Chapter 1167 - 577: Ignored, Unusual, Arrival

"Sssss..."

The long tail with platinum-colored flesh scales swayed and rubbed against the ground, making a subtle sound.

A tall figure, covered entirely in a cloak, hunches over and lowers his head, hastily walking through the blood-scented streets.

Though it was a backup plan with an extremely low chance of execution, out of caution, Dodd had preemptively prepared an escape route for the worst-case scenario of his failure to advance. However, in order to reach the hidden port he had his men set up in advance, he still needed to cross a small residential area.

He was well aware that with the level of adventurers on the island, they couldn’t possibly fail to guess that he was the culprit behind the Secret Realm ritual.

At this moment, he was likely already the enemy of all adventurers on the island. Being in a weakened state post-Secret Realm, his combat abilities were severely diminished.

If discovered by those with bad intentions, facing the siege of those elite adventurers, he would likely fall into quite a difficult predicament.

Therefore, he did his best to hide his figure and pass through this highly risky area without attracting attention.

But to be honest, given the current state of the street, even if Dodd walked brazenly without disguise, nobody would pay any attention to him.

On the slightly muddy wooden road, dark red blood, partly coagulated, flows along the gaps between the planks, dripping into the seawater below, while the air is filled with the stench of death and slaughter.

The small shops along the street have their doors and windows shattered, with bread and pastries originally on the shelves scattered all over. The proprietress, once eagerly soliciting business at the counter, had now become a freezing corpse, lying motionless on the ground, with three blood holes in her chest through which one could see the wooden planks on the ground beneath.

Seagulls screech overhead, conveying the chaos, while the street is littered with the corpses of pedestrians and adventurers alike.

"Bang!"

The tightly closed yet fragile wooden door was smashed from the outside.

Three towering Sha Hua Fishman lackeys, wielding sharp weapons, screeched in excitement as they squeezed into the wooden hut.

Followed by the angry shouts and screams of humans.

The commotion didn’t last long; with the dull sound of sharp objects piercing flesh, everything fell silent.

Stained with scarlet blood, the three Sha Hua Fishman lackeys barged through the doorway, jostling out of the small house.

Their faces still wore brutal smiles, and compared to just a few dozen seconds ago when they entered the house, they were now dragging three human corpses by the ankles behind them.

Glancing at the distant carnage on the street, there wasn’t a hint of emotion on "Algae Scale" Dodd’s part-finely-scaled face.

As a Great Pirate who had roamed the Southern Islands for years, he had witnessed much more brutal scenes than the one before him.

In fact, compared to the slaughter scenes of his own pirate subordinates, the actions of the Fishmen before him might even appear more "civilized."

He felt no sympathy for these generations of islanders from Stodd Island who had fallen victim to this unexpected calamity.

Nor did it merit any of his time or energy to pay attention to.

In fact, he had not considered the fate of the islanders at all from the moment the Moon Tide Banquet’s Secret Realm plan was first hatched.

From start to finish, his focus was solely on those elite adventurers caught up in the Secret Realm.

He clearly knew that according to the original cooperation plan, the Fishmen had no reason to spare the defenseless ordinary civilians while clearing the weakened adventurers on the island.

It didn’t matter, really.

As long as he could advance to Transcendent, the deaths of hundreds or thousands of ordinary people would have no impact on his future status in the Southern Islands.

Especially now that he had fully failed in the advancement ritual—even if everyone on the island were to die, Dodd wouldn’t even bat an eye.

Lurking in the shadows of an alley on the side of the street, he waited patiently until those Fishman lackeys gradually moved away before emerging from the alley and quickly heading in the direction he remembered.

...

Like "Algae Scale" Dodd, the Sha Hua Fishmen apparently had also made ample preparations for today.

A massive school of fish virtually surrounded the entire Stodd Island and, under the command of their commander, launched a full-scale attack on the island.

Even though the port area was held by the adventurers, other directions of the coast, unlike the dock, were not heavily guarded by adventurers.

The fragile defenses of ordinary residents collapsed immediately under the assault of these ferocious Demons.

Screams from humans and the frenzied screeches of Fishmen could be heard all over Stodd Island.

As a result, even with the Dragon-blooded Mixed Blood’s striking features, Dodd, moving swiftly and cautiously through the streets, wasn’t discovered, managing to reach the pre-arranged location without real danger.

This was a hidden spot on the eastern coast.

Due to the densely packed reefs and turbulent currents surrounding the area, practically no fishermen ventured here, making it one of the few deserted places on Stodd Island over time.

When initially surveying the island for the ritual, Dodd had stumbled upon this spot by accident.

He couldn’t help but feel a stir in his heart.

Although he believed it was unlikely to be needed at the time, ultimately, for safety’s sake, he gathered some trusted subordinates and, after carefully studying the safe navigation routes in the nearby sea, prepared a fallback plan here for the possibility of advancement failure.

"I wonder how Flynn is doing?"