Chapter 65: Danger Lurks Everywhere, My Final Warning to You

The air inside the island is filled with mist; every breath carries a strong fishy smell, and the damp air makes people feel extremely uncomfortable.

Wrapped in this unpleasant odor, everyone feels an indescribable discomfort, but they endure it for the mission.

Lin Caier covers her nose and says dissatisfied, "This place is really unbearable, both smelly and fishy."

She is a delicate young lady, and managing to grit her teeth and stay in such a harsh environment is already extremely rare.

In the island's center rises a conspicuous peak; the Mermaid Dungeon is located atop the peak, and from afar one can see a massive waterfall cascading down the peak.

At the summit, the Entrance of the Mermaid Dungeon spins continuously like an underwater vortex.

Fang Hongxiu looks toward the peak and confirms the direction of advance.

The space inside the island is larger than they imagined; after passing through the water curtain, everyone has already scattered, and the once dense team has now been completely split apart by the water curtain...

"We must be quick; our target is the Mermaid Dungeon, do not attack monsters that won't initiate combat."

Fang Hongxiu calmly issues the orders, and the team members nod as they listen; they all understand that they came here for a swift decisive battle and cannot lag behind.

She charges forward first, and the others follow closely behind.

Water pools are scattered across the island, filled with various monsters; these half‑human, half‑fish creatures are covered in scales, far from the mermaids of stories, their exposed sharp fangs glitter coldly in the sunlight, not to be underestimated.

The team members feel a tightening in their hearts upon seeing them; a bite from such a water monster could cause poisoning,

injury, or even endanger their lives.

Narrow passages form between the pools, and the team moves through them like a long dragon, swiftly.

Suddenly, a splash sounds as a Mermaid monster bursts from a pool, charging straight at them.

Fang Hongxiu reacts extremely quickly; she immediately releases the Taunt Skill, the Knight's signature skill.

The Mermaid monster seems deeply insulted, instantly loses its reason, turns and rushes toward Fang Hongxiu, its eyes flashing Red Light, full of fury.

When confronting an intruding outsider, this monster has already lost its sanity.

Jiang Chen's Detection Technique also targets the Mermaid monster, displaying the following attributes.

"Mermaid Soldier"

"Level: 19"

"Strength: 300"

"Agility: 150"

"Spirit: 200"

"Constitution: 320"

"Skill: None"

From its attributes, this monster meets the standards of a Level 19 monster.

These monsters are not powerful and have no skills.

Such wild monsters cannot block them at all.

Charge!

Fang Hongxiu doesn't wait for the Mermaid monster to arrive; she already lifts her Shield and meets it.

Under the Charge skill, she instantly covers several meters and collides with the Mermaid monster.

With a bang, the Mermaid monster is knocked several meters into the ground.

At that moment a Fireball flies out, landing precisely on the Mermaid monster.

With a roar, the Mermaid monster is instantly engulfed by Flame.

But it does not die there; after a struggle it charges toward Fang Hongxiu again.

A figure flickers behind it; Lin Caier has somehow already arrived at its side.

The Dagger, glowing faintly, thrusts out.

Lethal Strike!

The skill activates, and the Dagger pierces the Mermaid monster's torso.

Scales shatter, and the Mermaid monster lets out a howl as it falls to the ground.

At that moment another Ice Arrow shoots out, landing on the Mermaid monster.

The Mermaid monster is frozen solid, completely immobilized.

"Killed Level 19 Mermaid Soldier, Experience +1500"

"Fang Hongxiu obtains Fish Scale ×1"

Jiang Chen receives a notification that the Mermaid monster has been slain.

Because they are in a six‑person party, the experience gained is not high.

Fang Hongxiu is the Team Leader, and all dropped items will be obtained by her.

This is a trial, not a grind for levels, and Jiang Chen does not mind.

After swiftly dealing with the Mermaid monster, the team continues forward.

Along the way they encounter several more waves of monsters.

The closer they get to the peak, the more monsters appear.

The levels also gradually increase.

Further ahead, Level 21 monsters have already appeared, and eliminating them requires some effort.

After destroying a Level 21 monster, Fang Hongxiu looks toward the peak.

"At the current pace, it will take at least three more hours to reach the island's center."

"Climbing the mountain also takes time."

"We are too slow."

"From now on, when we encounter monsters, Liu Cui, you are in charge of control; if we can avoid fighting, we will not fight."

"We quicken our pace and head to the Instance."

Fang Hongxiu decides to ignore the monsters and speed up the party's advance.

Liu Cui nods, "Alright."

The party pushes forward faster.

When they encounter monsters again, Liu Cui directly uses a Skill to Control them.

Wind Bind!

Within the Skill, the wind element gently gestures, like shackles trapping the monster.

It lasts one minute; after that minute, they would have long vanished.

Thus, the party's advance speed increases greatly.

In just twenty minutes, they can already see the Mountain Foot.

Just as Fang Hongxiu had judged, they are behind.

At this moment, another

team has reached the Mountain Foot, ahead of them by a good margin.

The waterfall drops from the Mountain top; there is only one road up the mountain, and it is not wide.

Within the waterfall, along the road, countless mermaid monsters stand.

Especially at the Mountain Foot, the waterfall's rush creates a dense array of water pools.

The pools connect, forming a winding road.

Mermaid monsters are everywhere here, making avoidance impossible.

At this point, a team has arrived at the Mountain Foot, clearing the monsters below, preparing to ascend.

Fang Hongxiu bites her teeth, "If we charge straight up, do we have any chance?"

Liu Cui shakes her head, "There are too many; I can't Control them."

"Moreover, these monsters are Level 22, higher than me; my Skill has a chance to fail."

When a monster's level exceeds Liu Cui's, the Skill carries a risk of failure.

Along the way they've already failed several times, but there was only one monster each time, and a failed Control meant immediate elimination.

But here, there are too many monsters.

They are packed densely, like a military camp.

Fang Hongxiu furrows her brow.

If we clear the path all the way, it will take at least one hour, and we'll fall completely behind.

But if we charge straight ahead without Liu Cui's Control, it will be hard to get through.

It could even result in being surrounded by mermaid monsters, putting the party in danger.

For a moment, Fang Hongxiu is caught in a dilemma.

Jiang Chen looks at the road ahead; he has already found the nearest route.

"Let me go."

Jiang Chen suddenly speaks.

Lei Ren sneers almost instinctively, "You? You're a Level 17 guy, what can you do?"

All the way, Jiang Chen never acted, just stayed behind.

Except for Lin Caier, no one knows his abilities.

Lin Caier hums

and says, "You, Ling‑surname, shut your stinky mouth."

Fang Hongxiu glowers at Lei Ren, signaling him to stay silent.

Then Fang Hongxiu asks Jiang Chen, "What do you plan to do?"

Jiang Chen says, "Use the Skeleton Warrior to lure the mermaid monsters."

Fang Hongxiu's eyes light up; she recalls that Jiang Chen's profession is Necromancer Summoner. Though she doesn't know what a Necromancer Summoner does or what Skills he has, the fact that he has a Summoned Entity is clear.

Using a Summoned Entity to lure the mermaid monsters is indeed a good method.

This also makes Fang Hongxiu notice that among the teams that have already rushed to the Mountain Foot, there are Summoners present.

She assumes they are also using Summoned Entities to lure the mermaid monsters.

Fang Hongxiu says, "It's yours."

"Everyone else get ready; while the monsters are being lured, we'll charge through."

Jiang Chen's mind stirs, and the Skeleton Warrior runs over, accompanied by its unique crack.

"So fast!"

Fang Hongxiu's eyes narrow sharply.

The Skeleton Warrior's speed far exceeds her expectation.

In the blink of an eye it covers dozens of meters, appearing before a group of mermaid monsters.

The mermaid monsters emit a sharp cry and immediately charge at the Skeleton Warrior.

The Skeleton Warrior ignores them, turns and runs.

It runs to another water pool, pulling the mermaid monsters inside out.

Then it runs to another pool.

In an instant, a dozen mermaid monsters follow behind the Skeleton Warrior.

The Skeleton Warrior drags the group of monsters, running farther away.

The passage ahead is cleared, and Fang Hongxiu lets out a low shout.

Go!

The squad advanced swiftly.

The Skeleton Warrior ran ahead, clearing a path and taking all the monsters along the way.

The squad's advance was very smooth.

Just a few minutes.

Minutes later, they had already rushed to the Mountain Foot.

At this moment, the monsters behind the Skeleton Warrior had already numbered over a hundred.

Under Jiang Chen's Control, the Skeleton Warrior ran farther and farther.

Suddenly, the Skeleton Warrior vanished.

Jiang Chen recalled it back into the Summon Queue.

The mermaid monsters suddenly lost their target, each wearing a puzzled expression.

Fang Hongxiu let out a long sigh, "Well done."

Lin Caier giggled, "Really impressive."

Zhang Yang and Liu Cui also looked at Jiang Chen with admiration, saying it was thanks to him this time.

Lei Ren said coldly, "Why didn't you do this at the start? Otherwise we would have reached the Mountain long ago."

Jiang Chen turned his head, staring at him as if looking at an idiot.

Isn't this guy a mage?

A mage's mind should be very sharp, right?

Why does this guy look a bit stupid?

Lin Caier snorted coldly, "Lei Ren, shut your filthy mouth, stop farting here, and if you have the ability, go up yourself."

Jiang Chen stared at him coldly, "Last time."

Lei Ren sneered, "Isn't it just relying on the Summoned Entity..."

Fang Hongxiu interrupted Lei Ren at this moment, "Enough, shut up."

Lei Ren repeatedly targeted Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen rarely speaks; each time it's Lei Ren who stirs up trouble.

Everyone knows who the problem is.

A Scream suddenly echoed from the mountaintop.

Everyone looked up and saw a huge number of mermaid monsters rushing down from the mountain.

Meanwhile, several squads that had previously ascended the mountain were hastily retreating down.

At that moment, their faces were all pale with shock!