noveltune Chapter 254: Sea Monster
Chapter 254: Sea Monster
At this moment, all the crew members had fallen into a frenzied state, diving underwater to madly collect spirit herbs, eagerly picking up third-grade and fourth-grade herbs. Everyone was overjoyed.
Having a boat capable of diving made collecting underwater spirit herbs incredibly convenient. Everyone could quickly resurface for air, and before long, they had gathered a substantial harvest. Each crew member was so happy that they couldn’t stop grinning.
This trip was more than enough to make them all filthy rich. Even if they returned home now, they wouldn't regret the journey.
But this was the Death Sea. How could they possibly collect herbs here in peace?
If gathering herbs were this easy, every ship would be here, and there’s no way they'd be allowed to grab all the benefits for free.
Not even half an hour had passed when a loud cry echoed from the dolphins that were on guard in the distance.
Upon hearing the cry, Ye Qingluan's face changed instantly.
“Something’s wrong! Something’s coming! Dabu says that thing is at least fourth-grade, far beyond what we can handle. We need to run immediately!”
Ye Qingluan had just entered the ship to catch her breath, and upon hearing Dabu’s alarm, she quickly shouted to the crew members outside the ship.
Hearing this, the rest of the crew’s expressions changed dramatically. They glanced at the fourth-grade spirit herbs scattered around, clearly reluctant to leave them, but they forced themselves to look away and swam towards the Shenlong ship as fast as they could.
“Get on the ship!” Nie Qingcheng used sound transmission to remind all the crew members again before quickly swimming towards the Shenlong.
At this moment, no one dared to be greedy. No one aboard the ship was a fool; to stay behind out of greed was certain death, and no one could expect their teammates to wait for them.
Soon, everyone was aboard the ship. The Shenlong quickly raised its anchor and sped away at top speed.
A colossal creature, at least ten times the size of the Shenlong, followed closely behind. But in the end, the Shenlong was just a bit faster, narrowly avoiding an attack from the unknown beast as it fled into the distance.
The gigantic creature chased after them relentlessly, but it was ultimately slower than the Shenlong. It gradually fell further behind until it finally gave up the pursuit.
When they saw the massive beast, everyone turned pale. Only after escaping far enough did they collectively wipe the cold sweat from their foreheads, all feeling a deep sense of fear.
They had just brushed shoulders with death. Had their reactions been even a bit slower, they would likely have met their end right there.
Miao Peipei patted her chest, still shaken, and said, “That was too close! What on earth was that thing? It moved so fast.”
“If it had been any other ship here today, even a five-story treasure ship, it would have been destroyed with all hands on deck.”
“It’s only because the Shenlong is fast enough that we survived!”
Nie Qingcheng glanced at her and said, “Do you think I suggested bringing the Shenlong into the Death Sea for no reason? The Shenlong is faster than most sea creatures, allowing us to outrun most of the dangers in the ocean.”
“So my judgment was that the Shenlong’s capabilities would be enough to cross the Death Sea. It seems I wasn’t wrong!”
Ye Qingluan nodded and said, “With Dabu on lookout and the Shenlong’s speed, we can avoid most of the dangers in the Death Sea. It’s just a shame that there’s something like this here. We probably won’t be able to come back to this spot again.”
“That escape just now was way too close. Next time, we might not be so lucky!”
Nie Qingcheng smiled and said, “No worries. The Death Sea is vast, and there are definitely many more places where spirit herbs grow in abundance. Our journey is far from over, so everyone can look forward to getting rich.”
As soon as she mentioned getting rich, everyone smiled, forgetting the peril they had just been in.
“Alright! Whether you all get rich or not, I know for sure that I’m going to. Go take a bath and change clothes. Drinks are on me!”
As Long Xuan finished speaking, cheers erupted across the deck.
The voyage continued amid daily dangers, until two months later, when the Shenlong reached the very center of the Death Sea. It was there that they encountered the greatest danger of their journey.
At this moment, massive tentacles, as black as ink, stretched out from the ocean. Each tentacle was dozens of times wider than the Shenlong and so long they could blot out the sky, casting a shadow over everything.
Each time a tentacle emerged, the sky darkened, as if they could pierce a hole in the heavens. As more of these colossal tentacles rose, the sea erupted into towering waves, like tsunamis.
The Shenlong Ship was shaken violently, on the verge of being overturned by the gigantic waves.
Amid the crashing waves, there was also a strange, thunderous roar from some unknown creature. The sound pierced the sky, almost shattering everyone's eardrums.
All the crew members clutched their ears in agony, their faces pale, staring at the terrifying sight with eyes full of fear.
"What the hell is that!"
"Damn it! What is this thing? It's huge!"
"Run! It's a sea monster! It's fighting something!"
...
Looking up at the monstrous creature, all the crew members were dumbfounded, their mouths agape.
Long Xuan's scalp tingled as he stared at the massive creature in disbelief. What was this thing? How could it be so enormous?
Judging by the shape of the tentacles, it looked like the tentacles of a squid.
Was this sea so dark because of the ink it had released? Long Xuan thought, his heart pounding.
Just then, a loud crash came from beneath the ship. A massive tentacle surged up from under the Shenlong, sending the ship flying high into the air, flinging it a great distance away.
Screams erupted from all over the ship...
When the ship finally slammed back into the ocean, the Shenlong had been thrown far from the area where the tentacles had risen.
It was a miracle that the ship hadn’t broken apart in the process.
However, the crew did not fare as well. More than half of them were knocked unconscious by the impact, and those who were still conscious were seriously injured, grimacing in pain.
It was only thanks to the barrier that had risen around the ship, protecting everyone inside, that most of them hadn’t been flung into the sea.
"Get us out of here!"
Despite the discomfort in his body, Long Xuan forced himself to steer the Shenlong out of the area as fast as possible.
It wasn’t until they had sailed a great distance, with no sight of the tentacles blocking out the sky, that Long Xuan finally slowed the ship and brought it to a stop.
He had to stop because the ship’s hull had been damaged by that strike—there was now a large crack in the thousand-year ironwood.
The cabin had already taken on a significant amount of water, and many of the crew’s lower-level sleeping quarters were flooded.
Even other parts of the ship had sustained varying degrees of damage.
Long Xuan’s heart sank to the depths. Was this the true danger of the Death Sea? In the face of such a terrifying creature, no ship could possibly survive unscathed.