The little crocodile climbed onto the bed. Unlike the gray-white of the adult Yangtze alligator, the little one was a deep, dark green, its scales appearing slick and oily. It didn't look like it needed scaling if eaten; one could just cut it into segments, stew it in a pot with spices—*cough, cough*. I stroked the little crocodile's head, swallowed, and dismissed the wicked thoughts. "Hungry, aren't you? Can you still turn back into a human?"
The little crocodile shook its head vigorously, like a rattle, and started licking my hand. I recoiled in fright.
Fortunately, I had been prepared. I hadn't let Shabiya cremate the enemies, only transport them back. They should still be warm.
I called Shen Xingyue. The person who answered was Helan Xue, who said the captain was undergoing surgery.
"Give me an address. I need to examine the bodies of those three enemies," I said, fabricating an excuse.
"Mr. Wu, please wait a moment. I will seek instructions from the captain," Helan Xue replied.
Before the battle, Shen Xingyue had an agreement with the crocodile demon. Knowing the hidden meaning behind my call, she agreed and had Helan Xue arrange for someone from the warehouse to meet me.
Yao Yao and I got dressed. I had a travel backpack that was perfect for carrying the little crocodile. To prevent suffocation, I left an opening above the zipper so it could stick its little head out. But I warned it: "No matter how hungry you are, you have to endure. Absolutely do not bite 'Daddy Chengfeng's' neck!"
Yao Yao, who understood animals better, was still uneasy. At the small convenience store downstairs, she bought a roll of plastic tape and wrapped it around the little one's long snout twice. Crocodiles have extremely strong bite force, but very little strength to open their mouths. Two wraps of tape were enough to control its biting behavior.
This pure electric sedan, a brand I hadn't seen before, was Shabiya's company car. Helan Xue remotely controlled it, setting Shabiya's warehouse location directly in the car's onboard computer and even activating C2 level autonomous driving. I just had to sit in the seat and strike a driving pose. The steering wheel turned automatically, executing agile overtaking maneuvers. It even knew to stop for red lights or pedestrian crossings. It was quite high-tech.
The car entered the city, passed through an underwater tunnel, and arrived north of Xuanhu Lake. Near the train station, it turned onto a small road, entering a "factory" without a nameplate. We drove directly into a workshop, but the workshop was empty. Passing through the workshop, we encountered another access control gate. After passing through it, we went downhill. There was no longer a road on the navigation, indicating we were at the bottom of Xuanwu Lake.
After driving for about a kilometer, we entered an underground space with the Shabiya logo. Helan Xue was waiting for us here. Looking at the site map on the wall, this was not just a warehouse, but a comprehensive office area. There was a hospital, a laboratory, an "Animal Management Office" (likely where demons were kept), a martial arts training ground, and an area marked with coffee cups, probably for recreation. Shabiya dealt with demons all day; their mental pressure must be immense. They needed channels to release and relieve stress even more than office workers.
"How is Captain Shen's condition?" I asked.
"After treatment, she is out of danger. Thank you for your concern, Mr. Wu," Helan Xue said with a smile. "However, the captain just applied medicine and should not move around. She cannot come to greet you personally. The captain specifically instructed that we must provide excellent hospitality, especially..." she giggled.
"What are you giggling about?" I asked, confused.
"The captain emphasized that you must be taken on a tour of her office," Helan Xue said mysteriously, with a hint of well-intentioned mischief on her face, commonly known as a "wicked smile."
"No rush to her office. Take me to examine the enemy bodies first," I said. The little one in the backpack was becoming increasingly restless, and I felt it was about to break free.
"Certainly. Please get in the car," Helan Xue said, pointing to an electric four-wheeled vehicle nearby. It resembled a tourist shuttle, with an open-top design, three rows, two in the front, three in the middle, and three in the back, an eight-seater car.
This place was truly vast. After riding the electric car for about two hundred meters, we reached the warehouse area. There was an electronic map on the wall here, with our current location marked by a red dot. Based on the scale, the diameter of the entire underground space was about eight hundred meters, with an area roughly equivalent to one-third of the surface of Xuanwu Lake. In a word: massive!