Annie clearly had no time to react to the sudden attack. She was only an ordinary researcher, after all. Li Wei, however, reacted quickly.
He reached out, grabbed Annie by the collar, and hauled her back-while thrusting his left hand forward and shoving Katie straight toward the tentacle!
"Huh?"
Annie was utterly baffled by Li Wei's bizarre maneuver. She had never seen anyone throw a teammate under the bus so decisively and smoothly.
Katie's reaction surprised Annie even more. Rather than looking shocked or betrayed, she smiled and reached out to meet it. The tentacle that had emerged from the darkness promptly wrapped itself around Katie's arm.
Then Katie grabbed the tentacle in return and gave it a mighty tug!
In an instant, the tentacle stretched taut. Annie stood frozen, her eyes wide, scarcely able to believe what she was seeing.
She was certain that whatever was on the other end of the tentacle was immensely strong. And no matter how strong Katie was, there was no getting around her size-such a petite girl couldn't weigh very much. How could she possibly grab such a long tentacle and withstand its pull?
Annie instinctively glanced down at Katie's feet. The girl wore a pair of little black leather boots, planted firmly on the floor.
But that couldn't be right, could it?
"Heave-ho!"
Katie clearly had no idea what Annie was thinking. She had evidently gained the upper hand in this "tug-of-war." With an excited shout, she gripped the tentacle and pulled hard. A tremendous crashing came from the distant passage, and even the floor began to tremble beneath them.
Then Annie saw something strange being dragged out of the shadows in the passage.
It looked like an enormous snail, its entire body translucent and gelatinous. More startling still, there was a