Chapter 21: Deep in the Lake_2

Listening to the battle plan provided by Little Grape, Yi Chen replied:

"You knew from the beginning that there was a giant eye at the bottom of the lake, didn't you, Little Grape?"

"Not from the beginning, but during the boat ride, while gazing at the lake... Similar types naturally have some subtle sensing."

Yi Chen didn't say much but focused on what was in front of him.

After the siblings delivered the 'goods',

the innkeeper conveyed the information of this batch of goods to the Lake Bottom Giant Eye through consciousness communication.

Once the message was delivered, he immediately surfaced.

Any superfluous action could arouse suspicion.

Yi Chen and the other 'goods' were suspended about four meters above the giant eye,

currently in the deep water zone. It was not easy to close this distance; they had to wait for an opportunity.

Following that,

a rather eerie scene came into view,

the center of the giant eye's pupil dilated to disclose a small round hole,

from which a meat-like creature, similar to an eel and hence termed 'meat eel', wriggled out.

Its mouth was round, filled with dense sharp teeth, and protruded blood-colored threads swirling in the water.

"This is... connected to the umbilical, similar to an umbilical cord!"

The next second,

the meat eel plunged into one of the 'goods' beside Yi Chen,

its mouth perfectly connecting with the umbilical,

dragging the goods toward an empty spot at the lake bottom,

rooting,

fertilizing,

transforming,

Systematically,

another meat eel emerged, connecting to another 'good' in front of Yi Chen.

Watching the 'bodies' being dragged away and packaged one by one... This suffocating pressure, like a hand squeezing the heart, forced the heart rate to accelerate.

"Steady!"

Yi Chen suppressed his tense emotions with all his might, waiting for the best moment to arrive.

Perhaps due to good luck,

or maybe the giant eye noticed something special about Yi Chen,

or perhaps the innkeeper said something to the giant eye,

Yi Chen happened to be the last one... At this deep spot at the lake bottom, it was just him and the giant eye.

Gajigaji~

From the small hole in the pupil, the last, and also the one next to Yi Chen, meat eel emerged,

wriggling,

floating up,

penetrating the membrane,

whew... Yi Chen took a deep breath, still not moving, still waiting for the moment to come.

The meat eel crept up to his abdomen, wriggling toward the umbilical,

strands of nerves in its mouth scraped against Yi Chen's body, unbearably itchy.

As it wrapped around to the front,

the meat eel's mouth bloomed like a petal, revealing its inner walls filled with sharp teeth, and bit toward the umbilical.

Just as its mouth touched the umbilical, in an instant.

Yi Chen's eyes suddenly opened wide,

and he immediately drew the Silver Axe from within his clothes... swish!

The meat eel's strip of flesh and the white membrane on Yi Chen's body were both sliced open.

His other hand grabbed the upper half of the meat eel's body remaining on his abdomen, cracking it forcefully!

The next moment,

Yi Chen instantly raised his free arm

forming a fist,

Gajigaji~

Fresh plant roots quickly wove together,

perhaps stimulated by danger, weaving faster than before, even forming a bark-like structure on the surface of the roots.

In an instant,

a filtering mask was already worn on his face, further isolating the lake water.

The entire process was almost completed in an instant,

and taking advantage of the giant eye not fully responding yet,

Yi Chen swam at full speed toward the deepest part...

four meters,

three meters,

two meters,

just over a meter left, something unexpected happened!

The giant eye at the lake bottom, normally diffused, instantly contracted and focused... turning into a pinpoint the size of a ping-pong ball.

"Damn!"

Even though Yi Chen closed his eyes immediately,

yet,

An invisible wave of spiritual energy had penetrated,

seeping through the mask and eyelids,

passing through the pupils,

travelling directly along the optic nerves to the brain,

Hum!

A loud ringing in the ears,

as if some mischievous child had stuffed a whole box of firecrackers into his head and then smashed them all with a slap.

"William! Hang on!

Before I make contact with the Great Grape, I can't reveal myself!"

At that moment,

the voice of Little Grape resonated in the consciousness, providing encouragement and mental support.

Under the infiltration of spiritual power,

Yi Chen felt as if his brain's surface was covered in tiny eyeballs.

Any slight gap in his awareness would be penetrated by these eyeballs.

"Hold on, this is the hard-won chance for a rebirth..."

[Willpower]

A spiritual creation forged from "life experiences" as a hammer.

Although Yi Chen was only in his twenties, his earlier "life experiences" were like a spiked hammer, constantly pounding on him.

Finding escape with difficulty,

Finding a chance to transcend, to come to such an interesting world,

he wanted to survive... to truly live for once.

At this moment!

Blood seeped from between his eyes, staining the vegetative mask red.

The desperate screams turned into a mass of bubbles rising in the lake.

Forcefully breaking through the last meter of distance,

sidestepping,

extending an arm,

touching,

his palm firmly pressed against the moist and smooth surface of the eyeball... precisely at the center, where a wormhole of flesh burrowed out.

The moment of contact,

a black mass instantly separated from his palm,

moving along the wormhole,

burrowing into the giant eye.

The moment of success,

Yi Chen could no longer hold on, his relaxed consciousness instantly breached!

However,

the spiritual erosion from the giant eye did not damage his brain,

but rather packaged and processed Yi Chen's consciousness, sending it to an utterly unknown domain.

Hum!

The consciousness trembled,

Yi Chen's consciousness seemed to have been sent to a deep, mysterious cave situated at the abyss's bottom.

Black hexagonal fish scales, like wall tiles, covered the cave walls,

the ground covered with a layer of clear water that could submerge a normal person's knees,

meat-colored pipelines connected various experimental canisters,

walls were draped and inset with compartments of various sizes, used to cultivate life,

This place seemed like the "Abyss Laboratory".

In the center of the laboratory,

a being that transcended concepts was recording data,

just turned away from Yi Chen's consciousness,

dressed in a nearly perfect, force-field generating dark gold cylindrical robe, revealing a tail covered in black scales.

More akin to a dragon's tail than a fish tail.

For some reason,

as Yi Chen gazed upon this being's silhouette,

thud♪ thud♪ thud♪

his consciousness unexpectedly resonated with a layered and epic music,

the dwindling sound of a cello, along with the beat of the tides,

as if signaling to the listeners that this music from the deep sea foretells the arrival of some dreadful entity.

As the music arose,

a [Frame] shaped like a health bar in a game, starting with a fish head sculpture and surrounded by gold, appeared above the figure's head.

Between the frames was filled with a dark fish oil, or perhaps an ancient fish essence,

churning,

tumbling,

roaring

Above the frame, titles and names were attached.

§Fish Origin - Nazjatar (Nazjatar, The Primitive Arowana)§