26. The way she made her entrance was truly beyond bearing...

Just like every boss that breaks through a wall, the monster before them, which resembled a Malboro, let out a piercing roar.

It was this very sound that caused a foul stench to permeate the entire space.

"Seriously... did it eat sh*t?" Li Nuo felt his nerves nearly short-circuit from the smell.

He retreated from the danger zone while clutching his nose, grabbing Chen Shou and the resistance fighter to make a run for it. At the same time, he displayed the information gathered by [Emil’s Mask] for everyone to see.

[Malboro]
[Level: lv14]
[Danger Level: E+]
[Skills: Bad Breath, Tentacle Whip]
[Attributes: Poison, Grass]
[Description: It should have been a D-level threat, but it is severely injured. However... you still can't beat it, hahahahaha.]

"A Malboro?" Chen Shou was shocked. Although he didn't know what he was shocked about, he had a hunch that this thing definitely wasn't a creature from the Nier universe.

This monster was not a product of Nier: Automata.

This guy came from the Final Fantasy series, so Li Nuo’s mind was in a whirl. He quickly sorted through his thoughts. Perhaps because Final Fantasy and Nier were both products of the same company, a world-line fusion similar to a DLC had occurred.

On the other side, as Li Nuo kicked open the door and ran out, the others followed closely behind.

Just then, the Malboro lashed out with two thick vine whips, destroying the wooden walls in its path. The confined space limited the creature's mobility, and Li Nuo and his group seized the chance to slip into the darkness.

They hid near a warehouse.

The Malboro had a lantern-like light organ on top of its head, which made it very easy to reveal its location. Like a pursuer in a horror game, it wandered aimlessly around the lobby, searching for them.

Crouched in a corner of the lobby, Li Nuo took out his notebook and wrote: "Malboro, from the Final Fantasy series, a large carnivorous plant-based creature. It moves via slime-covered vines and roots. They are extremely aggressive, releasing a foul-smelling poison gas from their feeding organs, sometimes emitting a sweet scent that induces sleep, and finally killing their prey with flailing tentacles."

Marje took the notebook and wrote back: "Are you a Pokédex?"

Chen Shou angrily grabbed the notebook and wrote: "So what do we do?"

Li Nuo: "What’s one duck plus two ducks?"

Chen Shou shook his head.

Li Nuo wrote: "Run like a duck!"

At this moment, the wounded resistance fighter weakly tapped Li Nuo on the shoulder, took the notebook, and wrote: "That girl from the YoRHa unit... it seems she was eaten by it."

Li Nuo took back the notebook, opened his quest panel, and stared at the sub-quest titled [Boots, Short White Hair, and Blindfold].

Then, he wrote in the notebook: "Then we kill the Malboro."

Marje nodded happily.

Chen Shou shook his head in a panic.

But he had to figure out how to kill it... Li Nuo pondered.

...

Meanwhile, an uninvited guest arrived at the resistance camp.

"You are..." The ponytail android guarding the camp entrance looked at the round, bobbing head moving on the vehicle, lost in confusion.

Emil jumped off the vehicle and said anxiously, "I’ve been entrusted by someone to bring a wounded person here for treatment!"

Several resistance fighters held their guns and walked cautiously toward Emil, who consisted only of a head. His appearance was so strange that it was hard not to be suspicious.

It wasn't until they saw the poor resistance soldier stuffed into the passenger seat of the vehicle that they reacted.

"There really is someone in the car, it's Takuta!"

"Who sent you here!"

Someone pointed a gun at Emil.

"I... I don't know his name, but he is my friend!" Emil said anxiously.

"Wait... this tricycle seems to be ours." The resistance fighter in charge of vehicles squinted at Emil and asked, "How did you get here?"

Emil hopped once: "There were so many machine lifeforms on the road, I almost got killed by them!"

A resistance fighter came over and said, "Regardless, come over here first."

Emil asked, "What about this wounded man?"

The resistance fighter replied, "We will save him, of course."

...

Back to Li Nuo's perspective: when Emil brought the wounded man back to the camp, all three of them heard the system's voice:

[Sub-quest completed]
[Rescue the wounded]
[Quest Level: lv15]
[Quest Reward: 1200 EXP, Random Card x1]
[Error—]
[Error—]
[Recalculating]
[World Difficulty Upgraded]
[Quest Level: lv15 -> lv22]
[Quest Reward: 1200 -> 2200 EXP, Random Card x2, 300 Gold]

Because Li Nuo had triggered a "Hidden Plot" earlier, the difficulty of the scenario had surged from lv10 directly to lv20-lv30. The sudden spike in difficulty was very unfriendly, but the rewards had increased accordingly, which was very friendly.

In the "Endless Corridor" scenario, sometimes you have to adopt the mindset of "no risk, no gain" and take a chance; the rewards are truly tempting.

Li Nuo immediately drew the random cards.

The first card drawn was a palm-sized crystal skull.

[Lure Skull]
[Quality: Common]
[Description: I don't know why anyone would be attracted to a skull...]

"I guess I have a connection with Dark Souls..." Li Nuo mused as he drew the second card.

[Kenny’s Orange Parka]
[Quality: Fine]
[Effect: Physical resistance increased by 2.2%, withstand one fatal blow]
[Stat Bonus: Constitution +3]
[Description: Oh my God, They killed Kenny! You bastard!]

"South Park, huh?" If the situation wasn't so critical, Li Nuo would have loved to throw this absurd piece of clothing on the ground.

However... it was the only piece of outer gear he had that provided a bonus.

The [Stat Bonus] trait required binding to take effect, so Li Nuo spent 300 gold to bind [Kenny’s Orange Parka]. After putting it on, a system panel popped up, telling him he could choose to hide worn equipment.

Li Nuo decisively chose "No." Just like that, he stood there in an orange parka with a hood deep enough to cover everything below his nose. Combined with [Emil’s Mask], he probably looked even more eerie than the Malboro.

As for Chen Shou, he drew a pair of [Schrödinger’s Boots], the effect of which was that you would never know how stepping with your left or right foot would affect your speed... His other piece of gear was a mediocre [Miniature Oil Bottle] that could be fired with a slingshot.

As for Marje, judging by his silent, brooding demeanor, Li Nuo could already guess... another piece of sh*t?

Next, Li Nuo wrote a short battle plan.

As time ticked by, the Malboro continued to pace the vast hall. It moved with a sliding motion using the viscous tentacles beneath its brain, leaving a trail of sticky liquid wherever it went.

The "tentacles" standing upright on its head were covered in dense, tiny eyes, constantly scanning the surroundings.

Until it saw a fat man.

"Come over here!" Chen Shou yelled, shakily aiming his slingshot at the Malboro, complaining in his heart about the plan Li Nuo had devised for the hundredth time.

Suddenly, the Malboro lunged forward as if it had seen a mate!

Chen Shou’s face trembled in fear, but his hand was extremely steady. He pulled the bowstring and fired a solid bird-shaped ball. It struck the Malboro, dealing no real damage, but effectively slowing its pace.

Seizing this opportunity, Li Nuo stepped through the darkness and moved behind the Malboro.

He had already retrieved the skill [Inner Potential] from his personal panel. Unlearned skills didn't occupy inventory slots; they remained in the personal information tab.

[Do you wish to spend 500 gold to learn this skill?]

"Yes."

Now was not the time to worry about gold.

[Learned "Inner Potential"]

Activate skill!

In an instant, blood mist seeped from every pore.

[Effect: Increases attack power by 40%, effective for all attributes, duration 100 seconds, drains 1% HP per second. Forcibly ending the skill will cause the pain of muscle tearing.]

He used his heartbeat to track the time.

Chen Shou was now behind a counter. Facing the Malboro’s pursuit, he fired his slingshot with precision while shouting, "I can't take it anymore!"

At this moment, the BGM from Emil’s sales cart blared through the supermarket lobby.

Marje pedaled the tricycle at high speed toward the Malboro.

Hearing the sound of the cart, Li Nuo immediately shouted, "Oil bottle!"

Chen Shou obeyed, took out the [Miniature Oil Bottle] he had just obtained, set it on the bowstring, and fired it accurately at the Malboro. The moment the bottle exploded, the Malboro’s vine whips lashed out. Marje steered the tricycle into a drift at the last split second to pull Chen Shou away, dumping the fat man next to the resistance fighter.

Then Marje snorted coldly and threw an [Inferior Molotov Cocktail] at the Malboro. Fire countered grass; half of the Malboro’s body was engulfed in flames. It immediately exhaled its foul-smelling gas, extinguishing the fire while cutting off the air.

At the same time, Marje had already driven the cart toward Li Nuo.

"Get on!"

Li Nuo felt a sudden jolt in the depths of his soul.

HP dropped to 25%, [Android Chip: Morbid Attack UP Lv1] activated.

HP dropped to 20%, [Red Tearstone Ring] activated.

All attack power increased by 65%.

He hopped lightly onto the back of the sales cart.

[Melee Combat] had given him excellent muscle control.

Immediately after, Li Nuo pulled out [Zhuang Chen's Iron Pipe].

Meanwhile, Chen Shou took out a standard-issue resistance machine gun, set it on the ground, cocked it, and fired wildly at the Malboro!

Amidst the *da-da-da* of gunfire, Emil’s sales cart charged toward the Malboro!

When they were within arm's reach, Marje pulled out a [Piece of Sh*t] and threw it into the Malboro’s massive mouth!

Under the pressure of a stench even more intense than its own and the machine gun fire, the Malboro fell into a brief state of paralysis. The moment it swung its vine whip toward the cart, Li Nuo threw the [Lure Skull], causing the Malboro to subconsciously shift its attack. The vines struck the ground, creating a natural bridge leading to the top of its head.

Li Nuo brandished the iron pipe: "Old Ma! Get on it!"

"No need to tell me!" Marje used all his strength to pedal the tricycle up onto the Malboro’s head.

At that moment, Li Nuo aimed at the eyes atop its head and brought the iron pipe down with a fierce swing, smashing the cluster of eyes! The Malboro’s skin was ripped open in the process; flesh and foul, sticky mucus spewed out as if they were worthless.

The resistance fighter hiding behind Chen Shou watched the series of combos in a daze: "What... what kind of tactic is this...?"

As the Malboro shuddered, Li Nuo and Marje were thrown off.

Li Nuo drank an android blood potion in mid-air, restoring his HP while clearing all buffs. He took a whip hit head-on, cushioned by [Kenny’s Orange Parka], then half-turned and used his pipe to stabilize his landing.

The Malboro’s head crashed into the ground, the eyes on its mangled crown losing their focus.

"HP is bottoming out, huh!" A strange arc curled onto Li Nuo’s lips. In his hand, he held the [Random Value MOD Pokéball].

Should he try it?

He made up his mind and threw the Pokéball at the Malboro!

The moment the sphere was about to touch the creature, a fair hand suddenly reached out from within its body and caught the Pokéball.

The owner of the hand peeled open the Malboro’s body and slowly stepped out...

At this moment.

Everyone held their breath.

The person who stepped out was someone Li Nuo knew extremely well.

Named "YoRHa No. 2 Type B".

Abbreviated: 2B.