Defeat the system! Kiss my little monster!

Pei Du clenched his fist, the jade pendant lying horizontally in his palm, its coolness seeping through his skin.

After Sheng Shixian was hospitalized with the virus, Pei Du visited him. Given the current high mortality rate of the virus circulating in the city (78%), Pei Du considered it a final farewell visit to Sheng Shixian.

At that moment, Sheng Shixian, lying on the sickbed, laughed mockingly, then tore off the jade pendant from his neck and threw it to Pei Du.

"Pei Du, don't look down on me." He spoke coldly to Pei Du, his brows furrowing as his lips cracked and split open from the high fever. "I will get it back."

Pei Du was completely baffled. He hadn't said anything provocative, but Sheng Shixian was already trying to force a jade pendant on him.

Pei Du did not stay in the ward for long. After Sheng Shixian contracted the disease, his personality changed drastically. In the end, he took the jade pendant and left the hospital.

Now, looking at the jade pendant in conjunction with the book in his hand, Pei Du inexplicably felt threatened and shadowed.

The only thing he took from others that didn't belong to him, and which he eventually had to return, seemed to be this jade pendant.

...But is Sheng Shixian the kind of person who would call himself a dog?

Pei Du thought of his unpredictable face and put a question mark next to the "I" in the book.

The book he wrote for him, "The Book of Madness," was a complete mess.

With neither the subject nor the object known, Pei Du couldn't find a single clue.

"Buzz—" The phone on the table kept vibrating, and the water next to it rippled in the glass with the sound.

Pei Du turned off the TV, picked up his phone, and answered the call after seeing the caller's name.

"Hey?"

"Pei Du, there's been a bit of a problem with the director. How about temporarily handing over your previous project to the new junior colleague? He's young and doesn't dare go to the black market. Could you spare some time to go and coordinate with the people there?"

Pei Du was momentarily dazed, "...Docking?"

"Yes," the voice on the other end of the phone drawled.

He said irritably, "This is incredibly troublesome. Those people from the Special Investigations Unit insist on involving us. What can we clerks do there? The director doesn't trust the others and wants you to go over there and take a look..."

Pei Du managed to sort out his chaotic thoughts amidst the other person's incessant complaints.

It was a year ago, and Pei Du was 22 years old. More than fifty years had passed since the initial outbreak of the alien virus.

After graduating from university, Pei Du went to work in a laboratory specializing in virus research. As more and more people were infected with the virus and mutated, the country strengthened its research and treatment efforts.

However, the results were minimal.

The Special Investigations Department's requirement for lab technicians and researchers to participate in frontline operations is another way of cracking down on special lab personnel who are idle and inactive.

Pei Du refused this mission without even thinking about it in his previous life.

After graduation, he was often sick. At night, his throat would hurt and itch, and he would cough incessantly. It would be suicidal for him to drag his body into the black market to collect evidence.

Pei Du twirled the black book in his hand; the cover was rough and the contents were blurry.

"Um... Senior Brother Pei, are you still sick? If so, I'll go talk to the director about the situation, and there are other replacements available."

Pei Du touched the uneven textured pattern on the top of the book, as if stroking a dry leaf. "It's alright, I'll go."

He just calculated the time; it has been almost nine months since Sheng Shixian was infected with the virus.

After Sheng Shixian was infected with the virus, his body rapidly mutated. Although he did not die, he was secretly sent by the Sheng family to a special place for treatment, and then disappeared without a trace.

The male protagonist is just that unfathomable and difficult to control.

Pei Du didn't know where this great Buddha would appear, but people infected with the virus and mutated would find it difficult to move freely in society, and the area where he could live was very small.

The underground black market is a melting pot of all sorts of people, including humans and other species, and rumors spread extremely quickly.

Pei Du can take this opportunity to learn something that is unknown to others.

After telling the other party the time, Pei Du hung up the phone. He picked up the jade pendant on the counter and casually stuffed it into his pocket.

"What are you planning to do next?" The question of "living a life of ignominy" landed on Pei Du's shoulder.

“What else can we do?” Pei Du sat down on the sofa with the book in his hand. He continued to flip through the book, preparing to slowly read it from the beginning to sort out the clues. “You didn’t tell me anything, so I can only read the book myself.”

The one who was barely surviving whimpered twice: "My rank is low, I have few completed tasks and not many points. Everything depends on your own efforts."

Pei Du: "..."

Pei Du figured something out and asked, "How many people have successfully completed your 'survival by any means' mission?"

The machine, which had been struggling to survive, suddenly crashed. It creaked and remained silent for a long time before continuing, "There were sixteen people before you, and they have all been reincarnated by now."

Pei Du: "...Not a single one survived?"

"Their remains are deeply etched in my database, and I pay my respects to them every night," Gouqiechoes with a straight face.

Pei Du: "..."

Damn it, he knew that clinging to life was an abnormal system.

Anyone who gets their hands on this guide to madness will not survive.

Pei Du frowned, his slender white fingers gripping the pages as he slowly scanned the contents.

Life is unpredictable; I never imagined I'd be in this situation.

Losing everything is nothing more than this.

Even the deepest humiliation couldn't be greater than this.

*

Pei Du spent three or four days but only managed to read a quarter of the guide to the book of madness.

His physical condition after his rebirth was somewhat worse than before, which also suggests that he was not fully resurrected.

The work in the laboratory is still proceeding in an orderly manner. Pei Du has memories and experience from his previous life, and he submitted his research results on xenogeneic cells to the director nine months ahead of schedule.

He then became involved in the next black market investigation.

Drug trafficking is rampant on the black market, and the main perpetrators have gradually shifted from humans to mutants. Those mutants who survive the cancerous transformation phase are often taller, stronger, and more ferocious than ordinary humans, making tracking them even more difficult for the military.

Pei Du's mission to the black market this time was simple: he only needed to complete the transfer mission with the experimenter who had infiltrated the market, understand the situation, and then he could leave.

"The 17th of next month, in the eastern suburbs of the West Market."

The man who came to meet Pei Du was a plainclothes officer in black. He spoke a few words to Pei Du in secret, and after only a dozen seconds, he walked past Pei Du.

Pei Du received the message, turned off the recorder in his pocket, and mingled into the bustling crowd of the black market.

"Bargain sale! Bargain sale! Humanoid mutant, superior appearance, gentle temperament, 20% off today! Only one left, only one left, first come first served!"

Pei Du slowed his pace as the crowd gathered ahead blocked his view, casting countless overlapping shadows in the dark.

"Ugh—Bang! Bang!"

After a suppressed sob, the air was filled with the dull thud of flesh colliding with a hard object. Each thud drew gasps from the onlookers.

Pei Du frowned almost imperceptibly. He changed direction and followed the path closer to the source of the sound, where he also saw a corner of the iron cage.