Dugong Sea Demon

"Clap~ clap clap clap"

Crisp applause rang out inside Tang Qi's house. Through the drifting dust, a frail-looking figure slowly emerged.

It was a delicate-looking boy, his features so refined they were almost feminine.

And he was wearing heavy makeup.

He wore some sort of international exchange student uniform. His beautiful eyes, tinged with a certain madness, were fixed on Tang Qi and Stana as they emerged from beneath the table.

More accurately, Tang Qi was almost completely ignored, like an afterthought. The one who truly drew his gaze was Police Chief Stana beside him.

He looked at Stana as though she were a work of art, his infatuation mingled with intense possessiveness.

"You're so beautiful, darling, truly beautiful. The reason I didn't leave even after being exposed was because of you. I want to peel all the skin off your body and wear it myself. Then I would become you—a perfect woman."

Only after saying that did his gaze finally fall upon Tang Qi.

A seductive smile curled across his lips, and a magnetic voice that sent goosebumps across Tang Qi's body slipped into his ears.

"So you're the one who discovered the clue about the shell? I have a question for you. How did you know that shell came from the Aegean Sea without ever touching it?"

"Or are you not an ordinar—"

"Shriiiek~"

"Bang!"

The boy never finished his sentence. Halfway through, he flashed a savage grin, and then a terrifying sound wave erupted.

Because they were so close, even though Tang Qi had been prepared, the invisible sound wave still left him instantly dizzy and disoriented. Warm liquid flowed from his ears and nose. He did not need to touch them to know he was bleeding.

Yet that was not the true danger. What made Tang Qi spring up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on was a massive, thick black fish tail descending from above. Tang Qi could feel that it possessed enough force to kill him with a single blow.

There was no need to confirm it, nor did Tang Qi have time to look at the Special Interface. This was undoubtedly a terrifying Extraordinary Monster.

And despite clearly being stronger, this monster had still chosen to ambush Tang Qi.

Yet this did not surprise him.

"Since I've confirmed it is an enemy, then of course I have to go all out."

"This filthy thing is the same. So am I."

That thought flashed through Tang Qi's mind as he shoved Stana away with all his strength.

Then, with swift and agile movements, he dodged the sweeping fish tail. With a whoosh, he shot forward like a cheetah at full sprint. Every muscle in his body was mobilized, and the speed he unleashed nearly stirred up a storm inside the room.

Because of the instantaneous burst, Tang Qi even felt the searing pain of his muscles tearing.

But he had no time to care.

His eyes were fixed on the guest whose appearance had drastically changed, his killing intent impossible to conceal.

A familiar yet special interface appeared before his eyes.

Supernatural Creature: Dugong Sea Demon.

Status: Fusing.

Information Fragment One: A perverted human encountered an ugly siren. The former provided the latter with a human body, while the latter bestowed Supernatural Power upon the former. Their fusion would create a special creature.

Information Fragment Two: When different races fuse, the physical body is not the problem. The true problem lies in the spiritual aspect. They may succeed, but self-destruction is far more likely.

As Tang Qi saw the interface, he also saw what the boy had become.

He—or rather, it—had lost most of its human traits.

Standing in Tang Qi's living room now was a bloated, ugly half-human, half-fish monster. Just as Chief Inspector Stana had described, its lower body was a fat fish tail, its bare upper body covered in scales, and its head looked as though it had been soaked until it rotted.

Three human skins were draped over its body. What should have been beautiful exteriors constantly oozed disgusting pus and foul, sticky blood, gradually flowing across several mixed-together faces.

Faced with such an ugly monster, it was indeed difficult for an ordinary person to remain calm.

Especially after it appeared in the room, as the intense fishy stench had become impossible to ignore and was beginning to interfere with the senses.

Unfortunately, Tang Qi was not an ordinary person.

Completely ignoring the shock of the monster's appearance, he charged before it like a storm and immediately unleashed the skill he had long prepared.

Chaga Combat Technique!

Slash!

Slash, slash!

Combat techniques usually involved only fists and feet.

But this set of techniques from the Saha Continent, which Tang Qi had transformed into a skill, also included dagger attacks.

Thus, what the Dugong Sea Demon faced at that moment were streaks of dagger light so fast they became afterimages.

The sharp dagger easily sliced through the three layers of human skin draped over it. But when it struck the black scales beneath, Tang Qi immediately felt a slick, tough resistance. Most of the force was dispersed, while what remained could only collide with the black scales and throw up a cascade of sparks.

The attacks that failed to break through its scales did not anger the siren. However, the human skins Tang Qi had shredded into tatters drove the Dugong Sea Demon directly into a frenzy.

"Shriiiek~"

Another terrifying sound wave erupted at even closer range. Blood flowed simultaneously from Tang Qi's ears, eyes, and nose.

Boom!

Amid a surging gust of wind, that horrifying fish tail swept toward him again.

Tang Qi nimbly dodged and flashed behind the siren. A chilling streak of dagger light instantly curved around to the front, plunging into its eye with a wet squelch.

Everywhere else was protected by scales, but its eyes remained vulnerable.

The instant the dagger struck, blood and pus burst out together, splashing onto Tang Qi's hand and immediately beginning to corrode his flesh. Enduring the intense pain, he pulled out the dagger and prepared to strike again, only to discover that the fine-steel blade in his hand had already been corroded full of holes and could no longer be used.

A powerful sense of danger struck him then. Without thinking, Tang Qi immediately dropped the dagger, spun around, and sprinted away from where he stood.

"Shriiiek~"

"Woooooo!"

It was Siren's Wail again, but unlike before, Tang Qi's house suffered terribly this time. Wherever the sound wave passed, fragile objects shattered, while sturdier ones were forcibly shoved aside. A vast vacuum zone was about to form.

Tang Qi had already pushed through the backlash and burst forth at his fastest speed, yet he still could not escape it.

"Pfft~"

He began coughing up blood while still in midair. The force of his forward charge vanished, and he crashed down sideways like a dead dog.

Before Tang Qi could assess the injuries inside his body, a thick, disgusting hand seized him by the throat and forcibly lifted him up.

Inside the chaotic room, the floor was completely covered in mucus and pus. Rotten blood had splattered everywhere, and the overpowering fishy stench made it feel as though they were in the noisiest seafood market imaginable.

Tang Qi coughed blood with difficulty and looked down at the incomparably savage siren, one of its eyes injured.

Their eyes met, and a vicious, smug expression split across the siren's ugly face.

"A tender little mouse."

"I'll eat you!"

With a roar, the siren's already hideous head suddenly tilted back. Its gaping mouth began to expand, instantly becoming larger than Tang Qi's head. Inside were rows of serrated teeth like shark teeth, snapping toward Tang Qi.

Judging from its actions, it clearly intended to eat Tang Qi's head whole.

As it tried to devour him, it kept its dead fish eyes wide open, seemingly wanting to admire Tang Qi's fear and despair before death.

Unfortunately, what it saw was a pair of mocking eyes.

"Hm?"

"Something's wrong!"

The warning had only just arisen in the siren's mind.

Suddenly, a click came from a corner of the room.

When it turned its head, it saw Stana's perfect yet disheveled face, the equally unconcealed killing intent in her eyes, and the black muzzle of a gun.

"Hahaha, that can't hurt me at all—"

Bang!

Before the siren could finish speaking, blinding golden light filled its remaining eye.

It was fast, but not faster than a bullet.

Stana's marksmanship was excellent, entirely worthy of her position as police chief.

Thus, another miserable shriek echoed through the room the next moment.

But this time, though it was even more agonized, the sound wave had weakened.

The Dugong Sea Demon had lost half its head. Its soaked, rotting head had actually possessed considerable defense, but before that bullet surging with golden light, the three human-skin faces and the gray mist pouring out were all incredibly fragile.

Evil-Breaking!

Burning!

The two traits erupted simultaneously. After a burst of Golden Flame, the Dugong Sea Demon was grievously wounded.

This time, it truly fell into a frenzy.

"Supernatural Power—and the most detestable kind of Supernatural Power."

"I'll eat you alive!"

Amid its howls, an unbelievable scene unfolded.

Gray mist surged wildly from the half of the siren's head that had been blown apart. Its shattered flesh actually began recovering at a visible rate under the nourishment of the mist.

At the same time, two bangs came from beneath its ribs. Amid flying flesh and blood, two thick, disgusting arms burst out of its body.

The siren, whose aura had begun to weaken, suddenly began to swell in power.

If Tang Qi looked at the Special Interface now, he would discover that its status, once Fusing, had become Fusion Progress: 99.9%.

Who could have imagined that a human and a siren, originally struggling to fuse, would enter the final stage because of the stimulation of a Furnace Bullet?

At that moment, the Dugong Sea Demon no longer looked quite so ugly. Though it was battered all over, its pitch-black scales, enormous fish tail, slick head, four thick arms, and incomparably evil yellow eyes—

It looked less like a mutated monster and more like some sort of ancient evil creature.

It clearly sensed the change itself and began laughing madly.

The human quality in its voice rapidly faded as the monster's side took control.

Yet even so, it had not forgotten Tang Qi and Stana. It swung its fish tail, yanked Tang Qi before itself, and was about to stuff him into its mouth. It seemed to intend to eat Tang Qi first, then deal with the police chief, who was obviously the greater threat.

The bullets that could turn into golden light made it deeply wary.

But at that moment, the real change occurred.

A pair of thin yet powerful hands forcibly halted its movement. As it instinctively swung its remaining three arms, intending to tear Tang Qi apart, it heard a cold voice.

"Look into my eyes!"

Perhaps it was consumed by rage, or perhaps its mind had already been unstable.

Upon hearing that voice, the siren actually turned its head instinctively and met Tang Qi's gaze.

Furnace Eyes!

When the siren saw that Golden Sun, it fell into a daze.

Its immense strength, far beyond that of a human, lost its effect. It could not stop Tang Qi from slowly raising the muzzle of Blood Python No. 1 and aiming it at its wide-open mouth. Unlike the ordinary pistol in Stana's hand, when Tang Qi slowly pulled the trigger of Blood Python No. 1—

With a hum, faint blood-red light gleamed, accompanied by a hazy sound like a dragon's roar.

Then came a continuous, surging burst of golden light far brighter than before.