This dungeon has mushrooms growing on it.

Chapter 135, Section 134: The Wise Man

A person with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a fish is called a mermaid.

What about a fish head with a human-shaped body?

Race: Fishman

Its eyes bulge out like cloudy glass balls, its body is covered with irregularly inlaid scales, and three bright red gill pores are distributed behind its ears, opening and closing rhythmically with its breathing.

They have large, delicate hands and hold simple weapons resembling harpoons, clearly indicating a high level of intelligence. The traps outside are most likely their doing.

The three diving poops were surrounded in the center of the hall by a group of fishmen like these.

After Lin Jun detected these fishmen, she didn't let the Puji escape. Exchanging 2.5 Puji for more useful information was a good deal.

Strangely, they surrounded Puji but didn't attack; they just stared at Puji with dead fish eyes, seemingly waiting for something.

Speaking of which, the three stone slabs under the statue must be an altar, waiting for an auspicious time to hold a sacrifice?

Just enough for one at a time, plop...

Lin Jun did not intend to let these few Pojis self-destruct. This ruin, which was used as territory by the fishmen, had some exploration value, and random self-destruction might cause a collapse.

Clearing debris from underwater is much more difficult than clearing it from the ground.

I sensed that another merman, arriving late, had appeared outside the hall.

The other murlocs surprisingly made way for them.

An old individual, whose wrinkles were many times greater than those of the other fishmen, slowly swam over. Unlike the other fishmen, it did not carry a harpoon, but a staff—a fishman spellcaster!
The fish-men's intelligence is incredibly high!
Lin Jun opened its panel and was surprised to find that it even had a name.

【Name: Gulp】

[Level: LV35]

[Fixed Status: Neferella's Blessing (The Wise One)]

[Skills: Water Magic LV7, Mental Magic LV6, Mana Storage LV6...]

[Title: Sage (Intelligence attribute doubled)]

Wise man!
What is this Neferella's Blessing? Can I give it to Little Black?

This is the second "blessing" Lin Jun has seen; the first one was the "Papal Blessing" on Inanna.

However, compared to the Papacy's blessing that provides Light Elemental Affinity LV4 and Light Magic LV4, this blessing that directly grants the title of Sage is clearly more powerful.

Who is this Neferella? How come she's even more powerful than the Vatican?
Uh... God?

The moment this thought popped into Lin Jun's head, she immediately wanted to disconnect the three poops and never come down again.

There's no other reason than that gods are too strange things, completely belonging to the unknown realm, and Lin Jun doesn't want to get involved with them at all, at least not now.

But Lin Jun managed to suppress that impulse and offered her blessings...

Even though Inanna was blessed by the Holy See, the Holy See didn't seem to be paying attention to her all the time. This merman hiding in the dungeon shouldn't be being watched every day either.

Moreover, it's not even confirmed that Neferella is a god yet.

"Outsider, what brings you into this place?"

!!!

The old merman Gugu's staff glowed with magical light.

Talking?

Lin Jun was somewhat surprised by the magic the old fishman knew.

Unlike the fishman's ugly appearance, the old fishman's voice was gentle and intellectual when he spoke.

If you forget his fish-man identity, just by listening to the voice he spoke, Lin Jun would even imagine him as an old man with white hair in a library.

Is this what a "wise person" is like?

I wonder if my voice would become like that if I received this title?
It wasn't surprising to Lin Jun that this clever old man guessed that Puji could talk, since the first challenge upon entering this place was to open the mechanism door.

After a moment's thought, Lin Jun abandoned the option of feigning ignorance and replied:

"I didn't mean to disturb you; my intrusion here was just an accident."

I'm searching for any possible fissures underwater; do you have any clues?

Since they can communicate, they can cooperate. In this respect, these murlocs are even easier to approach than the dryads. The dryads had a grudge against Little Black from the past, while the murlocs in front of them had no past enmity with them.

Moreover, regarding the rift, Lin Jun and the murlocs should share the same interests. As long as the murloc leader isn't an idiot with the title of "wise man," he should be able to understand the implications.

Sure enough, the merman gurgled and replied, "A rift? There was one, but it's long gone."

It appeared and then disappeared; that probably refers to the period of the Demon Tide.

"Is it not available now?"

The crack I'm referring to might not be very large; it could be as small as a palm.

Have you noticed any unusual water flow or other abnormalities recently?

Upon hearing this, Gugu turned to look at a fish-man beside him that was a size larger than the others of its kind.

The two fish-men made some "gurgling" sounds, which seemed to be their language?

Since there is a language, can you obtain a "Murloc Common Language LV1" by dissecting a murloc corpse?
A few minutes later, Gurgle said, "We haven't found any, at least not within our area of ​​operation."

"May I ask, what is the approximate area of ​​your activities?"

“This building leads to a large portion of the underwater world,” Gulp said without hiding anything.

That's a pretty big range.

To be honest, after searching for the rift for so long, Lin Jun felt that there was probably no rift left on the seventh floor, but it would be better to be on the safe side.

"In that case, I'll go look elsewhere."

The Puji tried to return the way they came, and the fishmen did not stop them.

"Wait," Gurgle suddenly said, "let them help us find the rift."

At Gugu's signal, three fishmen, including the large fishman from before, followed, and Lin Jun did not refuse.

After leaving the ruins, the three fishmen swam ahead and demonstrated their underwater survival skills to Lin Jun.

They maintain a triangular formation, skillfully navigating the undercurrents and accurately identifying underwater paths.

When sporadic monsters emerge from the crevices and sand dunes, the cold glint of the harpoon always precedes their roar.

When faced with more formidable predators, the merman will suddenly change its swimming rhythm.
The truly dangerous monsters, on the other hand, use aquatic plants for cover or hide in the complex terrain of rocks and ruins, waiting until the crisis is over.

Although they didn't communicate along the way, the fishmen protected Puji very well.

The three Pujis barely had a chance to use their skills, and following behind them gave Lin Jun the feeling of being a sixth-level follower of a tree demon.

After more than ten hours of exploration, Lin Jun had almost finished exploring the bottom of the water and indeed found no cracks.

As the three mermen returned to the ruins and the gate slowly closed, Lin Jun still had a strange feeling.

They were just too friendly.

If I saw an outsider barging into my hometown, I would be considered good-natured if I stripped them naked and threw them out.

These murlocs were even willing to help find the rift.

Of course, the reason must lie with the old murloc Googoro. The murlocs obviously all listen to him, and his friendliness must have some considerations.

But it's not a bad thing in the end.

Perhaps I should communicate with them more. Maybe next time I can try asking them questions about the ruins and their beliefs?

……

……

……

The three diving sprites didn't return to the surface; they had no [magic storage] left, and a whole day of exploration had exhausted their energy.

In fact, if the fishmen hadn't saved Puji a lot of energy, they would have starved to death much earlier.

The three diving poops stopped moving not far from the ruins and disappeared into the fungal web.

Not long after, a fishman found the three remaining corpses of the Puji that hadn't been eaten yet and brought them all back to the ruins.

(End of this chapter)