The dark shadow collided with Silver Eagle and then, PUFF! It burst into a cloud of black smoke that engulfed him. In the next instant, the living smoke sharply contracted, transforming into a giant octopus-like Mutant. Its tentacles tightly wrapped around Charles, while the remaining ones wildly lashed out at Melincha and Selena nearby.
It was the driver Melincha had cast aside! He had feigned injury and unconsciousness, leading Melincha to mistakenly believe he was an ordinary person. She never imagined he too was a Mutant.
Marcus cursed loudly and launched himself into action. Mid-leap, he raised both hands high, drawing the elements he needed from the ground, the bamboo forest, the wrecked cars, and the air itself. He synthesized two weapons in his hands.
In his left hand: a shoulder-launched missile! In his right: a massive... sushi knife!
The Alchemist’s ability, Cosmic Furnace, allowed him to create anything whose structure he had studied and understood.
However, limited by his Second Energy Level, the most powerful weapon he could synthesize was far less potent than the Biological Nuclear Explosion of a Nuclear Explosion Nun or a Radiation Missionary.
WHOOSH! The shoulder-launched missile shot towards the skeletal Mutant. Marcus, wielding the giant sushi knife, unceremoniously slashed at a tentacle reaching for Melincha. SLASH! The tentacle was severed cleanly!
It turned out the sushi knife’s blade was extremely effective against the octopus Mutant.
The octopus Mutant had eight dark-red eyes. As it stared at the giant sushi knife, a gleam of fear appeared, as if recalling some unbearable past memory. FWIP! It retracted all its tentacles and quickly balled itself up. Its tentacles writhed and then, POP! It squeezed Charles out.
Enraged, Marcus raised the giant sushi knife in a powerful ’Heavenly King Splitting the Mountain’ stance, ready to charge. But just then, the octopus Mutant suddenly extended a tentacle, pointing it at Charles’s eyes!
It was taking a hostage to confront Marcus!
Marcus froze, glaring at it while rapidly calculating his options.
The shoulder-launched missile had already exploded, blasting the skeletal Mutant over ten meters away. Melincha and Selena were in hot pursuit.
Chen Gu, watching from the shadows, suddenly sensed immense danger. He kicked Joseph away and used the recoil to roll himself into a ball.
A massive ship’s anchor slammed down where they had just been hiding.
The anchor was a full two meters long, attached to a chain as thick as a water bucket! Something in the darkness shook the chain, and CLANK! The anchor was yanked back.
Meanwhile, screams echoed in the distance. Chen Gu’s heart sank. Those are my teammates from the operations group!
Chen Gu dashed out, heading straight for the skeletal Mutant, yelling, "It’s a trap! This is a trap!"
The panicked rookie had inadvertently stumbled onto the battlefield. The skeletal Mutant gave a cruel smile; a light slash of its enormous bone blade would be enough to kill this newcomer from the special operations unit.
But it saw the rookie’s body float like a bamboo leaf, drifting with the motion of its own bone blade. He skillfully passed over the blade, his palm pressing against its side.
Then the Mutant felt something inside it change—an unstoppable force about to erupt!
Melincha saw a brilliant light burst from within the skeletal Mutant’s body and cried out, "Get back! Quick!"
She grabbed Selena, and the Mecha’s thrusters fired in reverse. WHOOSH! They vanished from sight.
Chen Gu had no sooner landed than he too scrambled for cover. The light inside the skeletal Mutant intensified to its peak and then, BOOM! It exploded. Shards of bone armor flew everywhere, and the black viscous fluid instantly vaporized.
But from the darkness, WHOOSH! A huge ship’s anchor was thrown, heading straight for Marcus. The team leader, not daring to meet it head-on, leaped into the air. He tapped the anchor with his toes mid-flight and, like a large bird, landed over ten meters away.
Chen Gu sidled up. "Team Leader, are you familiar with magnets?"
Marcus glared at him. "Of course, I am! I graduated elementary school, you know!"
Chen Gu chuckled sheepishly. "That’s not what I meant... Iron anchor, iron chain... we make a big magnet, and then we can ask the Mutant: ’Unexpected, right? Surprised?’ How about that?"
Marcus understood immediately. There was a large rockery right beside them. He crept over and, gathering all his strength, began to modify the rockery using Cosmic Furnace.
Chen Gu, feigning an order from on high, barked, "Silver Eagle, the Team Leader wants you to hold off the enemy!"
Silver Eagle cursed inwardly. Why me? That Mecha girl Melincha would be far more suitable! But he couldn’t disobey the team leader’s order. As Star Wind Battalion Commander, he jetted all kinds of particle streams and cosmic rays. Under attack from the massive anchor, he darted about like a flea. It was supposedly ’holding the enemy off,’ but in reality, he was just drawing aggro and getting thrashed around.
The enormous anchor whizzed past Charles’s body, the fierce wind completely ruining his stylish haircut.
He was pale. After using his abilities repeatedly, even the Iceberg Prince felt weak and couldn’t hold out much longer.
"How much longer do I have to keep this up?!" he yelled. VWOOM! The huge anchor shot straight for his head. Charles screamed; he was about to be hit and couldn’t dodge! But then, the anchor suddenly swerved. CLANG! It was sucked onto the nearby rockery!
Charles sagged, letting out a long breath. His legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed.
The chain behind the anchor pulled taut. From the darkness came the Mutant’s furious roar.
Melincha unhesitatingly fired four shoulder-launched missiles towards the sound of the roar.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Amidst the violent explosions, a colossal monster rose to its feet. Its skin was peppered with scars from the blasts, but it seemed unfazed. Grabbing the chain with its massive arms, it roared and tugged repeatedly, trying to retrieve its ’big toy.’
Chen Gu appeared beside Marcus, waving his arms and cheering. "Don’t give up, Team Leader! A little more effort! Crank up that magnetic force!"
Marcus gritted his teeth, pushing himself to his limits. His Alchemist ability continuously amplified the rockery’s magnetism.
This was a high-end residential area, so the decorative rockery was massive; the Mutant couldn’t budge it.
The anchor was pinned to the rockery by magnetism. The Mutant, enraged, desperately tried to yank it free. Marcus, risking everything, continuously altered the rockery’s internal structure to boost the magnetic force, determined not to let the Mutant retrieve its weapon.
The thick chain creaked and groaned under the strain of their tug-of-war, and a few links even began to deform.
The Mutant was furious. That anchor is mine! Give it back!
It gripped the chain with both arms, its four thick legs digging deep into the ground. With a tremendous roar, it unleashed its full strength.
"Team Leader, let go!" Chen Gu suddenly yelled.
This was the signal they had secretly agreed upon. Marcus instantly deactivated all his abilities. The magnetism from the rockery vanished. Propelled by the Mutant’s terrifying strength, the huge anchor shot back like a cannonball.
Caught completely off guard, the Mutant had no time to react. The anchor smashed heavily onto its head...
SPLAT! The Mutant’s massive head exploded like a watermelon.