The Murky Sea

Lucas Hall charged toward the left side, aiming for the more intact sea demon. He had no weapons on him, as the broken bone had long since disappeared. But this was land, and while there might be a shortage of other things, stones were in abundance!

He picked up a rock and charged forward, the timing just right for his strength to level up, bringing his base strength to 4, and with bonuses, it reached a solid 6!

"Hmph!" The sea demon growled in warning, her scales erupting from her body.

She was clever, realizing that Lucas seemed immune to her seductive song, so she stopped wasting energy singing and instead readied her claws and sharp teeth to tear the man apart.

What she didn't realize was that—aside from magic—humans were the absolute rulers of the land. Even without firearms, their dominance could not be shaken! Humans were proficient with various weapons and wouldn't even give their enemies a chance for close combat.

Lucas exemplified this; he didn't follow any rules of engagement. With the distance closed, he hurled a rock at the demon, hitting her squarely in the face.

Lucas's strength of 6 exceeded the average of 5, and the rock struck hard, causing the demon to stagger and her head to spill blood. He took advantage of this moment to mount her and picked up another large stone, smashing it into her face without mercy.

She was a predator disguised as a beauty—no normal person would show mercy, especially not Lucas, whose mind was clouded by madness.

Smash, smash, smash…

He didn't stop until he felt something break under his strikes. The sea demon beneath him stopped resisting, and only then did he cease.

Lucas wasn't unscathed, his back covered in bruises from the sea demon's tail and several scratches, but nothing too serious. The tail was powerful, but as Sueraphina had said, her upper body strength was comparable to a human's.

As long as the battle was on land, humans still had the advantage. The moment they were in water, however, that would change.

Once the sea demon was dead, Lucas grabbed a piece of her flesh and stuffed it into his pocket before sprinting toward the last remaining sea demon.

The battle was still intense on the other side.

Serephina and the sea demon were locked in a fierce struggle, tumbling around like two boulders in a muddy pit, both covered in grime. The sea demon had lost an arm, but Seraphina was weak from the battle, and neither could gain the upper hand.

That was until Lucas intervened, breaking the stalemate.

With two against one, Lucas immediately stomped on the demon and drew his flintlock pistol, ready to finish it.

"Don't shoot! I want the body intact, especially the head!" Seraphina called out.

Lucas remembered her earlier request and paused. "So, what should I do then?"

"I've been observing her chest. It looks like she breathes with her lungs. Try choking her!" Seraphina pressed her weight down on the demon, signaling Lucas to take action.

He nodded without hesitation and gripped the demon's throat, squeezing tightly.

Before long, the demon's resistance slowed, and a few minutes later, she lay still, her eyes rolled back in her head, seemingly dead. To make sure she wasn't faking it, Lucas maintained the hold for five more minutes before Seraphina tapped his shoulder, signaling him to let go.

With that, the three sea demons were dead.

"I didn't expect them to breathe through their mouths. I thought they had gills," Lucas remarked, eyeing the demon's body.

Seraphina, however, was busy feeling around the demon's ears. "They do have gills, behind their ears. How they function exactly... well, we'd have to dissect them to know for sure."

She continued to prod and poke at the body like a child with a new toy, while Lucas, uninterested in the anatomical details, only cared about knowing how to kill these creatures.

He opened his log to check the specific information on the sea demons.

[Name: Low-tier Sea Demon]

[Description: Sea demons are a type of otherworldly creature that uses their songs and beauty to ensnare men. They are half-human, half-fish, and typically live in groups. They enjoy playing with their prey before slowly devouring it. This one is a low-tier individual, with limited intelligence and weak strength.]

"Higher-tier sea demons, huh…" Lucas mused with caution. If it had been a high-tier demon, he might have already been seduced to death before triggering his state of madness…

Even if he had gone mad, he might not have been able to defeat one. Truly terrifying creatures!

He hoped that next time he would be immune to their allure.

Meanwhile, Seraphina had already begun to dissect one of the sea demon's bodies. The scene was gruesome, and Lucas turned his attention to the weather forecast.

He needed to gather intelligence quickly to understand what had happened in the past three days.

Today's Weather:

A storm is coming. Get away from the dark clouds above!

Location: Origin Sea (Storm Sea)

Sunshine: Unknown

Temperature: 12~20°C

Wind Speed: Level 8

Lucas reviewed the announcements from the previous days.

[A once-in-a-lifetime storm has swept across the Origin Sea. You need to hurry and escape the soon-to-be uncontrollable Storm Sea.

Reminder: The black fog's speed will increase to 15 knots. If you lag behind, you might die!]

After reading, Lucas furrowed his brows. "Two days wasted. We need to leave now."

He started searching for the Nightmare ship.

At this point, the island was mostly submerged, and only a small portion of the land remained—less than a kilometer in diameter. What had once been the edge of the island was now only tree tops rising above the sea, the water about 10 meters deep.

He spotted the shadow of the Nightmare on the left side, thankful it hadn't been blown away by the storm, though he wasn't sure if the ship's tattered sails had played a part.

It was still about a few hundred meters from the nearest land, not quite a kilometer, but in the sea, that distance was quite long—especially for a land-dwelling human.

Lucas wasn't a great swimmer. Though he had learned as a child, swimming hundreds of meters was a tall order for him.

The water was turbulent, and there could be hidden currents beneath the surface.

Just when he felt stumped, he saw Seraphina stuff a piece of sea demon flesh into a black pouch on her stomach.

"Huh?" Lucas blinked and took a closer look.

To his surprise, he realized that she was carrying a spatial pouch!

"That… is a spatial bag?" Lucas was taken aback.

[Name: Witch's Personal Treasure Bag]

[Type: Treasure]

[Quality: Premium]

[Description: A treasure that can be attached to any part of the body and cannot be stolen. It provides one cubic meter of space for storage, but cannot hold living creatures. A qualified witch must first possess her own treasure bag!]

Lucas immediately got an idea and walked toward Seraphina.