When the Wild Beast is Trapped in the Nightmare Cycle (BL)
Chapter 186: You Can Devour It

Chapter 186: You Can Devour It

Ariel had been temporarily placed on the ground, watching unblinkingly as the cyan colored kingkong pounced on the cocoon. ’Will it succeed?’ she thought worriedly. Though she still could not understand what was going on, she had seen the giant white globe devouring a human, and thus she could guess that this group of humans wanted to get rid of it. But why...

Why did this cocoon gave her an inexplicable sense of familiarity?

Soon, she was unable to delve deeper into that thought anymore because the kingkong sank into the cocoon just like the other NPCs! It roared and struggled, but its efforts were futile as the sticky strands wrapped around its limbs, rendering it immobile. It was clearly soft and elastic, yet the kingkong was unable to sever it. Just like a lump of rubber that would absorb any damage inflicted on it!

"Oh no!" Gu Luoxin exclaimed in alarm, then he hurriedly tugged on the bandage, yanking the kingkong out of the cocoon and back to his side.

Perhaps enraged that it lost a precious source of nutrition, from within the depths of the cocoon resounded a high-pitched shriek that caused everyone’s vision to darken momentarily!

It took Shen Nianzu a while to regain his senses and when he did, a gasp escaped his lips as he realized that Jin Jiuchi was covering his ears tightly while the man himself was utterly exposed. Shen Nianzu immediately exploded, feeling both furious and distressed at the same time. "Are you an idiot?! You should have covered your own ears instead of mine!"

Jin Jiuchi dug into his ear and winced, "Did you say something, Nian’er? My ears are ringing..."

Shen Nianzu fumed. He could not tell if Jin Jiuchi was really telling the truth or if he was lying just to avoid trouble. Nonetheless, he still couldn’t resist asking, concern dripping from his tone, "Does it hurt?"

Jin Jiuchi put on a miserable look and blinked a few times for good measure, trying to take advantage of the jade doll’s brief moment of soft-heartedness. "If it does, will Nian’er blow it for me?"

Shen Nianzu: "..."

So he was really lying, there is no problem with his hearing at all!

The temperature in Shen Nianzu’s eyes cooled down in an instant as he regarded Jin Jiuchi coldly. "Do it yourself."

With a harrumph, he turned away and noticed that Ariel was staring at the cocoon with a disbelieving and furious look on her face. Her complexion was ghastly and she was even trembling violently. Not certain if the cocoon posed a more fatal effect toward the core NPC, he decided to ask, "What’s wrong with you?"

But it was as if Ariel was still immersed in some kind of nightmare, unable to extricate herself.

Meanwhile, once Gu Luoxin confirmed that his kingkong was unharmed, he decided, "Let’s give it another shot!" With a thunderous roar, the kingkong lunged at the cocoon for the second time, but this time someone interjected it in the middle!

And that someone was none other than Scarred Man!

Despite realizing early on that Scarred Man had turned alienated, the trio did not expect that his transformation would happen so quickly since their last encounter in the enclosed realm! Right now, Scarred Man’s appearance was nothing like the human he used to be. His head had swelled twice larger, blue scales ripples beneath his skin and his eyes turned wholly murky gray in color with no whites. Below them was a mouth full of clicking mandibles, and a piece of jagged sharp fin protruded from both of his arms.

He jumped down from the upper floor and slashed the kingkong with his sharp fin!

"Ah!" Gu Luoxin was startled, but fortunately his reflex kicked in as he summoned his kingkong back in haste, sparing it from harm. "H–H–He... how can he turn out like that?!"

Of all the alienated NPCs they had encountered so far, Scarred Man was the most scary-looking one!

Before anyone could react, a dark shadow flashed by with a speed too fast to be caught by naked eye, and kicked the unguarded Scarred Man toward the cocoon!

"Die, you useless fucker!" Lily snarled viciously.

Scarred Man fell like a shooting star straight toward the cocoon and sank inside. But within the span of one breath, he was spat out again!

Everyone’s faces changed when they witnessed this. Damn it, the queen even knew how to choose its food, it would not devour its own kind!

Enraged, Scarred Man – who had lost all logic and reason except for his sense of duty to protect the cocoon – lunged toward Lily. But how could he catch her, who had drunk her fill of blood? Lily instantly vanished from the spot and all he could grab onto was thin air!

Losing his target, Scarred Man finally directed his ire towards Gu Luoxin, who had harmed the queen in the first place.

"Damn it!" Shen Nianzu cursed under his breath. "Lily is using us to deal with him!" Seeing that the cocoon was unable to get rid of her alienated teammate, Lily had decisively decided to clean her hands off this and become a spectator. Either way, with her heightened physical attributes, nobody would be able to harm her. So why not let other people take care of him while she reaped the benefits from behind the scene?

Shen Nianzu understood her cunning plan at a glance, but it only served to fuel his anger. He summoned his blade, ready to cut off the man’s head as soon as he got close, only to be stopped by Gu Luoxin.

"Don’t do it, Xiao Shen!" Gu Luoxin remarked firmly as he stared vigilantly at Scarred Man who was inching closer on him. Though his legs were shaking subtly, his voice was full of determination as he said, "His target is only me, so let me fight it! You guys should find a way to deal with the cocoon!"

After saying that, Gu Luoxin nodded at them before he separated from the group and chose to head to the upper floor, causing the Scarred Man to chase after him.

There, Gu Luoxin summoned his kingkong again and wrapped the bandages around his knuckles a few times, grinning sharply. At that moment, his androgynous and youthful features gave off a heroic air, as if he was a valiant soldier marching onto the battlefield.

Gu Luoxin had a keen sense of self-awareness and was well aware of his own limitations. He could tell that Scarred Man, whether as a player or an alienated creature, far surpassed him in strength. However, their goal right now was to eliminate the queen before it completed its metamorphosis. Even though he was unable to assist Shen Nianzu and Jin Jiuchi directly, he could still make sure that they were not distracted!

So what if that creature was stronger than him? They still had no idea who would emerge as the winner!

"C–Come!" he bellowed fiercely, almost biting down on his tongue in the middle. "I’m not afraid of you!"

As if in sync, both he and the cyan kingkong charged forward and clashed with Scarred Man in the middle!

Meanwhile, Jin Jiuchi and Shen Nianzu remained stuck on how to deal with the cocoon.

Realizing that something was off with the mermaid’s behavior, Shen Nianzu crouched down and gripped her shoulders, gazing deep into her eyes. "Do you know something about that creature? Tell me!"

Ariel raised her eyes to his face, her lips trembling. "I–I..."

On the side, Jin Jiuchi stared at the cocoon with narrowed eyes. The more NPCs it devoured, the bigger it became, and the closer it was to the end of metamorphosis. Logically, to stop this process, they had to cut off its source of food, no? Or at least, that was the only method he could think of.

But judging from the chaos on the upper deck, he could tell that the number of alienated NPCs was rapidly increasing while the normal ones were being fed to be ’queen’. To stop it from eating, he had to deal with those alienated NPCs first, but how much was its total number? Tens? Or hundreds? It would be too late by the time Jin Jiuchi finished getting rid of all of them.

He ground his canines and lowered his gaze in thought. Was there another way to make it weaker?

’There is,’ a voice inside him whispered, and he realized that it was his brother. ’You can devour it.’

He could?! That could certainly make things easier! Plus, he was just feeling a little hungry after not having a midnight snack! Jin Jiuchi’s eyes lit up and he subconsciously touched his pocket where the mirror shard was. If Shen Nianzu could see it right now, he would find out that the creature in the mirror was gone and was replaced with the black-eyed Jin Jiuchi.

Feeling happy, he was about to propose the idea to Shen Nianzu when he heard the mermaid chirping at his jade doll. In an instant, half of his excitement dampened.

In Jin Jiuchi’s eyes, the mermaid looked pitiful and terrified, and she was looking at Shen Nianzu with eyes full of trust and dependence. Her body gesture conveyed her real intentions, as she leaned a bit closer to Shen Nianzu as though seeking comfort.

Displeasure surged in his heart, and as though sensing his malicious intent, Ariel shivered and snapped her gaze to him in horror.

"Nian’er, what was she saying to you?" He asked in a sweet and friendly tone, albeit his eyes were far from that.

Alas, Shen Nianzu failed to realize it because he was too shaken by what he had just heard from the mermaid. "Remember what she said about the greedy mers who sought godhood?"

Jin Jiuchi nodded. "Didn’t they all turn into those strange fishy creatures... what did you call them again? The cursed?"

"You’re right," Shen Nianzu’s expression grew somber as he continued, "Just now, she told me that she could sense the familiar aura of the Goddess of the Sea from the cocoon. It seems like... this is the ’Goddess’ the cursed ones have cultivated."

As soon as he finished speaking, a familiar cold and cryptic voice resounded in their minds.

[Congratulations for triggering the side task – ’Solve the mystery of the Goddess of the Sea!’ Completion of the side task, though not mandatory, will yield you twice the rewards which will be calculated at the end of the Cycle. Do you accept?]