Chapter 52 Crazy

Chapter 52: Chapter 51: Crazy

While Han Ning was hunting Vortex Shell Crabs at the southern entrance, over a dozen Awakened, including Lin Qianqian and Chairman Wu, had already entered the route leading to the core area of Bailu Port.

Somewhere deep within the Fog Area.

"Awesome, Brother Wang, awesome! How did you find this route?"

A stocky Awakened patted Vice President Wang lightly on the shoulder, his voice full of admiration. "Yesterday, our squad was almost trapped by those monsters in the northeast corner. This route you picked is as quiet as a morgue."

Another Awakened chimed in, "Thanks to Brother Wang’s efforts, not only did he scout the way for us, but he also found a safe passage. Look ahead, everyone... are those the silhouettes of the berth cranes?"

The crowd looked in the direction he pointed.

Deep in the dense fog, several massive, blurry steel outlines loomed indistinctly, standing tall against the grayish-white background. They were the silhouettes of the port’s large machinery.

"Bailu Port... We actually made it to Bailu Port safely!"

"It’s been less than an hour, right? That was so fast..."

At the moment they saw the port, most of the people revealed joyful expressions. Only the few vice presidents remained calm. Sparks of hope ignited in everyone’s hearts. The key to their survival seemed right before their eyes.

Surrounded by the crowd, Vice President Wang wore a faint smile on his face, seemingly enjoying everyone’s compliments.

"Hold on a little longer, everyone. We’re almost there. There’s a spot ahead with a better view where we can see the entire berth area," he said, his voice somewhat hoarse.

"Stay alert. We should be nearing the monster gathering area Old Wang mentioned!" Seeing that everyone was relaxing, Chairman Wu couldn’t help but issue a reminder before turning to ask Vice President Wang, "Old Wang, how much longer until we reach the true core area?"

"Just ahead. We’ll be there very soon."

Following Vice President Wang’s guidance, the group stumbled forward. The further they went, the deeper the accumulated water became, gradually rising above the chests of the Awakened. Everyone was forced to switch from wading to swimming.

The Mental Power Awakened in charge of scouting vigilantly observed the underwater situation.

"This is the place." Vice President Wang suddenly stopped swimming and pointed to a relatively open area of water, enclosed by half-sunken shipping containers and collapsed concrete walls. "Standing on that concrete pier gives the best view. Any further, and it’s the monster gathering area."

At this moment, Lin Qianqian, who had been silently following behind Vice President Wang, suddenly frowned. Her gaze locked tightly onto the surrounding water.

Almost simultaneously, the expressions of the several Awakened in the team responsible for detection changed drastically.

"Something’s wrong, there are monsters!"

"Fall back, retreat quickly!"

"Hehehe... HAHAHAHA!"

Their screams of panic were overshadowed by Vice President Wang, who suddenly erupted into sharp, ear-piercing laughter. The laughter was frantic and twisted, completely unlike any sound a human could make.

On Vice President Wang’s originally gentle and humble face, his facial features were now exaggeratedly squeezed together. The corners of his mouth split open all the way to the roots of his ears, revealing ghastly white teeth. His cloudy eyeballs were covered in cobweb-like bloodshot lines as he stared at the astounded crowd, doing nothing but laughing maniacally.

"Wang Jiaming, are you fucking crazy?!" Vice President Zhao, a burly man, was both shocked and furious.

SPLASH! SPLASH!

Answering him was the continuous, dense sound of water breaking from all directions, like a sudden downpour.

The murky water surface instantly boiled over. From deep within the dense fog, an erratic, bizarre entity emitting an eerie halo of blue, purple, and red light rapidly drifted toward this area...

"Restrain Wang Jiaming! Everyone, evacuate!" Chairman Wu’s deep, furious roar echoed among the crowd.

...

"ROAR!"

Snow Cake’s long tail ruthlessly slapped the water’s surface. Muddy waves surged, forcing a Vortex Shell Crab that was attempting to ambush from the side to reveal itself.

The giant crab had just raised its high-speed rotating drill pincers when a juicy tomato smashed precisely into its mouth, which was wide open in a hiss.

GULP! The massive body of the Vortex Shell Crab trembled as it instinctively swallowed.

The next second.

PFFT!

Dense, blood-like scarlet fog spewed from the gaps in its carapace and its compound eyes. This fog seemed to have physical substance. Carrying a strange odor that made even Snow Cake irritably shake its head, it enveloped the Vortex Shell Crab into a squirming red mist cocoon.

CLICK... RUSTLE... RUSTLE...

Inside the mist cocoon, the Vortex Shell Crab let out slurred, drunken hisses, its drill pincers hanging down powerlessly. Its thick body swayed unsteadily in the water, as if all its bones had been extracted.

Han Ning was already somewhat familiar with this series of operations. With a thought, over a dozen vines burrowed into the red mist. Catching the crab off guard, they drilled into its exposed joint crevices.

SQUELCH! SQUELCH! SQUELCH!

The muffled sound of vines churning its internal organs rang out.

The large crab, which had been so aggressive just moments ago, collapsed into the water with a loud HONG LONG and stopped moving.

"Phew... phew..."

Panting slightly, Han Ning floated on the murky water surface and withdrew the Spiritual Power used to release the vines. The continuous high-intensity combat and manipulation still consumed a significant amount of his Spiritual Power, even with a "cheat" like the Red Mist Tomato drastically reducing the difficulty of the kills.

[Spiritual Power: 12/25]

[Druid Growth Progress +85] (Current Level 4, 597/600)

[Mental Power +0.1] (Mental Power: 1.5)

[Swamp Crocodile Lizard Growth Progress +17] (Current 178/200)

[Vine Technique (High Level) Skill Level +10] (Current 82/500)

Looking at the numbers "597/600" on the panel, a glint of sharpness flashed through Han Ning’s eyes.

From the time he entered the Fog Area until now, he had already used the Red Mist Tomatoes to kill four Vortex Shell Crabs. He was only three points short. With just one more of the weakest Crocodile Lizards, he would be able to break through to Level 5.

But unknowingly, they had already arrived at the area where they encountered swarms of Vortex Shell Crabs yesterday.

"Han Ning..." Yu Na’s weak voice came from the side.

Han Ning turned his head to look. Yu Na’s face was pale, and a streak of undried blood hung from the tip of her petite nose. The glow of the blue Spirit Barrier surrounding her body had also become extremely faint, looking as if it could shatter at any moment. However, compared to yesterday, the halo surrounding her body had solidified from a pale blue into an azure blue.

She panted slightly, her usually aloof, disdainful face revealing joy.

"Th-thank you. I feel like my abilities have improved by a whole major level, but... my Spiritual Energy is almost completely drained." The tone she used when speaking to Han Ning had also become much more intimate.

Even though she was just playing Support, getting to reap the rewards alongside Han Ning gave her a larger share of Energy than any previous hunt.

"I know..." Han Ning nodded, his gaze sweeping across the surrounding white fog.

They had already delved nearly four hundred meters deep into the Fog Area; swarms of Vortex Shell Crabs could appear at any moment. He only had 12 points of Spiritual Power left, and the only reason Yu Na had managed to hold on until now was purely due to the Energy nourishment from killing monsters.

"I’m only three progress points away. There’s no need to take risks here. I can just head back, easily kill a couple of Crocodile Lizards, and break through..." he thought.

"We’ll stop here for now," Han Ning said, making a prompt decision.