Chapter 553, Section 552: The First Round
"We can set off now!" Ironjaw's voice came from the deck.
Snap!
Inside the cabin, Kiro clapped his hands, his usually squinty fox eyes opening slightly: "Then, let's begin."
The Seven Sins: Sloth
Standing next to Kiro, Tanaka's body suddenly swayed slightly, and a blurry, ethereal image peeled away from him.
The phantom was initially transparent like a reflection in water, but then it quickly filled with color and texture... In the blink of an eye, another Tanaka had already stepped out.
This clone not only perfectly replicated Tanaka's current physical appearance, but even the adventurer's leather armor, jogger pants, and the wear and tear on his shoes were exactly the same.
However, the underwater breathing amulet that faintly glowed with magical light around Tanaka's neck, the several magical rings on his fingers, and the several bottles of magical potions at his waist did not appear on the clone.
Without exchanging a word, the two Tanakas exchanged a glance, and the main body deftly removed the items and handed them to the clone.
The whole process was smooth and effortless, so skillful that it was as if he were simply transferring a tool from his left hand to his right.
Once everything was ready, the clone pushed open the hatch leading to the deck.
Iron Jaw on the deck glanced at Tanaka as he walked out, but did not notice anything unusual.
He simply nodded to his employer, arranged for two of his snake-men to protect him, and then, with a fluid motion, leaped into the still murky seawater below.
As soon as they entered the water, they were attacked by the monster again.
Although it had just been cleared, this location was too close to the mist, and in such a short time, new monsters had already wandered over.
However, the mercenary group was no pushover. With a wave of his hand, the snake-man mage beside Ironjaw transformed the water into sharp swords, slaying the two monsters that hadn't even had a chance to get close.
In the dark depths of the sea, the entrance to the Tide Sanctuary is a colossal gate embedded in the side wall of a massive sea ridge.
However, the situation at the entrance to the dungeon was rather strange. Two streams of magical energy of completely different natures were colliding, one coming from inside the dungeon and the other from the direction of the mist.
The two magical forces were constantly squeezing and colliding at the entrance to the dungeon, and the spellcasters could clearly feel the oppressive atmosphere.
Every ten seconds or a few minutes, a small magical explosion would occur somewhere near the entrance due to the intense magical conflict within a small area.
After the explosion, a vacuum-like void will briefly appear in the seawater, followed by a backflow of seawater, forming a turbulent eddy that stirs up seabed sediment and debris.
This situation clearly occurred after the mist had passed through, and it was already considered dangerous for ordinary adventurers; even many mist monsters had died here.
Ironjaw raised his arm, gesturing for the entire group to stop in a relatively calm stretch of water outside the entrance: "Mage."
Several mages wielding staffs stepped forward and began to guide the chaotic magic around them, at least to ensure that a magical explosion would not occur within the group.
Taking advantage of this gap, the team quickly swam into the gate.
Upon entering, they encountered even more monsters. One of them, whose forearm bones had mutated into two folding bone blades, cleaved a careless snake-man in two in a single encounter.
Although the ferocious monster was quickly overwhelmed by the surrounding snake-men who reacted and was killed by several water arrows and axes, Ironjaw's expression still turned grim.
He knew the journey was dangerous, but losing a skilled fighter so soon after entering was hardly a good omen.
"I'm in," Tanaka said, indicating his current location on the ship.
"Okay, stay with the group for now. When we pass the third room, go near the left wall and activate the ring I gave you."
Under Ironjaw's command, the mercenary group carefully cleared away the monsters that appeared along the way while advancing along the main passage.
As the group passed the third spacious but partially collapsed stone chamber, Tianzhong, who was mixed in with the middle of the group, subtly approached the left wall covered with glowing moss and cracks, and injected a faint trace of magic into the brass ring on his left hand.
Click.
The clone pressed against the wall, and the inner and outer structures suddenly spun around like a nimble flipper, instantly flipping him inside.
The whole process was incredibly fast; before the surrounding snake people could even react, the employer's figure had vanished from sight.
"Go straight, then turn left," the fox-man continued, guiding Tanaka through the hidden alleyway.
Following Kiro's directions, Tanaka continued forward through the narrow alley.
The third corner was right in front of him. He had just cautiously poked half his body out when a dark shadow, accompanied by a violent current of water, suddenly pounced out from the other side of the corner!
"Gurgle!"
Fishman?!
The fishman's harpoon pierced straight into Tanaka's throat, swift and deadly!
Tanaka almost instinctively caught the harpoon with his bare hands, barely managing to withstand the fatal blow and avoid being pierced on the spot.
However, underwater, the fish-man's strength had an absolute advantage, and the tip of the harpoon was getting closer and closer to his throat.
Tanaka struggled to raise one index finger.
A flash of white light appeared at the fingertip and then disappeared.
[Memory Deletion]
The merman's furious roar abruptly ceased, leaving only emptiness.
The thrusting motion froze, and his entire body stood motionless like a puppet with its strings cut.
Tanaka then had a moment to draw his weapon and, before the fishman could react, pierced its head.
The merman's body twitched a few times, and the emptiness in his eyes was quickly replaced by the deathly grayness as he slowly sank to the bottom of the passage.
In addition to blood, some thin white threads floated in the wound.
Recalling the moment during the stalemate, when he glanced at the other party's panel and saw the word "parasite" on it, Tanaka took a few steps back in disgust.
"You damn fox! There are fishmen lying in ambush here! Why didn't you say so sooner? We were almost done for!" Tanaka didn't have the ability to multitask. Only after the crisis on his clone's side was resolved did his main body start complaining about Kiro beside him.
“The third corner…” Kiro didn’t explain, but nodded thoughtfully, then urged, “Keep going.”
However, not long after, he encountered another unexpected enemy.
A few half-demons leading a bunch of poopy?!
Moreover, these Puji were all strangely shaped; some were covered in rock armor with sharp spikes at the ends of their tentacles, while others had fish tails, making them completely different from the Puji he had captured from the Imperial Forest on his ship.
Are they the legendary Puji who can be deployed in battle?
But... this is just too outrageous!
When Tanaka opened the panel and saw the words "[Self-Destruct LV10]" and "[Sharp LV10]", he felt a chill run up his neck and his scalp tingle.
There was no communication, no warning.
The moment the half-demon soldiers spotted him, they attacked without hesitation, clearly recognizing him as an enemy.
A white light swept across, and the eyes of the five half-demons who had been locked onto him simultaneously lost focus, their attack movements frozen in mid-air, and they fell into a brief state of daze.
However, Puji, who had already received the order to attack, was not affected in the slightest.
"Depend on!"
Tanaka tried to back away, but he was too slow in the water.
Tentacles popped out, and before the clone could even react, it was pierced through multiple places simultaneously.
When the half-demons came to their senses, the Puji were struggling to pull their tentacles out of the wall, while in front of them, only a few magical artifacts slowly sank to the bottom.
At the same time, Tanaka's painful howls and complaints echoed from inside the cabin.
...
Snap!
Kiro clapped his hands, and a small tuft of white fur fell to the ground.
Beside him was Tanaka, who was exchanging magical items with his clone.
Kiro took a deep breath.
Round two, begin!
(End of this chapter)
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