SGT CH174

◎Mu Si flapped his tentacles, protesting against the Tianjia’s streaking behavior.◎

Even among the myriad races across the vast universe, tentacle monsters were an exceptionally unique species.

They possessed immense mental power, a translucent tentacle body that could infinitely expand and proliferate, a mimetic ability to alter their form at any time, and an extremely potent parasitic reproductive capability.

Clearly belonging to a psychic-oriented species, they nonetheless had remarkable physical combat strength, and their reproductive capability was terrifyingly powerful.

The strongest tentacle monster was capable of dominating an entire star system, capturing hundreds of millions of living beings as gestators to reproduce its offspring.

Its influence could even radiate to surrounding star systems, giving the nations of the universe immense headaches and driving them to loathe it deeply.

However, none of this had anything to do with Mu Si.

He was merely a newly born juvenile tentacle monster.

Less than the size of a palm, like a lump of jelly, his combat strength was virtually nonexistent. An ordinary long-eared beast could tear him in two.

Capturing gestators, reproducing offspring, and dominating star systems were all far too distant for him.

His most critical task right now was finding food to fill his belly.

Mu Si gathered his tentacles and curled up inside a cosmic drift bottle.

This was the new shelter he had found.

A wonderful piece of space junk, perfectly suited to be his home, as well as his spaceship.

He had already been hungry for many days.

Still, it didn’t matter, because he would soon be able to scrounge up a feast.

Right ahead of him.

A hybrid Tianjia was currently brawling with several cosmic behemoths.

Or rather, this should be called a one-sided massacre.

The behemoths were simply no match for the SSS-grade hybrid Tianjia.

This couldn’t be blamed on the behemoths either. SSS-grade was the ceiling of combat strength in the known universe. No matter who came, they wouldn’t stand a chance.

Fresh blood flew alongside severed limbs, crystal cores shared the brilliant glow of the starry sky.

What a magnificent feast.

Slurp.

Mu Si tried hard to pull his gaze away from those dazzlingly glowing crystal cores.

He certainly couldn’t get his hands on the crystal cores.

Yet he could still scavenge other scraps.

Even if that Tianjia cleaned up the battlefield, he would at most take the primary parts of the behemoths. The other chunks of flesh and blood scattered around the perimeter would be enough for him to eat for a very long time.

The battle ahead had subsided, and the hybrid Tianjia had claimed victory without question.

Mu Si poked a few tiny tentacles out of the bottle mouth, contracting them before abruptly snapping them open. The generated propulsion pushed the drift bottle, drifting toward the piece of meat closest to him.

Moving through outer space always made it difficult to accurately control direction and distance.

Mu Si watched helplessly as he brushed past the hunk of meat he had been yearning for, drifting further and further away.

Finally, he only came to a halt when crashing into a black high wall.

It was only when a slender, cool-white hand picked up the bottle that Mu Si realized he hadn’t crashed into a wall, but into that SSS-grade Tianjia.

It was over, over, totally over.

If he were a star-system-tier tentacle monster, he could still put up a fight against an SSS-grade Tianjia.

Yet he was merely a juvenile.

Falling into the hands of a Tianjia was no different from a lump of jelly delivering itself straight to someone’s mouth.

Mu Si frantically paddled his tentacles, trying to escape.

However, the bottle opening was blocked by the pad of the Tianjia’s finger. No matter how he pushed with all his might, he couldn’t budge it, and he couldn’t get out at all.

He could only scramble his tentacles frantically inside the bottle, spinning around in utter panic.

The bottle kept rising until it came to a stop in front of the Tianjia.

A pair of cold and gorgeous emerald-green eyes enlarged before Mu Si.

Mu Si curled into a trembling ball inside the glass bottle out of fear.

Ying, he was going to be eaten.

“…A hermit-type tentacle monster?”

X slightly raised an eyebrow, rotating the bottle to inspect it.

“Is this some new species? It’s quite miniature.”

His innate mental power was sufficient to let Mu Si understand the meaning behind the Tianjia’s words.

He flapped his tentacles with all his might, putting on a super fierce expression.

You are the hermit-type tentacle monster! Your whole family is hermit-type tentacle monsters!

“Mm… quite cute.”

The little tentacle monster baring its fangs and waving its claws inside the glass bottle looked full of vitality and exceptionally adorable.

It made X unable to hold back a faint smile.

His ear-clip terminal vibrated, transmitting an inquiry from his adjutant asking when they would return.

X glanced at the time displayed on the virtual screen and said, “Depart and return in one star hour.”

Having said that, X took out a piece of memory metal from his spatial bracelet, pinched it into an appropriate shape with his fingers, and stuffed it into the bottle opening to serve as a stopper.

Afterward, he casually stuffed the small glass bottle into the pocket of his combat uniform and set about handling the scene filled with behemoth corpses and mangled flesh.

Digging out the crystal cores, casually tossing the main body parts into his spatial bracelet, and burning the remaining wreckage with a burst of fire.

X had long grown extremely proficient with these steps.

Finishing all this, X released the mecha from his ring, piloting it as it broke through the sea of fire to return to the fleet.

Inside his pocket, the little tentacle monster Mu Si was pushing hard against the bottle stopper.

Curse it, it wouldn’t budge at all.

The Tianjia had casually pinched it a few times to mold the material into shape.

In the Tianjia’s hand, this tough metal seemed like a lump of soft clay that could be molded at will.

Yet before Mu Si, it became an unshakeable alloy wall, a barrier of the world.

After trying a few times, Mu Si gave up competing with the bottle stopper.

Instead, he redirected his target toward the glass bottle itself.

He knew how terrible the reputation of tentacle monsters was in the universe.

He absolutely could not be taken back by this Tianjia.

He didn’t want to end up as an experimental subject locked inside a research lab, enduring inhuman experiments.

Being shocked with electricity, burned by fire, sliced open, injected with various toxic substances… and ultimately dying in agonizing torment.

While Mu Si struggled against the bottle, the mental power he released also sensed the changes in the outside world.

The Tianjia had piloted the mecha back into the warship.

A colossal warship gathering soldiers of many races, where every soldier was equipped with cutting-edge weaponry, and dead-angle-free smart surveillance covered the entire vessel.

It was truly over, the chances of escaping had grown even slimmer.

Mu Si felt like crying.

As a tentacle monster that needed to lay low and develop over a long horizon, he had undoubtedly drawn the worst possible start.

Not long after birth, having never even eaten a full meal, he had run straight into an SSS-grade Tianjia, leaving him zero chance to grow.

While holding back his tears so he wouldn’t drop little pearls, Mu Si flapped his tentacles to hammer on the glass bottle.

He deeply regretted choosing such a thick glass bottle as his temporary residence.

If he had picked a thinner, more fragile container with more holes, he would have slipped out long ago.

After an unknown amount of time, the outside sounds gradually faded.

The Tianjia had returned to his private quarters and closed the door.

X took off his combat uniform as he walked, tossing it casually into the laundry hamper, and prepared to enter the bathroom to shower.

Halfway there, he suddenly remembered something. He intercepted the uniform that was about to be automatically sent into the washing machine and pulled a glass bottle out of the combat uniform’s pocket.

Mu Si: “…”

The moment light returned to his eyes, he was greeted by a completely naked Tianjia. Ten thousand long-eared beasts stampeded through Mu Si’s heart.

Mu Si flapped his tentacles, expressing his stern protest against this act of streaking before a juvenile tentacle monster.

“Still quite lively.”

Reassured, X brought it along into the bathroom, placed it on the counter, and turned on the showerhead.

Hazy steam filled the entire bathroom.

A layer of white condensation also formed over Mu Si’s glass bottle.

He couldn’t see anything with his eyes, but luckily he had his mental power.

Through psychic sensing, Mu Si discovered that the glass bottle was very close to the counter’s edge, and the counter was quite high off the ground.

If he could nudge the glass bottle to the edge and let it plunge… this height combined with the hard floor would be enough to shatter the glass bottle.

Action followed thought.

Amid the splashing sound of the shower water, the little translucent tentacle monster thrashed continuously inside the bottle, adjusting and inching the glass bottle toward the counter’s edge bit by bit.

Finally, a corner of the base poked out, followed by half of it…

Mu Si threw all of his body weight onto it. Most of the glass bottle was suspended in midair, tilting forward.

The angle of tilt grew steeper and steeper. Under Mu Si’s excited gaze, the glass bottle suddenly plummeted.

Success!

The impact came, and the glass bottle hit bottom, yet the expected shattering did not occur.

Looking at the flesh color outside the bottle, Mu Si was somewhat dazed.

Reaching out with his mental power, he discovered that he had landed right on the slightly lifted instep of the Tianjia military female.

Mu Si: Ah?

The Tianjia lifted the tip of his foot and gave a light flick. The glass bottle soared high, tracing a perfect arc before landing safely back on the inner side of the counter.

From start to finish, the Tianjia had been leisurely showering in relaxation, not even sparing a glance toward Mu Si’s direction.

Mu Si: “…”

Bullying a tentacle monster too much!

Mu Si slapped the bottle walls in fury, his tentacles flailing wild.

“Don’t be impatient. I’ll switch you to a bigger bottle shortly.”

X shut off the water, casually picked up a towel to drape over himself, and lifted the wobbling glass bottle off the counter.

Mu Si: “?!!”

Too hateful!

Utterly hateful!

Cruel, wicked Tianjia.

X carried the little tentacle monster out of the bathroom and placed the bottle on the table.

Then he opened his spatial bracelet, carefully selected a spacious and bright glass bottle, and set it to the side.

Mu Si turned his head to glance at the large bottle next to him, puffing up in anger.

He watched as the Tianjia picked up the bottle he was in again and pulled out the memory alloy plugging the opening.

Seizing the opportunity, Mu Si bolted out in a flash.

He slammed headfirst onto the Tianjia’s full, sleek chest, which was still dotted with water droplets.

Seeing that he was about to roll right off, suction cups spontaneously sprouted from Mu Si’s tentacles, latching firmly onto him.

Climbing across the Tianjia’s chest, Mu Si scrambled upward rapidly, scaling the Tianjia’s firm, broad shoulder in a flash.

Mu Si looked toward the doorway and made a leap.

As long as he could reach that place…

Squeak.

He was pinched.

The little tentacle monster that had just darted out was caught in midair between two of the Tianjia’s fingers, his body squished out of shape.

Fortunately, a tentacle monster’s body possessed superior flexibility. As long as he wasn’t severed, he could still run.

Mu Si wrapped around the Tianjia’s fingers and squeezed outward.

With a desperate tug, he successfully squeezed out.

Only to land right into a glass bottle.

“…”

Looking at the transparent bottle walls, Mu Si raised his head blankly.

He saw the Tianjia casually squish the memory alloy a bit and plug it back into the bottle opening.

Ying.

After all that effort, he had ended up back in a bottle, and a bigger, sturdier one at that.

Mu Si lost all will to live, curling up at the corner of the bottle bottom, unwilling to move.

Seeing the little tentacle monster lose its vitality, X was somewhat puzzled.

“What is the matter? Do you not like this bottle?”

Who would like a bottle?!

Mu Si refused to admit how delighted he had been when he first found the drift bottle, or how much he had loved that tiny container that fit him just right.

Now he was filled with regret.

Immense regret.

X gently shook the bottle a few times, but failed to elicit the slightest reaction from the little tentacle monster.

The tiny tentacles remained stuck to the bottom of the bottle, motionless, looking as though he had melted into one with the glass.

Coincidentally, both were transparent, making him impossible to spot without looking closely.

According to X’s experience, when a living creature lost its vitality, it would die very quickly.

He didn’t want the little pet he had just acquired to die like this.

X activated his terminal to search for how to properly raise a little tentacle monster.

First, a prominent warning popped up: “Tentacle monsters are classified as extremely evil creatures and must not be kept as pets.”

Extremely evil…

X glanced at the tiny jelly-like ball inside the bottle.

He clearly looked very adorable.

Speaking of which, thousands of years ago, the Tianjia had also been regarded as a brutal, heartless race, the public enemy of the universe, and the ultimate villains.

A public enemy of the universe raising another public enemy of the universe actually made for quite a fitting pair.

Ignoring the warning, X continued to search.

However, information on raising little tentacle monsters was scarce. Most consisted of experiments concerning tentacle monsters, along with news reports detailing their atrocious deeds.

X barely managed to filter out a few pieces of useful information from a pile of unsightly content.

Tentacle monsters needed to feed.

Adult tentacle monsters ate practically everything, capable of gnawing on rocks or energy ores.

They were exceptionally easy to keep alive and exceptionally difficult to kill.

Juvenile tentacle monsters had much weaker digestive capabilities and could only consume relatively soft food, such as nutrient solutions or meats.

Fresh raw meat easily stimulated a juvenile tentacle monster’s predatory instinct, so feeding it was not recommended.

Additionally, fresh raw meat would not stimulate an adult tentacle monster’s predatory instinct.

An adult tentacle monster’s reproductive instinct superseded its feeding instinct, regarding all living creatures as potential gestators.

In terms of primary food choices, they favored lower-tier flora and fauna outside the gestator selection range, energy ores, and other nutrient substances.

X wasn’t worried about awakening the little tentacle monster’s predatory urge.

He was merely unsure of what food the little tentacle monster preferred to eat.

Therefore, he decided to test everything.

He first took out a pouch of nutrient solution, uncorked the stopper, and dripped a few drops into the bottle.

Mu Si caught the aroma of food, and his tightly coiled tentacles unfurled slightly.

Glancing at the nearby nutrient solution rich with dense energy aura.

Mu Si turned his head away in disdain.

Hmph, he wouldn’t stoop to eating food handed out like charity.

His gaze shifted toward the still-open bottle mouth.

Mu Si’s mind stirred, quietly gathering strength, and suddenly bounced upward.

Just as he leaped out of the bottle mouth.

A finger pressed down, shoving him right back down.

Splat.

Mu Si tumbled into the nutrient solution.

It smelled so good.

By the time Mu Si realized what was happening, he had already absorbed the nutrient solution clean.

X tilted the pouch of nutrient solution and dripped down a few more drops, landing right on top of the little tentacle monster.

Chomp chomp.

Mu Si enveloped the nutrient solution on his body, feeding voraciously.

Tentacle monsters did not have physical “mouths” or “eyes” in the standard sense.

Yet from a practical perspective, their entire bodies functioned as both “mouths” and “eyes.”

After feeding him nearly half a pouch of nutrient solution, X sliced up several small bits of meat and tossed them inside.

Before the meat chunks could even touch the ground, Mu Si leaped up to intercept them, wrapping around and swallowing them whole.

Charity food: delicious!

X lifted the bottle to observe, poking the spot where the little tentacle monster rested through the glass.

“You ate so much food, where did it all go?”

The little tentacle monster was translucent all over, even letting the room’s decor show through his body, yet the nutrient solution and meat chunks swallowed by him had vanished without a trace.

Hmph, mind your own business when it comes to tentacle monsters.

Mu Si gathered his tentacles and turned his back, presenting only a smooth, transparent, rounded sphere.

X surprisingly sensed a bit of tsundere attitude and cuteness from this transparent little ball.

“It looks like you’ve grown a little.”

X felt a slight sense of accomplishment in his heart.

He set the glass bottle back on the table, stood up, and retrieved pajamas to change into.

Earlier, in order to switch the bottle and feed the little tentacle monster, he hadn’t had time to dress, only draping a towel around himself.

Exhibitionist.

Mu Si scoffed inwardly, silently shielding his eyes with tentacles, though with eyes all over his body, he couldn’t cover them at all.

X was unaware of the little tentacle monster’s complaints. While changing, he noticed a patch of pink on his chest.

It was the spot where the little tentacle monster had collided earlier.

On it remained faint pink trails left by several crawling tentacles.

Was it a toxin?

As an SSS-grade hybrid Tianjia female, X was practically immune to all toxins.

Naturally, he didn’t care about venom from a tiny tentacle monster.

He recalled the sensation at that moment.

When the little tentacle monster clung to him, he hadn’t felt any discomfort.

Instead, he had felt… exceptionally pleasant and relaxed.

Reflecting on it carefully, that fleeting surge of pleasure was actually rather strange.

X remembered certain contents he had skimmed over while searching for methods to raise tentacle monsters earlier.

Adult tentacle monsters carried a unique substance on their bodies, akin to a pheromone.

It induced intense pleasure in the bodies of captured gestators, rendering them unable to resist effectively and putting them into a state suitable for conception.

Juvenile tentacle monsters also carried a similar substance, though its potency was far weaker, primarily used to numb adversaries for hunting or escaping.

So it was merely something that couldn’t even qualify as a toxin.

A weakened version of an anesthetic and soothing agent.

X buttoned up his shirt and cast the matter to the back of his mind.