Just as the tentacles were about to coil around Zu An, several red firecrackers suddenly descended upon them, blasting them apart into bloody mist.
Startled, Zu An looked up and saw a red-robed woman smiling brightly at him. He felt moved. Regardless of her motive, she has helped me a lot.
The octopus lady screeched as she hurriedly retracted her tentacles. Those firecrackers were fueled by Firework’s blood essence, so their flame couldn’t be easily put out. They spread toward the octopus lady’s body so quickly that she had to sever her tentacles. To make things worse, she realized she couldn’t regrow them anymore.
“You damned lass!” The octopus lady glared venomously at Firework. She shot a tentacle toward the ceiling and swung herself toward Firework as if she were Tarzan.
“Be careful!” Zu An wanted to help her, but he was stopped by the birdman’s silver claws.
The birdman burst into laughter. “Go easy on that little beauty, second sister. I’ll let her have a taste of my cannon later!”
The octopus lady scoffed, “I’ll laugh if you’re blown up by her firecrackers instead.”
The birdman laughed. “Doesn’t that make it more exciting?”
Firework’s gaze turned cold, though her smile persisted. “Why don’t I give them to you two since you like them so much?” She produced two lit firecrackers and tossed them over.
The birdman was unfazed. “Even your firecrackers look so beautiful.”
He swiped his silver claws at the two firecrackers, but to his shock, the firecracker behind suddenly accelerated and bumped into the one in front, causing an abrupt change in the latter’s trajectory and speed.
He couldn’t react in time, and the firecracker struck his thigh. He screamed in agony. Having seen what happened to the octopus lady, he quickly ripped off his pants and tore off a huge swathe of his flesh. Blood dripped from his leg.
Firework clapped her hand in amusement. “Is that exciting enough for you?”
The birdman’s face twisted in fury. “You bitch! I’ll make you suffer a fate worse than... AH!”
He screamed once more, as Zu An exploited his momentary lapse in judgment to launch an attack. He tried his best to protect his vitals, but he ended up losing an arm in the process.
“Incredible, big brother Zu!” Firework exclaimed with a smile. He has a conscience. At least he knows how to stand up for me.
The octopus lady was startled. This woman still has the energy to chat despite facing our combined onslaught. I can’t underestimate her. “Third brother, quickly subdue that brat so we can deal with this bitch together.”
“Alright.” The birdman clenched his jaw as he quickly regrew his arm.
Zu An was taken aback. These monsters are too tenacious!
In the Cultivation World, cultivators beyond a certain level could regrow their limbs too, but it usually took months of rest. It was inconceivable for anyone to regenerate that quickly there.
“Be careful, big brother Zu. These monsters only die when you destroy their energy cores. You can think of energy cores as the equivalent of your world’s demon cores, and their energy cores are located in different places,” Firework reminded Zu An.
The octopus lady was infuriated. “You talk too much!”
She thrashed her tentacles at Firework, but the latter was somehow able to weave between the gaps of the tentacles as if she were an agile bird. Despite the furious onslaught, none of the attacks were connecting.
This lass is still holding back. I wonder how strong she truly is. I’m lucky she’s still fooling around.
She gave up on capturing Firework, and instead focused on stalling the latter until her allies came over to reinforce her. By then, they could work together to capture the woman.
Number Four isn’t a match for 9527, but he should be able to stall him for the time being. Number Three should be stronger than that brat, but for some reason, not only is he struggling to bring that brat down, he’s even showing signs of losing.
Fortunately, my subordinates have the upper hand over the Universal Conglomerate’s employees. They don’t seem to have staffed this spaceship with many fighters.
Furthermore, our eldest brother hasn’t made a move either.
Employee 9527 angrily roared at the other staff members. “How did these fellows slip in here? Why didn’t our protection system work?”
The Universal Conglomerate’s spaceship was equipped with advanced technology that could detect and destroy enemies from a long distance away, but the defenses had never indicated an enemy presence. They'd only noticed the enemies when the latter were already aboard.
That spelled one possibility—there was a spy among them!
Who could it be? Did the enemy buy off one of our staff members...
Two more people appeared on the platform. It was the old woman with meat lumps on her face and the wheelchair-bound Fire Knight.
“Tsk tsk tsk. What a commotion!” The old woman’s voice sounded more jarring than a crow’s cawing.
“A commotion it is indeed.” Flames flickered eerily in Fire Knight’s eyes.
The old woman turned to Employee 9527 and said, “It seems you aren’t able to take care of this trouble. Should I help out?”
Employee 9527 had also realized that the situation was beyond his control. “The Universal Conglomerate will be grateful to you if you lend a helping hand.”
“I have no interest in the intangible. I’ll help you if you give me what I want,” the old woman coldly demanded.
Employee 9527 hesitated. That’s too valuable. But hearing his comrades’ screams of agony helped him make up his mind quickly. If the monsters get their way, and I lose the spaceship, it’ll be over for me even if I escape with my life. “Fine, I’ll give you what you want.”
“Smart. Heh! There are enough living entities here for me to create my new medicine.” The old woman opened her arms and murmured an incantation. Soon, a black fog gathered around her.
Psh!
Her body suddenly trembled. She looked down and saw a bloodied spear lodged in her chest. She turned her head around in disbelief. Holding the other end of the spear was the wheelchair-bound Fire Knight.
“Why?” the old woman asked in confusion.
“I can’t let you foil my plan, can I?” Fire Knight replied.
The old woman looked at the monsters below and widened her eyes in realization. “I see. They're your subordinates. Very well. Let’s all die together.”
Her body exploded into a thick black fog that swiftly spread into the surroundings.