Cooperation

Having lost the tips of two tentacles, the octopus still had twenty-eight left. It stabbed out again, this time sending its tentacles from behind and beneath the two of them with insidious malice. Having just overcome the physical hindrance in his body, Wei Yuan moved significantly faster and barely dodged the thrusts. Suddenly, however, a heavy blow struck the top of his head, turning his vision black and nearly knocking him unconscious. The octopus had not just stabbed; it had also whipped a tentacle around to lash Wei Yuan viciously. Even with the Indestructible Dharma of Emptiness and Form shielding him, the blow packed enough force to shatter a boulder, leaving his head spinning and his vision blurred. On the other side, Ji Liuli was also plunged into crisis. Whatever material her military uniform was made of, it could directly withstand the tentacle stabs. The octopus besieged Ji Liuli with over a dozen tentacles, thrusting more than ten times in succession, but only succeeded in carving a few small slits in her uniform. Beneath the jacket she wore an undershirt, but under her trousers was bare skin. The mutated octopus possessed considerable intelligence and immediately stabbed toward the tears, yet it only left several red dots on her skin without even breaking it. Observing the battle with his divine sense, Wei Yuan was still shaken despite having expected as much. The physical true intent Ji Liuli possessed was absurdly formidable. Though Ji Liuli was impervious to cuts and thrusts, she was far less resistant to blunt lashings. Defending with her short blade, she severed three tentacles, but she also took multiple heavy blows, blood starting to seep from her mouth and nose. As she tried to dodge, she suddenly stumbled and nearly fell. Right after, a crushing lash struck her across the back, the faint sound of cracking bone audible! Looking down, she realized that at some point a tentacle had coiled around her leg, pinning her in place. The moment Ji Liuli slowed down, seven or eight tentacles immediately wrapped around her, tightening with immense force. Even with her formidable physique, her face instantly flushed crimson, red veins creeping across her eyeballs. Several thinner tentacles emerged, their tips bearing mouthparts lined with fine, razor-sharp teeth. They gnawed at her uniform, unable to bite through the fabric, but swiftly adjusted their tactics, worming into the tears of her clothing and gnawing inward to search for weak points on her body. Anxious, Wei Yuan consumed another wisp of karmic luck before the Buddha and fired a shot at the octopus. The octopus intercepted the bullet's path with a tentacle, blocking the shot, and immediately severed the limb itself, casting the tentacle stained with golden-azure light far away. Wei Yuan's heart sank; this octopus was truly troublesome. But this was no time to worry about consumption. Wei Yuan fired multiple shots in succession, exhausting all the azure qi obtained from the soldiers, yet he only managed to cripple seven of the octopus's tentacles. On the other side, Ji Liuli was already in dire straits, a tentacle coiled around each of her arms, drastically slowing her movements. The tentacles she severed would regenerate at the tips after just a moment; only when hit by karmic luck bullets like Wei Yuan's would an entire tentacle be crippled. At the critical moment, a bright red figure suddenly charged out from the darkness, raising a gun and blasting the octopus, sending it flying several meters back! The newcomer was a short-haired woman wearing a short red qipao, looking utterly out of place in her surroundings. In her hands was a bright blue shotgun. With every step forward, she fired a shot, riddling the octopus with gaping holes in the blink of an eye. The caliber of this gun rivaled that of a grenade launcher, and its recoil was unimaginably massive. Yet her somewhat slender frame advanced steadily forward without the slightest tremor. Her movements were exceptionally fast; in an instant, she fired more than thirty shots, the magazine of the gun in her hands inconceivably large. The octopus let out a mournful wail, the wounds across its body festering rapidly. As several wounds spread to its runes, it convulsed violently and finally went still, its outstretched tentacles retracting. The short-haired woman approached the octopus's corpse and pumped two more rounds into it. Only then satisfied, she walked over toward Wei Yuan and Ji Liuli. Ji Liuli retrieved her handgun, wearing a wary expression. The woman in red halted more than ten meters away and said, "As you can see, the situation down here is completely out of control. None of us can operate alone. How about a partnership?" Ji Liuli hesitated slightly, then nodded. The short-haired woman turned to Wei Yuan and asked, "What about you?" Wei Yuan had thought this woman looked familiar all along, and now he was finally certain. He asked, "Peacock?" The short-haired woman started. "Who's Peacock? You actually don't recognize me?" Ji Liuli spoke up at this moment. "She's the most dangerous person in the entire company, and also the Director of Intelligence, Wang Bing." Wei Yuan looked at Ji Liuli and asked, "Are you alright?" "Just minor injuries. Fractured a few small bones, nothing that affects combat." Wei Yuan was somewhat relieved. The recent battle had appeared to be an overwhelming victory for the short-haired woman, but in truth, it was not so. Ji Liuli had pinned down eighty percent of the octopus's offensive, while Wei Yuan had thoroughly dismantled its defenses. By the time the short-haired woman appeared, the octopus had no defensive measures left and took the full brunt of her relentless bombardment raw. Furthermore, every shot she fired used specialized biochemical rounds tailored to the target, which was why the octopus succumbed so swiftly. The short-haired woman said, "There's a data center on the other side of this floor. We might be able to find out what actually happened there—why such bizarre creatures appeared. There's also a workstation where we can craft and resupply biochemical ammunition. Hopefully there are enough materials left." The plan met with unanimous approval. The three redistributed their ammunition. With Ji Liuli in front and Wei Yuan and Wang Bing flanking behind to the left and right, they advanced in a search formation, clearing out multiple monsters along the way before finally entering the data center. The data center had an independent power supply and was miraculously still running. Ji Liuli and Wang Bing each examined the data while having Wei Yuan keep watch. Soon, both Ji Liuli and Wang Bing made a discovery. "Found the cause!" When the accident occurred, what was supposed to have leaked was the newly developed virus, which could devour all organic matter and develop intelligence once it aggregated in sufficient quantities. The researchers believed that once this life-form spread, it would become a biochemical catastrophe targeting ordinary humans. Most people would become infected and die, turning into its nutrients, while a fortunate few would develop immunity; however, lacking superpowers, they would be torn to shreds by the newborn monsters. The researchers had even provided numerous evolutionary templates and accurately predicted the combat strength of the monsters formed after massive viral aggregation. Reading this top-secret report, Wei Yuan felt an odd sensation—as though this biochemical catastrophe had been entirely within the researchers' control. What were they actually trying to achieve by researching such a virus? Yet reality was clearly completely different from the report. The combat power of these monsters far exceeded the upper limit predicted in the report. At this point, Wang Bing pulled up a data log and said, "The spreading virus was infected by a newly emerged virus. The two ultimately combined into a brand-new virus that also possesses aggregation capabilities, yet produces even stronger combat power. Strangely, this new virus was developed only just recently, yet it integrates seamlessly with our aggregate virus." Ji Liuli said, "Why does this new virus's serial number look a little familiar..." She opened the source file for the virus's serial number, and with a single glance, saw the designer of the new virus: Wei Yuan.