Chapter 140: Chapter 123: Shushu: So I Was This Smart All Along?

Despite their solemn expressions, they weren’t particularly panicked. They were all too familiar with horde tactics from their time in the sea. Compared to the underwater swarms that attacked from all directions—front, back, left, right, above, and below—a beast tide on land coming from a single direction felt like no pressure at all.

But this was the surface, after all, an unfamiliar environment. With so little intelligence, it was always better to be cautious.

"They’re here!"

Soon, the swarm of rats closed in. The moment they saw them, the Sea Race breathed a collective sigh of relief. They were just Ordinary rats, possessing no Magic Power. They were nothing to worry about. After all, even if they simply stood there and let the rats bite them, their defenses couldn’t be broken!

However, the Sharkman in the lead furrowed his brow. Staring at the seemingly endless horde of rats, he had a nagging feeling that something was wrong. ’First of all, where did so many rats come from?’

This wasn’t the first time the Sea Race had participated in this new island contention, so they had some understanding of the rules. To increase the difficulty and make things more realistic, Demons were indeed randomly teleported to the island from other places.

But the teleportation wasn’t entirely random. First, the creatures had to roughly match the existing ecosystem, and this situation clearly violated that rule!

Though he had only been to the surface a few times, he’d never heard of any forest with so many rats!

’And second, this mechanism almost exclusively teleports Demons. It rarely brings in Ordinary animals without Magic Power...’

Beyond the question of their origin, the Sharkman had an indescribable feeling about these rats... It seemed... as if he had encountered a similar aura somewhere before...

Moreover, he felt an instinctive revulsion toward these rats... a feeling that was also familiar... ’It’s like... in the Deep Sea...’

"Hmm?"

Soon, he made contact with the first rat. There wasn’t much to it—the creature crashed into the Sharkman’s Flowing Armor and was instantly shredded into a mist of blood by the fine, turbulent currents!

The other rats met the same fate, shredded one after another. They couldn’t even penetrate the Water Armor. The expressions of the other Sea Race members gradually relaxed, but the Sharkman’s unease grew heavier with every rat that perished against him.

Finally, when a trace of gray stained his Water Armor, his expression changed...

’I remember what this is!’ 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The Undead!

The most terrifying species in the Deep Sea!

These things were wreathed in a plague-like Death Magic Power. The slightest contact meant either death or permanent disability!

What was even more terrifying was that not only were they disgusting and powerful, but damn it, they had powerful backers too!

Different clans of Undead were backed by different Deep Sea Evil Gods!

They could fight their own battles and call for backup!

He had seen them once as a child, and the memory was seared into his mind!

However, the power on these rats was slightly different and so faint that he didn’t recognize it at first. As he continued to slaughter them, the weak Necromancy Magic Power gradually accumulated, finally jogging his memory.

"Everyone, run! Do not fight them! They’re Undead!!!" Having realized the truth, the Sharkman roared as he quickly chose a direction and prepared to break out!

Although the other members of the Sea Race had never seen Undead, they clearly knew what they were. Their faces paled instantly as they fell in behind the Sharkman, preparing to break through the encirclement with him.

However, it was already a little too late. The rats were certainly not as fast as them, but in that brief moment, the Rat Tide had surrounded them from all directions. No matter which way they turned, they crashed into a pile of rats, and their Water Armor would automatically shred any it touched!

"*Cough...*"

Soon, the first victim appeared. His steps faltered, he coughed up a large amount of blood, and collapsed to one knee, his face a mask of absolute despair.

That cough seemed to be a signal. One after another, members of the Sea Race collapsed to the ground, the most severe cases even bleeding from their eyes and ears!

Despair began to creep into the Sharkman’s heart, because he could feel something going wrong inside his own body as well...

Normally, while Necromancy Magic Power was terrifying, it shouldn’t have been this effective. They were Transcendents, after all. They should have been able to use their own energy to isolate it. If the Necromancy Magic Power was weak enough, they could even have destroyed it.

But...

That was in the sea!

But now they were on land. When using their Water Armor, they would subconsciously circulate the water through their bodies. This wasn’t just for comfort; it was the only way to unleash the full power of their Flowing Water Breathing Technique.

The Surface-people had exploited this trait to poison them before, but toxins were incredibly easy to neutralize. The water merely flowed through their bodies, so they just had to be careful not to let the poison make physical contact. For the Sea Race, who had been masters of water since birth, this was a simple task.

But this time, their enemy was far more insidious!

They had clearly studied their habits in detail!

Not only had they used the highly infectious Death Magic Power, they had also diluted it to an extreme degree, causing the Sea Race to unknowingly circulate it through their bodies who-knows-how-many times!

By the time they realized something was wrong, it was already too late...

The Sharkman glanced back at his kinsmen, now kneeling on the ground and gradually being engulfed by the swarm of rats. Gritting his teeth, he put a burst of power into his legs and instantly shot out of his clansmen’s sight!

’I’m not afraid of dying...’

The Death Magic Power had already spread throughout his entire body. Though his condition wasn’t yet as severe as his kinsmen’s, there was no hope for him. Even if he broke out of the encirclement now, he would not escape death.

That was why he wasn’t afraid to die.

What he feared was dying a meaningless death!

He could die, but before that happened, he had to inform his people of this insidious plot by the Surface-people! They needed to react in time, or the consequences would be unthinkable!

The Sharkman race was already superior, and he was a Tier Two who had also mastered the Flowing Water Breathing Technique, making him stronger than most human Great Knights. Thus, with just a few flashes of movement, he burst out of the encirclement Shushu had laid.

It was as they always said: in an Extraordinary World, horde tactics were useless against a truly powerful individual!

The Sharkman had been just as confident before, but now he understood there was a condition: the fight had to be fair and square.

It was a lesson he would remember for the rest of his life!

Granted, that life was about to end very soon...

But that didn’t matter. He could already see the shore!

’As long as...’

’As long as I can just get there!’

SWOOSH!

THUD!

As the salty sea breeze washed over the Sharkman’s face, his first feeling was not joy, but terror...

Because standing in his way was a white-haired woman in a black and white dress. With a sweep of her long, white-stockinged leg, she sent him flying and shattered his hopes in the same motion...

Although this woman only had the aura of a Tier One, she posed an unparalleled threat to him!

’I’m going to die!’

Meanwhile, Liu Li looked at the Sharkman with some surprise. She hadn’t expected that Shushu fellow to be so lucky. ’To think the Rat Tide he casually whipped up would be this effective against the Sea Race!’

Yes, luck.

From start to finish, no one had been developing any secret techniques to target the Sea Race. Shushu, at least, had simply been researching its own power. Over the past two days, aside from creating a few strange Skeleton Undead, its greatest achievement had been officially advancing to a Tier One Divine Species!

Because of this, its original Authority had successfully evolved from constant use over the last two days. In addition to its original effects of gathering and dominion, it had gained a Summoning ability. This meant it could activate its Authority from anywhere and summon rats from all over the world!

Of course, for now, it was still limited to summoning Ordinary rats.

That was the first point. The second was that after advancing to Tier One, Shushu had also obtained a new Authority. Although that fool Shushu thought it was a Divine Art it had researched on its own, Liu Li knew it was an Authority, and a Necromancy System one at that—[Necromancer Tyrant]!

The general effect of [Necromancer Tyrant] was likely to aggregate the souls and bodies of the nearby dead to create a powerful Undead Follower. Liu Li felt it was supposed to aggregate the entire corpses, but Shushu had only gathered the skeletons, excluding all flesh and tissue.