The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 718

Chapter 717
Hurry and invite Miss Alistair!

It was far from the time for the travelers to sleep.

Although few people could be seen on the damp and dim deck, the bar inside the cabin was at its most boisterous.

The lizardman dealer was shaking his dice, with a large crowd gathered around him. In a corner, some card players or chess players who looked like experts were clustered together, with onlookers behind them with their arms crossed.

The stern-faced half-elf bartender was shaking his shaker with the same rhythm and frequency, with small oak barrels lined up behind him.

On the bar counter, travelers who had never met before each had drinks and late-night snacks, chatting about their experiences, or bragging with red faces.

The only pity was the absence of dancers… but it was quite normal for there to be no dancers on board.

“Let me tell you,” said a big-bearded man with a red face, “this new Pope is quite famous over in Avalon…”

Just as people were listening intently to the gossip.

Suddenly, a violent impact from the outside caused the ship to shake violently, interrupting the man’s speech.

The flickering lights in the cabin were extinguished or flickered, and some drunkenly walked towards the card tables with their wine glasses. However, due to the sudden shaking, they lost their balance and let go of their black beer with coffee-colored foam, splashing it on others’ heads and soaking the nearby card tables.

“Hey, you’re—”

Dissatisfied voices suddenly erupted, and the crowd pushed and shoved, the noise of arguments suddenly becoming louder, drowning out the laughter and conversation.

The next moment, the ship shook violently again—and this time, it was not just a simple shake.

The ship suddenly tilted violently to one side, and people and many small stools and high chairs all slid to that side, piling up in a corner.

In an instant, terrified screams and confused scoldings were uttered. Due to the violent collision and shaking, the safely treated lights were all extinguished, so the flames did not spread outwards. The wine glasses on the table all slid to one side, tipping over and shattering.

All these liquids mixed together, splashing onto the travelers piled up at one end of the room, emitting a rather unpleasant, pungent odor.

Before anyone could react, the ship suddenly tilted violently to the other side.

Accompanied by mixed screams, people rolled towards the other end of the room with gurgling sounds. People kept bumping into each other, or into tables and chairs. Some tables and chairs were fixed to the ship, but some chairs were movable. They slid, rolled—and even flew, hitting others and causing quite a few injuries.

Only the half-elf bartender, with his agility, grabbed the counter at the first moment… However, even so, wine barrels kept rolling out from inside, hitting his back and legs. And in the second round of tilting, some lucky travelers grabbed the tables fixed to the ground, barely avoiding the flying human cannonballs in complete darkness.

“Ugh…”

Under the violent shaking, someone finally couldn’t help but vomit. In the complete darkness, it was impossible to see who was vomiting or how far away they were.

The vomit and the mixed wine on the floor became even stronger emetics and lubricants, making it very difficult for people to get up… let alone escape from the piled-up crowd, the completely dark environment, and the chaotic arrangement of tables and chairs… without hurting others.

“Don’t use fire to illuminate—”

In this bar, the first to react was the bartender.

Then the ship began to shake towards the other side again.

During this second round of shaking, the half-elf bartender shouted anxiously with a voice that was almost breaking: “Don’t light a fire—”

Fortunately, there were many priests on this ship sailing from the Church to Star Antinomy.

One by one, hands were raised high, and the radiance of the Illuminate Spell lit up like lighthouses, effectively dispelling the fear in people’s hearts.

With the illumination of the lights, agile Extraordinary beings were finally able to see the layout of the room clearly and quickly opened the doors, escaping from this extremely unpleasant and chaotic bar. As for the remaining people, with the lights illuminating them, they were finally able to barely grab the tables and chairs fixed to the ground, and the situation seemed to improve slightly for a moment.

—And the next moment, a gigantic tentacle fell from the sky!

It violently shattered the deck above, and broken wood and metal mixed together, falling towards the terrified travelers!

Some fragments were embedded in the ground, and some fragments fell on people. This was not immediately fatal… however, in the constantly shaking cabin, it was as dangerous as a grater used for peeling fruits and vegetables.

“Sea Monster—”

Someone exclaimed, and someone fought back—it was a lizardman warrior, who suddenly drew the curved saber at his waist, and a brilliant blade energy cut through the air!

It was a fierce slash as bright as moonlight, brilliantly eye-catching in the dark space.

—It was the Third Tier skill [Ferocious Slash]!

If its power were to fall on a person, it could sever a strong man in light armor at the waist from a distance of more than ten meters!

However, when the slash landed on the tentacle, it could not even make it bleed.

The giant tentacle didn’t even break its skin, but instead retaliated furiously—the warrior was instantly targeted by the eyeless tentacle’s reflexive counterattack and was slammed against the wall!

Someone had a flash of inspiration and, taking advantage of the sea monster’s tentacle retracting, leaped high and grabbed the tip of the dangling tentacle, intending to use its retraction force to escape the room!

His plan was a perfect success.

The sea monster did not pay attention to him and left with him through the gap. The silver moonlight outside shone through the gap into the cabin, appearing so bright.

But the next moment, the travelers inside the cabin heard an incomparably terrifying and heart-wrenching howl: “So many, so many tentacles—”

His screams abruptly stopped.

Blood, like a damp drizzle, fell pattering through the gap.

And because of this large hole, people could also hear what was happening outside.

“—Fire!”

The captain’s voice rang out.

Immediately after, volleys of passionate cannon fire sounded.

However, only one round of cannon fire had just begun when the sea monster, as if enraged, shook the ship even more forcefully, tearing at the hull. The deck was constantly filled with the loud sounds of tentacles smashing the deck and the screams of sailors.

Fear permeated the travelers like the smell of wine on the ground, making them vomit more violently. And this time, even those who were most particular about cleanliness no longer cared about maintaining their dignity—they were all worried that the ship would be directly torn apart or capsized by the enraged sea monster.

But at this moment, the captain’s hurried voice suddenly came from outside:

“Professor Rasimi… please help!”

“I know… but I can only hold on for a while.”

Another voice, which was somewhat cold but now sounded rational and reliable, followed: “Hurry and go invite Miss Crowley!”

“But, Dimit…”

A terrified and hesitant young voice sounded.

“I’m watching, nothing will happen—go quickly!”

As soon as he finished speaking, a dim yellow radiance permeated the ship.

The wine and vomit on the ground seemed to have turned into yellow mud, the smell instantly weakened, and the ground was no longer so slippery. And everyone in the inner cabin was simultaneously fixed to the ground by a mysterious force, like rats stuck to a sticky trap… no matter how the ship swayed, they would not slide around.

s.t.o.5.5.c.o.m

We’re saved…

The thought appeared in everyone’s hearts simultaneously.

In another room, the Necromancer apprentices of the Spirit Tower breathed a sigh of relief and cheered enthusiastically: “Professor Rasimi has made his move!”

“Professor will definitely be fine!”

“Maybe Professor can even capture the sea monster…”

However, outside, Professor Rasimi’s expression was much more serious than they imagined.

He was kneeling on the ground, one hand pressing on the deck, and the dim yellow radiance almost covered the entire ship. This made him sweat profusely… and the hemispherical dim yellow shield that appeared on him seemed so precarious under the sea monster’s blows.

…Damn it!

He cursed the military intelligence department in his heart—why hadn’t they warned them that there were sea monsters in this shipping lane!

As a professor of the Spirit Tower, he naturally knew the secrets of the Twilight Path…

Just as the Path of Authority came after the Path of Power, the Twilight Path also had its predecessors. Although he did not know the name of that Path, he at least knew… that it was a Path closely related to the deep sea.

Various sea monsters and sirens from the deep sea came from that Path. The templates for many monsters created by the Beast Path and the Path of Love were found in them.

Dark, deep, terrifying… even, unbearable to look at.

Just trying to analyze that power was enough to drive someone mad.

Because of this, even the Spirit Tower did not have a deep understanding of them.

…But Professor Rasimi had already guessed why the sea monster appeared suddenly.

It must have been the corpses soaked in preservative solution that lured it over!

Professor Rasimi had considered the possibility of the corpses being eaten by passing sharks; rather, it was part of the plan. Otherwise, if these corpses were washed ashore and caught by fishermen, it would be problematic.

However, the preservative solution of this concentration was fatal to those sharks.

After eating these corpses, they would soon die of “Twilight,” and their bodies would return to the sea, becoming nourishment for other fish.

But if there happened to be a sea monster nearby, the situation would be different—

For sea monsters of the same Path, both the corpses soaked in preservative solution and these preservative solutions were sweet nourishment.

This sea monster was not too large in size… it should be considered relatively young among sea monsters, probably less than a thousand years old. It was now shaking the ship not because it had any hostility towards them—otherwise, the sea monster had plenty of ways to destroy the ship directly.

Whether it was casting spells from afar, creating whirlpools and tsunamis; or freezing them directly.

Or it could directly smash the ship with its tentacles… this was not difficult for it.

Now it had smashed a hole in the ship and was shaking the ship desperately—in the sea monster’s simple brain, it was actually trying to extract more “Sling Potion” from inside.

It clearly did not understand what a “ship” was, but rather regarded it as another strange sea monster. After all, sea monsters were strange and varied, and it was not unusual for them to have a wooden shell on the outside.

Therefore, the sea monster regarded the Sling Potion that dripped down as the ship’s bodily fluids or excrement… Now, following its habit of preying on other sea monsters, it intended to shake it well and then pour out the bodily fluids… or “scare the ship” and excrete more.

And sea monsters cannot communicate, they are true monsters—this is the trouble.

Their power, after being transformed into the Twilight Path, was like an Extraordinary being of the Path of Power in the past, having lost half a level, and was much weaker than other Extraordinary beings of the same Energy Level…

The only situation that could put Professor Rasimi, who was close to the peak of the Fourth Tier, under such pressure was this.

—This seemingly young sea monster was a powerful enemy from the Fifth Tier!

Even with its power halved, this was by no means an enemy that Professor Rasimi could contend with…

On this ship, there could only be one… or rather, one group of Fifth Tier Extraordinary beings.

That was “Alistair,” and her butler.

He could only hope that she was willing to make a move now… If she didn’t, this ship might fall apart!

Not to mention how many people would be eaten by the enraged sea monster for failing to achieve its goal—even if they miraculously survived the sea monster, they were still a night’s journey away from Star Antinomy! A swim of about eight hours with a floating log… this would probably only be possible for Third Tier Extraordinary beings.

Just then, something else emerged from the ocean.

—It was the “head” of the sea monster.

It looked like a giant reef, and on it was a beautiful maiden wearing a “white gauze skirt” soaked in water.

She clasped her hands together as if praying. And after leaving the water, she began to sing a melodious song.

Professor Rasimi finally identified the species of this sea monster—

—It was a “Sea Bride”!

It looked like a maiden trapped in the ocean, but this was actually just a hunting posture used for disguise. Its real head was actually under the “reef,” and this reef was actually just its “hat.”

If anyone was tempted by its beauty, or curious enough to approach after hearing the song, they would be instantly torn apart by the tentacles lurking under the surface of the sea!

As everyone knows, sea monsters are monsters that prey on souls. For them, Extraordinary beings and other Extraordinary lives are the proper food. Ordinary fish can only fill their stomachs but cannot appease their restless souls.

If a hero were killed by a sea monster, they could not go to the Dream Realm to become a Disc… Although this had little to do with most people.

Because in reality, most people would only be recycled and become materials for New Souls. However, many people believed in “reincarnation” and longed for eternal life in the Dream Realm, so they feared these sea monsters. Even heroes who made a living by hunting monsters rarely ventured into the deep sea to hunt.

And when Professor Rasimi heard the song, he felt something was wrong.

Almost instantly, he felt a great wave of sleepiness overcome him. This was due to the Twilight Path’s resistance to mental abnormalities; otherwise, he would have fallen asleep like those sailors.

In an instant, only two people remained awake on the deck.

One was him, and the other was the captain who was struggling desperately. The captain tried to cover his ears, but found it useless. He gradually knelt down and curled into a ball.

“This is the ability corrupted from the Path of Beauty—”

Professor Rasimi couldn’t help but say: “This is a song that directly acts on the soul… covering your ears is useless.”

“—Is that so.”

At this moment, a cold and reserved young voice sounded: “I don’t think so.”

The next moment, the singing sea monster suddenly let out a sharp scream.

As if seeing something terrifying, it directly released the tentacles wrapped around the ship… and it was in a panic, intending to escape!

And in an instant, scorching firelight rose from the ground—

The night instantly turned into day.

A pillar of fire reaching the sky illuminated the sky!

Several laser beams instantly cut the sea monster into several segments!

But at this moment, strangely… the sea monster was no longer afraid and turned back furiously, intending to fight back.

And then, an incomparably giant flame condensed into a pillar, which struck down with a roar—landing directly on the sea monster’s head!

(End of this chapter)