Chapter 322 – One-on-One with the Alien Beast
Everything was ready.
Tu Ran pushed off with all her might, her feet propelling her upward, while her hands pulled with equal force. She leaped into the air and landed steadily on the beast’s nose.
She and the hallucination mushrooms were fully exposed in the beast’s line of sight.
“Jump down!” Tu Ran stared into one of the beast’s eyes and silently repeated the command.
The beast showed no response.
Its gaze didn’t even shift to Tu Ran; instead, it remained fixated on the helicopter hovering in mid-air, stretching its arms to grab it.
Tu Ran, completely ignored: “…”
Kneeling, Tu Ran placed her palm on the beast’s nose, pressing against its skin, and activated [Mountain Collapse and Earth Crack].
From her position as the epicenter, countless cracks rapidly spread outward. The beast’s already dry skin tore and fell off, like chunks of mud detaching from a wall, crashing to the ground. The dust from the impact immediately swirled up, blinding the vehicles following the beast.
The intense pain caused the beast to withdraw its focus from the helicopter, its eyes locking onto the source of the pain, which was Tu Ran, still kneeling.
Tu Ran kept her gaze locked on the beast’s eyes, and as soon as it looked her way, she immediately whispered, “Stop!”
For a moment, the beast’s eyes seemed unfocused, but it lasted only a second. Before Tu Ran could breathe a sigh of relief, its gaze solidified, and one of its front claws swung toward her.
The helicopter above let out a loud alarm, trying to attract the beast’s attention.
The massive claw descended like a collapsing giant billboard, not swayed by the helicopter, and carried an earth-shattering force as it drew closer to Tu Ran.
Tu Ran glanced back and, at the moment the giant paw was about to strike, and with the hallucination mushrooms protecting her shoulder, she leaped off the beast’s nose without hesitation.
Inside a vehicle, Yu Boming, watching the screen, felt his heart leap in his chest.
Unless she could fly…
No one knew where Tu Ran pulled a bundle of hook ropes from, but she expertly tossed it onto the exposed skin near the beast’s mouth. The steel claws embedded firmly into the skin’s crevices. Tu Ran gripped the rope tightly, her falling body swinging in midair.
The beast didn’t notice her. It was too focused on inspecting its own palm, searching for the corpse of the “flea” that had just jumped.
Unfortunately, it didn’t find it. The beast quickly forgot about the matter and was once again drawn to the light from the helicopter. It leaped into the air, trying to swat the buzzing, glowing “fly” above its head.
Tu Ran climbed the rope, feeling less like a flea now and more like a spider.
A spider with silk threads.
With quick, practiced movements, Tu Ran climbed back to the beast’s nose, and it still hadn’t noticed her.
This time, Tu Ran didn’t act hastily. She held her breath, focusing intently as she gathered all the mental energy she had accumulated from the Haenden Star System.
She recalled that when she had commanded the alien beast to stop earlier, there was a brief moment when it was under the control of the hallucination mushrooms, indicating that the beast could see the mushrooms. The mushrooms had an effect on the beast, though it was minimal.
So, Tu Ran decided to try using her mental energy to see if it would have a stronger effect.
On the back seat of the vehicle, the display screen showed only Tu Ran, kneeling near the beast’s nose, her hands gripping its skin tightly, her head lowered and motionless. A few strands of hair hung down, obscuring her face, leaving her expression a mystery.
She held this posture for about ten minutes, as still as if she were asleep.
If someone looked closely, they would see that the colorful mushroom on her shoulder was glowing brighter and brighter.
The halo that once illuminated only a small portion of her shoulder now shone brightly enough to light up her entire body.
Soon, the light from the mushroom covered the light from the helicopter, and the alien beast’s attention shifted, drawn to the glow near its own nose.
Tu Ran slightly tilted her head back, staring into the alien beast’s black pupils.
Her white eyeballs were veined with blood, and the veins in her neck swelled. The back of her hand, gripping the beast’s skin, was covered with bulging veins.
“Stop… now.”
The beast’s forward momentum halted. Its upper arm slowly dropped to its side, and its gaze became vacant, fixed on Tu Ran.
The hallucination mushroom was working.
Tu Ran didn’t relax, though. Her hand still touched the beast’s skin, and she could feel the confusion in its memories. It was struggling, trying to break free from her control over its thoughts.
Its legs trembled, and the tip of its tail flicked slightly.
These were signs of its attempt to escape.
Tu Ran could only reinforce her command, her gaze filled with authority and power, locking onto the beast’s eyes, leaving no gap in its memory, filling its mind with her presence.
“Obey the command!”
“Forget yourself!”
“Follow my command!”
Tu Ran kept repeating her orders.
The beast’s struggles gradually weakened, and its consciousness started to succumb.
This was an all-encompassing suppression.
Tu Ran’s aura was fully unleashed, like a lion on the hunt.
If… you ignored the blood dripping from her nose.
Her mental energy was depleting too quickly, and her nosebleed hadn’t stopped. Unfortunately, her mind remained tightly focused, never daring to relax even for a moment. She didn’t have time to wipe away the blood, letting it drip continuously and gather into a pool on the alien beast’s skin.
The whole world seemed to fall silent. Under Yu Boming’s direction, the helicopter flew off into the distance, the sound of the propeller fading away. The humans on the ground stopped moving, stopped talking, holding their breath just like Tu Ran, creating the best possible environment for her.
The world fell into darkness, with only Tu Ran and the hallucination mushroom on her shoulder providing the only light.
In the beast’s eyes, Tu Ran was the sole existence.
The beast had finally been tamed.
When Tu Ran silently whispered “Sit,” it obeyed without resistance and sat down on the ground, crushing a swath of greenery and trees.
Tu Ran let out a long sigh of relief, her heart finally at ease.
She was about to stand up when a sudden dizziness overwhelmed her, and everything in front of her went black. She quickly lowered her center of gravity and sat back down.
“How are you?” Yu Boming’s voice came through the walkie-talkie.
Tu Ran glanced at the walkie-talkie hanging loosely on her waist, grabbed it, and responded, “I’m fine for now.”
“That’s good. What’s the situation with the beast?” Yu Boming asked.
Tu Ran turned her head to look at the beast, still staring vacantly ahead. She pulled some paper from her space to wipe the blood from her face, her words somewhat slurred. “It’s being obedient for now, but I’m not sure how long it will last.”
Tu Ran possessed the [Night Vision] ability, and though the surrounding area was completely dark, she could clearly see what was around her as she sat on the beast’s nose, high above.
They hadn’t yet left the human activity zone, and many tall buildings still surrounded them.
“Find a bomb, one powerful enough to tear the beast apart from the inside out. I’ll figure out how to make it swallow it. Also, find a suitable location—I’ll take it there,” Tu Ran said in one breath, sending the message. “It has to be done at the fastest speed.”
Yu Boming replied immediately, “The location will be the amusement park we passed earlier. You just need to bring it to the center of the park. The bomb is ready. How do you want us to cooperate?”
“Place it on the plane. When I make the alien beast open its mouth, you can just toss the bomb inside,” Tu Ran said, glancing at the surrounding environment. A small drone flew up from below and began guiding her toward the center of the amusement park.
Tu Ran turned around, facing the beast, and commanded it, “Stand up.”
The beast slowly rose to its feet, controlling its limbs with Tu Ran’s guidance, following the drone.
“Fall back to a safe distance,” Tu Ran instructed, her attention divided.
Yu Boming responded, “We’re retreating now. How do you plan to evacuate?”
“Is the bomb set with a timer?” Tu Ran asked.
“It can be timed. How long do you need?”
Tu Ran estimated the speed at which she could use her [Teleportation] ability and the power of the bomb. “10 seconds.”
“That works.”
In less than three minutes, the beast returned to the already-destroyed central area of the amusement park.
The glow from the hallucination mushroom on Tu Ran’s shoulder had dimmed, almost extinguished.
Normally, once she gave an order, the target would engrave it in their mind, and even if the hallucination mushroom’s light faded, they would still obey her.
But when facing the beast, Tu Ran didn’t want to take any chances. What if the mushroom faded and the beast regained its sanity? All her previous efforts would be in vain.
To ensure everything went according to plan, Tu Ran bit her finger, drawing blood, and smeared it next to the original spot. A new hallucination mushroom sprouted, its light covering the fading glow of the previous one.
Once this was done, Tu Ran pulled herself down from the beast, sliding off its fur.
The beast’s gaze never left her, its eyes locked on her as she landed, its head still lowered, watching her.
Standing about ten meters away from the beast, Tu Ran contacted Yu Boming, who was already 3,000 meters away.
“Is the bomb ready?” Tu Ran asked as she stepped over an advertisement board that read “Simulated Natural Forest Theme Park.”
Yu Boming replied, “It’s ready, we can deploy it at any time.”
“Can you see the beast’s condition from your side?” Tu Ran looked around at the area surrounding the beast.
“We can, the helicopter can transmit images anytime,” Yu Boming quickly responded.
Tu Ran nodded, “Good. When you see the beast’s mouth open, throw the bomb in immediately.”
“Got it.”
Tu Ran clipped the walkie-talkie back onto her waist and looked up at the beast’s eyes. “I’ll send you something tasty soon, you have to swallow it, understand? Now open your mouth and tilt your head back—something good is coming your way.”
The beast followed her instructions, tilting its head and opening its mouth wide, behaving like a well-trained pet eagerly waiting to be fed.
Unfortunately, what it was about to receive wasn’t food.
Just as the beast opened its mouth, a helicopter flew overhead, and a massive bomb detached from the plane’s tail, landing precisely in the beast’s open mouth.
The helicopter accelerated away immediately.
Tu Ran kept her eyes locked on the beast’s movements, urging it on. “Close your mouth and swallow it, swallow it down.”
Only when she saw the beast swallow the bomb did Tu Ran feel relieved.
She activated her [Teleportation] ability, disappearing in the blink of an eye, matching the helicopter’s speed.
The beast, after swallowing the bomb, lowered its head to search for Tu Ran, but couldn’t find her. It grew increasingly restless, its mind becoming less tethered as Tu Ran’s presence faded. The control she had over it started to weaken, and cracks appeared in its emotional state.
Once Tu Ran had moved beyond a certain distance, the beast fully regained its senses. It realized it had swallowed something it shouldn’t have and began to gag, trying to expel the bomb.
But it was too late.
“Boom!”
A dull explosion echoed behind Tu Ran. Even without turning around, she could feel the flames shooting up into the sky.
She met up with Yu Boming and entered the armored vehicle. The last transmission from the drone showed the alien beast’s chest splitting open, and the explosive light burst from inside. Then the screen went black—the drone had been caught in the blast as well.
