Rhodes Island does not exist.

Thank you for the blades and monthly passes, thank you.

Chapter 147, 146. Permitted Kindness

——That’s how it should be.

That's how it should be.

However, the doctor's voice became the only sound that remained in his ears.

After that action ended, only a slumbering silence swept across the ninth floor.

Does this mean the elevator car is actually empty?

The doctor, who hadn't observed the interior when the compartment door was open for safety reasons, wondered to himself.

So he cautiously peeked out with both eyes and furtively cast his gaze into the elevator.

How should I put it?

Everything the doctor guessed was true.

All these ideas actually exist in reality.

However, there were some minor discrepancies in the details.

"call……"

The massive body filled the interior of the carriage tightly, its body, covered with metal plates, rising and falling like a breathing mountain.

And incidentally, it's not standing, but crouching.

Even so, its deformed head still almost touched the top of the elevator.

"Why isn't it moving...?" The doctor's mind was filled with questions.

Clearly, it did not die.

The body rising and falling with each breath is proof of normal bodily function; even a dead, empty shell could not maintain a squatting posture so perfectly.

So why is it still in the elevator?

The creature I saw on the tenth floor was almost indistinguishable from a mad dog, only knowing how to rampage and rush around, eager to eliminate its opponent while also disposing of the corpse.

But now? It sits motionless in place like a quiet kitten, its nails radiating docility.

"Although I think it's unlikely, it couldn't possibly be because of that bottle of seawater, could it?" The doctor recalled the scene of dancing with it before and realized the core of the problem.

"It's been at least twenty hours since we last encountered it. Could it have been squatting here all this time?" The doctor stopped spying and stood openly behind the monster, sighing inwardly.

Why would seawater have such a strong attraction for it? And judging from its appearance, it probably hasn't even opened the bottle of seawater yet; it's just squatting there motionless like a primary school student observing an insect.

"Well, I don't know why you like the sea so much, but I'm sorry, because you're blocking my way, I can't let you continue doing your observation work here."

The doctor shook his head, walked down the stairs, went back to the eighth floor to pick up his pickaxe, then walked back up the steps and came up behind the monster.

Since ordinary sounds can't attract attention, then we have no choice but to resort to attack.

The doctor had already figured out the attack method—to pry open the metal plate on its back with a pickaxe.

Although when the idea popped into the Doctor's mind, he always had a feeling that he had seen someone else use it before, but since he couldn't remember who it was, he brushed the feeling away.

"Then, I apologize for any offense—"

The doctor planted his feet firmly on the ground, aimed the pickaxe tip at the junction of the metal plate and the flesh, and raised it high.

"—It's done!"

Then, it fell heavily.

"Ding!"

The pickaxe tip pierced through a thin layer of flesh and struck the embedded armor plate, sending up a spray of sparks from the friction.

At the same time, the mountain-like monster turned its head with a heavy growl, pointing its eerie skull with an ominous gaze at the doctor, casting an angry expression.

"It's done."

Under such an attack, it would be difficult not to be drawn to it.

So for the PhD student, the next step is to seduce him.

—If this monster were really willing to get up and chase the doctor.

"Run!"

The soles of his shoes spun across the ground, bending at a 180-degree angle, allowing the doctor to quickly turn his back to the threat behind him and sprint towards his predetermined finish line.

"Roar!"

An angry roar immediately became deafening, pounding against the walls of the ninth floor.

In fact, the doctor had considered that perhaps all the slugs on the entire eighth floor combined wouldn't be enough to defeat this one monster.

After all, each of them looks quite weak. If they were to face this monster, which is as powerful as a mountain and has thick skin, they would probably be powerless to fight back.

They might even fall into the tragic situation of being unable to break through any defenses.

"I'm being quite despicable," the Doctor sighed inwardly. "They're a group of benevolent monsters, yet I'm using them like this."

But this is Rhodes Island.

He must escape from here, and to escape, he cannot hesitate at a time like this.

It should be so.

That's how it should be.

"Seriously, what am I doing...?"

The doctor stopped running.

He stood in the lobby on the eighth floor, turned around to face the door connecting the two floors, and gripped the pickaxe tightly in his hand.

He originally planned to lure the monster from the upper floor to the eighth floor, then take advantage of the slugs holding it back to seize the elevator and escape.

However, he ultimately gave up on that option.

Even though he had no memories of the past and no fixed code of conduct, for some reason, he always felt that his instincts were preventing him from doing such things.

"Boom, boom, boom."

The stairwell was trembling.

The enormous figure gradually bent over and squeezed through the narrow doorway, revealing half of its deformed head.

Its crimson eyes stared at the doctor who was facing it.

Strangely, although his upper body was facing the doctor, his lower body was unnaturally bent towards the elevator, as if he was still unable to escape the pull of the seawater.

The doctor's behavior did indeed anger it, so it had no choice but to prioritize venting its anger.

"Roar!"

The arrogant howl transformed into a sonic wave, spreading from the doctor's position throughout the entire eighth-floor hall.

The slugs hidden under the sheets poked their heads out, searching for the source of the sound, while straightening their soft bodies as if they had been provoked.

Therefore, this aggressive roar is probably no different from a declaration of war to them.

"Let me make this clear beforehand, I have absolutely no confidence that I can beat it, not even one percent." The doctor gripped the pickaxe with his good hand and then took a slight step back.

“But if possible, I hope you can help me,” the doctor said. “Although I said I would bring you food at first, the food might be a little too fresh, so the steps from bleeding to dismemberment will probably all need to be done by you… um?”

Before the doctor could finish speaking, the slugs on the surrounding beds all moved closer to him and began to gently rub against him.

"Then... can I take this as your agreement?"

Chapter 148 One hundred and forty-seven, removeekebab

Softness can overcome hardness.

At first, the idiom flashed through the doctor's mind for a moment.

The slug monsters represent softness, while the mountain-sized monster represents hardness.

If we use the softness of the slug monsters as a weapon, we might be able to overcome the monsters' hardness.

The doctor dismissed this idea because he felt the power gap between the two was too vast.

No matter how flexible the slugs' bodies are, a single punch from that monster would turn them into a pile of minced meat. After all, he had witnessed it firsthand, even something as incredibly powerful as it appeared to him…

Incredibly powerful?

Who is incredibly powerful?

As the monster charged toward him, the doctor's memory became momentarily confused.

Yes, why would he think the monster in front of him is so strong? He hasn't been hit by it, nor has he seen it hit anyone. So where does this judgment come from?

However, just as he was wondering if his memory was wrong, the scene before him shattered his thoughts.

That was a view he had never imagined.

Initially, he planned to use the many beds in the room to avoid the monster's attacks and to inflict effective damage by circling behind the monster and prying open its armor plates, while the many slugs in the room would help him distract the enemy.

However, just as he was about to dodge to the side, the slugs that had emerged from under the bed suddenly converged on the monster and bound his limbs to the spot like chains, instantly halting his charge and preventing him from taking another step forward.

"Roar!"

The red light flickered and radiated in its eyes like a broken light bulb, but even so, its body could not break free from the slugs' restraints.

Overcoming strength with softness?

A huge disparity in strength?

At that moment, the doctor felt as if he had mistaken the person for someone else.

The monster and the slug should be the ones with the most disparate strength.

Why did I think those slug monsters were so weak? Come to think of it, they've never attacked me even once, have they?

Perhaps it is because they have instilled too much gentleness in me that I am unaware of their power.

Their gentleness is only directed at themselves, while their strength is only directed at others.

Perhaps something really happened between me and them in the past, but unfortunately, I have no idea about it because of my amnesia. It's a bit of a pity.

Regardless, at this moment, the doctor felt apologetic for having initially tried to take advantage of them, and through this incident, he became even more certain of one thing.

Every sentient anomaly on Rhodes Island has a story behind it.

Including the tall, strange creature in front of me, being torn apart by slugs and lifted into the air, it must be the same. However, because it cannot communicate normally and is too hostile, I cannot know what kind of being it is.

But why did it attack itself in the first place?

Was its hostility really this strong from the very beginning?

What exactly happened on the tenth floor back then?

The chaotic memories from before surged back.

But the scene before him didn't allow the doctor time to dissect and analyze the chaos, and what was happening wouldn't give him a chance to forgive the strangeness before him.

"Kakakaka——"

As the slugs coiling around the enormous monster tightened their grip, the metal plates embedded in its body and the armor connecting its joints began to emit mournful cries.

The doctor promised to bring food to the slugs.

Therefore, their current behavior is not killing, but eating.

Its crimson, slimy body was as tough as steel, and its soft fangs gripped the metal-encased flesh tightly, making a crunching sound.

The eating behavior has already begun.

“Gurgle—”

Deep within his enormous, bizarre throat, it seemed as if a mouthful of blood was contained, the warm liquid churning and bubbling with each breath, making an unsettling noise.

The slugs' originally short and stout bodies now displayed their extreme extensibility, climbing up their huge and strange limbs like tentacles emerging from a crack in the deep sea, and then gradually spreading to every part of their bodies.

"boom!"

A piece of armor plate shattered and flew through the air, tracing a violent parabola before crashing heavily to the ground.

It was squeezed directly from under the tight flesh of the giant monster by the slugs' bites, which probably proves from a direct perspective just how astonishing the muscle density of that giant monster really is.

"boom!"