Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Most Commander-tier monsters had the intelligence of an adolescent human being, while Lord-tier monsters were usually as intelligent as an adult human being.
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“Let it go,” said Gao Peng to Da Zi.
Da Zi loosened its mandibles around its captive. For a moment, the Land Camoshrimp didn’t understand what was going on. It lay prone on the ground, warily looking at the monsters before it.
A few moments later, the feelers on its head swished gently, its gleaming black eyes swiveling in their sockets.
The Land Camoshrimp then proceeded to take a few steps forward and lazily stretch. As it stretched, its eyes were fixed firmly on Gao Peng and the others to see if they had noticed what it was doing.
Seeing that the three monsters didn’t seem to notice what it just had, the Land Camoshrimp’s little heart skipped a beat. It stealthily took two more steps forward.
Flamy suddenly threw a glance at it. Startled, the Land Camoshrimp’s body went limp as if it was pretending to be dead.
There was a bored look on Flamy’s face. It wouldn’t have deigned to even look at the puny little shrimp if Gao Peng hadn’t ordered it to do so.
Only proper Elite-tier meat would be fitting for a crane such as itself!
Flamy spread its wings out and took off into the sky with Gao Peng on its back. On the other hand, Da Zi slunk into the depths of the jungle on the other side of the run-down village.
The Land Camoshrimp still couldn’t wrap its little crustacean mind around what had just happened. Why was it suddenly being held hostage by a huge centipede? Why didn’t they just eat it? After working its brain for 100 nanoseconds, the shrimp finally gave up and staggered back towards the sea.
In the air, Flamy’s eyes were locked on the Land Shrimp as it flew circles around it.
The Land Camoshrimp was completely oblivious to the black dot in the sky that was Flamy and Gao Peng.
It scuttled towards the sea at top speed, leaving a trail of disturbed grass in its wake, then it crawled around a hill up ahead and slipped into the water behind the hill.
Flamy continued soaring across the sky in pursuit of the faint presence that it could still feel beneath the waves.
When the Land Camoshrimp had crawled at least 18 miles across the seabed, dry land had become nothing more than a black bulge on the horizon behind Gao Peng.
Flamy blinked. It had suddenly lost track of the Land Camoshrimp’s presence.
It was as if someone, or something, had simply snuffed it out like a candle.
The undercurrents roiled violently beneath the waves.
The Land Camoshrimp had been crushed by extremely high water pressure. The last flicker of light in its transparent shell was extinguished in the depths of the ocean.
“Idiot. It must have walked straight into an enemy’s trap…” muttered Gao Peng.
The ocean surface was calm like a mirror. A breeze blew gentle ripples across it at that moment.
“Gao Peng, the scent that I left on the shrimp is gone,” said Flamy, sounding troubled.
“It’s all right. A Commander-tier monster must have picked up your scent on the shrimp’s body. Whoever or whatever is behind this probably isn’t far away. They could very well be hiding beneath us,” said Gao Peng, gazing down at the calm stretch of water beneath them.
Flamy began lowering its altitude in order to get a better look of the ocean below it.
For some reason, Gao Peng suddenly had a bad feeling about this as the ocean slowly came up towards them. He quickly patted Flamy’s head. “Stop flying any lower. Go back up a bit.”
Flamy obediently nodded and began flying upward.
Boom! Suddenly, the water beneath them exploded.
A huge, ravenous mouth pierced through the calm surface of the ocean and rose into the air. Rows of densely packed teeth lined the mouth’s interior.
The monster opened its mouth, revealing the dark, bottomless pit that was its throat.
It spread its huge black and white wings on both sides and whipped a powerful gust of wind across the ocean’s surface. At that moment, waves rose and met with each other to form water pillars that danced across the behemoth’s body like watery dragons.
Whoosh~
Flamy could feel a powerful suction pulling on it, causing it to come to a halt in the air. The huge mouth was getting closer and closer towards them… Flamy began flapping its wings in a panic. Flames now swirled around it and Gao Peng in the air. Gao Peng looked down at the gaping mouth beneath them. Why are you trying to attack it with your fire? There’s no way you could make such a thick-skinned monster feel anything…
Gao Peng wrinkled his nose in disgust. A blast of putrid stench had hit him from the depths of the monster’s mouth.
“Motherf—!”
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning came out of nowhere, one that sounded oddly like a speeding motorcycle…
Da Zi was wreathed in a violent display of electricity. The centipede had transformed into a bolt of lightning in the truest sense of the word. It left a long purple arc in its wake as it hurtled across the ocean’s surface towards its master’s assailant.
Da Zi viciously collided with the huge sea monster.
The sea monster staggered for a moment. Da Zi’s attack had ripped a huge chunk of its thick scales off its body, revealing an even thicker layer of flesh beneath them…
The sea monster let out a deafening roar, scaring away the birds that were flying too close to its mouth.
Its huge mouth had barely grazed past Gao Peng and Flamy.
The sea monster’s wings only allowed it to temporarily suspend itself in the air and reduce resistance from the water in the ocean. It couldn’t actually fly like Flamy or Da Zi.
“How dare you try to eat Gao Peng?! I’ll electrocute you, you b*stard!” shouted Da Zi. There was a vicious gleam in its eyes. It was now madly slashing at the sea monster’s exposed flesh, carving long red lines across it. The centipede’s electricity pierced through the sea monster’s wounds, electrocuting it internally. The flesh around the creature’s wounds was scorched black.
The sea monster reluctantly let itself fall back into the water and swung the water pillars around its body at Da Zi, hoping to bring the centipede down with it. However, Da Zi’s electricity easily tore through the water pillars, allowing it to escape unscathed.
Whoosh~
The sea monster fell into the ocean like a single massive drop of water. It didn’t even make a huge splash when it hit the water like Gao Peng had thought it would.
Da Zi flew up towards Flamy and spat, “The nerve of some people, trying to eat my Gao Peng… Don’t let me catch you again, or I swear I’ll really let you have it!”
Gao Peng, who just had a close brush with death, looked at Da Zi tenderly and patted its head. “Thank you.”
Da Zi raised its head and puffed its chest up triumphantly. “Hmph!”
Gao Peng then turned his attention towards Flamy. “Next time, don’t just flap your wings without looking at where you’re going. Some monsters may not be able to fly, but they can still jump high enough to catch you in the air.”
Flamy nodded apologetically.
Gao Peng gazed back down at the calm ocean. A worried look crossed his face.
[Monster Name]: Gloaming Oceanic Manta Ray
[Monster Level]: Level 46 (Lord-tier)
[Monster Grade]: Excellent
[Monster Attribute]: Water
[Monster Ability]: Water Mastery Level 3, Hardened Skin Level 2, Stealth Skin Level 1, Strengthened Lungs Level 1
[Monster Status]: Mild Injury (Enraged)
[Description]: Its wingspan can reach up to 160 feet. Despite its size, it can move nimbly in the water. It can swallow its prey up with its pocket-like mouth.
An oceanic manta ray! Gao Peng now realized why the monster looked so familiar.
Even before the Cataclysm, the oceanic manta ray had been known for its huge size. An adult’s wingspan could reach at least 26 feet. It resembled a huge disk with a pair of wings on both sides and a slender tail attached to its back. In front of the disk was a mouth that could split open like a coin purse.
The ocean truly is a mysterious place. Guess I shouldn’t be too surprised to have seen a Lord-tier monster out here so soon, thought Gao Peng.
