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Chapter 366: This Centipede Becomes a Spicy Snack
Although he complained verbally, Shanks had to admit: this world indeed had a unique charm.
There was no chaos or bloodshed like in the pirate world. The streets were clean and tidy, and the roadside shops were filled with a dazzling array of goods. On the large screens, a handsome man named "Sweet Mask" was holding a concert.
Although there was a faint, almost imperceptible sense of oppression in the air, at least at this moment, it was so peaceful that it made one feel a bit unaccustomed.
"Is this the world of 'pure power' Boss Blake talked about?" Shanks muttered. He reached out to touch the flask at his waist but grabbed nothing. Only then did he remember that the System had prompted "No external items allowed" before entering.
"Tsk, can't even get a drink. This lousy dungeon experience is terrible."
Just as Shanks was preparing to find a place to get some of this world's currency and buy a bottle of wine to satisfy his craving...
Woo—!!!
A piercing, shrill siren sounded without warning, exploding over the entire city! The sound was incredibly sharp, like the wailing of some dying beast. The crowd that was originally strolling leisurely instantly scattered like a disturbed anthill.
"Alert! Alert!"
"A 'Demon-Level' disaster response has appeared in the Z-City commercial district!"
"All citizens please proceed to the shelters immediately!"
"Repeat! This is not a drill!"
On the roadside electronic screens, the image of the handsome idol instantly disappeared. Replaced by a bright red exclamation mark, and a frantically shaking map of the scene.
"Demon-Level disaster?" Shanks raised an eyebrow. The laziness in his eyes faded instantly, replaced by a trace of excitement belonging to a top-tier predator. "Here it comes already?"
Boom—!!!
Before his voice had even faded, at the end of the street a few hundred meters away, the earth suddenly undulated violently like waves. Immediately after, a thirty-story office building was smashed in half at the waist by some terrifying force like a stack of blocks!
Dust filled the sky. Rubble fell like rain. Screams and cries instantly drowned out the entire street.
"Roar—!!!"
Amidst the sky-filling dust, a massive, distorted figure slowly stood up. It was a purple giant standing over ten meters tall. Its body was covered in rock-like spikes. In its hand, it gripped a massive spiked club fashioned from a traffic light pole.
With just a casual wave, several moving cars were smashed into flattened discs of scrap metal!
"Humans... bugs..."
"Destroy... all civilization..."
The giant let out an indistinct roar. Every step it took stamped a deep pit into the asphalt road.
"Is that... a Monster?" Beckman extinguished the cigarette butt in his hand. His right hand habitually reached for his waist. There hung an old-fashioned flintlock pistol. In this world, it had been magically modified by the System into a "Conceptual Weapon" with infinite ammunition.
"Good build, looks like it has plenty of strength. Probably equivalent to an Awakened Zoan user." Beckman gave a fair evaluation, then turned to look at Shanks beside him. "Boss, what do you say? This thing doesn't look qualified to be that 'Elder Centipede'."
Shanks grinned. His left hand rested on the hilt of the famous sword "Gryphon" at his waist. The somewhat tattered black cape fluttered in the wind of the reinforced concrete ruins.
The originally somewhat decadent uncle vibe changed abruptly in this instant! An invisible pressure spread out from him as the center. Even the air seemed to become viscous.
"Who cares what level it is. Since it's a pest, then I'll use it as my greeting gift to this world."
Shanks took a step forward. The concrete ground beneath his feet instantly cracked into spiderweb-like fissures. He looked up at the rampaging purple giant, the corners of his mouth hooking into an arrogant arc.
"Hey! Big guy! Can you... give me some face and be a little quieter?"
In the distance, Vaccine Man (Budget Version), who was destroying everything madly, paused. It lowered its ugly head, its huge compound eyes reflecting a tiny, ant-like, red-haired, one-armed figure.
"Face? What is that thing? Is it tasty?!"
Vaccine Man let out a sinister laugh. The huge wolf-tooth club with the traffic light hanging on it, carrying the sound of whistling wind, smashed ruthlessly towards the top of Shanks' head!
In its view, this was just a slightly noisy bug. However, it didn't notice that the moment that "bug" drew his sword, the originally clear sky suddenly cracked open a pitch-black fissure!
That wasn't the clouds being torn apart. That was the atmosphere trembling!
Boom—!!!
The traffic light club, carrying thousands of tons of force, stopped abruptly half a meter above Shanks' head. Like the scene had suddenly been paused. The violent wind pressure blew Shanks' red hair wildly backward, but he didn't even blink. Even the left hand resting on the hilt hadn't pushed the crossguard with its thumb.
Only those eyes, in that instant, changed from lazy and easygoing to suffocatingly cold.
There were no flashy light effects, nor was there any earth-shattering commotion. But as "Vaccine Man (Youth Version)" faced these eyes directly, it felt as if its heart had been ruthlessly gripped by an invisible giant hand!
What... is that?
Reflected in Vaccine Man's huge compound eyes was no longer a tiny one-armed human uncle. But a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood! It was a prehistoric behemoth coiled in the abyss, opening its bloody maw, ready to devour people!
"Gii..."
A strange sound came from Vaccine Man's throat—the sound of teeth chattering. The brain that was frantically secreting adrenaline was now sending frantic alarms to every cell in its body: Run! Run fast!
If this club swings down... the one who dies will absolutely not be that one-armed redhead. But itself!
Cold sweat flowed down Vaccine Man's purple chitinous shell like a waterfall, instantly pooling into a puddle on the ground. Its muscles were spasming. The hand holding the club was trembling violently. That extreme fear originating from biological instinct made this monster, capable of destroying a city, act like a quail meeting its natural predator. It didn't dare to move a muscle!
"Hey, big guy." Shanks slowly looked up, that stubbly face wearing a smile that was hard to figure out. "Why did you stop? Didn't you say... you wouldn't give me face?"
Vaccine Man: "..."
I give! I'll give it, okay?! Big brother, please retract your killing intent! I'm just a monster born less than half an hour ago, why must I endure this torture from the depths of the soul?!
Just as Vaccine Man was riding a tiger and couldn't get off—wanting to take the club back but afraid to move—a roar filled with a sense of justice suddenly came from the other end of the street.
"Stop—!!!"
Immediately after, the rapid roar of an engine exploded. A modified heavy motorcycle broke through the dust like an arrow leaving the string. It drifted directly between Shanks and Vaccine Man!
Screech—
The tires rubbed two scorched black marks on the ground. A man wearing a black and white combat suit and a crash helmet jumped off the bike. With his back to Shanks, he assumed an extremely standard combat stance. In his hand, he waved a metal bat that looked very hard.
B-Class Rank 21, Hero [Bone Cracking Bat] (Note: An extra/minor hero, not Metal Bat).
"Phew... that was close! Glad I made it in time!" Bone Cracking Bat wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and without even turning his head, shouted directly at Shanks behind him:
"Hey! That Cosplayer Uncle! Are you scared stupid?! Didn't you hear the evacuation alarm? This is a Demon-Level disaster response! A monster of this level isn't something ordinary citizens can spectate! Run! Run to the shelter in the east! I'll hold it off here!"
Shanks: "..."
The expression on his face instantly froze, the corners of his mouth twitching wildly.
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