Her Tentacles 67

Chapter 67: The Island

On the island under the high moon.

Shrouded in the brilliant, shattered light of that unique building, Guan Tong’s shadow was swayed into many faint lines, giving one a hazy feeling of being unable to capture her true form.

She turned around, and the hem of her bright dress moved slightly.

After looking at Shu Yao carefully, she seemed to have understood something. She raised her hand to tuck the short hair behind her ear, and answered very lightly, “If I say I don’t know her, it’s useless, right?”

Shu Yao raised an eyebrow.

“Last time it was half of her name, called Mu Qing. This time it’s choosing the same poem, ‘The quiet lady is beautiful,’ ‘She gives me a red pipe.’ Choosing the two words Guan Tong, in your eyes, am I the kind of person who always falls for these little tricks?”

Guan Tong smiled and also shook her head.

In her eyes, Shu Yao had never been a fool—

Even when she was in a passionate love, she never lacked the eyes to see the clues. It was just that depending on the degree of her passion and love, Shu Yao would deceive herself for a certain amount of time.

If there was no more love, it would be like when they broke up, or like now, all the traces could not escape her eyes.

Guan Tong, no, it was [Styx] and Lin Jingshu who thought so. She lowered her eyelids to look at the new body she had acquired, and the beautiful dress. She really didn’t understand how this real body, which was not disguised by illusion, had been seen through.

She was so puzzled that she also asked.

“This time I didn’t deliberately approach you, and you weren’t my initial target,” she said frankly, and then said, “So, how did you find out?”

…

It wasn’t that Shu Yao had been suspicious from the first time she saw her.

If she had to say, it was from the time she, Lu Ren, and Guan Tong were kicked out of that investigation mission.

Ever since Lu Ren had said that Guan Tong was still secretly following this mission, Shu Yao had specially observed that this person’s other missions would often overlap with the scene area related to that fraud organization—

Even with the authority and resources she had in the special department, it seemed that as long as she wanted to get information related to that organization, she couldn’t get around Guan Tong.

“Of course, this is not the most suspicious thing.”

Even though the enemy was right in front of her, Shu Yao’s gaze was still looking left and right, at the edge and outline of this island, and her tone seemed a little nonchalant:

“What made me sure that there was a problem with you was at the square where the travel agency gathered to set off.”

“The bus that just happened to explode, preventing people from leaving; and after I left, the group of [Parasites] that seemed to have been screened and disqualified, and thus could be discarded, all exploded; and even when I went back, they still showed a look of being controlled by a stronger will, so they could temporarily resist my [Mental Control]…”

Shu Yao had long since passed the simple time when she would think of others as innocent and attribute all accidents to coincidence.

There weren’t that many coincidences in this world.

Speaking of this, she paused. “Do you need more? For example, from the moment I set foot on this island, the guests around me who are like puppets, the waiters who exude the smell of [Parasites], and the sound of the waves on the edge of the island that repeatedly overlap in frequency—”

She looked straight into Guan Tong’s eyes.

“Your ability to construct illusions seems to be stronger than before, [Styx].”

Clap, clap, clap.

A round of applause sounded, lonely.

The woman facing her at this short distance had an even stronger look of joy on her face. “You always give me new surprises every time we meet, Yaoyao. You are indeed my favorite human.”

Because of her particularly intimate address, Shu Yao frowned slightly, not feeling it.

In her heart, the moment Lin Jingshu was descended upon by [Styx], she had already been declared dead. So she and this jellyfish were quite unfamiliar. Shu Yao didn’t want to be called this by someone she didn’t know well.

But she quickly suppressed her emotions and remained patient. “It’s only polite to return a favor. Why don’t you also satisfy my curiosity? Was this island originally really planning to hold that show? Just because I was coming, you specially cleared the entire island and gave me such a grand welcome?”

Hearing her words, the monster, still using Guan Tong’s body, laughed out loud.

She raised her index finger and shook it.

“There was no show to begin with. This island was never a place to hold a fashion show. It’s surrounded by the sea on all four sides and is isolated from the world. It’s more suitable to be transformed into a cage—”

“Haven’t you already guessed? Where did those missing, critically ill patients who were selected as experimental subjects finally disappear? That’s right, it’s the island you’re standing on.”

Speaking of this, a sneer that was completely inconsistent with her beautiful appearance appeared on ‘Guan Tong’s’ face, with a kind of condescending disdain for this mortal world.

“This is not something that can be achieved by just a few months of monster invasion. After all, there are only more, not fewer, guys in the special department who are more difficult to deal with than you.”

“But who’s to say that those rich merchants and high officials are always so greedy? They clearly have more than most of their kind, but as long as you use ‘eternal life’ and ‘longevity’ as a gimmick, no matter how many of their kind you ask for, they can send them over without batting an eye.”

She pointed to the area in the distance where a dense cluster of light could be vaguely seen.

“That’s Nancheng,” she gestured the distance between the two with her fingers. “You see, it’s only such a short distance, but those annoying hyenas can be easily blocked from this sea area by power.”

…

Shu Yao frowned as she listened.

But she knew that these were not areas she could get involved in. She looked at the island in front of her again, and the seemingly magnificent house behind it, which was disguised by [Styx]’s illusion.

“Two days is enough time for these big shots to clear all the traces, right?” she said. “Then what big gift have you prepared for me on this island?”

Noticing that she was not interested in listening to the results of her collusion with those rich merchants and high officials, [Styx] also frowned.

Then, she snapped her fingers—

The lights, the tall buildings, the silver beach, and the well-matched lovers who had just walked over near the helipad all disappeared.

This island revealed its original appearance.

A dark forest, and behind the forest, tall glass buildings with anti-peeping film. The forest, which Shu Yao had not been able to check before, was filled with high-voltage power grids and barbed wire fences. And the sandy ground under her feet, which had been stained with so much blood that it had turned dark and stank.

In the night.

The real sea waves rolled in. Every time they hit the island’s reefs, they stirred up a strong smell of blood, as if it had tried hard to wash away the sins on this island, but in the end, it was powerless and was instead swept into it.

“There’s no way.”

[Styx] shrugged. “As expected, the birth of a miracle always requires accidental factors. It may also be that the mentality and constitution of these wastes are too terrible. It’s really not easy to create an existence like you with a vast spiritual domain.”

“Last time, there was one that was barely simulated successfully, and even reverted to the legendary [Siren] bloodline, which was more to people’s liking than other [Parasites]. But she was really disobedient, and would think of escaping as soon as she had a little strength, and would always fight against the will I had planted…”

“I had no choice but to have her destroyed.”

Just like destroying those unsatisfactory [Parasites].

The speaker’s short skirt began to gradually lengthen, as if it were softly and harmlessly falling to the ground, turning into pieces of overlapping gray-black curtain.

Looking closely, this strange material was not pure black, but rather like the Milky Way in the sky, flashing with a very fine and slight light. If one were to stare at it with the naked eye, one would feel a strange dizziness after a long time.

[Styx] thus extended a hand to her. “Only you are unique, Yaoyao. Come to our side—”

“You see, you clearly have such a special ability, but those high-level people still only use you as an ordinary tool, letting you sweep the buildings, letting you go to those boring and uninteresting scenes, and even treating you like a garbage truck, endlessly sending you out on field missions.”

“This group of humans simply doesn’t understand how precious you are.”

“And you can no longer live like an ordinary person, unable to integrate with them, and always being feared by this group of people who have no abilities but are in high positions.”

“Yaoyao, come to our side. The monster side is your home.”

Shu Yao dodged the first long curtain that swept toward her.

She curved her lips. “Your attitude of inviting people is a bit rude, isn’t it? It seems you’re not giving me any room to refuse.”

[Styx]’s offensive became more urgent.

Seeing that she was not moved at all, she also tore off her friendly outer garment and put on an aggressive posture. “What’s so good about the human side? They even bully, betray, and abandon their own kind—”

Shu Yao suspected that she was deliberately trying to make her laugh, and then let her show a flaw and be caught.

“What’s the difference with you?”

“You’re all monsters, but you’re also divided into different ranks, and you casually use and abandon [Parasites] like the flower fish, right? I’m sorry, I don’t see how the abyss is any better than this world.”

At the mention of the abyss, [Styx] showed a resentful expression.

“Of course it’s different!”

“Now it’s like this because the will of the [Lighthouse] has not yet descended. When this world is shrouded in the glory of the [Lighthouse] like ‘Eternity,’ you will understand what true equality is.”

Shu Yao realized. “Oh, is it the kind of equality where everyone becomes Its puppet?”

She decisively refused. “Then forget it.”

Although her words were so leisurely, and she was learning from Situ Jin’s usual annoying way of going back and forth with the monster, in fact, because the number and length of [Styx]’s long gauzes were too many, even though Shu Yao had already torn open the hem of her cumbersome skirt, she was still struggling and was being forced to retreat.

Seeing that behind her were the surging sea waves and the sharp, chaotic reef beach.

[Styx] stopped her offensive from above.

“Don’t think about running, Yaoyao,” she said. “The moment you came to this island alone, seeking the truth for those abandoned experimental subjects, dominated by your excessive compassion, you were already the prey of this altar.”

“Whether you agree or refuse, you are the most perfect sacrifice for the [Lighthouse].”

As her voice fell.

The time pointed to eight o’clock, when this fashion show was supposed to truly begin.

A strange light began to shine from under the dark island. The entire island began to vibrate. At the same time, the bright moon in the sky also seemed to be getting bigger and bigger, as if it were being summoned by this island. The silver-white brilliance was so bright that it enveloped the entire island.

…

Shu Yao had never felt that the moonlight was so dazzling before.

And for the first time, she was illuminated by the bright moon, casting a very deep shadow of herself.

At this moment, the moon was like an eye opening in the sky, and also like a channel for an extraterrestrial being to openly spy on this planet. Although the full moon was on the left side of the island, she had a strange feeling of resistance, not wanting to look at the moon that was so close.

From [Styx]’s words, she had already understood where those malignant [Parasites] with special abilities that she had often encountered in Nancheng recently had come from.

And she also understood.

Because of her unique [Mental Control] ability, which could resonate with monsters, she had been chosen by these [Martyrs] as a vessel to summon the descent of the [Lighthouse].

They had even gone to great lengths to set up the entire island as an altar for her.

She stood in front of the reef beach, but there was no panic on her face from being cornered.

“Who said I came alone?”

Shu Yao raised her hand, and her fingertips touched the black hair clip that had been quietly lingering in her hair until just now, and had only become restless when the entire island had changed, as if it wanted to remind her of something.

“It seems your nose isn’t as good as it used to be, [Styx]—”

The black starfish gradually changed color, slowly becoming the usual brilliant orange little octopus. It used its tentacles to climb onto her fingertips, and used them to move its small body entirely into her palm.

Until it was stable, Shu Yao held it up in front of [Styx]. “I clearly brought a partner.”

“…”

[Styx] stared at the tiny, cute, brightly colored octopus with two little dog ears for three seconds.

Then she moved her gaze back to Shu Yao, a hint of pity and concern in her eyes, as if she had just understood how big a blow that relationship with Lin Ran had given her.

Shu Yao also hadn’t expected the little octopus to be so tight-lipped at a time like this, so much so that she even began to doubt if she had bet wrong.

Then.

She managed to maintain a calm expression, and with her other hand, she poked the little octopus, deciding to bluff it one last time:

“Still pretending?”

“Isn’t this your old enemy? [Monarch Slayer].”