TTAETSC Chapter 2: Baby Octopus

Translator: Deyonna

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After looking around, Ye Yunfan found that there were no other living creatures nearby. This means that if he wants to know what happened here, he can only get information from the little tentacles. So he continued to ask.

"Are there any other living creatures here besides us?"

[What are living creatures?]

[Can it be eaten?]

"......"

Ye Yunfan went silent for a moment, then he changed his question.

"What are we going to eat?"

[Of course, we will eat things that can be eaten~]

[Things that can make us feel full.]

[Once eaten, you won't feel hungry.]

Ye Yunfan: "......"

He understood now. These little guys excelled at giving sincere responses, but all of which were nonsense.

Never mind——

If they couldn't even answer such a simple question clearly, then these little tentacles probably had an intelligence level no higher than that of a three-year-old, or even dumber than cats and dogs.

After a brief silence, Ye Yunfan gave up on communicating with the little tentacles. He closed his eyes, cleared his mind of the noise, and began to analyze his current situation carefully.

First of all, he had turned into a small octopus.

Just then, a sudden computer startup sound echoed in his mind.

Ding——

A floating panel appeared in front of him.

[Player information backup importing... Error, error... Rescanning information, overwriting backup... Overwrite, successful!]

Ye Yunfan was startled.

"This is……?”

[What happened? What happened?]

[What is it?]

The little tentacles immediately started chattering again.

"You guys... can't see it?"

Ye Yunfan was surprised.

[What are you looking at?]

[What? What?]

Although they didn't answer, the little tentacles' confusion still gave Ye Yunfan the answer to his question.

——He was the only one who could see this thing.

Then the small panel in front of him suddenly stretched out, and a series of text appeared on it. The layout looked a bit like a character information panel in a game.

[Player name: Ye Yunfan]

[Race: ??? (You belong to an unknown new species)]

[Age: Juvenile (You are still a baby.)]

[Health: 95/300 (You originally had three hearts, but unfortunately lost two of them. However, your vitality is still very strong.)]

Lost two hearts?

Ye Yunfan was stunned. He was originally unsure about the fact that octopuses had three hearts, but now this thing was saying that he did have three hearts, but had lost two of them.

Why were they lost? How were they lost? Was it because they were lost that he became this small octopus?

Questions kept popping up in his mind, but Ye Yunfan continued to read on.

[Spiritual power: 97+8x5 (Your spiritual power is beyond that of an ordinary person)]

When Ye Yunfan saw the 8x5, he immediately connected it to his eight little tentacles. This also seemed to be in line with the characteristics of octopuses as a species.

[Stamina: 13/100 (You are too hungry. It is recommended to eat as soon as possible. Friendly reminder: when stamina reaches zero, health will quickly decline.)]

[Defense: 12 (As a juvenile, your body is very frail. It is recommended to find a powerful protector.)]

[Strength: 7 (Equivalent to a one-month-old kitten brandishing its paw, apart from being cute it can do nothing.)]

Seeing this, Ye Yunfan choked. Although he already had a vague idea that he had no attack power, he didn't expect it to be so weak.

He sighed and continued to scroll down with his soft little tentacles.

[Luck: 7+ (Your luck is not so good, but you seem to have received some blessings that cannot be accurately expressed in numbers. However, you may encounter some good things in the future.)]

[Skill 1: Special Concealment - E level (Young cubs need to learn to hide first in order to survive.)]

[Skill 2: Spiritual Communication - D level (Your strong spiritual power has allowed you to master some special communication skills on your own.)]

Ye Yunfan carefully read the last line. Although he didn't know where this panel came from, he now had a rough understanding of himself——

A brittle-skinned, low-level fighter, baby octopus that's crying piteously for food.

"....."

Ye Yunfan didn't know how many times he had sighed in his heart, but he finally cheered up and waited for the next changes in the panel.

When he was in school, he had also read some online novels. Ye Yunfan had no problem accepting elements such as systems, supernatural abilities, and different worlds.

He guessed that maybe this was a male-oriented novel where the protagonist would level up and defeat monsters with the help of the system, and eventually become invincible.

However, to Ye Yunfan's surprise, he waited for several minutes and none of the expected system guides, mission releases, or points item shop appeared.

The gray panel disappeared as if everything that had just happened was an illusion.

Just then, the little tentacles started to cry out in fear in succession.

[Ya! Coming!]

[Coming! Coming!]

[Hide, quick, hide!]

What's coming?

Ye Yunfan suddenly became alert and threw the information panel aside. At the same time, he noticed that the originally light pink little tentacles were gradually losing their color, becoming almost transparent, and then faintly showing a dull gray color, almost blending in with the concrete wall behind him.

In this dimly lit seabed, it's simply impossible to notice without careful examination.

Ye Yunfan mentally labeled this skill as life-saving.

He looked up, and carefully scanned his surroundings, searching for what the little tentacles were warning about.

Soon, Ye Yunfan saw some movements in the far distance above. There were several huge and large black shadows, gradually becoming clearer as they approached, outlining the silhouette of giants.

Wait, giants?

Ye Yunfan suddenly realized. He was now a baby octopus, and maybe because he was small in size, the giants he saw might be…

Humans.

The moment this familiar word appeared, Ye Yunfan's heart tightened.

The visibility here was very low. Fortunately, thanks to the excellent vision of his new body, Ye Yunfan could still see clearly even from dozens of meters away.

They were indeed human.

They were wearing uniform black special combat suits, somewhat similar to the attire of the armed police, but with some subtle differences, as the emblem on their armbands did not belong to any country that Ye Yunfan was familiar with.

Coincidentally, the landing point of the group was very close to the concrete slab where the little octopus was hiding. The person in the center made a gesture, and the surrounding team members quickly dispersed, moving in an organized manner. They looked like a well-trained and elite armed team.

Ye Yunfan noticed that those people were all wearing a special type of helmet that completely covered their heads, but there were no oxygen tanks connected to them.

This was very strange. How could ordinary people dive so deep into the sea without oxygen tanks?

Ye Yunfan stayed in place, observing carefully. Half an hour later, the armed team gathered again. Ye Yunfan didn't know how they communicated underwater, but he could clearly hear a slightly deep female voice.

"Confirmed. It's here."

Ye Yunfan remembered the innate skill on his information panel. Perhaps this was the so-called special communication skill?

At this point, the female voice continued. "The order has just come down. Our mission this time has two objectives. First, record the coordinates of the 'door' and its changes. Second, enter the dimensional plane, find the location of the contamination source inside, and confirm the status of the King of the otherworldly creatures."

It was indeed Chinese, but Ye Yunfan didn't understand any of it.

The little tentacles couldn't understand it either. They scratched Ye Yunfan's head, expressing blank* confusion.

*void of thought or knowledge

At this point, the burly man shook a device in his hand that looked like a timer, and the central screen flickered with green numbers.

"The contamination index is 19.32."

His tone sounded casual, indicating that the value of 19.32 was within a very safe range.

"Tsk, the data from a common contamination detector is so low. It's probably just a D-level newborn otherworldly plane. I'm afraid it hasn't even completed its first metamorphosis."

The man let out a sneer with an air of casualness to it as if this was just "a piece of cake". But soon he became indignant.

"This is it? Is it worth calling us over halfway and calling it an emergency mission? Motherfucker, it must be some blood-sucking pest causing trouble behind the scenes..."

They had just completed a dangerous field investigation mission, losing three teammates in the process. With great difficulty, they finally made it back to the city, but halfway through, they received an emergency call-up order and had to come here.

"Wang Yuan!"

Captain Chen cast a displeased glance over, implicitly warning.

"This mission is highly valued by our superiors!"

Wang Yuan reluctantly shut his mouth and turned his head to look around, cursing under his breath.

"Fuck, where's that newcomer?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a team member swam over from nearby. He was thin and short, with narrow shoulders. Compared to the burly Wang Yuan, he looked like a little chicken.

Jon rushed over, panting, his voice trembling.

"S-sorry, Brother Wang, Captain. I just learned how to swim and it's my first time going on a mission in the sea, so I was a bit… slow."

His words made several team members frown. After all, on the front lines of fighting against the otherworldly creature, a newcomer who slows down the team is no less than a death sentence.

Wang Yuan noticed the teammate's unpleasant expressions and immediately kicked Jon, speaking harshly, "If you can't handle it, write an application and get out of here! A weakling like you going on a mission is just asking for death! Laozi won't be collecting your corpse when the time comes."

Chen Xinyue frowned slightly but didn't say anything to stop Wang Yuan. The other team members, who had looked unhappy before, didn't say anything more either.

Jon's face turned red, and he quickly responded, "I... I will strengthen my underwater training when I get back. I promise I won't slow down the team again!"

At this moment, everyone's attention was focused on Jon, and no one noticed the small octopus hiding nearby.

Ye Yunfan quietly gathered the small tentacles and huddled himself into a corner, with his ears perked up, continuing to eavesdrop.

Yes, he actually had two ears.

Ye Yunfan was no longer surprised by this, as he had gradually come to accept the fact that he was not human anymore.

Captain Chen no longer looked at Jon and redirected the conversation back to the mission at hand. She asked, "What's the surrounding situation?"

The team members reported in an orderly manner, "None of the five deep-sea radars have detected any traces of otherworldly creatures."

"The sonar devices installed earlier are also operating normally, and we have completed the task of dispersing nearby marine life."

"Security site deployment confirmed correct."

"......"

After listening to the human's report, Ye Yunfan finally realized why he hadn't seen any fish or any other marine life since he woke up.

——It turned out that they had been cleared out earlier.

Although the report seemed to be normal, it made Chen Xinyue's brow furrow even more. She muttered under her breath.

"Although the contamination index is very low, it's too quiet...no, it's too clean."

Even though the Fifth Team had thoroughly cleaned the area not long ago, the newly formed otherworldly plane should have released many new creatures, one after another.

While pondering, the woman kept an eye on the measuring device in Wang Yuan's hand.

The contamination index was 19.32.

Actually, what Wang Yuan said earlier was correct. The 19.32 was indeed a very low value, too low to be worth mentioning. However, for some reason, her heart was inexplicably agitated.

Ye Yunfan didn't quite understand what was going on, but as he watched the woman remain silent for a long time, he began to have a slightly bad premonition.

Usually, this kind of premonition represents danger.

Ye Yunfan shrank back and calculated whether he should quietly escape using his disguise. Just then, the little tentacles that he had finally quieted down with great difficulty suddenly became excited again.

[Ah! Jar!]

[It's a jar!]

Ye Yunfan: ?

[There! Over there!]

One of the little tentacles tried hard to stretch out and pointed excitedly to show him.

Ye Yunfan turned his head and looked in the direction the little tentacle was pointing. He saw a small glass jar wedged in a crevice under the ruins of the building.

Unlike everything else around here that was decaying and rotting, the jar was very clean, with a sparkling and colorful light flowing along the walls like a crystal. It could be considered an extremely beautiful little jar artwork.

Even Ye Yunfan felt that this thing shouldn't be here, but should appear in some high-end auctions, treasure museums, or in the collection rooms of some wealthy people.

[It's a jar!]

[Jar! Jar!]

The bubbling voices of the little tentacles rose and fell, becoming more and more excited.

[Let's get in!]

Ye Yunfan heard the little tentacles eagerly and impatiently urging and instigating——

[Get in! Get in!]

[Hurry, get in!]

Why did they want to get in?

Ye Yunfan slowly formed a question mark.

But soon he remembered the popular science article he had read before, which said that octopus, this creature had a special fetish, such as——

They liked to drill into various containers.

Ye Yunfan: "......"

He heartlessly refused——

He wasn't doing it, he wouldn't drill in, no thank you.

But not long after, Ye Yunfan felt that his reason seemed to be gradually being devoured and disintegrated by some kind of physiological instinct. His body began to tremble slightly with excitement.

It was like a child seeing Ultraman, seeing Princess Elsa, or seeing the most desired toy in a beautiful shop window. He was so excited that he couldn't control his emotions.

The emotion was so strong that Ye Yunfan's heart couldn't help but start pounding and racing violently, like a little deer running wild.

The little octopus stared blankly at the glass jar not far away. Although the metaphor was strange, he felt like he was…

Struck by Cupid's arrow.

☰