Chapter 227: Rat-Hunting Team

Luo De arrived at the hospital treehouse and found Amy already sitting up in bed.

After lying in bed for nearly a month, she had grown even thinner, her muscle mass completely gone.

Aside from her green skin, she was nothing but a slightly taller woman.

Yet the powerful spiritual energy radiating from her already signaled she was a seventh-rank warrior.

Amy spotted Luo De and let out two dumb giggles.

"Master, Amy is hungry~"

Her voice was hoarse and muffled, the result of not speaking for a long time.

Luo De reached out to pat her head; Amy instinctively raised her hand to pull at his pants, so he quickly grabbed her wrist.

"Tally, make something tasty."

"Eh—"

The succubus was reluctant, but since the master had spoken, she had no choice but to comply.

"I'll help too."

Said the enthusiastic half-deer girl, Xiao Ke, who had followed along.

These past days, she had made little progress in cooking, but she was quite skilled at making desserts.

The two left the hospital.

They passed by Kalist, who was slowly approaching.

The elf came over and cast several diagnostic spells on Amy.

"Her condition isn't bad, but even with the 【Life-Sustaining Nutrition】 array, she remains malnourished. Her spiritual accumulation has indeed reached the early stage of seventh rank, though it's still unstable."

Hearing this, Amy proudly declared: "Seventh rank! Amy is awesome!"

Luo De chuckled: "Yeah, awesome, awesome."

"Let's duel, Master! This time Amy will definitely beat you!"

Note: the duel referred to here.

Is an actual duel, not that kind of duel.

Luo De naturally understood.

"Wait a few days to recover first. Look at how thin you are—I could knock you down with one punch."

At that moment, Kalist interrupted: "Probably not necessary."

"What?"

Advancing to the seventh rank requires a specific complete process; it is extremely rare to ascend while recovering from injury or coma. I believe she possesses the beastman's innate spiritual technique, "Fight to Grow Stronger," which replenishes her nutrition. After she is fed, engaging her in appropriate combat will be the best method of recovery.

Luo De knew this spiritual technique.

It was mentioned in 【Research on Indigenous Spiritual Techniques of Non-Human Races】.

Among beastman warriors, "Fight to Grow Stronger" is a rare skill.

It allows beastmen to continuously strengthen their spiritual energy in battle; each near-death experience dramatically boosts their power.

It's the standard ability of those indestructible protagonists in Rexue adventure stories.

"Hey—"

The banshee Krist floated in through the wall, frowning. "Didn't you say you were going to hunt down the rat people? They change nests every night—I have no idea how hard I've had to search."

"How strong are they?"

"Most are lowly third- or fourth-rank trash; a few reach fifth or sixth rank."

Hearing this, Luo De smiled at Kalist: "Look, just as you finished speaking, a perfect chance to grind appears."

The elf scowled and warned: "Mind your limits—she's just recovered from serious illness. Only moderate combat is suitable. I'll go with you."

"You don't need to worry. I know my limits."

"No one's worried about you. I just don't want to come back and re-cast the 【Life-Sustaining Nutrition】 array again."

Tally and Xiao Ke moved quickly.

Less than half an hour later, a large tray of meat and sweet cakes was placed on Amy's table.

The female beastman devoured everything in a whirlwind, finishing all the food in just ten minutes.

Thus,

the Rat-Hunting Team—composed of Luo De, Tally, Krist, Kalist, and Amy—set out.

Since the journey was long, the elf produced a newly crafted small sky sail.

The five of them were a bit cramped, but it didn't matter.

The sky sail slowly rose into the air.

Bond, who saw this from the ground, shouted loudly, wanting to join in, but Xiao Ke, equally envious, held him down and scolded him quietly.

Luo De felt the cool wind above and couldn't help but feel excited.

He had bounced and glided through the air many times, but he had never truly experienced soaring freely through the sky.

The forest and Shi Ying Town gradually shrank; the distant dusk hills revealed deep blue wilderness under the night.

Far to the north, the towering main district of Coral Bay was faintly visible.

Unexpectedly, the banshee Krist was afraid.

She kept her eyes shut, curled up on the floor, and clung tightly to Luo De's pant leg.

Kalist explained: "Undead beings are tied to negative energy emanating from the ground. Once they rise far above the earth, they experience a stress response—even intelligent undead races are no exception."

"There's such a thing?"

"Of course. Many intelligent races have this innate fear. For example, vampires—besides sunlight, they also dread the ocean and dare not cross it even in the wild."

Luo De was momentarily stunned.

In his past life on Earth, he'd heard many vampire stories.

Fear of silver, sunlight, garlic, and crosses was normal—but he'd never heard they feared the sea.

Seeing his bewildered expression, the elf snorted mockingly:

"Vampires' origins are far older than humanity in this era. Legend says they survived the Great Flood of the Third Era, and that's why they developed their fear of seawater."

The sky sail's speed was neither fast nor high; it drifted slowly, carrying so many people.

After passing over Shi Ying Town, they reached the southern mining district.

They didn't land, continuing southward.

Until Coral Bay's buildings vanished from sight, even beyond the Windwall Forest.

The sky sail crossed a ring of low hills.

As the night wind strengthened, they had to lower their already low altitude.

Winter had arrived; the first signs of sandstorms blowing from the Death Desert toward the interior appeared.

Under the night sky, a thin veil of sand lingered in the air.

Luo De remembered yesterday's Snow Hill Evening News: the volcanoes of Dusk Mountain Range were still erupting continuously.

Ash disasters had already begun; tens of thousands in the surrounding areas had started evacuating.

Rumor had it the Magic Control League had dispatched several experts, but so far with no effective results.

Half an hour later,

the sky sail arrived above a river.

This was the Hansen River.

It originated here, circled around Shi Ying Town, cut through the Dusk Hills, and emptied into the Montes Sea where Coral Bay lay.

Interestingly, a magical disaster had once occurred here.

While reviewing records at the Magic Control League, Luo De came across a case titled 【The Mutated Sandflower Fish-People Incident】.

Sandflower fish-people normally lived in the sea.

But over twenty years ago, they traveled up the Hansen River from the Montes Sea, expanded their territory, and slaughtered countless lives.

At the time, Aiselon was not to be trifled with.

Wealthy and powerful, they immediately sent seven legendary mages.

After a single wave of legendary spells, the fish-people instantly submitted.

Later investigation revealed that this entire group had undergone strange mutations—they could no longer tolerate seawater.

That's why they were forced to leave the sea and survive here.

The Magic Control League had not directly intervened in this disaster; they had merely collected the records.

Even after reading it all, Luo De didn't fully understand.

"AHHHH!!!"

As he pondered, a scream rose from beneath the sky sail.

He looked down.

There, a group of blue- and green-skinned Sandflower fish-people, armed and surrounding someone.

(End of Chapter)