Chapter 361: Failure
Bad news arrived one after another, leaving Prince Diallo’s dark red, magma-like face looking as though it had cooled to a dark green. But reality was indifferent to his growing despair.
The second mature Space Octopus, though damaged, was far less injured than its predecessor. Even after unloading all its “passengers,” it retained considerable mobility.
The destructive potential of a 300 meter mature form in close combat far exceeded that of its smaller counterparts, including the 70 to 80 meter bodies and the larval bodies under 20 meters.
Its nearly 200 meter long tentacles, crackling with blue electric arcs, swept across the ship’s surface with devastating efficiency. A single strike could clear away clusters of defensive weapons protruding from the hull without needing to resort to techniques like “Pulling the Radish.”
This maneuver was instead the Luo-style Combat Technique: Sweeping Heaven and Earth—a grandiose name for a simple yet effective move. The only requirement? A body large enough and tentacles long enough to execute it.
The rampage of the Space Octopus as it coiled and thrashed about the ship evoked imagery of deep-sea leviathans attacking cruise ships in old movies.
“Full engines! Get us out of here at maximum speed!” Diallo roared.
“Your Highness, with the repulsion field, main and secondary cannons, laser defense array, and close-in defense systems all active, we don’t have enough energy for full engine power,” Aslit reminded him quietly.
“Damn it!” Diallo cursed, the harshness of his words automatically censored by the translation systems. “Deactivate the repulsion field! Shut down the laser defense array!”