204: Chapter 204 Ordinary Employee Mabul

"Gawain! Get up there, prepare to engage!"

Watching Passionlip fall into a frenzy ahead, the fighting blood in PD's veins instantly boiled.

He skillfully summoned the tactical UI, preparing to use the newly acquired Servant, Sir Tristan, for a flashy, micromanaged boss fight.

However, before he could even find a suitable crouching spot...

"Pardon me, Master!"

Sir Tristan, who was beside him, suddenly reached out both arms and scooped PD up horizontally, as if carrying a child!

"Hey? Old Tristan, what are you doing?!"

With his feet off the ground, PD kicked wildly in mid-air, looking completely bewildered.

"No time for talk! Run!"

On the other side, Gawain didn't hesitate at all; he lunged forward, scooped the SE.RA.PH employee—who was paralyzed with fear on the ground—into his arm, and then both Knights of the Round Table took off running.

"Hey, hey, hey! Why are you running?! We have a luxury lineup with two Knights of the Round Table and a goddess! Let's take her down!"

PD, tucked under Sir Tristan's arm, protested loudly, feeling that retreating without a fight was incredibly embarrassing.

Meltryllis, who was retreating alongside them, heard this and cast a cold, mocking glance at PD.

"Take her down? With just us right now?"

Meltryllis's silver heels left fast-moving afterimages on the ground as she pointed a finger behind them.

"Idiot, turn around and see what that fool is actually doing!"

PD struggled to turn his head in Sir Tristan's arms and looked back.

Just one look was enough to instantly douse his arrogant spirit with a bucket of ice water!

In the basin behind them, Passionlip, having lost her target, was furiously waving her pair of massive steel claws, which resembled excavators, and smashing them heavily into a thick metal partition wall nearby.

Under normal circumstances, such a physical impact would at most dent the wall.

However, a bizarre and terrifying scene unfolded.

The moment the giant claws touched the wall, the indestructible alloy wall didn't shatter; instead, it seemed to suffer from some kind of high-dimensional conceptual strike, instantly collapsing and twisting!

Accompanied by a teeth-grinding "crackle," a large section of the wall, enough to accommodate a truck, was forcibly compressed within a fraction of a second into a five-centimeter-sized, faintly glowing, pixelated data cube!

"What the f***?!"

Not just PD, but the tens of thousands of viewers in the livestream were also dumbfounded.

"Is that magic?!"

"Magic my ass, that's a dimensional strike! She just compressed the wall into pixels?!"

Watching PD's shocked expression, Meltryllis explained coldly while running:

"This is Lip's exclusive skill — [Trash & Crash]."

"Simply put, it's a destructive and irreversible ultimate compression technique. Any object touched by her giant hands, or even entering her line of sight, regardless of how solid the data or material is, will be forcibly compressed into a five-centimeter cube!"

"At our current strength, if she touches us even once, we'll instantly become toy blocks in her pocket!"

Hearing Meltryllis's explanation, PD gulped, and cold sweat instantly broke out.

"One touch and it's an instant kill? How are we supposed to fight a gimmick boss like that?!"

"That's why I said she is currently unbeatable."

A complex emotion flashed in Meltryllis's eyes. "That strange black mask is a limiter BB added to seal her will and vision. If she removes the mask, her destructive power will increase exponentially."

Speaking of which, the purple-haired girl bit her lip.

"Although I really want to help that foolish younger sister recover her sanity, given the current situation, we can't even get close to her. We have no choice but to run."

The group ran wildly the whole way.

Fortunately, Passionlip's size was too massive; after they dived into a narrow tunnel, they finally shook off the terrifying pursuit that felt like an earthquake.

"Whew... we're safe."

Sir Tristan stopped and set PD down.

Gawain also placed the employee he had rescued onto the ground.

"Cough, cough... th-thank you for saving me..."

The woman gasped for air; her voice was hoarse but carried a gentle quality.

Afterward, she somewhat awkwardly tidied her messy hair and bowed deeply to the group.

"Thank you so much... My name is Marble McIntosh, I am 28 years old, and I am a technical employee at the SE.RA.PH undersea oil field."

"Ms. Marble, may I ask how you ended up being hunted by that monster?"

Gawain stepped forward and asked in a gentle tone, "Also, are there any other survivors in this base besides you?"

Hearing Gawain's question, a flicker of irrepressible fear and sadness flashed in Marble's eyes.

She hugged her arms tightly, her body trembling slightly.

"I... escaped from the Central Control Room."

"It was a living hell... Ever since the oil field was trapped on the seabed and supplies gradually ran out, everyone started to frantically ostracize and even murder their colleagues in order to survive."

Marble's description matched perfectly with the desperate voice recording that PD and the others had heard earlier in the light pillar by the roadside.

"After months of mutual slaughter, of the original hundred or so people in the Control Room, only four poor souls remained..."

She closed her eyes in pain.

"I couldn't stand that oppressive and insane atmosphere, so I tried to sneak away while that monster (Passionlip) was sleeping in the valley. But... I accidentally woke her up, which led to what just happened."

After listening to Marble's tearful account, the viewers in the livestream flooded the chat with sympathetic comments.

"That's so tragic; seabed claustrophobia mixed with a battle royale—any normal person would definitely go insane."

"That man's voice recording earlier was definitely foreshadowing; turns out the Control Room had already turned into a breeding ground for monsters."

Beside them, Sir Tristan kept his eyes closed, his long, slender fingers gently stroking his chin.

"To be able to persist all the way until we appeared while being chased by a monster of that massive size and astonishing destructive power, and to not even have her close the distance..."

Sir Tristan tilted his head slightly; although his eyes were tightly closed, his words carried a hint of knightly admiration and a trace of imperceptible inquiry.

"Ms. Marble, as an ordinary human civilian employee, your physical stamina is truly impressive."

Hearing the red-haired knight's praise, Marble smiled somewhat embarrassedly.

"You flatter me. Actually... when I was in college, I was a member of the school track and field team and often participated in long-distance marathons. So, my endurance and physique are better than the average girl's."

"That is also why I dared to escape from the Control Room alone."

With this explanation, the logic instantly formed a flawless, perfect loop.

The stamina foundation of a marathon runner, coupled with the survival instinct that erupts in a life-or-death moment, makes it perfectly plausible that she could outrun a bulky mecha girl who only possesses brute strength.

Moreover, this oil field had undergone a brutal massacre, so it was reasonable that she had escaped as a survivor.

"I see, no wonder you ran so fast."

PD didn't think much of it and patted his chest carelessly.

"Don't worry, big sister Marble! Since you've met our Chaldea rescue team, your safety is on us!"

"We happen to be heading to the Central Control Room to investigate, so you can just follow behind us and act as a guide!"

Upon hearing this, Marble bowed repeatedly, moved to tears.

"Thank you! Thank you all so much!"

Having an additional survivor in the team who was familiar with the terrain was undoubtedly a good thing for the upcoming exploration.

However, beneath Marble's lowered head, deep within those eyes filled with grateful tears...

...a subtle, indescribable, and hair-raisingly eerie dark glint flashed secretly.