Early morning. The old RV drove into a peaceful little town.
The town was filled with elderly people everywhere, living their leisurely retired lives and enjoying the unique slow pace of the place.
After the old RV entered the town, it could not help but slow down on its own.
"Grandpa, there are two boys here with us. Should you not be taking us to play at a ball field? Instead you bring us to Aunt Vera's place... this is so boring." Ben propped his chin up with his hand and stared out the window with a completely uninterested look.
"Blockhead, I have no problem with Aunt Vera's place."
Gwen crossed her arms and said with a mocking expression.
"That is because you are basically a little old lady yourself... wait!! Did you guys see that, one of the old people just did a back flip!!"
Ben was right in the middle of bickering with Gwen when he suddenly changed his expression and pointed in shock at an elderly person outside the window.
Gwen did not even look, and said with a cheerful smile, "Blockhead, has your little brain gone heat-crazy?"
"Is that so? Someone here got scared senseless by Ethan not too long ago!"
"Blockhead, who was it that got chased around by the lake monster last night? Do not think I did not see that."
Ben and Gwen launched into another spirited debate.
Ethan set down his GBA handheld and turned to look out the window.
Outside the window.
An elderly person wearing reading glasses was standing on their front lawn.
Feeling Ethan's gaze, they forced out a smile.
That smile was slightly unnatural.
"My memory of the story gets a bit fuzzy from here. Either way, I should pay more attention." Ethan got a slight case of goosebumps and turned back, muttering to himself.
"Kids, we have arrived at Aunt Vera's place. Remember to protect your cheeks!"
As the old RV came to a stop, Max's tone turned playful.
Ethan and the others stepped out of the old RV, and coming toward them was a chubby white woman. That was Aunt Vera.
She had a smile on her face and went straight to pinching the cheeks of Ethan and Gwen like crazy.
"Oh my~ Gwen's cheeks feel the best!" Aunt Vera did not forget to give her verdict. "Ethan has gotten thin."
"Ethan, transform into Cannonbolt and let Auntie pinch you. Heh heh, that texture must feel amazing."
"Ahem, Ben, do not say things like that."
Ethan, Ben, and the others rubbed their cheeks and followed Aunt Vera into the house, saying hello to Uncle Vera as well.
Right after.
Ethan made up a casual excuse and slipped out of Aunt Vera's house.
He had a clear purpose and headed toward the yard of that strange elderly person from earlier!
"Investigating that old person? Cool, I am coming!"
"Oh come on, are you two serious..."
At that moment, a male and a female voice came from behind.
Ethan stopped helplessly and turned around to see Gwen and Ben walking over.
"You can follow me, but you both have to stay behind me."
Ethan let out a quiet sigh and gave the two of them a gentle reminder.
After the three discussed briefly, they all walked forward together.
On the lawn ahead, an elderly man sitting in a wheelchair slowly rolled up to the front of the group.
He opened a mouth with barely any teeth and demanded, "You kids, what are you doing..."
"Sir, we are children from Aunt Vera's house, just out for a walk."
Gwen explained very politely.
"Aunt Vera's house... a walk..."
The man in the wheelchair seemed like a fake person.
He kept repeating the words Gwen had said, and continued blocking the group's path!
"That is very strange."
Ethan frowned hard and said, "Why does this man keep copying what Gwen says."
"The old man must have Alzheimer's. Let us keep going."
Gwen looked at the man in the wheelchair with sympathy and continued forward with Ethan and the others.
After the group went around the old man and walked a few steps away.
The man in the wheelchair made his move without any warning, jumping straight up from the wheelchair and landing right in front of Ethan and the others!
He slowly reached out a hand and placed it on Gwen's shoulder.
"What is Alzheimer's?"
"Have you... seen through me!!!"
His face cracked apart, bursting out with disgusting slime!
Bang!!
Ethan also moved without any warning, landing a heavy kick straight into the wheelchair man's chest, the force comparable to a flying kick from Ultraman!
Adult-level constitution combined with close-quarters combat skills let him send the wheelchair man flying with a single kick!
The old man crashed to the ground. His disguise all over his body broke apart, and he transformed into a blob of murky yellow slime alien!
The slime alien's entire body was made of disgusting slime, and the internal organs under the slime shell were clearly visible, making it deeply horrifying.
"Bookworm, what is Alzheimer's? Is it some alien species??"
"Blockhead, Alzheimer's is a disease!"
Ben asked blankly, while Gwen replied with lingering fear!!
Whoosh!!
Blood-red light suddenly flickered. Ethan, who had already been prepared, had transformed.
"I, I actually got kicked flying by a kid? Am I losing my edge..."
The slime alien slowly got up and stared ahead with shock and fury, but its expression turned to fear. "A, a monster??"
There, up in the air.
An enormous ghostly figure loomed like a demon reborn.
More than a dozen blood-red tentacles swayed like a dancing evil spirit, occasionally dropping down onto Gwen and Ben...
The two were scared frozen, their faces pale as sheets.
The temperature in the air seemed to have dropped sharply...
Error Ghostfreak, enters the scene!!
"Whatever your ability is, using Ghostfreak against you can not go wrong!"
Ethan revealed a slight smile, raising more than a dozen blood-red tentacles like a set of long spears, and instantly pierced straight through the slime alien's entire body!!
The slime alien was punctured like a sieve, completely unable to move. "I, I am immortal..."
Splat!!
Ethan's dozen or more tentacles all pushed outward at the same time, instantly tearing the slime alien into globs of disgusting slime!
The blobs of slime squirmed on the ground, slowly merging back together.
"Disgusting, and impossible to kill?"
Ethan thought it over, then looked down at Ben. "Ben, how come you are not giving it a name?"
"This alien, I do not dare."
Ben's lips trembled slightly. He actually could not bring himself to name it.
"Fine then, just call me Zs'Skayr."
Ethan let out a quiet sigh and went ahead and registered the name Zs'Skayr himself.
"Ethan. There are so many, so many slime aliens heading this way!"
Ben pointed around in fear. The residents coming out of houses all across the town were transforming into slime aliens and rushing toward Ethan's direction!
"Move first!"
Ethan decisively reached out a tentacle and grabbed both Ben and Gwen at once.
He brought the two of them along and quickly made it back to Aunt Vera's house, rushing inside.
Inside Aunt Vera's house.
Max gripped a broom tight and stared hard at the approaching Aunt Vera and Uncle Vera. "Vera... I only said I was going out to find Ethan and the others. Why are you two getting so worked up!"
"Max, do not go."
"Exactly."
Aunt Vera's face twisted into a slime face, and Uncle Vera stretched out both hands reaching for Max...
Bang!!
The next instant, Ethan's ghostly half-transparent figure suddenly appeared in front of the two slime creatures!!
Bang bang bang!
His blood-red tentacles one by one pierced skillfully into both slime creatures' bodies, tearing them apart into countless fragments!
"Grandpa, I will keep it brief. This town has been taken over by these things. We need to be ready for a prolonged fight!"
Ethan felt a surge of fighting spirit inside and was eager to get stuck in.
"Got it, Ethan. Also, no more sudden appearances like that next time."
Max tremblingly set down the broom and took a deep breath.
He was a seasoned veteran after all. How could he be startled by Ethan?
His heart rate had just spiked a little and his hands had started shaking a bit. That was all.