The next day, just as dawn was barely beginning to break, Grandpa Max woke up early, got up, and drove the RV. Old people tend to sleep lightly and wake up early.
In any case, by the time Ethan and the others woke up, the RV had already driven into Washington D.C.
"Go wash up."
Grandpa Max was listening to the car radio, smiling. "I heard there is a newly opened supermarket in Washington D.C. that has everything. Let's go buy some daily supplies!"
"Sure!"
Everyone answered together.
A short while later, the RV stopped in front of a large supermarket.
Grandpa Max, Ethan, and the others stepped out of the RV and walked into the supermarket. The supermarket was bustling, with people coming and going.
"I'm going to buy some food. You all pick out whatever you like." Grandpa Max lifted his feet and walked off toward the pet section and the plant section.
Which was, in any case, not in the direction of the food section.
"Ben, Gwen, let's look around."
Ethan naturally became the one to lead, and brought the two of them wandering around the supermarket.
As the three of them passed by a shelf, Ben immediately stopped in his tracks, and stared fixedly at the shelf. "There might be Sumo Slammers cards inside these chip bags!!"
On the shelf were bags of chips, all printed with the exact same sumo wrestler design!
These were custom chips made in collaboration with the Sumo Slammers series, sold specifically for kids!
The Sumo Slammers series was the hottest franchise in this world. If you had its golden card, every boy in the whole school would be green with envy.
Ben, just like in the original story, instantly transformed into Grey Matter with no hesitation, and began tearing open chip bags looking for Sumo Slammers cards. Gwen followed along helplessly.
As for Ethan, he had both hands in his pockets, pacing back and forth near the supermarket entrance like he was on patrol.
'Hehehe. Dr. Animo, come quickly and raise the progress on my Error Watch template.'
Bang! Bang!
Suddenly, strange and loud noises came from all around, and the ground seemed to tremble faintly.
Ethan paced back to the entrance, but did not see Animo anywhere. To be safe, he chose to hide in a spot where the security cameras could not reach!
'Where exactly will Animo appear?'
His gaze sharpened, scanning the area all around.
Boom!
Accompanied by a deafening crash, a wall on one side suddenly collapsed!
A giant figure burst into the supermarket, its bulk looking even larger than a hippopotamus!
But its appearance.
Was nothing more than a green North American bullfrog, just an extremely oversized one!!
On top of the bullfrog, a disheveled old man who looked like he had never groomed himself sat atop it. He wore a strange horned helmet, and pushed his orange sunglasses up his nose. "What I need is right here!"
"Ahhh!!"
"Help! A giant mutant bullfrog!"
Many people screamed, let go of their shopping carts and ran, while others did not scream. Not because they were calm, but because they were so frightened they forgot to make a sound.
"Here we go!"
Ethan slowly stood up, and fixed his eyes on Dr. Animo not far away. "Prey."
He suddenly raised his wrist with the Error Watch, selected an alien, and tapped lightly.
A blood red light shot straight up to the ceiling, and within that light, a terrifying figure quickly took shape!
"Ahhh!!"
"Another one, this way!"
"This one is even scarier than that thing!!"
In an instant, the people fleeing in this direction slid across the floor, and collapsed onto the ground!
Some people even fell to their knees in front of Ethan!!
"Hah."
A tall monster wrapped entirely in bandages raised its head.
On its forehead sat a blood red crown, and the eyes visible between the bandages were a deep blood red!
This was the Error Watch's Snare-oh!!
"Huh? What, what kind of monster is this? Mummies actually exist?"
Animo sat on the giant bullfrog, and looked at Snare-oh in disbelief.
Though he was shocked, he was not frightened the way an ordinary person would be. Instead he became excited.
"A mere mummy. Bullfrog, take him down!!"
"Ribbit!!"
The giant bullfrog could not clearly see things that were not moving, but under Animo's direction, its lightning fast tongue still launched an attack toward Ethan!
"Heh heh."
Ethan let out a cold and chilling laugh.
Whoosh!!
The bandages all over his body instantly unraveled, forming countless tentacles, and wrapped tightly around the bullfrog's tongue!
The giant bullfrog was stunned.
It shook its head frantically and pulled at its tongue, but no matter what it did, it could not pull it back!
And the owner sitting on top of it, Dr. Animo, had also gone quiet, and stopped giving orders.
"This. This."
Animo's eyes trembled violently, his mouth shook without him being able to control it, and the gaze he directed at Ethan became extremely fearful!!
After all of Ethan's bandages had unraveled outward.
What was revealed was a figure drenched in blood all over.
Looking like what?
Looking like a skinned humanoid creature.
Those bandages.
Were his skin.
"What kind of monster is this!!"
Ethan's blood red eyes turned toward Animo, and Animo's old heart instantly pounded wildly. He was so terrified that he fell straight off the giant bullfrog!!
As for the people nearby.
They saw Ethan's true face, their eyes rolled back, their bodies convulsed, and they fainted on the spot.
What is a monster?
Ethan is a monster.
"Ribbit ribbit ribbit!!"
Because there was no one giving it orders, the giant bullfrog began panicking and crashing around. Its body kept knocking over shelves, and it even accidentally hurt people!
"I can't let you keep running around. I need to hit hard now!"
Ethan's eyes sharpened, and all his bandages suddenly released the giant bullfrog's tongue, causing the giant bullfrog to stumble and fall to the ground!
Before it could get back up.
Bang bang bang!!
Ethan swung his limbs, and countless bandages came wrapping in from every direction, binding the giant bullfrog's four limbs and body tightly!
At first, the giant bullfrog struggled desperately, trying to tear apart the fragile bandages!
But as more and more bandages left Ethan's body, more and more bandages piled onto the giant bullfrog.
It gradually stopped moving, like prey wrapped up in a spider's web!
Snare-oh's ultimate binding technique!!
"Have a nice long sleep!!"
Ethan's blood soaked face twisted, all his bandages pulled taut, and he exerted force all at once!
The giant bullfrog's four limbs went limp, and with a loud thud it collapsed miserably to the ground!
"Hah. Done."
Ethan showed what he considered to be a friendly smile, and looked at the people around. "Are you all okay? Huh, how did everyone faint from being scared by a bullfrog."
"Hey, Ethan. Ah no, Mummy buddy, next time before you ask that question, you might want to look in a mirror."
Not far away.
Ben stood there trembling, without the courage to look up at Ethan.
Gwen had her back turned to Ethan, eyes shut tight, as if she was contemplating life!
[Ding. The host has defeated the giant bullfrog. Dr. Animo even abandoned his counterattack against the host out of fear, and fled the scene on the spot. Progress gained plus 1!]
What the heck, Animo got scared off??
Ethan looked around, and indeed there was no sign of Animo anywhere!
[Template progress is now 5 out of 100. A key checkpoint has been reached. Unlocking Error Watch permission. Slaughter Mode!!]
Ethan slowly typed out a question mark.
Slaughter Mode?
It sounded like. It was going to be very brutal and violent!!
[Please interact more in the comments! If there's an alien you like, leave a message, and the author may consider unlocking it early!]