The Record of Unusual Creatures

Hao Ren had almost forgotten about Noobie. The super stupid and super weak little thing was so harmless that everyone in the family had overlooked the fact that she was a Malevolence.

“There is still a Malevolence here!” Hao Ren cried out.

Lily jumped to her feet and barked. “Mr. Landlord, you scared the shit out of me!”

Y’zaks glanced at Hao Ren and Noobie and then rubbed his bald head. Noobie had been shooting at his head for a while, but the weak energy bolts could not even scrape his scalp a bit. Instead, his head was becoming shinier than before as a result. “Hao Ren, did you stay in the sandbox for too long and forget her? She is Noobie, who has been staying here far longer than Lorrisa.”

“I do not mean this!” Hao Ren said as he reached to catch Noobie. “This guy is a Malevolence! A Malevolence that Vivian has yet recovered!”

“Hah!” Noobie barked and tried to block Hao Ren’s hand with hers. But soon, she realized it was futile. She then fired a couple of corrosive energy bolt, but it was still useless. When she finally knew she was in deep shit, she tried to flee. But it was too late; Hao Ren had wrapped her in his hand.

“Ghsss—piak!”

About the size of a palm, the Malevolence struggled to get free. Her strength was no better than a rabbit, but she was very energetic and agitating. The noise had caught the attention of everyone. They began to talk to each other as they came up and pointed at the Malevolence.

“Oh, really? No matter how weak she is, she is still a Malevolence. Why have Vivian not recovered her?”

“Do you think Noobie carries part of Vivian’s memory and strength, Mr. Landlord?”

“How much can there be? After rounding it up, not much will be left. It will not make a difference, considering how tiny she is.”

“Not really. As tiny as the Malevolence is, she still bites! Ouch! She looks furious!”

Noobie seemed to be unaware of what went on around her; she bit Hao Ren’s finger and tried to tear his flesh. Unfortunately, her bite was too weak. Even if without the protection of the Steel Membrane Shield, Hao Ren would not feel a thing.

“You all just stand there and watch?” Hao Ren waved everyone away since no one seemed to be helping. “Noobie is our half-family member. We got to sort this out. I will first discuss with Vivian.”

Hao Ren grabbed Noobie up and headed into the kitchen, ignoring Noobie’s protest. Nangong Sanba looked on as Hao Ren walked away. “Well, well, well. I am afraid that he is just making an excuse to spend time with Vivian.”

“Pew! Mr. Landlord starts to get a sour smell of love.” Lily dropped back down on the sofa, fished out the remote that had slipped into the gap between the cushions and began to flip the channels while wagging her tail. “Only I am still a fragrant bachelor.”

Hao Ren was unaware of all this as he was already in the kitchen. Vivian was busy preparing a meal for the family. It was dawn on Earth. When the distortion of space and time happened, time on Earth had come to a standstill precisely at this hour. But according to the biological clock of everyone, it was actually lunch time for them.

Vivian was going to make steamed rice and stir-fry a few dishes. She had also taken out the pre-cooked stewed pork ribs out of the freezer and reheat it. Meat bones were a must for Lily.

“What is going on outside?” Vivian wiped her hand on her apron and asked Hao Ren when he came in. “I heard you guys were talking about something.”

“It is about Noobie.” Hao Ren forced a smile and shoved Noobie before Vivian. “We forgot her. She is also a Malevolence and still alive.”

“Hah! Ghsss!” Noobie’s voice sounded nervous and flinched when she saw Vivian. Noobie’s blood-red eyes lacked emotions, but she was apparently wincing trying to avoid danger.

Noobie looked scared. This strange Malevolence had never shown such severe emotion of fear until now. Vivian and Hao Ren were stunned.

Perhaps it was because of Vivian since she recovered all Malevolences and had much stronger energy field than before.

“Ahh, she is also a Malevolence.” Vivian came closer to Hao Ren. “We missed one.”

“Supposedly, each Malevolence had taken some of your memory and strength,” said Hao Ren. “This little guy is no exception. But the space-time distortion is over, how are you going to recover her?”

Vivian looked at Noobie for a while and blinked. “What do you say if we stir-fry and eat her?”

“Yuck!” Noobie quaked in her boots.

“Wait a minute. Did Noobie just say some new word other than ‘ghsss’ and ‘biu’?

“She is learning and making progress, it is not that you do not know. It is just that the changes have been too slow,” Vivian said as she leaned in front of Noobie. “Do not be afraid, I was only joking. Let us first consult with the goddess. The goddess said that it was the resonance of the Malevolences that lead me plunging into the distorted space and time. That means every split of me was in the distorted space and time, except this little guy. This is the strangest thing.”

Hao Ren nodded and took out the MDT from his pocket. “I am calling the goddess.”

The MDT was reluctant. “Are you not already able to connect spiritually to Ma’am Raven? Why do you still treat me like a telephone?”

Never had Hao Ren seen such a PDA that argued with its own master. He could not help but shot it a sideways glare. “Lil Pea is right on my arm. You can choose to listen to either her or me.”

“I have been waiting for you for a few months. I am not blaming you for not getting me a screen protector, but your attitude is even worse than before!” the MDT said.

“The last time I checked, you were a holographic projector; on where are you supposed to apply a screen protector? Should I give you a coat of lacquer?”

The MDT muttered a few words. But it knew its place and quickly contacted Raven 12345.

As soon as the call was established, Raven 12345’s loud voice was heard on the other end issuing instructions. “Reset time coefficient to see if there are any bugs. Damn it! If that does not work, pull Saturn and Jupiter back a little. Shit! My hand slipped and just erased red spot! Got to fix it quickly… Aah? Hao Ren? When did you get on the line?”

Hao Ren was perplexed. “You just picked up my call, don’t you remember? What are you doing now, boss?”

“Err, nothing, nothing. Just routine maintenance of the Solar system. You look for me?”

Perhaps it was just an illusion, Hao Ren felt that the goddess was panic for a second. But he did not have time to delve into her personal life and straight away told her about the situation of Noobie.

“I thought you saw her long ago?” Raven 12345 did not seem surprised at all. Instead, the goddess asked, “You have just found out?”

“You knew it? What is going on here? Has Vivian not recovered all the Malevolences?”

“Vivian has recovered all Malevolences on Earth except Noobie. There has been a little accident.” Raven 12345’s image appeared in a hologram in the air in front of Hao Ren. The goddess was seen bending down and glancing at the palm-sized Malevolence, who seemed to be mad, punching and kicking the rice cooker on the countertop. When the Malevolence saw Raven 12345 approaching, she jumped out of her skin and buried her head in her hands.

Raven 12345’s sense of presence was too hot for Noobie to handle, although it was only an image of the true God.

“Don’t you think she is unlike a Malevolence more and more?”

“You mean her emotional reaction?” Hao Ren’s brows knitted together. “Well, we have noticed that before. She is showing more and more emotions, although most of the time, it is negative like fear and anger. Occasionally, she looks calm and even happy when we feed her something she likes.”

“That’s right. She is no longer a pure Malevolence. Once she acquires an independent feeling, it is difficult to classify her as a pure ‘monster.'”

“Why is that?” Vivian was surprised.

“Probably because she is too weak.”

“Aah?” Hao Ren and Vivian were stupefied.

Raven 12345 forced a smile. “Because she is too weak, her insanity factor is also feeble. She is susceptible to environmental influence, especially from the parent body. Noobie has acquired the feeling of fear, been able to express anger at those who bully her and show closeness to those who take care of her. Her way of expression might be somewhat weird, but it was real. After staying here for a few months, the environment of the divine realm has a powerful purifying effect on a mad creature like her. So, she has become what she is.”

Hao Ren began to understand. “That is to say, because of Noobie has her own feelings and is no longer a pure Malevolence, Vivian could not recover this Malevolence?”

“Exactly.”

“Will there be a problem if we let her be?” Hao Ren’s brows knitted together. “Noobie is a Malevolence after all, and she carries a part of Vivian’s strength and memory. We can ignore her power, which is negligible. But what about memory? Memory is a very troublesome thing, and its importance has nothing to do with the amount of data. Maybe Noobie carries a critical piece of memory.”

For example, the missing part of the star chart.

“The Malevolence… there is nothing to worry about her little fighting power. If you find her too annoying, give her the toys that you used to keep Rollie happy. A wool ball would be enough to keep her busy for several days. As for strength and memory, I think you need to wait patiently.”

“Aah?”