Coveted After Becoming a Monster [Quick Transmigration] 25p2

Chapter 25 p2:

The wind, carrying the scent of morning dew, rushed in through the half-open window. The tires rolled over a small pothole, and the car swayed, the coconut juice in the glass rippling.

Ji Yulin’s expression was gentle as she watched the little octopus. After a short while, her gaze fell on the severed tentacle, and her thin lips tightened.

She took a bandage from the first-aid kit beside her, carefully cut it to the width of an octopus tentacle, soaked it in the glass jar, then took it out, let it dry slightly until it no longer dripped, and then wrapped it around the severed tentacle.

The little octopus was busy eating and cooperated with whatever Ji Yulin did. After all, she had many tentacles, so one broken one didn’t matter. She obediently held it high to make it easier for Ji Yulin to continue.

The dirt road was bumpy, but fortunately, Qi Fu was an excellent driver. While trying to avoid the potholes, she could still look back from time to time. Now she started to chatter again.

“Professor, you really spoil it.”

“By the way, are all octopuses so smart? If this one were in the Thirteenth District, it would probably fetch a high price. Those guys love to compare whose pet is the prettiest and smartest.”

“Oh, right. Why haven’t I seen anyone else keep an octopus as a pet?”

Her tone changed, and she muttered to herself, “That’s not right. Why do I feel like I haven’t seen an octopus in a long time?”

“Are octopuses tasty…”

The moment she said that, the little octopus lifted her head and rolled her eyes at Qi Fu.

Noisy frog-peacock!

Qi Fu saw it but wasn’t angry. Instead, she burst out laughing and said, “Professor, how did you catch this pet? I’m really interested. Maybe I’ll go and catch one myself when I have some time off.”

“It’s quite fun.”

The scene from that night flashed before her eyes again. At first, she hadn’t connected it to Ji Yulin’s little octopus. It wasn’t until she returned and saw the little octopus Ji Yulin had brought back, with one tentacle severed, just like the octopus that had had its tentacle bitten off by the darkness.

How could there be such a coincidence?

And then she thought of the mysterious mutated beast she had encountered outside Ji Yulin’s room during the sunflower mutation. Although she hadn’t seen it clearly, the feeling of its fist hitting her cheek was indeed a bit like the texture of a tentacle.

And, to put it bluntly, she had seen with her own eyes that Ji Yulin had been taken away by the octopus. Even though she had been stubbornly searching afterward, in her heart, she had already thought that Ji Yulin was most likely dead. But she had returned, safe and sound.

She wasn’t missing any limbs, just a little weak.

Ling Yun closed her eyes, trying to suppress her violently beating heart.

Then she thought of Ji Yulin’s strange behavior a few days ago.

For example, the person who had always been engrossed in experiments had suddenly asked Ling Yun to teach her some simple combat skills. Then, against everyone’s objections, she had insisted on participating in this sea beast clearing mission and had refused to let them accompany her on the ship…

One by one, these incidents piled up like snowflakes, burying Ling Yun.

She took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes, she happened to meet Ji Yulin’s gaze. Her heart trembled. She suddenly realized that Ji Yulin had never tried to hide it from her.

The deep, dark eyes reflected her panic, as if scrutinizing her, or perhaps warning her.

Ling Yun unconsciously gripped the seat beside her.

The little octopus, who had been busy eating, inexplicably lifted her head. She suddenly had a very strange feeling but didn’t understand what was happening. The wind outside was calm, and there was no danger.

And just then, Qi Fu suddenly blurted out, “Captain Ling, were you still conscious when that darkness and the octopus were fighting?”

Ling Yun quickly averted her gaze and forced herself to remain calm, her tone flat, “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing. I was just curious. According to the townspeople, they had already been woken up by the alarm, but when the darkness and the octopus chased each other out of the town, the fog from the sunflowers suddenly thickened and pulled them back into a dream.”

Qi Fu stroked her chin with one hand and continued, “Logically, whether it’s a plant or an animal mutation, their abilities shouldn’t change so much in a short period of time. It’s almost as if they advanced a tier.”

Ling Yun casually looked out the window and just said, “I fainted then too. I didn’t see anything.”

“You fainted too?” Qi Fu was a little surprised.

Ling Yun hummed in agreement, then added, “My last memory is of the sunflowers suddenly growing wildly, the fog suddenly thickening, and then I fainted.”

She thought for a moment and said, “Maybe it’s special? Didn’t you say that a few minutes after it erupted again, it exhausted its life force and withered and died?”

Her gaze fell on the rearview mirror, as if she were looking at her own reflection. Her tone was unreadable, “Otherwise, we wouldn’t have been lucky enough to survive.”

“Perhaps its mutation was special, a change that came at the cost of its life force.”

Qi Fu nodded thoughtfully, somewhat agreeing, “That’s possible. After all, this thing is strange. It can actually steal the life force of people in their dreams.”

“Maybe it was too greedy, absorbed too much life force, and then exploded? Like those evil cultivators in novels,” Qi Fu thought she had made a joke and started to laugh.

But Ling Yun’s heart skipped a beat. She suddenly remembered the scene. When the darkness had bitten off the octopus’s tentacle, had a few drops of blood fallen into the water?

And that menacing darkness. If it had some irreconcilable conflict with the octopus, how could it have let her go so easily? It had been chasing her so desperately before, but after biting off her tentacle, it had chosen to leave.

Ling Yun couldn’t suppress her shock, but in the next second, she saw her reflection in the mirror and quickly lowered her head, suppressing all her emotions. But her heart was pounding like thunder, almost shaking her chest.

They were about to enter the jungle. Qi Fu didn’t notice the change in Ling Yun. Her playful expression faded, replaced by a hint of gravity, “We’re entering the jungle.”

As she finished speaking, the little octopus, who had just eaten her fill, lifted her head and subconsciously looked ahead.

As if they had crossed a boundary, the surrounding trees suddenly became extremely dense. The fallen leaves on the ground had piled up into a thick carpet, rustling as the wheels rolled over them. The air also became thick, mixed with the smell of decay.

How strange, this world.

Are there also caves and tropical rainforests by the sea?

Li An tilted her head and thought for a moment, and could only attribute the situation to the world being different.

But Ji Yulin didn’t even look up. Her calm expression showed no fluctuation. Only when the little octopus lifted her head did she raise the already prepared tissue, wipe away the accidentally stained crumbs, and then hand her the fruit juice.

The little octopus’s attention was drawn. Her azure eyes narrowed, and the tentacles behind her swayed unconsciously, showing a satisfied expression.

Actually, she wasn’t full yet, but it wasn’t good to eat too much after being hungry for so long. The little octopus still understood this principle.

Halfway through the juice, the jeep’s engine suddenly died. Qi Fu grabbed two long knives from the side and jumped out of the car.

Only then did she see that, at some point, they had reached a relatively open area. The surrounding trees were all withered and yellow, and vines with red flowers hung down like curtains, dense and even extending toward them.

The surrounding space was dark, and the smell of decay was stronger. Where Qi Fu’s foot landed, there was even a pool of black water.

Even someone who wasn’t a neat freak would frown at this.

Qi Fu didn’t delay any longer. She drew the long knife in her hand and hacked at a nearby vine.

As the branches fell, the red flowers also fell. Then she saw the area suddenly become agitated, as if it had a mind of its own, and like thin snakes, they lunged at her.

And the jeep also jolted. It turned out that Qi Fu hadn’t deliberately provoked them. The vines had been lurking underneath all along, silently wrapping around the wheels, forcing them to stop.

Ling Yun sensed that something was wrong. Just as she was about to get out of the car, she saw Qi Fu wave her hand casually, signaling that she didn’t need her help.

Looking back, no one else had gotten out of the other jeeps. Were they really going to leave this entire area for her to handle?

Li An was suddenly intrigued. After finishing the last sip of her coconut juice, she climbed up the car door and peeked out the window.

She finally saw Qi Fu’s left eye. It was a brilliant golden pupil, completely different from her right eye. Her gaze was sharp and imposing, a stark contrast to her usual playful demeanor. The two different feelings actually blended together seamlessly.

Seeing the little octopus’s curiosity, Ji Yulin explained in a gentle voice, “Her transplanted left eye is from a tier-six mutated golden eagle. When it was discovered, it was old and dying. The Research Institute waited patiently for more than a year before daring to send people to capture it.”

“But even with the most thorough preparations, the Research Institute still paid an extremely high price to barely kill it.”

Matching Ji Yulin’s voice was Qi Fu’s swift and decisive movements. It was hard to imagine that such a frivolous, talkative person could be so formidable. Wherever her blade passed, vines fell like rain.

“The golden eagle’s body was transplanted into three people at that time. The ones who received the right eye and the wing transplant both died because they couldn’t withstand it. Only Qi Fu survived.”

Before she had dealt with the ones in front, vines suddenly shot out from behind, stabbing straight at Qi Fu’s shoulder. Li An’s heart leaped into her throat, but she saw Qi Fu, as if she had eyes in the back of her head, not even turn around, just swing her blade back.

The vine that had tried to sneak attack her instantly fell.

“After the successful transplant, tests by the Research Institute showed a significant increase in Qi Fu’s physical constitution. She has better endurance, extremely fast reaction speed, and her left eye can even see weeds a hundred meters away, capturing every detail.”

“She is currently one of the few who have undergone a body transplant with the best adaptability and the most outstanding abilities.”

With Ji Yulin’s explanation, Li An’s attention instantly shifted to Qi Fu’s eyes.

They were indeed very different, as if they had a mind of their own, free from the constraints of human instinct. After scanning left and right, they gave Qi Fu the most accurate judgment.

In just ten minutes, a thick carpet of vines covered the ground. Qi Fu’s expression was relaxed. After sheathing her knife, she stretched, then slowly reached out to the side.

There were still a few vines left uncut.

She grabbed them with one hand and pulled them all down, then walked to the front of the car.

The little octopus had enjoyed the show. Just as she was about to move down, she saw her knock on the car window.

Huh?

The little octopus blinked blankly.

And Ji Yulin, behind her, had already rolled down the window.

The woman held up a teardrop-shaped red flower bud, handed it to the little octopus, and said nonchalantly, “Try it. The nectar of this thing is really sweet.”

A tentacle hooked the flower bud. Before she could make her next move, Qi Fu had stuffed a large vine inside and then turned to go down, giving a section to each jeep.

The little octopus held the flower bud, glanced at Ji Yulin, and only after getting her affirmative reply did she dare to take a sip.

It’s really sweet!

It wasn’t the cloying sweetness of candy, but a refreshing sweetness with a floral fragrance, and it even had a bit of the power of a tier-three mutated beast. A tentacle unconsciously flicked.

It was clear that this thing was very popular. Wherever Qi Fu went, there was a chorus of smiling thanks.

The little octopus’s eyes darted around. The creature who had just been talking about moderation was now thinking of getting another one. But as her gaze shifted, she happened to see her reflection in the rearview mirror.

The little octopus froze in place.

This is…

It was still the same palm-sized peach-pink octopus. The triangular bandana around her neck hadn’t been removed, and the severed tentacle, wrapped in layers of tape, was held up pitifully. But these weren’t the main points. The main point was the bite mark on her round head, slightly slanted on the left side, so neat that every indentation could be seen.

The little octopus blinked, and the little octopus in the mirror also blinked, with the same confusion and bewilderment.

For a moment, she didn’t know whether to praise Ji Yulin for having such nice teeth, or to praise this medicine for being so amazing. She had such a big bite mark on her head, yet she didn’t feel a thing.

And at this moment, Qi Fu, who had finished distributing the vines, also walked back. Seeing the dazed little octopus, she grinned a warm smile.

“After you finish the nectar, break open the vine and rub it on your head. That thing seems to have healing properties, right, Professor?”

The good impression that had just formed vanished. She was still an annoying frog-peacock after all.

The little octopus turned around and threw herself into Ji Yulin’s arms.

Human!

You’ve made it so I can’t show my face in public!