back.
A crisp SCHLICK — a sound so subtle that only Bai Jie could hear it.