That night, a group of people broke into my house. Many things inside were destroyed, including my piano.

  "A `yaokai′ like you even dares to py the piano?" As they left, a small-eyed man looked at me with contempt. I sat in my wheelchair, watching them walk out of my door with their heads held high.

  My heart grew colder and colder.

  August 2nd, Weather: Thunderstorm

  A strange disease broke out in the town, like a pgue. Many people were on the verge of death.

  The medium in the town said it was my existence that had brought this misfortune. They pnned to take justice into their own hands and burn me alive. This town was so remote that whether one person was added or removed wouldn't be known by outsiders.

  For the first time, Dad picked up a shotgun and roared at the people approaching.

  Mom tightly protected me, ready to fight anyone who came near me.

  They locked our front door with iron chains, poured gasoline, and set it on fire.

  The smoke was suffocating. Dad and Mom fell in the raging fmes.

  I thought I was going to die. But the gray rabbit saved me. It dragged me deep into the woods. I saw many other animals—bears, moles, and wild boars.

  They said they were youkais.

  December 25th, weather: Snow

  I don't really remember which Christmas this is in my life.

  Just now, I gave a gift to the wild boar yaokais. It was the accelerated chip I had just developed. With it, their speed can match the speed of light.

  I must thank them, for only their power could help me establish this underground kingdom in such a short amount of time. Over the years, they have become accustomed to following me as their leader. The wild boar yaokai once spoke on behalf of all their yaokai companions and said one thing: "You are smarter than all of us."

  Yes, I am smarter than anyone. That's why I have the ability to change this world. I hate my former self. I hate being overpowered by others.

  May 3rd, weather: Sunny

  The ten of them must pay for their actions from back then.

  Neptune, in the end, was the best gift given to them, to all the humans who despise the weak. I will create a world.

  I am God.

  Snap! Lu A'cang smmed the book shut, her heart swirling with mixed emotions.

  The gray rabbit opened its eyes, its breath much steadier than before.

  "The parents of the child who was kidnapped were led by Luc Beaulieu. Back then, they colborated to fund the transport of a crystal from the distant Neptune to Earth in order to complete their experiment to enhance human intelligence. The deep blue mineral crystals from Neptune were said to instantly transform the brain capacity of living organisms, boosting the activity of proteins. In simple terms, they could turn an idiot into a genius in a short amount of time." The gray rabbit slowly walked over to her and continued, "They called this crystal Neptune. Once it was brought back to Earth, they needed a group of test subjects. They secretly recruited pregnant women from all over France, using the excuse of free pre-pregnancy health checks provided by a health organization, and brought these women to Paris. After the checkups, they enthusiastically took these women—mostly from remote vilges or the countryside—on a tour of the Louvre. That day, the air conditioning system in the Yaokai Wing had been tampered with, with the liquid extracted from Neptune pced inside. The liquid evaporated into the air and spread through the vents. The visitors outside, unaware of what was happening, didn't notice."

  "The experiment wasn't very successful, was it?" Lu A'cang sneered. "And one of those pregnant women was Sean's mother."

  "Out of the ten pregnant women, three never became mothers. The rest gave birth to either disabled children or those with cerebral palsy. And then, there was Sean." The gray rabbit sighed. "Those people were just pying with lives. The so-called Neptune, ciming to expand human intelligence, was a lie. Its true effect was to disrupt DNA and destroy neurons. I don't know where these rich people got the absurd idea that Neptune could make people smarter. They hoped the experiment would succeed, that they could reap unprecedented profits from Neptune, and some even dreamed of using it to make themselves smarter than they are now."

  "They were already very lucky, yet still dissatisfied with themselves," Lu A'cang said, gently tracing the edges of Sean's diary. "Sean's ability to communicate with yaokais was innate, wasn't it?"

  "Yes," the gray rabbit replied, blinking its eyes. "I don't know if this ability has anything to do with Neptune, but he was indeed born with the ability to communicate with all kinds of yaokais. And every one of them, including me, was willing to follow him because he was so incredibly smart. I admired him. The year I got caught in a hunter's trap and injured my forelimb, it was Sean, while taking a walk in the woods, who heard my cries for help and freed me. You might think that sounds like a clichéd story, but that's how it happened. I was very grateful to him, and I stayed by his side ever since. When he was nearly burned alive, I used all my strength to drag him out of the fmes."

  Lu A'cang walked up to the wall and asked, "The boratory outside, was it all Sean's work?"

  "Yes," the gray rabbit nodded. "Sean's mind is beyond the realm of normal humans. His intelligence surpasses anything you or I can imagine. He gathered many yaokais and built this experimental facility beneath Paris. While none of these youkais are particurly powerful on their own, their collective strength is not to be underestimated. Following Sean's instructions, they secured a massive amount of funding and even attracted a group of human scientists here. All resources, all power, were dedicated to Sean's pn." The gray rabbit paused, then added, "He wants to use Neptune to change the world."

  "Wait, are you saying... Sean broke down Neptune, used his hadron collider to maximize the power of Neptune, then transported it to the highest point on Earth, triggered an explosion, and let the crystal's effects sweep across the entire pnet like a bck hole explosion?" Lu A'cang suddenly realized the gravity of the situation.

  "Once the collision succeeds..." The gray rabbit looked up, its red eyes staring into a distant, empty space. "The power of Neptune will turn all of humanity on Earth into creatures with various defects—some may lose their intelligence; others might become physically disabled... In short, it will be a total transformation, a catastrophe."

  "When everyone becomes a defective 'yaokai,' the world will become exactly what Sean envisioned—a perfectly fair new world?" Lu A'cang began to understand what he truly wanted.

  "Yes. No discrimination, no oppression." The gray rabbit's face was devoid of expression. "He kidnapped the children of those ten wealthy families, partly out of revenge, making them experience the pain of being separated from their loved ones. But in the end, he wanted them to bring their most precious possessions to the Louvre. He told me that if even one of those ten people said, 'The most precious thing to me is the child you've kidnapped,' he would give up on the pn. But none of them said that. What they valued most were diamonds, bonds, and their own interests."

  "You don't want his pn to succeed, do you?" Lu A'cang suddenly said as she walked up to the gray rabbit.

  The gray rabbit's three-part mouth twitched, and after a long pause, it finally spoke. "I used the excuse of monitoring the human response to the kidnapping case as a reason to temporarily leave Shawn and asked you to be Charlotte Beurle's substitute, not for anything else. Because to get to Neptune, I need to obtain the DNA of those ten wealthy families, and within an hour, mix all their DNAs together, along with Charlotte's fingerprints and retinal information, to unlock that special cube. The real Charlotte has been pced elsewhere. She's an exceptionally timid person. I'm worried that finding her in person would interfere with my pn. That's why I hired you, hoping you'd cooperate completely."