The giant centipede thrashed in the waterway, its long legs slicing like blades into the stone walls, throwing the space into chaos. Water mist billowed, and only the crisp sounds of combat could be discerned.
Wu Tianzhen and Fatty stayed behind the waterfall, with Zhang Qiling drawing the centipede's full attention in front of them, so they were not under heavy attack for the moment.
"Xiao Ge, Xiao Ge—!!"
"This won't do. This bug has practically filled the waterway. Even if Xiao Ge has the upper hand, it's hard to break through its body to reach us."
Wu Tianzhen's tone grew urgent. He stomped his foot, frantically trying to stimulate his brain cells to find a way out of this predicament.
...The known information about the centipede was: smooth, massive, with hard carapaces and sharp leg joints.
It had been inactive until after the Zhang Liu Shen exploded. This meant that the explosion of the puppet contained a factor that could disturb it.
Was it the sound, the temperature, or did the Zhang Liu Shen itself have a connection to it?
Analyzing this, the situation became very clear. This was an experimental variable, and by chance, Wu Tianzhen was very good at experiments.
"...Fatty, how good is your control over the optical computer?"
Fatty was already worried that the waterway didn't look very stable and his explosives might not get a chance to be deployed. Hearing Wu Tianzhen's words, he blurted out a boast.
"Damn it, with Fatty's skills, I can control the optical computer to charge through a hail of bullets and come out unscathed. If they hadn't called me during the interstellar wars back then, Blue Star would have broken out of the universe and developed a second domain long ago!"
Wu Tianzhen filtered out Fatty's baseless bragging. He knew Fatty; though he exaggerated, since Fatty dared to make such grand claims, it meant he had indeed achieved something in this field.
He breathed a sigh of relief, pulled Fatty over, and introduced him to his plan.
Fatty's optical computer floated innocently beside them, appearing serene, until the optical computer spirit noticed the two humans turning towards it and emitting strange, inexplicable laughter.
Optical Computer Spirit: ???
—
Zhang Qiling had no idea about the progress of the extreme experiment being conducted by his two good brothers.
A row of sharp legs lunged at him. He flipped and landed on the wall, leaping nimbly. Mid-air, with an extreme twist of his body, he passed through the narrow gap between the centipede and the ceiling wall.
By the time the centipede reacted, Zhang Qiling had landed on its carapace from behind, as agile as a black cat.
But the subsequent attack was anything but feline and fluffy. The Black Gold Ancient Saber fell suddenly, piercing the connection point of the centipede's carapace with lightning speed and precision!
Greenish-blue fluid gushed out. Zhang Qiling dodged the incoming leg attack, leaned back slightly, and dropped directly down, landing lightly on another segment of the carapace.
The centipede was massive but its range of movement was severely restricted. Zhang Qiling was agile, but he was hindered by the centipede's hard and huge body structure, making it impossible to end the battle quickly. The fight became a stalemate.
Just as Zhang Qiling severed a row of fine legs and prepared to strike again—
"Good luck to you, good luck brings joy and love!"
Amidst the scattered stones, water droplets, and the centipede's long legs, something shiny and sparkling suddenly appeared?!
The object emitted colorful lights like a disco ball, red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, countless colors. For a moment, Zhang Qiling felt the same bewilderment as Zhang Haike, and a question mark slowly formed in his mind.
It turned out that Fatty's optical computer, somehow overcoming all difficulties and risking its life, had bravely charged into the battle, bringing not only dazzling light effects but also singing the song "Good Luck," truly bringing countless joys to Mr. Centipede.
...Why only bring joy to Mr. Centipede?
Mainly because Mr. Zhang on the other side of the battlefield clearly stated he was not happy at the moment, and Mr. Centipede remained silent, so it could only be tentatively assumed that Mr. Centipede was too shy to admit it.
Centipede: ...
Zhang Qiling watched expressionlessly as the optical computer weaved through the sharp legs, emitting frantic noise, and adorning the white centipede shell with fairy-like colors using various light effects.
The optical computer spirit appeared on the screen, holding a microphone and singing wildly, tears streaming down its face, likely completely immersed in "Good Luck."
Although Zhang Qiling was speechless, he knew this was likely Wu Tianzhen and Fatty's attempt to attract the centipede's attention.
But clearly, their efforts in sound and light effects had failed.
Mr. Centipede ignored the optical computer flying around its head, acting as if it didn't exist. It seemed to have no ears and its vision was also somewhat impaired.
Zhang Qiling kicked away the centipede's head that was lunging at him, unsure whether to greet the optical computer, as the conspicuous camera on it was still glowing.
...But greeting an optical computer felt a bit strange.
So, Mr. Zhang thought for a moment and finally decided to adopt the same measure as Mr. Centipede and ignore the optical computer.
But just as he was about to continue the battle with Mr. Centipede—
The optical computer, seemingly unable to bear the centipede's indifference, paused and then accelerated instantly, charging through the mist with the spirit of a hero unafraid of death, straight towards the back of the centipede's head!
With a "clang," the centipede froze for a moment, slowly turning its head.
The optical computer's attack lacked power but was extremely insulting. The centipede, seeing such a thing randomly emitting light pollution hitting its noble head, felt its anger, already provoked by Zhang Qiling's taunts, erupt!
The long, sharp teeth in its massive maw were revealed, and it lunged at the optical computer without hesitation. Under Fatty's control skills, which could defeat alien fleets, the optical computer dodged left and right, zipping towards the waterfall.
Mr. Centipede, lacking intelligence, charged into the enemy camp without thinking. As its front legs stepped into the waterfall, Zhang Qiling heard an explosion from behind—
Fatty and Wu Tianzhen, who had been waiting there for a long time, saw the giant mouth lunging towards them. With a jolt, they threw the explosives in their hands, which landed perfectly inside the cavernous mouth.
Zhang Qiling descended from behind, kicking the back of the centipede's head. The centipede, struck heavily, slammed its upper jaw down, its two rows of teeth clashing with a "crack!"
Then, with a "boom!"
The explosion erupted within the box-like oral cavity. Zhang Qiling used the centipede's head as leverage to retreat, narrowly dodging the blast's aftermath.
As he landed, the centipede's head was blackened and hung lifelessly in the water, appearing to have lost all signs of life.
Wu Tianzhen and Fatty high-fived in celebration. Fatty even gave the optical computer a loving hug, his whole body radiating joy.
"These tooth marks..." After the initial joy, Wu Tianzhen leaned in to observe. The centipede was markedly different from its smaller counterparts. Its large mouth was filled with sharp teeth. Although the explosives had only left three or four, they were still terrifying to behold.
"It's likely the culprit behind the skull teeth marks we saw inside the dogfish eel's stomach."
Thinking of that small skull, Wu Tianzhen sighed, his mood slightly dampened.
But at that moment, he heard Zhang Qiling's sudden voice—
"Don't come closer!"
Before they could fully react, a white shadow covered their vision!
Even a centipede of a hundred feet is not easily killed. The centipede, with its skull shattered, raised its body again and smashed down!
Its sharp legs pointed downwards, gleaming like sickles. Wu Tianzhen, looking at their shape, suddenly understood something—
The waterfall came from an inexplicable crack in the ceiling wall. When he saw the waterfall earlier, he had wondered why such a prominent fissure existed. But now, it seemed that this crack was likely formed by one of the centipede's attacks.
And this meant...
The centipede's sharp legs slammed into the ground in front of them, and in an instant, a crack identical to the one above was formed in the ground!
Black water surged in, and a violent vortex suddenly formed. Wu Tianzhen and Fatty, standing at the edge, were instantly swept into the fissure!
Before losing consciousness, Wu Tianzhen vaguely saw Zhang Qiling leaping in after them. He managed to concentrate his mind, trying to grab the outstretched hand, but missed.