69novels Chapter 188 Encounters on the Road
Chapter 188 Encounters on the Road
Chapter 188 Encounters on the Road (Part 2)
After passing numerous uninhabited islands, Su Wu and his crew encountered a problem with their boat.
"This is the third time we've come back to where we started." Maro frowned as he examined his surroundings with a compass.
There seems to be some unseen barrier at the edge of the uninhabited archipelago, repeatedly pushing them back to where they started.
"Hmm..." Su Wu took off her sunglasses and looked around.
The seawater was still a slightly deeper blue than the sky, seemingly without any shadows, and there was nothing else around except for a few scattered small islands.
But their ships just kept going around in circles.
"Strange..." Su Wu said casually, stroking her chin.
He jumped off the boat, lightly stepped onto the sea, and walked forward step by step without encountering any obstacles.
Neferbitt crouched at the bow of the ship, surveying the area within a kilometer radius.
Got nothing.
The ship could then continue forward, and the journey was smooth sailing.
"Speaking of which, I seem to have overlooked something..." Su Wu pondered as she walked across the sea.
What is it?
"Gotcha, meow!" Neferpitou's joyful cheer came from behind, followed by... the sound of something falling into the water.
Maro fell into the water, while Neferpitou held a strange lanternfish and looked at Maro with a puzzled expression.
"What's wrong with him, meow?" Nefe asked, holding a fish that was even bigger than her.
"An illusion." As soon as Su Wu finished speaking, the seawater near them turned into a deep black.
Below, there seemed to be a shadow larger than a ship moving about.
Maro, who was originally floating on the water, was grabbed around the waist by a raspberry-pink tentacle and pulled downwards, disappearing from sight in an instant.
The dark shadows quickly receded into the distance.
"Octopus...?" Su Wu plunged into the water.
Three seconds later, he emerged from the water carrying the unconscious Maro, whose waist was still wrapped with a wriggling tentacle.
Suddenly, surging ripples appeared on the sea surface.
A gigantic octopus, seemingly four or five stories tall, emerged from the sea, its shadow obscuring the entire ship.
"It feels a bit off..." Su Wu looked at the octopus, which was entirely raspberry pink, and fell into deep thought.
It's a bit harsh, but not that harsh.
It's ugly, but it's also quite unique.
"—" The octopus emitted strange sound waves, as if it were communicating with something.
No one present could understand what the monster was saying, but they could tell that it seemed hesitant.
What are you hesitating about?
It seems that it is just a little unclear about the power and class of this group, but it is full of hostility towards these outsiders who have entered its territory.
Without hesitation, it waved its tentacles, stirring up towering waves, its shadow obscuring the sky, like a sea god descending.
The boat swayed from side to side, as if it would capsize at any moment.
"Spell Reversal - Heh." Su Wu raised his hand, and red energy gathered in front of him, landing on the pink octopus as he moved.
Ripples appeared in the air, followed by a loud explosion.
The octopus monster, struck by the attack, fell back into the sea, splashing up a huge spray of water that crashed onto the swaying ship that was struggling to stay afloat.
The dark shadow under the bed gradually receded into the distance, disappearing without a trace in an instant.
Su Wu has become proficient in using Black Flash as a basic attack method.
Logically, most creatures would have died after taking that punch, but that octopus…
He is still alive.
Even after being hit, he seemed to understand the strength and status of this group and retreated.
After all, octopuses have three hearts... so it's not surprising that they're tough.
"Ah... wait... don't run away..." Neferpitou was suddenly slapped by the tail of the big fish she was holding. It seemed that the blow had a dizzying effect. Neferpitou was stunned for a moment, and the big fish seized the opportunity to jump back into the sea from her arms.
It disappeared very quickly.
The seawater returned to its original blue color.
Su Wu picked up Maro, who had fallen into the water looking as if he were dead, and slapped him twice. "Wake up."
"...My lord?" Maro opened his eyes groggily, covering his swollen, burning face, seemingly not yet understanding what had happened.
"That fish..." Su Wu casually tossed him back onto the boat, recalling the fish Neferpitou had caught.
That thing... seems to cause hallucinations, appearing alongside that octopus, as if they were working together.
After the octopus was defeated, it ran away without hesitation, which seemed very much like an accomplice or a follower.
Maro was clearly under mental interference, which is why he fell into the water. After falling in, he was swept away by the octopus tentacles without hesitation. This process does not seem to be the first time he has done this.
As for why they targeted Maro...
Could it be because this guy is the weakest on the ship, so he's being treated like an easy target...?
Being non-human, Kong and the three ants are inherently resistant to mental interference, while Su Wu... the octopus probably can't figure out if he's human or something else, but as long as the octopus doesn't go crazy, it won't treat him as prey.
The king's three guards were strong enough to easily defeat Maro...
So the only one left to take action against is Maro. He probably felt that since he was already here, he didn't want to leave empty-handed.
"You... your mental resilience is a bit weak," Sue said to Maro.
Their actual strength is decent, not particularly weak, but their mental resistance...
Su Wu already felt that Maro's mental state was somewhat unstable, and he was constantly on the verge of becoming a psychopath.
"I'm so sorry!" Maro instantly snapped back to reality, ignoring his soaked clothes and his swollen face as he knelt on the deck.
It's obvious he must have caused trouble for the adults again.
"It's all because I'm too weak! I'm so sorry!" he said, word by word, his forehead hitting the deck with a dull thud.
In the time it takes to say a word, his forehead was already swollen high and bleeding profusely.
"..." Su Wu looked at the person kowtowing and wanted to sigh.
"I'm tired of hearing apologies. You should be thinking about how to make yourself stronger..." He raised his foot and used his toe to stop the other person from continuing to kowtow.
Of course, he'd keep it down to avoid getting blood on the other person's head staining his shoes.
"Those who are stuck in painful memories of the past and can't move on have no future."
In fact, whether in pain or happiness, those who are stuck in the past and unable to move towards the future cannot have a future.
"My lord..." Maro braced his hands on the deck, head bowed, tears mingling with blood as they dripped down.
He saw... the face of the person who killed him.
My lord...you want to kill him?
At that moment, he lost his reason and ability to think; he had only one thought.
This actually happened.
The adults must think very little of him; his abilities...
Now, with the addition of those three powerful ants, adults have always preferred non-humans.
With them around, I'd be even less of a use, wouldn't I?
It's reasonable for trash that's useless to adults to be killed, right?
With that thought in mind, he closed his eyes and awaited death.
After regaining consciousness and realizing it was a hallucination, he didn't feel relieved, but rather... even more terrified.
He really is... only good at holding adults back.
"...Forget it, I don't understand your thought process." Su Wu waved her hand, too lazy to say anything more.
Maro is the kind of die-hard fan who only has her own brother in her heart. Her mind is full of her brother, and her joys and sorrows are all closely related to every word her so-called brother says.
Oh, now that Su Wu herself has replaced the older brother, he feels...
It's somewhat pleasant.
Su Wu could not comprehend this illusory spirit of placing all one's hopes on others.
But if the person being treated as a god is himself, then there is no problem.
"I'm hungry," he said, lying back in his chair, putting on his sunglasses, and drawing out his words.
"I'll prepare food for you right away." Maro quickly stood up, not even bothering to wipe the blood from his head, and got back to work.
"..." The three guards of the Ant King inexplicably saw a familiar feeling in the guy named Maro.
They seemed to behave in the same way as the king.
and so……
Does this guy actually treat that despicable human like a king?
"I don't think we'll die that easily..." Su Wu stroked her chin thoughtfully.
Given the strength of the Ant King's three guards and his own, entering and leaving the Dark Continent wouldn't be a problem; after all, they are among the top combat forces in the human world.
Unless every creature on the Dark Continent is stronger than Netero in his Saiyan form, but... is that even possible?
According to Su Wu's guess, the danger in the Dark Continent probably comes from the various strange abilities of those creatures, while their strength is secondary.
Just like battles between Nen users, it's common for the underdog to defeat the superhuman.
If one cannot understand the conditions for activating an ability or how to counter it, one will be completely bewildered when attacked, and then die in confusion.
He probably won't even know how he died.
But they hadn't even set foot on the Dark Continent yet; this was just the outer sea.
The Dark Continent may still be a long way off.
"Be more vigilant from now on. If you run into someone from your hometown, remember to greet them and let them know we're on the same side..." Su Wu said to the three ants.
"...We don't know them, meow," Neferpitou said, wagging his tail.
But no one paid any attention to her. Xiao Yapufu and Youpi were now even more cunning than her, each with their own little schemes.
Without the king's presence, these three guards would never have been able to come together.
Guardians born for the king have no reason to exist without the king.
After the ship continued sailing for some time, the color of the seawater in the vicinity changed visibly.
The water, which was originally the blue of the sea, now appears as a pale green in the area where they are.
It's like... the color of a lake.
All rivers in the world eventually flow into the sea, but at the end of the sea... there seems to be a lake even larger than the sea.
is it possible?
"...Speaking of which, is what we thought was the sea really the sea?" Su Wu looked at the color of the water below, raising her eyebrows as if asking the others, or perhaps talking to herself.
Because the area of that "sea" was so large, even Liu Yan didn't notice anything amiss.
Because the sea is inherently vast and mysterious, containing many wondrous things.
But... what if what they thought was the sea was just an incredibly large lake?
"...It really is huge..." Su Wu couldn't help but sigh as she recalled what the world map looked like.
If all the continents inhabited by humans are actually located near lakes... then these lakes are truly astonishingly large.
"What else could it be but the sea?" Xiao Yapufu retorted, his narrow, golden eyes full of calculation.
Could it be that this human is thinking...?
But how could this be? No, that's not right...
Perhaps it is possible.
It is true that the Queen comes from a world much larger than the human world.
In other words, what this human suspected might actually be true...
"Nanika, the Queen, the two siblings..." Su Wu brainstormed.
"The Zoldyck family's pets..." He recalled the dragon that the old man from the Zoldyck family and Netero rode when they attacked the Ant King's palace.
That thing was clearly a creature from the Dark Continent.
Nanika is also from the Dark Continent, but... why did she choose to possess Alluka's body? And why is she a Zoldyck?
Was it because some members of the Zoldyck family had been to the Dark Continent, and Nanika returned with them? Or was it—
Was Nanika brought back intentionally by the Zoldycks? But if it was intentional... why imprison and keep her in captivity?
Is it because the person who brought Nanica out didn't actually want to do it, but had to?
There's always a price to pay for what you gain... Perhaps this is the price someone from the Zoldyck family had to pay when they entered the Dark Continent and left?
Is that the flying dragon? If so... the Zoldyck family members may have been to the Dark Continent more than once.
"But how did the Queen get here..." Su Wu asked, still puzzled.
It is said that the Queen appeared badly wounded, likely after being hunted down. She initially hid on the island to develop her strength, probably out of fear of being discovered...
The two siblings only wanted to capture each other, not kill each other. They even helped the Queen later. The Queen didn't hide from them. If the two siblings were the ones chasing the Queen, then after they decided to observe her, the Queen had no need to continue hiding and developing. However, she still chose NGL, which means she was still worried about being discovered by someone. Therefore, we can rule out the possibility that the two siblings were the ones chasing the Queen.
What if... the one hunting down the Queen is actually the same person who brought her to the human world?
An idea suddenly popped into Su Wu's mind.
Just like the Zoldyck family who brought out Nanika but had to imprison her because she possessed their child.
If someone was also forced to bring the Queen out, and then decided to eliminate her, that speculation... is quite reasonable, isn't it?
What about the sheep siblings? Were they also brought out by someone? Or was there some other reason?
"If only I hadn't let them escape in the first place, I could have caught them and used them as guides..." Su Wu murmured softly.
The brother and sister fled incredibly fast. After the Ant King was captured, they ran away immediately and never appeared around Su Wu again.
If humans go to the Dark Continent...
You should probably need someone you know to show you the way, right?
Although it's unclear how many people went to the Dark Continent and returned alive, there should still be a few.
Suddenly, a series of dense white bubbles rose from the calm, light green water.
The bubbles gathered together, growing larger and larger, until finally appearing before everyone's eyes several water-based creatures resembling skeletal slimes.
Looking at his facial features alone, he even resembles a legendary alien.
They are all tens of meters tall, with only two holes for eyes, no mouth or nose, no limbs, and are oval in shape.
"Doo-oo-oo—"
"Doo-oo-oo—"
They have no mouths and do not move their mouths, but a series of sounds like water boiling can be heard from inside their bodies.
It appears to be an audio message used for communication.
When they saw that Su Wu and the others did not react, they surrounded the ship.
(End of this chapter)