Because, Kleedo noticed something unusual in the sea ahead.

"Yang, look over there, isn't there something there?"

Yang had excellent eyesight, and following Kleedo's gaze, he did indeed see a blurry shadow.

"It looks like a small boat, let's go take a look."

Yang controlled the raft to approach the ship and found that it was a dilapidated wooden boat with its hull corroded beyond recognition and its sails incomplete.

Yang and Kleedo went forward to check, trying to find out if there were any survivors on the ship.

However, they found the ship empty, with only some broken utensils and food scraps remaining.

Shen Jue was looking at the ship from the side when he suddenly noticed some strange patterns on it.

She walked over and carefully examined the patterns, trying to figure out their meaning.

Just then, Shen Jue suddenly felt a strong chill coming from behind.

Shen Jue flicked out his double-edged curved blade, and with a twist of his body, he blocked the sudden attack from behind.

The owner of that claw was a monster that was entirely black and had two tails.

The attack failed, and they lay prone at the bottom of the ship's hold.

The monster let out a low growl, its eyes turning red, as if it were enraged. It opened its mouth, revealing sharp teeth, and lunged at Shen Jue.

Shen Jue dodged the monster's attack with a quick movement, then brandished his twin blades, swiftly cutting through the monster and forcing it back once more.

"What is this monster?" Yang asked hurriedly, drawing his long sword from his waist, ready to join the battle.

"I don't know, but I sense that this monster has a very strange aura; it doesn't seem to be an ordinary sea monster," Shen Jue replied.

Then I looked at the sign next to the sea monster.

(A sea monster that mutated through unknown experiences; its strength is unknown.)

Kleedo then drew a weapon and stood beside Yang. They exchanged a glance and immediately began to coordinate their attack. Yang swung his longsword, aiming for the monster's head, while Kleedo seized the opportunity to attack its abdomen from the side.

Shen Jue was not to be outdone. She immediately switched weapons, retreated to the raft, and launched a ranged attack.

The arrow shot towards the monster's leg. Although it couldn't penetrate the monster's skin, the negative status effect inflicted by the arrow was enough to give the little monster a hard time.

The Crossbow's Dark Arrow state has a slight corrosive and stinging effect.

Every time the little monster was hit by an arrow, it would howl in pain, its voice sounding incredibly pitiful.

The three worked together seamlessly and quickly gained the upper hand, forcing the monster to retreat repeatedly.

However, just when they thought the monster was doomed.

The monster suddenly let out a sharp shriek, and then its body began to change. Its originally jet-black body gradually turned crimson, and its tail grew even thicker. Its eyes flashed with a bloodthirsty light, as if it wanted to tear the three people in front of it to shreds.

Shen Jue and the other two's expressions changed; they sensed a threat from the monster. This threat came not only from its power but also from an indescribable terror.

Faced with this unexpected turn of events, Shen Jue and the other two exchanged bewildered glances. They knew that this time, they would face a difficult battle. Shen Jue gripped her longbow tightly; this time, she might have to use two types of arrows.

Yang and Kleedo felt the same way; they knew they had to go all out in this battle. The three exchanged a glance, turned around in unison, adjusted their breathing, and prepared for a fierce fight.

The monster let out another piercing shriek, and its body began to swell wildly, eventually becoming as large as a small boat. Its eyes flashed with a bloodthirsty red light, making it look exceptionally terrifying.

The boat beneath its feet creaked and groaned, clearly overburdened.

"Come back quickly, the ship is about to fall apart!"

Kleedo and Yang immediately pushed off with their toes and used the momentum to return to the raft.

The monster opened its mouth, revealing sharp teeth, and pounced on Shen Jue and the other two.

Shen Jue and his two companions were on high alert, knowing that this time they had to go all out.

Krido was the first to be hit. He conjured a huge gold coin and swung it, smashing it hard against the monster.

Yang brandished his longsword, leaping with astonishing agility to slash at the monster's head. Meanwhile, Shen Jue controlled two types of arrows, launching attacks from both sides, aiming for the monster's abdomen and legs.

The three attacked with perfect coordination, their teamwork so skillful that the monster struggled to defend itself. However, the monster seemed to possess inexhaustible power, able to withstand every attack from the three.

Just as the three were locked in fierce combat with the monster, a clear, cold voice rang out from afar: "Stop!"

Immediately afterwards, a woman approached from afar, stepped onto the sea, and landed on Shen Jue's raft.

With a wave of his hand, the white light that emerged temporarily suppressed the strange changes of the unknown sea monster.

The sea monster instantly returned to its original desk size, its violent emotions vanished, and it looked extremely docile.

The woman was dressed in white, her hair was tied up, and she had a cool and aloof air about her, as if she were isolated from the world.

"What kind of monster is this? Why is it here?" The woman looked at Shen Jue, somewhat confused.

Shen Jue and the other two exchanged glances. They didn't know who this woman was, but judging from her appearance, she didn't seem like an enemy.

So Shen Jue replied, "We don't know what kind of monster it is. We were just passing through when we encountered it."

The woman in white frowned and said, "I know a bit about these sea monsters. This one should be a mutated creature; its body has undergone some kind of mutation, giving it powerful strength and regenerative abilities. This one is still very weak. In the deeper waters, there are countless creatures like it. I didn't expect them to have spread to the open sea."

"Then what should we do?" Yang asked, a hint of worry on his face.

The woman thought for a moment and said, "We must find the root cause of the sea monster's formation. Only by solving the root problem can we completely eliminate this monster."

"Can you lead us to the root of the problem?" Shen Jue asked.

Just as the woman in white appeared, her side quest started to move.

Exploring the secrets of the Black Sea – 10%.

Despite the urgency of the battle, Shen Jue still saw that the white-clad woman, whose strength was shrouded in mystery, had arrived riding on wolves.

This woman's skill level is clearly not on the same level as the three of them.

Alright, alright, we've already used all our strength to deal with this sea monster, and you've already taken it down with a single basic attack. You don't like to play by the rules, do you?

The woman in white nodded and said, "I can give it a try, but you should be prepared that traveling to the central Black Sea region is a very dangerous journey."

Shen Jue and the other two exchanged glances and then nodded.

So, another guest joined Shen Jue's raft, thankfully the room she built on the raft was big enough.

It could easily accommodate a few more of these uninvited guests.

Even if they want to find the source of the monster, they have to find Balsa first.

Unexpectedly, after learning about the situation, the woman in white, Mu Xingran, provided some information.

"I think I know who you're looking for."

Shen Jue and the other two still didn't understand what Mu Xingran meant.

Mu Xingran stretched out her hand and made a few light gestures in mid-air, and then a figure appeared beside her.

This person is tall and slender, with long, smooth, black hair. Her features are three-dimensional and delicate, with a pair of intelligent blue eyes, a straight nose, and rosy lips. She exudes a noble and aloof temperament, making her a perfect mature woman.

"Barsa?!"

Balsa, who had just been informed, was still somewhat bewildered. What was going on? She was fighting those sea monsters, how did she suddenly end up here?

Then Balsa saw Mu Xingran next to her and immediately laughed, "Xingran? So you found my friend!"

Wait a minute, what's going on? How do these two people know each other?

Yang asked in confusion, "Balsa, do you know this person?"

“Of course,” Balsa replied with a smile, “Mu Xingran and I have been friends for many years.”

"Then how did you end up here in the Black Sea region?"

"Isn't it because Xingran needs some materials from the Black Sea to forge weapons? I thought I'd help her out, so I agreed to Lulum's request. I never expected that the once desolate Black Sea would have such a chaotic magnetic field. Beyond the outer magnetic field, there are many more monsters like this in the central area." Balsa pointed to the sea monster lying motionless on the raft, pretending to be dead.

Yang: "When we were communicating with you, you said you didn't know where you had drifted off to, and we thought you were in danger."

Balsa: "Hey, I have no sense of direction. Besides, I thought it would be easy to help Xingran gather materials from the Black Sea, so I came here because I remembered the Black Sea. I didn't expect to go to the wrong place and end up in the restricted area. Xingran only came here because she learned that I was in danger here when she contacted me. I haven't even seen her yet, and I didn't expect her to run into you guys first."

"Huh? After talking for so long, who is this pretty young lady?"

Yang quickly introduced, "This is Shen Jue, a player, and his identity is different from ours."

When Balsa heard Shen Jue's identity, his eyes lit up, and he immediately circled around Shen Jue.

"You're the player Lulum was talking about? Come to think of it, I haven't even done the job Lulum asked me to do for him yet."

Shen Jue: How come all of you know Lu Lumu?

Shen Jue: "Ahem, are you guys very familiar with Lulumu?"

Balsa responded nonchalantly, "It's alright, our relationship is so-so. If that old man didn't have the title of weapons master, who would bother with him!"

It turns out that NPCs also have human relationships and social skills.

However, Shen Jue always felt that these NPCs were too realistic, somewhat like real people, rather than NPCs created by the game system.

Perhaps in their world, these players are the outside NPCs!

Mu Xingran chimed in at the opportune moment, "Now that we know each other, why don't we discuss how to safely enter the central area of ​​the Black Sea, especially this pretty girl? This is her raft. Since we've chosen to enter that dangerous place, we have to protect this Crispy Shark player."

Shen Jue: Actually, you can take back that last sentence. She's really not that fragile!