NABC Chapter 33 Forked Fishing, Electrofishing, and Poison Fishing
Chapter 33 Forked Fishing, Electrofishing, and Poison Fishing
The underground river at the very depths of the underground palace.
The green water was murky, with visibility less than two meters.
The water here flows at a stagnant, slow pace year-round, with thick, viscous black silt piled up at the bottom.
Ancient stone buildings, dating back to an unknown era, were submerged in these murky waters. Slippery seaweed and dark green moss grew densely between the massive, dilapidated stone crevices.
The sewage flowing continuously from the underground palace's sewer outlet, carrying grayish-black impurities and whitish grease from the metabolism of the stitched-up corpses, settled into the several-foot-thick layer of black, decaying silt at the bottom of the water.
Sewage from the sewers polluted the water quality of this underground river, yet it somehow sustained a group of resilient creatures from the lower reaches of the earth.
A strange-looking creature was swimming along the thick silt at the bottom of the water.
This thing is no more than half a meter long, and its general outline looks like some kind of fish.
However, it has no scales on its body and is covered with a layer of rough, wrinkled, grayish-brown skin, which looks about the same as old, rotten leather.
Because it has lived in the extremely dark underwater world for many years, the eyes of this strange fish have long since degenerated, leaving only a layer of white, turbid pupils in its eye sockets.
Having lost its sight, it relies on several extremely long, whisker-like sensory organs that grow around its jaws to constantly sweep across the muddy bottom and determine its location by sensing changes in the water flow.
In the foul-smelling sludge, its tentacles probed into the mud and sand, deftly sweeping away organic residue and humus that had settled from the sewage.
It lives by eating this garbage full of toxins and filth, and its flesh has long been rotten to the extreme.
To warn potential predators, "You're unpalatable and poisonous," the fish's grayish-brown skin is covered with dense, luminous green spots that gleam coolly against the dark green of the underwater surface.
It is precisely because of this fish's poor meat quality and the presence of trace amounts of toxins.
Even the Thunder Crocodile that once roamed the dark pool in the cave above didn't bother to give this fish a second glance, which is why it was able to survive peacefully at the bottom of this underground river until today.
But the peaceful life of this strange fish has been disrupted in the last few days.
A while ago, the water flow at the bottom of this underground river was normal. Apart from the tiny ripples caused by the movement of other creatures, there were no signs of any large creatures intervening.
But lately, every now and then a violent, unreasonable torrent of water sweeps by. The commotion comes and goes quickly.
But each time the violent fluctuations subsided, several of the faint currents of water belonging to the strange fish would inexplicably disappear.
A blind, strange fish that was rummaging through humus suddenly stiffened its long tentacles.
Despite its pitifully small brain size, the animal's instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm was frantically alerting the strange fish.
That turbulent current that had puzzled the fish was back again.
Moreover, the water flow was extremely fast, as if it were heading straight for the dazed green-spotted fish!
"Whoosh—"
The murky water was broken open, and a sharp spearhead, gleaming with a cold metallic light, pierced through the body of the grayish-brown monster fish as easily as piercing tofu.
The intense pain caused it to struggle wildly underwater, its tail thrashing against the water.
But before it could even stir up a few trickles of water, several arcs of crimson electricity shot through the steel spear and into its body, the crackling of the electric shocks turning into a muffled, explosive sound underwater.
The fish was instantly charred by the electric shock, and its struggle came to an abrupt end.
A murky green venomous blood gushed from the puncture wound, spreading across the water, leaving trails of green venom in the underground river. This was its last stand against its predator, as it was at the bottom of the food chain.
Undercurrents were brewing. A deformed humanoid figure, about two meters tall, completely ignored the highly concentrated toxic blood spreading from the surrounding area.
Luo Lan calmly retracted the [External Eight Spider Spears] and brought the charred poisonous fish hanging from the spear tip to his eyes.
The third lobe of his lung rose and fell gently within his chest cavity. His specialties in underwater breathing and gas filtration allowed Luo Lan to move with ease in this underwater river.
Reaching out, he removed the charred, poisonous fish from the spider spear and pressed it against his chest. A flash of purplish-black light appeared. The fish's corpse instantly disintegrated, turning into a cloud of chaotic particles that were greedily absorbed by the bone hand itself.
[Chaos Essence +13]
[Current Chaotic Essence: 5555]
[The 37th one...]
Luo Lan counted silently in his mind. This was the 37th of these poisonous fish he had hunted, and also the last sign of life he could detect in this underground river.
During this time, Luo Lan thoroughly explored the underground palace.
Although there are many monsters in the dungeon, they are all predators and decomposers, lacking important producers. In a closed ecosystem, it is difficult to achieve sustainable development.
Therefore, Luo Lan transformed into a tireless and ruthless meat grinder.
They mercilessly slaughtered every living creature that moved throughout the entire underground palace, in every crevice and hidden corner.
Including but not limited to: the stitched corpses remaining in each level of the underground palace, the crystalline worms swarming under the stone bridge cave, the strange fish that survive in this underground river by relying on poison and inferior flesh... even the mutated rats that scurried around from the sewers, none of them were spared.
Only through ruthless eradication could Luo Lan have achieved his current staggering 5555 points of Chaos Origin Essence.
Luo Lan's efforts to squeeze every last drop of resources were all in an attempt to break through the "survival limitations" imposed by the outside world.
During this time, Luo Lan used her [Condensation] ability to create a "portable oxygen tank".
He compressed the chaotic air from the underground palace into a container assembled from scrap metal, and by carrying the "oxygen tank" on his back, Luo Lan endured the trek of twenty miles to the outside world.
Compared to the first time when he crawled outwards in a sorry state for three miles before exhausting himself, this was a world of difference.
However, it's still not enough, as the storage capacity of a portable compression container is inherently limited.
Twenty miles later, the chaotic energy in the "oxygen tank" gradually thinned and was exhausted.
Before the warning of biomass energy depletion even sounded in his mind, Luo Lan had already consciously turned back.
However, what chilled Luo Lan to the bone even more than the limited scope of her actions was...
Luo Lan walked cautiously across the vast wilderness, using high-precision ultrasonic sensing to probe every hill and thermal vision to scan all the dark corners.
The result was that nothing was gained.
Aside from the fact that Luo Lan was traveling during the day, resulting in a stark contrast between the blazing sun and the enormous silver moon, everything else she observed was almost identical:
On the vast land, there were no monsters, no villages, no humans, no trace of any living thing that had ever walked by... not even the chirping of an insect could be heard.
As far as the eye can see, there is still only endless withered yellow vegetation stretching to the horizon.
[Has the outside world already been destroyed?]
Luo Lan couldn't help but wonder if the seemingly vast world outside the underground palace was just a desolate wasteland abandoned in this strange new world.
Inside the dungeon, apart from the main door on the top floor that was sealed with arcane runes, every corner had been thoroughly searched by Roland.
5555 points of Chaos Essence is a considerable sum that can put Luo Lan's mind at ease.
However, Luo Lan doesn't yet have a good idea on how to make good use of this limited reserve.