STB Chapter 25: Roller Coaster

This is machine translated and all copyrights belong to the author. Please note that the translator might take creative liberties for better readability. Thank you for reading.

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Jian Hua: I just want to go home, why is it so difficult?

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“Actually, there are some handy tools in the trunk of my car that can be used as weapons. ”

“Where is your car?”

“In a nearby clinic. I took a 120 ambulance to the hospital.”

“……let’s go to the clinic first?” Li Fei used a questioning tone, but the car had already started so Jian Hua could only agree. He opened the car door and sat in the backseat. 

Li Fei casually looked back. “Why not go to the passenger seat? It’s easier to give directions.”

“I’m worried that there’d be difficult to deal with monsters that’d attack the car from behind halfway.” Jian Hua was very thoughtful.

“……”

The actor secretly sighed as he’d expected it wouldn’t go so smoothly. He followed Jian Hua’s instructions and turned at the intersection. The distance from the hospital to Jian Hua’s home was not short. Though the car is not a good shield, at least you don’t need to your ability. If they meet another group of hairballs, they could just hit them and send them flying. 

Driving in a silent city brought a different kind of pleasure. 

Li Fei enjoyed this feeling while Jian Hua was trying to probe their surroundings. He did not find any ability holders which made him think that the overlapping space only appeared beneath him and Li Fei.

“Wait!” Jian Hua suddenly felt a terrible presence. 

Li Fei subconsciously hit the brakes and slowed down. 

“Reverse, turn around!”

The actor did so without hesitation. When the car briskly circumvented to another road, Jian Hua gave a new instruction, “Stop, don’t move.”

After a while, there was movement in the street. 

A few black furballs as big as cats bolted. 

They’re seven to eight times bigger than the hairball monsters in the hospital. But their legs are still very short, and deeply stuck in their rounded bodies. They did not even look at Li Fei and Jian Hua hiding in the car but ran over the hood in a panic. Their sharp claws left several scratches on nearby vehicles. 

Jian Hua asked with his eyes, Do you own this car？

Li Fei held his forehead and nodded. 

Suddenly, Li Fei felt his whole body shiver and flames appeared uncontrollably around him, almost burning the seat cushions. Fortunately, despite the danger, Jian Hua slapped him hard on the shoulder, causing Li Fei to recover and suppress his abilities. 

At the intersection in the distance, a huge shadow appeared in the direction they were supposed to take. 

It has several tentacle-like things, climbing buildings to move forward. Its weight made the smaller vehicles squeak from the pressure. 

A series of screams came. Li Fei saw one of the tentacles holding two stretched-out hairballs, slowly stuffing it into the shadows of its body, and the cries stopped shortly after. 

After eating, the tentacle monster continued along the street. If Li Fei had not turned around, even if it didn’t hit the car, they would still block the monster’s way. 

Only when that huge ugly figure disappeared did Li Fei whisper, “Did you see it with your ability?”

When they were attacked by a group of monkeys in the hospital before, he could say that Jian Hua had an excellent hearing to find them so early but the situation just now couldn’t be explained by just this. 

Jian Hua nodded and admitted while looking ugly, “I can feel the presence of unusual creatures in the Abandoned World. If we meet it head-on, we have to pay a heavy price. Even the power in my body is keeping me from approaching.”

Li Fei felt the same way. The fierce flame beast in his heart was anxious and exploded. 

“It’s fine if we can avoid it. Someday, Major Zhang can bring heavy weapons in the Abandoned World so let him solve this thing by himself.” Li Fei restarted the vehicle. Fortunately, he’s not a crazy car lover, otherwise, those scratches on the hood would be enough to make him uncomfortable. 

“Let’s assume these monsters originally lived in a dense forest. The hairball creatures are good at hiding. The monkey’s long arms allow them to swing on branches and grab the food hiding in crevices. But what about this octopus-like monster?” Li Fei couldn’t understand it. 

No matter how he thought about it, it’s not on the same system as the forest creatures.

“Maybe it’s a rainforest.” Jian Hua whispered. 

Li Fei looked at Jian Hua from the rearview mirror. He suddenly remembered something and laughed with ease. “So you’ve seen that TV series. When I just started in this industry, there was no good opportunity so I can only pick bad scripts.”

It was a sci-fi web drama with eye-rolling special effects. It’s about four young college students who met an accident during their graduation trip. They arrived at an alien planet full of rainforests. At the top of the food chain was a giant squid with hard skin and used a few tentacles to move between the tall trees. The humid climate of the rainforest could efficiently provide the moisture they need. The squid, gaining wisdom, was very evil and the villain in the movie. 

During the actual shooting, the crew bought a dozen different pink squid toys. 

Even for Li Fei, thinking of himself screaming in fear in front of the camera at a magnified plush toy after post-editing——have to say that those who can finish watching this show and not be defeated by embarrassment phobia are his true fans.

“The plot and the special effects are kind of……*cough*!”

Jian Hua felt the need to explain. He didn’t want to cause too many misunderstandings because Li Fei was no longer just his employer. According to their pleasant mode of getting along, he could become an ally or even a friend with common adversity. 

——Not counting now, because their trust hasn’t reached that point. 

He’d treat strangers as someone who had the right to speak, but Jian Hua didn’t care what they thought. But for people who might become friends in the future, Jian Hua would pay attention to their emotional changes and won’t say anything too rude. 

“You know, I don’t have a talent for acting. But I never gave up and I tried to change.” Jian Hua looked at his reflection on the car window. He dropped out of high school, and he relied on self-study until today. In Jian Hua’s view, as long as he’s interested and worked hard, there’s nothing he can’t learn. 

Jian Hua’s first big comeback was in acting. 

There are a lot of people in the entertainment industry. Within half a year of joining the industry, Jian Hua found that the veterans could always see through his mind, so he guessed where the problem is. His eyes, the twitching of his facial muscles, the subconscious movements of his shoulders and fingers, these micro-expressions would reveal a person’s mind, and it’s also the foundation of a role. 

“In terms of acting skills, the easiest way to figure out a role is to think of yourself as that person where all the character’s emotions, anger, sorrow, and happiness are your own.” Jian Hua did not finish. The drawback of this method is that it’s too tiring! If you went too deep, you’d have to see a psychiatrist. 

“Even though the sci-fi movie has bad special effects, but the lack of funding is a test of your acting skills. You’re really……um, very talented.” Jian Hua recalled the 18-year-old Li Fei in the movie. He’s not yet proficient in acting but the basic expressions were in place. The set of the crew was too bad and the shots were always focused on the actors, so it’s very suitable for beginners to learn acting.

Li Fei happily accepted the praise from his crush. 

Although Jian Hua explained that he’s not a fan and explicitly looking for that movie is not because of “true love”. 

“The idea of a rainforest squid is too outrageous……” Li Fei’s expression suddenly froze. He slammed on the brakes, and fought with the steering wheel, making the Ferrari drift with two wheels on one side. 

Jian Hua responded quickly and grabbed the roof armrest. 

“Oh my God, it can change color.” Li Fei stiffly said. 

“What? I can’t feel it.” Jian Hua’s expression drastically changed. 

Li Fei closed his eyes, and his vision became clearer. “In front of the building at 10 o’clock. There’s a ginkgo tree in the green belt. The canopy is denser than the other ginkgo trees on this street, isn’t it?”

Jian Hua’s pupil contracted. This road is a famous landscape in Huai City. Every autumn, golden leaves would cover the ground which was very beautiful. These ginkgo trees have hundreds of years of history and are relatively tall. The tree that Li Fei mentioned was on the roadside. If they continued driving, they must pass under that canopy. 

Looking closely, the density of the canopy was abnormal and the direction of the branches was also wrong……

“Reverse.” Jian Hua whispered. 

“It’s useless. It’s coming for us.”

Li Fei smiled bitterly. In this group of monsters, the hairballs would only swarm, but were as timid as a mouse; the long-armed monkeys would hold grudges and call their friends for revenge; this tentacle monster was even smarter. It actually pretended to leave, then changed its color to disguise itself and ambush them halfway. 

“Abandon the car?” Jian Hua used purely rational judgment. 

As long as they escape to the buildings on the side, and find an elevator to drill into, this monster would have no choice. If they stay in the car, just one tentacle could crush the car and them like a metal can. 

“Not gonna work! The direction it left just now is the opposite of this road, but it actually rushed in front of us for an ambush. Unless it’s not the same rainforest squid, otherwise, with its speed, there would be no time to run after getting off the car!”

Influenced by Jian Hua, Li Fei simply called this monster a rainforest squid. 

“Use our ability?”

“You want me to cook such a big squid? Or do you want us to float this thing and throw it around?” Li Fei asked. 

Jian Hua went silent with a “forget it” expression. 

Before they had time to discuss countermeasures, the tentacle monster found that the prey hadn’t moved for a long time so it suddenly launched an attack. The camouflage color of golden leaves and gray-brown trunk faded away. The lead-gray body suddenly shrunk, and several tentacles approached them through the front. 

This momentum is not to the degree of just leaving scratches on the car like the hairball monsters’ claws, the glass windows would definitely shatter. 

The Ferrari rapidly reversed. Li Fei even took into account the rear situation and flexibly avoided the obstacles. 

The tentacles were incredibly fast. But after penetrating several cars, the rainforest squid could only stop attacking. To move its body, it had to pull the tentacles out. Li Fei used this gap to step on the accelerator and speed away. 

“You practiced racing?” Jian Hua tried to concentrate and used his ability to push the obstacles in front of the car. 

“I have filmed racing in movies, the thrilling shots are all post-composite ones, how’d I do?” Li Fei happily replied, finding joy in sorrow. 

“It’s at the intersection ahead, turn right!”

Jian Hua promptly reminded. The Ferrari dangerously rushed into the sidewalk while the rainforest squid’s tentacles about to attack the car’s blindspot turned to the other side of the road. 

“I see, you’re very talented.” Jian Hua endured his dizziness and exaggerated. 

“It’s mainly thanks to my eyes.” Li Fei broke out in cold sweat. He accurately captured the opportunity again and went through the center of the two tentacles, “I’m almost 30 before I knew I could do something so crazy.”

Jian Hua did not feel like joking. He anxiously said, “Damn it. It hid again, I can’t detect where it is!”

“Rooftop of the residential building on the right!” Li Fei exposed its disguise with a glance. 

The steering wheel and tires were overloaded and began emitting abnormal noises. Jian Hua once again rejoiced that they did not use his secondhand car. With its poor quality, how could it withstand such a tragedy？

The vehicles on the street suffered one after another, and even a part of the roadside buildings was affected by the tentacles smashing their glass windows. 

After another unsuccessful attack, the rainforest squid lurked again. 

“Front, back, left, right……strange, where did it go?” Li Fei muttered to himself, and suddenly realized, “Not good. Hold on, it’s above us!”

“*Boom!*” A loud noise came from the roof. 

The roof caved in a visible arc. 

“It’s too heavy! Not good, the tires can’t withstand the load and the car also……”

He wanted to throw off the monster on the roof but its rough tentacles hung down and tightly clung to the car, tight enough that the door was deformed. They wouldn’t be able to open it even if they wanted to.

The monster’s yellow eyes slowly appeared on top of the front glass window. 

At the same time, the car finally met the ground with a spark and went on strike. 

“Get down!”

The two men hugged their heads and lowered their bodies at the same time. The rear glass window shattered and a tentacle aggressively came in, trying to drag the prey out. 

Flames burst out, and the glass on all four sides shattered. High-temperature flames flowed out like Medusa’s snake hair, divided into countless strands, and at each end were like bloody months, fiercely biting onto the tentacle. 

The rainforest squid entrenched on top of the car jerked. It didn’t seem to have vocal organs. 

The suction cups on the tentacles all tightened up, and the lead-gray rough skin turned red from the flames, but it still did not give up, angrily lashing at the car that was about to be scrapped.

Before it became a grilled squid, Jian Hua and Li Fei would die first. 

“If the oil spills, we’re all screwed.” Li Fei tried his best to control his ability, trying to avoid damaging the vehicle itself, but the rainforest squid was too tightly entangled that it can’t be separated from the car.

A tentacle plunged into the car even in flames. When Li Fei saw it, he tried to save Jian Hua, but he was in the front seat, and Jian Hua was in the back. 

Horrified, Li Fei suddenly felt a sharp tingling from his heart and a strong sense of crisis rushed to his forehead. Before he could get rid of this drowning choking sensation, the whole car spun and turned upside down. 

Jian Hua held a hand on the tip of the monster’s tentacle. Invisible filaments emerged and dissipated the flames before plunging into the tentacle. The rainforest squid violently twitched, and the whole car shook with it. 

“*Bang!*”

This huge monster slipped from the car with a burnt smell, fell on the road, and died.

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The author has something to say：

Small Theater：

“Cook a big squid with your abilities?”

Li Fei (⊙﹏⊙): This is over the top！

PS: About the squid living in the rainforest, the documentary [Future Rhapsody] tells about the period 5 million and 100 million years later……regarding the creatures that might appear on Earth. The setting here doesn’t exactly match the documentary.

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Last Edit:     November 25, 2021, 8:41 PM

This is machine translated and all copyrights belong to the author. Please note that the translator might take creative liberties for better readability. Thank you for reading.