Coveted After Becoming a Monster [Quick Transmigration] 7

Chapter 7:

—Drip, drip.

Water droplets fell from the corner of her shirt, creating tiny splashes on the fallen leaves.

The stiff tentacles were still pressed there, unable to advance or retreat. Under the extreme tension, her mind went blank, leaving only the suckers to contract unconsciously.

Ji Yulin’s body stiffened, and she blurted out, “Don’t, don’t suck.”

At the same time, she raised her hand, feigning a grab but actually pressing down on Li An through the fabric.

The tiny distance she had managed to create was pressed back, even tighter and closer than before. It didn’t hurt; after all, the area was soft. The only foreign sensation was a slightly rough point, located right between her eight tentacles, where the little octopus would eat.

The foreign sensation was distinct, for both of them.

Her skin was scalding, her heartbeat even more rapid.

Li An, whose brain had crashed, didn’t hear what the other person was saying at all. She only felt that she had done something wrong and was about to be punished by Ji Yulin. In her panic, she tried to escape again, attempting to squeeze out from between her fingers.

“Don’t move,” Ji Yulin said, trying to suppress her panting.

But before she could finish, the little octopus had already slipped out. Ji Yulin had no choice but to grab for her again.

The tentacles pressed against the soft flesh, landing on her abdomen. Just as she was about to slip out from the hem of the shirt, Ji Yulin’s hand pressed down in advance. Panicked, she scurried upward, once again finding herself on the soft mounds. But in the next second, she realized something was wrong and immediately dodged to the side. A shadow fell, and the frantic octopus, with no regard for anything else, scrambled around inside the shirt.

The neat shirt was thrown into disarray. Her waist, collarbone, back—every part was pressed by the tentacles. Glistening mucus slid down her abs, making the round marks left by the suckers even redder, trembling with each breath.

Until the next moment, the little octopus’s vision went white. Ji Yulin had finally grabbed one of her tentacles and pulled her out from the hem of the shirt.

The sunlight outside the shirt was still bright, but Li An didn’t dare to look. Her remaining tentacles shot up, covering her head completely, turning her into a trembling ball, the very picture of a pitiful creature who had done wrong and was about to be punished.

But Li An waited anxiously for a long time, and the expected pain never came.

The tentacles blocking her view moved down, and then down again, revealing a pair of apprehensive and cautious sapphire eyes.

Then, Li An saw a delicate face with not a hint of blame.

“Alright, stop messing around,” Ji Yulin said, her tone softening with a hint of helplessness.

She wasn’t angry, nor did she punish Li An. Her glass-like eyes, though they held a cool indifference even under the scorching sun, gained a warmth of exasperated amusement when she looked at the little octopus.

“I almost fell just now. Did that scare you?” she asked. Although it was a question, her voice already held a note of certainty.

The situation was so different from what she had imagined that the little octopus was a bit dazed. She slowly and hesitantly nodded her head.

She was definitely scared, but as for when she was scared, that was hard to say. Li An’s gaze shifted for a moment. Her tentacles hooked Ji Yulin’s finger in a fawning manner. Though she was an octopus, she had puppy-dog eyes, looking at Ji Yulin pitifully, as if she were the one who had been bullied.

“I’ll be more careful next time,” Ji Yulin said, completely fooled by the little creature. Instead of punishing her, she began to find fault with herself. Then she added, “All the water spilled. We’ll have to go back again.”

There was even a hint of guilt in her voice, as if she were blaming herself.

The little octopus blinked, still not quite understanding the situation, and was placed back in her original spot.

This time, Ji Yulin indeed walked more steadily. Especially in places with protruding rocks or dirt, she would either go around them or test them with a few steps first. There wasn’t the slightest jolt.

The little octopus, perched on her shoulder, didn’t know whether to be relieved or something else. Her emotions were very complicated.

Part of it was guilt. Although Ji Yulin hadn’t blamed her, it was her own wild thoughts that had caused her to flee, resulting in Ji Yulin being taken advantage of for so long. There were already quite a few red marks on her lips and neck, and now, under her shirt…

Just as the thought emerged, an image she shouldn’t have remembered surfaced. Li An quickly suppressed it, but a tentacle suddenly hooked, just as it had in the shirt, and clung to Ji Yulin’s shoulder.

Ji Yulin had a slender build. It was clear she did some simple, regular exercise, but wasn’t an enthusiast. It was more to maintain a basic level of fitness to be able to spend longer hours in the lab.

Therefore, the bones beneath her thin skin were prominent. When the tentacle hooked tightly, it felt extremely uncomfortable for the octopus, not at all like that soft place…

The suppressed image flashed again. The little octopus quickly slapped her own head, warning herself not to think about it anymore, and forcibly dragged her thoughts in another direction.

And so, she thought of the storyline provided by the system. At first, Li An hadn’t sympathized with Ji Yulin. She just thought the woman was foolish, single-mindedly focused on saving humanity, burying herself in experiments day and night, only to have her results stolen, to be reviled and rejected by the very people she wanted to save, and finally to be driven out of the human safe zone.

Pathetic and ridiculous.

Then, in the ship’s cabin, when she saw Ji Yulin talking to others, she thought the woman was cold and difficult to get along with, and understood why so many people would kick her when she was down.

Although “being a smooth operator” had negative connotations, in any place, it was those kinds of people who got ahead. In contrast, upright and incorruptible people were often misunderstood, earning a reputation for being unsociable and difficult, and were eventually pushed down by the crowd when the wall fell.

Li An had surmised this, but she didn’t care. She had no intention of helping or trying to change Ji Yulin. As long as the mission could be completed, why look for trouble? The system didn’t specify how it had to be done, anyway.

Even her frantic efforts on the beach were driven only by the thought that the mission couldn’t fail.

But now…

Her Little Ji was clearly pure-hearted, with the heart of a child, and a gentle, stable, and patient personality.

The moment she woke up from a high fever, she remembered to put the little octopus in its jar and move it to a shady spot. She fed her and played with her, not minding her mischief at all. After being tormented like that, she even asked if she was scared.

Before, she was just so engrossed in the lab that she didn’t know how to interact with others, so she pretended to be cold. But those bastards actually dared to use that to bully her Little Ji!

A bunch of ungrateful, backstabbing wolves!

The more the little octopus thought about it, the angrier she got. She waved her tentacles in the air, as if wanting to hit those people hard.

Ji Yulin noticed her movements but didn’t pay them any mind. After reaching the stream, she collected fresh water again. On the way back, she coated the coconut shells with wet mud and sand, then used dry wood and leaves to start a fire.

Li An couldn’t help much with most things, but starting a fire with a hand drill was very simple for her. Excluding the injured tentacle, all seven tentacles worked in unison, and sparks appeared in no time.

When the mud on the coconut shells was baked dry, the water inside also boiled.

After Ji Yulin drank, her pale complexion, caused by the high fever, finally improved significantly.

Later in the evening, when floating clouds blocked the scorching sun and the oppressive heat eased slightly, the human and the octopus jumped into the sea.