Chapter 7: The Saccharification Monster
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“……”
Wang Xi cast a slightly appraising glance at Zhu Yuhe, constantly observing her eyes and facial expressions. Tentatively, he smiled and said, “I also like horseback riding. Ponies, skinny horses, ocean horses—I can handle them all.”
“Wow! You can ride horses too!” Zhu Yuhe exclaimed.
Immediately, a trace of genuine admiration and envy flickered in her eyes.
“That kind of animal is quite rare nowadays. I heard only corporations have the means to keep them. Handsome guy, what does your family do to be so well-off… You’re not a second-generation rich kid here just to experience life, are you?”
At this moment, Wang Xi was almost certain that Zhu Yuhe hadn’t understood his “shrimp-head language.”
The two of them were clearly from different worlds.
Watching her lost in daydreams, as if imagining an epic saga titled “The Heir of a Corporation Falls in Love with Me, the Cleaner,” Wang Xi parted his lips, unsure what to say.
Well, this was good—their favorability rating hadn’t dropped but risen…
Just as he was about to say something to salvage the situation, his brow suddenly furrowed.
Out of the corner of his eye, several meters away, a sugar-coated figure seemed to move.
Wang Xi thought it was an illusion, but when he turned to look, his expression shifted slightly.
There was a child wrapped in blue syrup, crouching on the ground, holding their head still as if frozen.
Above the child’s head, a label slowly appeared:
“Little Sugar Sprite (Light Red / One Star)”
Typically, the Kaerus system in Wang Xi’s mind didn’t mark every target. This usually signified a threat.
Red meant hostility!
And the shade of color and star rating directly indicated the level of danger!
Just like the “Iris Knight Wendy” from another world was a scarlet three-star.
Wang Xi lunged forward abruptly.
Zhu Yuhe, still lost in her fantasy, suddenly felt the space before her blur as the handsome guy knocked her down onto the ground.
“Ah!” Behind her protective visor, the girl bit her lip, panic overtaking her face. “Isn’t this moving too fast, handsome guy? I—I’m not ready yet!”
Swish—
Before she finished, a sharp whistling sound suddenly erupted beside her ear.
A fist-sized blue sugar pellet, like a miniature cannonball, streaked past the two’s original positions and slammed into the ground beside them.
Poof!!
White cracks formed on the concrete, scattering countless powdery sugar fragments.
“Monster!” Wang Xi shouted urgently.
Only then did Zhu Yuhe snap out of her daze and look up sharply.
A small, agile blue figure was darting swiftly toward them.
“Oh no! It’s a ‘Residual Disaster’!” the girl exclaimed.
Residual Disaster—
A new term of this era. Wang Xi retrieved memories from his university days and quickly understood.
This referred to the rare events occurring after a disaster had been cleared, caused by unknown factors hidden within the disaster, triggering secondary catastrophes.
The harm and destructive power of residual disasters were usually less than the disaster itself but still extremely troublesome and beyond the capability of ordinary people to handle.
“Run!”
Zhu Yuhe scrambled up anxiously.
“The Overwatch Team has contingency plans for residual disasters. The Defense Squad is stationed nearby! Run first!”
The small blue figure was closing in. Wang Xi had no time to reply, so he and Zhu Yuhe hurriedly fled the scene.
The monster’s speed was terrifying; within seconds, it had caught up behind them.
Wang Xi glanced sideways.
His pupils contracted sharply.
The sugar-coated child’s distorted face puckered its lips like a frog.
At that moment, Wang Xi felt a chill crawl up his spine and his heart race, as if he foresaw the scene of the two of them being pierced through the heart by the sugar pellet.
Poof!!
The little sugar sprite’s puckered lips trembled, and a blue afterimage shot straight out!
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Wang Xi even saw the air ripple in a curved arc!
“Iris Sword Technique · (Parry)” activated—
Almost instinctively, he pressed the transformation button on the Cupid chainsaw.
Click!
The saw blade retracted, and a crowbar popped out.
Wang Xi drew the crowbar and swung it backward.
Clang!!!
A sharp metallic clang echoed.
Wang Xi’s whole body twisted, stumbling and nearly falling.
The blue sugar pellet’s straight afterimage bent at ninety degrees in front of him and ricocheted in another direction.
Sugar droplets splattered, sparkling under the dawn light.
Zhu Yuhe’s face showed shock, her lips slightly parted.
The handsome guy…
He only used a crowbar to block the monster’s attack?!
“Damn it—”
Wang Xi grabbed the chainsaw again and pulled the zipper to swing.
The blue little figure flying through the air was sliced in half at the abdomen by the rapidly spinning saw blade—
Sizzle sizzle sizzle!!
Sparks and sugar dust flew as the little sugar sprite was bisected, two halves flying past Wang Xi’s sides.
Thick blue syrup splattered all over them, smoke rising from their protective suits with sizzling sounds.
“Handsome guy! You… you killed the monster!” Zhu Yuhe wiped the syrup off her visor, dazed.
Wang Xi, still reeling from the heart-pounding moment, shuddered at her voice.
In his view, the two halves of the little sugar sprite’s corpse were motionless.
Kaerus promptly popped up a prompt in his mind:
“Target eliminated!”
“Capture ability of ‘Little Sugar Sprite’?”
‘…Yes.’
Wang Xi steadied his breathing and rapid heartbeat, silently replying in his heart.
A white glow visible only to him flew from the corpse into his brow.
“‘Little Sugar Sprite’ card added to independent card pool”
“Insufficient energy to draw”
Wang Xi ignored these, noticing that some of the sugar-coated humanoids and frozen colorful cats and dogs in the environment had started to move!
These mutated sugar monsters made no sounds or cries; they just swiftly sprang into action, launching attacks on the two from all directions.
“Move!”
Wang Xi’s expression changed, retracting the chainsaw and grabbing Zhu Yuhe to run.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Behind them, a barrage of piercing sounds erupted—without looking back, Wang Xi knew those were sugar pellets spat by the sugar monsters, raining down like a hailstorm.
He wasn’t sure if the protective suits could withstand it, but recalling the damage sugar pellets caused hitting the concrete, he didn’t want to gamble with their lives.
Two bulky yellow figures fled through the ruined residential area as colorful, dense trails zipped past, whistling.
Wang Xi held the crowbar in one hand, deliberately keeping a step behind Zhu Yuhe.
His constant use of the “Iris Sword Technique · Parry” was now fully engaged, the shadow of the crowbar blurring and humming like a circular shield.
Clang clang clang!!
Various sugar pellets struck the crowbar, precisely parried and exploded into clouds of colorful mist.
Wang Xi felt the sting in his palm, numbness creeping up his arm, half his body nearly losing feeling.
Fortunately—
They escaped the ruins and returned to the main street.
Looking up, the other members of Cleaning Unit Two were gathered in a circle, surrounded by swarming sugar monsters.
They too were under attack!
Team leader Lei Wen was shouting orders, holding a strange pistol shaped like a revolver, its muzzle continuously emitting blinding green laser beams, beeping and buzzing.
Between laser flashes, the incoming sugar monsters tumbled and fell halfway, pierced through the chest or with shattered heads.
“Over here!” Ms. Gao Fen called out, spotting the two.
Wang Xi hurriedly dragged Zhu Yuhe over to join the group.
Only when close did he see that in the defensive circle formed back-to-back, two people were lying unconscious on the ground, blood pooling beneath them.
They were the twin brothers.
From the earlier introduction in the vehicle, Wang Xi knew their names: the older one was Du Chuan, the younger Du Bo.
Their bodies were riddled with ping-pong-ball-sized holes; their protective suits torn, blood flowing freely, their injuries severe.
“You alright?” Lei Wen panted, changing the magazine of his laser gun, which resembled a square battery, and asked, tilting his head.
Zhu Yuhe quickly glanced at Wang Xi beside her, still gripping his arm tightly without letting go.
“I’m fine… Wang Xi is amazing, he saved my life.”
Everyone looked at Wang Xi in surprise but didn’t press further.
The monsters kept closing in; Luo Xiaoliang, Yu Zihan, and others tensed, already pulling chainsaws and revving them, seemingly ready for a desperate fight.
But just then, Lei Wen suddenly exhaled in relief, like a survivor, and said:
“The Defense Squad has arrived!”
Beep beep beep beep—
A volley of strange gunfire erupted, red laser beams slicing through and hitting the monster horde with deadly precision.
Wang Xi turned to see a well-organized group of over a hundred approaching.
They wore uniform blue-black armor, round helmets, and protective plates on chest, shoulders, elbows, and knees. Each was fully armed with laser rifles.
On the chest of this team was a large white number “4.”
“That’s Defense Squad Four!” Yu Zihan exclaimed, lowering his chainsaw in amazement.
“Team of ‘Thunder Hammer’ Jiang Tianhao!”
“Who’s that?” Wang Xi asked.
Yu Zihan glanced at him, somewhat puzzled that Wang Xi didn’t know the name.
“A five-star professional hero!” he explained reverently.
“He once single-handedly shattered the head of the disaster-core monster ‘Golden-Nose Yeti,’ preventing a blue-coded ‘Area Lockdown’ level disaster.”
“But it seems he himself isn’t here this time.”
As they spoke, the Defense Squad had already passed through the group, forming a line like a rocky barrier, blocking the sugar monster tide.
A giant man taller than Luo Xiaoliang approached, standing at least two meters two, with arms thicker than Wang Xi’s thigh.
He wore the same blue-black armor and carried a thick tower shield as large as a security door.
“I’m Wei Ming, deputy captain of Defense Squad Four. You’re the scavengers from Cupid Domestic Services?” the burly man asked sternly.
Lei Wen nodded respectfully.
“Yes, sir.”
“Thank you for your hard work. We’ll handle the residual disasters here. You should evacuate immediately.”
He glanced at the wounded on the ground and shook his head slightly.
“There are medics from the Defense Squad at the nearby temporary base. Take them there.”
“Thank you, sir!” Lei Wen hurriedly replied, then called everyone to help carry Du Chuan and Du Bo.
Wang Xi followed the retreat, glancing back one last time.
The shield-bearing giant had already strode out of the formation, casually sweeping and smashing the approaching monsters into sugar pulp with a few powerful blows…
Incredible strength!