[Chapter 194. The Humid Depths]

The humid air of Floor 3 pressed against Searanox like a physical weight. Each step forward was a battle against the grasping mud, which sucked greedily at his boots. He removed his shades, allowing the oppressive darkness to shift from a blinding void to a vista of twisted mangrove roots and stagnant water. The brackish scent of decay filled his nostrils, a constant reminder of the floor's nature.

Three teardrop-shaped recon drones materialized beside him, their forms briefly glowing with a faint blue light before fading into the swamp's gloom. Two crescent-moon-shaped drones appeared alongside them, followed by a pair of flattened discs that unfolded into multi-segmented defensive units. A shimmering barrier rippled into existence before him, crackling with latent energy.

The recon drones shot upward, weaving through the canopy in a precise spiral pattern. Minutes passed as Searanox trudged forward, his movements gradually becoming more efficient as he adapted to the treacherous terrain. The mud no longer fought him with the same intensity; he had learned to shift his weight, to find the patches of slightly firmer ground beneath the surface.

Under the faint silver light of the two moons filtering through the dense mangrove canopy, something caught his eye in the murky water between a cluster of roots. It looked like a fallen log, its bark rough and weathered. It drifted motionlessly, which was the first detail that struck him as wrong. After a quick scan of his surroundings, he confirmed there was no other driftwood in the immediate area.

With a mental command, his assault drones swooped forward. Two crimson beams lanced through the darkness, their light playing across the gnarled trees and roots. The instant the beams struck the log, the water erupted. A massive maw filled with long, thick teeth shot forward, lunging toward his drones.

The creature slammed against the multilayered barrier generated by his first defensive drone. The kinetic impact alone was powerful enough to shatter the outermost layer of energy shielding. Two more crimson beams struck its scaly back a second later.

They carved deep, smoking wounds into its hide, but nothing immediately fatal.

The six-meter-long reptilian beast thrashed violently, closing the distance with terrifying speed. Just before it could reach Searanox, it impacted the barrier of the second defensive drone. The weapon ports on his two assault drones flared crimson, unleashing a torrent of energy beams into the creature's armored back. Each impact left behind a large, smoldering crater.

Under the concentrated assault of his drones, the beast's movements grew increasingly erratic. It succumbed to its wounds before it could break through the second defensive barrier. Its lifeless body floated motionless in the water before Searanox as a System notification materialized beside its corpse.

Searanox moved closer toward the corpse and ran his fingers along its scales.

`A level 34 beast right out of the gates. This floor could mean trouble.`

His eyes drifted toward the kill feed in his peripheral vision. There, he saw something he hadn't seen in a while.

`I can get experience on this floor.`

The realization hit him with a jolt, his mind already calculating the advantages of staying on this floor to grind. He removed his fingers from the corpse while it began to dissolve into blue sparks, leaving behind no trace of its existence after a few seconds.

With the corpse fully gone, his mind was set on maximizing this opportunity. At that moment, three small forms broke through the canopy, hovering over his head in a loose formation. A second later, three additional offensive drones materialized beside them.

`I can keep you summoned for an hour. Let's see how much I can get during this time.`

With that thought, the recon and offensive drones shot out in teams of two, their forms vanishing between the twisted mangroves in less than a second.

Wading through the water, Searanox noted it grew shallower, now reaching only his shins instead of his thighs. In the near distance, he could make out a mass of roots clinging to a patch of land. As he approached, he caught movement between the roots—a subtle shift, but in the stagnant environment, even the smallest disturbance stood out.

Searanox didn't take chances. He ordered his two assault drones to fire into the roots where he had detected the motion.

The sound of splintering wood echoed through the swamp moments later, followed by something hard cracking and a high-pitched screech. A flash of dark motion darted from between the roots, disappearing into another cluster a few meters away.

He could feel the creature watching him from its new position. A faint blue light materialized in his hands as his magitech rifle appeared. His gaze swept over where it had vanished, but even his enhanced eyesight couldn't penetrate the darkness between the roots.

For a long moment, he stood still, watching the cluster where the creature had just vanished. He lifted his rifle and shot a violet beam into the twisting roots. The bright light of the beam illuminated the interior for a split second, but even that failed to expose his target.

The next shot came just a few seconds after his first, bathing the dark in its violet light. His drones waited silently for any movement, ready to tear into the creature at any time. Between his shots, he paused, but all that answered was silence.

Unnatural silence.

There was not a single sound other than the soft hum of his drones and the hiss of his rifle's beam whenever it tore through the air and darkness.

He knew something was between the roots; he had seen it move. It was fast, but not fast enough to escape his enhanced sight. With a click of his tongue, he ordered his drones to light up the undergrowth. Their beam cannons blasted away. Red beams tore through the black vegetation, burning everything with the crisp crack of breaking wood.

It took a couple of seconds before he heard the same organic crack of something harder than wood giving way. A screech filled the air before something dashed from the darkness, impacting heavily against the defensive barriers generated by his defensive drone.

A violet beam shot forth from his rifle, making contact with the creature in a split second.

He watched the black-armored beast fall into the water right before his drones defensive barrier. It had four long, scythe-like appendages, one on each of its frontal limbs. Its legs were just as long but much thicker, while its head had a strange, rectangular shape to it.

Searanox approached the beast only after the kill notification confirmed the threat was neutralized, listing the creature as a Level 32 Shadow Mantis.

About to turn away from the corpse, he spotted something strange within the slowly dissolving remains. It was a soft glint, unlike the dull sheen of its matte black carapace. It possessed a shine as brilliant as a shard of a mirror. He leaned closer toward the corpse, finally making out a round object reflecting the faint light of the moons and his hovering drones.

Inside the faintly glowing blue of the disappearing corpse rested a single silver coin. He stretched out his hand and reached inside the corpse of the mantis, a creature that had been larger than himself. His fingers closed around the coin before it was absorbed into his storage ring.

`I actually got loot from killing a beast.` He thought, checking his storage ring to confirm the increased coin count held within.