Volume 4, Chapter 39 – A Girl’s Worst Enemy: Tentacle Monster

“Fight my ass. If this drags on any longer, we’re all going to die here!”

After spitting heavily, Xie Nian, the man in charge of the Defense Battalion, casually patted the dust off his body.

He looked utterly disheveled, covered in dirt and dust.

The soldiers beside him all wore bitter expressions as well.

They had known for a long time that the people from Nine Songs were strong, but they had never imagined they would be this strong. They were practically fighting ten men each, beating them back step by step. One outer defensive line after another had been pierced through, and they were just about to be pushed back into the base itself.

“Rainer’s phone won’t go through at all!”

Not long after, a middle-aged man with a thick beard came over, shaking his head. He was Dante, supervisor of the Equipment Department.

“It’s already been twenty-five minutes. How are we supposed to hold the last five? There aren’t many brothers left who can still fight,” Xie Nian said bitterly.

At this rate, they were all going to die here.

Dante had a headache too. He had long since prepared to slip away, but then a call came down from above telling them to escort the people from the Biochemical Department out with them.

Wasn’t that screwing them over?

Although Rainer held the same rank of supervisor as he did, their actual status was worlds apart.

With people above backing him, Rainer often cursed Dante like he was some worthless grandson.

How was Dante supposed to command Rainer?

Now Rainer was making them hold the line for half an hour, or else he refused to leave. What could Dante do about that?

He couldn’t persuade him, and he couldn’t even find him.

Once the front door of the Biochemical Department lab was locked, no one could get in. Not to mention the door in the warehouse. He had never even seen that one opened under normal circumstances.

Even so, Dante didn’t dare abandon Rainer and leave on his own.

If he ran back by himself, the higher-ups would skin him alive. In the end, what they valued was Rainer’s research. Dante himself was just an add-on.

Like the extra pair of chopsticks that came free with takeout.

Mm.

Xie Nian from the Defense Battalion wasn’t much better off either. Maybe he counted as the plastic bag the takeout came in?

They were both miserable souls cast adrift, so why make things hard on each other?

“Sigh…” Dante let out a long breath first.

“How about we just pull out?” Xie Nian said.

“Are you trying to die?”

Dante immediately cut him off. “If you don’t want to die, then hurry up and drop that idea!”

“…”

“Leaving Morningstar directly isn’t a good choice either. Your position isn’t exactly low. When the time comes, the higher-ups will definitely have you hunted down on the dark web,” Dante mercilessly shattered Xie Nian’s fantasy.

“…”

“And don’t even think about surrendering. With everything we’ve done, once we lose our usefulness, even if we don’t end up in military court, there won’t be much hope left for the rest of our lives.”

“They’ve got us completely boxed in.” Xie Nian gave a bitter laugh.

Dante shook his head. “Just hold on. Hold out as long as we can until Rainer finishes his experiment. I heard those monsters of his howling nonstop from outside just now. No idea what new trick he’s trying to pull.”

“Fuck!” Xie Nian slapped the floor.

Bang!

A bullet flew past just above their heads, nearly scaring the eloquent Dante into pissing himself.

“Fall back, fall back, fall back! We can’t hold this place anymore!” Dante shouted.

“You…” Xie Nian was speechless.

…

The violent explosion calmed the excited Rainer down. He glanced back at the door, which was already bulging outward, then lifted his foot and strode toward Test Subject No. 24. Let the outside descend into total chaos. As long as this injection went in, in a moment the living would become dead, the whole would become shattered, and flesh would turn to shit!!!

“Pull the cloth off!” Rainer beckoned to two researchers.

One took the left side and the other the right, grabbing the white cloth and preparing to yank it down.

Boom!

At that moment, another loud blast rang out. A hole was blown straight through the sturdy door, and the corridor outside was now visible.

One of the researchers turned his head and saw a pair of compound eyes staring fixedly into the room.

“Holy shit…”

He couldn’t help taking a step back.

Swish! The white cloth was yanked away, and Rainer gazed in satisfaction at his greatest masterpiece, Test Subject No. 24.

“S-Supervisor, the test subject is…”

“What are you yelling for?!”

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Rainer barked angrily. He fitted a needle onto the syringe, walked in front of Test Subject No. 24, and pressed the switch to open the cultivation tank.

The culture fluid was rapidly drained away. Then red mist sprayed out, and the glass wall slowly lowered.

Rainer smiled.

Test Subject No. 24 was currently resting. As long as he gave him this shot, he could go watch the show from the secret passage behind him.

“Heh heh…”

Pierce.

The needle slid into one of the relatively weaker points on Test Subject No. 24’s body.

Bang!

“R-run, hurry!”

“How did those things get in here?!”

Whoosh!

The chaotic noise finally drew Rainer’s attention. He turned his head and saw a huge black figure flying through the air toward him with a shrieking rush of wind, aimed straight at the operating table where Test Subject No. 24 was.

“Why the hell is that thing here?”

Rainer was startled. He had thought the ones charging in would be the two intruders, but instead it was one of the test subjects.

Its scythe-like blade arms were like lances in a thrust, just about to stab into Test Subject No. 24.

Smack!

Rainer furiously swung his left hand, knocking the test subject off course. It crashed into the instrument rack beside it, and glass equipment shattered across the floor.

“What a pity.”

“Looks like we just made it!”

Anran and Aila then appeared in the doorway.

The fact that level 21 biochemical fiend Rainer could punch away a weaker test subject with one blow wasn’t all that surprising.

But the moment she saw the needle that had already pierced into Test Subject No. 24, Anran’s expression changed abruptly.

She didn’t even have time to be shocked by Test Subject No. 24’s appearance. Shu Mingxu’s words flashed through her mind. In its complete state, this test subject was as strong as Heloise.

How the hell were they supposed to fight that?

Better run for their lives.

She quickly threw a Scout over at it.

Name: Test Subject No. 24 [Suppressed] [Incomplete]

Level: 23

…

Incomplete was good.

“Aila, move!”

Anran yanked Aila aside. They had barely dodged away from the doorway when another test subject shot out from behind them. It had been lunging at Anran, but after missing, it slid straight in front of Rainer.

Rainer’s expression changed slightly. He violently slammed down the syringe injector in his hand.

There was no need for any more nonsense. Once this shot went in…

“You’re all going to die!” Rainer sneered.

Anran froze.

Aila was stunned for a moment too.

The other researchers in the lab all froze as well.

Drip.

Rainer’s smile stiffened. Only the two other test subjects had gotten back up. Their savage gazes swept across the people in the room again and again before finally settling behind Rainer.

This is bad.

Cold sweat broke out across Rainer’s forehead, because he realized the plunger on the syringe wouldn’t go down.

Like a robot lagging out, Rainer slowly turned around.

A hideous face was right in front of him, a distorted human face whose sharp teeth looked especially jarring.

That wasn’t what Rainer was focused on. He lowered his head. The syringe that had been stuck into Test Subject No. 24’s body had now been pulled back out, and the barrel was being held down by a tentacle.

Yes, a tentacle. But not the slick kind that loved drilling into holes.

There were eight of them in total, like withered vines, growing from Test Subject No. 24’s back. The tentacles were covered in sharp barbs, and at the front ends were blades, claws, spikes, and other such weapons.

This was an agile monster born for combat.

Anran’s expression darkened slightly.

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You could still make out a humanoid shape from Test Subject No. 24’s body. It really was a monster created through human modification.

Rainer’s face changed too.

One of Test Subject No. 24’s tentacles shoved backward, and the needle plunged straight into Rainer’s abdomen, boring a hole into it.

“Aaaagh!”

Rainer roared and tried to push the needle away, but Test Subject No. 24 had more limbs and greater strength. In the struggle, the entire tube of orange liquid was injected into Rainer’s body.

“Aaaagh!”

Bang!

With a heavy punch, Rainer knocked Test Subject No. 24 back. Veins bulged all over his body as he clutched his head like a madman, shaking and jerking nonstop like someone high on drugs.

Even the two test subjects that had rushed in were frightened by the scene.

“It… it’s over.”

Several researchers trembled in fear. They wanted to run, but the moment they saw the two “monsters” standing in the doorway, their legs refused to move. When they looked back and saw Test Subject No. 24 grinning excitedly and making huffing noises, they nearly pissed themselves on the spot.

And then there was the “crazy” Rainer. That serum had been meant for Test Subject No. 24. No one had any idea what would happen if it were injected into a human body.

“Aaaagh!” Rainer screamed.

Test Subject No. 24 watched Rainer’s transformation with great interest.

Because it had been modified from a human body, its intelligence was no less than a human’s.

“This…”

How did they suddenly start fighting each other?

Sensing that a huge battle was about to erupt, Anran was ready to activate the burst mode of her mechanical boots at any moment. But the scene in front of her now left her unsure how to make a move.

Two weaker test subjects, Rainer, and the rebellious Test Subject No. 24. That made three separate groups of enemies.

“Aaagh!”

Rainer’s body began to mutate.

The bulging veins showed no signs of subsiding. Instead, they spread across him like the roots of an old tree.

His eyes turned blood-red. His cries of pain gradually became hoarse, and he looked more and more like he was about to transform.

Smack!

At that moment, two of Test Subject No. 24’s tentacles lashed out, sending Rainer flying.

He slammed into the wall, opening two more bloody wounds across his body. But instead of blood spraying out violently, it seemed as though some kind of coagulant had been added. The blood quickly solidified.

Smack smack smack!

Test Subject No. 24 excitedly lashed Rainer’s body with its tentacles, as if it were addicted to cruelty, whipping him while laughing with those huffing sounds.

“Mom, save me!”

“I want out of here!”

“Huang Lang, it’s me! I used to be your big brother!”

Pfft!

One unlucky researcher was sent flying straight upward by one of the backward barbs on a tentacle. Blood sprayed all over the inside of the room, and the two test subjects that had been cowering and not daring to come forward were instantly stimulated into excitement by the scent of blood.

No. This couldn’t drag on any longer.

Every extra second of delay meant another person would be killed, and that meant less EXP and fewer points for her.

Then I’ll do it myself.

Anran swiftly threw out her last bomb, then dragged Aila outside the room.

Thunk thunk.

Boom!

“You killed a Morningstar Resistance researcher and obtained 1,400 Free EXP.” ×4

A huge amount of debris flew out from the collapsed doorway. Everything inside the lab was blasted to pieces. If not for the specially reinforced walls, they would have had a hard time surviving that blast too.

This wasn’t a High-Energy Explosive, but a bomb Anran had looted from the Resistance. Its explosive power was still quite considerable.

All she had left now was a rifle and one blade.

Standing in the doorway, Anran fired a shot that forced back a shadow lunging toward her.

The rolling dust and smoke made it impossible for her to see the situation inside clearly, but it was obviously not that tentacle monster.

“Roar roar!”

Left side.

Anran immediately pulled the trigger.

A bullet vanished into the smoke. Aila let out a light cry and struck with her rod, knocking a scythe blade that had lashed out straight to the ground.

Tentacle monster?

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Anran’s pupils contracted.

Aila stepped on it without hesitation.

“Wuu…”

Slash!

…

Crimson Blade was knocked straight back. Four tentacles rushed toward Aila’s body one after another, as if trying to wrap her up and drag her away.

Aila had no choice but to retreat. Under the two girls’ defense, they quickly forced the tentacles back.

Gradually, the smoke in the room cleared, and Anran finally saw the situation inside.

The entire lab had become utter chaos.

The spirit of infighting really could thrive anywhere.

Three of the tentacle monster’s tentacles were still locked in combat with the mangled Rainer, while the other two test subjects had started fighting each other on their own.

Good.

If all of them had joined forces, then she really would have had no choice but to run.

“Killing Blow!”

Anran shouted the name of the skill with great momentum, adding a bit of flavor to the otherwise dull fight and padding things a little while she was at it.

Bang!

Critical hit successful.

Base damage: -145. Critical damage: -290.

“Aila, cover me!”

Rainer had fallen to the disadvantage. There was no way she was letting a kill worth tens of thousands of EXP be stolen by that tentacle monster.

Second-stage burst of the mechanical boots.

“Hah!”

A burst of bullets was aimed at Rainer’s neck and the back of his head, while under the support of Lv3 Backstab, Crimson Blade suddenly plunged into Rainer’s body.

Every tentacle that tried to attack Anran was knocked away with sharp clangs by Aila’s airtight defense with her crude iron rod.

Pshhk!

“Aaaah!”

Lv3 Backstab damage bonus: 30%.

“Weak point attack successful. 160% critical damage bonus applied!”

“-676” “-231” “-76” “-99”

“Roar!”

Seeing its prey heavily wounded by someone else, the tentacle monster let out an enraged howl. It released the three tentacles pinning Rainer down, then sent two to attack from above and one from below.

Those were three claws.

Savage claws.

Aimed at weak points.

Anran gritted her teeth.

Most of the time, tentacle monsters were the natural enemy of beautiful girls, but she was an outrageous exception that didn’t play by the rules!!!

Her cosmos erupted!

Mechanical armguard, active skill with full 50 Energy: [Charged Impact], activated instantly.

Forty-nine points of Strength, a full threefold amplification of power, plus an air-pressure shock compressed to the absolute limit and explosively released in an instant.

The speed and power of that single strike were so intense that even Anran, with 40 Endurance, felt as though her arm were about to break.

But the effect was equally astonishing.

After all, this was the strongest trump card she had forged through so much hard work, a combination of flesh and technology alike.

A mech maiden could be a melee expert too!

Whoosh!

It was almost as if she could see spiraling airflow carrying the sharp mechanical switchblade as it slammed into Rainer in an instant.

His already tattered clothes exploded into fragments. The cracking of broken bones was drowned out. The moment Rainer’s body collided with the tentacle monster, he was pierced straight through, and all the remaining force slammed fully into the tentacle monster as well.

The switchblade on the armguard snapped off after stabbing into the tentacle monster’s body.

Crack.

Bang!

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The tentacle monster was blasted into the wall like a fired shell.

“Lethal attack successful. 200% critical damage bonus applied!”

“-1207”

“You killed [Weakened Half-Demonized Rainer], contribution 100%, and obtained 21,000 Free EXP!”

A certain mini-boss died on the spot before he could even show what he was capable of.

“-798”

Another damage number floated up right beside Rainer’s lethal-damage value.

That one had come from the tentacle monster.

Anran’s right hand trembled slightly.

That thing’s defense was far too high. Even in its suppressed state, it was this hard to deal with. If it were in its complete form, Anran didn’t even dare imagine how strong it would be.

Which meant that a woman like Heloise…

was terrifying.

The two test subjects that had been tearing into each other were completely stunned. Just as Anran stared grimly at the tentacle monster, it suddenly did something unexpected. It ran into the room, slapped a few times to open a hidden passage, and drilled straight inside.

It ran?

It really ran.

The moment Anran realized that, she saw the other two test subjects also scrambling toward the secret passage in a panic.

Fuck. If I can’t kill that tentacle monster, am I really going to let you two little EXP packs get away too?

Anran flew into a rage. “Aila, stop them!”

Pia pia pia!

Pa pa pa pa!

Pshhk!

“You killed Test Subject No. 17 and obtained 9,000 Free EXP.”

“You killed Test Subject No. 19 and obtained 9,400 Free EXP.”

The current target count for the Morningstar Hunter title was 97/100. It was almost time for another upgrade.

Anran looked at the wreckage all over the floor, her expression unchanged.

The mission still wasn’t completely finished. More than half her stamina was gone, but she could still fight. Although the mechanical armguard was almost out of energy and its armor value had dropped by a third, she still had the mechanical boots.

“Move. Lead the way.”

Anran grabbed Shu Mingxu and pressed a pistol against his back.

“Y-yes, yes. Where do you want to go now?”

Shu Mingxu was terrified. This biochemical lab had actually been wiped out by just Anran and Aila. Holy shit, just how strong were those two?

“Where are all the experimental data stored? Aside from that lab, is there any elsewhere?” Anran asked.

“Y-yes, there is.” Shu Mingxu nodded frantically.

“Stop dawdling. If Anran told you to lead the way, then lead the way already!” Aila scolded with a stern face.

The thick iron rod in her hands had been bent badly out of shape from all the fighting, making it look bizarre.

But after seeing how terrifying Aila was, how could Shu Mingxu dare say no?

He shivered and began leading the way up front.

Anran had thought it through clearly.

The mission hadn’t asked for these files and data, but they could all be used in a trade with Nine Songs.

This was money. Why would she turn down money right in front of her?

After losing a huge amount of equipment, Anran urgently needed something to offset her losses.

At the entrance to the archives room.

Click.

The door opened.

“Hm?”

A red shadow flashed past, and the two people hiding behind the door were instantly cut down.

“Oh? There’s one more.”

Just as she was about to sheathe her blade, Anran suddenly noticed that another person was hiding under the desk.

“Thanks a lot!”

Saying something with no clear meaning, Anran walked over with blade in hand.