88: Chapter 88 Space Folding? Giving Monsters a Home

The metal cube left his hand, tracing a silver-gray parabola in mid-air.

It looked unremarkable, even a bit like a cheap, five-dollar toy from a street stall.

The monster inside the light cage seemed to sense some impending doom; it stopped slamming against the walls, its pink cat-head trembling violently as it let out an extremely shrill scream.

"Retract." Gu Changan parted his lips slightly, spitting out a single word.

The cube hovered directly above the light cage, the patterns on its surface instantly disintegrating into countless fine specks of light.

Immediately after, the world seemed to have been hit with a pause button. There was no explosion, no flash of fire, not even a sound.

In that instant, the space inside the light cage felt as if it had been ruthlessly kneaded by an invisible giant hand.

The originally indestructible high-energy light screen twisted and deformed, and along with the massive creature wrapped in foam inside, it was instantly stretched into a long, thin noodle.

The visual distortion was dizzying.

It was like the moment a toilet is flushed; all matter—air, dust, light, and even that rule-level monster with an immortal body—collapsed within that single second.

That was the collapse of dimensions.

That arrogant white figure couldn't even finish a struggling motion before being forcibly compressed into that palm-sized black hole.

Whoosh—a gust of wind arose out of thin air, the airflow created as surrounding air rushed in to fill the vacuum.

Everything returned to calm. The metal cube closed again with a click, fitting together perfectly.

It drifted down slowly, hovering three inches above Gu Changan's palm, vibrating slightly.

If you didn't listen carefully, you couldn't hear the dull thumping sounds coming from inside, like a fly trapped in a thick, tin can.

"Containment successful." Gu Changan reached out to grasp the cube, weighing it in his hand. It was quite heavy, probably about two jin (one kilogram).

Who could have imagined that just seconds ago, this thing was an S-class meme disaster capable of slaughtering an entire city?

"Rules, schmules." Gu Changan pulled a wet wipe from his pocket and leisurely wiped away the non-existent dust from the cube's surface. "In the face of higher-dimensional space technology, it's just a crudely made specimen."

He turned around and casually tossed the cube to the Technical Division assistant behind him.

The assistant scrambled to catch it, his face turning pale with fright, his hands trembling like he had Parkinson's as he held the cube.

"Don't shake, it can't get out." Gu Changan said in a flat tone. "Send it to the deepest level of the Earth Core Prison and Seal it with liquid nitrogen. Also, stick a photo on the outside of the cube and write 'This is not a face'."

"Ye-yes! Director!" The assistant saluted, clutching the cube as if it were a nuclear bomb ready to explode at any moment, and turned to run.

Deep in a dark alley a hundred meters away, Zhao Feng slumped against the sewage-filled base of a wall, his eyes bulging as he stared fixedly in Gu Changan's direction.

His brain had stopped thinking. That was Containment Object-096! That was a rule-level killing weapon that cost 50,000 points to redeem from the Main God Space!

An existence that couldn't even be killed by a nuclear carpet bombing, just like that... gone? Taken by that man like he was collecting trash, casually stuffed into a cube?

"Th-this... what kind of black technology is this?" Zhao Feng's voice was as dry as sandpaper rubbing together. "It can even Seal rules? This isn't scientific! This is definitely cheating!"

Fear engulfed him like a tide. The System he was so proud of, the power he regarded as divine, was as fragile as a joke in front of this man in uniform.

Run! Must run! This plane is too terrifying; the natives here aren't human at all!

Zhao Feng scrambled up from the ground, hands and feet flailing, and turned to rush into the entrance of the abandoned basement behind him.

As long as he hid in the safe house, as long as he survived until the mission time was up, he could return to the Main God Space!

But what he didn't know was that on the screen of a command vehicle two hundred meters away, a bright red dot was flashing frantically on the map, dazzlingly bright.

Gu Changan took off his goggles, revealing a pair of calm, deep eyes.

"The monster has been dealt with; now it's time to deal with the 'pooper scooper'."

He pressed his earpiece, his voice cold: "All units attention, target at 3 o'clock, 200 meters away, abandoned air-raid shelter basement."

"Group A block the exit, Group B breach, Group C come with me to make the arrest."

"Remember, capture him alive. I want him to know how much of a fine one has to pay for littering on Chinese soil and causing serious environmental pollution."

At this moment, deep in the basement. Under the dim lights, Zhao Feng was sweating profusely as he operated the System panel in mid-air. His fingers were trembling, and because he was using too much force, he even punctured the virtual screen.

"Fast! Hurry up!" "Summon another one! Anything will do!"

He clicked frantically on the redemption interface, the madness in his eyes turning into despair.

"Summon SCP-173! That statue! As long as no one is looking at it, it can snap necks!"

"Or SCP-682! That Hard-to-Destroy Reptile! I'm going to destroy this whole place!"

[Ding! Warning! Host's current Mental Energy is insufficient.]

[Ding! Warning! Summoning cooldown has not ended, remaining time: 23 hours 59 minutes.]

The System's notification sounded like a death warrant echoing in his mind.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Zhao Feng roared hysterically, punching the wall, his hand dripping with blood. "I am the Chosen One! I have the System! How could I possibly lose to a bunch of natives!"

He turned abruptly, pulled a menacing-looking Gauss rifle from his backpack, and aimed it at the heavy iron door. If anyone dared to come in, he would take them down with him!

Just then. Boom! A deafening sound.

That ten-centimeter-thick explosion-proof iron door wasn't pushed open; it was kicked in along with its frame, flying like a piece of paper.

The heavy iron door, carrying a fierce wind, flew past Zhao Feng's scalp and slammed heavily into the wall behind him, shaking dust down throughout the entire basement.

Zhao Feng froze in place, the Gauss rifle in his hand not even having enough time to pull the trigger.

The dust cleared. A slender figure stood in the doorway, backlit, his expression unreadable.

But the suffocating pressure emanating from him was a hundred times more terrifying than the monster from just a moment ago.

Gu Changan stepped over the threshold, his leather shoes crunching on the gravel with a teeth-gritting sound.

Behind him, dozens of red laser targeting dots instantly pierced through the dust, densely locking onto Zhao Feng's forehead, heart, and limb joints.

"Apologies." Gu Changan looked at the trembling Zhao Feng, the corners of his mouth curling into a mocking arc, as if looking at an ant trying to bite an elephant to death.

"Your summoning cooldown isn't over yet, but mine is infinite."

He raised his hand and pointed at the glowing Main God watch on Zhao Feng's wrist.

"Also, according to the 'Anti-Terrorism Law' and the 'Radio Regulation Ordinance', that electronic device on your wrist is suspected of illegally connecting to an overseas server."

Gu Changan pulled a special black baton from his waist and snapped it open with a crisp sound.

"Hands up, head covered, get on your knees."

"Or you can try and see if your System is faster, or if my baton is faster."