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My thumb lightly grazed the Raven's blade.

Blood beads seeped into the blade, and black symbols flowed, forming a narrow, elongated edge.

With its eyelids half-closed, the raven traced a full moon in mid-air, creating a whooshing sound as it grazed the lizard's hard jaws, slicing off a large patch of scales.

The lizard's enormous body turned in mid-air with an agility disproportionate to its size.

Its thick tail slammed into the ground.

Leap up lightly and easily.

The tail swept across the spot where he had just been standing, shattering the floor tiles and sending shards of stone flying.

Place both feet on another intact load-bearing column.

Holding the blade in either hand, he slashed down from top to bottom, the sharp blade cutting through the raised spikes on the lizard's back. Then, using the force of the swung tail, he withdrew the blade and avoided the splattering green blood.

【Lv6 Mutant Wood Grain Poison Lizard】

The saliva of this reptile is poisonous, and he doesn't want to test whether its blood is non-toxic.

[...That footwork, that agility, like weaving through a sea of ​​flowers...]

[Em... I don't know swordsmanship.]

[From now on, I'll just listen to half of what the big shots say to give them face...]

[What's wrong? Our righteous leader is just a little too straightforward and a little too modest! (doge)]

The series of injuries drove the lizard into a rage.

It opened its blood-red maw, and its five-meter-long tongue shot out again.

This time, Renyi did not give way.

The nearly two-meter-long blade met the tongue, producing a metallic clang.

Even though its tongue is as hard as steel,

He constantly shifted his center of gravity, turning the blade into a flexible one, using minimal force to entangle the tongue, and then suddenly pulled the knife out, sending sparks flying and blood splattering everywhere.

"Cluck! Cluck!"

The lizard let out a pitiful scream and tried to retract its tongue.

This is the moment we've been waiting for.

Pressing their advantage, the blade slid along its retracted tongue and plunged into its gaping mouth. With both hands, they forcefully tore apart its throat.

But at this very moment—

"Um?"

Ren Yi frowned slightly, sensing that the [Deep Sea Shadow] was approaching at full speed.

How did they get here?

He swiftly drew his knife, watching the tenacious lizard still writhing and struggling.

That's good, it saves us the trouble of walking back.

He temporarily ignored the approaching [Deep Sea Shadow], held his long sword level, found the right spot, and without any fancy moves, cut into the gaps in the lizard's neck scales.

Then, with a swift motion, like a guillotine, he sliced ​​straight through the artery and trachea.

[You have defeated a Lv6 Mutant Wood-Grain Poison Lizard and gained 160 Evolution Points]

"break down."

The scattered pieces of flesh and bones vanished as a stream of light.

The warehouse contained a pile of inedible meat and venom glands, and a [tough tongue] caught Renyi's attention.

He casually shook off the poisoned blood from the blade and put the Raven away.

Just as I was about to take out the new material to check its properties—

"Splash..."

Perhaps the fight just now made the fragile floor tiles even worse.

Now, the blocked underground river pool has completely broken, and the palace floor tiles are constantly trembling uneasyly, with water gushing out continuously, and the water has spread to the soles of shoes.

But the tremor wasn't a problem from underground; it came from outside.

I randomly sensed something... The delivery guy—no, my teammate—was twenty meters away!

"etc--"

"Boom... Bang..."

"Boss!"

The massive 30-meter ship stormed into the palace, with Ethan standing at the top, aiming his flintlock pistol in all directions.

"We've come to pick you up!" Ivan shouted, waving his arms.

"Wait a minute—" Renyi waved his arms as well.

"What did the boss say?"

Klaus, standing in the observation cabin, asked loudly—

The sound of the gate collapsing was too loud.

Just as they finished cleaning up the mosquitoes' mouthparts, they saw dust and smoke rising from the direction of the palace, making a huge commotion.

Since Renyi seemed to be in this direction, they decided to send their boat over to provide support.

"It seems... they want us to stop?"

"I hesitated as I lay on the ship's side," Sita said.

then.

The several-dozen-ton "Deep Sea Shadow" came to a steady stop in the center of the cracked palace.

Click.

He took a step back without any expression.

Click—click—

Spiderweb-like cracks spread out from the ship's center.

"Back...back?"

Ren regretfully lowered his hand, "It's too late..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the ground in the center of the entire palace collapsed.

【Deep Sea Shadow】Along with it, nearly a hundred square meters of floor tiles, stone pillars, and a broken throne, all fell into the bottomless pit below.

"Aaaaaaahh ...

A scream, seemingly from an unknown source, lingered in the air, echoing endlessly.

From the bottom of the pit came the sound of rushing water, the thud of heavy objects falling into the water, and Klaus's rapid-fire, emotionally charged cursing.

"..."

Ren Yi sighed silently, quickly walked to the edge of the pit, and jumped in.

The wind whistled past my ears.

A chilling mist, mixed with the cold air from the underground cavity, rushed towards us.

After freefalling for about two seconds, he successfully landed on a soft 'mat'.

"Aww!"

Ivan's groans rose from beneath him.

Sorry, I didn't see it clearly.

He offered a completely insincere apology and then calmly stepped down.

He also stepped on Ivan's butt.

【Deep Sea Shadow】was not damaged, but the deck was a mess, with rocks piled up everywhere.

"illumination."

The [Bio-Photonic Module] responded immediately, its soft, bright light dispelling the darkness.

In that instant, everyone fell silent.

Including Ivan, who had just gotten up from the ground, rubbing his tailbone and preparing to complain.

They were floating on an underground river that was wider than they had imagined.

But that's not the point at all...

The key point is that they... apparently broke into the interior of a huge, dissected gemstone.

The ceiling, the rock walls... even the riverbed visible through the crystal-clear water are covered with dazzling clusters of crystals!

The purple crystal clusters varied in shade.

From delicate lavender to rich violet, and then to deep royal purple... the colors intertwine in a dreamlike way. Under the soft bioluminescence, countless natural facets refract dazzling halos, making the entire cave... like... a bizarre and fantastical dream.

"My God..."

Ethan's notebook fell to the deck with a "thud," and he muttered to himself:

"This is... an amethyst geode? No... it can't possibly be this big..."

"Amethyst Geode..."