VESSEL - Extinction Countdown 974: Victory by Deception

Morning sunlight warmed his face. The bed was soft, the quilt fragrant.

In a white room filled with floral scents, Ye Shisan woke.

Honestly, it might’ve been his best sleep since he was seven—except for a pressing need to pee.

Stirred by his bladder, he tensed, checking under the covers. Good—his underwear was still on. His clothes, washed, ironed, and folded, sat by the bed.

Where was he?

The wooden door was closed, faint aerobics music and commands seeping through the gap.

Ye Shisan slipped out of bed, dressed, and crept to the door.

The living room’s TV played an aerobics routine. A yoga mat lay on the empty floor, no one in sight.

Desperate to relieve himself, he reached for the bathroom door. A noise came from inside, and the door swung open with a strange pull. Yi Qing stood there, towel-wrapped, her curves hugged tight.

Ye Shisan froze, awkwardly locking eyes—his two, her one.

A scream.

“Ye Shisan, you creep!”

He turned away. “You didn’t say you were coming out! I didn’t mean to see… I didn’t see anything, your towel’s secure…”

His words jumbled, and he shut his mouth.

“My house! Why should I announce myself? You, sneaking off quietly?”

“If the arrest warrant’s fake, what’s keeping me here?”

Ye Shisan thought Yi Qing had no hold over him, but he was naive.

She sneered. “Ye Shisan, you’re pervy and dumb. This is my house. If I want, you’re trespassing and spying—I could lock you up in a minute!”

“You… you demoness! What do you want?”

“Hmph! Wait till I’m dressed.”

Yi Qing stepped into the bedroom, closing the door with a click.

Her head poked out. “Don’t peek, Ye Shisan!”

“Tch! Like I’d care!”

A voice came through the gap. “Didn’t bother, but you still looked!”

“Don’t frame me! I didn’t!”

“Hmph! You know what you saw!”

Ye Shisan stopped talking. Arguing was pointless, and saying he saw “nothing” was a lie—his body wasn’t helping.

He rushed to the bathroom, letting loose a flood.

Back in the living room, he froze.

A woman in a tight white dress sat on the sofa—long legs, slim waist, pale arms, and neck. Her light makeup was charming, not flashy. Except for the black eyepatch, this wasn’t the cop Yi Qing he knew.

“Done?” Yi Qing smiled.

It was Ye Shisan’s first time seeing her smile. With one eye, she could charm most bachelors.

But Ye Shisan, single at thirty-four, felt uneasy. “What’s your plan?”

“No plan. It’s my day off. You’re shopping with me!”

“What? I need to check my shop…”

“With Little Fairy and Little Vixen there, it’s fine. Come on!”

No arguing—Yi Qing pulled him out.

All day, in Yingtian City’s busy New Street Junction, Ye Shisan followed Yi Qing through a dozen malls, hands sore from bags.

To others, he looked like a kept man.

Many items—suits, shoes, ties—were for him, in his size. Yi Qing called them gifts for her “boyfriend.”

But she knew she had no boyfriend.

Ye Shisan wasn’t bad—tall, lean, steady, warm. But his Heart Demon, unbanished, threatened everyone.

This “shopping” was a test, ordered by YiQueen.

In the towering malls, YiQueen’s company rented shops, many with secret rooms. Test subjects were scanned thoroughly, collecting biological data.

Ye Shisan was a guinea pig, run through over a hundred tests.

The results? Yi Qing got two words: “Safe.”

In short, awake, Ye Shisan was fully human—rational, thoughtful, kind, a true warm uncle.

But when his mind slept, his Heart Demon could take over every cell, acting on instinct.

Known instincts: survival, defense, killing.

At fourteen, Ye Shisan first awoke his Heart Demon in killing mode, finding thrill in slaughter. It warped his mind, costing him twenty years.

At Dragon Gate Inn, Yi Qing believed his Heart Demon’s defense instinct, triggered in a coma, destroyed Hong Gang’s attackers—a Physical Type, B-level threat, stronger than regular troops.

Two days ago, its survival instinct drove it to fight after Azi’s attack, struggling for a final stand.

Azi’s origins were unclear, but the power gap was clear. A six-legged beast needed three squads to control, two companies to kill.

A squad: twelve members—two officers (one leading, one backup), a combat sergeant, an intel sergeant, two weapons specialists, two engineers, two medics, two comms. Precise, every role defined.

A company: nine squads, with weapons, drones, vehicles, air support, and authority to take local command.

Yet Ye Shisan’s Heart Demon crushed the beast in seconds.

Only a huge power gap could explain it.

How much force to stop him? Yi Qing didn’t want to think. She knew he was a ticking bomb, but she couldn’t , for reasons unknown, let him go.

Maybe it was his past, the bakery days, the two nights in the basement, the closet’s tense moments, or the gray pain on his face when the Heart Demon took over. It changed how she saw him.

Her naive hope: tame the heart, banish the demon.

The last test was near—a quiet restaurant named Snowy Flesh Mash.