Goblin Dependency-Chapter 832 - 416: Sha Hua Fishman (Part 2)
When Xia Nan was using green-skinned goblins to relieve stress, what was he enjoying?
It was that complete transformation process on the goblins’ faces, those faces covered in scars and full of rich expressions, from the initial bloodthirsty excitement of discovering human prey to the horrified panic when facing impending death;
He appreciated these lowly creatures going from noisy to deathly silent, trembling at his presence, and he also took a keen interest in observing their reactions—be it desperately resisting, trying to escape, or betraying their companions.
It was the exquisite sensation when his weapon pierced flesh at close range, the tangible feedback of filthy life slipping away through his hands, the instant thrill of tearing and shredding the already fragile sinful bodies;
The countless screams drowned beneath the sword’s edge, and those goblin nests reduced to mangled remains even taught him a few simple words in goblin language, such as "prey," "adventurer," "escape," "save."
After a battle, standing alone amidst the chaos of corpses, bathed in blood, with the once incessantly noisy environment reduced to serenity, he felt that deep, hollow peace as the whole world faded away.
The experience with Sha Hua fishmen, however, was considerably less gratifying.
They were tall, acting in groups, but their numbers were almost half that of a normal goblin colony, and each individual was much stronger compared to goblins.
Though for Xia Nan, it was still one strike per enemy.
But when his blade struck the hard scales and cut through the more resilient skin, muscles, and bones... the sensation was completely different.
When facing powerful and nearly invincible foes, the fishmen might exhibit fear like goblins but their higher intelligence and rudimentary civilization meant their attitudes lacked the same animalistic and human-desire-driven reversal displayed by goblins.
Moreover, this was Xia Nan’s first encounter with such a demon, entirely different from the goblins that had initially left severe psychological scars on him when he first crossed this world.
This made the experience of beheading these dozen-or-so fishmen particularly unpleasant.
He merely treated them as ordinary demons encountered during his mission, hastily chopping off their heads without further entanglements.
"Slash!"
The black-grey blade carved a perfect arc through the air. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚
The Vortex Slash, enhanced by his formidable physical prowess, made the already sharp Ash Fall even more lethal.
In an instant, the scales, muscles, and blood at the neck were shattered and severed.
The last Sha Hua fishman on the field lost its head.
Standing still, Xia Nan took a cloth out of his waist bag to wipe the blade, glancing at his armor stained with glowing blue fish blood, a slight frown forming on his brows.
Although he was standing by the shore, with the vast ocean beside him.
He currently had no means to clean his armor.
As basic knowledge among adventurers of the Southern Islands, washing metal equipment with seawater is an absolutely wrong choice.
The salt in seawater would rapidly speed up the corrosion of the armor, significantly weakening the internal metal structure, making it more prone to cracking, tantamount to slow suicide for an adventurer;
And once the water evaporates, the remaining salt crystals form tiny particles that attach between the armor plates and clasps, exacerbating wear and emitting noises that expose one’s location.
Given that his Pulse of Purgatory was already damaged after the battle with the Crystal Priest, Xia Nan would never willingly further shorten the lifespan of this equipment.
It was a proper piece of enchanted equipment, even if not destined for future generations, at least it should be usable a few more times.
Carefully cleaning Ash Fall, Xia Nan sheathed his sword.
Glancing at the fishmen corpses on the ground, he pondered thoughtfully.
At the moment, it was only about ten minutes since he had left his cliffside cabin to reach this cave on the reef.
Thanks to Ellison’s build, he was already prepared for battle before he arrived.
As expected, he encountered these Sha Hua fishmen on the path leading from the beach to the cave mentioned by the others.
Left was the rock wall, right was the sea, making detours impossible.
Fighting these ferocious demons was inevitable, Xia Nan knew this well.
But oddly, when he arrived, there were already many fishmen corpses on the beach.
And the wounds were irregular, as if bitten by some beast.
He speculated that before encountering him, these fishmen might have already been attacked by another demon.
In this way, they were indeed quite unlucky.
Based on Xia Nan’s perception, these fishmen had died several hours earlier, when the Black Crow had not even made landfall from the sea.
So this demon probably wasn’t after them, but rather a species inhabiting the island.
Linking this to the commission by the Flying Fish Oil Barrel pirate group, he had some inklings in his heart.
During the battle, he remained on high alert, especially wary of threats from the sea.
But perhaps due to the opponent’s stealth ability surpassing his perception, or they were simply not nearby, Xia Nan detected no signs until now.
He might need to advance towards the cavern Ellison mentioned to find out...
His thoughts suddenly stopped.
Xia Nan abruptly looked up towards the cave entrance, his right hand instinctively resting on the hilt of his sheathed sword.
In just a second, however, sensing something, his body quietly relaxed, and his hand fell from the hilt.
Walking out directly towards the cave entrance without concealing his footsteps.
...
"Don’t be nervous, it’s me."
Raising his hand toward the two members of the Silver Claw Fish Eagle Squad standing tensely in the distance, one of them gripping their weapon as if frightened, Xia Nan stepped over the scattered corpses, approaching slowly.
"Xia Nan!?"
"How are you here?"
Surprised first and then delighted at Xia Nan’s appearance, the squad leader Nick reacted.
The Half orc Alton didn’t seem much surprised, standing there with a wide smile and waving over from afar.
"It’s a long story, but what about you guys? Shouldn’t you be enjoying the feast in the village, why come to this place?"
Nodding courteously to the small figure beside him, Xia Nan asked Nick and the Half Elf Laida.
While his gaze swept over the team, combined with the absent Half orc Bone Card and the complicated expressions of the two, he speculated quietly in his heart.
Predictably, the answer he expected came forth.
"The village was attacked by demons, Bone Card got separated during the fight and was abducted. We tracked the demon’s lingering scent to here, and Steven and Gregory have already blocked the other side of North Cliff with others,"
"So, some of these bodies were left by that demon too?"
Xia Nan raised a brow, confirming with Nick.
By now, standing before the black-haired adventurer who once left a deep impression on the Silver Claw Fish Eagle Squad during naval combat, Nick and Laida understood. The fishmen corpses on the beach, besides falling to demon bites, had also been slain by his blade.
The mystery in their hearts cleared, they explained the specifics to Xia Nan.
"Judging from the traces, that’s the case."
"This demon likely is also aquatic, strong and heavy, possessing some intelligence but doesn’t often use weapons, leaning towards melee combat."
Revisiting the information observed and perceived, Xia Nan nodded slightly, his demeanor calm, though the blood and bits of flesh on him didn’t quite match the scene.
"So, are you guys planning to go deeper?"
"Of course!" Nick nodded firmly, stealing a glance at the Half Elf Laida beside him. "Even if nothing is left but a corpse, Bone Card is still my teammate."
Understanding the performance in their demeanor, realizing that their inner thoughts likely differed from what they said, Xia Nan didn’t expose them, just nodding in agreement.
He needed to explore the reef cave near the beach that might hold clues related to Morton, likewise, they intended to dive in to find traces of Bone Card. The goals and paths overlapped, allowing for cooperation.
"Then let’s go, it shouldn’t be too far."
