Jian Weiwei left the warehouse, while No. 237 decided to wait five minutes before heading out.
In five minutes, Jian Weiwei would roughly reach the mall's main entrance, where she could find a spot to watch the show unfold. As for him… he would lead the wood-boring beetles, their appetites already whetted, up to the floors above to trigger the chaotic outbreak his master expected.
Tang Qiuqiu remained in his cat form, not daring to move.
Before the woman and her Ability had entered the warehouse, Tang Qiuqiu had received Xin Ye’s message to assemble. Now, he finally understood the reason behind the summons. He couldn't quite fathom why the instructor and her Ability would do such a thing, but since it interfered with the mission’s progress, it had to be stopped.
Minutes ticked by. The cat was anxious but didn't dare let his claws scrape the floor for fear of making noise. Meanwhile, No. 237, standing by the shelves, showed no sign of leaving.
At the critical moment, an accident broke the stalemate.
When Tang Qiuqiu transformed into a cat, his multi-function watch became a small collar around his paw. At that moment, the ring flashed red twice, casting a small red dot onto the wall ahead.
As luck would have it, No. 237 turned his head and saw the sudden dot on the nearby wall.
He fell silent for a moment before saying, "Stop hiding. I noticed you a long time ago."
The ginger-and-white cat stepped slowly out of the corner. Shedding his usual harmless demeanor, he arched his back, fur bristling, and hissed at No. 237.
"You heard everything just now, didn't you? Sorry, my master has always been like this." He picked Tang Qiuqiu up, using the raw power of his A-rank status to suppress the other so he couldn't shift back into human form. He removed the small ring and tucked it into his pocket. No matter how the cat struggled, No. 237’s arms remained as immovable as iron bands. "Even though I know this harms others, my priority will never change. It is always her."
"...I'll have to trouble you all to clean up this mess after I'm dead."
If they couldn't clean it up, it didn't matter. At worst, Headquarters would just send someone else to collect the bodies.
Once the five minutes were up, No. 237 carried Tang Qiuqiu out of the basement and back to the first floor.
Some of the insects had already been successfully lured by the scent of human blood, flying or crawling out of the warehouse. No. 237 kept Tang Qiuqiu pinned within the range of his ability suppression. Lacking tools, he used the cat’s own claws to widen his wound.
The heavy scent of blood gradually rose to a level that made the cat feel nauseous.
He could smell it, and so could the other mutants.
The croaking and the vibrations from the hopping on the floors above were becoming increasingly distinct.
***
"Tang Qiuqiu hasn't replied to my messages."
Xin Ye, Mirror, and Xing Yue followed the mutant toad to the top floor of the collapsed mall. Seeing the floor covered in glass shards and bullet marks, Xin Ye’s heart grew heavy. He checked his comms again; still no word from Tang Qiuqiu.
...He was getting more worried.
It had been a long time since he felt this sense of frantic disarray. For a moment, he couldn't even tell if this mission could be completed successfully.
"I messaged him too. No reply." Xing Yue closed her interface. Her way of referring to Jian Weiwei had changed. "The decision to split up was a mistake from the start, but now isn't the time to regret listening to that woman."
"Look, that mutant seems to want to lead us into the amusement park ahead."
"Go in." Xin Ye raised his hand, signaling the advance.
【Aren't you going to ask me what's inside this time?】 Xun Yin suddenly spoke up.
Xin Ye asked, "Are you opening the door this time?"
【I am,】 Xun Yin’s tone rose, seemingly pleased about something. 【Lian Muyun and a Mother Surinam Toad are both inside.】
【There's a prize wheel at the very back of the amusement park. You'll find Lian Muyun there.】
Upon receiving the information, Xin Ye unconsciously quickened his pace. Mirror didn't follow as closely as usual, choosing instead to watch their rear. The toad led the three of them deep into the park, finally stopping before a prize wheel.
Leaning against the base of the "Ribbit-Ribbit Prize Wheel" was a handsome youth with his eyes tightly shut. His left hand was severely injured, and most of his clothes were soaked through. It was indeed the missing Lian Muyun.
Xin Ye stepped forward immediately, reaching out to pull Lian Muyun up.
A drop of liquid fell from above, merging into the thin layer of slime on the floor without a splash.
When Xing Yue saw Lian Muyun alone, she had a bad premonition. The falling liquid made her instinctively look up. She saw a toad’s head and a flickering tongue protruding from the plastic frog head atop the prize wheel. Her face paled with shock as she tried to pull Xin Ye back: "Watch out!"
That was the drool of a mutant toad, dripping in its hunger to devour a human.
"Mirror!"
The moment Mirror heard Xin Ye’s voice, his body reacted instantly, pulling Xing Yue back and dragging her a good distance away. Simultaneously, Xin Ye shielded Lian Muyun and dove to the side of the control pedestal.
In the next second, the prize wheel machinery came crashing down.
Not just the wheel, but a large swath of nearby gaming equipment was crushed. A massive, grey-green toad filled the once-open space. Just looking up at it was enough to make one’s heart seize with pressure. Xing Yue and Mirror were positioned right in a gap created by the creature's body curves. When she saw the mutant’s size and the holes on its back, her pupils shrank, and she bit her lip hard.
The Mother Surinam Toad was the one who had sent the green toad to find her and Xin Ye—it was a trap.
If Xin Ye and Mirror hadn't reacted in time, both she and the unconscious Lian Muyun would have been crushed into meat paste by that single hop.
Looking at the gruesome wound on Lian Muyun’s hand, Xin Ye’s gaze grew colder.
Xun Yin asked: 【Do you still blame me?】 Just like when Mirror was injured last time.
"You've been talking less lately. I wanted to ask back at the HQ cafeteria if you were in a bad mood." Xin Ye gave an irrelevant answer, his tone gentle as per his supporting character persona, though it didn't match his expression.
He tilted his head. From the corner of his eye, he saw the Mother Toad struggling to turn around, knocking over more equipment in the process. It wasn't hard to guess it intended to attack him and Lian Muyun first.
The small toad had already hopped away; no one had the luxury of worrying about it now.
Xin Ye issued a brief command: "Give me the Type 95. You two, get Lian Muyun out of here."
Xing Yue immediately opened her mouth to protest; she didn't want to leave Xin Ye here alone.
"Then come back for me," he added.
The Captain's orders were set. Xing Yue’s fingers twitched; the Unending Silk hidden beneath her sleeves retracted its killing intent toward the mutant and reached for Lian Muyun instead.
In the span of those few sentences, the Mother Toad finished its turn. It had no room to hop, so its attack options were limited. As Xin Ye expected, its half-protruded tongue transformed in an instant from limp and soft to rigid. Supported by powerful muscles, it shot toward the corner where he was sheltering Lian Muyun.
Just as the pinkish toad tongue was about to strike…
An assault rifle was suddenly hurled from the toad's rear flank, slamming into the red fleshy cord and knocking it significantly off course.
Xin Ye extended his left hand and caught the gun firmly, but he didn't switch hands immediately. Instead, he gripped his dagger.
He used his leg strength to quickly adjust his crouching position. Before the mutant could retract its tongue, he slammed the blade deep into the flesh.
In its fully tensed state, the toad’s tongue was as hard as stone, but Xin Ye forced the blade in through sheer, trained arm strength.
Bright red toad blood sprayed from the wound. The mutant instinctively tried to jerk its tongue back, but the force caused the sharp dagger—its tip already braced against the floor—to slice through nearly half the tongue. Even after the flesh was retracted into its mouth, blood continued to leak out, the droplets staining a patch of Xin Ye’s coat red.
Having fused with a frog, the toad possessed vocal sacs regardless of gender. Now, unable to bear the pain, the Mother Toad’s vocal sacs vibrated, emitting a croak so loud it threatened to rupture eardrums.
Like a machine executing a task, Xin Ye automatically blocked out the pain in his ears and signaled Mirror.
Mirror nudged Xing Yue. She gritted her teeth against the discomfort and dragged Lian Muyun to her side. Together, the two of them hoisted Lian Muyun up and fled the amusement park while the mutant’s attention was scattered.
Only when Xin Ye saw the three of them clear of the combat zone did his cold, mechanical expression soften slightly.
【You're going to face the Mother Surinam Toad alone?】 Xun Yin asked again.
Xin Ye didn't know how to answer.
He pulled the dagger out from the gap in the floor tiles and looked up. At this moment, standing alone before a Mother Toad many times his size, a strange sense of peace settled over him.
Even without Xun Yin deliberately forcing a persona on him, his twisted protective streak already made him act like a saint.
But what saint looked as wretched and disheveled as he did? It was impossible to imagine.
The toad didn't dare extend its tongue again. It could only widen its bloodshot, crimson eyes and throw its weight against the small corner where Xin Ye was trapped.
Xin Ye dodged the frontal impact. Using his long legs to his advantage, he leaped onto the prize wheel’s control pedestal. Leveraging the height, he grabbed onto the toad’s rough skin and, within five seconds, climbed onto the mutant’s back.
The Surinam toad’s incubation period was in its middle-to-late stages. Although he couldn't see the young frogs directly, Xin Ye could feel the throbbing beneath his boots. Nausea surged up, but he forced it down.
From this height, he saw the shattered prize wheel on the ground and the broken plastic frog head.
It looked like a wheel of fate hanging over his lifeline.
"...It's just an eye for an eye," the youth whispered to himself.
In the next moment, he shoved the gun barrel into one of the skin pores the toad used to brood its young. With a crisp, decisive motion, he pulled the trigger.
The massive but clumsy toad couldn't reach back to grab the human on its spine. It could only slam itself against the walls in a frenzy, shaking its body violently in an attempt to throw Xin Ye off.
Xin Ye clung to the toad’s skin with a death grip, waiting for a gap in its movements, and fired again.
The fallen, reversed Wheel of Fortune—he would shatter it with his own hands.
***
