Chapter 2: Go Catch Him
“…Fainted from hunger?”
Qin Huai’s tone was hard to describe.
“Did your subordinates screw up again, or are you drunk again?”
“How is that possible! I checked several times!”
Lin Jiangli scratched his hair furiously, firing words like a machine gun.
“Qin Huai, can you stop being so petty! Do you have to hold onto that past incident forever??”
One night last month, Lin Jiangli had gotten wasted and, in a drunken fit, shouted about going to work.
None of his subordinates dared to stop him, watching helplessly as the head of the Technology Department issued a Level 1 Red Alert to the Inquisitor at 3:00 AM, claiming a monster riot was occurring in District 7 and it was about to fall.
The result was Qin Huai leading a team there, his clothes rare slightly disheveled, only to find a low-level monster that couldn’t even chew on a three-year-old child fighting over food with a stray cat.
The scene fell into dead silence. Qin Huai, under the suspicious gazes of his subordinates, calmly dispersed the team, seemingly without resentment.
It was only later they heard that Director Lin Jiangli’s exorcism licenses were all permanently revoked, and he had to tearfully retake the exams.
Qin Huai couldn’t be bothered to listen to the chatter on the other end. Expressionless, he held the phone away, frowning with distate.
He said concisely, “Hanging up.” Then he turned to walk out the door.
Although the head of the Technology Department was unreliable, the things he developed were reasonably useful.
The city was distributed with “Eyes” large and small. For monsters with high potential threats, their location could be tracked in real-time, feeding back information like body temperature and status.
Of course, knowing the situation was one thing; winning a fight was another.
For a monster with extremely high potential danger like the Progenitor Succubus, even having some basic information meant he couldn’t be underestimated.
Qin Huai lowered his eyes to the electronic screen projected from his wrist device. It clearly read:
[Central Hospital, Ward 586.]
He walked into the Bureau’s main hall. The soldier on duty saw him and saluted properly. “Sir!”
Qin Huai glanced at him, then turned his head away, giving a faint “Mn” as a response.
The subordinate was a rookie who had only been on the job for a few days and still held some admiration for his superior. He summoned his courage to step forward and asked, “Sir, where are you going?”
The man, wrapped tightly in his uniform, looked at him as if he hadn’t expected the question. His dark eyes revealed no emotion.
“You’re very free? Work is finished?”
Rookie: …
The rookie could only laugh awkwardly. “…Sorry, Sir. I’m going right now.” He turned to leave immediately.
Crap, crap. The Devil Boss really lives up to his reputation!
When he was first pulled into the department group chat, the seniors had secretly warned him not to try and strike up a conversation with this inhuman, workaholic ascetic. In front of him, if you can avoid speaking, don’t speak.
It seemed the elders’ words should indeed be heeded!
The rookie mentally slapped himself.
Just as the rookie hung his head, thinking he wouldn’t be acknowledged again, the icy officer spoke again, his tone devoid of emotion.
“To catch someone.”
The rookie let out a blank “Ah” and looked behind him. But the man was already striding toward the exit, leaving without looking back.
Duan Ke woke from his slumber.
He stared resentfully at the cold hospital ceiling.
“Lord Duan Ke!” A small black ball of a succubus, not yet formed and sporting wings, lay by his pillow crying woo woo. “Lord Duan Ke, you’re finally awake! You scared me to death!”
Monsters had no parents; they were direct manifestations of human desire, disguising themselves as humans to hide within the populace.
Some monsters would rely on their powerful magic to harm humans, stimulating fear and sorrow to feed on those emotions.
The Monster Administration Bureau was established to restrain these uncontrolled monsters.
If they obeyed the Bureau’s regulations, monsters were allowed to live as normal humans, and the Bureau had no right to interfere excessively; otherwise, they would be disposed of by the Inquisitors.
This small black ball was a succubus that had not yet taken human form.
Ever since it sensed Duan Ke’s awakening, it had followed him inseparable, swearing to be the King’s most loyal sidekick.
Duan Ke gently patted the small black ball. His voice sounded like he wasn’t fully awake, his speech slow. “How long did I sleep…?”
“Lord Duan Ke, you slept for a whole day!”
The small black ball flapped its wings and nuzzled Duan Ke’s cheek in distress.
“You clearly flew into the crowd yesterday; why didn’t you use your charm to feed?”
Obviously, their King is so powerful. He only needs to move a finger, and all human vitality would be sucked dry!
Duan Ke recalled the scene of fainting from hunger for the fifth time yesterday. Feeling that passing out in front of the small black ball was truly undignified, he blushed, touched the tip of his nose, and whispered:
“They didn’t smell tasty enough…”
Duan Ke was indeed a picky eater.
He would rather starve than choose humans who emitted sour or bitter smells, or whose scent was too faint, to cast his spells on.
But there were simply not many humans who fit his appetite, which resulted in Duan Ke always eating less than other succubi.
This caused his transformation to be particularly slow. He remained in the small black ball form for a very long time, and even after taking human form, he was smaller than other succubi.
The small black ball didn’t think about Duan Ke being a picky eater. Instead, it rolled angrily on the pillow.
“These humans! Only good to look at, useless in reality! None of them are capable! Hmph!”
Seeing the small black ball bought it, Duan Ke breathed a silent sigh of relief. He shimmied to the other side of the bed, making room for the ball to roll around.
He thought to himself, Actually, that’s only part of the reason.
The most important reason is… I’m scared.
Scared of that faceless Inquisitor.
This newly appointed Inquisitor was rumored to be extremely arbitrary and tyrannical. Upon taking office, he ordered that no monsters were allowed to use magic on humans casually; violators would be killed without mercy.
Although the Bureau had similar rules before, none were so strict, and enforcement was full of loopholes.
The monsters didn’t take it seriously at first. It wasn’t until they discovered that many extremely powerful monsters had died miserably at the Inquisitor’s hands for violating the ban that they realized belatedly: this was someone they couldn’t afford to offend.
Duan Ke had never met him, but he loved listening to gossip.
Many monsters said the Inquisitor looked like a green-faced, long-toothed fiend with savage methods, terrifying enough to stop little monsters from crying at night. Duan Ke was often scared limp by the bloody scenes he imagined.
Using charm magic on a large scale in a crowd was too easy to detect.
Even though Duan Ke could feel that his current power was much stronger than before, he still felt he wasn’t good at fighting and didn’t want to invite trouble.
If he was going to break the law, he had to be sneaky about it.
After playing with the small black ball for a while, Duan Ke started to feel weak from hunger again. He looked weakly around the ward and found the only edible thing was an apple on the table.
After confirming there were no humans in the room, he used his remaining magic to manipulate his long tail, trembling as it reached for the red apple.
The succubus tail was long and thin, tipped with a red heart. It slowly wrapped around the red apple, pulling it toward its master.
Plop. The tail went limp. The apple fell.
Duan Ke stared listlessly at the apple on the floor for two seconds.
Actually, I don’t really want to eat it. I’ll still be hungry if I do.
…But I’m really so hungry.
Fine, try again. Duan Ke patted his butt, trying to encourage his tail. It wrapped around again.
Plop. It fell again.
Duan Ke’s eyes instantly turned red.
His magic! Had it degenerated to the point where he couldn’t even tame an apple?!
Duan Ke’s tail drooped completely to the floor. Whoosh—he grabbed the quilt beside his hand and covered his head.
“Lord Duan Ke! Lord Duan Ke!”
The small black ball immediately pounced like a puppy. Using its short limbs to hug the red apple with great difficulty, it flew up and down, pushing the apple to Duan Ke’s hand.
“Here! Don’t be unhappy!”
Duan Ke took the apple with red-rimmed eyes. He pulled the quilt up, burying half his face in the soft bedding, his voice muffled.
“I must feed.”
Otherwise, he really would become the first Progenitor Succubus to starve to death. He would be mocked forever by other monsters as the Idiot Succubus!
That was just as scary as being caught by the Inquisitor!
The small black ball’s wings fluttered in mid-air, looking very excited. “Lord Duan Ke! You’re finally going to act. Please give me your command!”
It had been a month, and Duan Ke had barely adapted to the title “Lord,” no longer correcting the ball constantly. But he still wasn’t used to words like “command.”
He couldn’t help but correct it again: “It’s not really a command… just, please help me find a human who fits my appetite, and ask if he’s willing to be my keeper . Is that okay?”
“Of course, Lord Duan Ke! Helping you conquer humans is my duty!” The small black ball spun around excitedly.
“Still according to your standards? That might take a little time. Please wait a few days for me!”
As if understanding, Duan Ke’s stomach immediately caused the demonic markings on his lower abdomen to heat up, making him shiver. He rolled over in the hospital bed, curling up slightly.
In the face of harsh reality, Duan Ke compromised.
He took a bite of the apple in grief and indignation, grumbling reluctantly, “Someone barely edible will do too… I’m afraid I can’t last that many days.”
Receiving the order, the small black ball waved its short forelimb. A pitch-black rift appeared in the void of the ward.
It fluttered its wings and dived in, disappearing.
The ward fell completely silent, save for the crunch crunch sound of Duan Ke nibbling the apple.
The dizziness didn’t alleviate just because he was on a glucose drip and ate an apple.
Weak and listless, Duan Ke used his tail to hold his phone, lying in bed scrolling through videos of small animals, trying to distract himself.
Kittens are so cute… fluffy.
Puppies are cute too.
…Can I eat them? Do they taste good?
When Duan Ke realized this thought, he silently closed the video.
It seemed he really was dizzy with hunger.
Putting down the phone dejectedly, he sighed, rolled over again, clutching the cold white corner of the duvet uneasily, and closed his eyes.
I hope the small black ball introduces a suitable keeper soon.
And that I never run into that Inquisitor in my life.
Because his magic was too weak, the time he could stay awake grew shorter and shorter. Soon, he fell asleep in the bed once more.
He didn’t know how long he slept, but Duan Ke suddenly regained a tiny bit of consciousness in a haze.
Only, he couldn’t tell if he was half-awake or still in deep sleep.
So sleepy, so tired.
Is that the sound of footsteps? An illusion, probably.
Starving to death… hateful Inquisitor… bullying bad guy…
Eat…
…So hot.
Duan Ke suddenly felt very uncomfortable. He rubbed his face against the quilt, but found no relief. So, he dazedly turned over, rubbing his bare thigh against the bedding, trying to use the friction between body and fabric to soothe the itch deep in his soul.
The ravenous succubus whined twice, scalded by the sudden rise in temperature in his lower abdomen. Physiological tears overflowed uncontrollably, wetting his curled lashes, and his tongue laid against his lips without his command.
His abdomen naturally bore the ancient markings unique to the Progenitor Succubus. When delicious food appeared, these beautiful, eerie totems would sense it automatically, using searing heat to remind the body to feed immediately.
So… is food here?
Did the small black ball find someone so quickly?
But something’s wrong. If it found someone, it would definitely be wishing for a megaphone to shout in Duan Ke’s ear nonstop. But right now, there isn’t a peep from the ball.
Suddenly, an extremely rich, fragrant scent woke Duan Ke completely from his dream.
Duan Ke’s eyes widened in disbelief. He dumbly reached out to wipe the saliva from the corner of his mouth, sniffing hard, reconfirming that this ridiculously fragrant smell wasn’t an illusion born of hunger.
S-Such delicious food!
How can there be a human with such potent sexual energy… his fluids must be delicious…
Duan Ke couldn’t stop licking his lips, his round, pretty eyes frighteningly bright.
The purer the bloodline of the succubus, the harder it was to resist the temptation of food.
Duan Ke’s brain was completely occupied by this incredibly fragrant meal. The terrifying Inquisitor and the ban were all thrown to the back of his mind.
Want to eat… so fragrant…
Head spinning, he struggled up from the hospital bed, summoned his courage, and grabbed the hem of the person beside his bed.
Duan Ke looked up and met a pair of pitch-black, emotionless eyes.
It was a very young face, with contours sharp as if carved by a knife. Eyes dark as ink, the corners of his eyes and brows emitting a cold, thin-hearted aura.
The man realized Duan Ke was sizing him up, but his posture remained relaxed. He stared silently at Duan Ke’s movements, his cold, sharp face expressionless. He didn’t intentionally release pressure, yet somehow felt very unapproachable.
Duan Ke sucked in a sharp breath mentally.
One must know, a succubus’s standard for food wasn’t just scent, but also face, body, and personality. And Duan Ke, as a very picky succubus, emphasized examining every aspect. He would never settle.
And the person in front of him…
Duan Ke almost couldn’t hold back an exclamation.
Too perfect. Whether it was face, smell, or body, he met the little picky eater’s standards for a perfect reserve of food.
Except the personality needed testing. Judging by his looks, he might be hard to get along with—icy cold.
But in these desperate times, Duan Ke felt he could totally accept it!
The meal ticket was right in front of him; opportunities like this don’t come twice.
Duan Ke hesitated, released his tight grip on the man’s hem, moved to the man’s wrist where veins slightly protruded, and squeezed gently, pleadingly.
The man frowned, looking straight at Duan Ke.
He seemed disgusted by such physical contact. He took a step back, creating distance, and withdrew his hand without a trace.
Duan Ke, however, had no time to notice these small details. The corners of his eyes were slightly red from weakness and anxiety. His voice was small, carrying a hint of indistinct excitement and urgency.
“C… Could you be my keeper? “
[Author’s Note] “Dislikes Physical Contact” Someone, after knowing his wife lusted after him at first sight, will fully utilize his handsome face to fish for the kitty.
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