Read Novel Full Chapter 154 - Banana Flavored Boss Gong (14)
Chapter 154 - Banana Flavored Boss Gong (14)
Translated by Hua Li ^_~
It wasn’t unreasonable for Zhou Gao to react so strongly.
After being attacked, the four of them retained full consciousness and sensory perception—sight, hearing, pain—everything still worked normally. Just imagine being eaten alive by the mermaid mutant beast under those circumstances… The very thought sent chills down their spines.
Everyone felt the same sense of dread. Gou Liang, however, raised his eyebrows and said, “This soundwave may have the same effect on mutant beasts.”
Even someone as slow-witted as Zhou Gao quickly caught on to the deeper implication in Gou Liang’s words—if this soundwave could be weaponized, then wouldn’t all these beast cores be as good as theirs?
Having just cursed the loudest, he was now the first to cheer: “Exactly! Fight fire with fire—brilliant move!”
He was already imagining them sweeping through the battlefield with soundwave-based paralysis weapons, mutant beasts lying obediently at their feet, ready for the slaughter. Just talking about it made him chuckle with glee.
Though everyone knew it wouldn’t be that simple, no one poured cold water on his enthusiasm. In fact, in their hearts, they too couldn’t help but look forward to the idea.
Shi Buyu used himself as bait to lure the mermaid mutant. Once it surfaced, he drove it away from the lake using lightning, forcing it to flee along a pre-planned route and into a trap they had dug in advance.
However, they had underestimated the power of the mermaid mutant’s incredible tail. It didn’t just allow it to walk on land or move swiftly—it could even let the creature fly.
As Shi Buyu and the team monitored the scene via aerial surveillance drones, they saw the mutant suddenly rise into the air, its tail whipping violently as it soared skyward.
Shi Buyu quickly deployed a dome-shaped electric net to seal the trap’s exit, forcing it back in.
The mermaid mutant let out a panicked screech, desperately calling for help from its companions. Unfortunately for it, Gou Liang had already calculated the soundwave’s range and had led them far from the lake during the chase. The call for help never reached the rest of the mermaid horde.
Trapped like a fish in a bathtub, the mermaid flopped around helplessly, making pitiful noises.
Gou Liang instructed, “Shi Xiaoyu, make it use its attack soundwave.”
Shi Buyu responded and tried various methods to provoke it. But the mermaid mutant, which had completely given up resistance, refused to fight back. It simply lay limp at the bottom of the pit like a salted fish, making nothing but sorrowful, pleading whimpers.
Zhou Gao’s eyes widened. “Holy crap, did this fish grow a soul or something?!”
Shi Buyu said, “Yu Sen, you and Lao Jiang—go catch another mutant beast.”
Yu Sen and Jiang Ren immediately understood his intention: to use another beast as bait to provoke the mermaid into attacking. They quickly captured a Level 1 non-ability-type beast. But when Shi Buyu tossed it into the trap, nothing happened. The mermaid didn’t attack, nor did the captured beast approach it.
Gou Liang was surprised. Was the mermaid simply too frightened, or had he miscalculated?
Shi Buyu thought for a moment, then said, “Bring in a Level 2 beast.”
Capturing a Level 2 beast wasn’t too difficult—it just took time. Half an hour later, they managed to herd one into the trap.
This time, the mermaid mutant didn’t stay passive. Almost as soon as the Level 2 beast fell in, it launched a soundwave attack.
This Level 2 beast had a water-type ability. It didn’t retaliate, but didn’t collapse like Yu Sen’s team either. Instead, it dodged nimbly.
The Level 1 beast showed no reaction to the attack until the Level 2 beast charged at it—then it fled in terror.
Now all three beasts in the pit were in chaos. The Level 1 and 2 mutants ran wildly in circles, crashing into each other. The mermaid, now airborne again, flailed its tail while unleashing piercing shrieks.
Soon, the Level 1 beast was killed by the Level 2’s ability, and when the latter bit into it and exposed its beast core, the Level 3 mermaid mutant did not attempt to snatch it. Instead, it only screeched louder and louder.
The Level 2 beast swallowed the core and kept running.
Shi Buyu: “…”
The four previously paralyzed teammates: “…”
Gou Liang coughed and said, “Soundwave sample acquired.”
Without hesitation, Shi Buyu finished off both the mermaid mutant and the Level 2 beast.
Zhou Gao was still a bit confused and muttered, “Why did that mermaid feel like such a pushover?”
Qin Bei, observing from the side, added, “So… it’s basically a coward?”
Its soundwaves merely scared off other mutant beasts but didn’t actually hurt them. If the standoff had continued, the Level 2 beast would’ve probably figured out it had been fooled and turned on the mermaid. Even though the mermaid was a Level 3 mutant, its escape instincts were top-notch.
The mermaid seemed to know its own limits—so it only expelled threats rather than trying to fight head-on.
Gou Liang confirmed this after analyzing the synthesized soundwave.
The mermaid mutant’s soundwave had no effect on ordinary (non-ability) beasts, and only served to repel ability-type ones. Its effectiveness was limited to Level 2 and Level 3 mutants.
This essentially placed the mermaid at the bottom of the mutant food chain—barely capable of self-preservation.
Yet against humans, it suddenly became a dominant force—practically a natural enemy. Its soundwaves were lethal to regular humans and ability users below Level 3, stripping them of their powers and mobility. Even Shi Buyu, a Level 4 ability user, was affected when facing a group assault.
It was probably the first time the mermaid mutant had ever encountered a situation like this.
After knocking out Yu Sen’s group, the creature was likely even more frightened than its victims. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have approached them so cautiously with slow, tentative tail-steps—it would’ve rushed over and swallowed them whole with one swipe of its tail.
Yu Lin sighed and said, “Nothing’s easy no matter what world you’re in.”
When Gou Liang later realized that the soundwaves had exceptionally strong penetrative properties and that no current technology could shield ability users from their effects, he was deeply disappointed.
After all that effort, they ended up with nothing but a useless chicken rib.
Watching him angrily gnawing on the mermaid mutant’s meat like he was venting, Shi Buyu reached out to pat his head and comforted him. “Don’t be upset. At the very least, we’ve eliminated a future threat. If we encounter another one of these, we’ll know how to handle it.”
Gou Liang could only accept the consolation.
The transition phase between world levels was a very particular period. The system’s support was limited.
During this time, the Lord God would transfer more soul power to humanity through various means. If they could withstand it, humanity’s soul power baseline would evolve, achieving a new stage of advancement. If not… well, unless someone had a powerful original soul like Gou Liang, they’d be destroyed along with the world.
This mission world was currently evolving from a Grade C to a Grade B world. The method of transfer from the Lord God was via the mutant beasts.
All these beasts were creations of the Lord God’s will, shaped from the mirrored soul projections of people in this world. That’s why these mutant beasts shared superficial similarities with known Earth creatures. However, since they were spontaneously generated, even the Time-Space Administration had no existing data. Just like everyone else, Gou Liang could only learn through trial and error.
*
One year later.
The salty sea breeze carried an unpleasant stench—that of mutant beasts—making what should’ve been a refreshing ocean wind unbearable.
Having evolved to a Level 5 ability user, Shi Buyu led Gou Liang and six other Level 4 ability users to the coastal region. Seeing the ocean teeming with Level 5+ mutant beasts on the detection screen still made them feel the pressure. They quickly discovered that Level 5 beasts were merely bottom-feeders in the sea’s ecosystem. Even Level 6 beasts weren’t particularly special. According to Gou Liang’s energy modeling, even Level 7+ mutants were confirmed by the detector. Basically, beyond the continental shelf, it was a world ruled by Level 6+ mutants.
“We’re really gonna fight these things?” Zhou Gao gulped nervously.
Qin Bei rolled his eyes and scolded, “Scared already? Before the fight even starts? What kind of cowardly soldier are you? The Huaxia First Army doesn’t raise quitters!”
Yu Lin slapped him on the head. “Fight, my ass. We’re just here to collect data. Safety first. Don’t go creating trouble for the boss.”
“Of course not!” Zhou Gao and Qin Bei quickly promised. Suicide missions? Not their thing.
Yu Sen frowned and said, “According to Teacher Tang’s analysis, we’ll have to face these sea mutants sooner or later. We might be able to avoid them now, but if we don’t use this time to gather high-level beast cores and advance, the consequences will be dire.”
Jiang Ren stared at the screen with a grave expression.
Their planet was ideal for these beasts to reproduce. Compared to last year, the number of mutants had nearly doubled—mostly newborns.
Even the activity range of ability beasts had moved northward. The “Death Line” had shifted slightly above the 30th latitude north. Though a small change, it was a warning: in time, the mutant beasts would overrun the Jiuzhou Base—and eventually, the whole planet.
Qin Bei said, “A’Sen, you’re overthinking this. Worrying now won’t help. Look at the boss—probably off on leave with Teacher Tang for a bit of fun—uh, I mean, treatment.”
Hearing that, everyone exchanged glances and shrugged.
—Well, let’s worry about mutant beasts after the 24-hour treatment session.
*
Jiuzhou Base.
What was once a special 100-man Level 2 task force had expanded to a force of 1,000, with ten of them having advanced to Level 3. This time, General Yao decided to send half of them into the Death Zone for live combat missions to hunt Level 2 beast cores.
As the departing teams left the base, Jia Nanzhu’s face was dark and clouded.
He had submitted multiple requests to join the expedition, all of which had been denied.
Jia Nanzhu had had enough of his current predicament. He desperately needed an opportunity to prove himself—something to win accolades and change his standing.
Instead, he could only watch others ride this rising tide to success while he got left further behind.
Ju Bei looked at him worriedly and tried to console him. “Brother Zhu, staying back at the base isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Even that Bao Zi guy is staying, too, right?”
“Don’t compare me to him!”
Jia Nanzhu slapped his hand away, then immediately felt a pang of regret.
Ever since Ji Guangyuan had been assigned to the field team, Jia Nanzhu had sensed the man’s admiration waning.
Jia Nanzhu was someone who needed admiration and vanity to function. Now, the only person who still looked up to him was Ju Bei—though he constantly suspected that Ju Bei might betray him one day.
But for now, he didn’t want to push Ju Bei away.
Fortunately, Ju Bei was used to his temper and didn’t take it to heart. He took the initiative to hold his hand and said, “Brother Zhu, that was my bad. Don’t be mad… Just hang in there, okay? Your chance will come soon.”
Jia Nanzhu didn’t really believe the hollow reassurance, but he nodded vaguely.
He didn’t notice the glint of calculation in Ju Bei’s eyes. Ju Bei looked up at the sky outside the Jiuzhou Base and thought to himself: It’s almost time for the author’s usual update hiatus—that also means Shi Buyu’s death is near.
This time… could that fat guy really change Shi Buyu’s fate?
No.
The protagonist of this world would only ever be Brother Zhu and himself. Shi Buyu was destined to die—so was that fat guy.
With that conviction, Ju Bei smiled at Jia Nanzhu and handed him his work-point card.
Since his “ability” space never leveled up again, he had tried consuming beast cores but soon discovered they had no effect on him.
A space too small to hold even a single mutant beast had limited usefulness, and an ability user with zero combat power and no enhanced physique would only be a burden in missions. So after arriving at Jiuzhou Base, Ju Bei had no choice but to take on logistical duties like any ordinary person without awakened abilities.
Ordinary people could accumulate work points over time and exchange them for beast cores. After two years, Ju Bei had saved enough points to trade for a Level 2 beast core.
And he gave it to Jia Nanzhu without hesitation.
“This…”
Jia Nanzhu couldn’t hide the shock on his face. He hadn’t expected Ju Bei to go this far for him.
Ju Bei kept secret the fact that he couldn’t absorb beast cores. Facing Jia Nanzhu’s touched expression, he smiled and said, “Brother Zhu, everything will get better. Trust me.”
In that smile, Jia Nanzhu saw a kind of innocence that didn’t belong in the apocalypse.
And no matter how much Ju Bei in Jiuzhou Base hoped for Shi Buyu’s death so that the plot could return to its “normal” path, Gou Liang—who was also keeping track of the timeline—became increasingly clingy toward Shi Buyu, refusing to let him act alone.
After they finished a day of their vacation, the Jiuzhou Base team arrived at the Death Zone.
To their surprise, a distress signal was triggered on the very day the Jiuzhou ability-user squad arrived.
By the time Shi Buyu led his team to respond, the squad had already finished battling a Level 3 mutant beast.
It turned out the Level 2 patrol team had accidentally wandered into the beast’s territory. Unable to defeat it, they activated their emergency beacon. Jiuzhou’s ability users had gotten there first. Although many Level 2 users were injured, fortunately, no one had died.
After learning the details from the squad leader, Shi Buyu had no intention of intervening further.
But as they were about to leave, he noticed Gou Liang frequently glancing at someone in the crowd.
“What is it?”
He had never seen Gou Liang pay so much attention to anyone else.
Gou Liang tapped his brow and smiled. “I recognize that person’s voice. In the Jia family’s basement, he slapped me more than a dozen times and even kicked me once.”
Shi Buyu’s brows furrowed. He took a closer look—and realized it was Ji Guangyuan.