Hyperdimensional Player

Chapter 243 The Barbarian, Seven Trips to the Sea
The City of Gold.

Near a hidden shrine, a black cat took out an owl-shaped emblem, and then, driven by magic, it gradually solidified into the outline of an owl.

"I think I've found him."

"But we can't be sure if this is the person you're looking for."

The black cat transformed into a seductive, naked woman with a cat-like face, draped in a thin veil, and said with a hint of excitement in her voice, "He severely injured Prames, even forcing him to beg the priest for healing."

Upon hearing this, the owl's gaze sharpened, and it slowly asked, "Where is he?"

The naked woman with the cat-like face shook her head with a hint of regret, saying, "I don't know. He was swept away by the waves."

"All the gods of the Gold Coast are watching this conflict, and I have no way to sneak up on him."

"Moreover, my avatar cannot stray too far from the temple."

"But he will definitely come back."

“They have a grudge against Prames, and this must come to an end.”

The owl remained silent.

The naked woman with the cat-like face said softly, "It seems that everything the gods have arranged has been completely ruined. Prames's concubines have stirred up trouble in him, making him arrogantly think that he can make Hyjal submit to him."

“He has been acting arrogantly in the City of Gold and has become somewhat disrespectful to others.”

"They even lack the respect they deserve for other divine beings."

The king was arrogant.

If one cannot wield royal power, one will be wielded by royal power.

After the successor monarch seized power, too many people acted recklessly and arbitrarily.

But true royal power belonged to the first generation of founding monarchs.

The owl raised its head and said quietly, "The gods of the Gold Coast are not a monolithic entity. Who is stirring up trouble for Prames?"

The naked woman with the cat-like face shook her head and said, "I don't know."

"But that concubine has already committed suicide. I have a rough idea of ​​which of the gods did it."

"Some princesses are not well-behaved either."

The princesses of the Gold Coast have it pretty tough; they either marry their fathers or brothers, or become wives of gods or priestesses. Most of them end up marrying within the family.

The gods here form a unified pantheon.

There is also competition among them, after all, the pie is only so big, and everyone wants to have a bigger slice.

Making a big cake is nothing compared to the thrill of grabbing a slice. Besides, even if you make a big cake, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll get to eat it; someone else might just steal it.

The naked woman with the cat face never thought of making a big cake.

She could steal, rob, cheat, or deceive, but she would never do such things. She could even commit evil deeds, but she would never do them.

The owl fell into deep thought, then slowly said, "The faith of the Egyptian gods in the Root World has been completely severed; they seem to be suffering a bit of a backlash."

The Origin World?

The cat-faced nude goddess, her expression filled with curiosity, whispered, "Are you a deity from the Root World?"

“When they descended, it was indeed somewhat similar to your situation.”

The owl didn't want to say much about the Origin World, because the Origin World was important to every god, and in some ways, the Origin was the anchor point for different aspects of the gods.

By severing the root cause, a core anchor point is lost.

Taking Odin, the chief god of Norse mythology, as an example, as long as his anchor point in the original world remains, all Odin myths that extend from other planes are different divine manifestations that evolve from the original Odin.

This is the root, from which Odin's different faces with different personalities and abilities evolved.

But what if the roots are gone?

Those differentiated divine appearances will adapt to the laws of different worlds, and no one knows what they will eventually become, because the anchor point has been severed.

The origin is the original self of the gods, their legendary image in the world of origin.

The Egyptian gods clearly no longer have a source, so their appearances will undergo drastic changes, and their incarnations may even break free from the control of the original consciousness, like the torn cosmic serpent. The divine appearances that have emerged from the serpent may awaken on their own and become independent gods, completely denying that they are incarnations.

If it weren't for Duncan, Athena would also have had her face torn apart.

But now, all three aspects of her personality have been unified.

After a moment of contemplation, the owl slowly said, "Find a way to find him. Don't you have a priesthood?"

“Choose someone to impersonate a voter and find a way to leave here.”

The naked woman with the cat face was silent for a moment, then said quietly, "If I were to personally handle this, that would be at a different price."

"You have to pay more!"

The owl's gaze was deep and mysterious. It gently raised its wings, and a stream of light entered between her brows. It whispered, "Go. I am still very weak."

"I will give you what you want."

"even."

"Once you find him, he will give you everything you want."

"After all, he once bestowed titles upon gods!"

what?
That man actually conferred titles upon gods?
This is something the owl hadn't mentioned before. How did he manage to do it?
The naked woman with the cat face began to stir.

If what the other party said is true, then a mortal who has the ability to confer the title of a god is no longer an ordinary mortal. He is a mortal who has gained the recognition of the world's laws and has mastered a trace of the power of origin.

His words are law.

………………

A desolate coastline.

The waves crashed against the rocks, and then a heroic man with a bare chest appeared. He grabbed a large crab with his bare hands, cracked open its shell, crushed its claws, and put it in his mouth. It was crunchy and tasted like chicken.

"We almost went back to square one."

"Fortunately, my combat skills have improved a lot, and I have directly mastered military weapons."

After finishing his meal, Duncan threw away the crab he was holding.

He had lost almost everything he owned—armor, weapons, shield—he had nothing left to take with him. His grandfather had also given it to Hyjal during the final breakout.

As soon as he jumped into the sea, he encountered turbulent currents. After struggling to break free, he was drifted away by the ocean currents to who knows where.

The dwarves' equipment was too heavy.

Duncan only kept a small dagger for cutting meat; he couldn't possibly swim in the ocean wearing a full suit of Cold Iron armor. Most of the things could be thrown away without a problem, just don't lose your grandfather. I believe Hyjal wouldn't throw him away, after all, that weapon has the potential to become legendary.

—"Master of Military Weapons".

There's not much to say about this; it's a kind of conceptual ability, specifically for special attacks on military weapons, usually obtained by killing a large number of soldiers.

—"Mastery of unarmed combat: The combat techniques of ancient boxing were passed down in ancient Egypt, ancient India, and the ancient East. However, unarmed combat gradually evolved over time and became systematic, much later than the use of weapons by humankind."

Hands, though they are humankind's natural weapon.

However, since the rise of humankind, they have relied on external things, and the systematization of martial arts only came about in a relatively late era.

Swords, spears, and clubs—which is better than fists?

In real combat, few people fight with their bare hands. Even martial arts masters will be chased and hacked down by heavily armored enemies. Unless it's an Eastern cultivation system with extra advantages, unarmed combat is often not applicable.

Duncan stretched his muscles to replenish his energy, and then looked for fresh water.

He didn't know where he had drifted to.

As time went by, the bloodline engraved in his body was taking shape, and his appearance was also changing slightly. He looked a bit like a dragon vein sorcerer, with a unique charm. His appearance was also beginning to merge slightly with that of the first human host, with some of the angles of his face being slightly similar to those of the first human host.

But in the final product, it will probably only be about 50% similar, with a significant difference in physique, since the barbarians' muscles are really well-developed.

His wounds had healed, but he now had more than a dozen new scars.

"We still need to pick up the bow and arrows."

"Throwing weapons, they're just a little lacking."

The barbarians have explosive throwing skills, almost like crossbows at close range, but they are not very good in other aspects.

He walked barefoot along the beach, now adrift on a deserted island. Duncan still had to find a way back to the mainland; the worst-case scenario was that he would have to cross the ocean and swim back by hand.

"So many poisonous snakes!"

The island is quite large, and Duncan has not yet detected any signs of human activity or encountered any enemies.

One lap down.

Duncan didn't find anything, but he did find some wood and started a fire with his bare hands. He rubbed the wood into a stick, and soon smoke rose and a wisp of flame appeared. He used the stick to skewer the snake meat and ate his fill first.

Night falls.

He lay on the beach, looking up at the starry sky, and murmured, "I wonder where Hyjal has drifted off to?"

Are the other barbarians still alive?

In the distance came the sound of waves crashing against the rocks. Being alone on a deserted island was really boring. After recovering and replenishing his food, he decided to build a raft and see if he could drift back.

Dimensional space.

Just as Duncan regained consciousness and was considering his next move, a mark suddenly appeared in the vast ocean.

—Siren (3-star silver-gray) (Neutral).

On the sea in the distance.

A beautiful woman's head emerged from the water. Her hair, like lush seaweed, spread across the waves. Her lower body was a long, narrow fish tail, like a ribbonfish, swaying gently in the waves. The siren gazed at the campfire on the distant beach, her expression curious yet hesitant to approach.

A man in distress, it's unclear whether he's a sailor or a pirate.

Pirates were few in number during this era, operating mainly around the Gold Coast. They were primarily Canaanites, roughly equivalent to the early Carthage that was destroyed by the Roman Republic before Christ.

Originally, the Gold Coast had many deities, which were quasi-divine forces worshipped by local tribal peoples.

They shuffled the deck a thousand years ago.

The defeated gods were mostly devoured by their opponents, and those who survived evolved into regional deities of the city-states.

And their numbers are constantly decreasing.

Suddenly, the sea monster seemed to sense some danger and plunged into the depths of the sea, curling up in an underwater cave. Not long after, a ferocious figure slowly swam by in the ocean.

It looks like a giant manta ray.

Duncan had already sat up. He was very far from his opponent's position, and it would probably take him a long time to swim over.

"Has it drifted to the deep sea?"

The two markers slowly disappeared at the edge of the map.

Nothing unusual happened in the latter half of the night, until dawn, when a dense cluster of unit markers suddenly appeared on Duncan's strategic map.

— Ocean Goddess (Divine Heir) (Five-pointed silver-gray).

—Descendants of the Ocean Gods (three to four stars).

—Giant Whale (Samsung).

— Tiger Shark and Orca (two to three stars).

—Siren Attendant (Two to Three Stars).

—Mermaid (3-star silver-gray).

—Sea Witch (Four Stars).

Duncan stood up instantly. He looked into the distance, but he couldn't see them with the naked eye. The group of creatures was in a very distant place, on the edge of the strategic map, and they were numerous, like an army.

"The Oceanic Gods?"

Duncan had in-depth exchanges with the Thebit River goddesses and had some understanding of them.

The Oceanids of this world are somewhat like the Oceanids of Greek mythology, and also have some characteristics of Vanaheim in Norse mythology. They are collectively known as the 'Oceanic Descendants,' a group of descendants of gods active in the realm of the sea.

Odin led the Aesir gods in battles against the Vanir gods, and similarly, the land gods of this world have waged wars on the seas as well.

No one can be considered a true sea god unless the descendants of the ocean gods submit!
—Deep Sea Giant Vermor (Celtic Branch) (Four- to Five-Star).

Ok?
Did I run into someone I know again?

The group battling the Oceanids is a group of extremely ugly and ferocious sea giants. Unlike the giant races on land, they are like another kind of mutated giants, extremely fierce and brutal.

These giants have completely disappeared from the Root world, but it seems that some of their branches still exist here.

The Kingdom of Deep Sea Giants.

"It is a deep-sea giant that the Danu gods of Celtic worship once defeated."

The Furmor, a race of deep-sea giants, were a group that ruled Ireland before the Danu. They were later defeated by Rugh, the Celtic god-king and god of light.

Duncan's base in World One is the British Isles, so he can naturally recognize the giants from Celtic mythology.

It's fighting!

The battle was fierce. The deep-sea giants and the ocean gods fought and clashed in the towering waves. They stirred up storm whirlpools and used magic to turn the water into sharp blades. After a fierce battle, the seawater turned blood red. In the end, neither side could defeat the other and they could only retreat back to the deep sea before dawn.

"The ocean looks lively, but I, in my human form, am not good at swimming!..."

Killing one or two giants on land is a piece of cake; anyone with hands can do it.

In the sea.

Given Duncan's current strength, killing the sea giant Furmore in the deep sea is a bit of a stretch. He would be in great danger if he were accidentally dragged into the deep sea.

How do we contact the Oceanids?

"Given my deep relationship with the Thebit River goddesses, it shouldn't be too difficult to ask them for help in sending me back to land, right?"

Duncan rested his chin on his hand, lost in thought.

He's now stranded on a deserted island, not knowing how far he is from the mainland. It's like the deep ocean of the Atlantic Ocean; he doesn't know how many days and nights it would take to swim back.

Swimming across the Pacific Ocean is a joke; even mythical heroes rarely manage it.

The days passed quickly.

Just as Duncan was trying to contact the Oceanic Descendants, hundreds of kilometers away, a pirate ship flying a black flag was also setting sail.

Two simple-minded barbarians were hanging upside down on the deck, while fierce pirates prepared for battle beside them. On the mast directly in front stood a tall woman with fiery red hair. She gazed at the distant sea, her figure gliding down as lightly as a cat. Then, with one hand, she steered the ship with the smoothness of a seasoned driver, and roared, "Hard to port!"

"Prepare for a boarding maneuver!"

"Brothers, let's rob this Gold Coast merchant ship and head back to Missia Island for some fun!"

This is a modified elf ship.

The land of the elves is in the far east, in the Central Plains. They are outsiders and possess a very advanced civilization.

This is a group of Canaanites.

One of the world's oldest pirates.

By this time, they had caught up with the Gold Coast merchant ship ahead. The tall woman with fiery red hair drew her rapier, looked the two barbarians up and down, and said in a deep voice, "You look like excellent warriors!"

"Join us, and I'll set you free!"

Crete was gagged and swore, but no matter how hard he struggled, the ropes binding him didn't budge and even tightened.

The wizard's magic!
He glanced at Tamblin, who was severely injured and unconscious beside him, and finally nodded slowly.

"Very good, you know how to seize the moment."

The tall, red-haired woman smiled slightly, unconcerned by the barbarian's angry gaze. As she raised her hand and chanted a spell, the rope unfurled like a snake, and with a thud, Crete's muscular body landed on the deck.

The tall, beautiful woman raised her slender sword and said to her subordinates, "Give him a weapon, and leave someone to take care of his companion."

"This guy is actually quite loyal and righteous!"

They called it taking care of people, but in reality, they were being held hostage.

The pirates around him laughed. They were all covered in strange tattoos. These guys were very brave because they even dared to rob the elves of the Central Plains.

Crete picked up his battle axe, glared at the red-haired beauty, and said in a deep voice, "A barbarian warrior will not abandon his comrades who share life and death."

"I'll help you kill people!"

"Let us go."

The pirate ship was faster and had already caught up with its target.

Some figures swung directly onto the deck, while Crete roared and leaped across the sea, landing on the opposite deck. This was a colony ship of the City of Gold; they had conquered many places, but hadn't governed them much, instead directly plundering gold resources from the local areas.

It essentially meant forcing small city-states to pay tribute.

Barbarians are top-notch fighters wherever they are, but Cretans are not good at naval warfare and have to be distracted to maintain their balance on the deck.

The red-haired beauty leaped out like a cheetah, instantly killing one person with her rapier. This was actually a weapon originating from an elven sword, which was modified into a human rapier.

"How can a sword that's so thin kill someone?"

Crete cleaved the skull of a Golden Guardian with an axe, then glanced at the woman, his eyes still blazing with fury.

She has a slim waist, long legs, large breasts, a big butt, and is very beautiful.

She's the kind of woman Quinn likes.

"How dare you threaten a barbarian warrior? I'll knock you out sooner or later, carry you back, and hand you over to Quinn (Duncan)."

Crete killed several people in succession, and even cleaved an enemy in two along with his shield. The pirates nearby were all horrified. The red-haired beauty also narrowed her eyes slightly. Legend has it that there is a group of ferocious barbarians in the North Sea with amazing physiques and brute strength that can knock down giants with their bare hands.

It seems the legend is true.

The enemy quickly gave up resistance. Crete, holding a bloody head with his battle axe splattered with brain matter, threw the head in front of the woman and said in a deep voice, "The killing is over."

Release Tamblin immediately.

The red-haired beauty still smiled, gestured to her subordinates to release the other unconscious barbarian, and then said, "This is the sea."

Even if I set you free, are you going to swim back?

"And your companion seems to be seriously injured, right?"

His penis was cut off.

How could these injuries not be serious? You could only say he's barely alive.

"Why don't you stay for now?"

“There are witch doctors on Missia Island who might be able to save him. With his injuries, he’ll die sooner or later while adrift at sea.”

Crete knew that the other party did not want to let him go.

He glanced at the unconscious Tamblin, glared fiercely at the woman, and finally put away his weapon.

Sooner or later, I'll just... never mind... when you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head.

The barbarians were no match for these pirates; with the tambourines in their hands, Crete could only temporarily submit.

The group of pirates quickly sailed away.

However, just as they passed a secluded supply point on a small island, someone exclaimed in alarm, "There seems to be someone over here! Someone has infiltrated our base!"

boom.

Two or three pirates were instantly taken down, and a burly man appeared in the shadows. Just as tensions were about to rise, Crete suddenly exclaimed excitedly, "Ugal!"

The burly man opposite them was also taken aback for a moment, and then the two barbarians happily hugged each other.

Great.

I encountered a brute with some brains.

"Have there been any wild boars falling into the sea lately? I've found several in a row!"

"A pirate captain muttered to himself."

The beautiful red-haired female pirate looked thoughtful, beckoned to one of her subordinates, and ordered, "Send someone to the Gold Coast to scout out if anything major has happened recently."

Why have all the barbarians gone to sea?

Her intuition told her that something must have happened on the Gold Coast.

………………

(End of this chapter)