Chapter 160: Giant Octopus

The group of nonhumans arrived quickly.

By the time they stepped onto the floating rocks near Ethan’s position, Laira had just pulled the Undead Mage out of the Lava Sea again.

This time, no fish had bitten it.

However, the moment the dry skeleton landed on the stone shore, it immediately lay motionless for several seconds, the blue flames in its eyes flickering weakly as though it had absolutely no desire to continue this mission.

Ruo Yan looked at it, then at the nonhumans gradually surrounding them.

Her voice lowered.

"They did not come here with good intentions."

"I know."

Ethan replied, his gaze still resting on the Boundless Fishing Rod in Laira’s hands.

The horned nonhuman stepped forward, keeping his distance from Ethan before looking at the ranking board in the sky with an unpleasant expression.

"Human, you have already taken enough points. The Lava Sea is enormous. Why do you still insist on staying in this area?"

Ethan raised his head and looked at him.

"I am fishing where I was transported. I did not occupy your territory."

"But you are affecting everyone else."

"I have been standing here from beginning to end," Ethan said calmly. "If you want to fish, find somewhere else."

The horned nonhuman did not answer immediately.

He had originally intended to drag Ethan into an argument, but the person in front of him clearly had no intention of debating.

In the end, he could only snort coldly and raise a hand, signaling those behind him to spread out.

The nonhumans did not directly approach Ethan or Laira.

Instead, they stood on the surrounding floating rocks and deliberately stomped down with force.

Some pushed energy into the Lava Sea.

Others jumped repeatedly from one rock to another, causing lava to splash continuously into the air.

The surface, which had originally been relatively calm, quickly became chaotic.

Wave after wave of lava spread toward Ethan’s position, causing the fishing line in Laira’s hands to shake continuously.

The Undead Mage, which had just been thrown back into the sea, was caught by the current and dragged into a small whirlpool.

Its heavy body spun inside the lava, both arms and legs spreading outward from the momentum.

Laira frowned.

"They are interfering with us."

"They are interfering with the sea," Ethan corrected her. "As long as they do not touch us, the rules will not punish them."

Ruo Yan coldly stared at the nonhumans outside.

She very much wanted to use her Soul Threads to tie up one or two of them and throw them into the Lava Sea, but Ethan was right.

Those people were deliberately staying outside the boundary of the rules.

If she made the first move, the ones punished might instead be their side.

At that moment, the Undead Mage inside the whirlpool spun around once more.

Its right arm swung violently, immediately throwing a mass of scorching lava outward.

It landed directly on the nearest nonhuman.

The man cried out in pain and hurriedly stepped back, but before he could stabilize himself, another mass of lava flew toward him, this time smashing into the shoulder of one of his companions.

"Damn it! You dare attack us?"

The horned nonhuman roared.

Ethan remained standing still.

"Did you see me attack?"

The other man clenched his fists but could not answer.

Ethan had not controlled the Undead Mage to attack anyone.

The puppet was obviously only being spun around by the lava currents they themselves had created.

The splashing lava was also purely a consequence of its body rotating inside the whirlpool.

No punishment appeared in the sky above.

Clearly, even the rules of the Lava Sea did not consider this an attack.

Laira watched the Undead Mage spinning through the sea of fire, then looked at the nonhumans struggling under the splashing lava.

The corner of her mouth immediately curved upward.

"It is doing quite well."

Ruo Yan wanted to say that this was not the Undead Mage’s intention.

But when she looked at the skeleton continuously spinning while throwing lava toward the group, she suddenly did not know how to explain it.

Either way, the result was not bad.

Mumu, standing on Laira’s shoulder, became even happier.

The halo above its head flashed repeatedly.

A pale golden light fell over Laira, while an almost invisible gray layer of light quietly covered several nonhumans who were still trying to stir up the sea.

[Mumu has activated Endless Blessing.]

[Buff acquired: Burst Strength.]

[The target receives a slight increase in strength for a short period.]

Laira tightened her grip on the fishing rod as she clearly felt the strength in her body increase.

At the same time, a nonhuman preparing to jump onto a closer rock suddenly slipped on a thin layer of lava beneath his feet.

His entire body staggered, nearly falling into the sea of fire.

He had barely saved himself and had not even had time to turn around and curse when the fishing line in Laira’s hands suddenly pulled taut.

This time, the force transmitted through it was stronger than any before.

The Undead Mage, still spinning beneath the lava, was suddenly wrapped by something and disappeared beneath the surface together with the black fishing line.

Laira immediately lowered her center of gravity and planted both feet firmly against the floating rock.

Even though the Boundless Fishing Rod reduced ninety-nine percent of the target’s weight, the struggling and pulling force from below still traveled back through her arms, causing cracks to immediately spread across the rock beneath her feet.

"Something is dragging the Undead Mage down!" Laira said.

Ruo Yan immediately tightened her Soul Threads.

Through her connection with the puppet, she saw an enormous tentacle wrapped tightly around the Undead Mage’s body.

Beneath the blazing red lava, an enormous black shadow was rapidly moving toward the depths.

Eight tentacles, each as long as a giant serpent, continuously stirred the sea.

"It is an octopus."

Ruo Yan’s expression changed.

"It is huge."

The nonhumans outside also noticed what was happening.

At first, when they saw the Lava Sea violently shaking, they intended to retreat.

But the horned nonhuman quickly realized that Laira was using all her strength to hold the fishing line.

Coldness immediately appeared in his eyes.

"Do not let them pull it up."

The nonhumans who had just been splashed with lava immediately gritted their teeth and rushed forward.

They did not dare touch Laira directly, but they could stand on nearby rocks and use energy to push lava currents toward her, or deliberately shatter the rocks to make her lose her footing.

Some even tried to interfere with the path of the fishing line, hoping Laira would be forced to loosen her grip while avoiding the lava waves.

Ethan looked at them, but from beginning to end, he never drew a weapon.

He had no intention of personally violating the rules merely to deal with a group that had already turned the Lava Sea itself into their enemy.

Besides, after the Eye of Truth clearly saw the black shadow below, Ethan knew they would very soon have no attention left to spare for interference.

The giant octopus had finally been completely enraged.

A tentacle dozens of meters long suddenly burst from beneath the surface, carrying a lava wave so enormous that it covered half the sky.

The wave of fire crashed down without distinguishing between targets.

The floating rocks beneath the nonhumans immediately shattered.

Those who failed to dodge in time were thrown away, their screams disappearing almost instantly beneath the churning sea of fire.

The horned nonhuman was lucky enough to avoid the first tentacle.

But the moment he jumped onto another rock, the second wave smashed toward him.

Under the monster’s power, the defensive layer he hastily created only lasted several seconds before exploding.

Lava swept across half his body.

He let out a miserable scream before falling from the collapsing rock.

The surviving nonhumans began fleeing.

They no longer remembered interfering with Ethan or the points on the ranking board.

All they wanted was to escape this area as quickly as possible.

But they were the ones who had disturbed the sea in the first place, and the giant octopus only made the currents even more chaotic.

In a short time, more than half of the group that had come here was swallowed by the lava waves.

Amid the chaos, Laira still refused to let go.

Both her feet had already sunk deep into the stone.

The floating rock beneath her was almost completely shattered, but she continued gripping the Boundless Fishing Rod with both hands, pulling the fishing line back little by little.

Mumu continuously generated blessings on her.

Golden light flashed and disappeared, then appeared again.

The strength inside Laira’s body increased in waves, allowing her already tense arms to continue pulling.

"Come up here."

Laira gritted her teeth, her silver hair whipping behind her in the scorching wind.

"Once you bite the hook, do not even think about escaping."

The black fishing line gradually rose.

The first tentacle broke through the lava surface.

Then the second.

The third.

The entire Lava Sea shook violently as the enormous body of the octopus was forcibly dragged from the depths by Laira.

The monster was more than eighty meters long.

Its eight tentacles thrashed wildly through the air, but most of its weight had been reduced by the Boundless Fishing Rod, while Laira continued receiving Mumu’s blessings.

When its enormous head finally emerged completely from the Lava Sea, Laira suddenly roared and slammed both feet down against the last intact section of stone beneath her.

The fishing rod bent into a huge arc.

The octopus was pulled straight into the sky, tracing an enormous curve against the blazing red horizon before crashing down onto another floating stone field not far away.

The heavy impact caused the entire stone field to shake.

Lava covering the Giant Lava Octopus splashed everywhere, while the Undead Mage was also flung away.

It landed flat on its back with all four limbs spread wide.

The blue flames inside its eyes had shrunk to tiny dots.

It looked as though it had completely lost all interest in the profession of fishing.

The challenge notification appeared at that exact moment.

[Successful Catch: Giant Lava Octopus.]

[Weight: 80.6 meters.]

[Points Earned: 42,000.]

Ethan Ashford’s name on the ranking board lit up again.

This time, the gap in points had grown so large that the surviving participants in the distance could only stare in despair.

Ethan did not care about their reactions.

He quickly walked toward the floating stone field, looked at the enormous body of the octopus before him, then placed his hand against its still-scorching head.

"Decomposition."

The moment the light began spreading, the Giant Lava Octopus suddenly trembled slightly.

Before Ethan could see any Lava Materials appear, a deep sound came from inside its head.

It sounded as though something had just struck hard against a solid shell from within.

The entire floating stone field immediately fell silent.

Then, amid the lava being decomposed, a dark red eye slowly opened.