The Sea God fruit that Raine held was strangely sticky, its exterior suggesting possible decay. Yet regardless, he maintained his grip on it.
Just then, the colossal skull that had previously lain dormant, cracked... shattered!
Hearts leaped into throats - Raine's, Fancy's, Olivia's.
The sound reverberated unnaturally clear throughout the cave. Wielding his flashlight, Raine cautiously illuminated the surroundings. The light revealed an army of sea monkeys, all fixated on the location of the casket.
In an instant, the cave was enveloped in an eerie silence.
Raine's breath quickened, his gaze flicking to Fancy and Olivia. Both women looked on, eyes wide with trepidation.
Clearly, they all knew what this temporary tranquility heralded.
One of the sea monkeys began to shift towards them, followed soon by more, tumbling down from the rock crevices...
Raine's eyes were nearly bursting, he shouted at Fancy and the others, "Run!"
Olivia transformed instantly, scooping up Fancy and rushing outwards, White hot on their heels.
"Tiger Fang!" Raine didn't have time for second thoughts. He couldn't afford to conserve this lifesaving skill. Holding the Sea God fruit in one hand and a panel of the casket in the other, he bolted towards the exit.
From the moment the sea monkeys heard the noise, they swarmed toward Raine like a dark tidal wave.
Raine dashed into the passageway, swiftly blocking the entrance with the casket lid. In less than half a second, an enormous pressure came from the other side of the lid - the sea monkeys had arrived.
Straining, Raine held the casket panel against the onslaught of sea monkeys.
"Olivia, have you found an exit?!" Raine strained, "I can't hold on much longer!"
From not far ahead, Olivia's anxious voice carried back, "Captain, the entrance is too small, there's only one vent, and the rock is about seven or eight meters thick. We can't get out!"
A sense of urgency consumed Raine.
The sea monkeys clawed frantically at the casket panel, some places already showing signs of cracking. Their time was running out.
Unable to exit, Olivia and the others hurried back, just in time to see Raine single-handedly holding back the army of sea monkeys with the casket panel.
"Captain, what do we do now?"
"Get my walkie-talkie!"
In a flurry, Olivia removed the walkie-talkie from Raine's waist, switched it on, and held it to Raine's mouth.
"I am the Captain, whoever is on the ship, respond immediately!"
Before long, Avril's voice came from the walkie-talkie, "Captain, only I am on the ship, the others are busy mining."
Avril was nearby the island. Raine urgently instructed, "That works, immediately launch a Sea Spear anti-ship missile! I'll handle the coordinates! Hurry!"
Avril and Raine shared an understanding that required no words. Hearing Raine's anxious tone, she didn't question, directly controlling the warship to launch the missile.
Raine was already connected to the warship's radar system. As the Sea Spear anti-ship missile ascended, it whistled toward Flowing Gold Island.
"Hurry, I can't hold them much longer!" Raine and the others desperately fended off the army of sea monkeys. The wooden panel had already broken in several places, their defense resting solely on White biting any sea monkey that poked its head through.
Just as the casket panel was about to give way, a deafening explosion caused the entire cave to tremble. The small vent was blown apart, loose rocks flying everywhere. The powerful shockwave thrust all four of them outwards.
The missile had detonated behind them, and they were propelled into the army of sea monkeys!
Fortunately, not only were they pushed out, but the sea monkeys were also thrust backward by the panel.
Chaos ensued!
Raine hastily got up, picking up the two women, "White, run!"
The four of them raced towards the cave entrance like mad.
The sea monkeys had regained their senses, their dark figures crowding the passageway, pursuing relentlessly from every direction like spiders.
The cave entrance was just ahead, Raine and White leaped out! Behind them, a large number of sea monkeys disregarded the entrance's location on a cliff several dozen meters high and charged out in unison.
"White, hold onto my legs! You two, hold onto me!" Raine shouted, spreading his wings, and after a dive, soared into the sky.
After flying out a few dozen meters, Raine finally exhaled in relief. They had managed to escape.
Looking back, a large number of sea monkeys rushed off the cliff without a care, but they couldn't fly. Naturally, they fell, shattering upon impact with the rocks.
Eventually, the sea monkeys realized something was amiss. They stopped at the edge of the cliff, staring blankly at the sound, unable to find their targets, they turned back to the cave.
"Damn, they finally stopped chasing." Raine sighed in relief, "These creatures are terrifying, their numbers are too great, and they're highly toxic. If they had surrounded us in the cave, I wouldn't have been able to hold them off."
If Raine couldn't fend them off, there were few who could.
Raine glanced at the Sea God fruit that he had been clutching in his left hand. Now under natural light, he could finally discern its color.
It was a Sea God fruit that faintly radiated a dark purple glow.
"Is it rare? Let's go back and check."
…
A group of people sat around in the captain's cabin, staring blankly at the Sea God fruit that appeared to have rotten and emitted an odd smell.
"Captain, is this... expired?" Onebear asked, his eyebrows furrowed. "Please don't tell me you're going to eat this, it looks disgusting."
"It might be poisonous." Twobear made a face.
Raine looked disheartened. He had been wrestling with the same question, and with these two adding their thoughts, he became even more uncertain.
"Captain, if you eat this, you won't turn into something like Black Corpse, right? That would be disgusting..." Avril's face was a mix of disgust and fear. She couldn't bear the thought of Raine looking like Black Corpse.
Raine held his forehead. Rare Sea God fruits from the Dragon class sea zone were almost extinct! The sea floor was the territory of the Dragon God, and humans were lucky to get a single Sea God fruit, let alone a rare one.
Now that he had finally obtained one, if it was a little more normal, even a lower-level one, he would eat it without hesitation.
He had been stuck at stage 5 level 10 for a long time. As long as he could level up, the substantial increase in his basic attributes would make a single Dragon Slayer Strike extremely powerful. Coupled with the leveling up of other skills, the benefits were too many to count.
He even thought about finding a random Sea God fruit to eat.
However, at this moment, he had obtained this rare Sea God fruit, which stirred his desire.
Eating any Sea God fruit would indeed make him stronger, but if he could have a rare one, it would obviously be more beneficial to his strength improvement.
"Expired?!" Raine shook his head, "The one Avril had has been stored for hundreds of years and it hasn't expired!"
"I..." Raine grabbed the Sea God fruit, and due to his excessive force, the already rotting skin was squished. The pungent, rotting smell immediately filled the air.
Everyone, including Raine himself, was disgusted by the sight.
"Screw it...!" Raine steeled himself and peeled all the skin off the Sea God fruit, revealing the black and purple fruit at the center, which still looked rotten.
Raine stared at it for a full ten seconds, as the foul smell continually assaulted his nostrils...
Suddenly, Raine gritted his teeth, held his breath, and took a bite.
Everyone felt nauseous, and some with weaker stomachs had already rushed out to vomit...
The Sea God fruit that Raine held was strangely sticky, its exterior suggesting possible decay. Yet regardless, he maintained his grip on it.
Just then, the colossal skull that had previously lain dormant, cracked... shattered!
Hearts leaped into throats - Raine's, Fancy's, Olivia's.
The sound reverberated unnaturally clear throughout the cave. Wielding his flashlight, Raine cautiously illuminated the surroundings. The light revealed an army of sea monkeys, all fixated on the location of the casket.
In an instant, the cave was enveloped in an eerie silence.
Raine's breath quickened, his gaze flicking to Fancy and Olivia. Both women looked on, eyes wide with trepidation.
Clearly, they all knew what this temporary tranquility heralded.
One of the sea monkeys began to shift towards them, followed soon by more, tumbling down from the rock crevices...
Raine's eyes were nearly bursting, he shouted at Fancy and the others, "Run!"
Olivia transformed instantly, scooping up Fancy and rushing outwards, White hot on their heels.
"Tiger Fang!" Raine didn't have time for second thoughts. He couldn't afford to conserve this lifesaving skill. Holding the Sea God fruit in one hand and a panel of the casket in the other, he bolted towards the exit.
From the moment the sea monkeys heard the noise, they swarmed toward Raine like a dark tidal wave.
Raine dashed into the passageway, swiftly blocking the entrance with the casket lid. In less than half a second, an enormous pressure came from the other side of the lid - the sea monkeys had arrived.
Straining, Raine held the casket panel against the onslaught of sea monkeys.
"Olivia, have you found an exit?!" Raine strained, "I can't hold on much longer!"
From not far ahead, Olivia's anxious voice carried back, "Captain, the entrance is too small, there's only one vent, and the rock is about seven or eight meters thick. We can't get out!"
A sense of urgency consumed Raine.
The sea monkeys clawed frantically at the casket panel, some places already showing signs of cracking. Their time was running out.
Unable to exit, Olivia and the others hurried back, just in time to see Raine single-handedly holding back the army of sea monkeys with the casket panel.
"Captain, what do we do now?"
"Get my walkie-talkie!"
In a flurry, Olivia removed the walkie-talkie from Raine's waist, switched it on, and held it to Raine's mouth.
"I am the Captain, whoever is on the ship, respond immediately!"
Before long, Avril's voice came from the walkie-talkie, "Captain, only I am on the ship, the others are busy mining."
Avril was nearby the island. Raine urgently instructed, "That works, immediately launch a Sea Spear anti-ship missile! I'll handle the coordinates! Hurry!"
Avril and Raine shared an understanding that required no words. Hearing Raine's anxious tone, she didn't question, directly controlling the warship to launch the missile.
Raine was already connected to the warship's radar system. As the Sea Spear anti-ship missile ascended, it whistled toward Flowing Gold Island.
"Hurry, I can't hold them much longer!" Raine and the others desperately fended off the army of sea monkeys. The wooden panel had already broken in several places, their defense resting solely on White biting any sea monkey that poked its head through.
Just as the casket panel was about to give way, a deafening explosion caused the entire cave to tremble. The small vent was blown apart, loose rocks flying everywhere. The powerful shockwave thrust all four of them outwards.
The missile had detonated behind them, and they were propelled into the army of sea monkeys!
Fortunately, not only were they pushed out, but the sea monkeys were also thrust backward by the panel.
Chaos ensued!
Raine hastily got up, picking up the two women, "White, run!"
The four of them raced towards the cave entrance like mad.
The sea monkeys had regained their senses, their dark figures crowding the passageway, pursuing relentlessly from every direction like spiders.
The cave entrance was just ahead, Raine and White leaped out! Behind them, a large number of sea monkeys disregarded the entrance's location on a cliff several dozen meters high and charged out in unison.
"White, hold onto my legs! You two, hold onto me!" Raine shouted, spreading his wings, and after a dive, soared into the sky.
After flying out a few dozen meters, Raine finally exhaled in relief. They had managed to escape.
Looking back, a large number of sea monkeys rushed off the cliff without a care, but they couldn't fly. Naturally, they fell, shattering upon impact with the rocks.
Eventually, the sea monkeys realized something was amiss. They stopped at the edge of the cliff, staring blankly at the sound, unable to find their targets, they turned back to the cave.
"Damn, they finally stopped chasing." Raine sighed in relief, "These creatures are terrifying, their numbers are too great, and they're highly toxic. If they had surrounded us in the cave, I wouldn't have been able to hold them off."
If Raine couldn't fend them off, there were few who could.
Raine glanced at the Sea God fruit that he had been clutching in his left hand. Now under natural light, he could finally discern its color.
It was a Sea God fruit that faintly radiated a dark purple glow.
"Is it rare? Let's go back and check."
…
A group of people sat around in the captain's cabin, staring blankly at the Sea God fruit that appeared to have rotten and emitted an odd smell.
"Captain, is this... expired?" Onebear asked, his eyebrows furrowed. "Please don't tell me you're going to eat this, it looks disgusting."
"It might be poisonous." Twobear made a face.
Raine looked disheartened. He had been wrestling with the same question, and with these two adding their thoughts, he became even more uncertain.
"Captain, if you eat this, you won't turn into something like Black Corpse, right? That would be disgusting..." Avril's face was a mix of disgust and fear. She couldn't bear the thought of Raine looking like Black Corpse.
Raine held his forehead. Rare Sea God fruits from the Dragon class sea zone were almost extinct! The sea floor was the territory of the Dragon God, and humans were lucky to get a single Sea God fruit, let alone a rare one.
Now that he had finally obtained one, if it was a little more normal, even a lower-level one, he would eat it without hesitation.
He had been stuck at stage 5 level 10 for a long time. As long as he could level up, the substantial increase in his basic attributes would make a single Dragon Slayer Strike extremely powerful. Coupled with the leveling up of other skills, the benefits were too many to count.
He even thought about finding a random Sea God fruit to eat.
However, at this moment, he had obtained this rare Sea God fruit, which stirred his desire.
Eating any Sea God fruit would indeed make him stronger, but if he could have a rare one, it would obviously be more beneficial to his strength improvement.
"Expired?!" Raine shook his head, "The one Avril had has been stored for hundreds of years and it hasn't expired!"
"I..." Raine grabbed the Sea God fruit, and due to his excessive force, the already rotting skin was squished. The pungent, rotting smell immediately filled the air.
Everyone, including Raine himself, was disgusted by the sight.
"Screw it...!" Raine steeled himself and peeled all the skin off the Sea God fruit, revealing the black and purple fruit at the center, which still looked rotten.
Raine stared at it for a full ten seconds, as the foul smell continually assaulted his nostrils...
Suddenly, Raine gritted his teeth, held his breath, and took a bite.
Everyone felt nauseous, and some with weaker stomachs had already rushed out to vomit...
