CH 31.2

[Although only two copies out of millions were destroyed, I won’t give up.]

Bai Lixin: [By the way, is there any information on the player on the 999th floor from the secondary system?

S419M: [When it comes to that, things get even more strange. I specifically checked, but all information about that player is mosaicked. Is it true that the Lord God has not only lost his memory but also split up again?]

Bai Lixin: [Yes, but he didn’t hurt me]

S419M spat: [What kind of unlucky physique is that? He has just been put together not too long ago.]

Bai Lixin: [……]

For a moment, it was suddenly unclear whether it was worse to be split or to have a luck value of F-.

Just when one person and one system were seriously communicating, a harpoon suddenly flew over.

Bai Lixin’s eyes darkened abruptly, and with a flick of his tail, he moved to the side.

There was a muffled “bang” in the water, and countless water bubbles wrapped in sea sand swept up.

When the sand settled, the harpoon was stuck in the spot where he had been sitting.

Bai Lixin’s face was slightly cold as he pursed his lips and stared at the group of merfolk not far away.

In the midst of the merfolk , a tall merman was maintaining his throwing position, his long dark green hair fluttering in the water. Even if his eyes were beady, one could see the hostility in them. 

Merman: “Kirikou kirikou kirikou.”

S419M: [They couldn’t find anyone to take you just now, so they used a vote. He was the unluckiest and drew you. From now on, his team will take you on hunting trips.]

[This Green hair got angry and thought that it would be better to kill you than let him lead, hence this scene just now. This scum, how dare it sneak up on you. Lord Host, it was not yet even born when you were killing people, it was nothing.]

Bai Lixin looked down at the harpoon. This was the weapon the merfolk used when hunting.

I wonder if there are other weapons besides that.

The harpoon was made in the shape of the merfolk and would be too big for Bai Lixin to hold.

Bai Lixin swam in front of the harpoon. The harpoon was not made of metal but seemed to be polished from the bones of some kind of animal. Because the polishing was meticulous, the surface was polished to a silver color.

He reached out to grip it by the handle and could only hold half of it.

He slowly released his strength from the smallest to the largest to pull the harpoon, and it took about three minutes of force to pull it out.

The merfolk looked amazed at the ease with which Bai Lixin lifted the harpoon, which was twice as big as him.

Bai Lixin put the harpoon in his hand and played with it for a few moments, then threw it with his backhand towards Green hair.

The silver harpoon plunged firmly into the rock in front of Green hair.

Feeling offended, Green hair growled loudly into the lamprey’s mouth and pulled the harpoon with the back of his hand.

Once, it didn’t move.

Twice, thrice, and the harpoon still didn’t move.

Green hair: “……”

It was embarrassing.

With his head raised, Bai Lixin swam gracefully to Green Hair’s side.

With a gentle pull of his hand, the harpoon easily left the rock.

Then, to the astonished gaze of the merfolk , Bai Lixin did something else.

He took the harpoon he had just pulled out and plunged it into the rock again, then pulled it up again with ease.

It was not harmful, but extremely insulting!

Green hair: “……”

&%$#

Bai Lixin did this a dozen times, and stopped after plunging the rocks into a hornet’s nest.

Bai Lixin: [S419M, how do you say “are you convinced” in mermaid?]

S419M: [Kirikou kirikou kirikou.]

Bai Lixin sneered at Green Hair: ” Kirikou kirikou kirikou!”

Green Hair’s already green face turned even greener.

With one move to defeat the enemy, his position changed drastically, and the matter of hunting was soon settled.

Bai Lixin gestured at his own size and pointed at the harpoon, and Green Hair immediately understood what Bai Lixin meant.

Although somewhat reluctant, he obediently swam to the depths with the harpoon in his arms. He took a frosted polishing tool from there, and then huddled alone to the side to help Bai Lixin polish a harpoon that he could use.

Three hours later, Green hair handed the small, polished harpoon to Bai Lixin .

He had become more accustomed to the pressure of the deep sea and gave the harpoon a deft twirl in one hand, giving Green hair a thumbs up when he was sure it worked well.

Green hair flushed when he saw the thumbs up. He gave Bai Lixin a fierce glare before swimming away awkwardly.

Bai Lixin didn’t understand the sudden change in green hair: [What’s the situation with him?]

S419M: [Lord host, that action you just did, means ‘asking to mate with the merfolk’.]

Bai Lixin: [???!!!]

S419M: [Just… if you clench your fist and stick your thumb out from the space in your fourth fingers, don’t you think that image is like a merman’s tintin coming out of its cloaca?]

Bai Lixin: [……]

Similarity my ass.

This bad luck!

The copy was only 24 hours long. Five hours had passed, but he had only 1 point out of the full 4000 points.

The two merfolk that had brought him back earlier had given him a backpack. It was only then that Bai Lixin realized that it was made from shark skin. The leather was strong and resilient, perfect for holding things.

Having prepared everything he needed for his first hunt, Bai Lixin did not rush and waited quietly for the merfolk to go out hunting.

Soon, two mermen went out through the tunnel, but Bai Lixin did not move.

The two mermen that left were not carrying weapons.

From what he observed, the ones who had just brought him here must have been two older merfolk who no longer carried tools such as harpoons and hunted for very weak fish, snakes, and the like.

Such things were of no use to him.

The green-haired one who had just provoked him was strong and should be young. Those youngsters were armed with harpoons, so they must have been hunting for something better.

Bai Lixin carefully observed his harpoon. It had no glued parts and was made of only one fishbone. 

The harpoon was five meters long, meaning one fishbone was five meters long. How huge was that creature?

Soon, Bai Lixin’s wait came to fruition.

Six mermen, including Green Hair, stood at the mouth of the tunnel, and they were well equipped with harpoons, nets, backpacks, and so on behind them.

Green Hair was clearly the leader of the group and stood at the mouth of the tunnel chattering away.

Bai Lixin immediately put on his little backpack and swam over with his own little pocket harpoon.

S419M: [He said he was going to the Eastern Sea area this time, so everyone should be careful.]

After a lot of talk from Green Hair, he shouted at Bai Lixin.

S419M: [He said…]

Bai Lixin: [He says, don’t drag your feet.]

S419M: [?! Lord Host, how did you know that?]

Bai Lixin: [I heard it before, so I can understand what it means. Two more days of listening and I should be able to fully understand their language.]

S419M: [….Are you the devil, Lord Host?]

You’re making me look useless!

Bai Lixin: [What is the East Sea District?]

S419M: [I’ll look it up.]

[I’ve checked; in this copy, the deep sea is divided into five zones. East Sea Zone, South Sea Zone, West Sea Zone, North Sea Zone, and Central Sea Zone.]

[Each sea area has its own different creatures, among which the level of danger from low to high begins from the Middle East, South, and West up to the North. The most difficult of these, the North Sea Zone, is known as the Ancient Gods Zone, which is said to contain many ancient fallen gods.]

[Those old merfolk usually go to the Middle Sea Zone to catch fish, and the place where you just appeared is also the safer Middle Sea Zone.]

Bai Lixin: [So the area with the highest level of monsters is in the North Sea area. Okay, let’s follow them to see what’s going on in the East Sea area.]

Bai Lixin followed behind the huge merfolk, swimming nimbly past countless obstacles. As he swam, Bai Lixin recorded the direction he had come from. They were moving in a different direction from the one he came from earlier, going deeper into the shadowy depths.

Thirty minutes later, the sea gradually became darker and visibility was reduced to only two meters.

Bai Lixin could only vaguely rely on the tail fins and sounds of the merfolk ahead to determine where the large group was.

Green Hair: “Be careful everyone, swim close to the bottom. Our goal today is to hunt a giant basilisk.”

“Boss, look, there’s a bright light up ahead! It’s a flash anemone!”

Bai Lixin: [What’s flash anemone?]

S419M: [Fuck, Lord Host, you can actually understand what they’re saying now?!]

Bai Lixin: [I can briefly translate a few keywords, but I’m limited to listening right now, not speaking.]

[So cool!] S419M, [Flash anemone is a very nutritious anemone substance. Mermaids rely on it to replenish their nutrition after pregnancy; it is a good thing.]

Bai Lixin looked at the white light that was slowly lighting up in front of him.

In the deep, murky waters, that thing shone brightly, like a lighthouse guiding a sea vessel.

Bai Lixin looked at the light, but his brow began to furrow slightly.

Something was not quite right.

Because of the density of the water in the sea, there would be a visual error of distance to the object.

But he felt as if light was approaching them at a very slow pace.

If flash anemones are anemone-like creatures, then aren’t they supposed to be attached to rocks or the ground and not move?

The light was getting closer and closer, and the area behind the light was even darker compared to the rest. It was like an abyss that light could not penetrate, gazing surreptitiously at the one who coveted it.

Merman: “My daughter-in-law is pregnant. I’m going to take the glittering anemone back to her. I’m so lucky.”

Bai Lixin remembered a fish from the Blue Star.

The anglerfish.

That anglerfish lived in the deeper parts of the ocean where there is no light. It has a little lantern on its head, and specializes in using it to trick photo-tactic fish into coming closer and devouring them!

And this fish was the best at hiding. In order to wait for its prey to appear, it could hide the killing aura around it, blending its whole body into the mud and sand and becoming as quiet as a well-behaved stone lion.

Bai Lixin shouted, “Wait!”

He said this in the language of the merfolk.

The other mermen were taken back at the sound of his voice, and Bai Lixin stumbled in the less than proficient mermaid language, “There is danger, a trap.”

Merman: “Ha, the one with the lantern dangling from its head is the Lantern Beast, which appears in the South Sea area. It is impossible for it to come here. We often come to the East Sea area. There’s no danger at all, you’re a deformed little brat, don’t scare yourself.”

“Hey,” a merman’s voice trembled a little, “do you guys feel that the light is getting closer and closer to us?”

The other mermen finally noticed that something was wrong too, and green hair shouted, “Run!”

But it was too late. Several mermen quickly withdrew, and almost at the same time, a current with a shock rolled towards them.

In the claustrophobic depths, everyone finally saw what was in front of them!

It was a terrifying-looking deep sea behemoth, and the shockwave just now was brought about by the beast’s bite.

Having failed once, the beast opened its mouth again. A pair of huge fish eyes rotated wildly in their sockets in several 360-degree turns, and the eyes suddenly glued themselves to the few people in front of them without blinking.

The beast was 30 meters tall. The glowing thing was a lantern dangling from its forehead, and it had a hideous, bloody mouth with a jaw full of sharp teeth protruding outwards.

They had actually come within swallowing distance of those jaws, and if they had been any slower, they would have fallen into the mouth of this beast.

Even the green-haired merman, who was three times bigger than Bai Lixin, was as small as ants in front of this beast.

Several mermen were shocked, “F*ck, why is this ugly lantern beast in the East Sea area?!”

Bai Lixin: “……”

Frankly speaking, it really didn’t make sense for a lamprey mouth to spit on an anglerfish for being ugly.

Everyone is a deep-sea creature, and everyone grows randomly because we can’t see. We don’t have to hurt each other so much.

The lantern beast failed in its initial hunt and started a second.

It opened its bloody mouth and maneuvered its brown tail full of spikes to viciously attack the six mermen.

Green Hair shouted, “Move! Split up and hide and then gather at the East Sea entrance area!”

Split up?

Bai Lixin suddenly had a bad feeling.

At Green Hair’s command, the merfolk scattered in all directions.

The lantern beast hesitated in place for two seconds before turning its head and frantically chasing after Bai Lixin.

History is always strikingly similar.

Bai Lixin: “……”

I knew it!

This damned F-luck. As long as it was time to split, the target would definitely be him!

The landscape was surprisingly consistent all around in the dimly lit deep sea.

People often have a deep sea phobia, partly because of the fear of giant sea creatures like whales and sharks, and partly because of the fear of the unknown.

Running aimlessly in a completely unfamiliar and unmarked environment, not even knowing where you are, whether you have escaped, or whether you are swimming unknowingly into the next danger!

The lantern beast seemed to have locked onto Bai Lixin, and its bulky body was surprisingly agile, not even falling a fraction.

Bai Lixin looked back at the lantern monster that was chasing after him. His tail curled up like a spring, and he shot up in a 90-degree direction, flipping backwards twice in the sea with great difficulty and landing firmly on the lantern beast’s head.

The harpoon was withdrawn and thrust hard into the lantern beast’s eye.

Then, without hesitation, he pulled out the harpoon in the midst of the lantern beast’s frantic flinging.

The other fish eye flipped 360 degrees in its socket, and the black fish eye with its excessive whites suddenly stared at Bai Lixin.

At the same time, Bai Lixin raised the harpoon in his hand high and plunged it into the last black fish eye.

Black ink spurted out and the lantern beast tumbled wildly in the sea. As it tumbled, it drove the seawater around it, creating a huge whirlpool, and Bai Lixin was right in the middle of that whirlpool.

He gritted his teeth and gripped the harpoon in one hand while the other scratched at its eye socket. The harpoon spun inwards and pierced hard through the eye and deep into the brain stem.

The lantern beats were at the end of their tether. It flung itself around a few more times and finally ran out of steam. It flipped its belly upwards with a loud “boom” and began slowly sinking to the bottom of the sea.

[Ding! Congratulations to the player! You have killed a C-rank monster and have been awarded 500 points.]

Bai Lixin: [……]

This beast was only C-rank?

Then how strong were the S-rank creatures?

The ancient gods that S419M said had fallen in the South Sea area should be S-rank creatures. I wonder what the probability of winning against them is.

Bai Lixin withdrew his harpoon and swept his gaze around his surroundings.

In the tangle with the Lantern Beast earlier, the Lantern Beast had swum far away with him, and it was now pitch black all around.

“……”

Well, it had to be said that he was lost.

Bai Lixin: [S419M, any idea how to get back?]

S419M: [Lord host, hurry! This is the border between the East Sea and the North Sea! I’ll send you the roadmap to return to, so get out of here as fast as possible!]

Bai Lixin’s expression turned cold, and a map of the ocean had surfaced in his mind.

A dark blue line with a red triangle appeared on it. The red triangle represented him.

Bai Lixin dared not stay long and quickly left by using the map’s markings.

The creatures in the East Sea zone had stretched him thin for the moment, and he did not want to take on the North Sea without being sure.

Just when he had swum a few meters out, some things suddenly shot out behind him.

The things were soft and tough, and it was like they had eyes. They found Bai Lixin’s position in an instant and wrapped tightly around his waist, fish tail, and arms.

Bai Lixin took a close look at this and saw several tentacles.

Once they were done rolling around him, the flexible tentacles quickly climbed up, their suction cups secreting a sticky liquid.

Bai Lixin tried to slice the tentacles with his sharp nails, but when they stabbed at them, it was as if his nails were poking an iron plate.

The tentacle clearly looked soft, yet it was exceptionally hard!

The tentacles’ strength was tremendous, and in the midst of Bai Lixin’s struggle, a force dragged Bai Lixin into an even darker blackness.