The forest fire spread, and the thick smoke had already reached the lakeside, even drifting over the water.
Under the surging waves, the smoke was suffocating.
When Chen Nuo returned to the lakeside, the Gray Cat and the Octopus Monster were still locked in a fierce battle.
These two guys had known each other for countless millennia, and they were as familiar with each other as one could be.
Chen Nuo watched as the Gray Cat once again tore the Octopus Monster's body apart, then quickly leaped away and swiftly licked its own wounded paw.
Chen Nuo ran over and sighed, "I rember you said you were the weakest among the Seeds. Now it seems you weren't lying..."
The Gray Cat lifted its eyelids to glance at Chen Nuo, humming in a muffled tone.
Chen Nuo pointed at the Octopus Monster, whose body was slowly recovering in the distance: "He lost two clones and is now only at half his original strength. Then, after losing the Chosen One, his power plumted dramatically again.
Even so, you seem to have just fought to a draw."
The Gray Cat shook its head and snorted coldly, "You're stating the obvious. If I were winning, do you think I would withdraw from the competition?"
Chen Nuo thought for a mont, nodding: "You make a fair point."
The Octopus Monster had repaired its body once more, watching as Chen Nuo and the Gray Cat gathered together again. The Octopus Monster seed sowhat wistful: "Mr. Chen Nuo, I rember our last encounter. You found yourself with nowhere to run, under my complete domination.
Now, you've managed to stand on equal footing with ."
Chen Nuo looked at the Octopus Monster, frowning: "Octopus Monster, you're at an absolute disadvantage now. Do you still not intend to awaken the Mother?"
The Octopus Monster chuckled, "Are you so eager to see my trump card? Or... do you actually feel you've already lost?"
Chen Nuo's face turned serious: "You've used up all viable containers you need. The few Ability Users left in the forest have gone completely mad. I don't know how many Negative Emotion Viruses they harbored for your Mother Clone.
Coupled with your prior arrangents: whether it was Pengpeng or the chaos of war that left so many people displaced... a large portion of this nation's populace is steeped in negative emotions.
All of this should be enough to purify the Negative Emotion Virus infecting the Mother Clone, right?"
The Octopus Monster laughed, "And you, Chen Nuo? Why are you so determined to oppose in this matter? Just to see my trump card?
I don't think you're that kind of a crazy person.
I'm awakening the Mother to combat the Seed. What about you? Are you trying to stop to save the Seed? To protect yourself? If the Seed loses and dies, you'll naturally perish as well. Is that it?"
Chen Nuo stared at the Octopus Monster...
The Octopus Monster slowly continued, "You knew I had taken the Gray Cat into account, yet you still brought it in. Or... do you actually plan to also eliminate the Gray Cat here, dealing with two Seeds at once?"
Even the Gray Cat couldn't help but look at Chen Nuo with an odd expression upon hearing this.
Chen Nuo frowned, then looked at the Octopus Monster and shook his head: "Clearly, even though you've developed human emotions, most of your emotions are negative.
I am not as dark as you imagine."
Having said this, Chen Nuo quickly said to the Gray Cat, "Let's go together, his strength has declined significantly. Let's end him together!"
The Gray Cat shook its massive head, arched its back, and made a tiger-like leap forward.
As the Gray Cat pounced, the Octopus Monster helplessly chuckled, but it still stood its ground!
A man and a cat fought together, and in an instant, both sides were once again bloodied.
This ti, Chen Nuo also joined the fray. Utilizing two consecutive spatial ability instant movents, he appeared beside and behind the Octopus Monster, delivering two severe injuries.
With the Octopus Monster's spatial ability temporarily sealed by the Gray Cat's special skills, facing Chen Nuo again was vastly different.
Originally, they both could use spatial abilities, allowing a balanced fight.
But once the Octopus Monster lost its spatial ability, Chen Nuo's ability to instantaneously move freely beca advantageous in battle!
The Octopus Monster's counterattacks would often be easily dodged by Chen Nuo, or Chen Nuo would tear open space to redirect the attacks elsewhere.
In just a couple of minutes, the Octopus Monster was already bloodied all over. The body it had just repaired was once again in shambles, even its face was shredded by the Gray Cat, leaving it a bloody ss. One arm was half gone.
But this ti, as it tried to widen the distance to heal, Chen Nuo refused to give it the chance.
The Octopus Monster fled at high speed, constantly changing directions, but Chen Nuo, leveraging his spatial ability, relentlessly pursued, giving it no opportunity to regain any breath.
With the Octopus Monster bleeding more and more, continuously extracting life elents to replenish itself, it gradually couldn't keep up with its depletion...
The Seed has an almost undying body, but not truly undying!
Even Chen Nuo was intentionally or unintentionally causing massive destruction, relentlessly attacking with full force. Even if he couldn't hit the Octopus Monster, he aid his attacks at the forest on the ground.
The forest was already devastated; both plants and animals suffered heavy casualties. Looking around, there was not a single patch in good shape.
In this enclosed space, the Seed's thod of extracting life force to replenish its health bar naturally had an upper limit!
Unable to break through the spatial barrier here, it could only extract the Life Elent within the space.
The plants and animals in the forest were already too heavily damaged; where was there an infinite supply of Life Elent for it to draw upon?
As the battle continued, the aura of the Octopus Monster visibly weakened.
Finally, when Chen Nuo teleported behind the Octopus Monster again, a wave of Telekinesis locked onto the creature's body. Before it could break free, he thrust his hand into its back, and his hand pierced through the chest from behind.
There seed to be a dimming of so power in the Octopus Monster's eyes.
Chen Nuo withdrew his hand and watched the Octopus Monster plumt from mid-air to the ground.
Chen Nuo imdiately followed it down, only to find the Gray Cat had already pounced, slamming its paw onto the Octopus Monster's body. With a few cracking sounds, more than half of the creature's bones were broken.
It spewed fresh blood from its mouth madly, but the speed of its wound healing was noticeably much slower than before.
The rate of replenishnt could no longer keep up with the rate of depletion.
The Octopus Monster lay on the ground, its breath weak, unable to struggle free under the Gray Cat's paws, continuously coughing up fresh blood.
Even parts of its body where bones had broken had pierced through, exposing flesh and bones to the outside, unable to heal anymore...
Chen Nuo landed beside the Gray Cat, extending his hand and relentlessly unleashing his Telekinesis, layer by layer of ntality Cocoons wrapping around the three of them!
The Gray Cat glanced at Chen Nuo.
Chen Nuo quickly explained, "Previously, when its clones died, the power would flow into the lake water and be devoured by the Mother!"
The Gray Cat's eyelids drooped, taking a deep breath, "So what now?"
Chen Nuo looked at the Gray Cat, "I don't understand how things work between you Seeds... I just know, we can't let the Octopus Monster feed himself to the Mother Clone. So..."
The Gray Cat shook its head, "Are you hoping I will devour the Octopus Monster?"
"Is there any other way?" Chen Nuo glanced at the Gray Cat, "Seeds evolve and grow, and have devoured many companions along the way. Wouldn't you be reluctant to do so?"
The Gray Cat said softly, "If I were willing, I wouldn't be so weak now."
Chen Nuo frowned, "But if we don't devour it, its power will flow to the lake water... the Mother Clone..."
The Gray Cat sighed, finally nodding, "I'll... give it a try."
The Octopus Monster, lying under the Gray Cat's paw, coughed weakly as he heard their conversation, laughing.
Since his lung had been ruptured, his speaking voice was weak and airy, struggling to produce a laugh.
Chen Nuo looked at the Octopus Monster, "What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing, it's just ironic. This cat always says it doesn't like slaughter, refuses to devour its own kind...
But now, it has to devour anyway."
Chen Nuo stared at the Octopus Monster and nodded, "If you think it's ironic, so be it. But the situation is already decided; we've won, and you've lost."
The Octopus Monster laughed, "Aren't you curious about my trump card?"
"Otherwise? We can't really let you go, only for you to pull another trick, can we." Chen Nuo shook his head.
The Gray Cat looked at the Octopus Monster, its gaze sowhat complex, finally taking a deep breath, "Alright, here I co."
Then, the Gray Cat suddenly wobbled a little. Its massive body gradually shrank, and finally transford back into its usual chubby cat form.
The Octopus Monster watched the Gray Cat calmly, "Alright, go ahead."
Saying so, the Octopus Monster glanced at Chen Nuo, "The next ti you see Seed, rember to tell him sothing for ."
"What?"
"He won't win either."
After saying that, the Octopus Monster actually closed its eyes.
The Gray Cat let out a soft ow, then stepped back two steps, slowly extending a paw, wobbling it at the Octopus Monster. On its paw, a kind of force that Chen Nuo couldn't understand quickly took shape, like a kind of vortex, with a strange absorbing power.
Chen Nuo only glanced at it and felt an extrely uncomfortable sensation throughout his body, as if staring too hard would cause even his consciousness to be sucked into the vortex.
Chen Nuo imdiately averted his gaze.
Just as the Gray Cat was slowly maneuvering the vortex closer to the Octopus Monster...
Chen Nuo suddenly had a glint of sothing strange in his eyes!
"Wait a minute!"
Chen Nuo stepped forward, blocking the Gray Cat.
The Gray Cat opened its eyes, holding the vortex in its paws, looking at Chen Nuo in confusion.
The smile on Chen Nuo's face grew peculiar.
He turned to look at the Octopus Monster on the ground.
The Octopus Monster had already closed its eyes, waiting for death. At this mont, it opened its eyes slowly, looked at Chen Nuo, breathed out with difficulty, and said coldly, "What... do you have sothing to say to ?"
Chen Nuo stared at the Octopus Monster for five whole seconds...
Then, he smiled.
This ti, Chen Nuo's smile carried a bit of relief and joy.
"You were this close to actually calculating into a trap." Chen Nuo shook his head, looking at the Octopus Monster's eyes, as if trying to capture sothing from them, he smiled softly and said slowly:
"I think, I guessed what your trump card is."
The Octopus Monster's eyes, which had remained calm, suddenly showed a faint trace of fluctuation when Chen Nuo spoke the last sentence.
Chen Nuo's smile gradually turned into a mocking one.
"Did you really think I would let the Gray Cat devour you?
Actually, you've been waiting for this mont, haven't you?"
As Chen Nuo spoke, he squatted down, looking closely into the Octopus Monster's eyes, even gentlemanly helping him straighten his broken, twisted arm to his chest.
"I have been guessing what your trump card really is.
The biggest problem is the Gray Cat...
Since you already knew about the Gray Cat's arrival, what was your way to deal with it?
Or rather... what kind of sche have you set on Gray Cat?
Logically, a Seed like the Gray Cat arrives, you must utilize this guy well.
How to maximize the benefits of such an event should be your consideration.
You wouldn't just sit by watching yourself be defeated and devoured by the Gray Cat, right?
I couldn't understand it until just now, when you showed an appearance of being utterly unconcerned with death...
Then I suddenly figured it out."
Chen Nuo glanced at the unknown power vortex in the Gray Cat's hands.
"You were waiting for this, weren't you? Waiting for this mont!
As soon as the Gray Cat really starts to devour you, then... the next steps would truly fall into your calculations."
The Octopus Monster's eyes remained calm, gazing at Chen Nuo, and slowly said, "If the Gray Cat devours , I won't disappear in the absolute sense as humans understand death.
Spiritual Life Forms don't truly 'die', they just devour or get devoured; this idea is more like a fusion..."
Chen Nuo shook his head: "No, that's not the reason you're talking about."
He touched his forehead, pondering while speaking slowly: "Let think... your current weakness isn't a disguise.
My power has increased a lot, you've lost two clones, leaving only half your strength, and then lost the Chosen One, further drastically reducing your power.
Now you, facing and the Gray Cat together, have been utterly defeated.
These are facts. You didn't deliberately lose to us; you genuinely couldn't win.
The problem lies with the devouring... if that's what you're expecting.
Do you have a way to trick the devouring process?
The Gray Cat devours you, you lose.
But with your current power, there's no other way for you to turn the tide.
So..."
Chen Nuo suddenly laughed: "Tonight when we camped by the lake, before the battle started, before we were attacked at night... you went off on your own and disappeared...
Where did you go and what did you do during that ti?
I guess, you weren't taking in the scenery, right?"
·
Chen Nuo had already stood up, walked to the Gray Cat's side, looking at the unknown power vortex in its paws: "Put this thing away.
Although I don't know why, I have a feeling that if you start to devour the Octopus Monster... this action might end up getting both of us killed."
The Gray Cat blinked, then decisively withdrew its paw, and the unknown power vortex imdiately disappeared.
The Octopus Monster lying there finally showed a deeply concealed hint of disappointnt in its eyes.
This change, however, was captured by Chen Nuo, who looked at the Octopus Monster: "What, disappointed?"
The Octopus Monster shook its head, smiled and sighed: "I kind of regret pulling you into this now. Although you are indeed very useful to , if I hadn't dragged you into this, spending so effort and ti, I could have still accomplished things.
Hmm... I was a bit too impatient."
As the Octopus Monster spoke, its aura beca increasingly weaker.
In the end, however, there was a complex expression on its face: "It's useless, Chen Nuo... from the mont you stepped into this Underground World, you had already lost."
It actually closed its eyes, and in the next second, its aura completely vanished!
Chen Nuo widened his eyes, watching as the Octopus Monster's life seed to disappear before him, as if it had died.
anwhile, a mass of energy rapidly erged from its body and, in a flash, disappeared!
Chen Nuo took a deep breath, attempting to capture all the energy fluctuations...
"I understand now, he has been misleading all along."
Chen Nuo laughed heartily.
He casually dismantled the ntality Cocoon setup around them.
Then, he shouted loudly.
"Isn't that right! I wasn't guessing wrong, was I, Octopus Monster!
From the mont everything started tonight, you have been misleading !
You created four clones, and each ti one was killed, there was such an obvious mass of Life Force flying away, then, in such an overt and conspicuous display, they entered the lake!
The lake churned and roiled non-stop, making one feel like a giant creature was about to burst forth from beneath the surface...
These were all deliberately created by you to mislead !"
After a pause, Chen Nuo suddenly shook his head and said: "No, no... Perhaps I shouldn't call you Octopus Monster anymore!"
Saying this, he shouted loudly into the air:
"Am I right or not, Mother Clone, sir?"
The Gray Cat frowned: "Chen Nuo, what are you talking about?"
Chen Nuo shook his head: "You don't understand; you ca too late and didn't experience the earlier events, so..."
With that, Chen Nuo sneered and said: "The one who brought us to this place was the Octopus Monster.
The one who led us to the lakeside was also the Octopus Monster!
But, since camping at night, it disappeared.
By the ti a series of battles broke out, and it reappeared as four clones appearing again...
Upon returning, it was no longer the Octopus Monster!
It had been replaced by the Mother!
I guess... it must have awoken the Mother when it disappeared at night!
Then, later tonight, we always thought we were fighting against the clones of the Octopus Monster.
Actually... the opponent we were contending with all along was the Mother Clone!"
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