A short while after entering the room, Bai Qi sensed something was wrong.
It was abnormal for such a large room to be completely empty, not a single person or soldier in sight.
Thinking this, Bai Qi glanced upwards inadvertently. What he saw shocked him.
Clinging to the ceiling beams was a strange creature, the size of a small car, resembling a spider.
This creature had been hiding on the beam, clearly waiting for prey to fall into its trap. However, now that Bai Qi had discovered it, the spider monster no longer waited. Its eight legs propelled it downwards from the beam, crashing onto the dining table with a thud.
As it landed, the black cloak draped over the spider monster fell away, revealing its terrifying true form.
This car-sized spider monster had human faces growing on its back. Some of these faces were smiling, some crying, some enraged, and some were already numb. As the spider monster moved, these faces let out bone-chilling sounds. The Sudan Novel Network.
In addition, the spider monster's eight legs were also human legs, and at the end of each were six thick, strong, and pale arms.
It had only one true head, which was clearly stitched together.
The creature’s face had six eyes, no nose, and shark-like serrated teeth, giving it an exceptionally fierce appearance.
The spider monster that landed roared at Bai Qi, intending to scare away this intruder as it had others, and then devour it to become stronger. However, the person before it showed no fear. Not only that, but Bai Qi’s gaze held a hint of provocation.
How could this be tolerated?
The enraged spider monster swept the pile of bodies on the table aside, drawing out two shields and four刺剑 (cìjiàn -刺剑).
It held the two shields in front of itself, with the four刺剑 protruding from between them. Its eight legs exerted force, and it lunged towards Bai Qi.
Bai Qi, however, remained unfazed. With a mere thought, he immobilized it in mid-air, then approached to examine it closely.
While the creature was undeniably ugly, its six arms gave it a significant combat advantage. As the saying goes, two fists are no match for four hands, let alone six. Moreover, compared to humans walking upright on two legs, the spider monster's eight-legged locomotion allowed it to adapt to a wider variety of terrains.
Although Bai Qi did not wish to transform his subordinates into such grotesque, inhuman forms, he acknowledged that adding more arms to a person would greatly enhance their combat effectiveness. While mechanical prosthetics could achieve a similar result, they were ultimately external aids and subject to too many limitations, unlike the practicality of two flesh-and-blood arms.
As Bai Qi was studying the creature, the sisters Kunasha and Kunar arrived in the dining hall. Upon seeing Bai Qi and the spider monster, which he controlled in the air like a plaything, the sisters gasped.
While others might not know, Kunar was aware of the spider monster's true identity. Before its transformation, this creature was named Quinding, an executioner under Kunsas. Its combat prowess was second only to Kunsas himself, and after being transformed into a spider monster, its strength had increased tremendously. Even the current Kunar was not confident she could defeat it.
As for Kunasha, she was simply stunned by the spider monster's ugliness.
Bai Qi did not show mercy to this formidable former executioner, as its current form held some research value for him.
Bai Qi’s principle was to never allow his quarry an easy death before he had extracted all of its value. It could be sent to Octavian's laboratory to serve some final purpose.
With this thought, Bai Qi pressed it to the ground, produced a chain as thick as an adult’s arm, and bound the still struggling Quinding into a human-shaped zongzi.
Having finished, he casually tossed it into a corner of the dining hall and waved to the two behind him, saying, "Let's go."
After walking further for a while, Bai Qi and the two sisters finally encountered the Golden King, Kunsas.
They arrived at a stone bridge the size of a football field. A man wearing a crown was kneeling before the corpse of an ancient dragon. This man was none other than the Golden King, Kunsas, though he had now transformed himself beyond recognition.
His two arms, each as thick as a person’s embrace, were covered in numerous additional arms. Arms sprouted from his shoulders, back, and even his ribs. In addition, eyes, large and small, covered his entire body, truly achieving 360-degree vision. His thighs were also attached to several human legs.
Overall, he gave an impression of being bloated and grotesque. Various weapons were placed around his body. The ancient dragon corpse before Kunsas had clearly been dead for some time. Large patches of its dragon scales had fallen off, revealing putrid, foul-smelling flesh beneath. Its once-white dragon eyes had long since lost their luster.
Kunsas knelt before the ancient dragon corpse as if in prayer. After a few seconds, he slightly turned his head towards Bai Qi and said, "Foolish invaders. It seems Kunasha could not stop you. But do not worry, this will be your end. Your flesh and blood will become the nourishment for my strength."
Suddenly, Kunsas paused for a few seconds, then a slight smile curved his lips as he said, "Kunar, my foolish daughter, I didn't expect you to come as well."
At this moment, Kunar and Kunasha stepped out from behind Bai Qi.
"Kunsas!" Upon seeing her father after so long, there was no joy of a family reunion. Only a tense atmosphere of drawn swords, ready to explode at any moment.
Kunsas ignored Kunar and continued, "Kunasha, I didn't expect the magic on you to be broken. What a pity. Why come here to die? Wasn't it good to be my puppet?"
As he spoke, Kunsas slowly stood up, and simultaneously, the arms all over his body reached out, picking up the surrounding weapons.
"Kunar, do you know?" Kunsas said, turning to face Kunar. "I have always regretted it. I regret not cutting off your limbs sooner, then I could have become even stronger. By the way, your eyes are very good. I like them very much."
As soon as Kunsas finished speaking, Kunar, who could no longer endure it, rushed forward. She leaped into the air, her body forming a crescent shape, and fiercely brought her double axes down towards Kunsas's head.
Clang!
As expected, Kunar's double axes, swung with all her might, were easily blocked by Kunsas. The next moment, a beheading saber swung horizontally. Had Kunar not reacted quickly and retreated, she would have been cut in half by the opponent.
"After all these years, you're still so reckless, with no improvement at all."
"Shut up!"
The enraged Kunar, hearing Kunsas's words, felt the flames of anger burn even hotter. She exerted more force and attacked Kunsas again.
"Still too inexperienced."
Kunsas parried Kunar's attack with two large axes, then extended arms from his left and right ribs, clamping down on Kunar's arms like pincers.