Chapter 145 - 138: Island

Su Ze didn’t know if this skinny, dark-skinned middle-aged man was at the Cocoon Stage or the Butterfly Stage. If he was at the Cocoon Stage, Su Ze could take him easily. If he was at the Butterfly Stage, the man could take *him* easily.

Therefore, he didn’t rush in recklessly.

A Cocoon Stage evolver mastered corresponding third-tier skills, making it entirely possible for them to affect the movements of second-tier beasts.

But considering the man was here all alone without any protection, Su Ze felt it was more likely he was at the Butterfly Stage.

Su Ze wasn’t deliberately hiding, so the skinny, dark-skinned man had certainly noticed him. Yet, he had no reaction, continuing to emit soundwaves Su Ze couldn’t hear toward the surface.

’Is he ignoring me, or is he deliberately trying to lure me over?’

Su Ze wasn’t careless. He picked up a crab from the seafloor and hurled it at the man.

The man casually raised a hand to block it. SPLAT! The crab exploded into a mushy pulp against his hand. The man’s expression changed slightly, and he instinctively shook his hand. It hurt a little.

It was just a crab, but Su Ze had thrown it with considerable force.

Su Ze’s brow twitched. ’Looks like he’s just a Cocoon Stage evolver acting all profound. A Butterfly Stage expert wouldn’t have been hurt by a crab I threw.’

But he couldn’t rule out the possibility that the man was faking it.

The next moment, an orange light of evolution suddenly flared around the skinny, dark-skinned man. He raised his hand and shot an invisible attack at Su Ze.

Su Ze dodged to the side, confirming that the man was indeed at the Cocoon Stage. The light of evolution didn’t lie. He shot forward, diving toward the man.

But just as he was about to reach the man, a rock on the seafloor suddenly moved. It was a person in disguise! He reached out to grab Su Ze.

Su Ze’s heart leaped into his throat. Fortunately, his reactions were swift, and he dodged with an agile flip. The key was the incredible underwater mobility granted to him by his Celestial Sea Wings.

A yellow light of evolution erupted from the person disguised as a rock as he shot toward Su Ze like a rocket blasting into the sky.

’The crafty old bastard!’

Su Ze cursed inwardly. A Butterfly Stage expert acting like a damn camper, ambushing a Cocoon Stage evolver like him.

’So dishonorable!’

Su Ze began to flee in a winding, circular path. He didn’t try to escape in a straight line because he knew his top speed couldn’t match a Butterfly Stage expert’s. He’d be caught before he got far.

His only hope was to rely on the agility granted by his Celestial Sea Wings to buy himself more time.

Besides, he hadn’t given up on dealing with the skinny, Cocoon Stage man who was using sonic skills to interfere with the beasts.

’If only Mr. Ya were here right now,’ Su Ze thought, missing his excellent support. ’I could’ve killed the enemy in one blow and escaped a thousand miles...’

The crafty Butterfly Stage expert quickly closed the distance. Su Ze started darting left and right, weaving and dodging like a slippery loach, trying to keep the man at bay.

At the same time, he was secretly inching closer to the skinny, dark-skinned man.

The crafty expert raised his hand, his five fingernails transforming into venomous stingers that shot toward Su Ze like bullets from a gun.

Su Ze used Rhino Charge to narrowly evade them, but the next instant, the man suddenly opened his mouth and spewed out a large cloud of ink.

The ink was thick and dark, quickly enveloping an area dozens of meters wide. Su Ze’s vision went black, as if he’d been blindfolded.

He couldn’t see anything. His only choice was to speed up and increase the frequency of his zigzags as he rushed forward, hoping to evade any potential attacks.

BANG!

Su Ze suddenly felt a piercing pain in his shoulder. He knew he’d been hit, but he still hadn’t escaped the ink cloud.

’This can’t go on!’

Su Ze decisively dropped to the seabed. Planting his feet firmly, he stomped hard and activated Furious Waves.

Furious Waves could, on one hand, launch an omnidirectional attack, and on the other, reveal his enemy’s position. It also had a brief Dizziness effect, which would buy him precious time.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

A shockwave erupted, and the seawater boiled. Su Ze instantly pinpointed the crafty expert’s location.

This meant Furious Waves had hit its mark, and the expert was now briefly affected by Dizziness.

Su Ze didn’t take this opportunity to turn and attack. He had no way of instantly killing a Butterfly Stage expert.

He had to seize this chance to escape the ink cloud.

Rhino Charge!

Activating Traceless Walker and pushing his Celestial Sea Wings to their maximum speed, Su Ze finally burst out of the ink-blackened area.

It was like going from night to day. His vision instantly became bright and clear.

Just then, the crafty expert recovered from the Dizziness and charged at Su Ze again.

Su Ze ignored him. He looked up and saw the skinny, dark-skinned man less than a hundred meters away.

A chain shimmering with flecks of golden light shot out from Su Ze’s hand, reaching the man in an instant.

The man still had his mouth open, activating his sonic skill. The next moment, an immense force yanked him through the water toward Su Ze.

Gravity Chain!

The skinny man’s sonic skill was forcefully interrupted. Before he could even understand what was happening, he was in Su Ze’s grasp.

He tried to resist but found that Su Ze’s strength was on a completely different level. Su Ze twisted both his arms behind his back, and with a sharp tug, a sickening "CRACK" echoed out. Both of the man’s arms were dislocated.

Su Ze lifted the man like a sack of dead weight, turned to the pursuing expert, and yelled, "Don’t come any closer! One more step and I’ll kill him!"

He said that, but he was also prepared to use the man as a human shield at any moment and make a run for it.

’After all, who knew if they even cared whether this guy lived or died.’

But the crafty expert actually stopped. In the common tongue of the Lin Hua Continent, spoken with a strange accent, he said, "Let him go, and I’ll let you leave."

’Only an idiot would believe that!’

Clutching the skinny man, Su Ze retreated toward the Dongli Kingdom, while the crafty expert followed his every step.

’Looks like they really do value this Cocoon Stage man,’ Su Ze thought. ’After all, he possesses a rare skill that can influence Marine Beasts. That kind of ability is extremely useful for navy soldiers.’

Meanwhile, without the skinny man’s interference, the vast number of Marine Beasts no longer changed course and instead headed straight for the coast of Luofan Country.

However, just as Su Ze had sensed earlier, these beasts seemed to be fleeing some disaster. They didn’t proactively attack the soldiers from either country they encountered, swimming directly toward the beach.

With the beasts’ path returning to normal, Jia Yuan and the Luofan officer who were fighting also ceased their battle. Jia Yuan still appeared quite composed, while the Luofan officer’s clothes were torn in several places and he had sustained minor injuries. It was clear that Jia Yuan had the upper hand.

Both of them noticed Su Ze and the others in the distance.

Jia Yuan shot out to support Su Ze, while the Luofan officer also moved, blocking Su Ze’s retreat.

Su Ze breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Jia Yuan approach, but now they were sandwiched between two Butterfly Stage experts, one in front and one behind.

The Luofan officer said to Jia Yuan, "Hand him over and you can leave. Let’s end this here today."

Jia Yuan replied, "Let us leave. Once we’re back on land, we will definitely release him."

Jia Yuan was confident he could escape an attack from two Butterfly Stage experts by himself, but he wasn’t sure he could get Su Ze out with him.

Su Ze, however, was calculating in his head. He felt that with Jia Yuan providing cover, escaping shouldn’t be a problem.

’Jia Yuan thinks of me as a typical Cocoon Stage evolver,’ Su Ze knew, ’but my own escape and recovery abilities are far stronger than average.’

He had just managed to survive for a long time while being hunted by that crafty expert all on his own.

’I’ll just kill the hostage and have Jia Yuan cover our retreat...’ Su Ze made up his mind.

But just then, the seabed began to tremble violently. Countless Marine Beasts surged forward like a tidal wave, their numbers and speed many times greater than before!

’What’s happening?’

Shock appeared in everyone’s eyes.

This time, many of them were fish-type beasts, and they were all rushing toward the beach.

All sorts of beasts swam past them, some less than half a meter over their heads, others passing beneath their feet. But not a single beast attacked them. They were simply fleeing for their lives!

"Retreat!"

Su Ze quickly moved to Jia Yuan’s side. As he did, he snapped the neck of the skinny man in his grasp and casually tossed the body aside.

Jia Yuan immediately took Su Ze and dived into the swarms of fish-type beasts.

The two Butterfly Stage experts from Luofan Country’s faces contorted with rage as they chased after Jia Yuan and Su Ze.

But they couldn’t lock onto their position. There were simply too many fish-type beasts completely blocking their line of sight, and they didn’t dare launch ranged attacks through the swarm.

They might accidentally injure the beasts and draw their collective wrath.

The two could only grit their teeth and watch as Su Ze and Jia Yuan escaped into the distance.

By the time Su Ze and Jia Yuan returned to the beach, the other soldiers had already regrouped on shore to fight the beasts. This wave of the beast tide was too ferocious to stop, and everyone was struggling to hold on.

Thankfully, they had dealt with that skinny, dark-skinned man. Otherwise, if this massive beast tide had been diverted toward Dongli, the defensive line formed by the Dongli Navy soldiers would have been swiftly overrun.

As soon as Su Ze and Jia Yuan reached the shore, they immediately joined the battle, using all their strength to kill as many beasts as possible. The number of beasts was simply overwhelming, enough to drive one to despair.

The same thought surfaced in everyone’s mind: ’We’re not going to be able to hold them back this time!’

The situation on the Luofan side wasn’t much better. They were also in a precarious position under the onslaught of the beast tide.

Su Ze and the others on the beach could clearly feel the tremors from the seabed. As the vibrations continued and intensified, more and more beasts came ashore.

"Look! What is that?!"

Someone cried out, pointing at the sea in the distance.

Something was "growing" out of the water there, getting taller and bigger.

"It’s that island!"

A soldier recognized it. It was the island that had appeared before—the one that had suddenly materialized and then vanished.

Now, the island had appeared again!

’Could the beast tide be related to that island?’

’Is that really an island?’

"The island is moving!"

Su Ze looked up and saw that the distant island was indeed moving rapidly toward them. As it did, it continued to grow in size.

"The island is chasing people!"

Someone with sharp eyes noticed something was wrong. The island seemed to be a living creature, and it was hunting two people in front of it.

"Who is it chasing?"

"Let me see... I think one of them is... Mr. Ning!"