Goblin Dependency

"Splash."

The sea was icy cold.

It seemed like a different world beneath the water’s surface.

The howling gale, the iron-bead cold rain, and the towering wolf ridges rising like mountains, everything the storm brought was isolated by the cold, dead silence of the seawater.

The five senses humans rely on to perceive the outside world were fully suppressed.

Smell and taste were naturally not used much, being non-aquatic creatures, and the breath-holding necessary to prevent choking upon entering the sea had already weakened these two senses to the extreme;

In terms of touch and hearing, the exposed skin could only feel the chill of the seawater, the flow of water entering the ear canals made the whole skull feel as if it was covered by a thick fog, requiring concentrated attention to hear the stirring sounds from the depths of the sea and the Fishman’s howls;

The impact on vision was relatively minimal, but at this moment, the leaden clouds shrouding the sky and blocking the sunlight during the storm also severely reduced underwater visibility, making it difficult to see clearly even with the physical quality of a professional.

Forcibly throwing an adventurer from the inland into the sea, without adequate preparation, their full strength might not even be a tenth.

Although Xia Nan instinctively resisted fighting in the ocean, it didn’t mean he had no capability to battle underwater.

In fact, since the Twin Canyon incident, discovering that underwater environments greatly suited his profession of [Fallen Blade Hunting], Xia Nan had significantly increased the proportion of water combat in his daily training.

He would even take advantage of fishing opportunities to personally get into the water, both training and punishing some disobedient sea fish.

At present, as Xia Nan entered the water from the deck, he initially felt slight discomfort due to the sudden change in environment, but he quickly adjusted his state.

"Slash!"

The black-gray sword blade churned fine white splashes, leaving a sharp arc in the seawater.

Due to the drag of the water, the sword speed was slightly slower than usual, but the physical strength far beyond what should be possessed at the professional level, along with the sharp blade of the [Ash Fall] Straight Sword itself, still exceeded the reaction capacity of the Sha Hua Fishman minion swimming over first.

As expected, the gradually solidifying black wolf shadow in the water snapped the Fishman’s neck.

He slightly controlled the gravity, pushing aside the Fishman remains obstructing his view, and Xia Nan’s gaze swept past a large figure in the distant seabed that was slowly approaching with outstretched claws.

He wasn’t interested.

His current target was those two Sha Hua Fishman Priests.

With highly focused attention, his perception ability was maximized.

Slightly sensing a high concentration of magic particles somewhere to the southeast, Xia Nan suddenly opened his eyes.

"Found you."

A deep, mysterious wolf howl burst forth instantly in the water.

The slender black figure vanished from its original position.

In its place was a vacuum trail left by seawater being forcefully split apart by a potent explosive force.

...

Having adventured in the Southern Islands for many years, the Vengeance Blade Squad certainly had experience fighting large sea beast demons and were already mentally prepared before getting into the water.

They had even preemptively consumed the expensive "Underwater Breathing Potion" specially prepared for this mission.

Yet when they floated in the icy water, staring at that massive twisted silhouette in the distance, they couldn’t help but feel waves of fear rising in their hearts.

Often, even when the actual combat strength wasn’t that disparate, the psychological pressure from the vast difference in environment and size had already slightly weakened the adventurers’ combat ability before the fight started.

"Sizzle..."

The Scale Fire Saber clenched tightly in the right hand emitted a glow of fire, the scorching flame seemed to burn into the mind, dispelling the negative emotions in Lorin’s heart.

She maintained a calm and serious demeanor, gesturing to the three people beside her, indicating to follow the original plan.

The next second, she actively swam towards the approaching Windkind Octopus.

The enveloping seawater made communication impossible, but it was evident the Vengeance Blade Underwater Squad had meticulously planned and communicated before jumping off the deck.

Seeing Lorin take the lead, the twin warriors Rein and Gordon exchanged a glance, nodded slightly, then split up with great coordination, following behind Lorin, swimming to the monster’s left and right sides.

The barbarian Akken held his giant axe shaped like a ship anchor in one hand, hailing from the Island Barbaric Tribe, his body exuding a faint blue glow from totem tattoos that seemed to grant him the ability to move freely in the sea, without being dragged down by the weapon’s weight.

With just a few alternating strokes of his strong long legs, he rose like a marine creature to a relatively lighter position.

Akken wasn’t in a rush to act, instead waiting for Lorin and the twin warriors to swim a short distance towards the monster before dragging his giant axe, moving towards the enemy from a higher angle.

The Windkind Octopus was drawing near.

The long horn completely submerged in the sea atop its head emitted a high-frequency horn sound akin to whale calls, and whirlpool-like ripples expanded from the horn as the center.

Eight long, mucus-covered tentacles radiated out from the core like a giant net that continuously tightened and loosened, adjusting direction and tension, allowing it to move through the seawater at a seemingly slow but indeed rapid pace.