Chapter 61 Crystal Stream Breath

Chapter 61: Chapter 60: Crystal Stream Breath

Snow Cake shook its head, throwing off the muddy water. The frenzy in its eyes faded, replaced by its familiar affection.

It whimpered and bounded forward. Stepping through the murky puddles, it trotted nimbly to Han Ning’s side and rubbed its cold, massive head against its master’s leg.

After Snow Cake completed its transformation, an Energy Flow far more majestic than the one from killing the Tuna surged into Han Ning’s body through the bond of the Soul Contract.

[Druid Growth Progress +525] (Current Level 5, 751/2000)

[Mental Power +1.2] (Mental Power: 3.4)

Han Ning’s body shuddered; he felt so euphoric that his eyes nearly rolled back. Every cell in his body seemed to greedily devour this power, and his vision grew even clearer.

At the same time, Snow Cake’s brand-new information panel appeared before him:

[Animal Companion: Three-Color (Gemstone) Crocodile Lizard]

[Level: Level 4 (1/550)]

[Growth Progress: 1/550]

[Mental Power: 1]

[Skills:

Spiritual Scream (Basic Level): Releases a roar imbued with Spiritual Shock to intimidate, disrupt, or even briefly stun the target.

Crystal Stream Breath (Basic Level): Gathers internal Energy to exhale an Energy Flow with corrosive, sluggish, or weak Spiritual Interference effects.]

"Two consecutive Levels? Even its Race has changed," Han Ning thought in shock. The sheer potency of the crystal far exceeded his expectations. Now, he was quite curious about Snow Cake’s current combat strength.

"Snow Cake, go. Let’s see what you can do. Help them clear out the remaining monsters."

"ROAR!"

Snow Cake responded and pushed off the ground.

BOOM!

Water splashed in all directions as it charged into the horde of monsters still besieging the Awakened squad nearby.

It locked its target onto a Vortex Shell Crab brandishing its massive drill-like pincers. The Tri-Colored Crystal Scale on the center of Snow Cake’s forehead suddenly lit up.

"HOWL!"

An invisible Spiritual Fluctuation pierced into the Vortex Shell Crab’s relatively simple consciousness.

[Spiritual Scream]

The Vortex Shell Crab’s movements stiffened. Its rapidly spinning drill pincers halted, and its body staggered in the water.

Seizing this opportunity, Snow Cake opened its maw wide.

BUZZ.

A fist-sized particle stream swirling with a three-colored halo materialized in its mouth.

ZAP!

A condensed, tangible Tri-Colored Beam as thick as a child’s arm shot out, accurately striking the upper half of the Vortex Shell Crab’s body connected to its eyes.

HISS.

The carapace hit by the beam hissed and emitted white smoke, rapidly turning ashen. In the blink of an eye, the Vortex Shell Crab’s entire upper body turned into a melted glass-like substance; not a single tissue was visible. Losing control of its lower half, it crashed into the puddle and died completely.

"ROAR!"

Snow Cake didn’t pause for a moment. Its thick tail swept out, carrying a fierce wind pressure as it viciously struck another Human-faced Jellyfish attempting to ambush it. The blow sent water splashing everywhere and caused the monster’s translucent body to cave in.

[Three-Color Gemstone Crocodile Lizard, Growth Progress +20, Current 20/550]

[Three-Color Gemstone Crocodile Lizard, Growth Progress +15, Current 35/550]

...

"So... so strong!" The burly man in the camouflage vest couldn’t help but gasp as he watched Snow Cake clear out the remnant monsters as easily as chopping vegetables. The other Awakened watched in stunned silence, the pressure on them suddenly plunging.

Han Ning, however, found it a bit strange. The Energy Flow fed back into his body from Snow Cake killing the Vortex Shell Crab and Human-faced Jellyfish had decreased significantly.

[Druid Growth Progress +30] (Current Level 5, 781/2000)

[Druid Growth Progress +25] (Current Level 5, 806/2000)

"The decline is this severe?" Han Ning thought. "At Level 4, killing one Vortex Shell Crab could bring me nearly a hundred points of progress, but now it’s only about thirty..."

He noted that Snow Cake was also receiving only around twenty points. It likely wasn’t that Snow Cake was stealing his share, but that the total yield had genuinely decreased. He assumed that as their Level increased, the Energy gained from killing low-level monsters would drastically drop. With the improvement in Energy quality, the Energy from lower-tier monsters had simply become too thin.

Seeing Snow Cake’s current monster-killing efficiency, Han Ning felt relieved.

"If there’s not enough quality, we can make up for it with quantity," he mused. "The two of us have grown much stronger now, and our efficiency is on a completely different Level than before."

[Three-Color Gemstone Crocodile Lizard, Growth Progress +12, Current 47/550]

[Druid Growth Progress +22] (Current Level 5, 828/2000)

...

While Snow Cake slaughtered its way through and cleared out the monsters, a cry suddenly rang out.

"Chairman Wu! Vice President Lin! Vice President Zhao?!" an Awakened exclaimed from a certain direction in the combat zone.

Hearing the shout, everyone instinctively turned their heads.

At the edge of the billowing, thick fog, several battered and exhausted figures were supporting each other. They waded through the murky puddles, struggling to move toward the group. Leading them was Chairman Wu. He looked extremely feeble; one of his arms hung limply, and he was carrying an unconscious Awakened on his back. Lin Qianqian followed closely behind. Her long hair, originally tied back, plastered messily against her cheeks. Her windbreaker was torn in multiple places, revealing bandages soaked in blood underneath.

...

"Chairman!"

"Sister Qianqian!"

"Old Zhao!"

"Hurry, save them!"

After a brief moment of shock, the crowd erupted into excited shouts.

The Awakened immediately swarmed forward, rushing to help them onto a relatively dry piece of floating debris. Those with Healing abilities instantly began checking their injuries and treating their wounds, while others handed over Qingshui and food.

Surrounded by the crowd, Lin Qianqian sat down. Her gaze immediately bypassed the people and landed on Han Ning, who stood not far away.

"Sister Qianqian, it’s so good that you’re okay." Yu Na crouched beside Lin Qianqian, looking as if she wanted to hug her but didn’t dare to. She leaned close to Lin Qianqian’s ear and whispered, "If it wasn’t for Han Ning, I’m afraid we all would have died today."

Hearing this, Lin Qianqian forced a smile on her weak face and spoke with sincere gratitude, "Han Ning... Nana, thank you. Thank you all for saving us."

Han Ning looked at Lin Qianqian’s faintly shining eyes and shook his head calmly. "It was on the way."

He couldn’t exactly say, "I mainly helped because there are enough of you to act as meat shields. Besides, Boss Lin, your Healing Skills are genuinely useful; it would be a pity if you died."

Lin Qianqian didn’t say anything more. She merely offered Han Ning a grateful smile before wearily closing her eyes, allowing the others to tend to her wounds.

Under the crowd’s emergency Healing and Energy replenishment, the conditions of Chairman Wu, Lin Qianqian, Vice President Zhao, and the other survivors stabilized at a visible rate.

Around the same time, Snow Cake had nearly finished sweeping through the remaining monsters in the vicinity. Carrying the scent of blood, it waded back and lay quietly at Han Ning’s feet.

Chairman Wu struggled to sit up straight. He surveyed the gradually quieting battlefield around them, then glanced at the faint outlines of massive port machinery hidden deep within the distant dense fog. Finally, his gaze fell on Han Ning, and he spoke in a tone that sounded like he was asking for advice and requesting a favor.

"The monsters on the periphery have pretty much been cleared out by you, Mr. Han Ning...

"Mr. Han Ning, should we take advantage of this moment—while the monsters have been frightened off and haven’t resumed Gathering—to go to the docking area and see if the ships are still there?"