Léon: The Cat Killer

"if not?"

Carrying Nana's handbag, she secretly tried to calm her slightly rapid breathing. In front of her was the red-haired Fydia, whom Red called 'Boss' and the underlings called 'Big Sister'.

"……you……"

"I am 'Nine,' you can just call me that for now. Over there is... the Calamity that Rhodes Island is fighting against?"

Seeing yet another shop flattened by the monster in the distance, and knowing that the armored monster, which would quickly heal even after being broken or smashed by the Black Knight, was a woman with long red hair named Fydia, who calmly stated the unfavorable situation of the 'Black Knight':

"...It seems that Rhodes Island knight needs help, and it looks like you're completely at a disadvantage...and why are you fighting unarmed?"

Regarding Jiu's doubts, An Suo glanced at the terminal in his hand and shook his head, saying:

"That's because the senior's weapon was initially used to block the sea monster's exit... Brother Red should have seen it too, that senior Medic immediately used high temperature to weld the hole shut..."

"Ah, the sword that was stuck in Old Zhu's shop."

Seeing Red's sudden realization, Nine didn't press further. The red-haired woman pondered for two seconds, watching as yet another shop collapsed in the aftershocks of the battle, and noting that the battlefield seemed to be getting closer to the residential area, before pursing her lips and saying:

"That knight needs help... she looks like she's missing a weapon that can reach the monster's vitals..."

"...But we can't get to that kind of battlefield, can we?"

This time, it was a pink-haired girl named Felin who was next to Jiu who spoke. An Suo recognized her; she was the one who had been following Red before, and disappeared instantly when Red and Nana started fighting.

As silence fell over the scene, and the sounds of battle drew ever closer in the distance, Jiu looked at An Suo one last time:

"The knight hasn't gone to retrieve his weapon, which means the sword is currently under important protection and cannot be taken out, right..."

"Yes... the best course of action now is... to relocate."

"But even if we're just transferring people, we'll need time... Red, take your Avengers squad, even if it's just to draw the monster's attention to that knight, do something."

"The others, following the usual fire drills, notified each household to leave with only the most basic documents and valuables..."

As she spoke, Nine took out an old-fashioned flip phone from her pocket. As the people around her began to get busy, the red-haired Phydia hesitated for a moment before dialing a number that looked very familiar to her:

"...Chen...I'm sorry to contact you again so suddenly, but there are some things I want to confirm with you..."

Squinting at Reid drawing his flaming longsword in the distance, Jiu glanced at An Suo, whose expression was somewhat strange.

Do you know 'Rhodes Island'?

PS琉龄陾僄似岜罢四: 呜呜猫猫

PS2: I'll be back in July, but I used up my sick leave at the beginning of the month because of an injury... Oh well, I'm used to it anyway. I hope the updates for the second half of the year will go smoothly.

9th Dragon Gate Seafood: 351 Hai Si is trying to exert his initiative.

Perhaps Longmen is not a big place, and Commander Chen does have a lot of connections, so it is quite normal for him to run into people he knows just by walking a few steps.

However, Nana would have preferred that Lao Chen explain the dangers of this operation to everyone he could talk to from the beginning, instead of vaguely saying things like "What are you doing there?" on the phone...

Well, it might be too much to ask two people with obvious secrets to play a game of truth or dare. Considering that Jiu was willing to check with Lao Chen instead of relying on her own little gang to handle the situation, Nana decided to leave the gossip about the suspected former member of the Guard Bureau aside for now.

Compared to the midnight emotional-themed channel of the Imperial Guard broadcast from Anso's side, Nana's own situation, which resembled a 'hardware store', probably required more of her attention.

The battlefield was likened to a hardware store mainly because of the clanging of metal. Once the armor was activated, this noise clearly marked the direction of the main battlefield for those fleeing for their lives.

Now that Nana isn't wielding the greatsword and the sea monster can't close its giant pincers, the former can't deliver a fatal blow to the sea monster, while the latter, facing a state of maximum mobility and decent defense, seems capable of fighting it for an entire day.

With neither side able to deliver a fatal blow, their back-and-forth attacks were almost all aimed at their respective key defensive positions... Clang clang clang clang, it was impossible to tell which was the hammer and which was the nail. Only the constantly destroyed field and the screams of the onlookers highlighting that the effort exerted by both sides had exceeded that of industrial machinery, making them essentially like two rampaging demolition machines.

Adding new cracks to the already cracked chitinous carapace, she watched speechlessly as the dark purple fluid hardened and adhered like self-sealing glue. Although the doctor had said something like, "It would be good to put some pressure on Lungmen," Nana still hoped that things could be resolved without anyone getting hurt.

Despite the fact that the spread of the virus is far more efficient than expected, Nana herself would find it hard to believe that there are no victims.

The current battlefield is the Kowloon Walled City shantytown… Although gangs run rampant and various crimes are openly committed, the residents don't trust the Governor's government, and even victims like those involved in extortion are among them. But as a gathering place for infected laborers, the residents here have virtually no ability to withstand the risks…

Although it appears to be just house damage and people being forced to leave their homes, will this process trigger the already serious gang problems in Kowloon Walled City? And if things get out of control and cause unrest throughout the entire mobile city, what decision will the Governor's Office make?

Although these things seem far removed from Nana, a frontline combatant, an assassin is someone who uses the most direct actions to influence city and even national policies... She is all too familiar with this kind of situation where everyone is striving for the good, but the correct choices made by all levels lead to unacceptable consequences for everyone... Assassin Number Seventy-Seven remembered several similar classic cases from her ICA courses.

To prevent things from spiraling out of control, Nana had to keep the chaotic variables to a minimum... Right now, this monster absolutely could not break through the streets and enter the public eye, and she couldn't let the people of Kowloon Walled City panic and flee. Only in this way could local gangs like Kowloon Walled City barely maintain their control over this area lacking official authority.

Nana can no longer delay the battle; she must defeat the sea monster before the residents' fear escalates into a riot.

The problem is that even if artificial muscle fibers are combined with magic to punch the opponent in a power mode, making them spin like a top between storefronts, the sea monster's multi-layered shell and tough muscles cushion the impact, making the 'knight's' punches and kicks ineffective.

That seemingly enormous body is not lacking in agility. Its solid white carapace is not only incredibly hard and physically thick, but its own dark purple fluid can also bind together broken pieces of the carapace. This is the real reason why Nana has no way to deal with it.

Even though the Guardian Gun's incandescent overload was used to deliver a Judgment Strike that pierced through its giant pincers, the entire pincers should have been cooked by now. Yet, the opponent was still full of energy and fighting back and forth with Nana. This makes it hard not to think of the so-called 'Sea Heir Adaptability'.

Could this guy be an individual with high heat resistance born from Nana roasting too many of her companions with her giant sword?

The only thing that gives Nana some comfort right now is the opponent's left pincer, which seems impossible to close... This at least shows the limit of the opponent's adaptability; the light cannon attack that can melt steel and even land-based ship armor is still effective against the sea monster.

So here's the question: I still have three guns. Can I replicate the miracle of the Guardian Gun's 'Judgment'?

While pondering, the black-armored knight watched as Red and several other similarly dressed longsword users drew their swords and stepped forward. The sea monster raised its scythe-like limbs on its side without hesitation, pointing them in all directions, but its two main pincers were still aimed at him... Despite having already judged that Red and the others' attack would inevitably fail, Nana still activated her power mode and launched an attack together.

Crimson light peeked through the gaps in the armor. In that instant, even the hundreds of tiny limbs hooked onto the ground couldn't keep the sea monster upright. The incredibly powerful kick even sent the vehicle-sized monster airborne. Seeing this, Red's blade crackled with flames, and he shouted, "Now!"

But just like similar attacks that Nana had repeated several times before, most of the supporting slashes from the surrounding area were interfered with or blocked by the scythe-like limbs on the side of the sea monster... Even when Red himself bypassed the limbs and aimed at the carapace for analysis, it only added one more sound of metal clashing to the 'hardware shop'-like battlefield.

"So hard?!"

"Don't just stand there, scatter!"

These white-robed infected wielding longswords are mostly members of the 'Avengers' who followed Red during the Reunion Movement. Having spent a long time scheming against feudal forces in Ursus, they may not be very strong, but they all have their own set of experience in judging situations.

The moment Red shouted to scatter, the avengers who had been attacking in the same direction suddenly scattered in all directions. If the sea monster hadn't taken another punch from the black-armored knight head-on, it might have spun around in place and been stunned... The way this attack was executed would have left anyone who was hit stunned for three seconds before they could react.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Red also stood beside the 'Knight' in a commanding posture:

"Medic?"

Lingyi Qishi WujiuIVjiu “It’s me.”

Although the voice changer on the helmet made it impossible for Red to recognize the girl's true voice, knowing that she was still the trustworthy Rhodes Island member calmed his eyes, which had seemed ready to run away at any moment.

"Your older sister asked us to help you, but don't count on them too much... Is there anything we can do for you?"

Nana glanced at the dents Red had made on the carapace, then at the group's longswords with their bloodletting mechanisms aimed at the users, and at the group's palms already covered in blood:

"Do your spells use blood as a medium?"

"...Aren't all infected like this? Blood full of Originium is the best medium for magic, isn't it..."

"So you know that when dealing with this kind of monster, it's best to avoid even contact with its bodily fluids, let alone getting injured?"

The electronic voice, affected by the voice changer, carried a hint of helplessness, and Reid could only shrug upon hearing it:

"There's nothing I can do, it's just a matter of whether I die now or later..."

"After that, you can report to the medical station yourselves, and then... have them give me the knife..."

Seeing Reid hand her his weapon without a word, Nana was slightly taken aback before accepting it.

Recalling her previous attack with steel bars reinforced with concrete, which only left slight marks on the sea monster, Nana looked at the weapon in her hand, which the user clearly maintained meticulously every day, and said:

"It might break..."

"That's still better than losing your life for no reason. You don't even have to fight that monster yourself, and there's a free follow-up medical check-up. What's there to complain about?"

As he spoke, he took another weapon that his underling threw to him and gestured for Nana to look ahead... The monster that had been hesitant about who to chase seemed to have finally decided who the biggest threat was right now, which was clearly a single-choice question with no other options.

Faced with the sea monster that was once again poised to charge at her, seemingly impossible to kill, Nana examined the long sword in her hand, signaling Red to stay away, and pondered the final solution to the current problem.

Even though it's similar to the greatsword given by Nian, Red's longsword's spellcasting unit is also fire... However, unlike the mica greatsword, which can summon magma and instantly seal the hollowed-out pipes of a moving city, the flames of Red's longsword, even if Nana activates them in overload mode, are unlikely to produce the same temperature effect as the mica greatsword.

Even if you overload it to the point of breaking it, it would only reach a level similar to Franka's thermite sword... However, Franka's thermite sword module can be used multiple times, and the weapon in my hand is already on the verge of being scrapped just by reaching that temperature.

However, a slash that will destroy the target in one hit does not mean it is weak... After fighting the sea monster without using the Mica Sword, Nana now understands that only by completely tearing, carbonizing, and pulverizing the opponent can it be rendered immobile.

Although Red's longsword cannot be compared with the meticulously crafted items like Nana's 'Silver Dancer' in terms of quality, steel is steel.

That fatal blow, which was akin to melting and self-destructing, was something even a sea monster could not ignore... The flames burned on the longsword, the steel turned crimson and incandescent, and the molten iron dripped to the ground like blood, causing the knight's hand armor components to issue an overheat warning.

With the cooling turbines on its lower back and ankles running at maximum power, even a monster devoid of reason could probably understand that the black-armored knight in front of it was no longer planning to roam around... Opening its intact right pincer, the scythe-like limbs sliced ​​through the ground, the clattering limbs charging to their limit. It also understood that only a head-on confrontation was its only chance to hurt that terrifying black-armored enemy.

Unaffected by the atmosphere of the decisive battle between the parties involved, An Suo, who had been watching the central government from afar, became increasingly uneasy.

The little rabbit with long purple hair kept looking around. Of course, she remembered that Nana had given the instruction before the battle: "Just wait for permission to carry out the annihilation battle." But she didn't understand why the sea monster seemed to be cooperating with her side, with its battle pace sometimes fast and sometimes slow.

If the other side were just following their captain's lead based on their 'warrior' instincts, that would be fine. But whether Nana waits or not is understandable. So why should the sea monster cooperate with their rhythm?

Based solely on his own experience living in the shantytown, An Suo completely failed to understand those monsters... Just yesterday in that building, they acted quite innocently, simply accumulating nutrients and 'living' based on biological instinct, weren't they?

So... while everyone else is waiting for Lungmen's further permission, and while the people in the neighborhood are far from the battlefield, what is that monster waiting for?

If the sea monster was truly driven only by instinct, shouldn't it have fled when it realized the battle was going badly and victory was impossible no matter how it fought? Why did it insist on staying in this neighborhood and fighting to the death?

Having always lived as the underdog, An Suo knows that if someone insists on not retreating when facing someone they seem unable to win... aside from what they consider the elements of victory on the battlefield, they must have no other thoughts.

Hai Si definitely has some kind of conspiracy, but it's too difficult for An Su to judge, given that she's a complete idiot and only has a superficial understanding of the enemy... Fortunately, Rhodes Island never needs anyone to fight alone. An Su, who was live-streaming on her phone, quickly reported her guesses to the front-line command. Meanwhile, the team members who had finished Hai Si's encounters in other areas were also giving An Su advice.

[Mika: Watch out for the water tank! Yesterday, when we were approaching the target, we discovered flower-like monsters growing out of the tank... They can launch long, spear-like things, and they're quite powerful.]

[Razer: It's a monster nurtured by the Nether Marks that extend along the waterway. Speaking of Nether Marks, it's not just about the toxins created by the formed Nether Marks; in fact, for unprotected personnel, even a thin layer invisible to the naked eye is enough to cause mental damage... Today, when the Razer team was eliminating Sea Sigil, they found some poor souls who had been triggered into hallucinations. Their delirious behavior almost made us think they were members of the Deep Sea Church or the Mountain and Sea Clan... Luckily, we didn't kill them outright.]

The cultivation of Netherworld Marks on waterways... are there still ordinary people without protection?!

The little rabbit's first reaction was to cover her breathing mask. Then she looked in horror at the Kowloon Walled City buildings behind her, which were completely unprotected and had become a complex network of waterways that had been modified over the years...

While searching for various water storage devices hidden in the narrow gaps of buildings, relying on childhood memories, An Suo, after being reminded, quickly noticed several leaking water filters or storage tanks that seemed unremarkable at first glance but are now highly suspicious:

"Ninth Miss, could we try attacking those things?! They might be contaminated!"

"what?"

Clearly, although Rhodes Island's identity had been confirmed by Chen, even a former member of the Guard Bureau was momentarily stunned by the little rabbit's demand to destroy the property of its own residents.

The water tanks seemed to react to An Suo's words. Seeing that the containers that were pointed out deformed differently due to the different materials of their outer shells, and that they all expanded from the inside out, An Suo's subconscious reaction was that these people were hopeless, and then he tried to hide.

In times of crisis, you may not be the fastest runner, but as long as you anticipate danger earlier than those around you, you can be safe before others die, and then you just have to wait for things to be resolved... Ansuo is very experienced in this.

But as she watched several water tanks around her swell and deform, the girl, who instinctively wanted to hide in the shadows, looked down and saw the Rhodes Island uniform in her arms. Its owner was fighting for everyone at this moment... Should she really run...? Could she really run?

As An Suo subconsciously glanced at his phone, examples of his companions 'being able to throw spears' and 'affecting unprotected ordinary people' flashed through his mind. Although he was terrified, Rhodes Island's newly recruited special operations operator gritted his teeth and threw out the grappling hook. Only now did Jiu and the other locals notice the containers that were severely deformed, from which unfolded chitinous shells of varying sizes resembling petals.

"Everyone, be careful—!"

The slender hook and chain, like its slender and petite owner, moved in unison. Among several transforming containers, the hook and chain precisely entangled the one closest to the crowd.

The water filter, which was barely squeezed into the gap in the building, was severely deformed under Hai Si's shaping. The sand and other filter materials inside were only saved by the support of the Netherworld Mark, which prevented it from becoming a ticket to another world for a randomly selected person.

Like a flower unfolding its javelin... or rather, an arrow-like sea monster flower, it had just locked onto a distant target with its eyes when a sudden trap and external force dragged it and forcibly changed its direction.

The chitinous arrow slammed into the wall, its sharp point embedded and unable to be fired... Just as Ansuo and the people around her were cheering, the taut rope suddenly pulled Ansuo to the ground, her blue-trimmed Rhodes Island uniform obscuring the fallen girl's vision.

All people saw was Hai Si, who was only half the size of a person, pull the arrow straight out of the wall, and then point the arrow and his eyes at the end of the grappling hook.

In the silence, Hai Si silently carried out his mission... the three 'flower' crossbows were quietly fired.

Originally, only two of the arrows that were aimed at the black-armored knight from three different directions successfully hit their original targets. However, thanks to An Suo's warning, Nana simply dodged the 'long-handled arrow' that was spraying some kind of liquid in the air, and the knight's incandescent, high-heat longsword cut straight into the gap in the armor.

As the seekers continued to toss weapons to the 'knight,' the molten longsword cut in and solidified, and the sea monster's howls grew louder, but its movements gradually stiffened... Clearly, no matter what kind of animal it is, it cannot move after its joints are damaged... This should be as obvious as a person dying when killed, but in Hai Si's case, 'how to achieve' this effect took a considerable amount of time to figure out.

Stepping back down the molten longsword-like staircase to the monster's spine, Nana finally fired the original shot into the monster's ganglia, burning all the flesh along with the eye sockets. Only then did she look uneasily into the distance.

Previously calm, Ms. Jiu was now frantically waving and calling out something. After recalling who the person originally surrounded by the crowd was, Nana arrived at the front of the crowd like a storm.

Is that child still alive?

"Has the doctor not arrived yet?"

"No one else should touch her to avoid causing further injury..."

Ignoring the gradually falling silent crowd, the knight, covered in dried flesh and blood from the sea, didn't even greet Red, who had just fought alongside her. Nana squeezed into the silent crowd and then saw her own uniform lying on the ground, struck by an arrow. The crimson splattered in the center of the arrow was dazzling.

Huh? My own uniform?

Before the sorrow could reach his heart, a 'mental damage' warning suddenly appeared on the knight's armor, the source of which was the bright red stain spreading on the arrow shaft.

Moreover, given Anso's current upward-facing posture and the structure of her uniform... if Nana remembers correctly, wasn't that thing modified for bulletproof protection in Syracuse?

It's new technology from a mainland hotel, after all. Even if the other side is a sea monster, it should still be somewhat useful.

With such complicated feelings, Nana knelt down on one knee and then tried to lift her uniform... Then Nana saw Anso's expression turn into a dead fish eye.

Yes, the arrow did not penetrate the bulletproof material... The scarlet color seemed to be just Hai Si's enhanced mental damage toxin.

[System notification: Operator Ansuo has suffered severe mental damage. Please begin first aid immediately.]

Looking at the little rabbit, paralyzed and unable to speak, only able to express her dissatisfaction through facial expressions, Nana, whose helmet armor plates had folded down, showed a hint of apology. However, in her slightly dark heterochromatic eyes, there might still be a smile of past regret: