Chapter 424: A Mutant Appears! The Yellow-Browed Emperor Monster Penguin
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Watching the penguins flee, Flamy muttered, “If Gao Peng hadn’t asked me to show mercy, I would have burned you all to a crisp.”
When the Yellow-Browed Monster Penguins finally left the place, Gao Peng noticed that there was a dark form beneath where the penguins were standing. It glinted with a curious light beneath the sunlight.
Walking over, Gao Peng realized that there was what appeared to be a grounded s.h.i.+p beneath the ice. A portion of the s.h.i.+p was frozen in the glacier, while the rest of it was sticking out of the ice.
The s.h.i.+p had a blue-white flag, in the middle of which a picture of a brown bear was plastered. Gao Peng recognized it immediately: this was the flag of the Arctic region.
This was one of the Arctic region’s battles.h.i.+ps. Gao Peng could see the s.h.i.+p’s cannon barrels, radar, and other apparatus one would normally find on board a battles.h.i.+p. However, most of these had been destroyed and frozen solid by the Arctic cold.
Noticing that some of the Yellow-Browed Monster Penguins had dove into a cave that was carved into the face of an ice cliff, Gao Peng decided to check it out. Hearing his footsteps, the Yellow-Browed Monster Penguins that had gone underground began panicking. They stumbled over each other, trying to put even more distance between themselves and Gao Peng by burrowing deeper into the cave.
Gao Peng narrowed his eyes as he observed the interior of the cave. It looked like a laboratory that had long been abandoned there for some inexplicable reason.
Coordination was a rare thing among monsters, let along these penguins. Gao Peng was now able to put two and two together after seeing the grounded battles.h.i.+p and the abandoned laboratory.
These penguins must have been captured to be experimented on as guinea pigs, then something must have gone wrong during their experiments. A monster attack seemed like the most likely reason behind the laboratory’s current abandoned state. Whatever the reason might have been, the penguins had managed to escape from captivity. As few monsters could live in a place as harsh as the North Pole, these penguins were able to proliferate like rabbits without meeting any compet.i.tion…
This must be how these penguins came to be here in the North Pole! thought Gao Peng.
Even though the laboratory had been left in disrepair, there were no signs of human corpses. They must have been taken away when the laboratory’s discontinuation was announced…
However, Gao Peng’s brows furrowed at the thought of the stranded battles.h.i.+p. An absence of human corpses didn’t necessarily mean that everyone had managed to escape whatever catastrophe befell the laboratory. There was also the possibility that they had been left to digest in a monster’s belly ever since.
Deciding to leave these seemingly harmless Yellow-Browed Monster Penguins be, Gao Peng exited the cave.
In the distance, some of the Yellow-Browed Penguins who had managed to leave Gao Peng far behind were now standing atop a snowy hill, warily observing his every move. From time to time, they would turn around to squawk at something behind them.
The Yellow-Browed Monster Penguin standing at the peak of the hill lowered its head and let out a shrill squawk! It slid down the snowy hill like a lackey leading the way for its head honcho.
A ma.s.sive figure slowly rose up behind the hill… Said creature’s yellow eyebrows drooped down from both its eyelids like waterfalls, effectively covering most of its eyes.
The huge figure slowly clambered up the hill, causing it to shake violently. The latter wobbled precariously, as if on the verge of crumbling down. A towering shadow fell upon Gao Peng as the figure stood on the peak of the hill.
[Monster Name]: Yellow-Browed Emperor Monster Penguin (Mutant)
[Monster Grade]: Perfect
[Monster Grade]: Level 45
[Monster Attribute]: Ice
[Monster Ability]: Elemental Ice Mastery Level 3, Improved Strength Level 3
[Monster Traits]: Frozen Crown (A formation brought about as a result of the crystallization of a rare royal blood type on top of the penguin’s head.
Pa.s.sive Effect 1: Elemental Ice Mastery +1
Active Effect 2: Expends the energy contained within the Frozen Crown to erect a frozen h.e.l.lscape around itself.)
[Monster Description]: Originally a rockhopper penguin injected with the blood of an emperor penguin, it later mutated into a Yellow-Browed Emperor Monster Penguin. It has an irritable temperament and absolutely hates all human beings.
Its eyes were fixed on Gao Peng. They were filled with nothing but hatred and rage. “Argh!”
Another human! Does this one intend to bring me back for further experiments?
It was immediately reminded of the time that its family had been captured and imprisoned in that dark, cold laboratory to be experimented upon. It had been the only survivor, and it had grown a lot stronger as a result of that ordeal.
As soon as it realized the power it had gained, the first thing it had done was send every human being in the laboratory to the depths of its belly. But that wasn’t enough! It would never be enough!
It had developed a taste for human flesh since that fateful day. The laboratory staff was nothing more than the hors d’oeuvre. It wanted more! It wanted to devour human flesh, drink human blood, and crush human bones between its teeth.
However, the North Pole had always been an uninhabited wasteland. Few humans had been brave enough to venture this far out to the north since the Cataclysm.
After being deprived of its favorite food for so long, the Yellow-Browed Emperor Monster Penguin couldn’t help but leap forward and slide on its belly like a gigantic s...o...b..ard across the snow towards this human being that now stood before it!
As it sped across the snowy landscape, it kicked up a lot of snow around its body, making itself look like an avalanche that was now roaring down towards Gao Peng. Down the snowy hill it went, freezing everything in its path solid. In its wake lay a frozen trench that led down to the base of the snowy hill.
As Goldie wasn’t present to intercept the penguin’s charge, Gao Peng decided that his safest course of action was to simply avoid the attack. Also, the familiars that he had brought with him were at a disadvantage in this wintry wasteland.
However, before he could move, he realized that three tall and nigh-impenetrable ice walls had appeared on both his flanks and behind him. An ice barrier was also forming fast above him. In a blink of an eye, thanks to its momentum and ice powers, the Yellow-Browed Emperor Monster Penguin was almost upon him. It was sliding down with such speed that it appeared only as a black blur to Gao Peng.
Instinctively, Flamy launched itself into the air in order to avoid the penguin’s ma.s.sive body. However, seeing Gao Peng about to be crushed by the penguin, it hesitated for a moment in the air.
Its hesitation cost it its only chance of escape.
The White-Steel Bladed Beast’s face was grim. It specialized only in taking down its enemies in one hit. In the face of an unstoppable object that was now on a collision course with Gao Peng and the others, it was powerless to do anything.
There was a high chance it would be sent flying in the opposite direction if it tried to stand in the penguin’s way… Still, despite every fiber of its being telling it that there was nothing it could do, the White-Steel Bladed Beast bravely stepped in front of Gao Peng, ready to protect him at all costs.
“Whoo…” Gao Peng exhaled deeply as he braced himself for the rather painful experience of being thrown into the air like a human ragdoll.
Suddenly, the Desolate Frost Lion took four steps forward, then rushed straight towards the incoming Yellow-Browed Emperor Penguin!
“Desolion!” shouted Gao Peng.
At that moment, the Desolate Frost Lion let out a low roar that gradually grew louder… “Rawr!!”
In mid-leap, the lion’s body expanded outward in an instant! Its pristine white mane exploded from its neck, its eyes as cold as the ice around it. Its muscles tightened into solid blocks of granite. Its body grew outward until it was a thousand times its original size. Its length, width, and height had increased tenfold. It was now at least 32 feet long.
While it was still shorter than the Yellow-Browed Emperor Monster Penguin by a head, it was now almost as big as the latter.
Bang!
Both monsters collided with each another. The Desolate Frost Lion was able to stop the Yellow-Browed Emperor Monster Penguin’s ma.s.sive body with its bare claws.
Its razor-sharp claws were deeply embedded in the penguin’s flesh. A violent rush of icy energy converged into its claws, threatening to freeze the Yellow-Browed Emperor Penguin from the inside out!
Crack, crack… The Yellow-Browed Emperor Monster Penguin, which was already an Ice-type monster, began to feel its body slowly freezing over. A layer of frost was now forming on its yellow brows. Cold air began gathering around it. Its movements were becoming slower and slower…