110: A Mysterious Clue, The True Form of the Monster (Part I)

Seeing a swarm of strange snakes surging out, Mutou and Zigui both leaped away in a hurry. While they could easily handle one or two, the sheer number made things troublesome; they were not deities with three heads and six arms.

"Light of Divine Punishment!" The bald man, having long been prepared, let out a loud shout. Instantly, the sound of Sanskrit chanting filled the cargo hold, and a blinding, tangible white light erupted from his body, cascading down like a tidal wave. The strange snakes, as if struck by continuous blows, curled their bodies and retreated, yet they could not escape the bald man’s A-rank skill and were instantly reduced to ashes.

This was the second time Mutou had seen the bald man use this area-of-effect magic. While it caused damage to the monsters, the white light washing over Mutou and Zigui left them feeling relaxed and rejuvenated—a halo effect of the modification designed to restore stamina for allies.

Following the bald man’s ultimate move, a painful roar erupted from the engine room, shaking the entire starship. Mutou instructed Siyu to rendezvous with Qiona, while he brandished his high-energy vibration blade and charged into the engine room alongside Zigui, the bald man, and Gufeng.

"Good heavens..." Upon entering, all four gasped. The spacious room was teeming with slithering, strange snakes. Furthermore, the floor was littered with countless mangled, bloody corpses—far more than in the corridor they had just passed through. It was like a living hell.

Most terrifying of all was the giant beast at the center of the room. Its body was half the size of the chamber, covered in a tough, black hide, with octopus-like tentacles spreading in all directions. There was no clear boundary between its head and body; atop its four-meter-tall frame sat a hemispherical head with two protruding eyes as large as satellite dishes. Its massive mouth opened and closed, emitting pained hisses—it seemed the bald man’s attack had inflicted significant damage.

As Siyu had suspected, the strange snakes were actually the beast’s tentacles. Each tentacle ended in a flower-like proboscis capable of opening up to ingest human bodies, which were then transported directly to the creature’s main mass. Most bizarrely, the tentacles seemed to extend infinitely; clearly, the monster had been using the engine room’s ventilation shafts to reach every corner of the cruise ship, hunting its victims.

"My god... what kind of monster is this?" Gufeng asked. "Are all the star beasts in your sci-fi plane this terrifying? This ship is quite large, yet it managed to spread its tentacles to every corner."

Zigui was also stunned, finally saying, "I have never seen such a star beast."

Mutou said, "It resembles the octopus from Earth—a creature that lives in the ocean. It is incredibly strong, cruel, combative, and cunning; many marine animals fear it. This star beast looks just like an octopus!" He paused, then continued, "However, octopus meat is tender and delicious. Fishermen, knowing that octopuses like to crawl into seashells, often drill holes in shells, tie them together with ropes, and sink them to the seabed. Once the octopus settles in, they pull them up. It’s an easy catch. But here, the octopus-monster has crawled into this ship to make its home, and we have become its food."

The bald man suddenly spoke, "Look..." He pointed.

Mutou and the others followed his gaze. They saw that the tentacles, which had been reduced to ash by the "Light of Divine Punishment," were beginning to regenerate, one by one. The surrounding tentacles were constantly consuming flesh and blood to fuel the process.

Mutou realized with a start, "It... it is using human bodies as nutrients to repair its own tentacles!"

Gufeng shouted, "It’s recovering too fast! Let’s strike!" He pulled out his staff and pointed forward, "Vacuum, Cut!" An invisible wave of air struck the beast’s head.

The monster sensed the danger and waved two tentacles to block it. The invisible wave severed both tentacles, and the beast let out a roar. The room was instantly filled with a foul, fishy stench. The group exchanged a glance and shouted in unison, "Retreat!"

They needed to lure the beast out of the engine room. Otherwise, no one dared to unleash a high-power skill here; if they destroyed the power unit and caused an explosion, none of them would survive.

Seeing the group retreat, the beast, in a fit of rage, roared repeatedly. Countless tentacles retracted rapidly from the vents. Then, using its tentacles for support, it shrieked and charged after them, smashing through an entire steel wall. Such immense strength was truly staggering.

Zigui led the way, saying, "Follow me! We’ll take it to the main hall in the center of the ship; there’s enough space there!" As he ran, he asked, "Brother Gu, how is this beast’s strength?"

Gufeng, gliding behind them using a flight spell, replied calmly, "Average. We should be able to handle it easily; it’s just slightly troublesome due to its regeneration and massive size."

Zigui felt relieved and slowed his pace to ensure the star beast followed.

The engine room was at the rear of the ship, quite a distance from the main hall, with numerous narrow corridors in between. The monster’s head seemed boneless, squeezing through with ease. Mutou, bringing up the rear, saw the beast closing in and fired a particle beam. While it couldn't wound the beast, it was enough to slow it down.

"We’re here!" Zigui opened an electronic door, and they entered a hall the size of a soccer field. It was in total disarray; tables and chairs were overturned, scattered like debris after a typhoon.

The four took their positions in the corners. As the monster rushed in, the bald man used his innate skill: "Gravity Well!"

The beast’s body suddenly faltered, crashing to the floor of the hall, its countless tentacles struggling to move under the crushing weight.

"Ten Thousand Sword Art!" Mutou summoned his sword, *Qingming*. Instantly, the hall was flooded with azure light as countless sword auras shot toward the beast’s head.

"Pfft..." A rain of blood sprayed. Though the beast had thick hide and tough flesh, it could not withstand Mutou’s flying sword. It let out a miserable howl, but because of its sheer size, the attack only carved off a small piece of flesh.

The beast roared and lashed out with its tentacles. Mutou sneered, standing his ground. Before the tentacles could touch him, several strands of colorful mist rose around his body like chains, resembling dragons and snakes—it was his magical treasure, the Cloud-Mist Immortal Gauze, blocking the attack.

Mutou pointed forward with one hand and shouted, "Piercing Spikes!" Suddenly, metal spikes several meters high erupted from the metal floor, pinning the monster in place. This was an area-of-effect skill that generated different spikes depending on the terrain—earth spikes on land, ice spikes on water. Here on a spaceship, it summoned the most powerful metal spikes, wounding the opponent while immobilizing them.

The beast had immense vitality; it merely roared in pain. It lashed out with its tentacles, grabbing objects around the ceiling to hoist its body up, then began attacking all four of them simultaneously.

Protected by his treasure, Mutou didn't fear the tentacles. He stood firm, continuously casting Five Elements spells from the Shangqing manual—bolts of lightning flashed, and raging fires consumed the air.

However, the beast was enormous. While Mutou’s spells were powerful, they didn't cause critical damage. Still, the cumulative damage was significant, especially with Gufeng, a master of space magic, occasionally chipping in:

"Space, Seal!"
"Vacuum, Cut!"
"Dimensional, Slash!"

The monster, possessing no small amount of intelligence, realized it was outmatched. While it kept lashing out with its tentacles, its head began to retreat toward the hall exit, clearly intending to flee.

The bald man, having seen this, shouted, "Gufeng, restrain it!"

Gufeng and the bald man had long since developed a tacit understanding. Upon hearing the shout, he immediately understood. He drew a symbol in the air with his staff, pushed it toward the beast, and roared, "Space, Lockdown!"

The beast, attempting to escape, was frozen by Gufeng’s rune. Its entire head was locked in mid-air, and even its tentacles ceased moving. Suddenly, the bald man leaped in front of the beast. Though the two were completely disproportionate—like a towering tree against a sapling—at that moment, a dazzling, blinding light erupted from the bald man’s body, so radiant it was impossible to look at directly.

"Soul Extraction..." The bald man made a gesture over the beast’s head as if pulling something out, then squeezed his hand with a sharp *pop*.

Instantly, the fierce light in the monster’s eyes faded. Its massive mouth opened, then finally closed, lifeless. Its entire body, along with the countless tentacles, collapsed onto the floor with a wet thud, lying as limp and motionless as a dead snake.

In mid-air, the bald man raised an eyebrow and said, "It was only between B-rank and A-rank." He meant that its strength wasn't enough to be a true threat; while Zigui couldn't handle it alone, he, Mutou, or Gufeng could have dealt with it easily, and together it was trivial.

Gufeng nodded in agreement. Zigui, mouth agape, asked, "That... that’s it?"

Mutou retrieved *Qingming*, but his heart was in turmoil: *Light of Divine Punishment? Soul Extraction? No wonder that move felt so familiar—it’s clearly the skill of a boss from a fighting game. How could the Dream Plane be selling these skills?*

Just as he was about to ask the bald man, the dead beast began to undergo a strange transformation, its body shrinking, and shrinking...