TTAETSC Chapter 11: Pink Jellyfish?

Translator: Deyonna

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Swish—

The long knife instantly impaled the little monster.

The little monster finally loosened its jaws in pain. Ye Yunfan immediately seized the chance, painfully pulling his bitten body free and escaping quickly.

The little monster had no tongue, and its teeth weren't arranged in upper and lower rows like a human's or an animal's. Instead, they spiraled inward, stacked layer upon layer.

It was incredibly intelligent. Having realized that Ye Yunfan's tentacles were how he devoured it, it had deliberately chosen its angle when it bit him, using its dense, sharp teeth to pierce and pin down all of the little octopus's tentacles.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye. The long knife, its force undiminished, ran through the little monster's entire body and pinned it to the massive rock behind it.

At this moment, Ye Yunfan suddenly stopped fleeing.

[Health Value -5]

[Health Value: 10/420]

[Reminder: The player has entered a state of severe blood loss. Every minute health value will decrease by 5. Please seek immediate medical treatment.]

Little Octopus: !!!

Looking at his rapidly dwindling health value, he immediately wanted to take the chance to regain some health. But before he could move, an intense sense of danger shot through his mind.

The little octopus suddenly froze in place, his pupils dilating.

Several white lines crisscrossed around the spot where the blade had pierced. The frantically struggling little monster suddenly went still.

The next second, its body seemed to turn into a neatly sliced ice cream cake, sliding apart piece by piece.

The pieces drifted away with the turbulent seawater.

Dead…

The ugly little monster was dead.

As the one closest to it, the little octopus confirmed this with his own eyes.

Ye Yunfan was stunned.

Once again, he gained a profound appreciation of just how monstrously powerful the young man was.

Fuck…

This power was simply... terrifying!!!

At that moment, Ye Yunfan heard countless monstrous, pained roars from above.

The noise was so loud and piercing that the little octopus instantly flattened his ears against his head.

He looked up and saw that the heads of several monsters in the group were exploding, while the rest either started devouring and tearing apart their companions or kept attacking the lighthouse. Some even fled outright?!

Ye Yunfan quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed his guess had indeed been correct.

—These monsters were indeed being commanded by the little monster.

He speculated that this method of command differed from the verbal communication human armies used. They seemed to rely on some other, more mysterious and strange way.

It seemed that some kind of force had merged their collective consciousness into the commander's.

Now that the commander's consciousness had been extinguished, the unified collective consciousness would naturally collapse into countless individual ones.

Individual consciousnesses naturally prioritized their own desires and self-preservation as the primary motivators for action, leading to divergent choices among the monsters…

Ye Yunfan had speculated all this in his head. His previous job as a game planner had exposed him to many similar concepts, but this speculation was limited to fantasy and lacked any real evidence to support it.

The scene was too chaotic, and Ye Yunfan couldn't spot Yuan Ye for a while.

But that guy was so strong, surely he could hold on a little longer.

Random thoughts flashed through his mind, but the little octopus didn't dwell on them and pounced on the nearest chunk of meat like a hungry tiger on its prey.

The most important thing was to eat quickly!

Otherwise, his health bar would be depleted!!!

The intense pain in his body began to fade, and the familiar notification panel kept appearing and flashing.

[Health Value +30]

[Stamina Value +20]

[Health Value +30]

[Stamina Value +20]

...

[Reminder: The state of severe blood loss has been resolved.]

[Reminder: Large energy intake detected, stamina value limit +50, health value limit +90]

[Stamina Value: 355/355]

[Health Value: 170/510]

—The increase in data limits had become smaller.

Ye Yunfan noticed this quickly and silently made a note of it while devouring an eyeball from the shriveled piece of meat.

The taste of this eyeball was a little unusual.

The next second, new text appeared on the floating notification panel.

[Mental Power +10]

[Mental Power: 107+8x5]

Huh?

Ye Yunfan's mind suddenly felt much clearer, and his perception of his surroundings grew slightly sharper.

That slight improvement let the little octopus suddenly sense Yuan Ye, who was not far away.

Perhaps the decisive blow just now had made the monsters realize the strength and danger of this tiny human. That was why Yuan Ye was able to come over unobstructed.

At this moment, however, the young man looked disheveled. His once pristine white shirt was almost entirely stained pink with blood and seawater. A deep wound ran from his left elbow to his wrist, the flesh curled back to expose the bone. It was a horrifying sight.

Behind him, closer to the surface, bursts of fire erupted one after another.

Rumble—!

The seawater carried the loud roar of explosions, along with the muffled sound of gunfire.

Ye Yunfan immediately understood. Their support must have arrived.

But that "their" didn't include him, since he was no longer human.

The surging seawater washed away the remaining fragments of the little monster. They had scattered in all directions and were already floating far in the distance.

[More! More!]

[Eat! Eat!!!]

[Faster! Faster!]

The little tentacles urged anxiously.

After careful consideration, though, Ye Yunfan managed to suppress his instincts with difficulty and gave up chasing the remaining prey. Instead, he quickly squeezed into the narrow crevice deep within the rocks and activated his camouflage skill. His skin color blended almost seamlessly with the rocks.

He had good reason. At this moment, Ye Yunfan also saw armed personnel diving into the water one after another. A large ship and several small yachts seemed to be on the surface as well.

Ye Yunfan knew he was a different species, and the humans in this world clearly loathed those monsters. He had no confidence that, if humans discovered him, a creature who could devour monsters and had human intelligence, they would treat him without prejudice.

Human curiosity was too strong. It often came with a desire to explore, and exploring a little deeper led to research.

Ye Yunfan couldn't help thinking of all those cruel experiments involving dissection. So he believed the most cautious, safest choice for now was to hide.

He must stay alive!

Just as the little octopus curled up as small as he could, holding his breath and huddling tightly, Yuan Ye finally swam near the rocks.

Yuan Ye reached out with his right hand, seemingly exhausted, and pulling out the long knife seemed to take some effort.

Snap—

The young man's heterochromatic eyes swept around idly, and in the next moment he stabbed his knife off to the side just as casually.

[Ahhhh!]

[We're going to die! We're going to die!]

The little tentacles screamed in fear.

Swish!

The blade narrowly grazed the little octopus's head. If he'd had any hair, it surely would have been shaved into a Mediterranean-style haircut.

Ye Yunfan: !!!

Holy shit!

How did this guy find me?!!

The little octopus couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he thought. Still, he held onto the hope that Yuan Ye was only bluffing.

So Ye Yunfan buried his head like an ostrich while the eight little tentacles trembled, huddled around it.

But in the next second, the expressionless youth drew his long knife again and aimed it at Ye Yunfan's hiding spot, as if about to strike once more.

The little octopus made a quick decision and rolled out, revealing himself and throwing himself flat on the ground, a thin pink pancake.

In this scene, Ye Yunfan resembled a demon in Journey to the West about to be struck down by Sun Wukong. He was one step away from shouting—

Great Sage, spare my life!

At this moment, Yuan Ye looked at the little pink guy in front of him, who had flattened almost into a piece of dough. The corners of his mouth silently curved up in a barely noticeable, shallow arc.

He sheathed his long knife, then tore off his tattered cloak. Without a word, he bundled up the little octopus and carried it away.

Ye Yunfan: "..."

For a brief moment, he felt like a virtuous maiden forcibly carried off by a local tyrant.

Ten minutes later—

Splash!

Yuan Ye surfaced.

Ye Yunfan cautiously poked his head out from under the cloak and looked around. Only then did he realize the storm had stopped at some point and the horizon was already turning white.

Then the little octopus shifted his gaze to Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye shook his wet hair and swept the dripping strands back from his forehead, revealing his face.

With his hair swept back, the young man's cold, handsome face suddenly took on a sharp, dangerous edge. In the morning light, his heterochromatic eyes looked even more beautiful.

But the pallor of his lips clashed with all that, lending him a touch of delicate fragility.

Ye Yunfan stared at him for a long time and suddenly felt that even the coolest, most beautiful boys in top-tier manga probably couldn't compare to him.

Yuan Ye didn't return to the lighthouse, but moved away from the battlefield instead. Support from the special investigation team had arrived and would take over the cleanup.

With the king creature dead, the remaining cleanup wouldn't be too difficult.

"Commander—"

A crisp, sunny voice came from a distance, growing closer. The familiar sound made Ye Yunfan turn around, and he found it was the new recruit, Jon.

Perhaps because of his youthful demeanor, seventeen-year-old Jon looked even younger than Yuan Ye. He had Caucasian features, flaxen curly hair, and a few adorable freckles across his nose.

Jon puffed hard as he paddled the small boat over, his face a mix of excitement and nervousness. He waved vigorously at Yuan Ye and called out, reverent and stammering.

"C... Commander, hello!"

Because Yuan Ye had demonstrated supernatural abilities, he was clearly a gifted individual. But Jon couldn't tell whether Yuan Ye belonged to the royal court's imperial guard or was a high-ranking decontamination officer, so he played it safe and addressed him as "commander."

"Captain sent me to pick you up."

As he spoke, Jon's gaze involuntarily fell on the black collar around the youth's neck.

—That was a limiter device.

It was said that this device was designed specifically for gifted people with immense power who were prone to losing control. Its presence further confirmed Yuan Ye's strength and identity.

In an era when combat power was directly tied to social status and even survival, almost everyone wanted to become stronger.

Jon was no exception.

He nervously reached out a hand toward Yuan Ye.

"Commander, I-I-I... let me help you up."

Looking at the formidable, powerful commander before him, Jon felt like a fan meeting his idol. He was so excited he didn't know what to say.

Then he suddenly froze, his gaze fixed on the junction of Yuan Ye's neck and shoulder. There were several noticeable light pink marks that looked a bit like hickeys and trailed down to his collarbone.

If Jon hadn't witnessed the incredibly thrilling battle last night, he might have thought the powerful gifted man before him had just had a passionate romantic encounter.

Yuan Ye noticed Jon's gaze and shot him a cold, piercing look. It frightened the new recruit so badly that he nearly stumbled into the sea.

Yuan Ye ignored Jon's outstretched hand and swiftly pushed himself up with his right hand, climbing onto the boat one-handed.

Perhaps because of his severe injuries, his movements weren't as agile as usual. As he climbed onto the boat, the little octopus, who had been peeking out from under his cloak, slipped out when he suddenly turned.

Plop!

Ye Yunfan fell into the water, and the smell of freedom immediately engulfed him from all directions.

For a brief moment, he truly wanted to turn around and run away.

But unsurprisingly, Ye Yunfan saw a familiar scene once again.

—Yuan Ye drawing his knife.

Holy shit!

Holy shit!!!

Ye Yunfan immediately broke the surface, scrambling and swimming toward the small boat as fast as he could.

The little tentacles were so frightened that they let out a series of high-pitched screams—

[Ahhhh!!!]

[We're going to be eaten!]

[Eaten, eaten!]

[Scary! Scary!]

Their thinking was very simple. When faced with a creature stronger than themselves, the only danger they could think of was being eaten.

But at that moment, Yuan Ye's wrist turned, and he lightly flicked the blunt side of the knife through the seawater.

When the long knife rose from the water again, a wet, sticky little pink creature was clinging to it.

The little tentacles huddled together in front of his head, trembling, seeking warmth from each other.

Ye Yunfan was filled with panic and unease at first, but after enduring the darkness for a moment, he muttered in a low voice.

"Loosen up, I can't see anything!"

[Oh!]

[Oh oh oh!]

The little tentacles, realizing a bit late, quickly loosened up.

They moved swiftly, like fingers covering a face, parting to leave a gap just wide enough for Ye Yunfan's eyes to peek through.

Yuan Ye stared expressionlessly at the little octopus. It had been too dark and dangerous under the sea earlier, so only now did he have time to examine this strange little creature carefully.

"Hmm, pink…"

Ye Yunfan's heart raced madly as the young man tilted his head slightly, seemingly lost in thought and a little puzzled.

"—jellyfish?"

Ye·suddenly had cardiac arrest·Yunfan: "..."

Octopus choking.jpg

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