Octopus Ball, Coral Sea

[A top hunter often disguises themselves as their prey!]

The God of Gluttony commented, but offered no further information.

Lin Baici turned back and looked at Xia Hongyao.

"What's wrong?"

The girl with the high ponytail was confused and instinctively turned back to glance.

"Nothing!"

Lin Baici pursed his lips slightly.

This girl, with her A-rank strength and speed but D-rank intelligence, hadn't noticed the abnormality in this carriage, which made him dissatisfied with the God Hunters of the Kyushu Divine Shield.

Are you all just eating dry rice?

Never mind, it's good they didn't find the enemy. At least I don't have to worry about you alerting them.

"Let's go forward, what are you waiting for?"

The bald traveler urged him on. The seawater was continuously rising, already reaching their chests, which was terrifying.

"Hurry up!"

Xia Hongyao also urged him. Many of the seated travelers were already submerged, the seawater having risen above their heads.

If they waited another minute or two, they would surely drown.

Lin Baici didn't move. Since the enemy was here, there must be octopus monsters, right?

If it were him, he would definitely leave one or two monsters for defense.

In Lin Baici's opinion, the seawater and the monsters were all created by the enemy, so the other party must have a way to control the octopus monsters.

"To kill the octopus monster in one blow, the Pine Torch must be used!"

Lin Baici had extinguished the torch to lower the enemy's guard. Otherwise, if someone on the high-speed train was holding a burning torch, anyone with a brain would suspect something was wrong.

But now, Lin Baici had no choice.

So he raised his arm and scraped the torch against the carriage ceiling!

Whoosh!

The torch ignited like a large match.

During this process, Lin Baici kept his eyes on the entire carriage, wanting to see if any travelers showed any unusual reactions to him lighting the torch.

Because this was clearly a God's Taboo Object.

If there were, it would mean the other party was a God Hunter.

But the enemy was clearly very patient, remaining still and continuing to feign unconsciousness.

"The intense hunger means that guy is in this carriage!"

Lin Baici employed the same tactic again.

He pulled a backpack from the luggage rack and threw it at the tall male traveler three meters in front of him, near the aisle.

Plop!

The backpack fell into the water, and the tall man also slipped into the water.

A black shadow emerged from under a chair not far away and quickly swam over. Its tentacles extended and entangled around the tall man's head.

Splash!

Water splashed everywhere.

It was indeed an octopus monster.

Lin Baici exerted all his strength and charged forward, his right hand gripping the Pine Torch, which he thrust forward rapidly!

Splash!

The torch pierced the water like a harpoon. However, due to the resistance of the seawater, its speed slowed down, but it still grazed the octopus monster.

Boom!

The octopus monster burst into flames. Even in the water, the flames could not be extinguished.

The bald traveler, who had been annoyed by Lin Baici's inaction and was about to urge him on, turned pale with fright upon seeing this scene.

"There's a monster!"

The bald traveler trembled like a sieve.

"Help... Help me!"

The tall traveler thrashed and struggled in the water.

If Lin Baici hadn't thrown the backpack, he would have drowned in his unconscious state, suffocating to death.

Xia Hongyao, seeing Lin Baici remain still, tried to push past him to save the tall man, but Lin Baici reached out and stopped her.

"There might be octopuses too!"

Lin Baici warned.

The tall traveler's movements created many waves, saving him the trouble of having to throw people in as bait.

"..."

Xia Hongyao's pretty cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

I'm doomed!

How could I not have thought about the possibility of monsters?

This big guy isn't someone who abandons people to die; if he's not acting, there must be a reason!

This is really bad!

He won't think I'm an idiot, will he?

Xia Hongyao decided that once the God's Taboo Objects were sealed, she would tell this big guy that she often read Sherlock Holmes and had excellent deductive skills.

"It looks like there are no more monsters. Let's hurry and go to the front of the train to stop it."

Lin Baici said loudly.

In reality, he said this to the enemy to lower his guard.

"Brother, what's your name?"

18D asked, his tone very respectful.

He had previously thought it was incredibly unlucky to encounter the person in the adjacent seat, 18F, on this journey. But now, he only felt relief and gratitude!

Look at those people submerged by the seawater.

They were all dead.

What a tragic sight.

"My surname is Lin, my given name is Baici!"

As Lin Baici walked past seat 21, his mouth watered, and a strong sense of hunger instinctively made him look at the two travelers to his right.

21B was a woman in her twenties with neat short hair and a tall build, estimated to be around 1.9 meters.

She was wearing an Anta tracksuit, and her fingers had wounds wrapped in tape, suggesting she was an athlete from a provincial team.

Either basketball or volleyball.

21A, by the window, was a short young man wearing a blue T-shirt, with a long face and a seven-three hairstyle.

He was completely submerged in the water, motionless, as if he were already dead.

"..."

Lin Baici frowned, his gaze shifting between the woman and the young man.

The hunger indicated that the enemy was one of these two.

So the dead person should be ruled out!

But Lin Baici felt something was off.

This woman was neat and tidy, with nothing besides a phone on her lap. The young man next to her, however, who was submerged in water, was wearing a fanny pack.

"If I were a terrorist, I would never let the God's Taboo Objects leave my side!"

All signs pointed to the 'dead young man' being the enemy.

"God of Gluttony, say something!"

Lin Baici roared in his heart, but the God of Gluttony didn't respond.

"Everyone, watch out for monsters!"

Lin Baici shifted his gaze, only glancing at the young man from the corner of his eye.

He knew he didn't have time to dwell on it.

Standing here too long would surely make the enemy suspicious.

"There's only one chance for a surprise attack. If I choose wrong, I'll face immense risk of death!"

Lin Baici thought to himself. His right arm suddenly exerted force, gripping the Pine Torch and smashing it fiercely towards the young man's head.

It's you!

A dead person, by common sense, should pose no threat. But with unnatural things like Rule Pollution existing, perhaps the 'common sense' known to ordinary people is no longer common sense!

Crack!

The torch broke the water's surface and swung down onto the young man's head.

Bang!

The young man's hair ignited. The searing pain made him cry out in agony. His entire face contorted, and his body slid, like a swimming fish...

No!

More like an ugly octopus sliding into the seawater.

Extinguishing fire with water is human instinct, but this time, the young man miscalculated.

Lin Baici struck and immediately retreated!

Those ignited by the Pine Torch would burn to ashes, so Lin Baici didn't need to risk further attacks. He could just wait to collect the corpse and loot.

"What the hell?"

18D's mind was a mess.

When Lin Baici stood still beside the 21st, he thought the kid had taken a liking to that tall girl. But he never expected that in the next second, he would suddenly attack that young man.

Did that guy look like your love rival?

Or did you simply dislike him?

Why else would you be desecrating his corpse?

But what terrified 18D even more was that the 'corpse' actually came back to life after being hit with a club?

Are you kidding me?

18D had personally seen the guy submerged in water, not breathing. Otherwise, bubbles should have been floating out.

Xia Hongyao's intelligence was D, indeed not high, but she wasn't stupid. Seeing a 'corpse' screaming and diving into the water, she immediately understood what was happening!

An enemy!

Xia Hongyao gripped her short knife.

"What I ignite with this torch will not extinguish until it turns to ash, so..." Lin Baici put on a smug expression and sneered, "You're dead!"

Lin Baici was not an arrogant person.

He said this to provoke the enemy, to make them lose their reason, and at the same time, to make them mistakenly believe that this torch was his most powerful weapon, causing them to ignore his Bodhi Messenger Kasaya!

"Fuck you!"

A National Curse filled the carriage.

At the entrance of the opposite carriage, the young man surfaced.

His skin was very red and tender, and he had no hair on his head, looking like a boiled egg!

"Hm?"

Lin Baici was puzzled.

"Didn't expect this, huh? I can shed my skin!"

In the Lost Coast, the young man nicknamed Octopus Ball revealed a sinister grin, "You want to kill me? I'll swallow you whole today!"

"Shedding skin? Is it Divine Grace?"

Lin Baici mused, so that's another trick!

Octopus Ball didn't answer, but his small eyes fixed on Lin Baici, his gaze sharp yet tinged with confusion, "How did you find me?"

"Intuition!"

Lin Baici smiled faintly.

"You're lying to a ghost?"

Octopus Ball didn't believe him.

He wanted to know where he had slipped up so he could improve his disguise in the future.

"Really!"

Lin Baici said with a sincere expression.

"Bullshit!"

Octopus Ball cursed loudly, "To confuse my opponents, I even submerged my nose and mouth in the water to play dead, and I specifically chose a tall girl as a cover!"

Why was Octopus Ball sitting next to that athlete?

Because she was a woman, and women naturally attract men's attention. Moreover, she was so tall that when the seawater submerged the passengers in the entire carriage, only her head was still visible.

This was a huge red flag!

It's perfectly reasonable to suspect her as the enemy, right?

Octopus Ball thought his tactic was flawless, but unexpectedly, this excessively young kid still found him and attacked without hesitation.

This outcome was a huge blow to the self-confident Octopus Ball.

My amazing tactic, Completely useless?

If I didn't have the 'skin shedding' Divine Grace, I would be dead by now!

"Yeah, how did you recognize him?"

Xia Hongyao looked at Lin Baici, her eyes shining.

As a mystery fan, the girl with the high ponytail was very interested in Lin Baici's process of 'finding the bad guy'!

"Tired, don't want to talk!"

Lin Baici was stalling for time, thinking of a tactic.

The torch was useless, so how could he kill this guy?

Lin Baici didn't have much time left.

Because the seawater was still rising, once it filled the entire carriage, the enemy, who had the ability to breathe underwater, could easily drag anyone to their death.

"You want to stall for time? Waiting for reinforcements? Don't dream about it. My big brother, Black Shark III, has already made your companions his appetizer and swallowed them whole."

Octopus Ball sneered.