"The numbers are a bit much..."
Over thirty "seafood monsters" of various forms gathered in the spacious altar hall, frantically destroying the tall divine statue at the center.
The statue depicted a goddess with a blurred face and hair composed of countless tiny tentacles. The material looked like stone, but its true composition was unknown.
These monsters had clearly been destroying it for some time, yet had only damaged about a quarter of that massive statue's base, showing just how sturdy it was.
Scattered across the hall floor were quite a few corpses, mostly various native underwater monsters from Tidal Sanctuary. Clearly these invaders showed no mercy to local creatures either.
Among them was a fishman corpse severed in two, the cut smooth, as if instantly sliced by something extremely sharp.
"Glub!" The guide fishman, seeing the hall's scene, immediately filled with rage.
However, its anger seemed directed more at the enemies' desecration of the divine statue than the tragic death of its kin.
It gripped its harpoon tightly, body trembling slightly from agitation, even forgetting to control the surrounding currents to conceal the three's presence.
This slight fluctuation was immediately caught by several monsters in the hall with keen current perception!
Norris sighed inwardly. He'd planned to observe longer, but since they were already exposed, there was no room for hesitation.
Not knowing the enemies' specific strength composition, the safest choice was to fight while retreating to the nearest secret passage.
If necessary, sacrifice the super Puchi to delay enemies while the few of them took the chance to hide in the passage and escape.
These were all escape strategies he'd discussed with Sister Blood.
Norris performed a smooth flip, entering the super Puchi's open cockpit space behind him.
"Follow my commands, retreat, I'll cover!"
Almost the same instant, a special sharp-capped Puchi mounted at the super Puchi's waist was ejected!
[Tailstream Propulsion LV6]
The Puchi's tail jetted airflow. Under the reaction force, it rapidly accelerated, shooting straight into the midst of several monsters charging at the front.
Then...
[Self-Destruct LV10]
BOOM————!!
Not the explosive blast of land, but underwater it transformed into an extremely muffled yet organ-shaking rumble!
The terrifying shockwave centered on the detonation point, madly compressing and spreading through the surrounding water!
That patch of water instantly churned into murky slurry—pale blue blood, shattered shells, chunks of flesh, and mycelial remnants mixed together.
The three closest monsters couldn't even react before being completely torn apart.
Intense vibration waves rapidly transmitted through the dense water.
Norris, inside the super Puchi, had all impact absorbed by the outer shell and mycelial buffer layer.
Ming just swayed slightly, seemingly unaffected.
The fishman guide beside them groaned dully, blood seeping from its nostrils and mouth corners.
The violent underwater shockwave scattered the formation of monsters behind into complete disarray, rolling them back and buying Norris's group time.
Seeing the new Puchi type's initial success, Norris's spirits lifted. He immediately called through the mycelial network: "Now's our chance, we..."
Before "retreat" could leave his mouth, a figure had already charged out against the not-yet-settled tremor aftershocks!
"The super Puchi is really amazing! Brother Norris, I'll work hard too!"
"Wait... damn!"
Norris nearly choked. He couldn't comprehend how anyone, facing enemies with overwhelming numbers and unknown strength, would choose to charge straight in like this?
But remembering the other was only one year old, he understood somewhat.
Whether for mission considerations or as a senior colleague's responsibility, he couldn't just watch Ming fall into encirclement alone.
Norris gritted his teeth, drove the super Puchi, and with rear Puchis' jet propulsion, also chased after him.
As for the fishman guide—after recovering from the explosive shock, the fury of witnessing the statue's desecration had completely burned away its fear of numbers.
It issued a low roar mixed with hatred and fighting spirit, gripped its harpoon tight, swung its powerful tail, and unhesitatingly charged toward the enemy horde as well.
Ming, in an almost brutally forceful manner, pounced on a crustacean enemy wielding massive pincer limbs.
One hand actually forcibly held back that pincer capable of crushing steel, while his other hand formed a sword with joined fingers, viciously stabbing down at the monster's facial carapace!
Crack!
First strike—the carapace gave a brittle shattering sound.
Squelch!
Second strike—fingertips broke through defenses, penetrating beneath the shell.
Third strike—his wrist suddenly twisted and gouged!
Dark blue viscous fluids mixed with shattered shell gushed from the forcibly widened hole.
The monster's violent struggling stopped as it went limp.
Ming shook off the filth on his hand, movements so smooth as if merely completing routine training.
Another enemy took advantage to attack Ming from the side, but a sharp mycelial spring spike shot from the super Puchi's hand, pierced through its abdominal joint, and violently dragged it back.
Before it could struggle, the super Puchi's foot already stomped down hard!
Shell burst, juices flowing.
"Enemy strength doesn't seem too strong..." The thought had just flashed through Norris's mind when crisis sense struck from the side!
He didn't even have time to think—reflexively controlling the super Puchi's arm to move the heavy rock-armored shield to its side.
A terrible slash mark several inches deep appeared on the solid rock-armored shield's surface!
If that strike had directly hit the super Puchi's body... it might really be cut in two!
The enemy was...
It was a bizarrely-shaped monster with a streamlined slender torso covered in fine blue-gray scales, with two pairs of constantly flickering cold compound eyes on each side of its head.
What it used to attack wasn't a weapon, but its arms.
Its forearm bones had mutated into two pale bone blades that could fold back, edges thin as cicada wings yet with sharpness Norris absolutely didn't dare underestimate.
Just as Norris focused completely, preparing to find an opportunity to use the last torpedo Puchi at his waist to eliminate this clearly elite enemy, blue light flashed in the bone-blade monster's four compound eyes as it abandoned its standoff with the super Puchi.
Its leg muscles suddenly contracted, leaving several vortices in the water as it turned at astonishing speed, directly lunging at Ming who was entangled with two other monsters!
"Ming! Watch out!"
Norris warned Ming while controlling the super Puchi to fire a string of spring needle spikes.
But the bone-blade monster's movements in water were mysteriously unpredictable, trailing afterimages, easily avoiding all attacks.
In desperation, Norris made a bold decision.
He abruptly jumped from the super Puchi's cockpit. Simultaneously, tentacles on the super Puchi's arm coiled around him, and like throwing a hammer, violently flung his entire body toward the front of the monster's charge path!
Thump thump thump!
Norris's heartbeat drummed like thunder, blood accelerating through his entire body, all stats briefly enhanced.
This was the new talent he gained at gold level—a skill Boss evaluated as "a common enhancement skill stimulating physical potential."
Pushing it with full force now, though unable to bring qualitative change, added several critically important chips for the coming fight.
He flew through the water, magic power rapidly gathering at the cannon port on his chest.
Though the opponent had sharp bone blades and agile movements, that slender thin body didn't look like the type that could take a direct cannon hit.
As long as he landed a hit at close range, he had good confidence in completely eliminating it!
Of course, the opponent's bone blade cutting through his body probably wouldn't take much effort either. This was a life-or-death exchange.
He had to intercept it before it reached Ming!
This was the only method Norris could think of right now to ensure Ming wouldn't be cut in half by those terrible bone blades.
Norris didn't blame Ming's recklessness too much. Backing up first-time-on-battlefield Ming was his responsibility as a senior—he only blamed himself for not communicating properly beforehand.
However...
"Ming! What the fuck are you doing???"
A nearly suffocating scene appeared.
Facing his warning and that enemy clearly radiating dangerous aura rapidly approaching, Ming not only didn't retreat but suddenly stomped forward in a charge!
In his hand somehow appeared a sharp bone spike stained with blue blood, forcibly snapped from some monster corpse on the ground. Attack against attack—he boldly counter-charged!
Facing Ming actively coming to meet it, blue light flashed in the bone-blade monster's four compound eyes. Without hesitation, both arms' pair of pale bone blades simultaneously extended, carving two cross-shaped cold lights almost impossible for naked eyes to catch through the water, directly slashing Ming's neck and waist!
"No—!" Norris's anguished roar echoed through the mycelial network.
CLANG—!!!
Those two incomparably sharp bone blades, the instant they touched Ming's body, actually rang out as if striking some indestructible entity, simultaneously breaking with a sound. Shattered bone fragments scattered in all directions.
Ming's charging momentum was blocked by the massive impact force, but his foot immediately kicked again, his form accelerating forward once more!
Giving the opponent no chance at all, the blood-stained sharp bone spike in Ming's hand viciously pierced into its compound-eye-covered head!
Squelch!
Ming slowly straightened, looking at Norris who had just completed an awkward double jump to hastily stop his charging momentum.
Pale blue blood mist like a thin veil slowly dispersed in the water between them.
"Brother Norris," Ming's face showed a clean smile mixing slight shyness and anticipation, seemingly completely unaware of the danger just now. "Did I do okay?"
Glub—
"Ah... mm... yes..."
Norris silently dispersed the magic power gathered at his chest...
(End of Chapter)
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