Chapter 1197 - 589: [Stacked Waves] and Combat Formation Path_2

[Ash Fall] Straight Sword, Wooden Sword [Green Pine], and Dagger [Miju] were neatly placed by Xia Nan’s side.

Meanwhile, the metal ring that Xia Nan removed from the Shark Beast’s chest before losing consciousness lay untouched on a nearby tea table.

Forcing himself to endure the weakening and pain affecting his body, Xia Nan struggled to get up from a roomy, soft couch. His thick boots, marked with combat scars, had been removed and placed nearby, with his bare feet touching the soft carpet.

Holding onto the sofa’s edge for support, Xia Nan stood up shakily, sheathed his weapons, and approached to take the [Dream Weaving Corridor] key from the tea table. He intended to inspect and study the item’s usage.

But just as he took the metal ring in hand, he seemed to hear Alton’s voice from earlier, followed by footsteps approaching from the other side.

The door of the side room was pushed open from outside.

Standing in view was "Rein," one of the twin warriors left to guard the ship at the harbor, part of the "Sword of Vengeance" crew.

Seeing Xia Nan awake and regaining some mobility, appearing unscathed, the strong man couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

Then, recalling something, his expression turned slightly odd.

But he didn’t pause, quickly moving forward to assist the heavily injured Xia Nan.

"How long was I unconscious, what’s the situation now, what happened to the Fishmen, and the crew’s casualties?"

Finally seeing another living person, Xia Nan asked, unable to hold back his curiosity.

However, he may have asked too much at once, leaving the normally taciturn human warrior unsure how to respond.

He just shook his head, indicating Xia Nan should follow him.

With Xia Nan’s approval, Rein led Xia Nan out of the room and into the mansion’s hall.

The scene that greeted them could only be described as "a gathering of wise companions."

Lorin reclined in the sofa, smoking a cigarette, with her bandaged, splinted twisted leg elevated, smoke curling around her.

Striped Catman Sasha had removed her ruined light armor, patting her short fluffy tail, worried about the bald patches due to the battle.

Nearby, Ellison, also bandaged, had formed a good relationship with Sasha due to their shared interests, holding a small tray of brown paint, scheming for Sasha’s tail.

Druid Hai Yin sat pale by the window in a recliner, meditating with her Silver Ring Snake next to her, absorbing sunlight.

The most severely injured, Barbarian Aken, though visibly weak and not fully recovered, refused to rest and was cleaning the blood from his axe blade.

Seeing the scene before him, Xia Nan couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

After all, he had witnessed these Sword of Vengeance teammates being severely wounded by the Shark Beast’s blood assault.

When Xia Nan activated [Embers Resonance] for a second intervention, they were seriously injured.

In the rapidly changing situation, who could anticipate unexpected events?

Fighting side by side for so long, while not quite family, Xia Nan felt the Sword of Vengeance members had certainly become friends.

Should any die during the battle — it would indeed be hard to bear.

Yet seeing them now, despite varied injuries, none were in life-threatening danger, and they had survived the battle.

Meanwhile, with Xia Nan entering the room, the previously noisy environment suddenly fell silent.

Strange glances filled with complex emotions fixated on him.

Their reaction was understandable.

Despite past experiences predicting Xia Nan’s strength, witnessing him barehandedly turning the terrifying demon that nearly annihilated the fleet into meat paste certainly stirred many emotions.

Of course, the silence was brief.

Once everyone realized Xia Nan had awakened, unharmed, the atmosphere lively once again.

Sitting beside Captain Lorin, holding a warm tea cup from Rein, Xia Nan sipped with eyes shut.

Feeling warm tea flowing through his body, wrapped in a clean blanket, Xia Nan relaxed completely into the sofa, asking:

"What’s the current situation on the island?"

Removing the cigarette from his mouth with thumb and forefinger, Lorin exhaled white smoke.

Lorin appeared equally relaxed, enjoying a brief moment of leisure after battle.

"You were unconscious for about two days."

"Those Fishmen on the coast lost morale after the Priest and Shark Beast died and soon fled back to the sea."

"But the adventurers suffered considerable losses."

"Our ’Sword of Vengeance’ came out relatively okay — apart from the two port guards, the rest are heavily injured, but at least none died."

"Others like ’Wind Forger’ and ’Furious Tide Battle Gang’ nearly faced total annihilation, unlikely leaving their names in the Southern Islands anymore."

After the coast battle ended, adventurers hastily packed the battlefield and returned to town with their wounded for recovery.

The mansion Xia Nan and the rest resided temporarily belonged to a wealthy family on the island, who had been murdered by invading fishmen.

Thanks to Xia Nan’s substantial battlefield contribution, the remaining Sha Hua Fishman forces swiftly collapsed, possibly due to previous Fishman Commander orders.

These Fishmen didn’t flee entirely but hid in nearby sea waters.

This left the island’s adventurers unable to depart from the port, despite winning the battle.

They could only recover.

Overall, Xia Nan’s losses in the battle were substantial.

He barely escaped the dead line, presently in a state of serious injury, not to mention losses in equipment and tools.

With the expensive [Good Healing Potion] reduced to an empty bottle, and the [Bone Binding Iron Leg], enduring consecutive blood assaults, nearly destroyed.

Even the recently worn [Abyssal Stream] armor showed damages, uncertain if usable — requiring a tailor’s inspection later.

Yet, contrasting losses, Xia Nan gained immensely from the battle.

Lorin mentioned the Blood Skin Shark Beast’s corpse and its weapon the adventurers retrieved from the shore.

Under adventurer rules of contribution-based reward, Xia Nan naturally would enjoy most benefits.

His impressive performance would prevent any disputes, even if he claimed Fishman Commander or Elite Guard spoils.

Although not greedy by nature.

Moreover, from Xia Nan’s perspective, the gains exceeded material wealth.

Focusing his attention on his tea reflection.

In the next moment, the translucent characters ignored during battle emerged.

"..."

"Skill Level +3"

"[Gravity Control] lv1 (99/100) → [Gravity Control] lv2 (2/100)"

"Perception +1"

"Specialty [Stacked Waves] unlocked"

"..."

"Ding!"

"Battle Skill Combination Detected: [Teeth Hunting] - [Vortex Slash]"

"Automatically searching for ’Combat Formation’ path..."