Lin Wan woke in the middle of the night.
Not fully awake.
Just floating between sleep and consciousness.
Something was making noise.
Very faint.
A soft scraping sound.
Over and over again.
Like claws lightly scratching against something hard.
Her eyes slowly opened.
The dim night light in the corner of the room cast a weak yellow glow across the underground base.
She turned toward the source of the sound.
Toward Er'gou's bed.
Her heart suddenly tightened.
Er'gou wasn't lying down like usual.
He was sitting on the concrete floor beside the bed.
His back facing her.
His head lowered.
And his front paws were scratching the ground.
Again.
And again.
And again.
But the floor was solid concrete.
Smooth.
Immovable.
There was nothing to dig.
Yet he kept clawing at it.
The movement looked stiff.
Mechanical.
Almost obsessive.
From his throat came a faint rumbling noise.
Low.
Unfocused.
Not the controlled sound he made when awake.
More like…
A dog making noise in its sleep.
"Er'gou…?"
Lin Wan's sleepiness vanished instantly.
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
The scratching stopped.
But Er'gou didn't turn immediately.
His body froze.
For several seconds.
Then—
Very slowly—
He turned around.
The light from the night lamp illuminated his face.
And Lin Wan's heart dropped.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The calm intelligence she had grown used to—
The sharp awareness.
The quiet human-like depth in his blue eyes.
All of it was gone.
His eyes looked empty.
Unfocused.
His pupils slightly larger than usual.
He stared at Lin Wan.
But it didn't feel like he was actually seeing her.
His mouth hung slightly open.
His tongue drooped out a little.
He was panting lightly.
And near the corner of his mouth—
There was even a small, suspicious glimmer of drool.
The expression…
Looked exactly like an ordinary, slightly dumb husky.
The kind of expression dogs made when they just woke up.
Or when they stared blankly into space.
"Er'gou?"
Lin Wan sat up immediately.
"Did you have a nightmare?"
She reached out to touch his head.
The moment her hand touched him—
Er'gou jerked.
Like someone snapping awake from a dream.
He shook his head sharply.
"Wuh?"
A confused, irritated sound escaped his throat.
He blinked.
Once.
Twice.
His eyes slowly began to focus again.
And this time—
They landed directly on Lin Wan's face.
But something was still off.
The steady composure that belonged to Shen Mo—
The sharp, calculating presence—
It felt… muted.
As if hidden behind a thin fog.
Not completely gone.
But not fully there either.
Er'gou lowered his head.
Looking at the ground he had been scratching.
Then at his paws.
For a brief moment—
A flicker of emotion crossed his eyes.
Confusion.
And something like…
Frustration.
He lifted a paw to rub his nose.
But the motion was strangely slow.
Clumsy.
He paused halfway through the movement before finishing it.
A gesture that was normally effortless.
Lin Wan's heart started pounding.
She remembered Chen Lin and Old Wu's conversation earlier that evening.
Regression.
Blunting.
Inert return.
"Are you feeling sick?"
Her voice trembled slightly.
Er'gou looked at her.
As if trying to understand the question.
His ears twitched.
Then—
Very slowly—
He shook his head.
But even that movement felt unnatural.
Delayed.
Heavy.
He tried to stand.
His legs wobbled slightly.
He stumbled once before stabilizing himself.
Then he walked to his water bowl.
Lowered his head.
And started drinking.
The difference was obvious.
Normally, Er'gou drank carefully.
Controlled.
Precise.
Now his tongue splashed loudly against the water.
Droplets scattered across the floor.
Messy.
Careless.
More… dog-like.
When he finished drinking, he didn't immediately return to bed.
Instead he turned in a small circle.
Sniffed the concrete floor where he had been scratching.
Another meaningless rumble escaped his throat.
Then finally—
He climbed back onto the bed.
Curled up beside Lin Wan's feet.
Closed his eyes.
But Lin Wan could tell.
His body wasn't fully relaxed.
His breathing was heavier than usual.
That night—
She barely slept.
She listened to the uneven rhythm of his breathing beside her.
Watched his ears twitch occasionally in sleep.
Sometimes his tail tip moved.
Once or twice he even made faint, muffled sounds.
Not words.
Just the kind of soft whimpering dogs made in dreams.
Her mind raced.
Was Li Wei'an right?
Were the side effects already beginning?
The extreme combat stress.
The explosive surge of consciousness during the battle.
Had it drained him too much?
Was the dog side slowly pushing back?
Was the human part of him weakening…
Even temporarily shutting down?
Lin Wan stared into the darkness.
Her chest tight.
Fear spreading quietly inside her.
Because the scariest part wasn't the fight with Entropy.
Not the battles.
Not the danger.
It was the possibility that one day—
The man inside this dog
might simply
fade away.