Chapter 456: Wild Shape

The Oath-Breaker was a team formed with adventurers as the core.

Perhaps its captain had other purposes at the beginning of forming the team, and the name "Oath-Breaker" could also indicate this to some extent.

But under normal circumstances, they were no different from the adventurer ship teams in Shoal Bay: "Accepting commissions - receiving rewards - resting - accepting commissions again," maintaining the operation of the entire team with mission bounties.

Even if the members of the team didn't count as bad people in Xia Nan's view, each had their own personality, and their performance in the storm also proved that these teammates of his were reliable in battle.

But if one really wanted to divide them according to strict alignment, the "Oath-Breaker" team as a whole should be between "Lawful Evil" and "Chaotic Neutral."

Driven by their own interests, they were superficially free but actually practicing the standards they recognized in the way of a team.

Luo Lin had seen too many Sahuagin and was very clear about their habits, holding a repulsive attitude in her heart; she had had exchanges with the fishermen on Rabbit Island before and was somewhat familiar with their village chief, but it was far from being friends.

With this as a premise, facing the situation where the Mermen had slaughtered an entire fishing village, she obviously couldn't just rashly take action because she suddenly thought of avenging the fishermen she hadn't met many times, dragging herself and her teammates into a dangerous situation. Moreover, the values formed by long-term vertical and horizontal navigation were not those of a human supremacist who viewed different species as enemies, and she wouldn't be angry just because humans of the same race were killed by magical beasts.

She was just thinking about the situation before her, starting from herself, her teammates beside her, and even the entire ship team behind her.

First and foremost, of course, was the threat level of these Mermen right now.

There were thirty-six in total, the vast majority of which were ordinary Mermen with a challenge rating of "0.5," but the six Sahuagin currently kneeling at the very front of the altar had two pairs of arms, and their bodies were obviously sturdier, and even the equipment in their hands and the armor on their bodies didn't look so crude; they were clearly elite-level existences, with a challenge rating estimated to be at the level of "lv2," or even "lv3" and above.

And that Sahuagin priest holding a strange conch in its webbed palms could raise their overall strength by another level.

This was very subtle.

Luo Lin was indeed a lv7 professional, but professional level and challenge rating were two completely different concepts. A magical beast in good condition required four professionals with reasonable positioning and a certain tacit understanding of the same level to be solved safely.

Thirty-six Mermen in front of her might be within the range Luo Lin could handle, but if one considered the existence of spellcasters among them, and the fact that they were located on a beach close to the ocean, what kind of situation the actual battle would be was a bit ambiguous.

If it were in her younger years, perhaps she would have just rushed in.

But now, there were more things to consider.

They came to Rabbit Island just to inspect and repair the ship, and there was no fundamental conflict with these Mermen; it seemed unnecessary to fight them.

But the time required for ship inspection and repair was not short. Even if everything went smoothly, the earliest they could leave the island would be this evening, and it was only dawn now, with an entire day in between.

Sahuagin were inherently hostile to humans, and these ones were even more extreme, not searching for anything in the village and not leaving a single living person behind.

In this situation, who could guarantee that these Sahuagin wouldn't discover the Oath-Breaker, which was currently docked less than thirty minutes away from the fishing village, during such a long time.

And when that time really came, the Mermen would naturally not fight them on land as they were now. With the ocean as their home field, the initiative would be completely handed over to the other party.

With Luo Lin's personality, she obviously wouldn't let her team suffer possible danger because of a little fluke.

Under the condition that the enemy's overall strength was within the range she and the others could sufficiently deal with, she decided to take the initiative and nip the crisis in the bud.

"I'll stay here. Xia Nan, you take Haian back first and call Sasha and the others over."

In Luo Lin's view, the most secure solution was, of course, to wait until the professionals in the team were all present before launching a surprise attack on these Mermen.

Let Xia Nan take the spellcaster Haian to the pier to call for support, while she, as the captain, stayed in the most dangerous place to monitor the Mermen below.

Her approach was, of course, fine, and could even be called secure.

If Xia Nan were put in the other party's position, he probably wouldn't be able to think of a better solution, and as a temporary member, he had no intention of challenging the captain's authority.

But right now, the experience on Qiaoyan Island gave Xia Nan a different view.

"Captain, these Sahuagin should be performing some kind of ritual; I've seen it before."

"The magical beasts they summon are very difficult to deal with. Going back and forth from here to the pier... the situation might change a lot."

It wasn't that Xia Nan was overthinking it; after all, the scene of that shark beast slaughtering the Silver-Clawed Osprey squad was still vivid in his mind, and even he had barely managed to kill the other party.

Right now, with the Merman priest making such a big scene, what if they summoned a few more shark beasts, or even more powerful magical beasts? The Oath-Breaker adventurer squad might not be able to safely solve it even if they were all gathered.

He had just joined the team not long ago and didn't want to end it so soon.

Therefore, some reminders were very necessary.

And immediately following that, the Druid Haian's words further confirmed the credibility of Xia Nan's warning.

"The water elemental energy by the sea does indeed have signs of gathering toward the altar. Although it's not certain that it's absolutely a summoning ritual, that Merman priest is definitely casting a spell."

Hearing this, Luo Lin frowned.

She was, of course, not the kind of dictator who wouldn't allow her own authority to be questioned and was arbitrary.

Since both teammates beside her said so, she also realized the special nature of the current situation.

When wiping out this group of Mermen became necessary, and going back to call for support was too sluggish and prone to variables, the only choice left for the three of them seemed to be one.

Her tightly furrowed brows suddenly relaxed, and as her fiery red long hair swayed, Luo Lin had already made a decision.

It was just that the number of people was indeed limited, with a total of only three people including herself, one of whom was an important spellcaster who needed to be protected at all times.

After pondering for a moment, Luo Lin nodded toward Haian with a meaningful look:

"You go up first; there might be no time to take care of you later."

Go up?

Xia Nan was stunned in his heart, but saw Haian suddenly take two steps back.

Hum—

Emerald green magic light flashed and disappeared.

The woman with cold white skin and brown shoulder-length hair stretched her arms and stood on tiptoe.

The emerald light lingering in the air compressed inward, sticking to the surface of her body.

Her face became blurred under the reflection of the light, and her two already slender arms extended outward under the action of the magic light, and her body's center of gravity gradually shifted downward.

Just like plasticine made of pure green light, the original human form standing upright changed rapidly in the blink of an eye, and one could faintly see the bird's beak that became sharper and longer as the light swayed, as well as the feathers that condensed.

"Whoosh..."

A light breeze blew past quietly, blowing away the green light covering Haian's body.

As the light debris fell, the human Druid who had originally stood on the spot disappeared.

Replacing her was a short-tailed albatross with snow-white feathers and brown velvet feathers on its back and neck, which was obviously larger than its peers.

As a Druid of the Coral Circle whose professional level had reached lv3, Haian naturally had already obtained her "Wild Shape," capable of transforming into a wild beast as the world's stereotype of the Druid profession suggested.

Seeing a Druid transform in front of him for the first time, Xia Nan felt novel in his heart and couldn't help but look at the other party several times.

So much so that Haian, who was usually calm, felt a bit embarrassed and flapped her wings, wanting to fly into the high sky.

After transforming into the Wild Shape, although her spellcasting ability was greatly weakened, she also gained the ability to fly like a bird, having the advantage of height, and no longer needed the two of them to protect her.

Looking at the huge wings of the albatross that Haian had transformed into, Xia Nan couldn't help but feel a move in his heart. ===== CHAPTER 457 =====