Cold.

The moment Liu Zheng touched the river water, he felt an extreme cold.

It wasn't the cold of ice water, but rather the cold of having liquid nitrogen smeared across your face.

But soon, he felt an extreme heat.

Not the heat of boiling water, but the heat of being corroded by acid.

Though he couldn't see clearly beneath the water's surface, Liu Zheng knew through sensation that his tentacles had already rotted away.

But he could still endure it, and he had no choice but to endure it.

To some extent, even if his essence hadn't transformed, having experienced so much inhuman pain while still maintaining his rationality meant he had long since become something non-human.

Time passed bit by bit, and that pain sensation finally gradually disappeared.

Liu Zheng retracted his tentacles, now reduced to just a small section of broken cartilage.

"So my tentacles actually have bones inside them."

He said with surprise.

He truly hadn't noticed this before.

In reality, tentacled creatures don't have bones in their tentacles.

Because these tentacled creatures have very low evolutionary development, with few bones throughout their entire bodies.

From a practicality perspective, bone recovery is much slower than muscle recovery.

However, Liu Zheng didn't have this concern - he could even regenerate internal organs, let alone bones.

He just didn't know if brains could regenerate, and he didn't dare test it.

First attempt: failure.

Liu Zheng decided to move forward 100 meters and try again.

If he failed again, he would move forward 200 meters and try once more.

Three failures, and he would turn back and return.

Liu Zheng swung the broken bone as he walked forward with his head lowered.

Although the sewer appeared quite peaceful, he didn't let his guard down.

The rule about not casually attacking delivery personnel applied to the surface world - it was hard to say whether it applied in the sewer.

One step, two steps, three steps...

Liu Zheng counted his steps, stopping when he reached the hundredth step.

Just as he prepared to crouch down, he suddenly felt a cool sensation on his head.

He extended a tentacle to feel it - sticky, with a slight warmth.

Instantly, alarm bells rang loudly in Liu Zheng's mind, and his body reacted faster than his brain, immediately executing a rolling dodge.

A faint breeze brushed past his scalp, and in that split second, Liu Zheng only saw a red shadow.

After rolling three or four meters, he immediately scrambled up and looked toward the ceiling.

A blood-red monster was clinging to the ceiling, staring directly at Liu Zheng.

How should one describe this monster?

It had no skin anywhere on its body, with grotesquely developed muscles and capillaries all exposed, like a skinned bullfrog.

Similarly exposed was its brain - extremely swollen brain tissue split to left and right sides, looking like the compound eyes of a fly.

The monster's actual eyes were pure black, without any whites or eyelids.

Its nails were extremely long and thick, like the claws of a bird of prey.

Just its appearance alone gave Liu Zheng tremendous pressure.

This pressure wasn't the unknown eeriness that Bullhorse, the plane tree, or Oink had brought him.

This was naked, the instinctual fear of prey toward a higher predator.

Liu Zheng said while drawing his Boning Knife, attempting communication.

"I'm a delivery person from the Bloody Restaurant. If you want food, I can give it to you, give you more and better things."

Hearing his words, the skinless monster showed no reaction, only following his movements with its eyes.

"I also have appetite stimulant here. With this, you can attract many big fish, like Megamouth Whales. I can supply this long-term - much more cost-effective than eating me."

Liu Zheng took out the bottle of appetite stimulant and shook it.

Hearing this, the skinless monster's eyeballs rotated.

It slowly lowered its body, seemingly preparing to descend to the ground.

"This might work!"

Liu Zheng felt secret delight.

Even a tree could talk - no reason a skinless monster couldn't communicate.

As long as communication was possible, there was a price.

As long as there was a price, it could be bought.

Just as he was considering what other offers he could make, the skinless monster descended.

However, what descended wasn't its body, but its tongue.

A faint red afterimage flashed through the air. Liu Zheng only had time to tilt his head slightly before the tongue pierced through him.

Blood flowed down from the corner of his mouth.

The thin tongue covered in barbs passed through his left cheek and emerged from his right cheek.

Just a tiny bit more, and it would have pierced Liu Zheng's brain.

"You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit, is that it?"

Having narrowly escaped death's door, his "Irritable Temper" immediately flared up.

With an angry roar, his Boning Knife traced a bright arc through the air as he slashed at the long tongue.

The skinless monster's eyes showed mockery.

Its tongue was harder than the teeth of those fish in the river - this broken knife couldn't even break its skin.

Then, its tongue was severed.

A spray of black blood shot out, the severed tongue rebounding due to overly powerful muscles and smashing into the skinless monster's own face.

The severed tongue remaining on Liu Zheng's face still wriggled desperately as if alive.

He coiled around the severed tongue and slowly pulled it out.

"Your ingredient grade is quite high."

Liu Zheng's speech was somewhat slurred.

His ability to sever the tongue with one slash was mainly due to the Legendary Vest's true damage, with partial credit to the Boning Knife's damage bonus.

He wondered if White Feather Chicken would accept skinless monsters - this should count as a sewer specialty.

Thinking this, his look toward the skinless monster contained not only fear but also several degrees of fervor.

A lion that had been bitten on the butt by hyenas, while still strong, was no longer invincible.

Facing Liu Zheng's burning gaze, the skinless monster's eyeballs quivered slightly.

It moved quickly and silently across the ceiling, circling around Liu Zheng like a giant spider.

Clearly, it was looking for another opportunity to strike.

Liu Zheng's response was simple - he placed the Legendary delivery box on his head.

As long as he protected his head, the skinless monster could attack anywhere else.

Preferably directly shooting his heart - there were plenty of bones there.

If it got stuck, its tongue would become even shorter.

Although this risked damaging the Legendary delivery box, survival took priority in this critical moment.

The skinless monster apparently understood Liu Zheng's plan, circling for a long time without attacking.

"Are you going to fight or not? I still need to hurry and make deliveries."

Liu Zheng grew impatient.

"If you're not going to fight, come down and let's talk. My previous offer still stands."

He said.

If he could gain the assistance of a sewer native like the skinless monster, his exploration would definitely proceed much more smoothly. Official source is novel~fire~net

And by gaining his help, the skinless monster could obtain resources not available in the sewer.

This situation would be a triple win - with Liu Zheng winning twice.

Unfortunately, the skinless monster wasn't as skilled at weighing pros and cons as he was.

Or perhaps, it didn't possess true thinking ability.

In the blink of Liu Zheng's eye, it suddenly pounced downward.

Since its tongue wasn't effective, the skinless monster chose close-quarters combat.

Like an eagle's talons, its sharp claws tore through the air, aiming for Liu Zheng's waist.

Its already grotesquely strong muscles bulged again, making the skinless monster's arms thicker than its head.

"Damn, second stage gene lock, is it?"

Even though the skinless monster wasn't targeting his head, Liu Zheng felt he still couldn't take this hit head-on.

Because he suspected this attack could cleanly slice him in half at the waist.

Although flesh and blood could regenerate, facing a highly mobile predator like the skinless monster, losing mobility basically meant death.

In that lightning-fast moment, Liu Zheng made a desperate decision.

He leaped forward and jumped into the Sewage River.