TTAETSC Chapter 9: Pink Band-Aid

Translator: Deyonna

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The youth stared expressionlessly at the small creature gesturing madly in front of him, showing no reaction. It was unclear whether he understood.

Just as Ye Yunfan was anxiously trying a few more gestures, his body suddenly stiffened, as if he had seen something terrifying. His pupils dilated abruptly.

At this moment, several bizarre, eerie black shadows appeared not far behind the youth.

The little octopus was facing him, so he could see the scene almost clearly. Horrified, he no longer cared whether Yuan Ye had understood what he'd been trying to express.

Immediately, he scrambled back onto the young man's shoulder, then used his little tentacles to tug on the youth's earlobe, pulling it backward with all his might.

Turn around! Turn around!

There are so many monsters behind you! Brother!!!

There was no other way. The baby octopus couldn't speak human language, so he could only gesture frantically.

Ye Yunfan was very anxious. It was as if his eyebrows were on fire*... oh wait, he didn't have eyebrows. But you get the idea: he was in a desperate hurry.

*Desperate situation or extreme emergency

The little tentacles were anxious too, but unfortunately they couldn't speak either. They could only gesture wildly and chirp.

[Run!]

[Run fast!]

[We're going to be eaten!]

[Eaten, eaten!]

At this moment, Ye Yunfan felt that if his tentacles had been a little longer and stronger, he could have turned this guy's head all the way around.

Yuan Ye, however, only felt the blood in his body rushing to his left shoulder and left ear. His heterochromatic pupils shrank rapidly, and those two spots burned hot in the cold, deep sea of the early morning.

He suffered from severe physical contact disorder, so he had never been touched at such close range by anyone before.

Although it wasn't a human touching him, the sensation was very similar, but with a strange softness and a subtle, indescribable... suction.

Those were probably the suction cups.

Yes, he seemed to have seen suction cups on the creature's tentacles earlier.

Yuan Ye's body trembled slightly, and deep down he wanted to grab the little creature at once and hurl it far away. But the situation was every bit as urgent as Ye Yunfan had feared, and the terrifying danger was imminent, only a few breaths away.

The gigantic monster whose webbed limb Yuan Ye had just chopped off was the first to arrive. Its flat mouth suddenly widened into a nearly perfect circle, revealing rows of sharp teeth inside.

They were so close that in one more second, Yuan Ye could be turned into remains crushed by those sharp teeth.

A massive, pitch-black shadow completely engulfed Ye Yunfan and Yuan Ye.

At the critical moment, the fighting instinct rooted deep in Yuan Ye's soul made his rigid body move instantly.

But he didn't flee, nor did he hastily turn around to defend himself. Instead, he reversed his grip on the knife and held it horizontally behind him.

At that moment, when the blade came to a halt, Ye Yunfan caught sight of the familiar white line.

It appeared without warning in the middle of the monster's terrifying mouth, like a line drawn by a mathematician on a whim.

Crash—

The scene before him shifted from the bloody, terrifying, gaping mouth to darkness. Then a row of foul-smelling sharp teeth swept past.

Ye Yunfan glimpsed a horizontal beam of light in the boundless darkness, like the moment someone emerged from a labyrinth.

Finally, he saw the back of the massive monster that had just swept past, along with the horde of monsters following closely behind.

He trembled all over, as if he had guessed what had happened but found it too incredible to believe. He immediately turned his head to look back.

He saw that the lizard-like monster's head had been split in two. One half sank heavily into the depths of the sea, while the other stayed attached to its body, which kept rushing forward blankly.

Stab—

Yuan Ye immediately plunged his long knife into the back of the otherworldly creature swimming at lightning speed, using it as a makeshift escape submarine.

"Cough!"

The youth covered his mouth in pain, his once straight, upright back finally bending. He dropped to one knee, leaning heavily on the blade to hold himself up.

A large amount of bright red blood gushed from between his fingers, dispersing into thick clusters of blood mist in the seawater like blooming flowers.

He needed to find a way to resurface first.

Yuan Ye looked up, enduring the excruciating pain in his lungs, and estimated the distance to the surface.

—His air had reached its limit.

Ye Yunfan was very close to him, so he could smell the strong scent of blood even more clearly.

The scent of blood came not only from where the youth had coughed up blood earlier, but also from his chest.

Ye Yunfan thought for a moment, then swiftly slid down Yuan Ye's shoulder, crawled across his collarbone, and landed on his chest.

Every button of the shirt was fastened tight. The thin white shirt clung to his body, faintly revealing the color of his skin.

But the spotless white of the shirt only made the large patch of red on his chest even more striking and alarming.

At the same time, Yuan Ye's body, which had been visibly trembling from the pain, suddenly went rigid.

His left hand was injured and couldn't move, while his right hand was still gripping the long knife to hold him up. That was why Yuan Ye couldn't immediately grab the little creature scurrying over his body.

When Ye Yunfan saw that the other party didn't stop him, he grew calmer and bolder. He thought that if his suction cups could seal his own wound and stop the bleeding, perhaps they would work on others too.

Time was tight, and Ye Yunfan didn't have the patience to unbutton the shirt. He gently hooked a small tentacle into the narrow gap between the buttons, and in the next second his entire body slipped in smoothly, like liquid.

Yuan Ye: !!!

Thanks to his excellent non-human vision, Ye Yunfan could clearly see the gaping wound on the youth's chest, even in such dim light.

However, he couldn't tell what had caused the injury, since whoever had treated it seemed to have cut away a portion of flesh and then stitched it up.

The stitches had come undone, and the gaping wound, now submerged in dirty, cold seawater, was bleeding uncontrollably.

The little octopus looked at his small suction cups, then at the wound, which was almost as long as his body. After a moment of thought, he crawled over and pressed his whole body against it as a makeshift band-aid.

The little tentacles stuck to the intact skin around the wound and then pulled toward the center, taking the place of stitches perfectly.

Ye Yunfan knew very well that he, a baby octopus with five disadvantages*, now depended on this youth with incredible fighting power to survive.

*Probably from the idiom: five internal organs and five poisons. It means advantages and disadvantages

After all, among everyone present, only Yuan Ye had the power to fight those monsters.

If Yuan Ye died, everyone else would die too.

So now, the only way to survive was to protect him.

At this moment, Yuan Ye, a little sluggish, immediately opened his collar. With the shirt collar pulled aside, the round black metal collar around his neck was exposed.

Yuan Ye was close to losing his temper. He planned to catch this little creature scurrying everywhere and throw it away.

But as he lowered his head, the young man saw the pink "band-aid" on his own chest.

Those big, round, blue eyes stared up at him unblinkingly, pure and clear.

The blood red in the seawater gradually faded.

Yuan Ye suddenly froze.

He was very smart, and he understood what the other was doing the moment he saw the scene.

Thud!

Without warning, an anchor tied to a rope came crashing down from above. Whoever threw it had exceptional aim, almost delivering it straight into Yuan Ye's hands.

But the anchor wasn't meant to pull him out of the water. Yuan Ye saw that a syringe was attached to it.

—It was oxygen fluid.

After injection, it could sustain a human's oxygen needs for one hour, or twenty to thirty minutes of high-intensity combat.

This barren border defense zone wouldn't have such precious drugs. The special investigation team had likely brought it.

Yuan Ye looked up and sure enough saw a blurry figure on the lighthouse's outer wall not far away. At the same time, Chen Xinyue, half-leaning against that wall, breathed a sigh of relief.

She looked up. At the top, Jon and the middle-aged sentinel, Larry, were staring down intently. Captain Chen waved vigorously and shouted up at them.

"He got it!"

"Good! Good!!!"

Larry's eyes were bright with excitement as he clapped his hands hard.

At this moment, he seemed to have forgotten the prejudice and dissatisfaction he had felt toward Yuan Ye yesterday. It was as if the youth in the sea were his own flesh and blood.

Jon was also very excited, but he still urged her anxiously.

"Captain, hurry! Come up quickly. It's not safe!"

"Alright!"

Chen Xinyue immediately started climbing the rope, but right after, a chilling sense of danger shot up her spine. She swiftly dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding an otherworldly creature that lunged at her from underwater.

No! Not just one!

Chen Xinyue's back went cold as she saw several dark shadows swimming toward the lighthouse.

It was as if... these monsters were taking revenge on her for the help she had just given Yuan Ye.

"Captain!!!"

Jon shouted in alarm. He immediately leaned down, grabbed the rope, and pulled Chen Xinyue up with all his strength. Meanwhile, Larry, standing next to Jon, quickly picked up his gun.

Bang!

The massive otherworldly creatures began ramming the lighthouse. They roared and howled as if venting their fury.

Underwater—

The young man dropped the empty syringe. The gaping wound in his chest had basically stopped bleeding. The oxygen fluid he had just injected would sustain him underwater for a while.

However, he chose not to rush back to rescue the crumbling lighthouse. Even if he did, it would only be a desperate struggle, and he had little strength left, not enough to kill all the otherworldly creatures here.

So now, he had to find the king creature and kill it.

However, it was evident that the creature that had been beneath Yuan Ye's feet was not the king, because when he first chopped off its webbed limb, the other otherworldly creatures hadn't reacted in any particular way.

Humans were greatly restricted underwater, but Yuan Ye had no choice but to stay down there too, because if the king creature wanted to hide, it would only hide underwater.

Thoughts raced through his mind like electric currents, but in reality Yuan Ye pondered for only a few seconds, his gaze suddenly freezing amid the countless approaching shadows.

The next second, he turned around and met them head-on.

Because Yuan Ye had just pulled open his collar, the little octopus, acting as a makeshift band-aid, could now poke his head out slightly and look around.

He felt as if he were on a roller coaster, because Yuan Ye was moving so fast. One moment Yuan Ye landed on a big monster, the next he bounced off to another.

Amid the rapidly shifting views, Ye Yunfan was also diligently searching for the small monster. Strangely, he seemed to have a unique radar for it. After scanning roughly for a few moments, the little octopus spotted his target.

It was hiding about a hundred meters below, nestled in a crevice between rocks, its several eyes coldly staring at their location.

The little octopus immediately became excited, but he was now a makeshift band-aid and couldn't make any big movements. Otherwise, Yuan Ye, who was protecting his little life, would be badly hurt.

So Ye Yunfan could only hold perfectly still and gently poke the youth's chest with the tip of a tentacle.

In the middle of the intense battle, Yuan Ye's legs went weak for a moment. Fortunately, his strong combat skills kept it from having any serious effect.

The young man gloomily lowered his eyes, his gaze brimming with a lethal threat.

The little octopus grew even more excited and immediately used the tip of a tentacle to brush downward several times.

Ye Yunfan wished he could grab Yuan Ye's collar and shout at the top of his lungs—

There! Right there!

The little octopus stared up at him impatiently, hoping he would instantly understand. But all Ye Yunfan felt was Yuan Ye's heartbeat suddenly turning heavy and rapid, and his body temperature starting to rise.

Ye Yunfan was stunned for a moment, almost weeping with joy.

He understood! He must have understood!

Otherwise, why would he be so excited?!

In reality, Yuan Ye hadn't understood at all. He had just searched the area, and it was clear the king creature wasn't here.

Then it must be hiding somewhere farther away.

The young man pondered for a moment, then flipped over and dove down.

The instant he changed direction, the otherworldly creatures that had previously seemed almost playful went berserk and charged toward him.

Yuan Ye's lips curled up slightly.

—The bet was right!

But when Yuan Ye was less than twenty meters from the massive rock on the seabed, he was intercepted.

Even so, Yuan Ye caught sight of the small otherworldly creature hiding in the crevice of the rock.

Sure enough, it was the same creature the little guy on his chest had pointed out earlier.

But the deep sea was no home turf for humans, and Yuan Ye had no way to get any closer.

Ye Yunfan was frantic, because he saw that the little monster had started to flee.

If it couldn't be killed now, there might be no chance of finding it again!

The little octopus struggled for a few seconds before suddenly making up his mind. He secreted a lot of mucus from his tentacles and stuck it onto Yuan Ye's chest.

A moment ago, while patching up his own wound, Ye Yunfan had discovered that his tentacles could secrete a sticky liquid that seemed to help glue wounds shut.

In any case, the situation was critical, and desperate times called for desperate measures!

After that, the little octopus detached himself from Yuan Ye's chest, hooked onto the youth's shirt, and crawled to his side.

There was a pocket knife pinned there.

Ye Yunfan yanked out the small knife and wrapped two tentacles around it. Then he hooked onto the young man's pants and jumped all the way down, swiftly chasing the little monster.

The little octopus was indeed tiny, only as big as Yuan Ye's palm, and next to the massive creatures he was smaller still. So even after darting out quite far, no monster noticed him.

The little monster was an ugly, fleshy ball with multiple eyes and a flat tail at the back, like a tadpole's. Naturally, its swimming speed was no match for an octopus with eight tentacles.

Still, Ye Yunfan was struggling to swim, because the small knife, just a pocket knife to a human, felt like a super broadsword to a baby octopus like him.

But so what!

The little octopus dragged his super broadsword along, valiant and spirited, and slashed at the little monster's head!

☰