Chapter 172 Chapter 172 It's grown!
Val looked up at Shanks, only to see that his eyes were filled with two undisguised words—"I want to raise him!"
With a soft "poof," the clockwork monster with huge amethyst eyes, which Shanks had particularly favored, shot a laser beam at him. Shanks quickly jumped to dodge, narrowly avoiding it.
Looking at the charred crater where he had stood, Shanks' brow twitched, and he abandoned the idea of tying up these clockwork monsters and keeping them as pets on the Red Furs.
The Red Firth is made entirely of wood, which isn't very fireproof. What if these monsters suddenly launch a frenzied attack in the middle of the night and set the ship on fire...?
Just imagining Beckman's reaction sent a chill down Shanks' spine.
Having already gained considerable experience fighting clockwork robots, Val used her Frost Staff to freeze it, then easily cleaved it in two at the waist with her Shadow Sword.
The clockwork monsters' already damaged and rusted metal plates broke completely. After defeating them, several exquisite gears and a beautiful purple gem rolled to the ground, which Violet picked up and stuffed into her backpack.
These broken clockwork monsters were even more dilapidated and easier to deal with than the ones Val had encountered when she first entered the cave; they posed no obstacle to the two's progress.
"Hiss..." Shanks pressed his head again. "Why do I feel like, according to you, the rate at which my sanity is decreasing has become even faster since we got down there?"
Vera glanced at the two's three-dimensional attributes and confirmed Shanks' judgment.
Fortunately, Violet had prepared enough food to replenish her sanity for this expedition, so there was no need to worry about this issue.
After picking up all the materials scattered on the ground by the clockwork monsters, Val looked up and found Shanks squatting next to a structure that looked like a miniature pyramid, about half a person's height.
Shanks pointed to the engravings on it: "The pattern on this is very similar to the style of those marble statues."
Vera nodded: "Judging from the map, we're almost at our destination."
Their destination should be in the center of this area.
Shanks curiously reached out to trace the patterns, but just as his fingers were about to touch them, the dark, seemingly endless cracks around him suddenly emitted a pale silver glow.
The tops of those miniature pyramid-shaped structures also emitted triangular silver rays of light.
In an instant, the previously dark underground area was fully illuminated, and Val and Shanks were able to see the entire area.
"This is... some kind of lamp?"
Before Vera could get close enough to test whether the light would cause them any harm, a clear sound suddenly echoed throughout the space.
"Hooh-"
The sound didn't seem to come from any living being; it was more like a mixture of wind and mechanical noise. The sound had no inherent meaning, but both Val and Shanks detected a warning and a sense of danger in it.
What's going on?
Shanks stared warily at the crack emitting a pale light not far away, then his pupils suddenly contracted.
"Oh no!"
He ran a few steps to Violet's side, scooped her up with one hand, and ran quickly forward.
Shanks completely ignored the various clockwork monsters scattered on the ground that hadn't awakened immediately due to the distance; after all, with Shanks' speed, these rusty clockwork monsters couldn't catch up at all.
Recalling the scene he had just witnessed a few minutes later using his Observation Haki, Shanks broke out in a cold sweat, looking down uncertainly at Violet, who was tucked under his arm.
"you……"
Shanks was about to ask Valerie if she knew how dangerous this place was, and whether she would have come to such a place alone if he hadn't chosen to adventure with her.
While being carried along, Violet expressionlessly raised her hand to steady the miner's hat on her head, and then keenly noticed that the light in the cracks had changed from what it had been before!
The originally cool-toned light had somehow taken on a faint red hue, and this red grew brighter and more pronounced over time, eventually becoming the color of congealed blood.
"Hooh-"
A louder sound rang out again, and at the same time, the darkness that was not illuminated by the red light became denser and more solidified. It grew huge, bloated bodies, tentacle-like legs, and sharp, frightening fangs!
Shadow Monster!
Those are shadow monsters that appear out of nowhere and attack the player when their sanity is too low!
Why did shadow monsters suddenly appear? Her and Shanks' sanity levels were clearly above the safe threshold! And there were so many of them! Even if there weren't hundreds, there were at least dozens. Violet had never seen so many shadow monsters at the same time before!
"Tsk!"
Shanks clicked his tongue in annoyance. When the future he had foreseen with his Observation Haki actually appeared before him, Shanks' first reaction was to greet them with Griffins.
But Shanks realized something was wrong the moment Griffin touched its translucent black body. He felt no resistance at all. This was not because Griffin, which was imbued with Armament Haki, was exceptionally sharp, but because they simply did not have any physical form to attack!
"Don't fight them!"
Violet stopped Shanks from trying. They could only attack these shadow creatures living in the cracks of reality when their sanity dropped to around 15%. However, too low a sanity would greatly affect their judgment and thinking abilities, and would also lure more shadow creatures to attack.
Surrounded by such a large number of shadow monsters, they are likely to find themselves in the awkward situation of the more they fight, the more monsters they encounter.
“Those changes in light must be some kind of pattern. This underground world has safe periods, warning periods, and dangerous periods.” Violet grabbed Shanks’ cloak to straighten herself up so she could better observe the shadow monsters and the changes in light in the crevices. “Perhaps it’s a cycle, a way of protecting the ancient ruins here.”
"If we can get through this dangerous period safely, these shadow monsters may disappear on their own."
Shanks glanced at the sheer number of shadow monsters around him, and decided to trust Vale and do as she said, only dodging and not attacking.
Getting close to the Shadow Monster will cause your sanity to decrease, as will getting close to the red light emanating from the crevices. Even deliberately avoiding the red light and entering the darkness will cause your sanity to decrease!
Vera recalled what she had seen along the way. At first, she thought that the clockwork monsters scattered all over the ground after she jumped down were the weapons that the owner of this ancient ruin used to protect this area from later people. However, after a long period of time, those weapons, which should have been very powerful, became rusty and their movements were sluggish, which is why they were able to break in without much effort.
In retrospect, those clockwork monsters hardly qualify as a security system; at best, they were just a warning.
What truly protects these ancient ruins are these terrible cycles of riots.
Without player-made dishes that increase sanity, even if previous adventures have shown that roasted green mushrooms can help resist the sanity drop, the meager sanity boost from roasted green mushrooms is insufficient to offset the triple sanity-draining effects of light, darkness, and shadow monsters.
At that time, even someone as powerful as the Four Emperors, under the condition of being in a state of extremely low sanity for a long time, will be worn down to death by these shadow monsters!
"Hooh-"
It was another familiar sound, but compared to the beginning of the riots, this sound was softer and gentler. Without anyone reminding them, Val and Shanks knew that the most dangerous period of this cycle had successfully ended.
The red light, which represented danger, gradually faded and turned back into the white light of the warning period. After a few more minutes, the white light disappeared completely, and the entire ancient ruins returned to their initial darkness and tranquility.
Shanks put Violet down, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and silently increased the excitement of this adventure in his mind.
Even when he was just an apprentice pirate on Captain Roger's ship, Shanks had never experienced such a thrilling adventure.
Of course, this is partly because the place is one of the most eerie places on the entire sea, and partly because the first mate, Rayleigh, would never allow trainees to participate in such dangerous adventures.
However, even compared to the story of Roger's pirate crew, who clearly showed signs of alteration after their adventure, this is exciting, bizarre, and thrilling enough.
Just as Violet said, if it weren't for her rich experience and the fact that the food here could withstand mental attacks, even he might have messed up.
Without saying a word, Vale, who had just gotten off Shanks, immediately took out spider silk, branches, and straw ropes and began to make a tent.
"Go lie down first."
Val pushed Shanks' back, urging him to go to sleep quickly.
Shanks felt a jumble of questions pop into his head: "Sleep, now?"
"Your sanity is already in danger. I used too many of the sanity-boosting dishes I had on the way here. We need to consider saving enough for the return trip."
Taking advantage of the lulls in the riots to sleep and replenish sanity and health by consuming satiety is an excellent choice.
In the blink of an eye, Violet built a new one next to the old tan tent, exactly the same as the previous one, like a copy-pasted twin.
“We don’t have much time to wake up before the safe period ends and travel through the warning and riot periods.”
Fortunately, they had collected a lot of spider silk from destroying the nests of the cave spiders along the way, so Violet didn't need to worry about recycling these tents and could simply use one and throw it away as she pleased.
...Maybe we'll explore it a second or third time in the future, so it can't really be considered a waste.
Shanks was completely bewildered and walked into the tent that smelled of fresh grass, his head full of question marks. He had originally thought that the monsters all around would constantly test his Observation Haki and make it impossible for him to sleep, but miraculously, when his head touched the simple grass pillow inside the tent, an intense drowsiness immediately swept over him, and Shanks fell into a deep sleep without any resistance.
Shanks was jolted awake by Val's voice and sat up abruptly. After feeling a sense of lightness, as if his body and mind had been refreshed, he raised his hand in alarm and pressed his left arm.
It's grown...it's grown out?
Shanks touched his undamaged left arm in disbelief, as if he were looking at an old friend he had buried with his own hands and who had attended his funeral, only to have him reappear before him.
This didn't surprise Shanks; instead, it filled him with horror and confusion.
Shanks twitched his lips. Besides, according to the adventure stories on the high seas, shouldn't a major change in the body of a great pirate be accompanied by some major event that could change the future course of the entire sea?
How come it healed inexplicably after I slept for a while?
Even among pirate stories with low levels of cultural literacy, this can be considered perfunctory and haphazard, making one wonder if the creator is just making things up without any prototypes, or if he is a third-rate writer who writes whatever comes to mind without any outline!
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Author's Note: Sigh, if Shanks, your arm didn't seem to have a problem, I actually intended to never let it break in the first place. [doge]
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