[High-end Hunters often disguise themselves as prey!]
The God of Gluttony commented, but gave no further information.
Lin Baici turned around and looked at Xia Hongyao.
"What's wrong?"
The high-ponytailed girl was confused. She instinctively turned around too and glanced back.
"Nothing!"
Lin Baici pursed his lips slightly.
This Strength Speed Double A, Intelligence D girl hadn't noticed anything strange about the carriage. It left him somewhat dissatisfied with the Nine Provinces Divine Guard's God Hunters.
Were you all just there to collect a paycheck?
Never mind. It was good she hadn't spotted the enemy. At least I don't have to worry about you giving the game away.
"Keep moving! What are you waiting for?"
The Bald Passenger urged them on. The seawater kept rising, and it had already reached his chest.
It was terrifying.
"Come on!"
Xia Hongyao urged them on too. Many passengers were still sitting, and the water had already swallowed their heads.
Wait another minute or two, and they'd surely drown.
Lin Baici didn't move. Since the enemy was here, there had to be an Octopus Monster, right?
If it were him, he'd definitely keep one or two monsters around for protection.
In Lin Baici's view, both the seawater and the monsters had been created by that enemy, so they must have some way to control the Octopus Monsters.
"To kill an Octopus Monster in one strike, you need the Pine Torch!"
Lin Baici had extinguished the Torch to lower the enemy's guard. Otherwise, anyone with half a brain would realize something was wrong if someone carried a burning Torch on a high-speed train.
But now, Lin Baici had no choice.
He raised his arm and scraped the Torch against the ceiling!
Whoosh!
The Torch lit up like an oversized match.
As he did so, Lin Baici kept his eyes on the entire carriage, watching to see if any passengers reacted strangely when he lit the Torch.
It was clearly a God's Taboo Object.
If anyone reacted, that would mean they were a God Hunter.
But the enemy was clearly keeping their cool. They didn't move at all, continuing to pretend to be unconscious.
"That intense hunger means the bastard's in this carriage!"
Lin Baici repeated his earlier trick.
He yanked a backpack down from the luggage rack and hurled it at the Tall Passenger sitting near the aisle, three meters in front of him.
Splash!
The backpack hit the water, and the Tall Passenger slid into it.
A shadow shot out from beneath a nearby seat and swam rapidly toward him. Its tentacles stretched out and wrapped around the Tall Passenger's head.
Splash!
Water sprayed everywhere.
As expected, it was an Octopus Monster.
Lin Baici tensed his whole body and lunged forward, thrusting the Pine Torch in his right hand at lightning speed!
Splash!
The Torch pierced the water like a harpoon, but the water slowed it down. Even so, it grazed the Octopus Monster.
Boom!
The Octopus Monster burst into flames. Even underwater, the fire wouldn't go out.
The Bald Passenger had been annoyed that Lin Baici wasn't moving and was about to urge him on. But when he saw this, his face went pale with fright.
"There's a monster!"
The Bald Passenger shook like a leaf.
"H-help!"
The Tall Passenger thrashed and struggled in the water.
If Lin Baici hadn't thrown the backpack, he would have drowned while unconscious.
Seeing Lin Baici stand still, Xia Hongmian had tried to pass him and save the Tall Passenger, but Lin Baici reached out and stopped her.
"There might be more Octopus Monsters!"
Lin Baici warned her.
The Tall Passenger was making such a commotion that the waves he kicked up saved Lin Baici from having to use more passengers as bait.
"..."
Xia Hongyao's pretty cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
This is bad!
How did I not think there might be more monsters?
This big guy wouldn't just stand by and let someone die. There had to be a reason he wasn't moving!
This is really bad!
Does he think I'm an idiot now?
Xia Hongyao decided that once they sealed the God's Taboo Object, she'd tell this big guy that she watched Sherlock Holmes all the time and was great at deduction.
"Looks like there aren't any more monsters. Let's hurry to the front and stop the train."
Lin Baici raised his voice.
In truth, he was saying it for the enemy's benefit, to lower their guard.
"Hey, what's your name?"
18D asked respectfully.
Earlier, he'd thought it was incredibly unlucky to have this guy in 18F as his seatmate. Now,
he was nothing but grateful and relieved!
Just look at all those passengers swallowed by the seawater.
They were all dead.
It was a brutal scene.
"My surname's Lin. My name is Baici!"
As Lin Baici passed seat 21, his mouth watered. The hunger became so intense that he instinctively looked at the two passengers on his right.
21B was a woman in her twenties with neat, short hair. She was tall—probably around 1.9 meters.
She wore an Anta tracksuit. Her fingers were bruised and wrapped in tape, so she looked like an athlete on a provincial team.
Maybe basketball, maybe volleyball.
21A, by the window, was a short young man wearing a blue T-shirt, with a long face and a crew cut.
He was completely submerged in the water, motionless, as if he were already dead.
"..."
Lin Baici frowned, shifting his gaze between the woman and the young man.
The hunger meant that the enemy was one of the two.
That meant the dead person should be ruled out!
But something still felt off to Lin Baici.
The woman was clean and unencumbered. Apart from a phone lying on her thigh, she had nothing. The young man beside her, submerged in the water, had a waist bag.
"If I were a terrorist, I'd never let the God's Taboo Object out of my sight!"
All the signs suggested that the "dead young man" was the enemy.
"God of Gluttony, say something!"
Lin Baici shouted inwardly, but the God of Gluttony didn't respond.
"Everyone, watch out for monsters!"
Lin Baici looked away, keeping the young man in the corner of his eye.
He knew he didn't have time to hesitate.
If he stood here too long, the enemy would surely get suspicious.
"I'll only get one chance to strike. If I choose wrong, I'll face a massive risk of dying!"
With that thought, Lin Baici suddenly swung his right arm, gripping the Pine Torch and smashing it hard into the young man's head.
You're the one!
By all common sense, a dead man posed no threat. But if something unnatural like Rule Pollution existed, then the "common sense" familiar to ordinary people might not be common sense at all!
Smack!
The Torch cut across the surface of the water and struck the young man on the head.
Bang!
The young man's hair caught fire. The searing pain made him cry out at once. His face twisted, and his body slid away like a fish...
No!
More like an ugly octopus, slipping into the seawater.
Putting out a fire with water was instinctive, but this time the young man had miscalculated.
Lin Baici's strike landed. He quickly retreated!
Anyone ignited by the Pine Torch would burn to ash, so Lin Baici didn't need to risk another attack. He could just wait to collect the remains and claim the spoils.
"What the hell?"
18D's mind was in a jumble.
When Lin Baici had stood still beside seat 21, he'd assumed the kid had taken a fancy to the tall girl. But the next moment, Lin Baici had suddenly struck the young man.
Did he look like your rival in love?
Or did you just find him annoying?
Why else would you beat up a corpse?
But what terrified 18D even more was that the "corpse" had come to life after being hit.
You've got to be kidding!
18D had seen with his own eyes that the guy was underwater and not breathing. Otherwise, bubbles should have been rising to the surface.
Xia Hongyao might have had Intelligence D and wasn't particularly bright, but she wasn't stupid. When she saw the "corpse" cry out and dive underwater, she immediately understood what was happening!
The enemy!
Xia Hongyao tightened her grip on her short knife.
"Anything this Torch ignites will keep burning until it's reduced to ash, so..." Lin Baici put on a smug expression and sneered contemptuously. "You're dead!"
Lin Baici wasn't an arrogant person.
He said this to provoke the enemy and make them lose their temper. He also wanted them to think that the Torch was his most powerful weapon, so they'd overlook the Bodhi Messenger Kasaya he was wearing!
"Fuck you!"
A string of curses rang through the carriage.
The young man surfaced at the entrance to the carriage opposite them.
His skin was red and tender, and he had no hair at all. He looked like a peeled egg!
"Hm?"
Lin Baici was puzzled.
"Didn't see that coming, did you? I can shed my skin!"
The young man, nicknamed Octopus Ball in the Lost Coast, gave a sinister grin. "You want to kill me? I'll eat every last one of you alive!"
"Shedding your skin? Is that Divine Grace?"
Lin Baici mused. So he had a trick like that!
Octopus Ball didn't answer. His small eyes stayed fixed on Lin Baici, sharp with suspicion. "How did you figure out it was me?"
"Instinct!"
Lin Baici smiled faintly.
"Who do you think you're fooling?"
Octopus Ball didn't believe him.
He wanted to know where he'd slipped up, so he could make his disguises even more convincing in the future.
"Seriously!"
Lin Baici looked completely sincere.
"Bullshit!"
Octopus Ball swore. "To fool my opponents, I even kept my nose and mouth underwater and pretended to be dead. And I specifically picked a tall girl as my cover!"
Why had Octopus Ball sat next to the athlete?
Because she was a woman, and women naturally attracted men's attention. On top of that, she was so tall that when the seawater swallowed the entire carriage, only her head remained above the surface.
That was a huge red flag!
It made sense to suspect she was the enemy, right?
Octopus Ball thought his strategy was perfect, but somehow this absurdly young kid had still found him and struck without hesitation.
For a confident guy like Octopus Ball, the result was a huge blow.
My brilliant strategy...
And it was completely useless?
If I didn't have the "skin-shedding" Divine Grace, I'd be dead already!
"Right, how did you figure out it was him?"
Xia Hongyao gazed at Lin Baici, her eyes shining.
As a mystery fan, the high-ponytailed girl was fascinated by Lin Baici's process of "figuring out who the culprit was"!
"I'm tired. Don't feel like talking!"
Lin Baici was stalling for time, thinking through his tactics.
The torch was useless now. So how could he kill this guy?
Lin Baici didn't have much time left.
The seawater was still rising. Once it filled the entire train car, the enemy, who could breathe underwater, would be able to drown anyone with ease.
"Trying to stall for time? Waiting for backup? Dream on. My big brother, Black Shark III, has already turned your companions into snacks to go with his drink. He swallowed them whole."
Octopus Ball grinned viciously.
Before you continue