This deep-sea monster, with its eight ferocious tentacles ending in snake-like heads, roared incessantly. They looked both like heads and tails, its massive abdomen shrouded in black mist, exuding an aura of brutal savagery. It bore a striking resemblance to the mythical eight-headed serpent Yamata no Orochi from Japanese legend, a world-destroying beast, with various features matching mythological records.
Whether it was truly that or not, just from its fearsome appearance, it was undoubtedly a top-tier predator of the ocean depths. Wherever the Yamata no Orochi passed, the seawater fell silent, and no living creature remained—fleeing as far as possible.
The serpent spread its eight tentacles, the severed one having fully regenerated unnoticed, and wildly lashed at the Huaguoshan spacecraft, pounding the hull with loud bangs. The creature that had killed its offspring had slipped inside this metal shell—how could it let that go? It treated the spacecraft as its mortal enemy, launching a frenzied assault.
But that was all it could do.
The Huaguoshan spacecraft’s technology came from the pinnacle of galactic engineering, its hull incredibly tough, not something a mere monster could shake. Otherwise, how could it handle the complex and terrifying conditions of space? What puzzled Feng Lin, though, was when he had provoked this beast. What grudge, what grievance, made it chase him relentlessly?
A scene naturally surfaced in his mind: a small monster, like a squid, that he had completely obliterated.
Could that have been the offspring of the Yamata no Orochi?
Seeing the beast’s frenzied state, Feng Lin’s lips twitched slightly in speechless exasperation.
Hit the young, and the old shows up!
Its child had been blown to bits—no wonder the mother beast was so mad. It wasn’t really anyone’s fault. But he was innocent too! He had been quietly cultivating—who had he wronged? Why did its kid have to charge in trying to eat him...
There was no denying the Yamata no Orochi was terrifying. Its hundred-meter-long body packed immense strength, slamming into the spacecraft and shaking it violently. With such fearsome power, if Feng Lin had been outside fighting it head-on, he wouldn’t have stood a chance.
But Feng Lin wasn’t a fool. Why would he abandon a perfectly good spacecraft to face a monster in single combat? That would be suicide. Was he an idiot?
Clearly not.
The Huaguoshan spacecraft was forged from the galaxy’s hardest alloy, unshakably tough. The Yamata no Orochi might seem fierce, its tentacles heavy and loud against the hull, but it couldn’t cause even a scratch.
Feng Lin stayed inside this metal shell, watching the beast waste its energy, enjoying the comfort.
Seeing the unyielding turtle shell remain still, the Yamata no Orochi grew enraged. It opened its massive mouth, gathering energy, and spat it out in an instant—lava, ice, hurricanes... Each mouthful unleashed a different elemental force, eight streams of energy forming a torrent that slammed into the hull.
Beep, beep, beep...
The spacecraft’s AI sounded an alert. “Warning! Warning! A supernatural creature is attacking the ship. Should countermeasures be taken?”
A supernatural creature?
Feng Lin was slightly surprised.
So-called supernatural creatures, like interstellar cultivators, wielded extraordinary power. But cultivators referred to intelligent, civilized races, while supernatural creatures were merely animals. After all, various mythologies were filled with formidable beasts. The Yamata no Orochi from Japanese legend was nothing special—China’s *Classic of Mountains and Seas* alone contained countless monsters and anomalies: Qiongqi, Xiangliu, Pixiu... an endless list. Western myths had the Hydra, Medusa...
Like humans, animals also carried mythological genes within them. But animals usually lacked intelligence and couldn’t consciously awaken those genes to walk the path of cultivation. Yet the vastness of space held all sorts of wonders. Some animals, by chance, passively awakened their mythological genes, gaining a dim awareness and mastering supernatural powers through instinct. These were called supernatural creatures.
If this monster was a supernatural creature, could it truly be the Yamata no Orochi?
No, that wasn’t right!
It didn’t make sense!
Earth had long lost its spiritual matter—how could a supernatural creature naturally emerge here? After all, cultivators on Earth relied on resources supplied from space; the planet no longer had a cultivation environment, let alone the conditions for supernatural creatures to arise naturally.
That left only one possibility!
This Yamata no Orochi was man-made, just like the Titan artificial god from Giant Pharmaceuticals earlier.
Feng Lin instinctively suspected the Japanese were behind it. The Japanese islands were right near the Mariana Trench, and the Japanese loved conducting shady experiments. Besides, the Yamata no Orochi was a creature from their mythology. They might have used mythological genetic engineering to recreate some of its supernatural traits, using a squid as a base to manufacture this bio-construct.
The more Feng Lin thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
This deep trench, close to Japan and unfathomably deep, was perfect for raising a Yamata no Orochi—no one would ever find it.
At that moment, the Yamata no Orochi was still spewing energy wildly, shaking the spacecraft violently.
Having figured this out, Feng Lin saw no need to keep observing. Once he captured the monster, he could study it however he wanted, uncovering all its secrets.
If the tiger doesn’t show its might, people mistake it for a sick cat!
“Zixia, switch to unrestricted free attack mode!” Feng Lin gave the order in a deep voice.
“Aye, Captain!” The AI Zixia responded.
Feng Lin didn’t need to manually control the spacecraft. The intelligent AI took over autonomously. The ship extended beam cannons from various points on its hull, their muzzles glowing brightly, and fired thick beams of light in an instant.
The scorching energy seared the Yamata no Orochi, splitting its flesh open, and with razor-sharp cutting force, severed its tentacles one by one.
The spacecraft’s front end, shaped like a sharp horn, rammed into the beast, sending its massive body tumbling repeatedly toward the seabed.
But as a fearsome mythical beast at its core, its ferocity remained unbroken. It lunged again, its eight serpentine mouths opening wide, spewing狂暴 energy like cannonballs.
With a soft *pop*, an ion shield materialized around the spacecraft, solid and tangible, blocking all the energy blasts, which dissipated harmlessly.
Truly worthy of a base ship—its defense was astonishing!
Feng Lin nodded inwardly. Without such defenses, this spacecraft couldn’t navigate the harsh conditions of the universe, establish new human bases, or transform hostile environments into habitable ones. Its functions were vast. Even as the ship’s owner, Feng Lin hadn’t yet figured out all the Huaguoshan’s capabilities.
The Yamata no Orochi’s powers were child’s play against the spacecraft, utterly useless.
The ship’s beam cannons kept firing, equipped with targeting systems that made evasion impossible. Every shot struck the Yamata no Orochi, causing it to howl in pain as its tentacles snapped off.
Even with its incredible regenerative abilities, it couldn’t hold out anymore. No matter how great its ferocity, fear of death took over.
Its tentacles flailed wildly, and the creature, like a giant squid, fled frantically into the depths of the trench, wishing it could grow more limbs to escape faster.
Having just suffered a loss, Feng Lin wasn’t about to let it get away easily. He guided the spacecraft into a streak of silver light, chasing it deep into the trench.