TTAETSC Chapter 31.3 - Two Flowers Blooming Together

After less than two seconds, the ground within a radius of twenty meters collapsed, just as Chen Xinyue had predicted, sinking nearly ten meters.

Captain Chen and Jon fastened the chain to the nearest big tree.

The off-road vehicle suddenly plummeted, but fortunately, the chain held it back, preventing it from falling with the ground. Instead, it hung in midair.

Ye Yunfan finally saw the complete appearance of the monster. He had no words to describe it, only a feeling of disgust.

The thing was like a giant centipede pieced together from countless humans.

The head looked human, with completely black eyes devoid of whites, and the skin was marred with blisters and hollows, like severe burns.

It seemed to have a section of its body hidden underground. Ye Yunfan could only see its centipede-like long body and several pairs of human arms on either side.

The monster ate its severed arm, which had been chopped off just now, smearing its face with blood. It glanced back at them, or more precisely at Yuan Ye, with a gaze filled with profound dread. Then it immediately turned its head and burrowed underground.

Want to escape?

Yuan Ye furrowed his brow slightly. Without much thought, he leaped down and stabbed the monster's head with his knife, nailing it to the ground.

In that instant, the little octopus, clinging tightly to the young man's shoulder, suddenly sensed danger.

He turned abruptly and saw another human-headed centipede bursting from the ground, lunging toward Yuan Ye's neck from behind.

?!

This creature actually understood the art of creating a sound in the east and striking in the west???*

*diversion tactics

The little octopus did not hesitate and immediately launched himself forward.

"Be careful!!!"

It was Jon's voice.

Bang—

Along with his voice came the sound of a gunshot.

The bullet pierced through the hand that was about to grab the little octopus, and the force knocked the hand off course.

Originally, the little octopus did not have much strength, and his launch was not fast. But the centipede's speed now matched Ye Yunfan's.

It was like someone riding a motorcycle at high speed, only to be strangled by a kite string around the neck. The kite string was not sharp, but it could still cut a person's head off cleanly.

So in that short time, the tiny knife, no longer than Yuan Ye's finger, pierced straight through the left eye of the human-headed centipede.

The intense pain made it emit a screech that sounded almost inhuman.

Yuan Ye had long sensed the danger behind him. But just as he was about to turn around and attack, he found the little guy on his shoulder had jumped off again.

As a result, instead of crushing the otherworldly creature with his ability, he stopped abruptly. He could only turn around and make a horizontal slash, cutting off the monster's upper body.

In just a brief moment, the monster suffered a triple blow: its upper body was chopped in half by Yuan Ye, its palm was pierced by Jon's gunshot, and the most fatal was its left eye.

After the little octopus stabbed its eyeball, Ye Yunfan quickly drilled his tentacles through the eye socket.

After its upper body was cut off, the human-headed centipede crashed heavily to the ground, but it was still alive. Its whole body convulsed as it crazily retreated backward. All of its hands desperately scratched at its face, as if something terrifying were on top of it.

The already ugly face became even more mangled by the scratching, unbearable to look at.

Yuan Ye glanced back at Jon, who was holding the gun dumbfounded, still in the posture from before. He seemed not to have recovered from the extraordinary display in the heat of the moment.

With just one glance, Yuan Ye took back his gaze. His brows tightened, and then he stepped forward to chop off the monster's arms one by one, prying them open to search quickly for the traces of the "little jellyfish."

[Stamina Value +10]

[Stamina Value +10]

[Stamina Value +10]

[Stamina Value: 150/355]

When the last stamina value popped up, the human-headed centipede was already lifeless.

Its cheeks had all shriveled, like a drug addict whose body had been hollowed out.

Ye Yunfan had no time to savor the food right now as he quickly crawled out of the monster's empty head.

Slash—

Yuan Ye pried open the last hand covering the monster's left eye, finally revealing the "little jellyfish" crouching there.

—Found it!

"..."

The young man's chest rose and fell slightly, as if he had breathed a sigh of relief.

The little octopus pulled his tiny knife out of the opponent's shriveled eyeball, then pretentiously turned around and raised it toward Yuan Ye.

Wave~

"..."

Yuan Ye stared intently at the little guy, covered in bloodstains. A few seconds later, he lifted it with the back of his knife.

"You're so dirty."

His tone was a bit disdainful.

The little octopus, waiting to be praised: "...??"

"Captain, be careful!"

In the distance, Jon's cry immediately made Ye Yunfan turn his head.

The curly-haired puppy, also covered in bloodstains, seemed to have run out of bullets. So he used a dagger to stab a bizarre insect the size of a human head to death, while Chen Xinyue beside him was holding her injured left arm.

She had been sneak-attacked and injured a little.

"I'm fine."

Captain Chen shook her head, unperturbed. She then raised her hand to reload her gun.

Bang, bang!

Both shots were so accurate: one in the head and one in the torso.

As a result, the insect still struggling under the dagger went motionless at once.

Jon, still shaken, suddenly heard the captain speak.

"You reacted quickly this time. Keep it up."

"!!!"

I've... I've been praised!

Jon immediately stretched his mouth into a silly grin.

"Yes! Captain!"

Chen Xinyue glanced at Yuan Ye, who had also finished the battle, nodded to him, and felt a sense of relief.

It was fortunate she was traveling with a decontamination officer this time. Otherwise, she could not have defeated a centipede monster made of human body parts so easily on her own.

From this point on, the sudden attack came to a temporary end.

Before the little octopus could breathe a sigh of relief, his ears twitched as he heard faint, rumbling sounds, like something crumbling apart.

Yuan Ye also seemed to sense something. He quickly retreated and climbed a big tree in a few swift steps.

Rumble—

The ground collapsed for the second time.

But this time, no monster came out. Perhaps the human-headed centipede had already hollowed out the underground, and the recent disturbance caused the already unstable ground surface to collapse for the second time.

After the collapse, a huge underground space appeared before their eyes.

Ye Yunfan vaguely saw sections of metal tracks buried in the damp soil, covered with layers of thick, sticky substances.

This is… a subway???

Ye Yunfan's thoughts suddenly shook.

He narrowed his eyes and swiftly scanned the area below for more information. Advertisements were typically found near subway platforms. Hopefully he was lucky, and the collapse point was near the platform, or was the platform itself.

Chen Xinyue walked over. She took out a long-range flashlight and seemed to be exploring the underground too.

But she was not looking for advertisements the way Ye Yunfan was. She was checking for any other otherworldly creatures below.

Fortunately, with Captain Chen's light, Ye Yunfan could see much more clearly, and he quickly found what he was looking for.

—A broken billboard.

The color had faded until it was barely visible, but the large letters were still somewhat recognizable:

[...A major breakthrough has occurred]

[Treatment... cabin preliminary plan... completed]

[In the next three years... expected to be mass-produced.]

Treatment cabin expected to be mass-produced?

Ye Yunfan took the key information: by the time this city was on the verge of collapse, the treatment cabin should already have been invented and entered mass production.

Immediately after, he searched the area again and found graffiti on the wall beside the tracks. He didn't know what kind of paint had been used, but surprisingly, it had survived all this time.

[Resolutely… resist… artificial womb.]

[Protest… oppose…]

Eh?

Artificial womb???

Ye Yunfan was thunderstruck.

Had this world already created artificial wombs???

In his own world, whether it was a treatment cabin or an artificial womb, human medical technology had not yet reached this point.

So if this world was a game, its time setting should be similar to some year in the far future of Earth.

At least in biomedical science, this world should be far ahead of his own.

"Below should be the underground infrastructure of the old world."

Captain Chen turned off the long-range flashlight, and her tense muscles relaxed slightly.

"It's fine. It's safe for now."

"Mm."

Yuan Ye nodded. Then he carried the little octopus on his blade toward the other side. Chen Xinyue looked at him in confusion, but didn't stop him. Instead she turned and said to Jon:

"Take care of the corpses. Prevent an uncontrolled fire."

"Yes! Captain!"

The curly-haired puppy, having been praised once, was now full of motivation.

Meanwhile, the little octopus lying on the blade curiously poked his head out and looked around.

Eh?

Where was Yuan Ye taking him?

Soon, Ye Yunfan got his answer.

Yuan Ye found a huge fruit, quite similar to a coconut and as big as a watermelon. After he cut off the top quarter of the shell, Ye Yunfan found that the inside was all water.

It was water, not fruit juice.

Plop!

The dirty little octopus was dropped in.

This water was different from spring water. It had a fresh plant fragrance, and it immediately washed away the bloody smell on him.

He had to say, his protector really loved cleanliness. What a good habit!

Ye Yunfan sighed inwardly.

Yuan Ye suddenly turned his head, as if looking for something. A few seconds later, he turned his gaze back and put the cut lid back on.

"Stay here. Wait for me."

…Eh?

The little octopus was confused.

He quietly lifted the lid, revealing only a pair of round blue eyes, but after looking around, he couldn't find anyone.

Had Yuan Ye run off so fast?

The little octopus scratched his head.

But in less than half a minute, he heard the familiar sound of footsteps.

He's back!

Swoosh—

The little octopus immediately retracted and pretended to wait obediently inside.

Click.

Yuan Ye lifted the lid and handed him a big red flower.

Flower?

Why did he give him a flower?

The little octopus was at a loss.

But he still reached out a little tentacle to take the flower. Looking closely, he found it was the very flower that had eaten the red bug!

Oh, wait. More accurately, it was the prettier of the two, the one that had acted as bait.

What about the other flower, the one that ate bugs?

No need to say more. It must have been chopped in half by Yuan Ye.

Ye Yunfan thought without much surprise.

He looked at the beautiful stamen inside and thought that since the bug had been lured, maybe its nectar could really be eaten?

So Ye Yunfan tried to extend a tentacle inside. The suckers automatically adhered to it, creating a sucking sound.

[Health Value +15]

The next second, the little octopus's blue eyes widened, shining like stars.

—So sweet!

Extra Little Theater:

Yuan Ye (cold face): Scared my little jellyfish, die!

Ye Yunfan: ...Octopus! I told you it's an octopus!