206: Fighting in the water

Visibility was extremely low in the turbid river water, but for Shen Mingyuan, who had switched to Deep Sea Form, the world unfolded clearly in a different way.

Sonar imaging constructed a 360-degree three-dimensional topographic map within his Visor, while bioelectric field perception acted like radar, highlighting the silhouettes of all swimming, heart-beating creatures within a radius of several hundred meters—

In front, to his left and right, and even below him, dense heat source signals of Scavengers of all sizes were closing in from all directions, like a pack of sharks smelling blood.

“Perfect, time to test the new equipment.”

With a thought, the two Biological Compression Cannons on the outside of his forearms—the Underwater Form of the twin stars—adjusted their angles slightly. There was no fire, and no loud explosion.

At the muzzle, a mass of highly compressed biological mucus was instantly ejected, forming a brief, nearly invisible negative-pressure cavity in the water ahead.

Immediately following this, the ultra-high-speed contracting biological muscles within the cannon barrel injected high-pressure gas into the cavity.

Swoosh—!

An extremely subtle Supercavitating Jet, yet one containing terrifying kinetic energy, shot out silently. It produced almost no resistance in the water, instantly crossing dozens of meters at a speed far exceeding ordinary underwater weapons to hit the head of a large Scavenger charging head-on.

Pfft! Ch—!

The bone plate at the point of impact was first pierced with a hole by the jet; then, the cavitation bubble wrapped at the front of the jet collapsed violently inside the target's body!

Local ultra-high pressure and instantaneous extreme heat erupted simultaneously. The Scavenger's hard head was crushed and carbonized as if by an invisible hand from within; it sank slowly as a turbid mass of crushed bone and charred tissue, unable to even let out a hiss.

Efficient, lethal, and nearly silent.

Shen Mingyuan did not stop. The Propulsion Nozzles on his back and waist accurately sprayed cyan Ion Streams, pushing him to make sudden stops and right-angle turns in the water that almost defied physical intuition.

His arms adjusted constantly as the twin stars continued to fire.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

One nearly invisible Cavitation Jet after another performed precise point-shots, each strike causing a Scavenger to lose its life in a bizarre internal implosion.

He was like a black underwater blade, cutting through the surrounding school of fish and advancing straight toward the largest, most active core signal in his bioelectric field perception—the location of the octopus.

Soon, the Scavengers blocking the path thinned out, and the waters ahead suddenly opened up, becoming even darker.

That pale, giant octopus finally stopped hiding. Its massive body suspended in a deeper layer of water, several tentacles waving slowly like the curtains of an underwater palace.

Those cold compound eyes locked onto Shen Mingyuan through the turbid water—more accurately, they locked onto his current, vastly different armor form.

A direct, slippery voice with multiple echoes came clearly through the vibrations of the water waves:

“Oh? ‘shadow’... you have ‘grown’?”

The octopus's tone was filled with undisguised inquiry and surprise.

“Let me think... according to intelligence from our last meeting, you only had two tricks: ground concealment and aerial assassination. How long has it been since then? A day? Two?”

A tentacle rose slowly, its tip seemingly “touching” and “analyzing” the energy lines and water wave disturbances flowing around Shen Mingyuan's armor.

“To obtain a Third Form that perfectly adapts to the water and even faintly suppresses my home-field advantage so quickly... this absolutely does not fit the rhythm of natural evolution. Even for the miracle you call ‘EVO,’ it is ridiculously fast.”

Its voice dropped, carrying a cold wisdom:

“Is someone helping you ‘adjust’? Using technical means to forcibly compile the path of evolution? Could it be... that the frail technology tree of humans has already groped its way to the threshold of directly interfering with the underlying code of life? No... that’s not right.”

It contradicted itself, light flashing in its compound eyes. “If they truly possessed such power, they would have long ago used it to cleanse us like spraying pesticides.

Then... is it an individual? Some ‘Engineer’ hiding in the shadows who possesses this forbidden knowledge privately but has not shared it with their own kind?”

Shen Mingyuan hovered in the water, his Deep Sea Form Visor calmly facing the octopus, offering no answer.

He simply raised his arms slowly, the twin stars' muzzles locking onto the junction of the octopus's head and torso.

“Heh... silence.”

The octopus's voice took on more certainty and a kind of condescending mockery. “It seems my speculation has at least grazed the truth.

Don't underestimate octopuses, ‘shadow.’ Before obtaining this power, we already possessed multiple brains; our intelligence and problem-solving cunning have long been troublesome for many self-proclaimed smart land creatures.

It is not too difficult to distinguish what is a natural creation and what is... a meticulously crafted ‘tool.’”

Its several tentacles began to gather strength, and the surrounding currents surged.

“Let me see just how much weight this hastily crafted underwater outfit of yours really carries.”

Before the octopus could finish its sentence, the battle erupted suddenly.

Its massive body jerked backward, violently disturbing the water. Simultaneously, three thick tentacles lashed out through the water from different angles like steel whips filled with power, moving so fast they left afterimages underwater.

Two more tentacle tips rapidly fired several condensed High-Pressure Water Arrows, aiming straight for Shen Mingyuan's torso to seal off his evasion space.

The propulsion arrays on Shen Mingyuan's back and waist instantly emitted powerful cyan Ion Streams.

His figure suddenly shifted laterally, making a sharp turn with a small, nearly right-angled arc, narrowly avoiding the strangulation of the two tentacles.

Facing the incoming water arrows, he crossed his arms forward. The Biological Compression Cannons on his forearms—the twin stars—emitted continuous low hums.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

Several Cavitation Jets carrying tiny bubbles shot out silently, accurately meeting those water arrows.

The jets and water arrows collided in the water. Instead of causing a violent explosion, the structure of the water arrows was instantly invaded and destroyed, collapsing into chaotic currents amidst the faint sounds of the bubbles' collapse.

However, the battle was far from a one-on-one contest. The temporarily cleared area was once again filled by more Scavengers.

Several medium-sized individuals, nearly three meters long and moving swiftly, took advantage of the gap while Shen Mingyuan dealt with the octopus's main attack to charge boldly from the side-below and the rear, their bone-plated mouths biting down fiercely.

Shen Mingyuan's bioelectric field perception and sonar imaging had already marked their movements clearly. As if he had eyes in the back of his head, he spun his body while dodging another tentacle sweep from the octopus, adjusting the muzzles on his arms slightly.

Buzz! Buzz!

Two Cavitation Jets performed precise point-shots, turning the insides of the two nearest Scavengers' heads into mush. But a third had already rushed to his side, its giant mouth almost touching his waist armor.

In a flash, Shen Mingyuan gave up on shooting. His left and right hands shot out like lightning; his arms, with their strength amplified in Deep Sea Form, accurately gripped the gaps in the bone plates near the head and neck of this Scavenger. Simultaneously, he hooked his right foot, locking onto another smaller individual attacking from below with his ankle and yanking it up!

“Hah!”

He gave a low shout, and the deep blue patterns on his entire armor suddenly lit up to their limit.

All Propulsion Nozzles on his back and legs activated at maximum power, and cyan Ion Streams gushed out violently! Using this as an axis, he held onto the two struggling Scavengers and launched an incredibly fast spin in the water!

The turbid river water was stirred into a brief whirlpool by him. Leveraging the massive centrifugal force generated by the rotation, he aimed at the direction where the octopus was trying to flank him and threw with all his might!

“Go!”

The first, larger Scavenger was like a cannonball thrown from a catapult, carrying the water and its own screams as it smashed heavily into the side of the octopus's massive head.

The octopus clearly hadn't expected this way of using “weapons.” A hint of surprise flashed in its compound eyes as it urgently waved two tentacles to block.

At the moment its attention was diverted, Shen Mingyuan released the smaller Scavenger locked by his ankle and, using the last bit of momentum from his spin, kicked it hard toward an area behind the octopus where the tentacles were relatively sparse!

“Bang!” The first Scavenger smashed heavily into the octopus's hastily blocking tentacles, its bone plates shattering and fluids flowing everywhere.

“Puff!” The second, smaller Scavenger successfully passed through the gaps in the tentacle defense, slamming hard near the junction of the octopus's soft head and torso. Though it failed to cause a serious injury, it made the octopus's body shudder, causing a very brief moment of stiffness in its movements.

Now is the time!

Shen Mingyuan's thrusters ignited again, stopping his rotation as he lunged forward like an arrow from a bow to close the distance.

The blue light in the twin stars' muzzles on his arms intensified rapidly. At point-blank range, he fired several consecutive Cavitation Jets toward the relatively fragile head-body junction exposed by the impact and toward those cold compound eyes!

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

The lethal jets tore through the water, aimed straight at the vital points.

The octopus let out an angry hiss, and multiple tentacles frantically returned to defend, waving in front of it like an airtight barrier, while its massive body rapidly shifted sideways and dove deeper.

Several jets hit the waving tentacles, erupting with tooth-aching thuds and mucus, failing to hit the core directly.

But clearly, Shen Mingyuan's chain of strange moves and swift counterattacks had made it feel a tangible threat.

In the water, the turbid turbulence had not yet settled as the two sides faced off briefly. The octopus was no longer as composed and playful as before, and Shen Mingyuan also adjusted his breathing slightly.