Kai-chan watched his ferocious mother pounce. He bent his upper body, and Morino Kaede leaped over him, landing in the right-side bush.
"Swish!"
Just as Kai-chan thought he had escaped, a small dark shadow suddenly appeared in front of him, leaving him no time to brake. He crashed into it.
"Bang!"
But facing this small figure, Kai-chan felt as if he had hit a wall. His body bounced back with a loud thud, flipping in mid-air and falling heavily onto his back.
"Cough... so painful." Kai-chan, fallen to the ground, coughed lightly. A trace of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He struggled to prop up his upper body with his arms and looked up.
"Naru!?"
The familiar face in front of Kai-chan made him push against the ground with his legs, his butt scraping the ground as he constantly retreated.
"Brother, why are you resisting?" Naru's small face, with its cold, vacant eyes, approached Kai-chan step by step. "We are family. Why can't we be together?"
"What are you two?" Kai-chan shook his head repeatedly upon hearing this, his gaze sweeping left and right, searching for possible gaps. But Morino Kaede and Haisa were now encircling him, one on each side.
"We have no other demands. We only need you to accept us."
Among the three, Naru seemed to be in charge, and he was always the one responsible for communication, or rather, the monster disguised as his younger brother.
Kai-chan struggled to get up while retreating, heading towards the only escape route behind him.
But he knew in his heart that the path down the mountain was blocked, and going up the mountain would only lead him back to the starting point.
He had nowhere left to run.
"Brother..." In front of him, the monster disguised as his younger brother Naru continued to approach step by step. "You don't have to worry, it won't hurt at all."
"You don't have to do anything; just leave everything to us."
Naru extended his slender left arm towards Kai-chan, his cold face attempting to show a trace of goodwill.
"See, we're no different from you."
"No, you're not..." Kai-chan shook his head and retreated, but the next moment, a transparent tentacle suddenly shot out from the end of his younger brother Naru's outstretched left arm.
Just as Kai-chan thought he would be impaled through the throat like Fujibayashi and the others, the transparent tentacle changed its attack, pushing open his slightly parted lips and drilling into his mouth.
"Mmmph mmmph..."
Kai-chan's eyes were wide open. He tightly squeezed his throat with both hands, seemingly trying to prevent the tentacle from entering his body.
The transparent tentacle "melted upon entry." As it reached his throat, it turned into a large amount of liquid and surged into his body.
"Gurgle... gurgle..."
His younger brother Naru watched his throat convulse, then subtly withdrew his left arm. The transparent tentacle was pulled out from Kai-chan's mouth, retracted, and returned to its normal human appearance.
"Cough... cough cough...!"
Kai-chan's legs gave out, and he knelt on the ground covered with rotten leaves, coughing incessantly, trying to vomit out the liquid he had swallowed.
"It's too late, Brother," Naru stood in place, his lips curling into a stiff, cold smile. "It's already over."
"Cough cough... ugh..."
But Kai-chan completely ignored him, still coughing and vomiting violently, looking as if he was about to throw up his heart.
At the same time, he kept retreating, and when he reached a large tree, he suddenly turned and fled, desperately running deeper into the forest.
This time, however, the three no longer pursued him.
Instead, they stood silently in place, gazing at Kai-chan's desperate figure gradually being swallowed by the shadows.
Ozma Federation, Kyrgyzstan.
Walton Industries, Tate Tower, 21:20 PM.
"Buzz buzz buzz..."
Walton Industries, Tate Tower rooftop helipad. A Night Raven Aircraft slowly took off. Under the gaze of the board of directors, with a "boom," a sonic boom erupted in the air, transforming into a speck of light that disappeared into the night sky.
"Incredible."
A middle-aged bald man in an expensive suit stood on the rooftop, looking up at the night sky where the Night Raven Aircraft had disappeared. His face still held an expression of disbelief.
"Kippsieler, I thought he had completely exited the stage in his struggle with Wilburtt."
"I didn't expect that the last person standing on stage would still be him."
"New forces, new technology, new weapons..."
The bald man turned around and stood at the edge of the rooftop, gazing at the sprawling city illuminated by neon lights.
"How many more forces are hidden in the shadows beneath the world's light?"
At this moment, inside the Night Raven Aircraft, Illumi sat on a sofa, while Kippsieler sat on the sofa opposite him, holding a cup of hot sake and taking sips occasionally.
"Boss, Greed has called."
Ikshampé's voice reached Illumi's ears.
"Connect him."
"Yes."
As soon as Illumi finished speaking, the LCD screen on the cabin wall flashed, and Greed and Dr. Helen appeared on the screen.
"We have discovered a type of contamination in the Shiraishi Mountain Canyon in the southern part of the Island Nation."
Dr. Helen went straight to the point, directly reporting her findings to Illumi.
"What contamination?" Illumi asked with a calm expression.
"It's a highly resilient organism that can withstand cold and heat."
The screen flashed, and a microscopic view of the contamination was displayed before Illumi.
"After initial analysis, we concluded that these things possess haploid characteristics and contain high levels of dicalcium pyridine within them."
"It can be confirmed that these things have never appeared in the human world."
"Never appeared in the human world..." Illumi's eyes narrowed. Dr. Helen's words heightened his vigilance. His right hand rested on the table, and his index finger gently tapped the surface, making soft clicks.
"These are the only discoveries so far. Further research is needed back at headquarters."
"The specific details will be compiled into a report and sent to you."
After Dr. Helen finished speaking, Greed, who had been waiting impatiently, stepped forward and said.
"We have already notified the local government to cordon off the area."
"However, I still think you need to see for yourself what the scene looks like."
With a snap of Greed's fingers, the screen flashed, and the Shiraishi Canyon, filled with circular craters and battle scars everywhere, appeared in Illumi's eyes.
As the image moved forward, Illumi even saw a strange-shaped mark on a giant rock the size of a small mountain, with numerous cracks radiating around it.
"It's clear that the explosion in Shiraishi Canyon didn't happen for no reason."
"Someone, or some kind of creature, engaged in a fierce battle here. And these residual pollutants must be what they left behind after their battle."
The screen flashed, and Greed's defiant face reappeared on the screen.
"I am now formally submitting an application to deploy the [Albert] unit for an in-depth investigation of the southern region of the Island Nation."
"Oh~?" Illumi's lips parted slightly, seemingly surprised. It appeared Greed was very interested in the matters of the Island Nation.
"The Albert unit is currently on a mission in the Republic of Aztec. I will order the Gibraltar mercenary unit to go to the Island Nation to investigate the area."
"Greed, you will take command of the Gibraltar mercenary unit."
"Understood."
Greed's lips split into a grin, his scarlet eyes glowing red were particularly striking.
As soon as Illumi finished speaking, the screen went black with a "hiss," and the video communication was cut off.
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