New Century Warriors

Chapter 36. Goodbye

It's been a long time since I've seen my big octopus.

People around him were screaming in fear or shock, but Lei Ye didn't panic at all. If Ye Lei was going to launch another massacre, why would she go to an open area to transform into her complete form?

He just felt despair. He suddenly understood why Ye Lei had specifically asked Antoura to bring as many people as possible. It wasn't to invite them to witness the wedding, but to witness her true identity.

Although Ye Lei's purpose is unknown, the deed has already been done and there is no going back.

"Disgusting..."

Antorola's expression was quite interesting as she murmured to herself, staring at the ten-meter-tall, twisted monster.

Just moments ago, she looked gratified, feeling that all her hard work in preparing had paid off. But now, Lei Ye saw disbelief, fear, and anger at the betrayal all mixed together on her face.

When she finally looked at Lei Ye, a hint of sympathy appeared on her face.

"No wonder you look so bad, so that's why. But now is not the time to hesitate. Please pull yourself together and fight. I need your strength," Antorola hesitated for a moment, "but if you feel you can't fight her, then retreat with the others as soon as possible."

"no..."

Before Lei Ye could explain, Antoura had already drawn her rapier and charged forward.

A group of explorers, led by Loya, have already begun a disorderly evacuation.

A group of explorers, led by Antoura, immediately engaged in battle, ganging up on Ye Lei, who was in the form of a giant octopus.

Actually, it didn't start fighting right away. Antorola tried to talk to Ye Lei, but Ye Lei refused to speak and casually lifted the roof of the small shop directly opposite the guild. Antorola naturally couldn't just stand by and watch Ye Lei cause trouble, so she launched an attack.

Lei Ye could hardly bear to watch this theatrical battle. His wildly flying tentacles slapped a young novice mage away, and the skinny little girl, as thin as a bamboo pole, was even able to get up and continue fighting with the help of the healer. It was clear that Ye Lei was desperately controlling her strength between "unrestrained arguing" and "shoving hard," and she didn't even care about the guy who was jumping around and poking at her with a spear at close range, since he couldn't break through her defenses anyway.

The others could no longer see the long lines that had lit up, except for Lei Ye, who had taken half of the evil power from Ye Lei. He could see that the long lines connected the streets of Hillius, and at the end of each long line was a huge tentacle wriggling and walking.

Lei Ye had seen these tentacles wantonly ravage explorers on Line 1, but these tentacles on Line 2... are tearing down other people's roofs everywhere.

Lei Ye felt as if he were on the set of a tokusatsu drama for children. When the monster arrived, the show first gave a close-up of the terrified expressions of ordinary citizens, then a close-up of the monster trampling the earth, and then a close-up of the destruction of streets and houses, but there was no blood to be seen.

You've become soft and squishy, ​​big octopus.

However, the tentacles eventually became ferocious, or rather, Ye Lei finally found the right strength, and a large number of wounded people who lost their fighting ability began to appear.

"What exactly do you want?"

Lei Ye couldn't stand it anymore, so he gritted his teeth and joined the battle. He clearly wanted to get closer to talk to Ye Lei, but as soon as he got close, he was pulled away by someone and sent flying, crashing into Ye Lei's tentacle with a powerful punch.

The giant octopus clutched the spot where it had been hit in a rather flamboyant pose, letting out several strange screams.

"I'm hungry! Ouch!! I'm injured. As expected of the nemesis of evil, it has such power!! I'm running away."

She twisted her tentacles and fled, tearing up roofs and knocking down walls along the way, as if she were jogging on the beach, kicking over the castles that children had painstakingly built.

Lei Ye stared blankly at her retreating figure, then turned around abruptly, wanting to see who had pushed him, but he only saw the wriggling, disappearing tentacles.

It's Ye Lei...

What does this mean?

"Well done, Boss Lei! Ah... I'm sorry, you must be feeling really bad right now."

"She's trying to escape! Go after her! Five years ago, Cepolis escaped, and she's been a menace to us for five whole years! We absolutely can't let her get away!"

An explorer who was running very fast gave chase, but the super tentacles rose up from the ground, intercepted and sent flying. Then, it indiscriminately sent flying all the explorers behind it. Only when Lei Ye walked past it did it make way for him.

Running wildly along the path of the giant octopus, Lei Ye finally arrived at a rather remote place, probably the location of the castle on Line 1. On Line 2, this place was still deserted and uninhabited.

It's a great place to whisper secrets.

Lei Ye guessed that she wanted to talk here, which was why she dragged him on a morning run. Sure enough, she was already waiting in that barely human-like form.

After she slid down the rotating tentacle slide, the giant octopus's 'shell' behind her began to twist and writhe, and soon it twisted into the shape of the castle that Raino had seen.

"You mentioned we should talk somewhere else... do you want me to enter your body?"

"What...that sounds disgusting," Ye Lei laughed. "I just wanted to show you this technique. If you ever copy my skills, you can use this too. Although I'm not very good at character creation, if it were you, you might be able to create something interesting or put it to some great use."

"What do you mean? Will I end up like you?"

Lei Ye shook his head, dismissing the small question. That wasn't what they needed to talk about now. "What are you doing, Ye Lei? Can't you just talk things out?! Why did you have to launch a surprise attack?"

"We've already discussed everything properly. We didn't reach a consensus then, and we won't now, so why waste words? However, there are some important pieces of information that I feel are necessary to share with you."

Ye Lei remained silent for a while, her eyes filled with unease, as if she were wary of something.

"As I said before, I came to this city with a mission to carry out a massacre, with a five-year deadline, do you remember?"

"..."

"Although I don't know the reason for this mission, I think if I didn't complete it, someone else would. I kept delaying on Line 1, and then Cepolis came. But I suddenly started working that day, so she didn't have a chance to show up. On Line 2, I faked my death to get rid of my kind's supervision, but Cepolis came even faster. Now that she's dead, someone else will definitely come unless this task is completed."

Lei Ye was startled and straightened up slightly.

That's true. When Line 1 went to the orphanage, Infestine mentioned that nearby residents had witnessed lower-level demons, who were actually Ceporous's familiars. At that time, she was already looking for an opportunity to make her move.

"So... are you going to finish your work now?"

"How could I? We're all neighbors, how could I be so heartless?" Ye Lei sighed. "In a way, it's to set an example for my fellow human beings, and to scare the local residents. It would be even better if they were willing to move away. In the end..."

She looked at Lei Ye and suddenly smiled, "I'm definitely going to leave anyway. Since that's the case, why not use this opportunity to make you a hero? It can also buy you some time, killing two birds with one stone."

"I don't understand why you insist on leaving. If someone else is coming, why don't you just take them down? You're much better than that Cepolis."

"No, no, no, you can't use Cepolis as a standard for the fighting power of the Evil. She's just a little girl among us Evil. If I were to openly side with you, I don't even want to think about what the next monster to come here would look like. I remember one day when I was teaching you how to make magical items, you told me that there was a country in your world called Neon... You may not remember it, but you know this country, right?"

"Yes."

Lei Ye nodded helplessly. He hadn't expected Lei Ye from Line 2 to be so talkative, even revealing his identity as a transmigrator.

"You said back then that the people in that country had developed some very powerful magical artifacts, even capable of stopping time..."

"Damn it, don't tell me the next filth coming will use time stop." Rai Ye couldn't help but swear.

"I have indeed heard of others like me who can stop time, but I don't know if she will be the next one. I only know that if I am found to be on Hillius's side, the people who come to purge me will be far more terrifying than that other person who can stop time."

...

The two of them remained silent for a long time.

Lei Ye was processing the information conveyed in those few words, while Ye Lei stared silently at Lei Ye's face.

After a long while, Ye Lei suddenly spoke in a more relaxed tone.

"However, if we really encounter that vile being that can stop time, and I've informed you of this beforehand, wouldn't that count as 'having some knowledge'?"

"Maybe you can copy her skills, after all, you're such a lecher."

"But I'm warning you again, if you ever actually use time stop again, you can't go out on the street and grope other people's butts. I'll really get angry!"

How could that be... Raino came to his senses and smiled silently.

Does time stop?

He did indeed fantasize about it.

Human energy is limited. Lei Ye still remembers the time he spent writing every day in his small room. He had to spend a lot of time on daily drug delivery and then get up from his coma to start writing. Time was very tight. At that time, he thought that if he could stop time, he would have enough time to sleep and wouldn't have to be afraid of waking up late in the morning when the beautiful morning had already slipped away unconsciously.

When he talked about this with someone before, they said he was pathetic, and that's what he really thought. However, he didn't expect that his octopus girlfriend was just as pathetic, only able to use her time-stopping ability to grope other people's butts. With that kind of energy, she might as well just randomly grab a pretty girl on the street and check if she has flat feet.

Ye Lei laughed too, a half-hearted laugh while telling dirty jokes. Lei Ye never expected that she could express such a lifelike emotion with that monstrous face.

Lei Ye could even imagine her chatting with him while working in the studio. Of course, Lei Ye would talk nonsense, so Ye Lei would raise her hand to scold him. But over time, Ye Lei was inevitably assimilated and would say things like "time stop to touch butt" with the same expression as now. Even her accent had taken on a slightly authentic corn stubble accent.

He suddenly felt a strong envy for his other self, almost to the point of jealousy.

"Although you will remember everything, this is the only thing I want to show you. It is the opportunity that turned my vague liking into real love. Now let's watch a precious historical video."

Ye Lei fiddled with the illusion crystal, summoning a tentacle to lift it up.

Because it was playing a flashback, the scene on the screen was in the first person, and the first thing Raino saw was Raino from Line 2 being beaten black and blue.

Judging from the tentacles in the image, this is a fight between Ye Lei and Lei Ye.

"This is the first time I've talked to you about my identity, my mission, and my plans. I've been honest with you. I want to kill everyone in this city and then take you away to live somewhere else with you. Back then, your fighting ability was practically no different from that of a maggot, but you dared to shamelessly say that you would stop me. In order to control my strength, I fought you until I was exhausted, much more exhausted than today."

This was less of a fight and more of a bullying scene. Lei Ye was quickly kicked to the ground by Ye Lei and couldn't get up. Ye Lei straddled him and used her left and right punches to deal high damage, beating Lei Ye until his face was swollen like a pig's head. This part of the scene was fast-forwarded, perhaps because Lei Ye was stubbornly refusing to compromise and kept being beaten, so Ye Lei couldn't bear to watch any longer.

But when the scene returned to normal, it was Ye Lei who lost control of her emotions.

"Why are you so stubborn? I've already told you, I have a way to give you the power to shatter rocks with a flick of your finger, a body as hard as iron, and near-eternal life. You will become something completely different from these fragile insects. They, and everything they created, will become insignificant, like dust, sand, or air in your eyes. Why must you care about such trivial things?!"

"Because I am...human."

Ye Lei let out a cold laugh.

"And what about me? In your eyes, I'm not even human, right? I'm a bloodthirsty vile being, so you have to stand on the opposite side of me, oh true righteousness. No wonder you tried to trick me into going to the scorched earth back then."

"You are...my lovely...girlfriend."

The scene ends there, with only Lei Ye's heavy breathing remaining. After a long time, Ye Lei, without saying a word, hoisted Lei Ye onto her shoulder and headed towards the street.

"Look! What a beautiful love story! After that, I sent you for treatment. Human healing arts are so weak. It took a whole day to heal such a small injury." Ye Lei turned off the illusion crystal, hugged it in her arms like a child hugging their favorite treasure.

...Is that what you call beautiful? ...Is that what you call a minor injury? A tooth even fell out.

Lei Ye subconsciously touched his teeth to confirm their presence.

"So that question you mentioned before about how to prove you're human comes from here..."

"Stop, stop, this topic is over," Ye Lei interrupted him. "We've talked about this many times already. I've obtained enough evidence from you about your humanity. You can recall it slowly later. I have one last important thing to tell you, which is about dump trucks."

"First of all, with your current strength, you have a chance to take down that demon king by yourself, but I still suggest you do it after you've copied my skills. That would be safer. What I mean is, if you still want to go home, you can set off at any time."

"I'd rather you stayed here, because I'm not sure if I'd ever see you again after you go back." (whispering)

"but."

Ye Lei was more serious than ever before.

"If you really do go and kill the Demon King, make sure, no matter what, that dump truck that comes after her death kills you. Otherwise, not being able to go home is a minor issue; it would be terrible if the person who gets killed was a strange individual. Imagine if Loya returned to that initial point with her memories intact, what kind of completely new world would you be facing when you open your eyes again..."

Upon hearing this, Lei Ye shuddered.

"Rayno! Give me five big gold coins, I want to go out and play mahjong!"

"Rayno! Give me five big gold coins, I want to go eat the Crazy BBQ Meat Set Meal!"

"Rayno! Time to hand in your homework. Do it yourself!"

These scenes are easy to imagine.

Oh my god, that terrified me!

He pinched the muscles on his arm; they were strong and well-defined, evidence that someone had taken good care of him.

"This is the conclusion we reached after discussing it. Using dump trucks might achieve a similar effect to 'rollback,' but the person who can go back to the past can never be you, so no matter what, never think about using this mechanism."

As she spoke, the castle behind Ye Lei transformed into a giant octopus once again. All its tentacles twisted and thrashed wildly, attacking each other. It was hard to imagine that those thick tentacles could create a cutting effect. Ye Lei's tentacles fell off one by one, and a huge amount of blood spurted all over the ground. The air was filled with a salty and fishy medicinal smell.

Ye Lei took out a key, shook it, and handed it to Lei Ye.

"The promised third dowry, and the specific conditions regarding the mother's currency, you can check them yourself when you get home. I'm leaving now. Take care of yourself. Goodbye."

She left without even a chance to say goodbye. The next second, the light in her pupils went out, and she fell backward with a thud, like a toy that had run out of wind or a robot that had lost its network.

"Huh?!" Raino was dumbfounded.

Behind her, the massive octopus remains swayed and collapsed, like a low-quality monster in a cheap game that, when alive, caused a huge commotion and was full of imposing presence, but upon death, it deflated like a punctured balloon and collapsed lightly.

Soon Lei Ye realized why she had left in such a hurry; a shout came from not far away, calling out Lei Ye's name with delight.

The explorers are approaching.

In their eyes, they had just freed Hillius from the invasion of the filth, and by sacrificing their own family for the greater good, they had timely prevented another disaster brought about by the filth that was about to erupt.

There will probably be another celebration party tonight; this is one of the gifts she left for herself.

Lei Ye also understood what Ye Lei meant by those words.

She left so quickly, yet she still left something behind: a tiny tentacle slowly wriggling on his arm, leaving a trace of slime on his clothes. Perhaps there were many such tentacles wriggling in all his adventures on Line 1, but he just hadn't noticed them.

It swayed back and forth, as if trying to soothe Lei Ye's emotions.

Don't worry, I'll always be there watching over you, forever.