TTAETSC Chapter 10: Blood-Red Fireworks

Translator: Deyonna

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Although the little octopus was a bad fighter, his movements were quite agile and swift. At this moment, Yuan Ye felt a sudden emptiness in his chest, and a numbing sensation like an electric current surged from his chest all the way down to his ankles.

If one were to peel off the youth's clothes right now, one would see his skin visibly flushed with a thin layer of red, running down from his chest and perfectly overlapping the path the little octopus had just dashed down.

Fortunately, the pain from the wound was intense enough, and the situation dire enough. Moreover, that little creature wasn't human after all; it just had a texture similar to human skin.

As a result, Yuan Ye's reaction wasn't as intense and uncontrollable as it used to be, when he would lash out violently at whatever touched him, leading to irreparable consequences and bloodshed.

So at this moment, his movements showed only a barely noticeable stiffness before quickly returning to normal.

Yuan Ye realized that the small creature that had been quietly nestled on his chest had departed, seemingly taking something from him. Perhaps, from the beginning, its only reason for helping him stop the bleeding had been that specific item.

Yuan Ye didn't mind, since he had nothing valuable on him anyway.

Moreover, he felt it was only logical for the little creature to choose this moment to leave. After all, seeking advantage and avoiding harm was the instinct of living beings.

Indeed, a moment like the one just now, when the creature suddenly came running to help him stop the bleeding, was truly incredible.

Perhaps it had realized that he wasn't as powerful as it had imagined and couldn't defeat all the otherworldly creatures to protect it. So, before things became hopeless, it had found a chance to quietly slip away.

A very reasonable judgment.

However, Yuan Ye harbored little resentment or anger. He simply let out a soft sigh in his heart.

—So smart.

The young man struggled to withstand the otherworldly creatures' frenzied attacks. In the middle of the fierce battle, he finally found a small opening and managed to glance toward where the small creature had gone.

In that instant, the young man's calm, almost indifferent expression froze.

What he saw was not the back of the little octopus hurriedly escaping, but the little guy aggressively advancing and slashing at the little monster with a knife.

Yuan Ye's mind went blank for a moment.

It... was helping him?

No—

They seemed more like... fighting side by side.

This concept was so unfamiliar to Yuan Ye that it took him quite some time to retrieve it from the depths of his mind.

The little octopus's posture was indeed handsome and full of momentum, but the knife was still too heavy for him. Coupled with the water pressure and resistance at the seabed, it was hard for Ye Yunfan to control where the blade landed.

Bang!

The blade grazed past the side of the round, fleshy little monster and landed heavily in the sandy ground, half of it embedded.

Ye Yunfan's knife chopped at empty air, and he and the little monster locked eyes, both freezing in place.

The next second, they both came to their senses at once.

Without hesitation, the little octopus turned and ran. Meanwhile, the ugly, round, fleshy little monster let out a sinister laugh and lunged forward, trying to bite him.

[Ahhh! So scary!]

[So scary! So scary!]

[How can she be so ugly?]

[She's so ugly, so ugly!]

The little tentacles were terrified, squealing in fear, yet they couldn't stop themselves from making disparaging comments.

Ye Yunfan ran, crawled, and rolled in desperation, too preoccupied to respond.

From a distance, it hadn't seemed so obvious, but up close, the grotesque, round, fleshy monster was almost twice his size, its surface covered in twisted lumps of flesh. It was absolutely disgusting, so disgusting!

Of course, the most important thing was that the creature's mouth was almost as big as Ye Yunfan himself.

After brief consideration, the little octopus was certain he couldn't win the fight and decisively chose to flee.

Yuan Ye watched the entire scene unfold, and the strange feeling that had lingered in his heart vanished without a trace.

—So stupid.

He thought.

But Ye Yunfan didn't just run away. After all, he swam faster than the little monster. Once he had put enough distance between them, he swiftly turned around, raised his big knife, and charged forward valiantly once again.

[Charge! Kill!]

[Cut it off! Cut it off!]

[Eat her! Eat her!]

The little tentacles screamed nonstop, at times thrilled, waving flags and shouting battle cries, and at other times panicking and wailing as if their bottoms were on fire.

[Run fast, run fast!]

[Ahhh, we're going to be eaten!]

[Help, help! We're going to be eaten!]

For a moment, the little octopus and the grotesque fleshy ball fought a fierce back-and-forth battle. One fled in a hurry while the other pursued in frustration and anger, like an exhilarating martial arts showdown.

Yuan Ye was witnessing, for the first time, a battle he had no words for. Even by his standards, this couldn't be called a real fight; at most, it resembled children's play.

However, the grotesque fleshy ball was much larger and stronger than the little octopus. Its sharp teeth came dangerously close to biting Ye Yunfan in half several times.

Ye Yunfan was panting heavily, half-dead from exhaustion. He realized he had underestimated the difficulty of killing the little monster and greatly overestimated his own combat prowess.

Back when Ye Yunfan was still human, the bloodiest thing he had ever done was kill a chicken. But this creature was much harder to kill than a chicken.

But time was tight, and he had to fight fast and think fast.

Ye Yunfan was well aware of the situation. He speculated that the little monster could command the larger monsters and possessed some intelligence.

Just now, he had appeared too suddenly, and he was also tempting prey for the little monster, so it had fought him.

However, if the battle dragged on and the opponent couldn't take him down, something unforeseen would certainly happen.

If he waited for the little monster to react and summon the larger monsters, Ye Yunfan would be dead by then, without a scrap left.

The little octopus scanned the surroundings and suddenly noticed the small crevice in the rocks where the little monster had been hiding earlier.

The crevice could barely be called a passage, wide at the opening and narrow inside. The narrowest part was barely the width of a human finger.

The little octopus immediately thought of a strategy. He swung his knife, forcing the little monster to dodge, then swiftly turned and scurried toward the crevice.

But halfway there, Ye Yunfan suddenly noticed how quiet it was behind him. He turned around and saw that the grotesque fleshy ball wasn't chasing him.

The opponent stood cautiously in place. Its protruding, murky eyeballs rolled around as if it had sensed that something was amiss.

Inexplicably, Ye Yunfan's first instinct was that the opponent had sensed a possible trap and was carefully planning to summon the larger monsters.

The instant this thought flashed through his mind, he saw the eyeballs pause, as if they had reached a conclusion, and then turn toward the group of larger monsters not far away.

Ye Yunfan's heart skipped a beat in fear.

Despicable! This ugly little monster had no martial ethics! It couldn't beat him, so it was calling for backup!

But if this little monster really managed to summon those larger monsters, Ye Yunfan would undoubtedly be devoured, down to the last scrap.

So at this moment, the little octopus made a bold move. He extended one small tentacle and dragged it hard against the blade.

[Health Value -1]

As the notification panel appeared, a bright line of crimson blood welled up on the small tentacle, immediately dispersing into the seawater and drifting with the current toward the little monster.

In that instant, all the eyeballs on the little monster's body began to tremble violently. It was as if they had taken some kind of drug and become insanely excited.

The next second, it disregarded everything and charged at Ye Yunfan in a frenzy.

Its speed was almost twice as fast as before!

The little octopus, ready for this, darted off, dragging the big knife with him. He rushed toward the crevice in the rock, threw the knife aside, and slipped inside like liquid.

Bang!!!

The little monster right behind him plunged in too, but its head was too big. Going at full speed, it got wedged in the narrowest part of the crevice.

Meanwhile, Ye Yunfan had smoothly slipped out of the tiny hole, which was no bigger than a fingertip.

Sure enough, octopuses really were like liquid.

He didn't stop. Racing against time, he turned back and picked up the big knife he had just thrown aside in the crevice.

Ye Yunfan looked at the small monster, which was struggling frantically but unable to move. He aimed both his gaze and the tip of the knife at the area just below its wriggling tail.

He! Hehehe!!!

The smile in the little octopus's heart gradually widened.

He backed away several steps to gather his strength, then swiftly lunged forward, aiming straight at his target.

Stab—

The blade pierced halfway through.

In that instant, the small monster's body convulsed violently, and all of its eyes turned red.

The otherworldly creatures besieging Yuan Ye in the distance, along with the ones ramming the lighthouse, all froze for a moment. The next second, they changed direction and charged madly toward the seabed.

Ye Yunfan looked up, and his field of vision was almost completely filled with bizarre, terrifying black shadows. Countless crimson dots lit up, densely packed, like a gathering school of piranhas.

Even Yuan Ye felt a chill at the sight. He immediately flipped over and dove, but a human's swimming speed was limited. It was too slow.

Damn it!

Yuan Ye's eyes suddenly turned gloomy.

On the other side, Ye Yunfan's heart pounded as he found himself surrounded, yet in this nearly hopeless situation his mind was terrifyingly calm.

He glanced upward only once, then immediately looked away and swam quickly to the side of the wildly struggling little monster.

At that moment, the little tentacles' voices grew extremely excited and shrill, almost bewitching.

[Eat her!]

[Eat her!]

[Eat her!]

The next second, Ye Yunfan stopped hesitating and stabbed several tentacles straight into the creature's eyes.

Familiar data panels began to appear one after another—

[Stamina Value +20]

[Health Value +30]

[Stamina Value +20]

[Health Value +30]

...

[Reminder: Huge energy intake detected, stamina value limit +200, health value limit +120]

[Stamina Value: 305/305]

[Health Value: 140/420]

The small monster struggled frantically, roaring in pain, and its body visibly shriveled.

Not good!!!

Ye Yunfan was startled and immediately retracted his tentacles and pulled back.

The small monster, which had been stuck at the entrance of the crevice because of its size, had shriveled up. Turning misfortune into a blessing, it managed to break through and shake off the knife stuck in its body.

Perhaps because it was on the brink of life and death, the small monster whipped around and lunged at astonishing speed, several times faster than before. If Ye Yunfan hadn't kept some of his rationality, he would have been overwhelmed by the satisfaction of eating.

That was how he detected the anomaly in advance; otherwise, the creature would have torn him to pieces.

But even so, the little octopus, who had narrowly avoided a fatal blow, was still injured. A deep gash tore open on his body, and his recently replenished health value plummeted instantly.

[Health Value -20]

But this was only the beginning of a life-and-death crisis, because in the next moment an even fiercer attack followed.

Ye Yunfan reacted quickly. He immediately crouched, snatched up the fallen knife, and used it to block the small monster's mouth.

Click——

The monster bit the knife to pieces at once.

The little octopus didn't even have time to be startled. He immediately turned, trying to flee as fast as he could, but everything around him was already blocked off, leaving nowhere to run!

What to do? There was no way to escape…

In that instant, intense pain overwhelmed Ye Yunfan's mind even before despair could fully set in. Because of his momentary distraction, the small monster behind him seized the chance and bit him viciously.

The sharp teeth nearly pierced through the little octopus's body, and all his tiny tentacles immediately curled up and spasmed in pain. It was even more excruciating than being pierced by a piece of glass earlier, because they couldn't even cry out.

[Health Value -100]

[Reminder: You are now in a severe state of blood loss. Every minute the health value will be -5. Please seek immediate medical treatment!]

The prompt, reflecting the urgency of the situation, now demanded not just treatment as soon as possible, but immediate treatment.

Ye Yunfan didn't struggle right away, since that would only get him torn apart a second sooner. Instead, he decided to wait for the moment the creature would chew, looking for a chance to escape.

But he knew very well that the odds of success were close to zero. At this very moment, it seemed there was no choice but death.

At this moment, a faint white light emerged amid the dense crimson.

Ye Yunfan's pupils dilated, and his heart felt as if it would leap out of his chest.

No, it wasn't a white light.

—It turned out to be Yuan Ye's knife!

In the blink of an eye, that faint white light transformed from a dot into a line, swiftly approaching.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Wherever it passed, huge blood blossoms would explode one after another!

One cluster after another, it was like the most magnificent display of blood-red fireworks.

☰