Flow, Drifting with the Current

I'm very distressed.

The princess's knight coming to her door was something to be happy about.

But the information she brought him didn't make him happy.

"The Monster weren't created from humans or other animals; these were merely materials used to bring Monster into this world. Even witches are just Monster who treat magical girls as 'Simulacrum Factor'... right?"

He lay on his back in the tent, murmuring to himself.

"Hmph hmph hmph hmph!!!"

Another burst of wolf howls erupted, a release of pent-up emotions.

"Then what am I?"

He was just a spy, a spy who didn't even know his own identity, a spy who didn't even have a face of his own.

"Just a slightly eccentric Monster?"

Even so, the lady knight was willing to trust me.

Guh--

I'm hungry.

Time to go to work.

Regardless, life must go on.

With this thought in mind, Liu crawled out of his tent.

He simply straightened his clothes and started walking towards the dock several kilometers away. Even though he could have run there quickly, he had to keep his pace at a normal level, which was quite painful.

When I have the money, I might as well buy a used electric flashlight.

Looking at the pedestrians on the roadside, he thought to himself.

Liu found a simple job.

Temporary dockworkers.

It's a job that only requires strength, and they even provide meals.

Once the cargo ship arrives, you board it and unload sandbags, cement bags, and the like. You get a meager but daily wage based on the amount you move.

Money wasn't important to him; the main thing was that he could have two meals at the dock. As for his wages, he bought a dozen beers on his way back and saved the rest.

Living one day at a time, like a Sanhe God).

"Hey! A-Liu, why didn't you come yesterday?"

The foreman was a dark-skinned, burly middle-aged man.

His hair was naturally curly, making him stand out in a crowd, so the dockworkers called him the Curly-haired foreman.

"Um, something's come up..."

I spent yesterday feeling down at home.

I only went to the riverbank to buy some fried noodles when I was starving.

The curly-haired foreman patted Liu's arm and laughed, "If you're not feeling well, you can tell everyone. We'll help if you need anything."

"Thanks."

Liu answered very softly. He rarely spoke in his daily life. Sirius had modified his voice, but mischievously gave him a female voice. Combined with his current face, it was easy for people to mistake his gender.

"Warm up, time to get to work."

Perhaps because of his good looks, the dockworkers took good care of A-Liu, the newcomer, and didn't assign him much work at first. It wasn't until he took off his shirt in front of everyone, revealing his strong muscles, and lifted four sandbags in one go that he proved himself with his strength.

Thump--

Just as they were about to unload the cargo, an unusual collision sound came from under the small cargo ship.

It seemed as if something had hit the bottom of the boat, but the other workers didn't pay any attention. The ecological management of the Chonghui River was quite good, and occasionally some small fish would bump into it, which was a sign of abundant aquatic products.

But Liu's nose detected something unusual.

As if to reinforce this intuition, the water formed a whirlpool around the cargo ship.

"Foreman, the water... something's not right."

Curly-haired foreman had worked at the dock for over a decade. Even without Liu's prompting, he noticed the unusual activity on the water's surface and recalled the Association members who had come to investigate the day before.

"Stop swearing! There's something strange about this river!"

Bang--

Before the curly-haired foreman could finish speaking, the small river cargo ship, weighing several hundred tons, was slowly lifted into the air by the surging whirlpool. Faced with this obviously abnormal scene, everyone who wanted to survive ran back for their lives, while those on the ship could only leave their fate to chance.

At this moment, only Liu was still standing in the same spot...

The foreman shouted from afar, "A-Liu! Run!"

But Liu remained unmoved.

The enemy is most likely targeting us, and staying with other workers at this time will only affect them.

Even knowing he might be Monster, he still considered himself a human being.

Moreover, these people were quite friendly to me.

He didn't want to let this kindness go to waste.

Just as he had predicted, the small cargo ship, having risen high, crashed down on the river still on the dock, along with its crew and cargo.

But Liu also spotted a vibrant green figure in the water beneath the boat.

So, before being hit by the cargo ship, he reacted quickly and jumped into the water.

Although he only possesses wolf- Simulacrum Factor, he is quite confident in his swimming abilities, and most importantly, underwater he doesn't have to worry about other people's opinions...

The black wolf-shaped armor radiated outwards from the Simulacrum Factor on the chest, and the high-temperature steam formed a churning bubble in the water.

Armor covering his entire body, he locked onto that patch of emerald green in the water and charged towards Past like an oxygen torpedo.

But the latter was more agile than he had imagined, and even cast a spell. The water around him seemed to be a hydraulic pump trying to crush the flow, and even his armor made a creaking sound. But the hot flow that burst out again in the Burst Mode disrupted the water's momentum, and he used the reaction force to rush out of the enemy's range.

He fled north along the Chonghui River, where there were fewer people and more mountains and forests where he could use his skills.

But he didn't expect that the enemy swam faster than him and even had a way to catch up with the current when it activated its Burst Mode, giving it a clear underwater advantage.

Left with no other choice, he darted out of the river and onto the shore ahead of time.

This is a residential area, and there's a row of fishermen along the river.

As soon as he got ashore, he pointed at the group of people and yelled, "Hey! You! Fishing is prohibited in the Chonghui River! Get out of here right now!"

His female voice lacked power, and the fishermen simply stared at him until the pursuer surfaced, standing on the water and revealing a set of jagged fangs. Only then did the fishermen flee in panic.

Because they were all sitting on the slope outside the guardrail, one of them slipped and fell into the Chonghui River.

But at least they escaped.

Liu began to sized up his opponent.

Monster with the appearance of a woman.

That is, a witch.

With her long, smooth, emerald-green hair, beautiful and refined face, and eyes as deep as the ocean, she would be a rare beauty if it weren't for her fangs that looked like saw blades and were menacingly sharp.

Except for her face, her entire body was covered in emerald-silver scales, which looked like a bodysuit, but were actually just scales on her skin. Although it was an obviously inhuman feature, it was quite beautiful, like those gorgeous tropical fish.

A beautiful witch.

Nine out of ten!

A perfect score? That's only for the princess and her knight.

"Aww!"

Seemingly dissatisfied with her own aesthetic vision, she roared at herself and pulled several Water Spear from the river, unleashing a volley of fire.

Liu was unfazed by such wide-ranging attacks.

He could easily dodge it, and even taking the hit head-on wouldn't be out of the question, but he didn't want to go back to the Steel Dragon Machine Workshop for repairs so soon.

The nimble, evasive movement was like a slippery bar of soap, much to the Shark Princess Witch's annoyance. Her Water Veil Heaven Splendor blasted the scenic corridor to shreds, yet she couldn't land a single hit, and could even feel the witch's lecherous gaze...

Her attacks failed to hit her opponent, but she was clearly no match for him in close combat. She could only remain locked in a stalemate with him on the water's surface, and he dared not enter the water either. For a time, neither of them could gain the upper hand.

Under these circumstances, Liu brought over two folding stools that the fishermen had abandoned.

"Miss Shark, cough cough."

He cleared his throat.

"Since we're both Monster, can we sit down and talk?"