In a moment of complete unpreparedness, Yun You's eyes met the monstrous eye within the robot.
Big eyes staring at small eyes, red eyes meeting orange eyes.
Human and monster, just inadvertently discovering each other, a glance that felt like eternity...
At this moment... time seemed to come to a standstill.
The sounds of the world also faded in Yun You's ears.
She just stared blankly at that orange eye, as if she were in a daze.
The latter also quietly looked back at her, with the flesh around it ceasing to squirm, seemingly waiting for Yun You to show fear and a flaw...
The two were caught in a bizarre balance... you don't move, I won't move.
Time passed in small increments.
One second... two seconds... fifteen seconds... one minute...
Neither human nor monster made any movement, not even a change in the vacant expressions on their faces.
Slowly, the monster within the robot started to become a bit puzzled.
It had seen humans before and understood their emotions.
Ordinarily, a regular person, upon seeing it, would fall into a temporary daze, which was normal...
But that frightened stupor would only last for a few seconds at most, and then would inevitably turn into horror.
Yet now, the unassuming little girl in front of it had shown no sign of fear at all.
No, to be precise... Yun You's face showed no expression whatsoever.
She remained composed throughout, her expression as calm as still water, with a pair of dead fish eyes that were completely unfazed.
The girl seemed to be looking at empty air...
This left the monster utterly baffled.
[Is she not afraid?]
The orange eye inside the robot involuntarily twitched, even beginning to suspect if there was something wrong with itself.
However, possibly due to a lack of intelligence, the orange eye didn't dwell on the thought.
[Perhaps she's just scared stiff… some humans do use a blank face to hide their fear.]
The orange eye settled on the most suitable guess and stopped doubting itself.
Since Yun You didn't want to move, it would act first.
With this thought, the orange eye slowly narrowed, and the bloody flesh near it began to writhe again.
Controlling the robot's already incapacitated shell, it raised its twisted, deformed hand, ready to strike hard at Yun You...
"Eat..."
The controlled robot opened its mouth, letting out a hoarse electronic roar, having already considered the girl within its grasp.
However, it didn't notice... at the moment it moved, Yun You's originally vacant eyes suddenly narrowed, growing sharp.
The next moment, the girl abruptly stepped back and then swung her hand back sharply, landing a heavy slap on the robot's head!
"Bang~!"
This slap contained almost all of Yun You's strength.
Thus, when the girl lifted her hand again, her palm was visibly swollen, with a trickle of blood seeping from her fingertips.
The robot that Yun You slapped clearly didn't fare much better.
Its already rusty and brittle skull had a finger-sized dent punched into it.
"Crackle~"
For a moment, sparks flew, broken wires mixed with the bloody flesh of the orange eye leaked out from the robot's cranial seam.
If the robot hadn't been possessed by the monster, this slap might have rebooted it.
But since it was indeed a monster now, such a wound was not much of an issue.
"Eat...!"
It roared furiously, wanting to tear Yun You apart.
But just as it took a step forward, a "clank clank" noise suddenly sounded from its head.
It was as if something... was stuck inside its cranium.
The robot paused for a moment, subconsciously rolling its eye upward, towards its crown...
And there it saw a military green "iron ball" firmly lodged in the crevice.
The iron ball was no larger than a walnut, with a very smooth surface, painted with two bold black lines...
["Tiny Tyke" Grade Fragmentation Grenade · Made by the Little Bird Gang]
[Every product from Little Bird, a guaranteed masterpiece]
At this instant, the orange eye finally realized, that slap from Yun You was not just an empty-handed hit!
In her hand, she had been holding this thing all along, a grenade that had long been prepared!
The girl had never been afraid of it.
Because from the first moment their gazes met, Yun You had been contemplating her move...
And this grenade was the answer sheet this crazy girl submitted.
Previously, to deal with the Apprentice Death God, she had hidden a bunch of contraband in her pocket, from grenades to solid bombs, almost everything.
Though most of her weaponry was spent on that Death God, there were always one or two grenades left.
And now, it was their turn to shine.
"Want to eat me?"
The girl stepped heavily on the remains of the robot underfoot, using the bouncing force to flip through the air, jumping to the pile of robot remains below, showing a not-so-polite gesture towards the robot.
"Eat a grenade instead!"
Yun You replied unhesitatingly.
And at the same time, the grenade stuck on the robot's head, under the terrified gaze of the orange eye, exploded.
"Boom——!"
In a blink, the green grenade burst open, transforming into a blazing fireball, engulfing both the robot and the orange eye.
The invisible shockwave mixed with the heat wave, blowing away the pile of robotic debris like a mountain.
Even though Yun You had stepped back a few paces in advance, the power of the explosion still pushed her back several meters.
She staggered back a few steps, a slight sense of nausea rising in her abdomen.
It was clear that the girl had been too close to the explosion, and the shockwave had hurt her internal organs.
However, this wasn't a major problem.
It was just a matter of enduring the pain for a few days and needing to take a few more painkillers before sleeping in the future.
Yun You never cared much about it.
So, instead of focusing on her own minor injuries, she was more concerned about the status of the robot and the orange eye.
Yun You didn't actually expect her grenade to take down that monster.
The "Tiny Tyke" grade fragmentation grenade is the most commonly used weapon for low-level gang members.
To avoid causing a bigger commotion during gang conflicts, attracting the Law Enforcers of Nest City, these grenades were usually only loaded with about ten grams of explosive material, hardly powerful.
Dreaming of using it to destroy the monster within the robot was nothing but wishful thinking.
Yun You was optimistic, but she always prepared for the worst.
And the truth proved she was right...
When the fireball and smoke slowly dispersed, a bloodied silhouette emerged from the wreckage of the robot.
It was a collection of scorched fleshy pieces... and something that looked like animal entrails, forming blood-red tendrils.
They clung to each other, secreting a foul-smelling mucus and constantly wriggling, making "squelch squelch" sounds, seemingly trying to maintain the "robot" form as much as possible...
But no matter how it looked, they resembled rotting, fetid maggots—no matter how convincing, ultimately just disgusting monsters.