Chapter 125: The Piranha's Bait

Xiao Feng continued to clear the path.

After passing through the canyon at the end of the No. 1 boss room, the scenery ahead began to change.

The road was gone.

A wide river blocked the way, with nothing around.

"What's going on? No way forward?" Everyone looked bewildered.

The river ahead was about 120 meters wide, its water gray-black, and its depth unfathomable.

The opposite bank was shrouded in mist, nothing visible; only the river could be seen winding off in some direction, seeming very long and far.

This great river is the confluence of the small streams within the valley; from the dungeon map, its name can be seen as the "Lost River".

But no other information is known.

"Xiao Dao, does your gathering quest have any hints? There's no way ahead—how do we proceed?" Xiao Feng asked.

Xiao Dao had just finished gathering some materials from the No. 1 boss room; hearing this, he replied: "No hints—my task is to collect nine kinds of materials from the nine boss rooms of the Lost Land. Upon completion, the instructor will give me a god‑tier potion and its crafting formula."

God-tier potion crafting formula!

The team members were somewhat surprised upon hearing that.

God-tier potions have a small chance to drop from bosses of Legendary tier or higher, and they generally permanently boost attributes.

Although each costs only about 10,000 to 50,000 gold coins—far less than mythic gear—if one could learn the formula and mass-produce it, that would be a huge fortune!

Seeing everyone's surprise, Xiao Dao explained: "I can't make it myself unless I play for a very long time and train my alchemy to god-tier. This quest is mainly about building a good relationship with the instructor so I can later obtain high-grade medicine."

Only then did the team feel relieved.

"Let's not talk about that for now; think of how to cross the river." Xiao Feng interrupted their chatter.

This river is very wide, and we don't know how deep it is.

The game has no swimming skill; jumping in recklessly could easily lead to drowning.

Moreover, based on experience from the valley's small streams, the water likely teems with piranhas; even if you don't drown, you'll be bitten to death.

A group of people crouched by the river, at a loss.

Such a huge dungeon, yet there's no way forward—it's pretty speechless.

After waiting a few minutes, Xiao Dao couldn't help but suggest: "Otherwise, I'll go into the water to test it—anyway, I'm wearing trash gear, so I don't care about dropping items if I die. You have plenty of priests; just revive me."

That's all we can do.

The underwater environment is special; no one wants to risk it, otherwise dropped gear would sink to the bottom and be unrecoverable.

Xiao Dao volunteered to be a probing stone; several priests quickly applied various defensive buffs to him.

"I'm going up!"

He let out a low shout, leapt forward, and headed toward the river surface.

Splash~

Before Xiao Dao even fell in, a piranha over five meters long leapt out and swallowed him whole in one bite.

"Holy shit!"

"You motherfucker, such a huge fish!"

"Xiao Dao got insta-killed!"

In the team, Xiao Dao's health bar went black outright, and there was no corpse, making revival impossible.

At the moment the piranha appeared, Xiao Feng and the others saw its information.

【Piranha King (Epic Boss)】

Level: 150

HP: 49500000/49500000

"Big shots, I got thrown back to the entrance platform, lost EXP but didn't return to the main city." Xiao Dao's voice came over the team channel.

Everyone immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, it was just a single death, and I wasn't kicked out of the dungeon.

Otherwise, re-entering would consume another entry attempt, a huge loss.

Dao Jie of the Chulong team said: "This fish is probably a mechanism monster; we need to draw it out after killing it, then quickly finish it off."

"That's simple." Xiao Feng immediately replied: "I'll cover the river surface with sustained damage skills, then have someone jump in to lure it. As soon as it shows its head, we'll insta-kill it."

"Umm… so who will be the next lucky fish bait?"

Everyone looked at each other; nobody wanted to experience the terror of being swallowed whole by a monster.

"I'll do it."

In the end, it was Chulong who stepped up, showing the most responsibility.

This Iron Head President took off his gear, stowed it in his pack, and told Xiao Feng: "You lay down the skills first; once you're ready, I'll jump."

"Yeah, thanks, bro." Xiao Feng didn't stand on ceremony.

Clearing the dungeon is what matters most; dying a few times doesn't count for much.

Immediately, Xiao Feng had Xing Yun Miao apply full beneficial buffs to him, then laid out the Rainstorm Technique, Wind Technique, Sea of Fire Technique, Fire Wall Technique, and other skills across the river surface.

"Go on, Pika Long!"

Li Li shouted from the side.

"..." Chulong wore a gloomy face, but pressed for time, he had no chance to curse and simply leapt forward.

Splash~

As expected, the Piranha King surfaced again, opened its mouth wide, and swallowed Chulong whole.

At the moment it surfaced, the skills Xiao Feng had pre-laid formed streaks of damage that hit it.

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After a few hits, the full-health Piranha King was instantly killed.

Its huge body fell back onto the river surface, splashing a large spray.

However, there was no drop of gold or equipment, only 1.98 million experience.

Moreover, many team members leveled up; entering the dungeon in under ten minutes, the experience gain efficiency was quite considerable.

Chulong and Xiaodao started running from the dungeon's initial platform toward this side.

Xiao Feng and the others waited quietly by the river for changes to occur.

After the Piranha King died, the river surface kept swaying.

It wasn't the gentle sway of ripples, but a violent shaking as if the water were boiling!

"It seems something is coming out of the water!" Parkinson's keen eyes saw an object rising beneath the murky river water.

Immediately after, a wooden pole floated up from the water, followed by a flag, canvas……

Soon, a large ship appeared on the water surface.

This ship is about 15 meters long, looks dilapidated, its canvas and flag are riddled with holes, as if abandoned for a long time.

Xiao Feng waited a while, seeing nothing else appear, then said: "Looks like we need to board the ship, take the water route to find the next boss. Wait for Chulong and Xiaodao to arrive, then we'll set off."

"Mm, let's board first."

The group remained vigilant, climbing up the rope ladder onto the ship.

Although the large ship floated up from the water, it felt neither wet nor slippery; the interior was dry, even having some spider silk present.

The flag on the mast is skull-shaped, somewhat like a pirate ship.

Xiao Feng and the others boarded together, making the ship feel somewhat crowded.

The ship has six pairs of oars and a helm; Xiao Feng tried to pick up an oar to row, but the system prompted him: "Strength insufficient 500, cannot use."

Shen Di also noticed this, exclaiming: "It seems we need twelve physical jobs with 500 strength to row, and one person to steer."

"Intelligence under 500 cannot steer, this requirement is quite high." As a warrior, Zhang Fan fiddled with the helm and also discovered the attribute requirements.

"Who has 500 strength? One person controls each oar. Put a mage on the helm; I have high output, on standby to prevent any accidents." Xiao Feng said in the team.

"I have 500 strength."

"Me too."

"Me too!"

Zhang Fan, Shashen, and others quickly stepped forward, each taking an oar.

But altogether they only numbered nine, falling short of the required twelve rowers.

Chulong and Xiaodao revived and returned, re-equipped, and boarded the ship.

Li Li switched to a pure intelligence necklace to take the helm, then happily said: "The helm has an interface; with just ten rowers the ship can sail. Anyone whose attributes are close to 500, switch to strength-boosting gear and take your post!"

"I'm only 15 strength short; who can lend me a high-strength glove?" A warrior from the Campaign Guild stepped forward to say.

Xiao Feng, without a word, took out an epic glove from his pack and traded it over.

"All right! As long as ten people row together, the ship will move." Li Li glanced at the interface and told everyone.

Xiao Feng nodded, "Let's set out!"