910 Panda Mercenaries

"Ah, so you are my employers this time around?" A stout looking Panda with armour plates on his chest waved his arm as the three Elder Pandarens came down via the stairs.

"As expected from Boss Jin, his NPCs are truly lively." Xia Mao said as he raised his hand and shook the Panda's paws before the others did the same. The feeling was somewhat extraordinary and Jing Yu being an old lady requested if it was okay to hug the Guardian Panda.

"I don't mind, but you might want to hug my comrade instead, she has less armour on her." The Guardian Panda chuckled upon Jing Yu's request as another Panda came out. Slightly smaller in build but they could obviously see that she was the healer of the team.

"Heala at your service." The Panda Cleric introduced herself with a small bow.

"Ah, my bad. Tanke at your service too. Nice to meet you guys." The Guardian Panda noticed that he forgot to state his name.

"It's funny how the names should be the same throughout the teams, but the experience would be vastly different." Zi Dan had a small smile on his face as he shook Heala's paw too.

"Boss Jin is probably too lazy to make up new and unique names for each one. That or maybe he is truly hoping the names would stick with the cultivators." Xia Mao replied.

"Heh, and he probably does not want people to think these NPCs are useless in a fight. If all the NPCs with the same name are basically clones, then it's probably up to us cultivators to discover how to use the NPCs properly in a pinch. Then again I've read that you can customise the free one and even name him or her once we 'bonded' enough, so maybe he wants us to lead us down that road." Zi Dan added as they saw a Panda Sailor beckoning them.

Upon closer inspection, the Pandarens found out there was a boat awaiting them at the side of the basement. The ship subsequently opened its side hangar door, and water started to flow in. However, the flow was controlled, and there was a barrier that prevented any more seawater from entering.

"Hop on! There is a navigator compass on the motorboat that will point you to your destination. We are not able to move in any closer because of the possible risk of the Nian that has been sighted knowing of our location." The Panda Sailor told them as he passed a flare gun as well as a few firecrackers. 

"Take these items. The flare gun should only be used if you clear the dungeon instance. That way, we will be able to come and fetch you back to the ship. As for the firecrackers, take them as a bonus. A part of the ticket fare and they might prove useful."

The Panda Sailor subsequently winked at them and helped them get onto the motorised boat. He also gave a quick crash course on how to operate the boat to Xia Mao before telling his mates to lower the boat.

"There is always the option of rowing the boat." Xia Mao said as he pointed at the oars. "If you are so scared of me 'commandeering' this boat, then row the damn boat yourself."

"Enough yapping and start the motor already." Jing Yu said as she knocked Xia Mao's head for being so childish despite being so old.

"Argh, yes Mdm..." Xia Mao said as he started the motor, but they had no idea that the motorboat had such high horsepower that the boat nearly flew upon taking off. Tanke immediately held onto Jing Yu and Zi Dan as he could see they got almost blown off by the powerful start of the motorboat.

"I AM SORRRRRRY! I HAVE NO IDEA IT'S THAT STRONG!?" Xia Mao shouted as loud as possible to overcome the overwhelming buzz noises from the motorboat. At the same time, he was freaking out to check if there was a way to control the power of the motor. However, no matter how he tried to pull, push or even turn the handle, the motorboat was not slowing down at all.

Hence, he told the rest to continue to hold tight while he focused on getting them to the shore. Yet, the navigator compass was pointing right, as if blatantly telling Xia Mao that it was wrong to head straight.

"Should I trust the compass?!" Xia Mao asked as he already had trouble manoeuvring the boat with such high speeds and pulling a sharp right might potentially cause the boat to overturn. "Damn it! Screw the compass!" Xia Mao decided as he tried to hold steady as the motorboat sped through the waves.

Yet when they came closer to the island, they saw a beast already waiting for them at the shores. With a ferocious body of an ox, menacing head of a lion, red bloody scales of the dragon, there was no doubt what the creature awaiting them was.

Nian.

"WHAT?! We are fighting the boss straight up?!" Zi Dan asked loudly, but Xia Mao was too much in a panic to do anything else. The only way was to sail straight up because why not? They literally had a speeding battering ram that should be able to do significant damage if that proud beast did not move out of the way. And if it did, they should be able to come to shore.

Yet, Nian roared to welcome its prey, but the Pandarens did not expect the waves to start moving more violently. It was as if the waves were under its commands to the point that the speeding motorboat was slowing down from its speedy advance.

"Since when are Nians able to control the seas?!" Xia Mao complained as he tried to wipe his face from all the seawater splashing at him. "I thought they lived in the mountains or something?!"

"I remembered there was a part of the legend where Nian lived under the sea before it got hungry and ravaged the villages!" Jing Yu answered as she was desperately trying to hold onto the boat with the raging waves. If not for Tanke's help, she might have already been swallowed by the sea itself.

"Then how are we going to reach it if we are getting pulled away by the waves?" Zi Dan asked.

"Maybe that's why the compass was telling me to go right! Just before this beast appeared from nowhere!" Xia Mao admitted as he now tried to look at the compass… only to discover that it was spinning crazily as if it was being affected by Nian's tidal wave powers.

"I will provide a path!" Heala shouted as she had just finished chanting her support spell, Protect. But instead of casting Protect on the Pandarens, she placed it on the boat allowing it to cut through the waves and finally gain some speed once more.

"If we can't go right…then we go straight in!" Xia Mao announced as he held onto the motorboat's engine handle, hoping that it could push them further and straight into the island. 

As long as they manage to land safely, there might be a chance to come out of the situation alive without being suppressed by the tidal waves.