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[Frog] Chapter 334: Planting the Bomb
🕑 Added 2025-02-19 16:25:36 +0000 UTC"Why are there so many tentacles?"
Quill was already surrounded, struggling to move. Every step he took was met with a barrage of tentacles striking toward him.
With his Elemental Gun in hand, he blasted away at the tentacles crawling through the planet’s crust. Suddenly, Alan’s voice came through his communicator.
"Quill, we’ve sent Mantis in. If she can use her ability to put Ego to sleep, the tentacles will stop attacking you."
Hearing this, Quill quickly turned around to check his surroundings. The areas he had just cleared were already swarming with tentacles again.
Mantis had no combat abilities—if she was in here alone, she was as good as dead.
Quill glanced at the bomb strapped to his body, hesitated for a moment, and then made his decision.
"I’m going back to get her," he said.
After that, the communicator fell silent.
Alan and the others grew increasingly anxious, like ants on a hot pan. On one hand, Alan worried that Ego might turn his attention to the people still aboard the ship. On the other, he feared Quill wouldn’t be able to handle the endless onslaught of tentacles.
At that moment, Gwen stepped forward.
"Let me go. Those tentacles won’t even be able to touch me."
She was right. Right now, only Gwen could reach Quill and Mantis inside the Living Planet. Her symbiote suit provided strong protection, and her Spider-Sense would allow her to dodge attacks with ease.
Alan hesitated briefly before nodding. "Gwen, be careful."
"Don’t worry, Alan. You’ve always been the one protecting us—now it’s my turn."
Gwen smiled confidently before transforming into her symbiote-enhanced form. Then, in a single bound, she leaped from the spaceship.
Her slender figure shot across the galaxy, leaving Alan momentarily awestruck.
—
Deep within the Living Planet, Mantis carefully made her way toward the core.
She hadn’t encountered any tentacles yet, but she was already trembling in fear. However, true danger often lurked in moments of calm.
As she passed through a deep fissure, an overwhelming number of tentacles suddenly erupted behind her, filling the space.
Ego had seen her.
His fury erupted.
"A pathetic, insignificant creature—how dare you try to help them kill me?!"
Seeing Mantis, Ego was driven into an even greater rage than before. His attacks against her were far more ruthless than those against Quill.
In an instant, countless tentacles lashed out, seizing Mantis in their grip.
She gasped as they coiled around her body, squeezing until her face turned blue. She clawed weakly at them, her vision darkening as she struggled for breath.
Just then, Quill finally arrived.
He fired several shots, blasting away the tentacles before grabbing Mantis and dragging her deeper into the planet’s core.
—
"How long do you need to put him to sleep?" Quill asked urgently.
Mantis, still panicked and gasping for air, stammered, "O-One minute! He’s too big now… before, it only took a few seconds!"
Quill’s face tensed. Cold sweat ran down his back.
Not only did he have to get Mantis into position, but he also had to buy her an entire minute.
That was easier said than done.
He was already struggling just to fend off the tentacles—protecting Mantis at the same time made things even harder.
They rushed forward together. To keep pace with Mantis, Quill didn’t activate the boosters on his boots. They ran across the ground instead.
Suddenly, several tentacles shot up from beneath their feet.
Mantis didn’t react in time and was instantly ensnared.
Quill, on the other hand, was lucky—he was thrown into the air at the last second, narrowly avoiding capture.
...
