Chapter 262: Imperial Ranking War: Seafood Hunting

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The shores of the Rock Base turned into a battlefield this morning...

About fifteen people worked together to attack the monster on the shore.

Said monster was a large crab; it’s big, has heavy and sharp pincers, has a tough shell layered with dense corals, and is deceptively quick. It also doesn’t have many difficulties when moving or turning around, making it surprisingly agile.

Deep Coral King Crab is apparently what it’s called; Diana was the one who said this. What’s weird is that this crab should be found in deep waters of the sea, not in rivers. Yet this one was here.

Ren didn’t care as much. The truth is simple to him; it’s an enemy close to their new base; therefore, it’s a threat that has to be put down. Additionally, it’s prime seafood. Its whole body was practically a treasure, making it necessary to be put down immediately.

Which is why he fished out this one first on the river.

And now, they’re fighting it.

Ren could’ve dealt with this on his own. It was, after all, only around the 3rd transformation of the Inhuman Realm equivalent in strength. Ren could’ve easily punched the life out of its eyes a couple of times, and the problem will be dealt with.

But he didn’t do that.

Instead, he used this as a ’team-building exercise’ of some sort. He told everybody of the plan and picked 15 people to deal with this thing while he watched on the sidelines, ready to interfere when necessary.

But until it’s completely necessary, he wouldn’t make a move.

This was training for his teammates. It wouldn’t just reward them with merit points and food, it would also improve the security of their new base.

The fight will forge tacit understanding, and the final result will bring them closer as a whole, making the team a unit. They will also feel accomplished for contributing to the safety of their new base, so having them fight instead was the preferable choice here.

Diana acted as the field commander. She wanted to be, and Ren couldn’t really stop her. He didn’t want to get in the way of her establishing her prestige with the team.

Besides, she wasn’t a lousy or inexperienced commander. She was good, and she was strong.

Others couldn’t properly tank the attacks of the king crab, but she could, even with that lousy low-grade shield she bought from the store.

Others would be sent flying when they were hit, groaning or coughing out blood as they did. Diana didn’t. She takes hits head-on, stalwart and unmoving like a damn wall, refusing to yield even a single inch of land.

The difference was staggering. Diana looked like a soft and delicate fairy that would wither in one particular strong breeze, yet here she was, tanking hits other men couldn’t, and she looked at ease as she did so. She’s even barking orders to others without sounding strained.

In short, she was just built different from others. And this was largely thanks to her Dragon and Phoenix Martial Physique.

**

Killing the Deep Coral King Crab wasn’t the end of this day.

After killing it and harvesting every morsel of its meat and valuables from its remains, Ren allowed others to have a brief period of rest around noon.

Come afternoon, he called them again. This time, he fished out the Deep Sea Golden Lobster out of the river.

Again, such a monster shouldn’t have been meandering here in this river, but Ren wasn’t one to ask questions. In his eyes, this lobster was just like that crab from earlier—a threat and food that needed to be handled.

So, once again, he ordered the team to kill the monster.

The team wasn’t the same as the ones that killed the crab earlier. Some people were replaced because they were either too exhausted or too injured to continue.

This time, Lily also participated. Ren didn’t stop her. As much as he cared about her, he knows that she’s not some greenhouse flower. Lily was strong, much stronger than she thinks she is, and he can’t always keep her away from harm.

She’s a martial artist too, and she needed combat to grow.

And she was certainly growing...

Lily was quick on her feet, flexible, and agile. She could effortlessly keep up with the speed of the huge lobster and it’s wierd attacks, it couldn’t even touch the hem of her clothes.

She could dodge hits that would’ve struck others with effortless grace. She could easily slip through gaps as if she wasn’t any thicker than a cherry blossom petal. When she moves, it’s like the air helps her up, carrying her and pushing her gently so that she can be where she wanted to be.

And when she attacks, she aims for vulnerabilities and stings like a hornet. She alone broke about five legs of this lobster and severed the connective tissue on its enormous right pincer, causing it to be momentarily crippled and useless.

It recovered shortly after because of its genes, but it gave others enough time to lay down the pain for the lobster.

She had a tacit understanding with Diana somehow.

When Diana pulls the aggro of the monster, Lily slips into the cracks of the monster’s defense to deliver a nerve-killing pain, causing the monster to violently spasm and shriek in pain.

If Lily had the aggro, Diana would step in and use her entire body like a goddamn cannon ball, slamming her shield supported by her entire mass into whichever part of the monster was open, causing it to topple from the impact. Of course, Diana would also leave some wounds behind before stabilizing her footing.

With these two working in tandem, the others felt like they were just stragglers joining in the fun. Sure, they were important too, but they couldn’t do as much damage as these two were doing to the monster.

Regardless, the Deep Sea Golden Lobster, despite its golden shell offering incredible tough defense, was handled eventually.

Everybody was spent after finally killing it. They barely had energy to move, but even so, they felt exhilarated.

Ganging up on large monsters like these might be dishonorable, but this was a survival game. Martial ethics aren’t being observed here.

With these two large monsters dealt with, the rivers surrounding the rock base now felt much safer. Furthermore, everybody who participated received large amounts of food. So much so that there’s even excess for others to also enjoy.

The team had a seafood feast later that night, and the atmosphere within the team was great. They are still far ahead of other teams in this ranking war. They had to slow down since they just moved to another location, but it wouldn’t be like that for long.

That night, they returned to their respective rooms full and joyful. Most slept peacefully, while others stayed up to guard the base.

The rhythm of this survival game was being established, and soon there will be massive improvements.

**

The second weekly crisis occured two days later.

This one was the Silent Day Crisis—a not-so-dangerous, albeit eerie, crisis.

Starting from eight in the morning up to eight in the evening, all sound in this secret realm disappears. Nothing and nobody could ever make a noise regardless of what they do or how much they try.

The gist was simple, but the effect on everybody was, quite frankly, disturbing.

Not being able to hear or make any kind of noise sounds like nothing much, but that’s only because most people take all forms of noise for granted since they had the gift of hearing their entire lives.

Although they know that they are doing their best to speak as loudly as they can, evident with how veins popped out of their necks with how hard they were screaming, not a single peep of noise was heard.

Not even the faintest rustling of the wind or distant footsteps could be heard.

This crisis wasn’t any different from robbing them of sense of hearing.

And the thing is, it wasn’t just them. Even monsters were affected by this. It’s evident with how much the rivers around the base churned uneasily throughout the duration of the crisis.

Fortunately, though, Ren had things ready for this.

The event followed the canon timeline, which was good for him but still not completely reliable.

When all noise disappeared the moment the crisis started, he forced everybody to look at them.

They can’t hear shit, yes, but it doesn’t make them blind. Ren wrote words on large papers with large fonts for everybody to see and read.

[Back to your rooms. Sit down, meditate, practice martial arts, eat...do whatever you want to distract yourself from the loss of noise.]

[You can’t hear anything, but you can hear your own thoughts. You can imagine what things sound like to supplement the noise. If that helps, then it helps. Don’t drive yourselves crazy with this sudden loss of hearing.]

[No need to worry about the rock. This place is safe. The formations are active, and we’re protected. Go do your own thing.]

[Do what you must to last until the event ends without stepping on others.]