Chapter 38: The Giveaway Squad Arrives
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Chapter 38: The Freebie Squad Has Arrived (Please Vote)
There was nowhere left to set foot in the restroom. Every step sank into something sticky and clammy.
With no other choice, Luo Ke turned and left. The corridor was completely deserted now, strewn with wreckage from end to end. Who could have imagined that only moments ago it had been filled with music, dancing, and boisterous revelry?
Low monster growls came from every direction. The air gradually grew thick with the stench of blood, and every so often a heart-rending scream erupted without warning.
Creak—
Luo Ke pushed open the double doors leading to the ballroom, and a horrifying scene unfolded before his eyes.
Under the glare of multicolored lights, mutilated corpses lay scattered in every direction. Their flesh had been stripped away, leaving behind little more than blood-stained skeletons coated in corrosive slime.
At the very center of the ballroom, a gigantic tentacle had smashed through the ceiling and hung down from above.
“Uuuu…”
A pole dancer in black stockings was bound tightly by the tentacle. Struggling for breath, she stared at its tip as it slowly split apart, tears streaming down her face.
Crack!
Under the tentacle’s tremendous force, the dancer’s spine snapped. Shattered bones pierced her organs, and a torrent of crimson burst from her mouth. Her head drooped, and she died.
The tip of the tentacle then split open with savage ferocity. Rows of appendages resembling spider legs spread around its maw, while densely packed fangs lined its upper and lower jaws, dripping with fresh blood.
Hiss—
The maw expanded wildly and swallowed the dancer’s head in a single bite. It writhed like a giant python feeding, gradually engulfing her entire body.
After a bout of churning from within, the maw began to vomit. A complete skeleton was expelled from it, with scraps of clothing still clinging to the bones. Judging by those fragments, it was the dancer from moments ago.
It only ate the meat and left the bones? This thing had standards!
“Cough, cough…”
Luo Ke waved a hand before his nose. The nearly tangible stench of blood rushed straight into his skull.
Bang!
He stamped down with one foot and shot ten meters forward, a bone blade materializing in his hand as he slashed.
Unexpectedly, the tentacle’s senses were astonishingly sharp. Just as the blade was about to reach it, the tentacle recoiled.
It narrowly dodged the attack!
“Oh? Now this is interesting!”
Luo Ke grew excited. Aside from the Calyx Beast he had fought before, it had been a long time since an opponent had given him even the slightest taste of battle’s exhilaration.
Snake Dog: Damn it!
This giant octopus might not surpass the Calyx Beast, but crushing those common-type Snake Dogs would be effortless. In the world of Spirit Cage, it would probably qualify as a Metamorphic Type.
Snake Dog: Are you really dragging me through the mud again?
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Of course, that was not a particularly rigorous comparison. The two life systems were fundamentally different and could not truly be lumped together.
The tentacle sensed the threat and instantly withdrew into the hole it had torn through the ceiling.
It appeared to be retreating, but Luo Ke’s instincts told him that it was still lurking nearby, waiting for a chance to launch a surprise attack.
A faint, sticky crawling sound constantly brushed against his ears. Following it, Luo Ke shifted his gaze from the ceiling to the walls behind him, then finally to the floor beneath his feet.
At that point, the sound vanished.
Luo Ke held his breath, ready to strike.
Boom—
The floor beneath him suddenly exploded, and a tentacle burst out, thrashing wildly with its jaws spread wide.
Buzz!
Slash!
He leapt upward as his bone blade swept downward, cleaving the tip of the tentacle cleanly in two.
The tentacle immediately recoiled after being struck.
“Hm? What kind of regenerative ability is this?” Luo Ke marveled.
A large quantity of slime seeped from the cut surface. With its aid, the wound slowly fused back together, restoring at least twenty percent of the severed portion. Without the power of Devouring clinging to it, the recovery might have been even faster.
There was no denying that this creature possessed formidable regenerative abilities. It had achieved such results through its own innate powers alone, falling only slightly short of the Calyx Beast, which had the support of the Mana ecology.
If he devoured it, would his own self-healing ability be strengthened?
This time, the tentacle did not attack recklessly. Instead, it circled from side to side like a snake.
A core of fire slowly condensed in Luo Ke’s mouth. Catching it off guard, he unleashed a torrent of flames. The furious stream surged more than ten meters, forming a gigantic fireball and sending the temperature of the entire ballroom soaring.
Boom—
The tentacle collided head-on with the blazing flames. Its outer layer was charred instantly, and then the fireball exploded.
The ten-meter-long tentacle was blown to pieces, blood spraying everywhere. It was now far too damaged to heal itself.
The tentacle decisively withdrew, vanishing through a hole in the floor.
Luo Ke followed it down. He was not afraid of confronting the giant octopus. At worst, he could activate his beast form and see which of them was tougher. The problem was that the cruise ship was truly enormous, while the octopus had far too many tentacles, each of them far too long. For the moment, he had no way to locate its hiding place.
Beneath the floor was a cramped crawl space. Luo Ke nearly lost his way as he made his turns, but eventually he followed a large opening onto the deck. At the edge of the deck was another great black hole.
Damn it, is this thing playing hide-and-seek with me?
Just then, he heard the sound of weapons being cocked, followed by the rapid approach of many footsteps.
“Don’t move!” said the mercenary leader, Hannover, in English.
Luo Ke turned his head and discovered that another boat had drawn up alongside the cruise ship. The group of burly men dressed as mercenaries had come from it.
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Luo Ke raised both hands and replied calmly in English, “I’m not moving.”
Now that these “octopus bait boxes” had arrived, all he had to do was follow them. Wouldn’t the monster octopus come crawling out on its own?
“Weaver, take care of him. Don’t make too much noise,” Hannover whispered to a young Black man before leading the others, along with the protagonist, Finnegan, into the cruise ship.
The mercenaries had rented Finnegan’s boat with the intention of robbing the wealthy passengers aboard the cruise ship. They had also entered into an arrangement with the ship’s owner, Simon.
Simon had been buried in debt while building the cruise ship. His plan was to deliberately run the vessel aground and make it appear to be an accident so that he could collect a massive insurance payout.
The mercenaries had been hired by Simon as an extraction team. According to the plan, once the cruise ship sank, Simon would leave with them, while the mercenaries would take all the money aboard.
The scheme had been flawless until the giant octopus ruined everything. Now there was also the unexpected arrival of Luo Ke.
“Heh, heh!”
A vicious grin curled across Weaver’s lips. Pretending to be friendly, he draped an arm over Luo Ke’s shoulders and led him toward the deck railing.
“We’re bodyguards hired by the captain. There’s no need to be afraid.”
As he spoke, Weaver quietly drew a military knife from the small of his back and took aim at Luo Ke’s throat.
Hm?
Suddenly, Weaver froze. Where had the knife in his hand gone?
“Looking for this?”
Luo Ke extended his left hand. Resting in it was the razor-sharp military knife.
When had he taken it?
Weaver’s eyes widened and his pupils trembled. He muttered, “Fuck,” and began to raise his rifle.
Pfft—
Luo Ke drove the knife backward into Weaver’s neck. Blood sprayed violently. His vocal cords had been severed, leaving him unable to speak. Weaver could only clutch his throat and whimper, his eyes filled with fury and disbelief.
“Go feed the octopus.”
Luo Ke pulled out the knife and plunged it once more into Weaver’s temple before kicking him into the sea.
With his final breath, Weaver formed one last thought:
So they really do all know martial arts…
Luo Ke smacked his lips, then silently followed behind the mercenary group, waiting for the giant octopus to hunt them down.
What was this strategy called?
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it!
The national college entrance examination is tomorrow! If any graduating high school seniors are reading my novel, I hope you can face this battle with a good frame of mind. Be sure to bring all your stationery. Do not forget your number-two pencil or your admission ticket! Your admission ticket! Your admission ticket! Your admission ticket! I have said it three times because it is important!
I’ll be waiting for you to come back after the exam to leave comments, follow the updates, and cast your votes! Good luck, everyone!
End of Chapter
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