Chapter 84: Toti on the Brink of Death
Then, the seawater by the shore quickly pulled back.
A huge shadow suddenly appeared on the surface of the ocean.
Fatoumata Tower turned her head instinctively and froze in terror at the sight of the monster.
Its body was like a sandworm or an earthworm. It had a flat head and a tube-shaped mouth. There were no upper or lower jaws — just rows and rows of sharp teeth, as thin as needles.
On each side of its mouth were seven round holes, like gills. It looked like a lamprey eel, but magnified tens of thousands of times. The only difference was that its tail had rows of feet, like a dinosaur’s.
"Run!" Fatoumata Tower screamed in fear and tried to sprint toward the beach where the Two-Masted Sloop was anchored.
After seeing the mantis shrimp monster wipe out an entire team of Survivors, none of them had any intention of staying to fight.
But no matter how hard Fatoumata Tower and the others ran, they didn’t move forward at all.
Panicking, Fatoumata Tower looked down and realized that the sand and gravel beneath their feet — along with their own bodies — were being pulled backward by some kind of eldritch force.
She turned around and saw that the lamprey-like monster had opened its mouth wide, its teeth squirming wildly.
A terrifying suction force came down from above, dragging the sand, the rocks, and their bodies backward.
"No!"
"Let’s fight it!"
Enraged and terrified, Fatoumata Tower and the others finally found the courage to fight.
They lifted their RPG launchers and aimed at the lamprey monster’s mouth.
Flames shot into the monster’s body, but there was no sound at all.
The monster didn’t even seem to feel any pain.
"How is this possible? What kind of monster is this?" Confused and shocked, Fatoumata Tower and the others could no longer keep their balance.
They were lifted off the ground. They lost all control of their bodies. The lamprey monster sucked them straight into its mouth.
Rows of sharp teeth sliced through their bodies like blades, quickly tearing them apart. Then the monster swallowed the pieces.
After swallowing more than a dozen Survivors in one go, the lamprey monster raised its head in satisfaction and let out a joyful roar toward the sky.
At that moment, Raphael, Toti, and Oliver were standing inside the wheelhouse of the deep-sea fishing boat.
Through the glass, they watched the lamprey monster’s devastating, disaster-like feeding ability. All of them gasped in shock.
Toti quietly pulled a cloth pouch from his pocket.
He carefully opened it, gently crumbled the tobacco inside, and packed it into his pipe.
With trembling hands, he lit the tobacco, took a couple of silent puffs, and finally let out a breath. His voice was low as he said, "A monster like that... you’d probably need an entire aircraft carrier fleet to beat it."
Raphael closed her eyes. She quietly steadied her breathing until the shock in her heart had settled. Then she spoke, trying to comfort them: "At least, hot weapons aren’t completely useless against them. We just don’t have enough firepower."
Oliver leaned on his crutch and quietly repeated Raphael’s words: "Not enough firepower, huh? If thousands of Survivors all fired rocket launchers at once, would there be a chance to beat that thing?"
Raphael nodded, her eyes firm. "It’s obvious. The reason that lamprey-like monster was able to withstand the rocket attacks from Fatoumata Tower and the others is mainly because of the suction force in its mouth."
"If I’m right, the strongest parts of that monster’s body are on the inside. Its mouthparts, its throat, its stomach, its intestines — they’re all extremely tough, with incredible defense."
"But its outer body has no scales. It’s all soft tissue that we can see and understand. If rockets could break free from its suction force and hit the skin on the outside of its body, they would definitely be able to hurt it."
Oliver nodded and looked at Raphael with admiration. "You’re a tactical genius. To be able to figure that out even in a hopeless situation like this — that’s truly impressive."
With that, Oliver set his crutch aside and sat down heavily on the sofa. "Too bad. You’ve figured out the way, but there’s no one who can carry out your plan. Ms. Raphael, I’ve lived long enough. I’ve gotten my money’s worth. Toti and I will do our best to buy you some time. If you get a chance, go take shelter on the Two-Masted Sloop."
Raphael’s eyes went wide. "You two..."
Before she could finish speaking, Toti reached out and stopped her. "Raphael, listen to your uncle. You’re still young. This world still has a lot for you to experience. Live. Keep living."
Toti’s muscles swelled quickly. Like a strongman, he hoisted Raphael onto his shoulder and started walking out of the cabin.
Before leaving, he turned his head and looked at Oliver. "Old buddy, I don’t have anything nice to treat you with. If you don’t mind, the rest of this pipe is yours."
Oliver smiled and picked up the pipe Toti had left behind. He grinned. "Good luck."
Toti nodded. Ignoring Raphael’s struggling on his shoulder, he turned and rushed out of the cabin.
Outside on the deck, the wind was howling violently. Even with Toti using his full Talent ability, he could feel enormous resistance.
Caught in the storm, Raphael couldn’t speak properly. "Toti, put me down! Uncle, please. Don’t leave me alone."
Toti gently patted Raphael’s thigh.
The wind carried away Raphael’s voice, and it also carried away Toti’s unspoken words. "Kid, you’re a strong, proud girl."
"To prove to your father that you were better than any boy, you trained your body like a boy since you were little."
"Every time your uncle saw your scraped knees and blistered palms from sword practice, it broke my heart."
"But your father died too early. He never got to see you stand on that Olympic stage."
"Kid, your uncle is proud of you. Live well. Keep going."
Raphael struggled with all her might, but she could never break free from Toti’s grip.
The two of them made their way, locked in struggle, to the front of the Two-Masted Sloop.
By then, the lamprey monster had already caught up.
Half of its body stayed in the ocean, while the other half crawled onto the beach, slithering like a snake.
Seeing this, Toti cursed under his breath. "Damn. No time left."
He gripped Raphael tightly and sprinted forward with everything he had.
Shards of rock and pieces of the ship, whipped up by the wind, cut across his face, leaving trails of blood.
But he couldn’t care about the pain. He pushed with his last bit of strength, trying to get Raphael onto the Two-Masted Sloop.
Suddenly, an explosion sounded behind them.
Toti turned his head in shock and saw that the deep-sea fishing boat, which had been docked at the shore, had rammed straight into the lamprey monster that was chasing them.
The iron bow of the ship slammed straight into the lamprey monster’s body, pinning it against the shore.
Then, explosions rang out one after another.
The entire deep-sea fishing boat was engulfed in flames, turning into a giant fireball.
Driven by the storm, the fishing boat completely exploded. The massive blast hit the lamprey monster right in the body, making it shriek in pain.
[Sanity -10]
[Sanity -10]
Hearing the warnings in his ears, Toti was so startled that he immediately pierced his own eardrums with his fingers.
Without bothering to look back at what was happening, he pushed forward again and ran toward the Two-Masted Sloop.
Raphael just let Toti carry her, watching helplessly as her deep-sea fishing boat was blown into a ball of fire.
She knew that Oliver was buying them time with his life.
But then, for some reason, Raphael felt them suddenly stop.
She focused her eyes and saw that a piece of metal shrapnel from the exploded fishing boat had pierced straight through Toti’s chest.
"Uncle Toti!" Raphael screamed, and tears streamed uncontrollably from her eyes.
But the wind blew them away before they could fall.
Raphael kept crying and screaming, but no sound came out.
She tried to break free from Toti’s grip, but his arm was like iron—there was no pushing it away.
The two of them just kept walking.
Toti talked to himself. Raphael screamed to herself. Neither could hear the other.
All that was left was a line of footprints and a stretch of beach soaked in blood.
Just as Toti felt his consciousness fading, Kevin suddenly appeared in front of him.
Right after that, the storm around them stopped.
Raphael’s cries finally became clear.
But Toti had already pierced his own eardrums. He couldn’t hear a thing anymore.
He looked at Kevin and grinned. "Young man. You’re the real leader of the Two-Masted Sloop, aren’t you?"
Kevin nodded quietly and said nothing.
Toti smiled and gently put Raphael down.
Then he punched a hole in his own stomach and pulled out a stone from inside his body.
[Sea Dragon Spine: C-Tier Eldritch Artifact. Can be fused into the body to replace any bone. Grants the host +5 to physical strength. Can also consume 30 points of life force to activate the skill "Sea Dragon Power," which greatly swells the body’s muscles and doubles strength and defense. Cost: Once implanted, the host will be permanently impotent.]
Fighting through the pain, Toti’s voice trembled. "This is all I have to offer. If you can, please... let Raphael live."
Raphael held onto Toti, her face twisted with grief.
She kept pressing down on his wound, hoping to slow the bleeding and keep him awake a little longer. "Uncle Toti, you’re not going to die. I don’t want you to die. You can’t leave me."
Kevin watched Raphael desperately fumbling around and let out a sigh. "If you keep moving him like that, he really won’t have a chance."
...