At the same time (?), in the different space of the "Big Hollow".
"Well..." Albert suddenly woke up and found himself lying in the medical cabin again.
The medical gel in the medical cabin is mixed with some kind of bloody smell... Albert's own bloody smell. Although the medical gel is filtered and purified after each use, the bloody smell seems to be left behind.
, and accumulates little by little and becomes thicker after multiple uses.
Now it's so thick that it's a bit pungent.
"...I died again, meow?" The tiger man climbed out of the medical cabin and asked, "How many times is this?"
"You're not dead, you just lost the fight." Mutt, who was waiting at the side, corrected him. His face was obviously much haggard. He hadn't had a good rest for who knows how many days. "This must be the seventh time."
"Tsk..." Albert subconsciously touched his neck.
"We've almost run out of painkillers. It's time for you to give up, right?" the cat boy advised: "That Hercules is an unbeatable opponent. It's better to rest for a few days and let your body rest."
"I'm fine." Albert replied, "And it doesn't seem to hurt much this time."
In fact, his whole body hurt. But the phantom pain caused by those old injuries had gradually subsided and was just a dull pain. He didn't seem to feel much from the new injuries, just a sharp stabbing pain on his neck.
"Because this time he just cut off your head and did not injure other parts of your body." Mutt replied: "So the thing that hurts you most now is your neck, right? The rest are all old injuries."
The phantom pain."
Mutter was right.
"Even so -" Albert climbed out of the medical cabin and rubbed his sore neck. Now he seems to still feel the moment when his neck was cut off by a blade, although the memory of the original fight has been completely forgotten by the abyss.
Erased.
"Sure enough, I still can't relieve my anger without beating that guy up," he said.
"I knew you would say that." The cat boy sighed: "Forget it. Let's have a combat meeting."
"Combat meeting?"
"If you challenge Hercules without any plan, you will probably end up losing, right?" Mutt said: "In that case, let's first try to analyze that guy's fighting style, and then try to find a breakthrough.
.I don’t think you can win by doing this, but at least it will make you lose less miserably."
Albert then complained: "It's called analyzing fighting styles. You didn't go to watch the battle. What do you know?"
"Mr. Gusta and I collect your body every time..." Mutt slapped his mouth, "No, we recover you after you were defeated. I saw with my own eyes how miserable you were when you were defeated. From your body
...No, isn't it also a way to infer Hercules' fighting style from the damaged body?"
"You can just call it [corpse], I'm used to it." Albert sarcastically said, "I won't scold you, at most I will just beat you."
"Hahaha, it's very interesting." Mutt pretended to laugh: "Anyway, you go take a shower first and come to the living room. We will have a combat meeting and analyze it at the same time. This is the end of the innocent challenge. Next, we have to pay attention to it.
Countermeasures."
"Okay." Tiger compromised, "You guys prepare the refreshments, I'll be back soon."
"There's no refreshments. What time is it? I'm still having refreshments." Mutt complained sharply.
While Albert went to take a bath, Mutt left the village and walked toward the forest, meeting secretly with the black figure who represented the abyss.
"Here we go again." The dark figure asked when he saw Mutt, his tone a little impatient: "What do you want this time?"
"Fresh food and drinks, as well as medicines, especially painkillers and disinfectants. Stupid Tiger challenges Hercules every day, and the painkillers are consumed a lot." Mutt demanded quickly: "And clothes. That guy
He fights every day, and his clothes are all in tatters. Now Mr. Gusta has made his clothes smaller so that he can have clothes to wear temporarily. In a few days, he will probably have to go to fight. He needs to prepare.
Some clothes that fit him."
"Why do you think it is necessary for the abyss to provide you with everything you need for life?" The shadow of the tiger man replied: "You will not starve to death in this dimension without eating, drinking or sleeping. Moreover, you will not die of hunger, thirst or sleep in this dimension."
You don’t have much time left. In that case, why does the abyss still need to go out of its way to meet your meaningless needs?”
"It's just a little effort from you. What's wrong with that? You even got the medical cabin for us. Is it difficult to get other supplies too?" Mutt said shamelessly: "Eat well, drink well, get good medical treatment."
, that guy is in better condition, and can naturally use all his strength to fight more excitingly. Isn't this the result you want?"
"What you said is not completely unreasonable, but -" said the black shadow representing the abyss: "I always feel that if we meet your willful demands again and again, we have lost."
"No. You didn't win or lose. You Abyss just stood by and watched us fight to the death with the ancients and take pleasure in it." Mutt said, "In this case, at least satisfy the people you are using for fun."
Some basic living needs, right?"
The black figure who spoke for the Abyss was silent for a long time, and then replied: "Let's assume that your words are right. I have to report this matter to the master of the Abyss Time Realm and let him make a decision. He thinks he can give you supplies,
Nature will give it."
"Yes, yes, yes, let your gods think about it carefully." The cat boy agreed.
"...Don't be too proud." The other party suddenly warned: "You have the aura of the Abyss Crystal Realm. You are from there. The master of the time realm is interested in you and is wary of you, so he is...
Turn a blind eye to your willful requests.
But there is a bottom line in everything. If you go too far, the master of time will not let you go.
Yes, you are from the crystal realm. We cannot interfere with the part of your body that belongs to the crystal realm. But this is still a space controlled by the abyss time realm, and the master of the time realm can still extract the parts of your body that do not belong to the crystal realm.
Leave, kill, even make you unable to live or die.
——Just take care of yourself."
"I will follow my instructions." Mutt replied calmly, waving goodbye to the dark figure.
That guy... no, the master of the abyss time realm is indeed aware of Mutt's plan. But the other party doesn't know what Mutt's plan is yet, nor does he know what Mutt wants to do or when he will take action. They are just on guard.
That's all.
Instead, Mutt breathed a sigh of relief - in this case, the plan is still safe and can be executed.
Ten minutes later.
"So..." Albert looked at the soy milk and dried meat on the table: "Is there nothing else to eat?"
Sure enough, they are still those foods. Soy milk is made from soy milk powder, and jerky is made from air-dried jerky that is re-steamed. Both soy milk and meat are excellent protein supplements, but eating this all the time is already a bit tiring.
The mouth and tongue are tired.
"Just be patient a little longer." Gusta, who was in charge of cooking, said with a bitter smile, "Mut went to negotiate terms with Abyss. It is said that he can get us supplies - including painkillers, some fresh ingredients, and even drinks. If he can
Just get the tea leaves, I can make you a pot of fragrant black tea."
"Painkillers are nothing, you don't need them at all." Albert subconsciously touched his neck. The feeling of being instantly decapitated by a sharp blade was still there, which was a bit scary, but it actually didn't hurt that much. What's more, the medical cabin had already treated him
He was completely cured, and the pain was all phantom pain. As long as you know that everything is an illusion, there is nothing to be afraid of.
"Then at least eat more nutritious food." Gusta stuffed the dried meat in front of Albert: "You must add more protein. Using that medical cabin to treat injuries will consume your energy, right? You see
Look how thin you have become. If you continue like this, you may not even be able to walk, let alone challenge any ancient champion."
"Don't worry about this, old father." The tiger man said jokingly, and drank the soy milk. The sweetness of the soy milk seemed to have become less. Gusta should have added sugar for seasoning before, but the sugar gradually
When you run out of it, you can only use it sparingly.
Has even soy milk become unpalatable?
Albert thought about it and chewed some more dried meat. The taste of the dried meat did not change, because it was originally preserved food that had been pickled and then dehydrated.
"Already eating?" Mutt came back at this time, "Do you want to have a combat meeting while eating? I can't guarantee that what I want you to read next will give you an appetite to eat and drink?"
"I have a strong psychological endurance and I'm not afraid." Albert said.
"Even if what you see is your own corpse? The bloody kind?" Mutt said with a mischievous smile, and he didn't shy away from it, simply calling it a "corpse."
"Just take it out." Albert still said calmly.
So the cat boy took out his cell phone and showed the photos he had taken before.
The first photo was already bloody enough. Albert's "corpse", which had been frozen in time, was in a state of pieces, even his head was smashed, and his lower body was all kinds of bloody and fleshy, in a bright red
In the color, Albert could vaguely see the lumps of various organs crushed by the impact.
Albert frowned. When he saw his "body", the visual impact was still huge. But he had been mentally prepared for it, so he got over it.
"The tragic scene after the first battle with Hercules." Mutter said: "At this time, Hercules didn't know how to hold back, and he literally beat you to death."
"Hahaha, very interesting." The young tiger man hummed calmly.
"Judging from the broken condition of the wound, it should have been caused by an attack with a blunt object. And judging from the size of the blunt object, it is probably...his fist." Mutt continued his analysis: "That guy is extremely powerful."
"You want to say that in the first battle, he didn't swing his sword at me at all and defeated me with just his fists?"
"Judging from the injuries, yes." The cat boy nodded, and at the same time realized that Albert had stopped eating and drinking (probably he really couldn't eat anymore, after seeing such a terrible photo).
He didn't point it out and continued: "Why didn't he chop your body with a sword? He probably thought you were not qualified. Or maybe after having a sword fight with you, he felt that it would be more advantageous to hit you with his fists."
"...I was completely underestimated." Gusta on the side took a sip of soy milk and whispered.
"But, look at this." Mutt swiped the screen and displayed another photo in front of the two of them.
In that photo, Albert's "death" was no longer as tragic as before. Although his arms were cut off and his heart was stabbed.
"This is the wound left by the blade." Mutt said: "In the first battle, he fought you with his fists, but in the second battle, he switched to using the blade to kill you. Does this mean anything?"
"He was merciful, he didn't want to hit me so hard and break me into pieces?" Albert replied.
"It's possible, but I don't think it's that simple." Mutt said solemnly, "If I'm not wrong, maybe it's because -
It was difficult for him to hit you with his fists alone, so he started to use weapons."