Her Tentacles 69

Chapter 69: Utilization

“You should put on some clothes first.”

Shu Yao’s expression was blank as she looked away, not wanting to see her pathetic appearance of a child who had stolen an adult’s clothes, with only a shirt to cover her body.

It was all mimicry, so why couldn’t it be complete?

Thinking of this, she felt that just saying this was not enough, and added, “Forget it, just change back first.”

“Why?”

The dark-haired girl propped herself up on the long strap used to secure passengers on the raft with her small hands and leaned closer to Shu Yao, her black eyes filled with inquiry.

The small boat was already rocking slightly with the rhythm of the waves. With her leaning forward, Shu Yao subconsciously retreated a little, and the boat showed a tendency to capsize—

A red and black tentacle timely reached out from behind the child and firmly pressed down on the other end, maintaining balance.

Lin Ran thus infinitely brought her face closer to her and asked curiously, “I’m not an adult yet. In human years, I should be this age.”

“Or… do you prefer my other forms?”

She asked sincerely, “What does Yaoyao want to see me become?”

On the surface, it seemed as if she were giving the choice to the other party, but as long as Shu Yao answered this question, it would mean that the choice she made was based on her liking the other party.

Why hadn’t she noticed before that Lin Ran was so cunning?

Shu Yao: “…”

What was even worse.

Even though the monster in front of her had turned into a more childish form, and even its voice had become harmless and cute, whenever it called her “Yaoyao,” she would think of the time they had spent together in the industrial park after that terrifying night, and the intimate embrace they had shared at home.

At that time, the person who had let her rest her head on her lap, stroked her long hair, and asked her why her nickname was this character, had later pointed to the ‘Yaoyao’ on the book page and said very seriously:

“I like this one.”

…

All the past that she thought she had forgotten now appeared so clearly at this moment of reunion.

Shu Yao did not answer Lin Ran’s question. She sat down on the other side of the small boat, turned her head to look at the moon, which was now extremely close and terrifyingly large even though the altar had been destroyed, and changed the subject to her work to distract herself.

“She… what about Guan Tong? Her identity in the special department is real. [Styx] had already descended upon Lin Jingshu, so how did it get to her?”

Lin Ran didn’t speak, but stared at Shu Yao with her dark eyes.

She was very unhappy that her girlfriend was always mentioning others in front of her.

Especially an old enemy like [Styx], who was not only annoying but also constantly coveted her girlfriend.

But after all, she hadn’t figured out Shu Yao’s attitude yet, and the other’s seemingly relaxed movements were full of defense. Her arms were crossed, and she was deliberately keeping a diagonal distance from her.

Lin Ran pressed her lips together.

Finally, she spoke. “I ate that human just now. As for [Styx], it should have received a new gift from the [Lighthouse] and obtained some ability to make its clone also achieve the effect of descending, so it could avoid the inspection of the special department.”

Shu Yao raised her eyebrows.

She began to have a headache about how she was going to explain her solo operation when she got back, and the story of how a big shot’s daughter with a background had been accidentally sacrificed during the operation. She also had to be careful not to expose the existence of the [Monarch Slayer] in this matter.

Because she was so lost in thought, she had been staring at the moon for a long time without realizing it—

The moon’s surface, which should have been a glassy, cratered landscape, at a certain moment, Shu Yao felt that it had opened a long, narrow eye from the center, which was even more dazzling than its original light, and was looking directly at her.

Her expression was dazed for a moment.

A hand reached out at some point, and a cool, wide palm covered her eyelids, blocking Shu Yao’s gaze from the moon.

“Don’t look.” It was a voice that was much more mature than a little girl’s, and completely overlapped with the tone in her memory.

“The altar I destroyed was only this one. [Styx] has always been cautious. Although it was partly due to underestimating the enemy that it lured you here alone this time, it’s more likely that other [Martyrs] are also doing the same thing.”

“I’m sure there have been other successful sacrifices by now, so the [Lighthouse] already has a temporary port for Its will to approach this world. The moon and the tidal forces are in harmony, and are the easiest to be influenced and infected by It.”

Of course, once the moon was polluted, all humans living on this planet who could look up and see the moon at any time would also gradually be enveloped by the will of the [Lighthouse].

Shu Yao’s fingertips tightened.

She had an impulse to pull her palm away.

But in the end, she did not choose to do so, because she could feel that compared to her own mortal flesh, the other’s flesh was the real thing that could block the [Lighthouse]’s gaze on her.

Her eyelashes moved, and her breath also held.

Lin Ran felt as if she were holding a butterfly in her palm.

But she had covered the butterfly’s eyes, and thus she could secretly shorten the distance between them when her beloved couldn’t see. At this moment, she greedily scanned the lower half of her face with her eyes, especially her light pink lips.

In her memory, she only needed to touch it lightly, and with a gentle press, it would be like a rose that had only shown a little bit of pink when it was in bud, and would slowly be kneaded into a more and more beautiful, blooming color.

Lin Ran deliberately did not say that the power of the [Lighthouse] was not too strong at this time, and that as long as one did not stare at the moon for too long, one would not be affected.

She completely hid her breathing and silently approached the person whose face was covered by her palm.

As if at this moment, she was the one who was bewitched by the charming moonlight.

Just as their lips were about to touch, Shu Yao, as if she had sensed something, suddenly opened her mouth:

“Light—”

“Shh.” Lin Ran, as if she knew what she wanted to ask, timely stopped her. “Don’t call Its name, and don’t think about Its existence. Not knowing Its form is the safest for you.”

…

“Thump!”

A few seconds later.

A sound of falling into the sea came from the side of the boat.

Because she had heard Shu Yao mention the [Lighthouse], and didn’t want her to be noticed too much by the [Lighthouse], which had resulted in her speaking too close, and her girlfriend had sensed her intention, Lin Ran had received an unhesitating shoulder throw.

She, who had been thrown into the sea, was now submerged in the seawater from her waist down. Only her two arms were still clinging to the edge of the raft. Her close-fitting, transparent white shirt was wet from the splashing water, her fair skin, and her silk-like black hair, which was plated with silver by the moonlight—

It made her look like a siren who had secretly climbed onto a human ship in the middle of the night to say hello.

Especially since Lin Ran’s face was still full of smiles at this moment, and there was even a water droplet on her pure black right eyelash. She just looked up at the woman who was still sitting at the stern of the boat, her eyes shining brightly.

“Yaoyao has become so amazing,” she praised with a sigh.

As if the person who had just been thrown into the sea like a hooligan was not her.

Shu Yao had escaped the temporary chaos and unclearness in her mind just now. Now, she looked down at Lin Ran’s palm, which was clinging to her raft, with a very cold and indifferent expression. From the back of her hand to her finger bones, it was still a perfect, slender form.

But she was like a holy monk who was unmoved by a fairy’s temptation, and said indifferently, “Let go.”

She said, “Now that you’ve recovered your strength and memory, you shouldn’t have to stay by my side anymore, right? Besides, you’ve seen my situation in the special department. If you don’t want to enter their line of sight, it’s most appropriate for us to part here.”

When she was in that “Monster Encyclopedia,” she had deliberately not written anything related to the [Monarch Slayer]. The flower fish had also reservedly mentioned everything on the cruise ship.

But the special department had many capable people. She was afraid that as long as the higher-ups were interested, they could still get information about the [Monarch Slayer] from the monsters, and from the monsters’ siege of the octopus, they could guess the unique role she had.

If she didn’t want to be used by humans, she shouldn’t stay by her side anymore.

Hearing Shu Yao’s words, the smile on Lin Ran’s face gradually disappeared.

She rested her chin on the edge of the boat and thought to herself, she knew that after changing back into this adult form, Shu Yao would harden her heart.

She should have just continued to maintain that harmless, childish posture—

Before she could finish thinking, the person on the boat had already started to get up and move her hands and feet, as if she were planning to jump into the sea from here and swim back to Nancheng if she didn’t leave.

“Don’t.” Her eyes dimmed, and she timely said, “I know. I—I’ll take you back to the port. Is that okay?”

The person with her back to her did not sit back down, but just gave a light “Mmm.”

Under the bright moonlight on the sea.

This small raft swayed, but it still steadily broke through the waves. It was a lone boat on the vast sea, heading toward the port.

Until they reached the shore, the person on the boat had long since taken off the expensive evening dress that had hindered her movements and had been torn in many places. She was only wearing that thin, gray-black combat suit.

She stepped out of the raft and did not look back. It seemed that she had already said her goodbyes, so she no longer cared where her companion would go after this short journey.

Shu Yao just walked toward home in the moonlight, her head bowed.

Her mind was empty, as if she were not thinking about anything.

In fact, she was afraid to really think about anything. Even that troublesome private action report, she didn’t dare to think about, for fear that as long as she recalled anything related to this island, she would never be able to forget the person who had been lying on the side of the boat and smiling up at her just now.

…

The sky was covered with dark clouds at some point. By the time she got home, it had started to rain.

The raindrops hit the window, just enough to block the view of the overly demonic full moon on Nancheng tonight.

Shu Yao stayed under the shower in the bathroom for a long time, trying to wash off the fishy smell of the seawater that had also stained her. It wasn’t until her phone on the clean countertop vibrated several times.

She casually took a bath towel from the wall, dried the water from her body, and walked toward the sink. She picked it up and saw a message from the flower fish:

“Team leader, do you remember that Guan Tong who was on a mission with us before?”

“It seems someone just witnessed her turning into a [Parasite] and escaping to the suburbs. Weren’t you very interested in field missions recently? Do you want to go over?”

Shu Yao: “?”

Her eyes were filled with confusion.

Before she could figure out what was going on, she suddenly heard a faint sound of muffled thunder in the sky outside the window. She had already held her breath and prepared herself, but she never heard the thunder.

After a while, it was the same, abrupt sound again.

It was as if the clouds had rubbed against each other and had already created a thunder, but it had been forcefully cut off by some force—

Shu Yao, as if she had sensed something, opened the bathroom window and looked at the dark night sky.

Lightning streaked through the clouds, occasionally illuminating the entire city. And the bright moon, which had been staring at her figure when she came back, could no longer be seen through the clouds at this moment.

She stood there quietly for a while, thinking of the unknown abilities that the [Monarch Slayer] might possess, and the things she had just said on the boat about Guan Tong’s identity, and how it would be difficult for her to explain if she had disappeared on the island.

In the end, Shu Yao still opened her phone and replied to the flower fish, “Mmm, I’ll go and have a look. It’s so late, you don’t have to come.”

When Shu Yao changed into another set of clothes and walked out of the building, she was about to walk out of the community.

A bright orange little octopus was just staying by the green belt downstairs, alone.

Rainwater kept dripping from the bushes, dripping onto its body, and its big ears, and its body and tentacles were all drenched and cold.

But it just sat there in a daze, curled up, and didn’t even think of hiding.

Coincidentally, at this moment, a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky.

Its ears twitched. Its black eyes looked up at the sky, and then it suppressed the thunder that was about to follow.

At the same time, it was also distracted by other things—

It had eaten a part of the [Styx] on the island just now, and one of its tentacles could temporarily store the other’s clone ability.

Half an hour ago, it had sacrificed a tentacle to transform into that woman’s appearance, and had given the order to create a new trail for her, so that she could successfully disappear in the suburbs. Now, the broken tentacle and its distance were getting farther and farther, and it was about to exceed its communication range.

Should it just let that tentacle disappear into the sea?

But in that case, those [Martyrs] would definitely chase after her relentlessly, smelling the scent.

The little octopus thought so, and belatedly found that the cold rain that had been falling on its body had stopped at some point. It reflexively raised its head, wanting to look at the sky, thinking that the thunderstorm it had summoned to block the bright moon had failed.

But what entered its eyes was a red umbrella top, with familiar black patterns spreading like ink plum blossoms, and transparent, heart-shaped patterns with its own sucker shape shuttling through the patterns.

And the person holding this white-boned umbrella, her expression was as cold as when they had first met.

The little octopus looked at her, but its black eyes became bright again.

【Yaoyao, have you always been carrying this umbrella?】 it asked in Lin Ran’s voice.

Shu Yao had no expression.

【It’s just useful,】 her light-colored pupils were calm as she replied, 【Just like how I had already guessed your identity before, but I only exposed it when we were on that island, because I wanted to use you to deal with that annoying jellyfish. Do you understand?】

So, don’t do so many things for her like before.

Because neither of them could go back to the life they had before.

…

【Utilization?】

The little octopus’s ears, which had been drooping, moved again.

Then the next second, it happily stretched its tentacles, got closer to the woman who was squatting down, raised its head, and looked at her with its deep black eyes, which were gentle and bright, and tried its best to recommend itself:

【Then I have many other skills.】

For example, it could warm the bed, warm her stomach during her period, and could also help her eat those dangerous enemies, and could also disperse the thunder on a rainy day like this…

【Yaoyao, why don’t you use me more?】