Goblin Dependency

"Whew... that’s good."

Listening to Lorin’s brief overview of the entire battle, Sasha visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

Her crystalline cat eyes glanced towards the nearby Vengeance Blade Blade, seeing Rein command the crew as usual, hauling cargo and handling the spoils, the atmosphere unchanged.

The anxiety and frustration that initially filled her heart gradually dissipated, her emotions calmed.

"Where are Xia Nan and Alton? Why didn’t they accompany you?"

Seeing Sasha standing alone, Lorin asked in confusion.

"We all participated in the event hosted on the island and split up temporarily to find the Deep Sea Resonating Stones hidden everywhere." Sasha flicked her tail, suddenly seemed to remember something, and couldn’t help but reveal a peculiar smile on her furry face.

"Captain, guess who I encountered on the island?"

Perceiving the subtlety in the Spotted Cat race’s tone, a speculation formed in Lorin’s heart.

Her gaze instinctively passed over Sasha, looking towards his back.

There, she saw a familiar figure not seen for many years standing amidst the crowd in the distance.

And just as their eyes met.

"Buzz Boom!"

From the direction of the island’s center, a glaring blue light column soared into the sky.

...

Flynn arrived at the harbor even before Sasha and Ellison.

Fortunately, the Sha Hua Fishmen attacking the dock were thwarted by the adventurers present.

Even the shark beast monster, which he had witnessed before and whose combat prowess far surpassed that of low-Level professionals, was slain on the spot.

The impact was confined to the port and dock area and did not spread wider.

However, instead of easing Flynn’s tense mind, he felt a chilling sense of dread enveloping him, as if he were submerged in icy water.

He hadn’t seen the entire battle unfold, but at this moment, the bodies of those Sha Hua Fishmen lay before him.

The quantity... far exceeded expectations.

There was even an additional shark beast monster.

Flynn knew perfectly well what this implied.

It was highly possible the Sha Hua Fishmen attacking the port were not a small self-directed faction acting independently by accident.

But rather a planned and premeditated attack, brought forth ahead of the initially scheduled post-banquet time.

If Flynn guessed correctly, it wasn’t just this dock, but all coastal areas around Stodd Island were indeed under Fishman assault.

Undoubtedly, it was his severe dereliction of duty as the one responsible for communications with Sha Hua Fishmen.

And there was no longer any chance for remedy.

Considering Lord "Algae Scale" Dodd’s personality...

Just as Flynn fell into despair.

Perhaps he was drawn by the nearby clamoring as the crew moved goods.

By some inexplicable impulse, he turned his head, looking towards the deck of the neighboring wooden ship.

A seemingly familiar figure caught his eyes.

He was momentarily dumbfounded.

"Sarisa?"

He hadn’t even had the time to ponder deeply.

Accompanied by a booming sound, the giant light column rising from the island’s center, drew everyone’s attention at the dock.

...

...

At this moment, Alton found himself in quite a peculiar state.

Just moments ago, he had been playing his lute, aiding Xia Nan in the battle.

But merely seconds ago, he witnessed Xia Nan leap into the sea along with the shark beast.

The battlefield, which was intensely tense moments before, suddenly left him alone.

Flanked by the tense standoff between the Furious Tide Battle Gang and Wind Forger teams.

Both were led by seasoned professional adventurers, exceeding Level 5.

Had an ordinary person been caught in the middle, they might have trembled and laid on the ground out of fear of attracting unwanted attention.

Yet, the short-statured Alton seemed particularly at ease.

Instead of fleeing, he strummed the lute strings at the perfect timing, adding a small background tune to the tense atmosphere.

The gesture almost made a Dwarf from the "Furious Tide Battle Gang" laugh.

"Hey, shorty! Get out of the way, don’t interfere!"

Though the tone was sharp, knowing Alton’s character, he naturally wouldn’t get angry.

"Sure thing!"

He cheerfully stowed away his lute, and with quick steps, retreated to the reefs by the shore before the group of professional adventurers on both sides.

He sat down.

While awaiting Xia Nan’s return from the water, he observed the lively scene on the field with interest.

Compared to the constricted atmosphere on the field, Alton’s carefree and relaxed manner clearly aroused discontent among some adventurers.

The Furious Tide Battle Gang was somewhat forgiving due to Aurie’s influence, refraining from troubling the Half orc alongside Xia Nan.

But it was different with the Wind Forger team.

"Where did this small guy come from? With that black-haired one from earlier?"

"Stop staring, hurry up and scram!"

"This little thing’s not even bigger than my dog, how dares he venture out to sea?"

As if finding some breach amid the tension and tight atmosphere, the adventurers from the Wind Forger team released their emotions towards Alton.

Captain Sefeng did not intervene; his tightly knit brows revealed his dissatisfaction with the Half orc’s behavior.

Alton seemed entirely indifferent to the insults.

Sitting on the rocks, he swung his legs leisurely, watched the lively scene, and occasionally peered into the water as if he could see Xia Nan beneath.

"Damn it!"

An adventurer from the Wind Forger simply couldn’t tolerate Alton’s relaxed demeanor, stepping forward a few steps past the crowd, seemingly intent on teaching the little guy a lesson.

Yet, those few steps seemed to disrupt the stalemate between the two factions, triggering a chain reaction as adventurers from the Furious Tide Battle Gang raised their weapons.

Battle was about to erupt.

Just as the situation was on the brink of collapse.

"Buzz Boom!!!!"

The dazzling light burst from the sky-reaching light beam illuminated every face on the field.

...

...

Xia Nan was unaware of the events unfolding at the port dock on the other side of the island, or between the adventurer teams by the coast.

Admittedly, once entering the water, the shark beast, playing on its home turf, exhibited an exaggerated improvement in speed and agility compared to the land.

If it were uninjured, full of stamina, at its peak, even with Xia Nan’s current combat prowess, defeating it wouldn’t be easy.

But now, the shark beast, forced into the sea while fleeing, was severely wounded, close to death.

Its abilities drastically declined.

Facing Xia Nan, equipped with [Teeth Hunting] and [Abyssal Stream] armor, it couldn’t even escape.

Instead, it exposed its unguarded back to the Black Wolf’s fangs.

"Boom..."

Accompanied by a reddish glow like fireworks bursting underwater.

The shark beast monster, half its head blasted off by [Gravity Etching], lost all life force.

The familiarization with human-like creature body structures nurtured through countless goblin sacrifices.

The [Ash Fall] Straight Sword, like a surgical knife, precisely sliced open the shark beast’s chest and belly.

With a quick stir by his empty left hand, he reached the Deep Sea Resonating Stone, engulfed alongside half the tattooed adventurer’s body, swallowed into the shark beast’s stomach.

Buzz...

For some unknown reason, the moment Xia Nan extracted the resonating stone from the shark beast’s belly, a peculiar blue light blossomed across its surface.

Perception Ability silently activated, gripping the Deep Sea Resonating Stone, Xia Nan turned and swam up, his eyes scanned upwards.

Through the water, he saw a dazzling blue light column soaring into the sky.

Before he had time to contemplate.

An inexplicable vibration and heat from the silver ring on his right ring finger captured his attention.

His gaze shifted.

The silver ring formed by the Dream Weaving Corridor’s terminal device oscillated intensely, reflecting the blue light above the water, causing subtle ripples around.

"Huh!?"

Xia Nan was taken aback within.

The impending Moon Tide Banquet, the "Algae Scale" Dodd’s prior assault on Lailo moerton, the intensely vibrating Dream Weaving Corridor ring...

Given all these, how could he fail to recognize why the ring responded this way?

Key!

It’s the key for the Dream Weaving Corridor!