Chapter 151: Su Mu, Save Me!

"Look! There's a fishing boat!" Yang Dongqing suddenly exclaimed, pointing toward the sea to the northwest.

Su Mu followed his gaze and saw a dilapidated little fishing boat heading for the shore. As it drew closer, he could faintly make out a few figures on board, waving their arms frantically toward land.

Yang Dongqing looked puzzled. "Are the nightmare creatures this friendly this time? Greeting us from so far away... Su Mu, could this be a trap?"

Su Mu adjusted his Tinted Glasses with a helpless sigh. "Are you sure they're saying hello and not calling for help?"

"Calling for help?" Yang Dongqing paused. He looked closer, and his expression shifted. The fishing boat had stopped moving and was now sinking at a visible rate.

"The boat's going down. Are these people in the Nightmare stupid?" Yang Dongqing asked. "They're so close to shore. Why don't they just jump in and swim over? Don't tell me fishermen can't swim."

Su Mu peered through his Tinted Glasses into the murky depths. A faint, crystalline blue light flickered in his eyes, his enhanced vision allowing him to barely make out several dark shadows darting around beneath the hull.

"The boat isn't sinking on its own," Su Mu said. "Something in the water is tearing it apart."

This was the last thing he needed. To find the Black Fog, they had to take a boat out to sea. But clearly, the waters weren't safe; something down there was actively sinking ships.

Fighting in the ocean was incredibly disadvantageous for humans, and Transcendents were no exception. Without solid ground beneath their feet, their combat strength would be severely hindered.

By now, the battered fishing boat could no longer stay afloat. The three panicked fishermen finally abandoned ship and leaped into the water. They swam frantically toward the shore as if a pack of sharks were on their heels.

It was then that Su Mu finally got a clear look at the things lurking beneath the surface. They were human!

Or rather, corpses that had soaked in the seawater for who knew how long. Their bloated bodies had decayed to the point that white bone was visible. They had mutated terribly, writhing black fleshy tentacles sprouting from their rotting flesh.

Whip!

A black tentacle lashed out, wrapping tightly around the neck of the trailing fisherman. He was instantly yanked beneath the surface and vanished from sight.

"Save them," Su Mu ordered decisively. Even though he knew these fishermen weren't real people but mere inhabitants of the Nightmare, he had to intervene. He needed their local intel—and he needed a boat!

He certainly couldn't ask the sea monsters for one.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A rapid string of gunshots rang out. Su Mu and Yang Dongqing drew their pistols and laid down a barrage of fire into the water. As Transcendents, both of them possessed flawless marksmanship.

Su Mu in particular had spent countless hours practicing with firearms in his dreams; his precision was on par with any master sniper.

However, conventional firearms seemed utterly useless against the creatures in the sea. A hail of bullets tore straight through them but inflicted zero fatal damage. The rotting bodies simply let the bullets pierce their flesh, with the kinetic impact only managing to knock them back slightly. Other than that, the weapons had no effect.

Narrowing his eyes, Su Mu smoothly swapped his weapon for the Silver-White Rose, loading it with Mithril Bullets. Ever since Murong Zhuo's death, Nangong Mengli had been aggressively reclaiming her family's assets, and her efforts had borne fruit.

Those tangible benefits naturally trickled down to him, with these Mithril Bullets being the prime example.

But to his shock, the Mithril Bullets—renowned for their ability to counter Transcendent power—failed completely. They sank into the monsters' flesh without consequence. Even with a direct shot to the head, the creatures marched forward with tenacious vitality.

Fortunately, the suppressive fire bought enough time for the two remaining fishermen to scramble onto the shore.

"Run! Run!" they yelled. "Hurry and find the Guard Army! These sea monsters can't be killed! Only the Guard Army can deal with them!"

The two dark-skinned fishermen in rough linen shirts waved their arms, urging Su Mu and Yang Dongqing to flee.

Su Mu's eyes glinted. Sea monsters? Unkillable? Were the nightmare monsters here really this difficult to deal with?

Wanting to test them himself, he chose not to retreat, instead waiting quietly for the sea monsters to come ashore.

The two frantic fishermen didn't bother trying to persuade them any further. They turned and bolted.

Moments later, five rotting humanoid creatures emerged from the surf. Their bodies were covered in a chaotic tangle of black fleshy tentacles, and foul, fishy seawater dripped from their limbs. Drip, drop...

Bang!

A Mithril Bullet flew with pinpoint accuracy, punching a hole straight through the center of one sea monster's rotting brow. Yet, the creature merely shook its ruined skull and lunged at Su Mu.

So it wasn't the seawater protecting them? This unkillable trait was innate to the sea monsters themselves?

He continued testing, sending out a massive surge of mental energy. But as his energy probed into the sea monster's body, he was stunned to find utter emptiness.

This meant the sea monsters had no souls! They weren't living creatures, but dead things!

But how could dead things move? What power was animating them?

"Let me handle this," Yang Dongqing said with a confident smirk. "Unkillable, huh? Let's see if you can keep moving when you're smashed into tiny pieces!"

He launched himself forward like a human cannonball. A metallic sheen washed over his body as he tore through the air like a hurled bowling ball.

Boom!

He threw a devastating punch, his knuckles gleaming with cold, metallic light, aiming squarely at one of the sea monsters' rotting heads.

The brutal kinetic force blew the decaying skull apart. Yet the headless sea monster didn't stop moving. As if it didn't even need eyes, it reached out and grabbed Yang Dongqing with chilling accuracy.

Yang Dongqing scoffed. That single punch had allowed him to gauge the sea monsters' strength. Aside from their undying nature, they were only slightly stronger than average mortals. Even if he just stood there and let a nightmare monster of this level wail on him, it wouldn't even scratch his defenses.

The rotting hand clamped down on his arm but failed to pierce his steel-like skin. Yang Dongqing snorted coldly and casually snapped the monster's wrist.

Striking a pose, he turned back to Su Mu and said with a cocky grin, "Just sit back and watch. I'll take care of these guys."

With that, Yang Dongqing turned back around with a disdainful glare, only to be met by a black fleshy tentacle.

He let out another cold snort. Instead of dodging, he reached right out to grab the appendage, intending to snap the black tentacle off the exact same way. But the instant his flesh made contact with it—

His face drained of color. A terrifying tremor wracked his very soul, and an unimaginable surge of agony flooded his body. He let out a bloodcurdling scream, his body went entirely limp, and he crumpled to the ground.

As Yang Dongqing fell, more and more black tentacles slithered over, wrapping tightly around his body. Every time one of the fleshy tendrils brushed against his skin, he convulsed violently as if he were being electrocuted.

"Ahhh! Su Mu, save me!" Yang Dongqing shrieked, reaching a desperate hand toward Su Mu.