Chapter 415 Tunnel Worm
“Codename [Coffin], you should already know the specific information.”
Looking at the bug wielder boy who had completely let down his guard, Kazumi nodded and extended a hand from her cloak to grasp the boy’s right hand. After all, such a test was quite normal, and the other party had even held back considerably. The most important thing now was to clarify the specific content of this rescue mission.
“Eh, you’re a girl?!”
After politely withdrawing his hand, the bug wielder boy was a little surprised by the touch at that moment. He awkwardly touched his cheek again, as if embarrassed for attacking a woman like that earlier.
“Is there a problem?”
Her eyes beneath the cloak twitched slightly. It wasn’t that the young girl was particularly sensitive about her stance as a woman at this moment, but rather that Kazumi herself had never felt completely at peace with her own gender identity.
“No, no, I just think it’s amazing that a girl has such abilities. And if I had known you had spatial abilities, I wouldn’t have had to come all the way here.”
Realizing the rudeness in his words, the boy quickly waved his hands in denial and then praised Kazumi’s abilities that she had shown earlier.
“So… are you the only one here? Where exactly is the location?”
Keenly sensing the information conveyed in the boy’s words, Kazumi didn’t want to reveal too many details about her abilities to a stranger she had just met. She shifted the topic and asked faintly.
“Yes, that’s right. Because my abilities are quite special, the boss told me to come and pick you up. Time is tight, and the Maritime Defense Force’s gap should only be for a very short period tomorrow night. If we’re going to meet, you’ll see it soon.”
The boy nodded and explained the specific content of the mission, then turned to ask.
“Can your spatial ability move over long distances? Because… my ability might not be friendly to girls.”
“Mmm… if it’s across several cities, I probably can’t.”
Kazumi frowned, thought for a moment, and then answered. She was also wondering what kind of situation the boy meant by “not friendly to girls.”
“Ah, then I’m sorry, I still have to use my ability. The location is a small city on the northeast coast, and it’s too late to get there even by car now.”
The boy showed a slightly embarrassed expression, but his actions didn’t stop. He reached into his right satchel and fumbled for something, then said.
“It’s okay, it’s all for the sake of completing the organization’s mission.”
The boy didn’t respond to Kazumi’s words for the moment. Instead, a fluorescent green ability began to emanate from his body, and he took out what he was holding in his right hand. A strangely shaped, barrel-like worm floated from his hand and finally burrowed underground with energy.
“Okay, it should be done. My body might undergo some changes, so be mentally prepared.”
As he continuously injected energy into the ground from his hands, the boy took the opportunity to shout a reminder to Kazumi beside him. As soon as he finished speaking, his somewhat honest face changed again.
Hard brown chitin gradually covered his human skin, finally forming a huge mouthpart in the center of his face. Layers of folds mixed with mucus oozed from the gaps in the chitin. In just an instant, the boy’s human face transformed, becoming an unknown insect completely different from his previous praying mantis-like head.
“Hoo— It’ll be another few minutes. How was it, weren’t you scared?”
The boy let out a long breath, feeling the tunnel worm that was beginning to gestate underground. He retracted his hand, turned his massive tunnel worm head, and asked.
“Not really.”
Kazumi shook her head, still standing indifferently in place, watching the insect monster in front of her. Such a change was probably child’s play for the young girl. Compared to the change in the other party’s appearance, Kazumi cared more about the information related to his abilities.
“Heh heh, as expected of the most promising newcomer under Master [Shell]. It seems I was worrying too much.”
The boy nodded happily. Although he had awakened his abilities a long time ago and didn’t care much about external opinions anymore, having someone not find such a change unusual gave him a sense of belonging and recognition as a fellow being. An invisible good impression was formed towards the black-robed young girl in front of him.
“Did you turn into this because of your abilities?”
Sensing the faint change in the boy’s expression, Kazumi took the opportunity to ask. After all, according to the boy, the activation of this ability should still take a few minutes. The young girl intended to strike up a conversation to gather some information, as someone sent by Executive [Spike] to greet her should not be too low in the team’s hierarchy.
“Yes, I also turn into the corresponding insect when I use my abilities. Although I’ve cultivated to the point where I can now control the changes to my head, it looks even stranger like this.”
The mantis-headed monster smiled and briefly explained his abilities. It seemed to sense the girl’s desire to chat and threw out a topic.
“By the way, [Coffin], are your abilities good at dealing with psychics?”
“I think so. My abilities are quite similar to Master Sakuraba’s energy attribute. Are you having trouble dealing with enemies in that regard?”
Kazumi acknowledged his statement and then asked. If they chose her specifically for this reason, did it mean the enemy they had to deal with was very powerful? If so, why wasn’t Masashi Sakuraba himself here for a mission of this importance, but she was?
“Well, it’s not that we can’t deal with them at all, but it’s quite troublesome to handle them without specialized abilities. The main reason is that our boss and Master [Viper] don’t get along well, so the BOSS usually doesn’t let people from that side cooperate with us.”
The mantis-headed monster spread his hands and replied.
“Then… are Master [Spike] and Master [Shell] on good terms?”
The other party’s answer didn’t quite match Kazumi’s information. Moreover, Iori Kurokawa was clearly a close friend of Masashi Sakuraba, so it would be difficult for him to have a bad relationship with Masashi Sakuraba while being on good terms with Iori Kurokawa.
“Not really, my relationship with Master [Shell] is just a normal peer relationship, but even that is quite rare. If you stay in the organization for a long time, you’ll know that our boss seems to have a bad relationship with most people in the organization…”
The boy whispered, placing one hand near his mouthparts, conspiratorially telling Kazumi as if he were a salaryman complaining about his boss to a colleague.
“…”
Kazumi didn’t know how to respond to his overly familiar attitude, so she could only nod silently, indicating that she was listening.
“Chir Chir Chir—”
At that moment, as the two fell into a brief silence, accompanied by an ear-piercing insectoid chirp, the ground beneath the girl’s feet churned, and then, a round worm as thick as a large tree burst out of the ground. Its mouthpart, exactly the same as the boy’s, opened upwards, revealing a dark abyss.
At this moment, the boy stopped talking. He looked at Kazumi, who was still calm beside him, then reached out and touched the teeth on the top of the tunnel worm’s head, pointing at the worm’s bottomless giant mouth, and politely said.
“Let’s go.”
