OPTC Chapter 196 - Tom's Hose
In truth, the spider monkey's job was to gather intelligence across the island. Those huge ears on its head had nothing to do with it—the real trick lay in the hundreds of spider-mice under its command.
It was said that once they marked their prey, that target would remain under constant surveillance. Even Zhang Da Ye and his crew had been tracked this way.
Artoria did indeed have the ability to sense auras, but who would pay attention to ordinary mice while traveling outdoors? That was how Absalom had discovered that they had split into two groups.
Although the spider monkey and spider-mice specialized in lurking and spying, anyone who thought that was all they could do was gravely mistaken. When gathered in large numbers and moving under orders, they could be a serious threat.
That was exactly the predicament Rui Meng Meng now faced. A giant spider monkey loomed above her head while swarms of spider-mice surrounded her, spitting webs nonstop.
These were special threads modified by Hogback, incredibly tough. When woven together, they could even ensnare a ship.
"They actually spit webs? There are too many of them!" Rui Meng Meng slashed desperately, her sword cutting through a strand or two. But when hundreds of thick webs wrapped around her sword, her arms, and her body, the stickiness and toughness made them impossible to break free from.
Before long, both Rui Meng Meng and Ma Lao Wu were cocooned like giant silkworm pupae.
Rui Meng Meng struggled, but brute strength was useless against such elastic webs. Meanwhile, Ma Lao Wu looked at the messy deck in pain. First it had been covered with zombie corpses—manageable, just toss them overboard. But now it was smeared with sticky webs. Did these idiots not realize how much work it took to clean a ship's deck?
Getting angrier, Ma Lao Wu turned into smoke, slipping out of the webs and drifting into the cabin.
The spider monkey and its spider-mice gasped. "A ghost? A monster?"
Absalom snapped, "You're zombies! What's there to fear about ghosts and monsters? Get in there and drag him out!"
Dozens of spider-mice scurried into the cabin.
Turning back to Rui Meng Meng, Absalom instantly put on his dazzling smile again. But before he could propose once more, dead spider-mice flew out of the cabin, followed by a burning torch that melted Rui Meng Meng's webs.
"So hot! Huh, I'm free?" She jumped up just as Absalom came close and kicked him hard.
"Owww!" Whatever part she hit, Absalom went tumbling backward, rolling across the deck before lying there twisted in pain.
The spider monkey Tararan stared at Ma Lao Wu in shock. "How did you know the web's weakness was fire?"
Ma Lao Wu stomped a spider-mouse flat and waved a torch in his other hand. "Isn't it common knowledge? Ever heard the story of fire burning through a demon's web?"
Rui Meng Meng grabbed a torch, swinging it to drive back the mice before reuniting with him. "But fire is too dangerous. We might burn the ship. Why don't we try that 'divine tool' the boss left us?"
"You're serious? Are you sure he didn't just give you that to humor you?" Ma Lao Wu hesitated.
"The boss would never lie to me."
"…Fine, let's give it a try." He sighed, thinking Rui Meng Meng was far too naïve.
The two knocked aside the spider-mice blocking their path and ran toward the stern.
Absalom struggled to his feet again, bellowing, "After them! Catch them!"
By the time the spider-mice swarmed after them, Rui Meng Meng and Ma Lao Wu had already made their preparations: they disconnected the desalination device, turned on the water pump, and swapped in a length of fire hose that Zhang Da Ye had left behind.
Rui Meng Meng didn't know why the boss had told her to use this hose, but she trusted him and followed instructions.
When she opened the valve, a bulging mass of water rushed to the metal nozzle and blasted out in a powerful jet. The recoil nearly knocked her over.
Steadying herself, Rui Meng Meng aimed the stream at the horde. Every spider-mouse hit went flying as though struck by a sledgehammer.
She swept the hose back and forth, scattering the enemy in screaming waves.
"What's going on?"
"This is bad—it's seawater!"
One after another, spider-mice spat out black shadows before collapsing, then were blasted overboard by the force of the water. The survivors began to panic and no longer dared to advance.
"What are you afraid of? It's just a little water!" Tararan roared, leaping down from his web toward Rui Meng Meng.
As a zombie of his size—four or five meters tall—mere splashes of seawater weren't enough to harm him unless he was fully submerged. A single jet? He dismissed it entirely.
"Ahhh!" Rui Meng Meng reflexively lifted the hose upward.
Tararan sneered. "I'll crush you flat!"
But the moment the water hit his belly, his fall stopped dead. The thin jet acted like a fountain, impossibly lifting his massive body into the air. Higher and higher he spun until he vanished into the sky.
"HOW?" Even as he rose to unthinkable heights, Tararan couldn't understand. It made no sense!
Exactly—how? Ma Lao Wu couldn't figure it out either. That pump was clearly just an ordinary civilian water pump. "Don't tell me this hose is nuclear-powered?"
"I don't know what powers it," Rui Meng Meng said, "but it works great!"
[Fire Hose once used by Tom: Strong power, immense force. With it, you could even fly into space. 'Then Mr. Tom, how did you solve the high-altitude freezing problem?']
With the hose in hand, Rui Meng Meng swept through the zombies on deck, spraying them away and freeing the stolen shadows as they flew back to their owners.
"Damn it, this can't go on!" Absalom finally made up his mind. A bride this fierce wasn't worth it. "Hands of the Dead!"
The name sounded impressive, but it was just him firing a hidden rocket launcher from his invisible hands.
"Invincible Water Dragon!" Rui Meng Meng blurted out a name too, though it was just made up in the heat of the moment.
The water jet smashed into the rocket midair, reversing its path and shoving it straight back into Absalom's lion mouth.
Boom! The explosion left his face blackened, lips swollen like sausages.
Then the water stream blasted him into the distance. He only had time to shout, "I'll be back!" before vanishing into the castle.
"This hose is amazing!" Rui Meng Meng cheered.
Ma Lao Wu just stood there questioning his entire existence. So the most powerful weapon on this ship wasn't the cannons—but this little fire hose?
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