Malevolent – Chapter 28 – A Smug Octopus and a Little Girl Who Spots a Flaw

“Don’t worry, how could anything happen to me~”

Ailiya smiled with full confidence, gently pinching the twin’s cheeks that were as soft as cotton candy.

Seeing their sister return to her normal expression, Miya and Weiya glanced at each other, then set aside their worries and excitedly snuggled into their sister’s embrace.

“Bad sister, pinching my face again! I’ll pinch back!”

“Weiya wants to too!”

While making a fuss, the two little ones joined forces to push Ailiya down to the ground, continuously reaching out with their chubby little hands to ‘rebel’ by pinching their sister’s face. Although Ailiya allowed her sisters to pinch her face, she didn’t yield and continuously counterattacked.

In an instant, the three little children became intimately entangled together. The entire cave was enveloped in a warm atmosphere.

…

That’s right,

I am the big sister, how could I let my little sisters worry?

During their roughhousing,

Looking at her sisters’ innocent smiles, Ailiya silently said to herself.

Thinking carefully,

She didn’t need to be so conflicted.

Her sisters were still young and innocent, not understanding anything. Even if she told them that ‘Mom’ was no longer ‘Mom’, but a Terran Malevolence in disguise, the two little sisters probably wouldn’t understand, and might not even believe her words.

After all, the mother impersonated by the Terran Malevolence was just too similar.

That being the case,

It was better to let her sisters keep a beautiful memory… let them know that ‘Mom’ hadn’t abandoned them.

As for Miya and Weiya’s safety…

That would be her responsibility as their big sister.

——”I, will take you home.”——

Ailiya whispered solemnly and earnestly. It seemed like she was making a vow, or perhaps encouraging herself.

“Home?”

Miya blinked, asking in confusion.

To this,

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Ailiya smiled sweetly, rubbing her sister’s head:

“Yes, home! Back to our real home!”

Back to that home once filled with happy memories.

To find Grandfather and Uncle,

There, her sisters could surely grow up safely.

Hearing this,

Miya and Weiya both nodded in unison. The two little girls undoubtedly had quite good impressions of their grandfather and uncle. Just imagining the days of playing together with Mom, Grandfather, and Uncle, the two little ones felt a surge of excitement.

“Mm-hmm! With sister, with Mom, go back together!”

“Yes, go back together.”

Hearing this, Ailiya nodded with complex emotions.

But,

As for ‘Mom’,

Let’s just forget about it…

However, just as Ailiya was silently adding this thought, a strange, eerie sound drifted into her ears, causing Ailiya to tremble all over.

——”Ying ying~”——

?!!!

Hmm?!

This, this sound is?

Instinctively, Ailiya immediately shielded her two sisters behind her, clenched her pink fists, and vigilantly looked toward the source of the sound, toward the huge rock behind her.

No,

To be precise, she was looking at the small pink lump on top of the boulder.

“Is, is that thing?”

With just one glance, Ailiya recognized that thing as the disgusting octopus monster that had been wrapped around her when she first woke up in the Veiled Domain.

Cherry-colored spiritual energy gradually overflowed and condensed in her hands as Ailiya nervously stared at the pink octopus.

Although from what she could sense,

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This pink octopus wasn’t a particularly powerful being, its aura intensity was far less than ordinary Corrupted Beasts, even less than a young spirit beast. Even the young Ailiya possessed a stronger aura intensity than it.

But even so, Ailiya didn’t dare to be careless.

Her intuition told her,

This creature that was always clinging to the Terran Malevolence’s side was definitely not simple.

“What do you want?!”

However, faced with Ailiya’s defensive stance, the pink octopus just disdainfully rolled its eye, didn’t open its mouth, but contemptuously used a tentacle to pull out a sign. Of course, this wasn’t an ordinary sign; it had several blood-red large characters on it, with an especially obvious warning tone.

——”Don’t think about escaping, stupid human!”——

Seeing this sign with the warning message, Ailiya was momentarily stunned.

Although she had already guessed this octopus had some intelligence, using signs instead of speaking still left Ailiya somewhat shocked, standing there in bewilderment.

After observing Ailiya’s reaction,

Faced with the human ‘stunned’ by its aura, the pink octopus raised its eyebrow even more disdainfully. Within its disdain was also a hint of pride.

Hmph,

Human children are just cowardly.

One glance from the great me, and she’s too scared to move, hmph~

…

Actually, regarding the task given by Bai Lianyue to watch over these three sisters, the pink octopus was a bit dissatisfied. As a Corrupted Beast influenced by instinct, Ling Xi inherently disliked other creatures, especially those with the aura of Augury Force like Ailiya and her sisters.

If not for Bai Lianyue’s instructions, Ling Xi would have torn Ailiya and her sisters to pieces and fed them to other comrades long ago.

Just as she had always done in the past.

Although she ultimately had to accept this task, the pink octopus still intended to adhere to her own bottom line.

Her bottom line was to absolutely never speak to garbage humans!

Besides, even if she spoke, what use would it be?

Garbage humans couldn’t understand her beautiful voice. Only her boss could hear her clearly… only her boss could understand her words…

So,

The pink octopus tried to warn Ailiya by holding up signs.

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——”Do you know where this place is? This is the core area of the Veiled Domain! The Forsaken Metropolis Visas!”——

——”Except for this small area nearby, everywhere else is covered with high-concentration miasma!”——

——”For trash like you, just touching the miasma would cause instant death, hehe~”——

——”Then your corpses would generate hex power, directly joining the Corrupted Beast family~”——

——”Even if you could avoid the miasma, there are exactly four million Corrupted Beasts nearby, including more than 1,200 that have reached the Crimson Hex Tier.”——

——”Even those so-called Celestial Augur Knights from your country, even if they came as a team, couldn’t break through! Let alone little trash like you.”——

——”Any random Corrupted Beast could tear you to pieces, okay?”——

——”If you really could run out of here? I’d be willing to be your dog in the future, hmph~”——

…

Facing little Ailiya, the pink octopus continuously raised wooden signs, its tentacles writing on the signs at an inconceivable speed.

As the pink octopus’s warnings entered her sight, the confidence in Ailiya’s eyes visibly receded, and her mood became somewhat downcast.

Seeing this, the pink octopus became even more smug, even feeling a sense of achievement in its heart.

With a cold snort, the pink octopus slowly raised its final sign,

——”Don’t foolishly think about escaping. While the boss is interested in you, hurry up and act cute to please the boss, maybe you can live a bit longer.”——

The pink octopus gave its final suggestion.

Hmph,

Just admit defeat and stay put.

It’s your honor that the boss has taken an interest in you.

…

Looking at Ailiya who was biting her lip and had fallen into silence, the pink octopus’s single eye narrowed slightly.

Satisfaction flickered within it.

Hehe,

It seems the great me’s warnings have been quite effective~

While smugly muttering in its heart, the pink octopus’s tentacle drew a circle to the side. Next, accompanied by a surge of pink-white hex light, a bright red apple unexpectedly flew out from within the circle, landing on the pink octopus’s tentacle.

After giving the warning, it was time for a break~

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Just in time, it was feeling hungry.

So, the pink octopus slowly turned its gaze. Upon seeing the bright red, juicy apple, its crimson large eye revealed intense happiness. The happy emotions even directly overshadowed the cold threatening look in its eyes.

Hehe~

Apple~

With a smug smile, the pink octopus eagerly brought the apple, which was about the same size as its body, to its mouth. With a ‘crunch’ sound, the fresh juice of the apple instantly burst in the pink octopus’s mouth, causing waves of pleasure to gradually overflow its plump pink face.

Mmm~

“Ying ying~” (Delicious~)

Compared to other Corrupted Beasts that ate raw meat and drank blood, Ling Xi had one very special trait. She didn’t like eating meat, but preferred fruit. Among various fruits, she was particularly fond of apples, especially those soft, tender apples~

Whenever she ate such apples, Ling Xi would feel an unprecedented satisfaction, a sense of happiness naturally arising.

This time was no exception.

Hugging the apple, Ling Xi contentedly began to munch on it.

“Ying ying~” (Indeed, apples are the most delicious food in the world~, and those grown using boss’s body are exceptionally tasty~)

——”Munch munch~”——

…

Nearby, watching the pink octopus eating with gusto, little Ailiya’s expression gradually changed from previous disappointment to something rather strange.

However,

She wasn’t surprised that a Corrupted Beast was eating an apple.

Of course, a Corrupted Beast eating an apple was indeed a bit outlandish, but that wasn’t the point. The point was… where did this octopus pull the apple from?

Before this?

There was nothing around this tako, right?

…

Moreover,

According to what this thing said, the area is surrounded by miasma?

But if the area is truly surrounded by miasma, how did I get in here in the first place?