STB Chapter 25: Speeding Car

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 hard?

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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?”

“It’s near a clinic. I came to the hospital in an ambulance.”

“…Should we go to the clinic first?” Li Fei asked in a consultative tone, but he had already started the car. Jian Hua had no choice but to agree and sat in the back seat.

Li Fei turned around nonchalantly, “Why not sit in the front passenger seat to guide the way?”

“I’m worried about encountering uncontrollable monsters attacking us halfway through the journey,” Jian Hua thoughtfully responded.

“…”

The actor sighed inwardly, having anticipated that it wouldn’t be so easy. He turned at the intersections as Jian Hua directed. The distance from the hospital to Jian Hua’s home was not short. Although a car wasn’t much of a shield, at least they didn’t need to use special abilities. If they encountered a group of furry creatures, they could just hit them.

There was a unique thrill in driving through the silent city.

Li Fei enjoyed this feeling, while Jian Hua was keenly sensing the surroundings. He didn’t detect any other special ability users. In this overlapping space, were only he and Li Fei present?

“Wait!” Jian Hua suddenly sensed a terrifying presence.

Li Fei instinctively hit the brakes, slowing down.

“Reverse, turn around!”

The actor did as told without a word. As the car nimbly took another road, Jian Hua gave a new instruction: “Stop, don’t move.”

Soon, there was movement on the street.

Several cat-sized black furry balls came rushing.

They were seven or eight times bigger than the little creatures in the hospital, but their legs were still short, deeply embedded in their round bodies. They ran over the car’s hood without even noticing Li Fei and Jian Hua inside, leaving several scratches on nearby vehicles with their sharp claws.

Jian Hua asked with his eyes: Is this car yours?

Li Fei held his forehead and nodded.

Suddenly, Li Fei shuddered, and flames uncontrollably appeared around him, almost burning the seat cushions. Fortunately, Jian Hua, disregarding the danger, slapped his shoulder, helping Li Fei regain his senses and suppress his abilities.

At a distant intersection, the direction they were originally headed, a huge shadow appeared.

Several tentacle-like things were moving forward, climbing and shifting, their weight making small vehicles creak and groan.

A cry-like scream came. Li Fei saw one of the tentacles wrapping around two larger furry balls, slowly stuffing them into the shadow shrouding its body. The screams stopped soon after.

Having finished its meal, the tentacle monster continued along the street. If Li Fei hadn’t turned around, even if they had stopped without hitting it, they would have been trapped in the path of this creature.

Only after the ugly, enormous figure disappeared did Li Fei ask in a low voice, “Did you see that with your special ability?”

Before, when they encountered a group of monkeys attacking in the hospital, it could be said that Jian Hua’s exceptional hearing detected them early. But the recent situation clearly couldn’t be explained that way.

Jian Hua nodded in acknowledgment, his expression grim: “I can sense the aura of unusual creatures in the abandoned world. If we encounter it head-on, we’ll pay a heavy price. The power inside me is preventing me from getting closer.”

Li Fei deeply related to this, feeling the restless and agitated beast of fire in his heart.

“It’s good we can avoid it. Maybe someday Major Zhang can bring heavy weapons into the abandoned world to deal with this thing.” Li Fei restarted the car, grateful that he wasn’t overly attached to his car; otherwise, the scratches on the hood would have been distressing.

“Suppose the world where these creatures originally lived was a dense forest. The furry creatures are good at hiding, the monkeys’ long arms let them leap through branches and grab hidden food, but what about this octopus-like creature?” Li Fei was puzzled.

It didn’t seem to fit into the ecosystem of a jungle.

“Maybe it’s a rainforest,” Jian Hua said softly.

Li Fei paused, then remembered something from a TV show he acted in early in his career, laughing lightly: “So you’ve seen that sci-fi web series. When I first started, I didn’t have opportunities, only poor scripts to choose from.”

It was a sci-fi web series with intoxicating special effects, about four young college students who, during a graduation trip, accidentally end up on an alien planet covered in rainforests. The top predator is a giant squid with tough skin, using its tentacles to move between tall trees. The humid climate of the rainforest ensures the squid’s moisture needs. The squid is intelligent and evil, the antagonist of the series.

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

Even Li Fei, thinking back to his screams of fear in front of the camera and the post-production editing of a technically enlarged plush toy, admitted that only his true fans could endure the show without being overwhelmed by cringe.

“The plot and visuals were a bit… cough!”

Jian Hua felt the need to explain, not wanting to create any misunderstandings. Li Fei was more than just his employer; according to their pleasant interaction pattern, they could become allies or even friends.

—Not yet, as their trust hadn’t reached that level.

Jian Hua, indifferent to what strangers with authority thought, paid attention to the emotions of potential friends and avoided saying overly rude things.

“You know, I have no talent for acting. I tried to change that with hard work,” Jian Hua reflected, looking at his reflection in the car window. Dropping out of high school, his current status was all due to self-study. In Jian Hua’s view, as long as there was interest and effort, there was nothing he couldn’t learn.

His first major setback was in acting.

Just half a year into the entertainment industry, Jian Hua realized that the veterans could see through his thoughts, pinpointing where he was lacking. Eye movements, facial muscle twitches, shoulder gestures, and subconscious hand movements – these micro-expressions reveal a person’s thoughts and are fundamental to bringing a character to life.

“Speaking of acting, the easiest way to understand a character is to become them, with all their emotions,” Jian Hua said, but didn’t finish his thought. The downside of this method is that it’s exhausting! Acting too much could require a visit to a psychologist.

“Although the special effects of that sci-fi film were poor, low-budget productions really test an actor’s skills. You were… um, excellent,” Jian Hua remembered Li Fei at eighteen in the film, still unpolished in acting, but with basic expressions in place. The poor set design meant the camera focused more on the actors, making it a great reference for beginners in acting.

Li Fei happily accepted the praise from the person he secretly admired.

Even though Jian Hua explained he wasn’t a fan and didn’t watch the show out of “true love.”

“The rainforest squid idea is too far-fetched…” Li Fei’s expression suddenly froze, he hit the brakes hard and turned the steering wheel sharply, nearly drifting the Ferrari on two wheels.

Jian Hua quickly grabbed the car’s roof handle.

“My god, it can change colors,” Li Fei said stiffly.

“What? I can’t sense its presence,” Jian Hua’s expression changed drastically.

Li Fei closed his eyes, his vision becoming clearer: “At 10 o’clock direction, in front of that building, there’s a ginkgo tree in the green belt, denser than others on this street, right?”

Jian Hua’s pupils contracted. This road was a famous scenic avenue in Huai City, beautiful in autumn with its golden leaves. These century-old ginkgo trees were tall. The tree Li Fei mentioned was by the roadside; passing under its canopy was inevitable.

On closer inspection, the density of the leaves and the direction of the branches seemed off…

“Reverse,” Jian Hua said quietly.

“No use, it’s targeting us.”

Li Fei grimaced. Among these creatures, the furry balls would swarm and attack, timid as mice; the long-armed monkeys held grudges, calling friends for revenge. This tentacle monster was smarter, pretending to leave and then ambushing halfway in disguise.

“Abandon the car?” Jian Hua assessed rationally.

If they ran into the buildings on either side and found an elevator, the large creature couldn’t do much. But staying in the car, they might be crushed into a metal can by its tentacles.

“No way! The direction it left and this road are completely opposite. If it’s the same rainforest squid, it couldn’t have reached here to ambush us so quickly unless it’s not the same one. We won’t have time to escape if we leave the car!”

Li Fei, influenced by Jian Hua, simply called the monster a rainforest squid.

“Use special abilities?”

“Shall I roast such a big squid? Or shall we combine our powers to lift and throw it aside?” Li Fei countered.

Jian Hua fell silent, wearing an “ignore what I said” expression.

Before they could strategize, the tentacle monster, realizing its prey wasn’t moving, launched a fierce attack. The camouflage of golden leaves and brown bark faded, revealing its lead-grey body. It contracted sharply, and several tentacles lashed out.

This was not just leaving scratches; the windows would definitely shatter.

The Ferrari reversed quickly, with Li Fei skillfully avoiding obstacles while checking behind.

The tentacles, moving incredibly fast, pierced several cars before the rainforest squid had to halt its attack and reposition, forcefully withdrawing its tentacles. Li Fei had already used this moment to floor the gas pedal and speed away.

“Have you trained in racing?” Jian Hua focused, using his abilities to clear obstacles in front of the car.

“I’ve acted in racing films, where thrilling scenes were post-production synthesis. Does that count?” Li Fei answered wryly.

“It’s moving to the front intersection, turn right!”

Jian Hua warned just in time. The Ferrari narrowly drove onto the sidewalk, evading the dead zone of the rainforest squid’s tentacle attack and turning onto another road.

“Didn’t expect that, you have a real talent,” Jian Hua complimented, fighting off dizziness.

“Thanks to my eyes,” Li Fei replied, breaking into a sweat as he accurately seized another opportunity to slip between two tentacles. “I never knew I could do something this crazy in nearly thirty years.”

Jian Hua wasn’t in the mood for jokes. Anxiously, he said, “Damn it, it’s hidden again. I can’t detect it!”

“On the rooftop of the building on the right!” Li Fei glimpsed and exposed the disguise.

The steering wheel and tires groaned under the strain. Jian Hua was again thankful it wasn’t his second-hand car, which wouldn’t have withstood such abuse.

Vehicles on the street suffered one after another, and even the windows of nearby buildings were shattered by the tentacles.

After another failed attack, the rainforest squid concealed itself again.

“Front, back, left, right… strange, where did it go?” Li Fei mumbled to himself, then suddenly realized, “Not good, hold tight, it’s above us!”

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

The car’s roof visibly caved in.

“This weight! Bad news, the tires can’t take it, and the chassis too…”

Shaking off the massive creature on the roof was impossible; rough tentacles hung down, tightly wrapping around the car’s body. The doors were twisted and deformed, making it impossible to open.

The creature’s orange-yellow eyes slowly appeared at the top of the front window.

Meanwhile, the car’s chassis scraped against the ground, sparking and finally giving out.

“Get down!”

Both ducked, covering their heads as the rear window shattered. A tentacle ruthlessly reached in, trying to drag them out.

Flames burst out, shattering all windows. High-temperature flame streams, like Medusa’s snake hair, branched out through the windows, opening into fierce mouths at the tips, violently biting.

The rainforest squid atop the car shook violently; it seemed to have no vocal organs.

Suction cups on the tentacles tightened, its rough, lead-grey skin turning red from the flames, but it didn’t let go, angrily thrashing the soon-to-be-wrecked car.

They would be tortured to death before it turned into roasted squid.

“If there’s an oil leak, we’re done for.” Li Fei struggled to control his powers, trying to avoid damaging the car itself, but the rainforest squid was wrapped too tightly, indistinguishable from the car.

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

In this moment of terror, Li Fei suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest, a strong sense of crisis overwhelming him. Before he could react, the world spun around, and the car flipped upside down.

Jian Hua pressed his palm against the tip of the tentacle. Invisible threads emanating from him dissipated the flames, penetrating the tentacle. The rainforest squid convulsed violently, causing the entire car to shake like an earthquake.

“Bang!”

The giant creature, with a burnt aroma on its surface, slid off the car and fell onto the road, dead.

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The author has something to say：

Mini Theater：

“Use special abilities to roast such a big squid?”

Li Fei (⊙﹏⊙): This is beyond the syllabus!

PS: About squids living in rainforests, the documentary “Future Fantasia” discusses creatures that might appear on Earth in five million years, a hundred million years… This setting does not completely align with the documentary.

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Last Edit:     December 20, 2023 at 3:16 AM

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.