Goblin Dependency

The dense, pungent smell of blood surged into the nostrils with the sea breeze. The roaring and shrieking that once echoed in the air now left only the faint sounds of blood gushing from wounds.

The three members of the "Wind Forger" team, who were just confronting Xia Nan not far from the beach, had now become three stiffening, cold corpses.

And the culprit who killed them appeared like a small gray-blue mountain, exuding the fierce aura characteristic of a demon, standing silently there, with its turbulent, violent eyes fixed on the last two remaining prey on the field.

Blood dripped from the edge of its disproportionately large gaping mouth; the flesh and bones of the tattooed adventurers had long been completely swallowed by it.

Xia Nan stood on the other side, the "Ash Fall" straight sword already unsheathed.

His face remained unchanged, but his mind was racing rapidly, analyzing the situation on the field.

First of all, it must be stated.

Just now, when the shark beast suddenly leapt out from beneath the sea.

Xia Nan clearly saw that the deep sea resonating stone held by the tattooed adventurer, along with his upper body, was swallowed into the stomach of the shark beast.

That means, if he wanted to retrieve the resonating stone, he would have to kill this demon before him and then retrieve the item from its stomach.

But... is it worth it?

The current environment is "Thousand Pile Island" Stodd, which is filled with many adventurers, and he hadn’t taken on any related task to hunt this shark beast.

Xia Nan could easily carry the little one and retreat backward; with his Teeth Hunting speed on land, the opponent wouldn’t be able to catch up.

The retreat route is incredibly clear.

Moreover, there are a hundred deep sea resonating stones on the entire island; he might be able to find a stone elsewhere in a much easier way rather than fighting to the death here.

The urge to retreat quietly arose in his heart but was soon dispelled.

Xia Nan had fought with shark beast demons more than once, and he had a rather clear understanding of the combat abilities of these creatures summoned by Sha Hua Fishman.

From appearance alone, the shark beast in front of him was far inferior to the malformed variant within Twin Canyon, and even compared to the one in the hollow of Cliff Island, it looked significantly leaner.

This meant that the actual combat strength of the opponent was much weaker than the shark beast demons he had dealt with before.

Certainly not a match for Xia Nan, whose strength had significantly improved since arriving at the Southern Islands.

Utilizing advantages in Equipment and Battle Skill, Xia Nan was confident he wouldn’t even need to use any trump cards; just using the Deflection Shield from the Dead Line ring once along with a few Gravity Etching and Heavy Tide moves would suffice to take down the opponent.

In this situation, if the only enemy on the field was this single shark beast, perhaps retreating wasn’t his sole option.

With such thoughts, Xia Nan’s gaze darted across the undulating sea surface at the shore.

He didn’t spot any sign of Sha Hua Fishmen.

Recalling the fishmen team he unexpectedly encountered during the previous fishing contest, he increasingly felt something was amiss.

The shark beasts were summoned by Sha Hua Fishmen, and there was an inseparable relationship between them.

With such consecutive occurrences, the possibility of them accidentally arriving had been minimized.

Perhaps... they’re plotting some kind of conspiracy near Stodd Island?

And if Xia Nan’s speculation was correct, would the fishmen’s plans and actions affect the upcoming Moon Tide Banquet?

His thoughts tangled and extended in his mind, yet the short moments didn’t allow him to derive a clear conclusion.

Slaughter and bloodshed had already incited the ferocity of the shark beast that burst onto the shore in a surprise attack.

With a roar, it charged madly in Xia Nan’s direction.

The exaggerated explosive power granted by its sturdy lower limbs made it seem like a bomb exploded underfoot as the demon started, scattering sand while its blue-gray menacing shadow vanished from its original position.

Having determined to battle and retrieve the resonating stone from the demon’s stomach, Xia Nan immediately entered combat mode.

Hum—

A fierce wolf howl erupted instantly.

The pitch-black mysterious Winter Wolf apparition transformed into a sharp powerful qi, landing lightly on the sand with its slender limbs. A sideways leap allowed it to skillfully dodge to the side.

Despite Alton’s usual innocent and pure childlike demeanor, once in combat mode, his responses were noticeably faster than adventurers of the same Level.

His two small legs moved so swiftly that they almost left afterimages, and his short stature was just a few steps slower than Xia Nan before he dodged to the other side.

"Boom!"

A gust of vigorous wind rushed past, slightly hurting the cheeks.

The shark beast, with strong explosiveness but poor flexibility, dashed past with the roar akin to a train speeding on tracks.

Upon realizing that its attack had missed, the shark beast attempted to slow down and turn, but the immense inertia granted by its burly body forced its thick, stubby legs to deep sink into the sand with each halt step, causing its body’s center of gravity to wobble.

Xia Nan wouldn’t miss such an opportunity.

His inherent advantages in agility and explosiveness allowed him to habitually seize every detail that could exploit these strengths during combat.

From behind, the melodious and intense sound of the Lute suited the moment, and an inexplicable force accompanied the music, attaching itself to his body.

The black wolf with swaying mane leapt lightly, its sharp reddish fang, concentrated with russet glow, pricking the back of the shark beast’s neck like a bee sting before rapidly withdrawing, causing the shark beast’s arm, tearing through the air, to miss its mark.