novelraw Chapter 354: The Gravely Ill Witch
Chapter 354: The Gravely Ill Witch
The ground trembled slightly as a massive figure nearly ten meters tall broke through the sea surface.
What exactly did I hook? Chen Qi was astonished to discover that what he'd caught didn't seem to be a fish.
This thing weighs at least ten tons... that definitely doesn't count as coming back empty-handed, right? Chen Qi looked at the enormous monster in the icy sea before him.
It was composed of blue stones, one after another, with no mouth, no ears, and incredibly thick limbs.
In the center of its chest was a single red gem-like eye!
The crimson eye swept over everyone present.
Chen Qi retracted his fishing rod, placed it on his shoulder, and gave himself a thumbs-up:
"Hooked something."
Boom!
The surrounding glaciers shook dramatically as the massive monster stomped onto the land.Its enormous form, like a city wall, loomed over everyone.
The Great Sea Coffin contained countless monster varieties, and neither Palu nor Fen had much knowledge about the creature before them.
Is this thing edible? Chen Qi couldn't immediately recall the monster's type either.
"Ice Eye Giant..."
Little Crow softly spoke the monster's name.
Hmm? Chen Qi turned back, slightly surprised that this was a monster even Palu and he weren't familiar with.
In the next instant, Chen Qi tilted his head, ran his index finger along the blade edge to ignite his longsword, then slashed out fiercely.
Black Wave Slash!
Boom!
With that single slash, azure-blue flames instantly erupted, and the massive Ice Eye Giant looked as if it were being cut by a chainsaw at maximum power!
Simultaneously, Palu drew his gun like a western gunslinger, bullets tearing through the air and creating multiple sonic booms as they struck the Ice Eye Giant's ruby eye, generating enormous circular ripples!
Boom!
Amid the tremendous noise, visible cracks appeared in the glacier beneath their feet.
Yet, the massive Ice Eye Giant showed absolutely no reaction, continuing to stomp toward them with heavy footsteps.
Not even a single mark remained on its surface!
This was the full-power strike of two fourth-tier transcendents.
This is just a small fry from an A-rank rift... truly tanky... Chen Qi ignited the Daylight Lantern at his waist.
At that moment, Little Crow said softly:
"Contrary to intuition, Ice Eye Giants aren't afraid of fire."
"The armor on its body is formed from deep-sea ice stones that can absorb spiritual energy, weakening spiritual attacks, while being incredibly hard itself - it's material for forging high-tier forbidden weapons."
Finally, Little Crow added quietly:
"Its weakness is in its buttocks."
After speaking, Little Crow took her scalpel and poked Chen Qi's rear end in the air.
Buttocks? Chen Qi turned back, doubting his hearing.
Why does Little Crow know so much about Great Sea Coffin monsters?
Half-believing, half-doubting, Chen Qi executed a sliding tackle, rushing to the Ice Eye Giant's back.
There, amidst the hard stone parts, was indeed a tiny crack.
There really is this weakness... Chen Qi continued his sliding motion and delivered a slash!
Amid deafening shattering sounds, the Ice Eye Giant's rear was violently torn open by the blade, shattering!
Flames burned, melting a huge fissure.
This casual, ordinary sliding tackle strike immediately made the Ice Eye Giant emit tremendous cracking sounds, and soon after, it crashed to the ground with a boom.
It really was the weakness... Chen Qi sheathed his longsword and looked at Little Crow with a puzzled expression.
Little Crow raised her head, rose-colored eyes fixed on Chen Qi, firmly gripping her Disaster Messenger card.
"This card contains knowledge of nearly 99% of Witch Sea monsters, disaster knowledge..."
The Disaster Messenger card grants this kind of knowledge too... this card's value is truly immense... Chen Qi nodded slightly.
The Disaster Messenger promotion mission requires witnessing a disaster capable of destroying several cities firsthand, and being present to witness its arrival.
I wonder if an A-rank rift disaster meets the requirements... Chen Qi thought to himself.
If Little Crow is lucky, perhaps within this A-rank rift, he might witness the birth of a new legend!
If he didn't have the Deep Sea Hunter profession card, he might have chosen this Lamp Shadow affinity profession too.
The Disaster Messenger's greatest characteristic is the ability to manipulate shadows and use them to simulate common natural disasters.
It's a fourth-tier profession combining crowd control abilities with assassin attributes.
By then, with the Banshee Potion plus shadow manipulation and disaster prediction capabilities, Little Crow's maximum combat power might surpass his.
Little Crow stood up, searching through the Ice Eye Giant's remains:
"Ice Eye Giants are essentially aggregates formed by parasitic crabs..."
After saying this, she found the weak points and, in one smooth motion, dismembered the Ice Eye Giant with her reddened small hands!
"Crab?"
Chen Qi was silently shocked.
As Little Crow made a light cutting motion, fifteen blue crabs each one meter tall fell out from within the Ice Eye Giant's massive body.
Click-clack! Click-clack!
The crabs huddled together, trembling!
So it's a monster group piloting mecha... Chen Qi scanned the crabs.
Just from these crabs' thick legs, one could tell they would be exceptionally delicious!
Little Crow added:
"Remove the toxins, and they're edible."
Soon after, everyone lit a bonfire and turned these ice crabs into a fragrant braised crab pot.
Meanwhile, the materials dropped by the Ice Eye Giant were listed out.
Among them, Deep Sea Ice Stone was A-rank rift material for shipbuilding and armor.
Additionally, there was the gem from the Ice Eye Giant's head and small sapphires from inside its body.
Chen Qi held the ruby up to the sunlight to examine it.
[Crimson Ice Stone:
Affinity: Ice
Description: A gem formed by absorbing spiritual energy from the depths of the Great Sea Coffin. When consumed while practicing Ice affinity skills, it can enhance Ice affinity comprehension.]
Enhances Ice affinity comprehension, perfect for use while practicing Rift Slash... Chen Qi pocketed the gem - this was a good harvest.
This gem's value was at least five million Shell Coins.
"Everyone, for you!"
Fen sat on the frozen water spirit and handed two maps to Palu and Chen Qi respectively.
"This is?"
Palu asked curiously.
Fen said quietly:
"Maps my teacher gave me before. I just redrew copies."
Chen Qi examined the map while chewing crab legs, recalling various details about the Great Sea Coffin.
The Witch's Coffin location was at the map's center, while their position was at the edge.
Along the way, many danger zones were marked with symbols.
Among them were numerous saint-level monsters.
To reach the Witch's Coffin, there were roughly two routes.
First, land travel.
Simply follow the glaciers on a long trek, and even without a ship, you could eventually reach the Witch's Coffin.
However, this route required crossing an eight-thousand-meter high great snow mountain, where a Blizzard Dragon with fifth-tier combat power roamed - extremely dangerous.
Along the way, you could also encounter a dilapidated large wooden hut where monsters wouldn't attack.
Additionally, the numerous Ice Watermelon Worm swarms along the path were good food sources.
Blizzard Dragon, safe house, Ice Watermelon Worm swarms... Palu looked at the first route, feeling somewhat tempted.
Their ship was severely damaged, so land travel was undoubtedly a good option.
The second route involved directly crossing the icy sea, but along the way, they had to pass through a 'Merchant's Coffin' marked with several extremely dangerous symbols!
Every merchant in this coffin was exceptionally dangerous.
Additionally, there were no obvious safe food resupply points along the way - they could only rely on Chen Qi's fishing!
Yet, Chen Qi's casual fishing earlier had hooked a giant!
If not for Little Crow's knowledge, they would have faced a tough battle.
And this Ice Eye Giant was merely an insignificant small fry in the Great Sea Coffin.
Chen Qi stroked his chin:
"I plan to take the sea route. My fishing skill guarantees I'll catch something at sea and can easily replenish food."
Are you sure it's food replenishment? Palu suppressed his inner urge to complain:
"We plan to follow the Great Glacier. The Blizzard Dragon on the great snow mountain has saint-level dragon eggs.
We signed a contract with a major noble from the Goldenfinch Kingdom. If we can obtain dragon eggs, we can select a forbidden weapon forged from A-rank rift materials."
"..."
Chen Qi thought for a moment, falling into contemplation.
Currently, it seemed their route choices had serious divergence!
But under normal circumstances, they should probably separate.
His Deep Sea Affinity could only ensure his own safety, not his teammates'.
If it were just Fen and Little Crow, he could protect them.
But when teammates comprised an entire team, his Deep Sea Affinity couldn't guarantee everyone's safety.
Every sea creature here could potentially be at Black Lantern Dragon level from the start!
Currently, splitting into two routes might be the correct choice.
Chen Qi took a bite of crab leg:
"I plan to head to the Merchant's Coffin to sell some things."
Sell things? Those are Great Sea Coffin merchants! Palu closed his eyes.
As an experienced adventurer, Palu could clearly sense Chen Qi's recklessness.
However, this recklessness wasn't without reason.
Over these past days, he could guess at Chen Qi's abilities.
When Chen Qi was third-tier, he had dealt heavy damage to the Dragon Tamer King deep underwater!
This meant he possessed special abilities or relics allowing him to move underwater while avoiding sea creature attacks.
And clearly, Chen Qi's protective abilities were limited.
Rationally speaking, splitting up was the wiser choice.
But if they separated, their combat power would decrease significantly.
And given current circumstances, the legendary Azure Beast would most likely choose the sea route!
If they encountered it again, the consequences would be unthinkable!
If I'm not there, and the Hunter and Witch encounter the Azure Beast again... Palu couldn't help but remind:
"Qi, the Azure Beast might also be in the sea..."
Only with the three of them combined could they contend against the Azure Beast!
The slightest misstep, and the Black Hunter and Witch could become corpses in the sea.
Chen Qi took a deep breath:
"Don't worry, I'm confident that on the sea, the Azure Beast won't dare approach us easily."
The danger level of the Great Sea Coffin's icy sea far exceeded that of the Witch Sea.
Even a fifth-tier Azure Beast would have to carefully conceal its spiritual energy on the Great Sea Coffin's seas!
A flicker of worry passed through Palu's eyes, but he ultimately nodded.
This was an A-rank rift, the Great Sea Coffin - there were no correct choices to begin with.
The land route was more stable, while the sea route was more dangerous but shorter.
If they could reach the Witch's Coffin before the Blackfin Crew and awaken the Ice Witch...
Once the Ice Witch revived, even the Azure Beast couldn't contend against her.
Greater risk, greater reward!
"Contact via radio every three hours..."
Palu stood up and began organizing luggage.
The ice crab food could only last one night - every additional second spent here was a survival burden.
After discussion, everyone rested briefly before splitting into two groups and heading toward the Witch's Coffin.
The Ghost Ship soon set sail again, advancing into the sea's depths.
Icy waves slowly washed over the ship.
"The wind is so cold..."
Along the way, Chen Qi remained leaning against the ship's rail, observing the sea conditions.
Meanwhile, Fen frowned while processing her potions.
In the Great Sea Coffin, her potions had undergone some changes too.
Simultaneously, the blood blossoms on her body were increasing.
About five hours later, night fell, and the temperature dropped to a shocking minus sixty degrees Celsius.
Even the resilient Water Spirit No.1 completely transformed into Ice Spirit No.1 at this temperature.
Chen Qi ignited the Daylight Lantern while simultaneously casting Flame Forging and Holy Light spell to maintain the Ghost Ship's temperature.
"Hah, hah, hah, hah..."
Little Crow breathed heavily, placing her aching hands over the bonfire.
Fen knelt beside the bonfire, and compared to Little Crow, her hands were exposed, fingertips already red from cold.
Several areas of skin even showed faint blue-purple discoloration from prolonged cold exposure.
Fen asked weakly:
"Qi, how long has it been..."
"Five hours."
Chen Qi said calmly.
Five hours... Fen silently repeated the time, then quietly placed her hands into the bonfire.
"Fen..."
Chen Qi frowned.
Due to injuries from fighting the Dragon Tamer King, Fen was currently extremely weak.
"..."
Little Crow hugged the shivering Water Spirit No.5, looking at Fen.
At Fen's collarbone, crimson blood blossoms twisted painfully, cutting wound after wound across her body.
Drip! Drip!
Blood fell onto the deck, quickly freezing.
Even injured, the witch remained as beautiful as ever... Blood Blossom Disease, such a rare condition...
Blood Blossom Disease rapidly worsens with other illnesses.
Research on Blood Blossom Disease could probably be published in Beiguo Royal University journals... Little Crow hugged herself tighter and said softly:
"Miss Witch, may I study your Blood Blossom Disease?"
"???"
Fen looked dazedly at Little Crow before her.
"..."
Spending too much time in research has affected my speaking habits... Little Crow's lips moved.
She'd been a pirate too long, too immersed in the crazy doctor persona, and couldn't correct herself immediately.
No, to be precise, in some ways, she really seemed like a crazy doctor.
Little Crow murmured:
"What I mean is... Miss Witch, do you need a doctor's help?"
"Hmm..."
Fen held her body, face flushed red, and nodded.
The witch smells so fragrant... the witch is this weak? No wonder she can't suppress Qi... Little Crow picked up her scalpel, preparing to cut off Fen's blood blossoms.
However, the moment Fen was touched by Little Crow, she instinctively headbutted Little Crow!
Instinctive reaction!
That hurts... Little Crow rubbed her sore forehead and said wryly:
"Don't worry, Miss Witch, we're safe now."
"..."
Chen Qi's ears perked up:
"Little Crow, stop talking for now."
Little Crow's recent misfortune was starting to exceed his expectations.
"What's wrong?"
Little Crow asked.
Suddenly, she shivered all over.
Cold, boundless cold. Chen Qi vigilantly scanned their surroundings.
Thump!
Amid this extreme cold, he heard a collision sound.
A small boat? Chen Qi picked up the lantern at his waist and looked down.
In the darkness, a small boat filled with flowers had collided with their Ghost Ship.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Chen Qi stood by the ship's edge.
More and more small boats collided with their ship, emitting crisp sounds.
In this apocalyptic world, being struck by so many boats...
Chen Qi used Flame Forging to enhance the Daylight Lantern's brightness.
The sea's blurred scenery gradually became clear.
Ahead, he saw hundreds of small boats filled with flowers sailing toward their ship.
"No..."
Rather than small boats, they were more like coffins filled with flowers, one after another.
Chen Qi swallowed hard and gazed into the distance.
In the distant fog, a distorted, tentacled, blurry ghost girl smiled at them and said softly:
"Sir, would you like to buy a boat?"