Chapter 464: Haian

Ever since arriving at Shoal Islands, Xia Nan had consistently avoided fighting in the water.

This was certainly not without reason, as his high-mobility combat style, synthesized from various combat techniques, was ill-suited for an underwater environment; the viscous currents would significantly impede his body's speed and explosive power.

Out of caution and responsibility for his own safety, even while sailing the open sea, he mostly utilized the ship's ranged weapons to attack while standing on the deck when facing underwater enemies.

But much like the internet jokes from his past life about "combat power being inferior to a goose," if one truly believed that a grown human being chased around by a flapping domestic white goose was because their actual combat power was inferior, they would be gravely mistaken.

Many times, human fear and avoidance of battle are simply due to a resistance to getting hurt—even if it's just a scrape—or a desire not to dirty their clothes.

When the necessity of battle truly outweighs everything else, whether it be the primal instinct for survival or the burning rage of being provoked, even without using the intelligent tools that allowed humans to stand at the top of the natural food chain, snapping a white goose's neck with one's bare hands would take no more effort than unscrewing a bottle cap.

The same held true for Xia Nan.

His resistance to underwater combat did not mean he was incapable of fighting in the water.

And unlike before, his current location was not the vast, featureless open sea, but right beside the pier, with land only a few dozen meters away.

There were no surging waves as tall as mountains, nor did he need to worry about suction-cup tentacles thicker than a human body suddenly emerging from the abyss beneath his feet; in fact, given the internal width of the Twin Canyons, larger giant monsters could not even squeeze inside.

Even the approximate number of enemies could be estimated due to the height advantage from the air.

With this as a premise, facing the *Blade of Vengeance*, which was currently under siege by Sahuagin and in imminent danger.

As the only member of the team besides Alton who could use 【Gravity Control】 to make his own body weight barely meet the conditions for Haian's transformation-based suspension, Xia Nan, who had arrived with the Druid after hearing the signal and making an emergency cliff jump,

made a decisive choice after briefly analyzing the situation from the air.

Release, descend.

It was precisely because of this that the twin warriors and the crew on deck finally caught sight of that black, wolf-headed meteor—which had been rumored on the ship over the past few days to have some sort of special synergy with Haian—falling from the sky.

"Awoooo—"

A deep, high-pitched wolf howl mixed with the sound of tearing air, from far to near, accompanied by a sharp, piercing whistle that shifted from low to high frequency as it accelerated, becoming increasingly clear in the air.

At this moment, it was as if the mute button had been pressed on the battlefield.

Even breathing seemed to stall; the screeching Sahuagin, the angrily roaring sailors and crew...

Every pair of eyes stared at that pitch-black figure with swaying mane, dragging a long tail of light, falling rapidly.

"Boom!"

Water splashed everywhere.

The meteor fell straight into the sea.

The waves kicked up by the powerful impact washed over the deck of the *Blade of Vengeance*, causing everyone on board to sway slightly.

"This..."

Leien opened his mouth, subconsciously glancing up at the short-tailed albatross circling above the ship, momentarily unsure of what to do to coordinate with this teammate who had arrived from the sky to provide support.

Should he go into the water too?

Would it be too dangerous?

What about Xia Nan? Why was there no movement? Had he encountered some danger?

What should he do?

This mature, middle-aged man thought of many things in an instant.

And just as he gritted his teeth, intending to risk jumping off the deck to enter the sea and support his teammate,

the sudden surging of water from beneath the surface, and a wolf howl that was slightly muffled yet even deeper through the isolation of the seawater, interrupted his train of thought.

Unlike his first coordination with Haian on Rabbit Island, facing the vastly different combat environment now, Xia Nan adjusted his combat strategy very flexibly.

During the descent, he changed his landing point from the deck to the sea surface, knowing his physical constitution could fully withstand the impact between his body and the water; not only did he not slow down, but he utilized 【Tooth Hunt】 and 【Gravity Control】 to maximize his falling speed.

The exaggerated kinetic energy wrapped around his body didn't even require deliberate movement to tear a nearby unlucky Sahuagin into bloody fragments.

Splash—

From the air to underwater.

The previously clear sounds seemed to be covered by a layer of fog, becoming blurred and distant.

Water rushed against his eardrums; he could only hear the "swish" of water and the muffled screeches of the surrounding Sahuagin.

Falling,

falling.

The extra impact speed gained in the air allowed Xia Nan, even while facing the resistance of the seawater, to fall straight to the seabed by relying on the body inertia brought by 【Tooth Hunt】.

His leather boots, soaked in seawater, stepped lightly onto the soft sandy bed.

His half-closed eyelids snapped open, his pitch-black eyes staring upward at the surface.

Xia Nan had never experienced underwater combat before.

He had to admit, it was a rather strange experience.

Visually, although close to the land pier and of average depth, the towering cliffs on both sides blocked most of the sunlight, making underwater visibility quite poor, similar to the evening just before the sun sets completely.

The sound, even if not deathly silent, isolated seventy percent of the noise from land; the cold seawater wrapped around his entire body, and even the simplest act of lifting a hand or taking a step required more effort than on land.

And it was precisely when his five senses were restricted that his keen perception, far exceeding that of professionals of the same level, quietly came into play.

For Xia Nan, if one were to look only at the images he saw, those Sahuagin swimming in the surrounding seawater might just be blurred shadows flashing by rapidly.

But if combined with the screeches they emitted and the subtle water currents they stirred, his extremely keen sensory ability allowed him to precisely locate the positions of these water rats.

Xia Nan hovered quietly on the seabed; the Sahuagin that had been attacking the *Blade of Vengeance* gradually approached from all directions, drawn by the instinctual attraction to the prey that had fallen into the water.

Thanks to his powerful physical constitution as a professional, his breath-holding time underwater far exceeded the limits of humans in his past life, but considering the excessive consumption during battle, it needed to be reduced slightly.

The surrounding environment had changed, but he did not intend to change his combat style.

Because at this moment, as he stepped on the seabed sand with both feet and looked at the dim, open seawater around him, Xia Nan suddenly realized that, in a way, underwater combat... for him, might not be such a massive debuff that would drop his combat power by several tiers.

In some respects, his agile and flexible combat style could even be better utilized in the water.

Xia Nan did not know the origin of the 【Meteor Blade Hunter】 profession he had taken, but judging from the name alone, it could be inferred that this was a highly aggressive, highly flexible profession that used gravity for high-mobility combat in an outer space environment.

And underwater combat, to a certain extent, simulated the zero-gravity environment of outer space.

Perhaps the physical stamina Xia Nan needed to consume for combat techniques became greater, and his speed and explosive power during movement were slightly reduced due to water resistance.

But the space he could utilize on the battlefield had been improved unprecedentedly compared to land.

【Tooth Hunt】, which could only move forward, backward, left, and right on shore, suddenly gained a vertical "z-axis" underwater!

"Vroom—" ===== CHAPTER 465 =====