Chapter 42
Cervantes has been torn up dozens of times, and Pu Songling's three boxes of printed manuscripts are almost used up.
During this time, Vladimir also tried to help block the attack once or twice, but the result was that Vladimir used up his last two bomb magazines.
Meanwhile, Mary Shelley was still lively and energetic, fighting with Cervantes on the other side.
"To be honest, when I first heard this order, I actually felt quite sorry for Miss Shelley, and I didn't really want to carry it out..."
Pu Songling gently brushed his hand across a crack on his face. His blank face was torn open, revealing the skin of an old man beneath.
"But I don't think that way anymore."
The weak have little sympathy for the strong.
Shelley's relatively full-force attack resulted in him being in such a sorry state due to the splashing concrete.
If he were to rush straight at him... no, given his physical abilities, he probably wouldn't even be qualified to get close.
Vladimir shook his clothes, brushing off the dust that had stuck to them when they were first turned into an iron castle.
“Me too. When I first saw Roman attack Shelley with iron fire, I was a little confused. But now that I see it, losing an arm seems to Shelley like losing a hair.”
Looking in Shelley's direction, Vladimir's expression grew increasingly ferocious.
"Now let's put ourselves in his shoes... How come I never knew Don Quixote was such a formidable fighter! I feel like my UN intelligence is in the negative!"
Vladimir couldn't quite understand why Don Quixote, who was still maintaining his basic form and even wielding his spear to fight back despite being brutally beaten by Mary Shelley.
Rounding up, does this mean Don Quixote could also conquer Japan?
Vladimir expressed his incomprehension, because he felt that "Dirty Silver" was not worthy of such power in terms of the intensity of the warrant and its practical significance.
Pu Songling shrugged, indicating his helplessness.
"This is probably because you skip work to slack off during every training session and meeting."
Vladimir felt as if he had been shot in the knee.
"And strictly speaking, Nabokov, you can't really be considered a UN member right now... According to Roland, you sneaked onto the Nautilus when no one was looking and ran away, and you haven't had time to take the 'membership test' yet."
Vladimir felt another arrow strike his abdomen.
“Nabokov, you often don’t follow orders during missions, so you probably don’t have much experience in teamwork…”
This time, it was like being shot in the heart.
Vladimir gestured for Pu Songling to stop, indicating that he was conceding defeat.
"How about we discuss Don Quixote's fighting ability first?"
“You mean this?” Pu Songling subconsciously reached out and flipped through the book, as if recalling something. “If we’re only talking about strength, Shelley is only slightly stronger than Don Quixote; Don Quixote’s defense is far inferior to Shelley’s; and in terms of speed, Don Quixote could circle around Shelley without getting caught.”
At that moment, Vladimir turned his head to look at Don Quixote, who was being beaten, and then turned his head to look at Pu Songling with a suspicious look.
Although he had no expression, Pu Songling exuded an atmosphere of helplessness.
"The Don Quixote we know today got beaten up because he forced his way in for a head-on confrontation."
Vladimir immediately nodded in understanding.
"As for why Shelley could conquer Japan so easily, but Don Quixote couldn't..."
Pu Songling raised his head and carefully examined Mary Shelley, who was being besieged.
"Don Quixote's destructive power at full strength is almost the same as Shelley's. However, he can only maintain continuous combat for a dozen hours or so. If he goes too far, Savedra will become exhausted and lose his ability to fight."
Vladimir muttered subconsciously, "A few dozen hours can hardly be called just that."
Pu Songling neither heard Vladimir's words nor paid attention to what Vladimir was saying; instead, he kept observing Shelley's actions.
At that moment, Shelley was ambushed by Romain Rolland, and his shoulder was burned to a crisp.
Only the shoulder was completely charred, and only part of the arm connected to that shoulder was charred as well; the remaining intact arm could even move.
This means that the nervous system inside the coke is still functioning normally.
Shelley ripped the charred body off with a single blow, the brutal movement tearing away flesh around the shoulders, along with pieces of flesh from the chest and neck.
The spine and ribs are exposed to the air, and you can even see the expansion of the lungs and the contraction of the muscles on the side, before they are rapidly covered by new flesh extending up.
"Shelley's destructive power has no time limit."
In the short time it took for Pu Songling to finish those two sentences, Shelley had already begun to regenerate her arm.
"Is Frankenstein focusing more on enhancing survivability than combat power?"
Vladimir took out a handkerchief, bit it, and found it quite difficult to use.
It's unbelievable that this terrifying physical condition was caused by Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" damaging Shelley's nervous system, leading to Shelley's inability to become any angrier and creating a "limit."
—Moreover, Shelley is still carrying a layer of "Lolita" about her.
Shelley was constantly growing, not because of Frankenstein's influence, but because the limitations of "Lolita" forcibly fixed Shelley in a "relatively non-destructive state."
Shelley at fourteen years old represents a compromise after the clash between "Frankenstein" and "Lolita".
As Shelley grew, her supernatural abilities were constantly stimulated, and she continuously developed this "reality resistance".
She is growing, she is recovering; this is a terrifying resistance against the alteration of reality.
Almost instinctively, Vladimir murmured, "What kind of monster is this..."
"When Roman first approached me, he never mentioned that I was such a terrifying inhuman being..."
Pu Songling once again ignored Vladimir's voice, which was practically right next to him. It was one of Vladimir's little habits—in certain situations, he would suddenly start explaining himself and talking to himself, and at those times, you could just ignore him.
So Pu Songling simply stared solemnly ahead, the book in his hand moving on its own without any wind.
This time, using strange objects made of paper as a medium, Pu Songling's voice resounded throughout the battlefield.
"If Shelley continues to go on like this, we'll probably have to use our trump card."
Vladimir, who was in a daze, almost instinctively gripped the cross around his neck, while Romain Rolland tapped the crimson sphere he was holding in his right hand.
Don Quixote seemed unaffected, but red patches began to appear on his silver armor.
"Using your trump cards or something."
Vladimir withdrew his hand, which had been gripping the cross almost instinctively, revealing an expression of disgust at having his train of thought interrupted.
Perhaps Pu Songling revealed his "trump card," because Vladimir's expression isn't very good right now.
"Anyway, none of us have the ability to kill Shelley, so it's better not to use our trump cards recklessly."
“But if this continues, we won’t have any way to stop Shelley.” Pu Songling, who had made the suggestion, finally turned his attention to Vladimir. “Besides, you’re the last person here who has the right to say that we can’t use our trump cards recklessly.”
“Emotional damage is still damage. Using that ‘trump card’ you mentioned once will cause my fragile heart a lot of pain.”
Perhaps because Vladimir's expression and tone were so matter-of-fact, Pu Songling couldn't think of a rebuttal for a moment.
Pu Songling: Someone like me who cares a lot about face is no match for these kinds of people. (shrugs)
The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.
The scene became even more bizarre as Don Quixote, after being knocked away, flew between Vladimir and Pu Songling.
However, in the end, it was Pu Songling, who was more concerned about saving face, who relented first.
"Fine, if you don't want to use it, then don't."
Pu Songling patted the large book in his hand and put his glasses back on, which had been knocked off when he was caught in the turmoil.
"With what I have hidden away, I should be able to at least leave behind a complete corpse."
Vladimir, who was still sulking, was instantly stunned.
"That sounds so tragic!"
"It's nothing!" Pu Songling pushed up his glasses, and a flash of light that completely defied the laws of physics suddenly streaked across his lenses, instantly revealing distinct lines and muscle contours on his body. "I have roamed the land for over a decade, and though this is a foreign land, I have no regrets about standing up for my friend and being buried here!"
Just then, a dashing Don Quixote passed by, waving to Pu Songling and calling out, "Rest assured, my friend!"
Pu Songling's physique and muscles became more defined.
Looking at Pu Songling, who has already taken on the style of Hong Kong comics, Vladimir is almost turning into a screaming style.
"It's even worse now! You've even changed how you refer to yourself! And you're not using 'Painted Skin' here, you know!"
"You're putting a lot of pressure on me, especially when it comes to actually taking action..."
Before Vladimir could finish speaking, a huge shadow suddenly appeared behind the two of them.
Almost simultaneously, the two turned around and, as expected, saw the massive Nautilus stop behind them.
The lines on Pu Songling's body disappeared instantly.
Vladimir almost immediately changed the subject he was about to say: "I'm just the one who's in charge of paddling."
UN's true output group has arrived.
The Nautilus was docked sideways towards them, and apparently, some button was pressed inside, causing a staircase to extend from beneath the hatch platform. This is a unique design feature of the Nautilus, which was often docked on land; most submarines don't have it. :)
Opening the hatch still located at the top, the energetic Barry flew out and struck a pose in the air.
"The main character has arrived!"
As he spoke, Barry cheerfully began circling the Nautilus in the sky.
"Then...the final boss appeared!"
As Christie stepped out of the cabin, she glanced up at Barry silently before calmly continuing down the stairs.
"And then comes... the secret weapon!"
Behind Christie, Vargrave calmly stepped out of the Nautilus, seemingly holding something in his hand.
Because they hadn't come out, they couldn't actually see what Vagreve was carrying. However, Vladimir and Pu Songling clearly recognized what Vagreve was holding, and their eyes widened slightly in surprise (actually, only Vladimir's expression was visible).
"Oh."
Vladimir: "Okay, it seems we don't need to argue about who has the trump card."
"Did they actually bring out the ace (Joker) this time?"
Pu Songling, who was also watching this scene, quietly remarked, "This is already a royal flush, isn't it?"
Vladimir, suddenly speechless, exclaimed, "I suspect you're deliberately trying to ruin the atmosphere, you know that?"
"But I think this level is definitely enough for two Jokers."
The question is, how many Joker cards are there?
Vargrave's figure gradually became visible before them.
And the enormous stone coffin that he was dragging along.
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