CHAPTER 99: CHAPTER 97: SEA MONSTER

The painting in front of the artistic man still depicts a sea surface.

During the time spent in the dungeon, he constantly repeated this painting, repeatedly trying to capture the essence of this sea.

He can be sure that he has discovered the truth of this ocean and is already connecting with it through art.

Unfortunately, the dungeon’s progression far exceeded his expectations.

He shook his head, silently thinking to himself: What a bunch of cheat-like guys.

The artistic man dipped his brush into pure black and stroked it across the canvas, sketching a large shadow beneath the sea with just a few strokes.

"Such extreme emotion, this is simply art."

On the other side of the coast, Sword Star came alone to the small dock, untied a small wooden boat moored at the shore, and rowed towards the sea.

During the rowing, he constantly adjusted his direction, seemingly searching for something.

After about fifteen minutes, he reached the boundary of Briff Island, far enough for a system prompt to appear before him.

"About to leave Briff Island, exit the mission area, the countdown for the main mission one will be paused, which may trigger unknown consequences, please decide cautiously."

Sword Star stopped the boat at the boundary, and a Management Bureau symbol appeared on the water surface beside the boat.

Initially, when Sword Star was targeted by cultists of the Evil God, the Management Bureau didn’t take it seriously because they were natural enemies, and even if Sword Star didn’t have a prior mission, he would disrupt the cultists’ plans.

The cultists of the Evil God can be understood as traitors to humanity.

Due to various reasons, they refuse to follow the steps to progressively strengthen in the Abyssal Game.

Instead, they choose to rely on the Evil God in the Abyssal Game, hoping to acquire some special abilities by taking shortcuts.

In the Abyssal Game, the cultists of the Evil God represent chaos, willing to pay any price to please the entity they worship.

Meanwhile, the major organizations in the Abyssal Game, especially the Four Major Organizations with temporary management authority, serve as maintainers of order in the Abyssal Game, naturally opposing the cultists.

Sword Star being hated by cultists is akin to police officers being hated by criminals; it’s completely normal, so initially nobody paid attention.

Only Lin Jiang sensed something unusual from the start and made preparations.

When Sword Star obtained the reincarnation item and entered the dungeon for the first time, Lin Jiang gave him an item for communicating with the outside of the dungeon.

Due to the time flow difference between inside and outside the dungeon, they couldn’t communicate in real-time through the item, but Sword Star could use it to call for help from outside.

As long as Sword Star could hold on for a while, Lin Jiang could provide Sword Star with a coordinate through the item, a coordinate for external assistance.

From the beginning, Lin Jiang targeted the forced door of Wanghai City.

Although preparations were made, the speed of failure in the previous worlds was too fast, and the crises weren’t as big as anticipated, so external assistance was unnecessary, hence the item’s inactive state.

Over time, Sword Star forgot about its existence.

Unexpectedly, just earlier, he suddenly realized the item in his portable space had reacted.

Due to the time flow difference between inside and outside the dungeon, he had ample time to respond and arrived at the designated location.

He looked at the mark on the water surface, puzzled over whom Lin Jiang would send, as ordinary level 20 players couldn’t be much help in the Peaceful Town Dungeon.

Could it be that someone outside discovered a way to break the rules for using the forced portal?

As he wondered, a door appeared above him, and a white figure fell straight towards the water surface.

Sword Star was about to catch them, but saw them skillfully flip in the air and stood steadily above the water.

The newcomer was a woman around twenty-four or twenty-five, tall with a height of one meter eighty-five, sporting a princess cut long hair, the color split into two from the center line, black on the left and white on the right, making it exceptionally striking.

As the genius of the new generation in the Management Bureau, they had met multiple times in formal occasions.

One carried a sword, the other was tall with striking hair color; anyone who saw them once would hardly forget.

"Negotiation Master?" Sword Star was surprised at the woman’s arrival.

The Negotiation Master walked onto the boat from the water surface and said, "Who else could it be but me?"

Sword Star: "Isn’t your motto ’A gentleman avoids standing under a dangerous wall’?"

"But we’re friends," the Negotiation Master said, dishonestly.

She was willing to come solely because the rewards were too enticing to refuse.

Sword Star glanced at her and reminded, "You’ve forgotten about my Sword Heart sensing heartbeats?"

The Negotiation Master clicked her tongue, "I really hate people who can perform mind reading, not understanding the concept of privacy."

"But it doesn’t matter anymore, since you’ve cleared the obstacles, entering an easy collecting stage. Don’t waste time, let’s finish the process and then celebrate outside."

Before her entrance, Xu Dejun and Lin Jiang informed her that Sword Star had advanced during crisis, significantly boosting his strength and stabilizing the situation. Her role was merely to fill gaps and guard against hidden cultists.

Listening to the Negotiation Master’s words, Sword Star was filled with question marks.

What does it mean by the dungeon is in an easy stage? It’s far from easy!

His Inspiration Value is severely overflowing; fighting for a bit longer might lead to a loss of will control.

Veteran players weren’t numerous to begin with; two veterans from the Iron Armor Corps died earlier, leaving the final ranger suspicious of him, refusing any cooperation.

Moreover, strange occurrences keep happening in the town, statues are shattering, as if the sky is about to collapse, likely due to excessive player deaths leading to the dungeon nearing loss of control.

In terms of the situation, it’s far worse than when he first entered the dungeon, isn’t it?

Sword Star was about to verify with the Negotiation Master to see if anything went wrong, but then the Negotiation Master suddenly looked at the sea with a strange expression and said:

"Sword Star, look, is the sea darkening?"

Sword Star looked towards the water, where the sea initially appeared enchantingly deep blue under the moonlight, but now the blue was turning increasingly profound, even shifting towards black.

No, something wasn’t changing colors, something was surfacing!

"Quick, row!"

Sword Star tossed a paddle to the Negotiation Master, and then the two frantically paddled, steering the small boat towards the dock.

Behind them, a huge silhouette emerged from the water, its exposed body alone nearly ten meters tall, following the boat and casting shadows that obscured the moonlight, enveloping the boat entirely.

The Negotiation Master’s scalp went numb, feeling she was tricked; she shouted at Sword Star, "Before entering the dungeon, they told me it’s an assessment-type dungeon and said there’s no danger. Now, what the hell is that thing behind us!"

Sword Star helplessly replied, "I need someone to explain that too!"

In the Golden Flying Fish Sea Region, Wu Chang’s True Self brought Erin under the cliff.

Even without the Holy Mark, Erin, blessed by the Great Saint Mother, could use part of Holy Light Magic, still holding considerable power.

When they approached the Golden Flying Fish statue, a Divine Envoy transformed into a large Golden Flying Fish surged from the sea, revealing sharp teeth, charging at them.

Before Erin reacted, Wu Chang saw the previous aggressive Divine Envoy suddenly become submissive, circling Erin peacefully.

Wait, sister, is that mind control?

Frankly, is your nickname Yuri?

Wu Chang wanted to ask Erin if she used such abilities during her missionary work.

If that’s the case, then he’d have a word about the Catholic Church, as fellow religions, snatching followers is indeed a bit losing the game.

The Divine Envoy, affected by Erin, remained stable until Wu Chang smashed the Inner World statue, causing it to vanish without showing any aggression.

"Item Name: Proof of Gluttony"

"Item Type: Special"

"Item Description: Possessing the Proof of Gluttony, one can freely enter the Special Space—Golden Sea Region. In the Golden Sea Region, you’ll be regarded as a Divine Envoy, able to actively summon Golden Flying Fish groups, summon cooldown: 15 days."

Good stuff, though Proof of Gluttony cannot judge entrants, it allows for summoning Golden Flying Fish groups once more each month.

If stable entry into the Peaceful Town Dungeon is possible, relying on Proof of Gluttony, a stable route to capture Golden Flying Fish can certainly be developed.

After storing the Proof of Gluttony well, he refocused on his main self, looking towards the dock.

The dock’s Inner World serves as the last stop before heading to the Count’s Manor.

Taking a look was wise, wow, what a big sea monster.

Let me see, which unlucky fellow got pulled into the Inner World tonight to encounter such a big beast.