Chapter 168 Taking Over the Base

Shoichi Yoshida was truly dumbfounded. What on earth was happening? Why on earth was there a monster trying to bite him?

Driven by the instinct for survival, he channeled his chakra and leaped backward, narrowly avoiding the monster's gaping maw.

Then, he turned his gaze toward the base executives seated in the room.

Those high-ranking officials showed no expression of surprise. Instead, they said, "Since you agreed to be a sacrifice, close your eyes and accept it. Stop struggling; you are a hero."

The previous volunteers who were consumed had behaved similarly when the moment of truth arrived, driven purely by the instinct to survive.

Shoichi Yoshida's face contorted with fury, and he could no longer hold back. "Sacrifice your grandfather! Why the hell should I sacrifice myself for nothing?!"

To this moment, he still had no idea what was going on.

Having missed its bite, the monster did not attack immediately. Instead, it maintained its monstrous form, though the features of the gray-haired young man were still faintly discernible.

The base executives were stunned by the furious outburst. Not willing to sacrifice? What did that mean?

You volunteered willingly—did you not know what a volunteer was supposed to do?

They cast questioning glances at the subordinate who had escorted Shoichi Yoshida there.

That subordinate lowered his head, beads of cold sweat breaking out on his forehead, and stammered, "My... my lord, I thought he knew."

The dignified white-haired elder, clearly the leader of the base, waved a hand and said, "Forget it, it doesn't matter. Let's just assume he knew."

He wanted the misunderstanding to continue.

Because volunteers were so scarce, Shoichi Yoshida's case might be a misunderstanding, but none of the others thought so. Cementing the misunderstanding as reality presented no real problem.

With a flick of his hand, the dignified elder signaled for the monster to resume.

The monster lunged at Shoichi Yoshida again.

"Your grandfather! Your great-uncle!!" Shoichi Yoshida roared as he launched a counterattack.

It was true that he had volunteered, but he had never intended to volunteer as dead meat! Much less did he wish to serve as food for this monstrous youth!

By now, he understood everything. Big Red Nose and the others had conned him, tricking him into becoming monster chow.

Consumed by boundless rage, he yelled, "Dammit all! If I don't die today, none of you will ever know peace!"

He engaged the monster in combat.

To give him credit, Shoichi Yoshida possessed some genuine skill; at the very least, the monster could not finish him off quickly.

However, the dignified white-haired elder gave Shoichi Yoshida no breathing room to mount a counterattack. With a mere glance, the base executives themselves joined the fray.

They began to coordinate with the monster to overwhelm him.

Instantly, he was in mortal peril. He was about to be devoured!

***

Meanwhile, Orochimaru was making his way toward the quarters of the base leadership. As he approached the entrance of the building, he was intercepted by base guards.

To demonstrate his prowess and facilitate the subsequent takeover of the facility, Orochimaru used brute force to send the guards flying and marched straight inside.

No matter how powerful the adversary attempting to block his path, none could withstand a single blow from him.

Equipped with his perceptive eyes, Orochimaru could see directly into the room where the leadership resided, and he spotted Shoichi Yoshida being cornered.

Unhurriedly, he blasted his way into the chamber.

At that exact moment, Shoichi Yoshida had just been subdued by the base executives.

Catching sight of Orochimaru, Shoichi Yoshida looked as though he had just found his savior. He cried out frantically, "Lord Orochimaru, save me! Save me! Save me! I am your most capable subordinate!"

The base executives instantly shifted their gazes to Orochimaru—someone sharing the exact same name as the savior?

Yet they did not believe this Orochimaru was the savior they knew, for the savior was invincible and high above them all.

They were only qualified to receive commands, not to come into direct contact with the savior himself.

Every single one of them held this belief.

The dignified elder looked past Orochimaru. Having fought his way through the entire facility, Orochimaru had not done so quietly; several guards lay unconscious or dead in his wake.

Anyone capable of fighting their way in through sheer might was certainly no weakling.

Choosing not to hold Orochimaru accountable for his crimes, the elder spoke, "I am the leader of this base. You are called Orochimaru? What is it that you want?"

Having no intention of making an enemy of such a formidable powerhouse, he chose to negotiate.

Ignoring Shoichi Yoshida's desperate pleas, Orochimaru smiled and said, "I want to take over this base."

At these words, the expressions of not only the dignified elder but all the other executives shifted dramatically.

They had seen people forcefully demanding resources, but never someone demanding an entire military base!

The elder glanced once more at the fallen guards behind Orochimaru, suppressed the anger rising in his chest, and said as calmly as possible, "Isn't your request rather excessive, Honorable Guest?"

Demanding an entire base right off the bat—how could it not be excessive?

"Excessive?" Orochimaru replied. "Does that mean your answer is no?"

The dignified elder mentally cursed. *Of course the answer is no! Wasn't my meaning obvious enough?*

With a subtle gesture of his eyes, he signaled the monster and the executives to eliminate Orochimaru alongside the others.

The executives cast the bound Shoichi Yoshida aside and lunged at Orochimaru together with the monster.

Without even weaving a single hand sign, a peerless repulsive force erupted from Orochimaru's body, instantly blasting the charging executives backward into the air.

Moreover, intertwined within this tremendous repulsion was a fierce gravitational pull, which singled out the monster and dragged it directly before his eyes.

This was a display of extraordinarily precise control.

Gazing at the violently struggling monster, Orochimaru murmured, "A member of the Ghoul clan?"

Activating his perceptive sight, he peered through the creature's anatomical structure and finally understood: this abomination was merely a variant of the Chimera Technique.

The Chimera Technique allowed one to absorb the powers of others and make them a part of one's own strength.

These ghouls had stumbled upon cultivation methods regarding the Chimera Technique on Earth, and their flesh-eating abilities were the result of mutations brought about by practicing it.

Furthermore, this ghoul had been concealing its true power, which was far greater than what it had displayed thus far.

Or rather, among all the high-ranking individuals in this base, this ghoul possessed the greatest strength!

Seizing the ghoul, Orochimaru poured both repulsive and attractive forces directly into its body, the two opposing energies threatening to tear it apart from the inside.

Terrified, the ghoul realized it could no longer afford to hide its true strength as it had planned to slowly devour everyone in the facility. Faced with a life-or-death crisis, it unleashed its full power.

Its already monstrous body swelled to twice its size, and the aura emanating from it surged dramatically.

This caused the eyes of the hitherto unmoving dignified elder to widen in shock.

"That aura! That aura!"

Its strength had already surpassed his own!

He now understood that the ghoul had been concealing its true capabilities from him all along.

Yet that was not the end of it. After expanding through one phase, it ballooned once more, transforming into a complete nightmare of fangs and claws, thick saliva dripping continuously from its maw.

The oppressive aura it exuded made it difficult for anyone in the room to breathe.

A look of profound shock and defeat washed over the dignified elder's face.

The absolute control he had always believed he held over the situation was nothing more than an illusion carefully fabricated for him.

He realized now that if the ghoul hadn't been wary of the base personnel scattering in panic, it would have slaughtered and devoured them all violently long ago!

A sudden jolt of terror struck the elder's heart. The discovery of their base by the puppet beings might very well have been orchestrated by this very ghoul!

Cold sweat soaked his back.

"Boom!"

A deafening blast shattered the elder's train of thought as the monster exploded into a shower of gore.

Orochimaru slowly turned his gaze toward the dignified elder.

Where was the elder's dignity now? Completely broken, he submitted instantly and whispered, "The base... belongs to you."