Chương 84: Reborn as the Dragon — Chapter 84 - Ever Seen a Facehugger?

A horn sounded the charge. Two thousand excited hearts. The Sakura Island players marched with their chins high, hearts full of longing for a glorious future and deep sympathy for the flower maidens. They arrived near Silvermoon Forest before noon. Yamaguchi Mura Chicken stood with one foot planted on a large rock. He made circles with both hands and held them up to his eyes like binoculars, blocking out the glare so he could see more clearly.

In the distance, Silvermoon Forest stretched lush and verdant, flowers and trees swaying in the breeze, peaceful and serene. Yamaguchi Mura Chicken crouched down, plucked a blade of grass, and held it up in front of him. The grass swayed faintly in the breeze. A sharp gleam crossed his eyes.

"Wind direction — northwest. Approximately force three."

"Gentlemen! Take out the oil we refined. It is time to show these despicable monsters the true might of the Emperor's subjects!" The players in the front row obeyed immediately, each pulling a can of animal fat from their backpacks. Over a hundred players, each holding one.

"Gentlemen. You will carry out the most dangerous mission."

"Silvermoon Forest may have monsters lying in ambush." Yamaguchi Mura Chicken stood before the assembled oil-can bearers, voice low, expression grave.

"Are you afraid of death?!"

"Yamaguchi-san!" One player couldn't hold it in. He roared at the top of his lungs.

"I am not afraid of death! I am only afraid my death will not be glorious enough!" Yamaguchi Mura Chicken looked at him with quiet satisfaction. He stepped forward and carefully straightened the boy's collar. This one hadn't yet shed his childishness. His hair stuck out like a bird's nest. His nose hairs were a full centimeter long. His eyes were crusted with sleep. Truly the age of hot-blooded youth.

"Worthy of my chosen elite!"

"Rest assured — you are all heroes!"

"Now I bestow upon you a name: the Madness Suicide Squad! May your assault be as savage and relentless as hyenas!"

"Banzai!!!" The oil-can bearers roared in unison, blood boiling. From this day forward, they were the Madness Suicide Squad. What a magnificent name. Surely it would echo across the entire otherworld for generations. They believed this with their whole hearts.

"Now remove your equipment. I will keep it safe for you." Yamaguchi Mura Chicken gave a solemn nod. His gaze moved slowly from face to face, lingering on each member of the Squad as though these players might never respawn again. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. The tragic atmosphere was absolute. Several of the more sentimental Sakura Island players in the crowd quietly wiped their eyes.

The oil-can bearers' gratitude and admiration for Yamaguchi Mura Chicken swelled beyond words. Lips trembling, eyes red, they peeled off their gear one piece at a time. A moment later, over a hundred pale, stark-naked, bow-legged humans in nothing but oversized underpants stood assembled on that hilltop, a truly unforgettable sight.

"Go! Let Silvermoon Forest burn with the furious flames of His Majesty the Emperor's wrath!" Yamaguchi Mura Chicken's eyes glistened with hot tears. He raised his hand and gave the order to attack.

"Banzai!!!" The Madness Suicide Squad roared as one, clutched their oil cans, and charged toward Silvermoon Forest with the reckless, indomitable energy of men who had nothing left to lose.... Meanwhile, deep inside Silvermoon Forest, the corpses of roughly a hundred monsters had been tied to the trees. These were the ones who had fallen in the earlier battle. Su Nian had ordered the kobolds to drag them back out. There was no other way. A convincing trap needed convincing evidence, charred corpses included.

"These monsters contribute to the dragon's lair even in death. When this battle is over, collect their ashes and bury them beneath my lair." Those were Su Nian's exact words. They reduced the surrounding monsters to grateful tears, favorability ratings climbing fast. What a boss. Even when putting the corpses of his fallen subordinates to use, he treated the matter with such gravity. Several female monsters were instantly smitten. They decided then and there that barbs would be acceptable.

That even if bedrock couldn't survive it, they could — probably, manage. The bright jungle looked nothing like the peaceful scene it projected. That serenity was Silvermoon Forest's disguise. Right now, killing intent ran underneath everything. Under the ettercaps' control, spiders of every size had taken their positions in the canopy, packed tight among the branches. They were waiting for the players who would come to burn their forest, and they intended to leave a lasting impression.

Chattering shouts drifted through the trees. The Sakura Island players had arrived. The two ettercaps held perfectly still, every sense locked on the treeline. The organs they used to control their spider swarms had been reattached for this operation and would be removed again once it was done. Normally they lived in cages. They hadn't been let out in a very long time. Their hunger for blood was not subtle.

Their soybean-sized, blood-red compound eyes gleamed with cold malice as they watched the pale, bare-skinned mob shuffle in below. Player A: "Remarkable. We weren't ambushed!" Player B: "Naturally. Those pitiful creatures must have sensed our might and known they couldn't win. They've retreated into the forest to hide, like turtles pulling their heads in." Player A: "Heh. Wishful thinking. We'll smoke them out today either way." With that, Player A began pouring animal fat over the nearest trees and bushes.

Two cans emptied. A faint, greasy stench spread through the air.

"Kato-kun, pass me the matches."

"Kato-kun?" He called again. No answer, just a muffled, wet sound nearby, like something was blocking Kato-kun's mouth. Player A's chest went tight. He looked up. Kato-kun was struggling violently a short distance away. A washbasin-sized spider was plastered to his face. It was squeaking frantically, tearing at his skin with its mouthparts. Its abdomen pumped in rhythmic jerks, injecting a sickly green venom directly into his mouth. The spider wasn't high-level, barely tier three.

But its venom carried a paralytic effect. Kato-kun was already on the ground. His HP was dropping, just not quickly. Player A felt every hair on his body stand up at once. The SAN damage from that scene alone was immeasurable. He desperately wanted to scream and run. But he had a mission. He was a member of the Madness Suicide Squad. He had to protect his comrade.

"Kato-kun, hold on! I'll find a stick!" Pulling the spider off with his bare hands? Out of the question. Absolutely not. He needed a tool. He gritted his teeth. He'd handed his entire inventory to Yamaguchi Mura Chicken earlier, no gear, no weapons, nothing. But trees were everywhere. Finding a stick wouldn't be hard. He spotted a tree nearby that looked manageable to climb and scrambled up it in seconds. SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK! A dense, chittering shriek erupted from the canopy.

Player A froze with his hand already reaching for a branch. A chill crawled slowly down his spine. He looked up. In the shadowed fork of the tree, over a dozen pairs of bright red eyes lit up at once. Beyond them, barely visible, waves of small spiders shifted through the canopy in a rustling, crawling tide. It's over. That was Player A's last coherent thought. A tire-sized spider dropped from above and wrapped itself around his face. Bitter venom flooded his mouth. A paralysis debuff materialized above his head.

His vision filled edge to edge with the spider's gnashing mouthparts and swaying gray fuzz. ➤ Next: Lure