449: Chapter 446 No!!! Jellyfish!!

Lu Jianchuan and Ye Ouyang searched every inch of the abandoned village.

Nothing. There was nothing at all.

Occasionally, massive dragging marks could be seen on the snow, as if some gargantuan creature had crawled through, but the tracks were intermittent and mostly covered by fresh snow. The dilapidated wooden huts were empty, containing nothing but accumulated snow and rat droppings.

Lu Jianchuan crouched down, staring at a mark on the ground for a few seconds. He was just about to speak—

"Behind you!"

Ye Ouyang's voice suddenly exploded.

Without looking back, Lu Jianchuan instinctively flipped to the side, rolling over two meters away. A thick, transparent tentacle brushed past his shoulder and slammed down, smashing a large crater into the spot where he had just been crouching, sending snow and wood splinters flying everywhere.

He flipped to his feet and looked at the attacker.

That jellyfish.

It was even larger than the one they had seen in the forest. Its transparent body was nearly invisible against the snow, with only the core inside glowing faintly. Several tentacles crawled slowly across the snow; one of them had nearly pounded him into meat paste just moments ago.

Lu Jianchuan narrowed his eyes.

The tracker had hit this very creature. Since it was here, it meant they were heading in the right direction. This village was likely just a place it patrolled; its true base was probably deeper in.

The moment the thought finished, he had already charged out.

His silver-white figure pulled a trail of afterimages across the snow as he smashed a fist toward the jellyfish's body. Dazzling Bioelectricity condensed on his fist, crackling loudly.

The jellyfish did not dodge.

It similarly released a bolt of electricity. A blue-white arc exploded in the air, colliding with Lu Jianchuan's fist.

Boom—!

Electricity splattered everywhere. The surrounding snow was instantly evaporated, and mist rose up.

Lu Jianchuan took half a step back and shook his hand.

The jellyfish's body swayed slightly, its tentacles writhing uneasily.

The two of them—one man and one monster—were both stunned.

The electricity was ineffective against both sides.

Lu Jianchuan's armor had been reinforced—a trait obtained back during the White Star incident long ago. It granted him complete immunity to electricity and even allowed him to absorb it as his own energy. He had intended to win with an electric shock, but it turned out the opponent was also immune.

The jellyfish was also bewildered. Its electrical attacks had always been invincible, and this was the first time it had encountered an opponent who showed absolutely no reaction.

Lu Jianchuan flexed his wrist, looking at the equally at-a-loss jellyfish across from him.

Well then, it had turned into a pure clash of stats.

Ye Ouyang circled around nearby, looking for an opportunity to jump in.

Super Regeneration Overload—he was familiar with this move. One swipe of his claws would inject a massive amount of cells, causing organs to grow wildly inside the opponent until they exploded from within. But after staring at the jellyfish for a few seconds, he hesitated again.

Right now, Lu Jianchuan and the creature were trading blows, but neither was truly hurting the other. If he went in with his claws, what if his good intentions caused trouble and he ended up healing it instead?

Forget it, he'd try normal attacks first.

Spotting an opening, he charged from the side, his golden claws slashing fiercely at the jellyfish's body.

The sensation was very strange.

When the claw blades hit that transparent skin, there was no feeling of piercing through. Instead, it felt like pressing against an extremely smooth, wet cloth. The claws slid off the surface without leaving even a white mark. He tried again from a different angle, but it was the same—that layer of skin was thin enough to be transparent, yet it simply wouldn't puncture.

Ye Ouyang backed away two steps and shook his hand.

"This thing is too slippery!" he shouted. "I can't catch it at all!"

Lu Jianchuan did not answer. He smashed punch after punch into the jellyfish. His silver-white fists were wrapped in immense force, and every blow could deform and indent that transparent body, but as soon as he withdrew his fist, the liquid mass immediately returned to its original shape.

The jellyfish's trait was obvious—most of its body was liquid. Unless he went straight for the core, which was that glowing object at the top of the umbrella, no amount of punches would matter.

Lu Jianchuan threw another punch, sending the jellyfish's body rolling backward into a patch of snow.

The snow melted against it with a sizzling sound. The melted snow water was quickly absorbed into its body, and its transparent form visibly expanded by a circle. The core at the top of the umbrella also brightened slightly.

The jellyfish climbed up from the snow, its tentacles waving, now larger than before.

Lu Jianchuan narrowed his eyes.

"It's absorbing the snow water," he said in a low voice. "This is a snowy mountain; this is its home turf."

Lu Jianchuan's mind raced.

Potions. He had recovery potions on him, and with Ye Ouyang by his side, rapid recovery wouldn't be an issue.

Then he would try meeting force with force.

He crossed his hands, and the energy circuits within his body instantly switched.

Explosive Combustion Form.

Dark red energy conduits lit up on the surface of the silver-white armor. The propulsion nozzles on his back and the back of his legs fired simultaneously, and he became like a burning meteor, slamming straight into the jellyfish.

He threw a punch—a fist wreathed in fire.

The jellyfish did not dodge. It met him head-on, using its transparent body to take the hit. Since electricity was ineffective, they would compete in strength.

Bang—!

The jellyfish's body was punched into a deep indentation, but it quickly recovered its shape as its tentacles took the opportunity to coil around him. Lu Jianchuan's nozzles fired again to pull away, and he raised his hand for a burst of flame projection.

High-temperature flames surged from his palm, rushing straight at the jellyfish.

The snow instantly evaporated, and white mist rose. The jellyfish's body trembled slightly in the flames, and the liquid on its surface began to vaporize—but in the next second, it absorbed the surrounding snow. The melted snow water poured into its body, immediately replenishing the burned-off liquid. It could even manipulate the absorbed snow water, spraying it from the tips of its tentacles to suppress Lu Jianchuan's flames.

Ye Ouyang was pacing around in a panic nearby.

He charged in again and again, his golden claws desperately laying into the jellyfish. Slashing, piercing, cutting, flicking—all of it was useless. That transparent skin seemed alive; the moment his claws touched it, the force was deflected away, leaving him unable to apply any power.

"I can't puncture it!" he shouted, his voice filled with frustration.

The jellyfish rolled in the snow, absorbing the surrounding accumulation as it grew larger and larger. Its tentacles flailed, splashing snow water everywhere to cancel out Lu Jianchuan's flames.

The three of them were locked in a struggle, none able to gain the upper hand.

Lu Jianchuan's mind spun rapidly.

He couldn't drag this out. The transformation had a time limit, and his stamina was finite. Although the jellyfish didn't seem to need food, it definitely required energy—otherwise, why would it keep absorbing snow water?

He grabbed a tentacle that was whipping toward him and exerted sudden force.

Every gas vent behind him fired at once. He began to spin at high speed while holding the jellyfish's tentacle, becoming like a spinning top. The rotational force lifted the massive transparent body off the ground before slamming it violently into the earth.

Bang—!

The snow exploded, and the jellyfish's body caved in.

"motorcycle!"

A low engine roar came from the brush as the silver, black, and red motorcycle shot out like an arrow from a bow, crashing straight into the jellyfish. With a bang, the jellyfish was knocked into a crumbling stone wall.

The motorcycle's wheels spun frantically, grinding against the transparent mass, but it was like hitting slippery rubber; it couldn't cause any substantial damage. The jellyfish's tentacles quickly coiled around, wrapping the entire motorcycle. Its flexible body used softness to overcome hardness, pinning the bike in place.

Lu Jianchuan did not stop. He leapt up and smashed several consecutive punches into the jellyfish—one punch, gas acceleration, a more powerful second punch, further acceleration, then a third punch. Every blow made the liquid mass vibrate violently, but the core remained hidden deep inside, unreachable.

He tried to pry open the skin, digging his hands in, but the layer was too slippery to get a grip.

Ye Ouyang slashed his claws desperately from the side, his golden blades passing over the jellyfish's body time and again, only to slide off each time.

"Damn it!" he cursed.

Lu Jianchuan suddenly turned his head.

"Ye Ouyang, are you afraid of pain?"

Ye Ouyang was taken aback for a moment, then realized something and nodded through gritted teeth.

"I'm not!"

Lu Jianchuan didn't waste words. A gas vent on his back shifted direction, and blazing fire gushed out, directly scorching Ye Ouyang's raised claws.

The golden claws slowly turned red in the fire, the crimson color spreading upward from the tips. Ye Ouyang gritted his teeth, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead, but he did not pull back. The high temperature scorched his claws and his nerves, but his golden cells regenerated frantically, stubbornly enduring this self-mutilating heating process.

A few seconds later, Ye Ouyang's claws had turned glowing red, like iron bars fresh from a furnace.

He charged forward and swung a claw down.

This time, that slippery skin was finally torn—the combination of high heat and cutting force finally broke the defense.

"Good!"

Lu Jianchuan followed up by thrusting both hands into the opening, grabbing both sides of the tear. With an explosion of total strength, he forced the gap wide. He took a deep breath and dove inside.

The inside of the jellyfish was a semi-transparent gelatinous substance, slippery and warm. Lu Jianchuan swam through it, charging recklessly toward the glowing core. Tentacles writhed frantically behind him, trying to squeeze him out, but he had already seized the core.

All his gas vents shifted direction simultaneously, aiming right at the core.

Fire.

Blazing flames erupted from within his body, rampaging through the narrow space. The jellyfish's body shook violently as a massive amount of steam jetted out from its interior, instantly shrouding the area in white mist. It let out a silent shriek as its tentacles twitched frantically, but it soon lost its strength.

Boom—!

The steam exploded, and the jellyfish's body went limp like a deflated balloon, slumping onto the snow.

Lu Jianchuan rolled out from inside, falling onto the snow. His silver-white armor was covered in slime. He tried to push himself up, but his body went weak, and he slumped directly onto the ground. The armor receded like a tide, revealing his pale face beneath.

He gasped for air, lacking even the strength to move a finger.

The motorcycle hummed as it broke free from the jellyfish's tentacles and slid to his side. On the back seat, a small metal box automatically popped open, revealing several milky-white potions inside.

Ye Ouyang lunged over, grabbed a potion, unscrewed the cap, and poured it into Lu Jianchuan's mouth. Simultaneously, his other hand rose, and his golden claws pierced Lu Jianchuan's arm—a micro-injection. Those golden cells flooded into his body, beginning a frantic repair process.

A few seconds later, Lu Jianchuan's complexion improved. He propped himself up, took two more gulps of the potion, and took a deep breath.

He raised both hands, crossing his two silver-gray bracelets.

The silver-white armor covered his body once again.