Chapter 17


    Even in daylight, theke’s surface was shrouded in a thick mist. Forget about seeing the opposite shore—reaching theke’s center was impossible.


    The old-fashioned pedal boat wasborious to operate. With each turn of the axle, a harsh grinding noise echoed, and the pressure on one’s legs felt like being mired in quicksand. As the boat gradually moved deeper into theke, everyone felt the vastness of this green expanse—like a boundless maw that could engulf anyone daring to intrude.


    On the boat sat arge man with a sword strapped to his back and a woman wearing a feathered hat in the front, while Yi Chen and the blond Edmund sat side-by-side in the rear. The staff member sat facing them, his eyes fixed on their pedaling feet as though supervising ves.


    “Although previous riders didn’t encounter any issues, thiske gives me a bad feeling. If something goes wrong, we may be forced to cooperate,” Edmund said. “Let’s do introductions again. I’m Edmund, from the Mariano family.”


    He continued, patting the broad back of therge man in front, “This is Dagobert, a fierce warrior from the North. His physique is partly due to his bloodline and partly due to the relentless cold that honed him… a future gentleman of strength. And this lovelydy here is my friend from training grounds, Juliana.”


    “William,” Yi Chen muttered, giving the name of his body’s original owner before adding, “By the way, I wouldn’t rmend idle chatter here…”


    “Got it.”


    Introductions over, they refocused on theke. Due to the risk of infection and boating rules, no one dared touch theke water, observing only with their eyes.


    While Yi Chen stared at theke’s surface for a long time, he suddenly felt a chilling gaze from theke’s depths… as if something terrifyingy below, watching him. Little Grape, sensing this, began drooling.“There’s something tasty down there!”


    As everyone kept a wary eye on theke, <em>snap</em>—the pedal boat suddenly stopped. It seemed the main paddle had been snagged by something.


    “Seaweed? Or some debris?”


    Aware of the potential danger, Yi Chen didn’t recklessly stick his head out to check but extended his right arm, sending Grape down his sleeve to observe under the boat.


    Through the rtively clear water, something disturbing came into view—hair. Thick, ck hair entangled the paddle, connected to a swollen corpse below.


    After Yi Chen ryed this, Edmund’s team immediately grew alert, with one hand gripping a weapon. At that moment, the staff member, who had been staring nkly the entire time, instinctively resumed his duties. Donning elbow-length stic gloves, he leaned over the boat’s stern, starting to remove the tangled debris.


    Seeing this, Yi Chen and Edmund both grabbed hold of the young man’s clothes from behind to prevent him from falling into theke by ident. As the ck hair was slowly pulled free, it seemed they were finally about to break free.


    Suddenly, the staff member’s body froze as an unimaginable force yanked him downward.


    <em>Rip!</em>


    All that remained in Yi Chen and Edmund’s hands were torn fabric scraps as the young man vanished into theke with barely a trace.


    <em>Snap!</em>


    Edmund, his usual friendliness gone, snapped his fingers with a resolute gaze. Everyone assumed a defensive stance, warily scanning the surroundings.


    Yet, theke’s surface remained calm, with no terrifying entities emerging.


    Sweat dripped down Edmund’s forehead as he muttered, a bit embarrassed, “All the previous riders were fine, but something went wrong only with us… Is it just coincidence, or has something in theke taken a particr interest in one of us?”


    Yi Chen was instantly reminded of hiskeside stroll the previous night, when he’d thrown the ‘Sheriff’ into theke.


    However, Edmund soon confessed, “The three of us killed a few diseased individuals from the townst night after the evening event. It might have angered something behind the scenes. I apologize for dragging you into this, William.”


    Yi Chen coldly replied, “Focus on getting us out of thiske.”


    Between the oars, there was still a mass of ck hair not fully removed. If the clearing continued, it was very likely someone would be pulled under.


    At this moment, Dagbert from the Northernnds stepped forward. The broad greatsword he wielded could serve as a makeshift oar, and he had rowing experience from his time living in the North.


    The greatsword plunged into theke, rowing back and forth, propelling the boat swiftly—twice as fast as before.


    Notably, the ck hair tangled on the oar, along with the corpse, was dragged along, creating a rather eerie scene.


    However, the danger was not over.


    Therge ripples caused by the greatsword''s movement seemed to awaken something resting at the bottom of theke. As the ripples spread, human-sized dark shapes faintly appeared beneath the water, undting their soft, elongated bodies as they moved closer to the boat.


    Seeing this, Edmund gently patted hispanion’s muscr shoulder.


    “Dagobert, just keep rowing straight… leave the rest to us.”


    “Understood.”


    With that, Edmund held a pistol decorated with feathered fletching in his left hand, loaded with silver bullets, while his right hand gripped a silver-ted short sword. His hawk-like gaze scanned the surroundings.


    Juliana bent down to retrieve a dagger from her boot, also assuming abat stance.


    Yi Chen drew a silver axe from his waist, and Little Grape positioned itself on his shoulder.


    “They’reing!”


    Ssh~ Water sttered as a scaly, shell-encrusted arm grabbed the edge of the boat.


    As the bloated, waterlogged head surfaced, the cold barrel of a gun was pressed against its skull.


    Bang~ The gunshot shattered theke’s eerie silence.


    Red fluid spread across the water as the first troublesome fish-man sank to theke’s depths.


    After making the kill, Edmund gave a tip, “To deal with these parasitic creatures, just destroy their brains... They haven’t yet evolved into true ‘Infected,’ so handling them isn’t too troublesome.


    But take care; don’t let them damage the boat. I’d rather not end up in this filthy, disgusting greenke.”


    As his words ended, three pairs of arms reached out from different directions, along with bloated, decayed heads filled with sharp teeth.


    With a precise technique, blond-haired Edmund drove his short sword into a target’s face, piercing through its brain.


    Juliana, with a swift reverse motion, drove her dagger into her target’s temple, even faster than Edmund.


    Compared to the two seasoned fighters, Yi Chen—a ‘Later’—naturallycked some skills.


    But in the face of theke''s danger, a powerful desire to kill the enemy formed in his mind.


    Driven by this intent, nt-like roots sprouted from his hands, entwining with his axe and merging with its hickory wood handle.


    This gave Yi Chen a firmer grip, allowing him to swing with greater force.


    Kill!


    The silver edge cut precisely across the fish-man’s neck.


    Scales, flesh, and vertebrae—any obstacle to the strike was ovee.


    Swoosh! A bloated, decayed head flew through the air,nding with a st on the boat.


    As this head attempted to wriggle toward Yi Chen to harm him, a small ck creature leaped from his shoulder, quickly swallowing the two “grapes” in the fish-man’s eyes. It then burrowed into the head, devouring the fresh tissue inside.


    Upon seeing this, Dagbert and the two others fighting cast surprised nces at Yi Chen, raising their regard for him further.


    …


    After the group cooperated to eliminate nearly twenty of the infected fish-men from theke, the boat reached the shore.


    The corpse entangled with the oar was also dragged ashore.


    When Yi Chen saw the face of this corpse, his body trembled.


    This corpse, with thick, long hair, was shockingly the sheriff he had thrown into theke. Yet, he distinctly remembered the sheriff had short hair.


    It’s like ake has the effect of a petri dish, where anything thrown into it would rapidly grow due to some mysterious influence.


    ‘Is it really my fault…?’