Chapter 59 The White-Faced Army The octopus doesn’t know what it has done wrong.

As the firelight in the stone cave went out, everyone understood that the monster had come again.

The darkness lasted only a short while.

Drawing from previous experience, the group swiftly lit a fire.

But as the cave brightened again, they regretfully realized that Chen Fei and Huang Rui had vanished. The system had once again quietly sent the lowest-scoring examinees to face the monster.

Just like Qin Jiu and You Huo had been last time… Huh?

“Where’s You Ge?”

Di Li was a bit bewildered.

Right now, he treated You Huo and Qin Jiu as Olympiad competition textbooks, keeping his eyes on them all day without shifting away.

Yet in just the brief moment he turned his head, one of the Olympiad textbooks had gone missing.

“Wasn’t he right here—”

Shu Xue pointed behind her, only to realize she was pointing directly at Qin Jiu.

To his left, there was an empty spot where You Huo had been standing just before the monster appeared. Now, not even a shadow remained.

Shu Xue asked in surprise, “Where is he? I just heard him speaking.”

Qin Jiu wound the long rope into loops, one after another.

“Then you didn’t hear what he said?”

“At that moment, I was looking at the score report and didn’t quite catch what was said…”

Her and Wu Li’s rankings were steadily climbing, so there was nothing to worry about. But she was extremely concerned about You Huo and Qin Jiu.

Those two gentlemen themselves didn’t seem to care at all, but as their companion, she felt she ought to pay a little attention on their behalf.

Shu Xue recalled, “It sounded like you were talking about making a bet.”

“Yeah,” Qin Jiu said,

“we made a bet.”

They bet on whether their ranking would drop.

The winner got to engage in some enforcement activities to stretch their limbs, while the loser had to take care of the boring cleanup work.

Qin Jiu won.

Then, the moment the monster’s tentacles drooped, someone wordlessly went back on their word, rushing ahead of Qin Jiu and getting hooked away by the fish.

“So… so what now? What’s the situation?” someone asked.

“I’m going to ask the fish for someone back. Do as you please.”

Qin Jiu coiled the rope around his hand and turned to leave the cave.

Di Li froze for a few seconds before quickly running to the cave entrance, leaning against it to ask, “You’re going to fight the monster? Can I come too—”

* * *

The system’s punishment was always delivered instantly.

The moment the ugly octopus with its sucker-covered tentacles coiled around the two lowest-scoring examinees, the surrounding environment changed in the blink of an eye.

For a moment, it felt that tonight’s meal was a bit heavy.

Something seemed off.

But the next moment, the dilapidated cabin was reflected in its round eyes, and the familiar scent enveloped it, causing it to relax instantly…

Once again, it had arrived at the place where it usually ate.

It called this place the Cliffside Restaurant.

Because the old ship was wedged into a crack in the rocks, reinforced year after year by layers of ice.

Yet the other end remains half-suspended, as though one day it might still break free from the reef and fall back into the sea, riding the wind and waves.

However, today’s cliffside restaurant is a bit chaotic…

No, it’s completely shattered.

This is the credit left by the two dishes from last time.

Every time the octopus glanced, it was so angry it could keel over on the spot.

Embracing the principle of “out of sight, out of mind,”

it twisted around while stuffing the two new dishes of the night into its cavity.

Just as it turned around, it noticed a person standing by the porthole.

Familiar build, familiar face—if it wasn’t You Huo, then who else could it be?

The octopus’ inky-black eyeballs rolled a full circle in their sockets.

It saw the troublesome food waiting there in the same posture as it had landed… a burlap sack discarded at its feet, a knife held in its hand.

One might have thought it was here for fresh sashimi.

Screw your ancestor’s plank.

The octopus’s soft oral cavity convulsed twice urgently, intending to swallow the food first before dealing with the person in front.

In just those few seconds of daze, the food inside its oral cavity suddenly began to move.

It felt a sharp, burning pain as its flesh immediately contracted and curled.

Then came two more piercing stabs. Its eyes rolled, and it saw two iron hooks thrusting out from within the oral cavity, firmly hooking its flesh.

Bang, bang, bang—

A few muffled thuds echoed inside the maw.

The new prey suddenly went berserk, wildly thrashing about inside the maw, striking it until it throbbed with dull pain all over.

The octopus held back for a moment, but in the end, it couldn’t bear it any longer and retched once again…

Chen Fei and Huang Rui tumbled to the ground one after the other.

They hadn’t yet realized they had already broken free, squeezing their eyes shut as they cried out and flailed around wildly.

Only after Chen Fei landed a kick on Huang Rui’s leg—drawing a painful yelp—did the two of them abruptly halt.

Chen Fei widened his eyes, locking gazes with Huang Rui, the lingering fear still not fully dispelled.

They gasped heavily, bodies tense, and only after a long while did the thundering ringing in their ears gradually subside.

“Move aside!”

You Huo’s voice suddenly rang out behind them.

Perhaps it was due to his natural timbre; even at such a moment, his voice remained extremely cold and detached.

Chen Fei and Huang Rui were startled by the chill, scrambling to shrink back to the side.

By the time their backs were against the wall with nowhere left to retreat, You Huo had already leapt over a staircase, engaging the octopus in a fierce battle.

“I…we’re alive?”

Chen Fei was still in a daze.

Panting heavily, Huang Rui exclaimed, “Alive! Alive…it actually worked!”

Humans are strange creatures like that. Escape from the tiger’s mouth just once, and suddenly the whole tiger doesn’t seem so terrifying anymore. They suddenly felt they had grown stronger—at least a little stronger than they’d thought.

Chen Fei watched You Huo’s agile figure and said, “Are we just going to stand here and watch?”

Huang Rui tightened his grip on the long hook in his hand.

“I’m too ashamed.”

“Same here.”

“Shall we go in?”

Chen Fei took a deep breath and lunged out alongside Huang Rui.

* * *

You Huo propped himself up with one hand, using the inclined floor of the cabin to slide out from under the obstacle.

The tentacle chasing him couldn’t brake in time, slamming hard into the obstacle and flinging out a tip. Seizing the opportunity, You Huo sliced it off.

Smack—

The severed tentacle fell to the ground, twitching and writhing a few times before falling still.

You Huo was accustomed to fighting alone.

This time Qin Jiu wasn’t around, and he suddenly realized just how comforting it was to have an evenly matched partner fighting alongside him.

Efficient and straightforward, it would at least let him get half as dirty.

Still, with just this one giant octopus, it wasn’t as though he couldn’t manage it on his own.

Just a few more minutes at most.

To his surprise, the two examinees who were nearly swallowed didn’t completely freeze up in terror—they also charged into the fray.

Compared to Qin Jiu, their agility, strength, speed, skill, and physical endurance were all lacking… fragile and easily beaten, with minds that didn’t seem quick enough either, but at least they counted as teammates.

You Huo glanced at the burlap sack, mentally calculating that he would cut three more tentacles to fill the bag before leaving.

Little did he expect that the ugly octopus seemed to know when to retreat, slipping away at lightning speed.

Just as he raised the knife, the octopus suddenly pushed itself off with its dozens of tentacles, launching backward into the hole in the ship’s hull and slipping through the crevices of the reef into the sea.

“Did it run away?”

Chen Fei stared at the wooden hole, still frozen and not daring to move.

Huang Rui carefully crept to the edge of the hole and peered down, reporting, “I can’t see it anymore. It must have left.”

“Probably. Last time it also went from there,”

You Huo said, using his foot to hook up the burlap sack and toss the few tentacle segments inside.

He weighed the bag in his hand, feeling a slight pang of regret.

Just as he was about to tie the bag shut, a faint sound of water suddenly came from somewhere below the boat.

As if something had quietly attached itself again.

You Huo’s brows furrowed slightly as he looked up at Huang Rui and said, “Don’t stand there!”

There was no time to lose.

Fortunately, Huang Rui had developed a conditioned reflex to You Huo’s commands. Without a second thought, he immediately threw himself to the ground.

The moment he hit the floor, several thick, elongated tentacles burst out from the hole.

Just a fraction of a second slower, and he would have been dragged into the sea.

In the cabin, a peculiar gurgling sound echoed, like a slippery creature turning over and bubbling in water. Or perhaps… some kind of strange form of communication.

You You had a bad feeling about this.

Sure enough, in the next second, three identical octopuses darted out from the hole one after another.

Their flexible tentacles flailed wildly, slicing through the air with whooshing sounds.

“……”

Yu Huo never expected that this kind of monster would call for backup when it couldn’t defeat him.

He could handle one giant octopus with ease, and even two could be managed.

But three? That was just too much!!!

The three ugly things were incredibly fat and greasy, making the old cabin dangerously unstable. There was simply not enough space—they could easily crush someone to death just by squeezing in.

You Huo kicked the burlap sack into the corner, dragged the other two, and rolled behind the metal cabinet.

Only then did they hear several cracking sounds.

The deck above them finally gave way under the weight, shattered by the three octopuses.

* * *

Not far away, on the frozen tundra.

Di Li and the others insisted on following, and Qin Jiu didn’t stop them.

Thus, a large group of candidates rushed forward, sliding hurriedly while trying to keep their movements as quiet as possible, fearing they might attract the “angels”

lurking beneath the ice.

“Are we there yet? How much further?”

Di Li struggled to keep up with Qin Jiu, whispering the question in a hushed tone.

As soon as the words were spoken, a series of explosive sounds suddenly erupted from the shoreline, followed by the emergence of several pale, tentacle-like appendages stretching menacingly into view.

Alright.

With such a commotion, even without Qin Jiu’s response, anyone could guess where he was.

Di Li stared at the massive tentacles, swallowing hard with a gulp.

“Holy… shit… doesn’t it look like there’s more than one head?! Can octopuses give birth or something?”

Qin Jiu’s gaze fixed on the spot, but he didn’t answer.

The next second, he suddenly laughed.

Di Li thought to himself, “Don’t tell me he’s gone crazy?”

Before this thought could fully settle, he saw Qin Jiu turn around and say to the crowd, “I need a favor.”

Everyone, who had been blinded by his outrageous behavior day after day, perked up instantly at hearing him ask for a favor for the first time.

“Please, no need for formalities. If there’s anything we can do, just let us know.”

They whispered.

Qin Jiu said, “Yell a few times.”

Everyone: “???”

Huh?

With so many angels watching underground, who should we ask to shout a few calls?

Di Li stood stunned, nearly dropping into a kneeling slide.

But he had a quick mind; after just two seconds of being dazed, he understood Qin Jiu’s intention.

So he cupped his hands around his mouth and let out a howling cry.

Just howling wasn’t enough to satisfy him; he even gave a few good jumps on the ice.

The next second, hundreds of little pale faces stretched out their necks and came chasing after.

……

* * *

Inside the cabin, three giant octopuses were still showing off their power.

Perhaps because he had been bullied too harshly before, now that he suddenly had a chance to reclaim his pride, not venting a little would hardly clear the hatred in his heart.

The sounds of crashing, smashing, and colliding echoed incessantly, mixed with the swishing sound of the tentacles sweeping through the air—the commotion was truly terrifying.

Beyond this, there were also faint, intermixed sounds of another kind.

That was the sound of the ice layer cracking and splintering under the relentless impact…

Unfortunately, the squids were too engrossed in their dance to notice.

When they finally finished displaying their intimidation and brandished their tentacles to kill, the noise of human voices suddenly rose beside the half-destroyed ships.

The three squids were taken aback for a moment, then turned their eyes impatiently and twisted around to look.

There, on the ice shore next to the ship, over thirty examinees were charging toward them.

That wasn’t the important part. The important part was what lay behind them…

Countless pale, contorted faces twisted forward, like a wall of white wind roaring and surging toward them in a thunderous rush.

“………………”

The octopus didn’t know what sin it had committed.