TTAETSC Chapter 16: Spreading Tentacles~

Translator: Deyonna

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On the other side, Xu Ke left the cabin.

He thought of the precious medicines in the small wooden box, and a pained look crossed his face. He sighed and said,

"Truly worthy of an investigator. Giving away such expensive medicine without a second thought."

In this barren, cruel era, refined medicines like the ones given to Yuan Ye were extremely scarce. They either came from the Main City's pharmaceutical factories or could only be found by searching the occupied areas of the old days, which made them extremely expensive.

So Yuan Ye's earlier remark about how many lives those medicines could buy wasn't unfounded. It was entirely true, and many investigators had even sacrificed their lives without getting any in return.

Xu Ke muttered a few more words, then dropped the subject. Instead of going back the way he had come, he turned to the nearby herb-drying field, collected a basketful of herbs, and hurried down the mountain toward the clinic.

Not everyone could make use of the medicine in the wooden box.

Ordinary people could only use primitive herbs that had undergone rough processing. Some were crushed and applied to wounds to stop bleeding, while others had to be boiled in water and drunk.

These herbs worked slowly and were hard to carry, completely impractical in intense, dangerous battles. Their advantage was that they were cheap and easy to get. For ordinary people struggling to live and for the border sentinels, they were the most cost-effective choice, and the only one.

Xu Ke had actually heard from his master that in the old days, using these rough herbs to treat illness and injury had been a specialized field of medicine, with effects no worse than refined industrial medicines and in some cases even better.

Unfortunately, because knowledge had been lost and plants had mutated, people could only explore and rediscover the uses of the various herbs from scratch.

"The old world…"

Xu Ke's tone was a mix of longing and regret. He shook his head and stopped dwelling on such trivial matters. The important thing now was to deliver the medicine as soon as possible, since many people were still waiting at the clinic.

Just then, he heard a loud argument not far away…

"You... Why are you stopping me!"

The anger in the young man's crisp voice couldn't be hidden, but on closer listening, there was a slight tremor in it, a hint of false bravado.

"I... I'm from the seventh team, not under your jurisdiction. I'm on my way to carry out our captain's mission, and... our captain is Chen Xinyue! She's a B-level investigator!"

Xu Ke turned and looked over, only to see eight or nine burly investigators surrounding a young recruit, blocking his way and refusing to let him leave.

Seventeen-year-old Jon wasn't tall, just a little over 1.7 meters, and he didn't have much muscle. Among the tall, strong men, he looked like a little chick that hadn't finished growing.

"Oh~ That famous and beautiful investigator, Captain Chen. I know, I know."

The leader of the men was dark-skinned, with a buzz cut and a fierce look in his eyes. He chuckled, his eyes fixed on the metal medicine box Jon held in his arms, making no move to step aside.

"But what kind of mission requires you to carry…"

He suddenly pressed down on the medicine box in Jon's arms, his tone turning colder.

"Such precious medicines?"

Only medicines brought out of the occupied areas were kept in this kind of specially made metal medicine box. Holding it, Jon was practically announcing to everyone that he was delivering medicine.

The buzz-cut man tapped the medicine box repeatedly, his tone mocking and faintly threatening.

"That kind of medicine is valuable government property. Using it for personal purposes would be a crime."

"You... you!"

Jon's cheeks turned red.

"I'm delivering medicine to Commander Yuan Ye. He's a gifted individual, and he personally killed the king creature last night. Of course he has the authority to use these medicines!"

"Yuan... Ye? That name sounds familiar…"

The buzz-cut man looked pensive, then seemed to find something to hold over him. He burst into laughter and pressed down on the medicine box.

*(fig.) information that can 

"If he were still the famous decontamination officer, he'd certainly have the authority. But that guy was stripped of his position and banished from the Main City three years ago on the order of Her Majesty the Queen. As a serious criminal in exile, what authority does he have!"

Jon instantly realized he had said the wrong thing, and his face turned pale.

He tried to break free of the man's grip, but the man was too strong. Just then, another man with triangular eyes stepped forward and slapped Jon, knocking him to the ground.

Smack—!

"Fuck, you're a fool for turning down such a face-saving offer*!"

*do not appreciate or accept others' kindness

The man with triangular eyes spat.

"All your team members died last night, so how are you escorting such precious medicines? And you, kid, stealing from your own team is corruption!"

"Under headquarters regulations, our team is now taking over the escort back to the Main City. Hand over the goods, quickly!"

Investigators earned high pay, but the mortality rate was just as high. Sometimes the supplies carried out of the occupied areas at great cost were snatched away by members of other teams.

Teams with heavy casualties and important supplies like this were especially prone to such incidents.

"No!"

Jon had been slapped, and blood ran from his mouth and nose. He curled up on the ground, tightly protecting the medicine box in his arms, stubbornly refusing to give it up.

The buzz-cut man's face darkened. At a single glance from him, several soldiers stepped forward, intending to teach this stinking kid a lesson.

"Quite the hero, Bard, bullying one of my people like this?"

A woman's cold voice came from behind, and everyone froze. The buzz-cut man whirled around, only to meet Chen Xinyue's icy gaze.

She casually wiped the half-dried blood off her face and smiled.

"Do you think I'm dead, too?"

"..."

The buzz-cut Bard suddenly changed his expression and cheerfully walked out of the crowd.

"How could that be, Captain Chen? I heard you miraculously survived a calamity. I couldn't be happier!"

Chen Xinyue smiled, though it was hardly a smile.

"What's the first thing you do when you see your superior? Do I need to teach you?"

The smile on the man's face suddenly froze. Although they were both captains, he was only a C-level investigator, one level below the woman surnamed Chen.

"No need."

Bard could barely hold the stiff smile on his face. He clenched his fist and pounded it against his left chest, bowing in salute.

"Greetings, Commander Chen."

"What charge applies to someone who beats a soldier without cause?"

"Captain Chen, it's all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding."

Bard seemed to realize something, and his posture straightened considerably.

"Didn't this kid steal precious medicines? I was afraid it would tarnish Captain Chen's reputation."

"Oh, then I have to see how precious those medicines are."

Chen Xinyue crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Jon, who stood in the crowd with his whole face bloodied.

"Open it."

Jon paused, unsure, because if Bard's words were true, they would indeed be committing a crime. But since the captain had given the order, he obeyed and opened the medicine box.

For a moment, every eye fixed on the medicine box in the young man's arms.

—Inside was nothing but neatly packaged herbal medicine.

Jon was astounded.

Bard's face instantly turned extremely ugly as he realized he had been played by this stinking woman.

Chen Xinyue smirked, echoing the man's earlier words. "Bard, your subordinate assaulted a soldier for no reason and robbed medicine, even if it was only worthless herbs. But I'm also afraid it would tarnish your reputation."

"Since you called me 'commander' today, I might as well teach you how to manage your subordinates."

Having said that, she ignored Bard's reaction, turned her head, and asked coldly,

"Jon! Who hit you?"

The curly-haired youth immediately wiped away his nosebleed, got up, pointed at the triangular-eyed man, and answered furiously,

"Him!"

For a moment, everyone stood there with ugly expressions, but none dared say much. After all, their captain, Bard, hadn't spoken.

Chen Xinyue didn't waste any more words. "Hit back!"

"Yes!"

Jon put down the medicine box. He had meant to use his hand, but his hand wasn't strong enough, so he took off his military boots and held them in his hands.

The soles were covered in mud and had even stepped on monster corpses, so they were smelly and filthy.

The curly-haired puppy, his mouth full of blood, stomped up angrily and beat the triangular-eyed man's cheeks until they looked like a pig's head.

"You…!"

In the end, one of the investigators couldn't hold back. He clenched his fist in indignation and was ready to charge forward, but his companion grabbed him tightly and warned him in a low voice,

"This woman has already reported the situation at the supply station to headquarters. Her team nearly got wiped out killing the king creature, so the higher-ups will definitely be watching them closely. We can't touch her now!"

A moment ago, they had thought Jon was stealing and committing corruption, so they had believed they were justified in snatching the box from him.

But now they had no justification. Bullying a low-ranking soldier was one thing, but harming a B-level investigator who had just achieved great merit would be a big problem.

At this moment, Bard could no longer force a smile. His eyes were dark with anger as he gritted his teeth and said,

"I've learned a lot, Commander Chen."

"Don't mention it."

Chen Xinyue smiled and suddenly changed the subject.

"But I dare not take sole credit for killing the king creature this time. It was the gifted Yuan Ye's achievement. So besides reporting to headquarters, I also reported to the royal court."

At this, the smile on her face widened.

"Oh, that's right, you probably haven't read the news, so you may not know that Her Majesty the Queen's exile decree has a four-year limit. Let me work it out: add this achievement, and it may not be long before Yuan Ye is reinstated ahead of schedule."

At these words, Bard's face finally turned pale.

Decontamination officers were powerful humans specifically trained to kill king creatures, and for that reason they were granted immunity from the death penalty.

In other words, as long as there were justifiable grounds, killings were not considered crimes.

The scope of those justifiable grounds was so vast that no one wanted to offend a powerful decontamination officer.

"Bard, let me give you a word of advice."

Chen Xinyue patted his shoulder and smiled mockingly.

"In the future, show some respect to your superiors, understand?"

"..."

Bard gritted his teeth but didn't say a word.

Having wrapped up the scene, Chen Xinyue stopped paying attention to the people around her. She simply turned and walked away.

She casually waved her hand.

"Jon, let's go. We need to deliver the medicine to Commander Yuan Ye."

"Oh... Oh!"

The curly-haired puppy, belatedly catching on, grabbed the medicine box and followed.

"Coming~"

Bard watched their figures, his eyes stern and gloomy. Only after they had completely disappeared did he wave his hand, call over his trusted confidant, and say in a low voice,

"Immediately send a secret message upstairs, informing them that Chen Xinyue has deceived us... wait, no, we can't say it like that."

He weighed his words carefully, then continued.

"Just say that woman has hidden the king creature's body somewhere else, and Yuan Ye is just a diversion."

"But we've already been exposed, so we can only let others investigate secretly. It has to be done quickly. She's already gone around headquarters and reported to the royal court. If nothing unexpected happens, the decontamination officer sent by the Main City should already be on his way!"

"Yes!"

The man with triangular eyes, his face swollen, nodded, his expression turning sinister. He turned and left at once.

His military boots splashed mud as they stepped onto the muddy path.

Splat—

---

Splat, splat.

Inside the wooden house, a pink succulent with two dirty feet tiptoed across the tabletop, approaching with a slightly guilty look.

Perhaps from weakness and exhaustion, Yuan Ye no longer held himself upright as before. Instead, he leaned lazily against the edge of the table.

After a whole morning on the move, his hair had dried and hung over his forehead, slightly messy. Two or three stray hairs stuck up on top of his head, softening his usually stern face.

Add the slightly flushed cheeks and the symmetrical heart-shaped marks, and this cold, aloof young man could perhaps be called "cute."

Ye Yunfan stared at Yuan Ye and thought he was a fascinating person.

When they first met, he had given off a strong murderous aura, like a sharp, chilling knife that made people afraid to approach. But now, with just a slight change in posture, he looked like a tired, lazy cat.

Paired with those heterochromatic eyes, the resemblance was even stronger.

[So good-looking.]

[His eyes are so good-looking.]

After a long silence, the little tentacles finally began babbling again.

Clearly, apart from eating, their only aesthetic interest was the eyes of the cold young man in front of them.

Ye Yunfan thought they looked good too, but it wasn't until he noticed his own small pink reflection in those eyes that he was jolted.

That's right. In human eyes, he was now a cute pet. That also reflected the inequality of their status.

The realization quickly restored Ye Yunfan's sense of crisis and let him adjust his mindset.

But Yuan Ye was unaware of the twists and turns of Ye Yunfan's thoughts. At this moment, he simply watched quietly as the "little jellyfish" ran toward him.

The young man noticed that the little creature walked in a rather peculiar way, as if offering its face up to him as it approached.

It was a bit silly, and funny.

The corner of the young man's lips curled up silently. He was in fact still running a fever, but for some reason he felt much better in spirit at that moment.

Perhaps because he was used to a life where danger lurked around every corner, Yuan Ye's body had developed a peculiar defense mechanism. Whenever someone approached, even if his body was in terrible shape, his brain forced itself to become alert at once.

So when Xu Ke arrived, Yuan Ye woke up quickly.

It was just that he felt as if he'd had a very short dream, but he couldn't remember the details. He only vaguely recalled a certain…

Cold, damp, and sticky sensation.

But Yuan Ye hadn't rejected it, since he had seemed very thirsty at the time. Afterward, once the dream was over, he hadn't felt thirsty anymore.

He instinctively licked the inside of his cheek, unsure whether it was just his imagination, but he had a lingering feeling that his mouth still felt slightly sticky. The base of his tongue also had a faintly sweet, fishy taste.

Was it just an illusion?

Or was it residual blood from before?

Yuan Ye pondered.

The little octopus, who had been closely watching the young man's face, suddenly froze. He waited a few seconds, but Yuan Ye showed no reaction and just kept staring at him quietly.

Staring at Ye Yunfan until the whole octopus felt his hair stand on end.

...Even though he had no hair.

But in reality, Yuan Ye was just trying earnestly to recall the dream, and he couldn't remember anything. He only remembered that as his consciousness gradually returned, the little jellyfish had been attached to his forehead.

His body, which was used to resisting all physical contact, had inexplicably behaved out of character, showing no sign of intense resistance.

Instead, it had transmitted the opposite sensation—

Ice-cold, but very comfortable.

It was the first time Yuan Ye's body had felt peace and comfort after being touched by a living creature.

This left Yuan Ye confused, but it also gave him a glimmer of hope for a cure.

Perhaps his illness could be cured.

[Yuan Ye, if humans really won't work, I suggest you try finding something similar to human limbs to test with.]

—That was a suggestion from Everiel, a renowned psychologist from the Main City.

Everiel was a gentle, beautiful woman. She was also gifted, but unfortunately her ability wasn't suited to combat. As a result, she hadn't joined the decontamination organization or the royal court's guard, and had become a somewhat renowned psychologist instead.

In this cruel era, parting and death were commonplace, and people with psychological problems were no longer a minority.

Yuan Ye weighed Everiel's suggestion earnestly, and as he did, he found himself lost in thought, looking at the little jellyfish in front of him.

The more he thought about it, the more sense it made!

But the little octopus, who had been the focus of someone's gaze for so long, grew increasingly anxious, because when Yuan Ye was lost in thought, his face showed no expression and he looked quite cold.

Ye Yunfan stood stiffly for a moment, then tentatively reached out a tentacle and poked the gloved fingertip of the young man.

Yuan Ye felt a tingling in his finger, which snapped him back to reality. But instead of pulling back at once and creating distance as he used to, he stiffly kept his original posture.

After a few seconds, he cautiously reached out and gently touched the little tentacle, slowly and carefully feeling the suction cups on its underside.

It felt softer and smoother than human skin, with a sticky, moist sensation.

Yuan Ye felt numbness spread through his whole hand, and his breathing grew slightly faster.

But... he felt no resistance or aversion toward it.

The little octopus, whose suction cups were being touched, went a little blank. He didn't understand what Yuan Ye meant. Was Yuan Ye starting to doubt that he was really a jellyfish?

Ye Yunfan felt the guess made sense, so he immediately turned several tentacles inside out, like a peacock spreading its tail, to show Yuan Ye the heart-shaped suction cups on their undersides.

Look! Look!

Which jellyfish has suction cups like these?!

The little octopus looked up, his blue eyes full of hope.

But Yuan Ye didn't understand what the little octopus was trying to convey. After thinking for a moment, he asked,

"Little jellyfish, are you hungry?"

Ye Yunfan: "..."

The baby octopus retracted the row of tentacles and hid all the heart-shaped suction cups.

The young man nodded and muttered to himself, "Sure enough, you must be hungry."

Seeing it retract its tentacles, Yuan Ye thought he had guessed right. He picked up a palm-sized glass bottle from the small wooden box and unscrewed the lid.

But when he saw the empty water glass beside him, he clearly hesitated for a moment. He instinctively glanced at the "little jellyfish," who suddenly stiffened all over.

But Yuan Ye didn't think much of it. He poured some of the liquid from the bottle into the glass and pushed it in front of the "little jellyfish."

"Drink up. It's a nutrient solution."

Ye Yunfan froze in place. He looked at the glass, then at Yuan Ye.

Why was the first thing this guy did after getting the medicine box to feed this little octopus?

For a moment, Ye Yunfan couldn't put into words how he felt. But the little tentacles, silent for so long, couldn't help themselves and started making a fuss again.

[Fragrant! Fragrant! Want to drink!]

[Want to drink, want to drink!]

So the little octopus crawled over and tentatively took a few sips. It was slightly thick, with a texture like rice water*, but it didn't have much flavor.

*Water in which rice has been cooked; is a layer of fine, viscous, paste-like liquid that floats on top of rice or millet after boiling it with water for a long time.

[Stamina Value +10]

After a few sips, Ye Yunfan looked up at Yuan Ye, but Yuan Ye wasn't looking at him. Instead, he tilted his head back and drank the rest of the nutrient solution from the bottle.

Then the young man picked out seven or eight small medicine bottles. He injected some into his veins with a syringe and swallowed some of the pills directly.

Yuan Ye did all this with great proficiency and ease, as if he had done it thousands of times.

The little octopus peeked at the labels on the bottles. They were printed in both Chinese and English, but the various markings on the medicines were different from what he remembered.

Ye Yunfan privately guessed that this place was a parallel world similar to Earth.

A lot of medicine had been delivered, and even with Yuan Ye's severe injuries, he used only half. He gathered the rest and put it away in a cabinet.

The little octopus was curious and peeked from behind. When Yuan Ye opened the cabinet, Ye Yunfan saw that it already held more medicine bottles, and some were the same as the ones just delivered.

Ye Yunfan felt inexplicably relieved. It seemed Yuan Ye wasn't the kind of fool who would put himself in danger without a second thought.

Yuan Ye took two clean sets of clothes from the closet and turned toward the inner room. At that moment, Ye Yunfan was still lost in thought and followed along instinctively.

The young man's footsteps suddenly stopped. He turned and looked at the little octopus that had followed him. Snapping out of his thoughts, the little octopus looked at the clothes in Yuan Ye's hands and immediately realized what was going on.

Oh, right! This person is going to take a shower. Why am I following him?

Without hesitation, the little octopus turned around and politely left.

But the next second, Ye Yunfan heard the familiar sound of a knife being unsheathed.

Swish—

When he snapped out of it, he found himself once again lying on the familiar long knife.

Ye Yunfan: "...?"

The little octopus looked up, his face full of question marks.

"You're so dirty."

The young man's tone sounded a little disdainful, and he immediately carried the dirty little jellyfish into the bathroom.

"Come in and wash.”

☰