Chapter 83-New mission

Chapter 83: 83-New mission

The mutant octopus screamed. Its enormous body convulsed beneath the ocean, black blood boiling through the water as the underwater cannon continued burning through its flesh.

Aymara didn’t waste a second celebrating. "System, show me the ship’s condition!"

The main monitor immediately switched from the creature’s image to the vessel’s status.

[Hull integrity: 81%.]

[Defensive barrier: 61%.]

[Underwater combat cannon: 43% energy remaining.]

[Multiple external systems damaged.]

Aymara’s eyes narrowed at the statistics. The numbers weren’t looking good for them.

"How bad is it?"

Before the system could answer, Nathaniel pointed toward another monitor.

"Mara." His voice was suddenly tense. "Look."

Aymara turned. The image on the screen made her blood run cold and drained all colour from her skin.

The mutant octopus was moving again. It was not retreating or dying, no. Its mangled tentacles writhed beneath the surface, stirring the sea into a black, frothing whirlpool.

Then the wounded flesh began knitting itself back together. Wounds sealed with wet, twitching folds. Burned tissue bubbled and regrew.

Severed sections pushed outward like pale roots, rebuilding themselves before their eyes. Even the deep crater in its enormous body began shrinking.

Aymara’s face drained of color. "No..."

Nathaniel stared at the screen looking just as pale himself. "It’s regenerating."

"I can see that," her voice was tight. The creature’s body continued reshaping itself, muscles swelling beneath its grotesque skin as the damage vanished at an unnatural speed. "This is next level. The apocalypse is definitely trying to kill off anyone who survived the first attack," she admitted.

That was the only explanation to the existence of such a creature that is not only difficult to kill but can regenerate.

Aymara immediately checked the system interface. Her remaining points flashed across the corner of the screen.

[Available System Points: 0.]

Her stomach dropped. Zero? She had spent almost everything upgrading the ship, activating emergency defenses, and modifying the vessel for underwater combat.

There was nothing left. No points, no emergency upgrade and the ship was already damaged.

Another attack like the last one could push the hull beyond its limit and give the monster a breakthrough in breaking through their defenses and getting to them.

Aymara’s fingers tightened around the console. "Damn it!" She cursed, at the end of her wits with what to do next.

Nathaniel looked at her. "Mara, what’s the plan?"

"We can’t keep this up." She rapidly examined the ship’s status. "That thing is regenerating faster than we’re damaging it. Our barrier is already down to sixty-one percent, and the hull is taking damage."

Her eyes flicked toward the ocean. "If this continues..." She didn’t finish. She didn’t need to since they both understood. The ship wouldn’t hold out forever.

DING!

The familiar system notification appeared. Aymara froze. For some reason, she already had a terrible feeling about it but it also gave her hope of a chance to change the situation to get advantage.

[Emergency Hidden Mission Activated!]

[Mission: Give your beloved a passionate kiss to unlock mysterious rewards.]

Aymara was caught by surprise and taken aback. Her mind thought back to the last gift she recieved and she got shivers.

’System, please give me something that can save me.’

"What?" Nathaniel blinked. "What happened?"

She stared at the floating notification without responding, hoping her stars favour her and she gets a good option. More words appeared.

[Mission Objective: Share a passionate kiss with your beloved.]

[Mission Reward: Ship Emergency Upgrade.]

[Additional Reward: Nuclear Beast-Slaying Blaster.]

[The Nuclear Blaster is capable of causing catastrophic damage to mutated organisms.]

Aymara stared at the screen with moistened eyes. The system had heard her prayers and given her a reward worth completing the mission for. Even though it didn’t waste an opportunity to put Nathaniel first.

She looked at Nathaniel and then back at the screen. Her expression became complicated when she thought of the task. Even though the rewards were everything they needed to survive, the task put a little heat on her. "You have got to be kidding me," she complained under her breath.

Nathaniel looked confused. "What did the system say?" He asked, at this point, he had caught on that Aymara had a cheat code.

Aymara’s lips twitched. She couldn’t believe she was about to say this. "It wants me to kiss you to get reward..." She said. "The rewards can repair the ship and save us," she said in one breath. And shied immediately.

Nathaniel froze. His entire face went blank. "...What?"

"The system activated a mission." She pointed toward the floating notification. "Apparently, we need to kiss to upgrade the ship ."

Nathaniel’s ears turned red. "A... a mission?"

"Yes."

"To... Kiss." He swallowed. He touched his lip and imagined the feel of her lips on them and turned redder than a tomatoe.

"Passionately too. Anything less of that and we won’t get the rewards," Aymara nodded.

Nathaniel’s face became even redder. For a moment, neither of them spoke about it but with time ticking away, they couldn’t waste time being shy about it and just to remind them of the urgency, the ship shook violently.

BOOOOOOM!

The deck lurched beneath their feet, the metal shrieked and red emergency lights strobed across the control room. Both of them stumbled.

The monitor flashed with more warning.

[Hull integrity: 76%.]

Aymara’s expression hardened. There was no time to be embarrassed and no time to question the ridiculousness of the situation. Their survival depended on it.

She grabbed Nathaniel’s hand. "Nate," she called, he looked at her. "We don’t have time."

His throat bobbed. "You... you’re serious?"

"Very."

When it came to her survival and his, she wouldn’t leave any stone unturned.

Another notification appeared.

[Mission completion conditions remain active.]

Aymara exhaled, but she didn’t pull him closer. Her grip remained around his hand, firm and warm. "I need you to understand something."

Nathaniel searched her face. "What should I understand?"

"This is a system mission. It isn’t a confession, and it isn’t permission for either of us to pretend we know what the other wants."

His brows drew together, startled by the seriousness in her voice. "Mara, I wasn’t..."

"I know." She glanced at the notification, then back at him. "But if we’re going to do this, we do it because we choose to. Not because a glowing box told us to."

Another impact shuddered through the deck. Aymara’s jaw tightened. "And if you don’t want to, say so. I’ll find another way."

Nathaniel looked toward the monitor, where the creature’s wounds were already closing. Then he looked back at her. His fear was still there, but it wasn’t only fear of the monster. "I do want to," he said. "I just... I don’t know if I can make this mean something while we’re both trying not to die."

Aymara’s expression softened. "Neither do I." She stepped closer, slowly enough that he could move away if he wanted to. He didn’t. "Then we don’t make it mean everything all at once. We take one honest moment, and we survive the next one."