Chapter 224: Puchi Monster

“Miss Baihe, what exactly are you here to find?”

The leader of the Smuggling Faction on the boat asked seriously, “I feel something is really off here! Don’t you think it’s about time you told us? Why is there something like a clock tower in the middle of the Realm Sea?!”

Miss Baihe glanced at him and nonchalantly turned away. “We’re looking for an abandoned project.”

“What kind of abandoned project?”

“Just do as you’re told. It’s not like we aren’t paying you.”

The Smuggling Faction member was left speechless—after all, the reward was just too generous; otherwise, he’d never have dared come this deep into the Jiehai.

Besides, he was also quite curious about that clock tower. What on earth was it? Could it be some treasure that would make his fortune?

Miss Baihe gazed silently out over the sea.

If she told them that the Heizhu Jvling was sealed inside, they’d probably turn and flee before anyone could stop them.

Her mission was to awaken the Heizhu Jvling and begin breaking the seal.

Any mistake, and everyone would die. Not a single one would escape.

But hoping to break the seal with just her own side was far too ambitious—this seal was constructed using Zero-Tier Magic. How could mere mortals possibly shake it?

Maybe even a nuclear warhead would be useless—this wasn’t about brute force, but that Zero-Tier Magic itself couldn’t be dealt with by conventional physics.

This was already a miracle force on par with all the Ancient Artifacts. At the very least, there wasn’t a single nation or force in the world who could claim that just by possessing an Ancient Artifact, they could defeat and seal the Heizhu Jvling.

To break the seal of Zero-Tier Magic, the main method was to have the Heizhu Jvling break it from within. As long as they awakened the sleeping Heizhu Jvling, then, with their support using the Ancient Artifact, it was only a matter of time before the Zero-Tier Magic was eroded away.

After all, the reason Zero-Tier Magic had been able to seal the Heizhu Jvling for so many years was because it completely cut off any possibility of the dead Heizhu Jvling coming into contact with the matter of the Jiehai, keeping the Heizhu Jvling in a “Dead But Not Rekindled” state, thus achieving a long-term seal.

So, as long as this candle is lit again…

However—

“Wuuunnn….”

It sounded as ordinary as breathing, but Miss Baihe suddenly felt as if her soul was dragged out of her body by that distant, deep hum.

The rest of the crew all experienced irregular heartbeats at that moment—some simply passed out on the spot.

The Captain, seeing this, mustered his entire will to turn the boat’s rudder, barely managing to keep them from getting any closer to that place.

“Damn it! Where exactly have you brought us?!”

Once out of danger, the Captain of the Smuggling Faction immediately rushed over and shoved Miss Baihe’s shoulder hard. “Even if I didn’t see it, I know that was some kind of monster! What are you trying to do?!”

Miss Baihe just stared blankly at the sea, saying nothing.

[Heizhu Jvling… has it already awakened? When did it happen?!]

Back then, the Heizhu Jvling was sealed only after being battered to the brink of annihilation by Zero-Tier Magic, and since then, it had always remained in that state. Miss Baihe estimated that by now, its body must have nearly regenerated.

“Answer me!”

The Captain yelled at her, “We don’t want the reward anymore, we want to leave immediately!”

Miss Baihe glanced unobtrusively at her companions around her.

Suddenly, she pulled out a pistol and aimed it at the Captain, pulling the trigger. The Captain instantly tilted his head to the side.

Bang bang bang bang——

Gunshots erupted from various parts of the boat, overlapping and echoing.

“You think we’re like those idiot gangs in the movies, just waiting for you to pull a gun and wipe us out during a deal?!”

The Captain roared, and a mechanical arm extended from his back, tearing through the sea wind as it lunged for Miss Baihe’s face.

In the Jiehai, without any Fusion Warriors allowed, Espers held the strongest sway!

Miss Baihe dodged behind cover just in time, firing back with her pistol. The bullets were all knocked aside by the Captain’s mechanical arm.

In the meantime, the gunfire from elsewhere gradually subsided—most of the Smuggling Faction were Espers, utterly overwhelming anyone armed with guns.

“Surrender. Tell me everything you know.” The Captain coldly raised his gun at her leg. “That way, you’ll suffer a little less.”

“How far are we now from the original location?” Miss Baihe asked in a low voice.

“About 20 nautical miles,” the Captain answered, then added in a deep voice, “Now answer my question, or I won’t mind letting my crew have their fun after such a long time.”

As he spoke, he glanced around at the Smuggling Faction members emerging from every corner of the boat, their eyes gleaming, looking like a pack of ghouls.

“Then go ahead.” Miss Baihe replied quietly.

The Captain frowned. “You asked for it.”

Half an hour later—

The boat’s deck was littered with corpses like broken rags. They all had one thing in common—their crotches were twisted and ravaged beyond human form.

“Puchi puchi puchi…”

“You humans are so fragile. Just a few, and you’re all dead.”

A grotesque creature said disdainfully, its body still connected to the half-dead Captain, constantly squirming.

“Thank you for your help.” Miss Baihe bent forward in gratitude.

This being was a Dragon-class peak powerhouse—besides the Wrath-Eater Jvling, it was currently their strongest ally, already approaching the Light-Eater class.

Just that its tastes were a bit disgusting; whenever it encountered another creature’s “hole,” it couldn’t help but want to burrow in.

Lately, its favorite prey was humans.

“As you said, the Heizhu Jvling has awakened, correct?”

“Yes, I don’t know the exact reason, but it’s definitely awake. The seal will break sooner or later.”

The puchi-puchi sounds grew denser. In just a few seconds, the Captain’s body exploded.

“Ugh!” The strange creature shook its head in irritation. “Hurry up, I can barely hold back anymore.”

“Yes, the Heizhu Jvling will break the seal soon. With our help, it’ll take at most a week.” Miss Baihe’s eyes blazed as she looked up.

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Y

“By the way…”

Watching the crowds bustle past on the street, Luo You said, “It’s less than ten days to New Year’s Eve, right?”

“Yeah.” Xing Yue nodded. “Just feeling a bit pessimistic about it.”

Qiu Yu chimed in, “The New Year’s almost here, but with this atmosphere, it really sucks.”

Because of the fall of the Jiehai Pass, society was unstable and people’s hearts restless. Even the inland regions were permeated with a sense of pessimism.

“Haoling, want to go out for a walk?” Luo You suddenly invited.

“Eh? M-me?”

Haoling pointed to herself in surprise, and Luo Zining instinctively glanced at her, too.

“…Yeah, if you’re free.”

“Okay, then tonight…ten o’clock? There’s a pretty nice foot massage place nearby. My treat.”

…The way she said it, it almost sounded like something shady.

Noticing Little Red Riding Hood’s uneasy look, Haoling gestured for her not to worry.

She thought to herself, Lord Jinlin is such a proper person, a real believer in equality between men and women of all ages. There’s no way he’d do anything like that—it must be something normal, right?

So that night—

“Lord Jinlin, what did you want to talk about with me?”

“You like Little Red Riding Hood, don’t you?” Luo You hit Haoling straight on.