95: Chapter 95 My Critical Strike Will Burn Your Net

The dull thud of the water curtain closing hit Chen Fan’s chest like a heavy stone.

He looked up at the silver-haired figure atop the bell tower; her seaweed-like long hair drifted in the current like silver mist, and the fragmented light spots kicked up by her swaying fishtail stung his eyes—it was the Tide Mother Lan Ji, the mysterious figure from the Deep Sea Cult.

"Incarnation of Fire." Lan Ji's voice was laced with ice shards as the Tide Sound Bell swayed gently at her fingertips. "You come bearing the World-Burning Flame, daring to defile the Sacred Spring of the Pure Sea?"

Chen Fan’s back pressed against the edge of the Cold Pool, and the system’s red light exploded into a bloody mist in his mind. The warning of [Overload unresolved, Critical Hit prohibited] pricked his temples like a thin needle.

He wiped the water from his face, a fierce edge in his cold sneer. "The woman on my back is dying, and you call this defilement?"

A metallic scraping sound suddenly came from the shadows.

Iron Gill was huddled behind a coral thicket, his metallic gills vibrating rapidly. His hand signals were faster than a machine gun: "Every time the bell tolls, the barrier weakens... but the one who rings it will be marked by the Tide Mother."

Before he could finish, the Ice Cocoon in Chen Fan’s arms cracked with a "ka."

The moment he looked down, cold sweat dripped from his chin into the Cold Pool. Su Shuang's eyelashes fluttered violently within the Ice Cocoon, and her originally snow-white skin took on a sickly ashen-gray hue. The phantom of a fox tail had just sprouted from her lower back before it dissolved into points of light, like a clump of snow scattered by the wind.

"Shuanger!" Chen Fan’s Adam’s apple bobbed as his fingers unconsciously dug into the edge of the Ice Cocoon.

The system suddenly vibrated violently, its mechanical voice changing pitch: [Bloodline crisis detected, triggering "Guardian Anchor"—The next Critical Hit will be "Frost Devour"].

His pupils shrank abruptly.

Frost Devour was an ice-attribute skill. In this Water Palace filled with water elements, it should have been like a fish in water. However, he had just experienced two Critical Hits, and the flame energy inside him was still surging. Forcibly triggering Frost Devour... The system warning blared again: [Overload activated—Self-combustion countdown: 10 seconds].

"Fuck." Chen Fan bit his back teeth so hard they ached.

Su Shuang’s breath grew weaker, and the beads of blood seeping from the cracks in the Ice Cocoon were being washed away bit by bit by the Cold Pool water.

He stared at the Tide Sound Bell in Lan Ji's hand and suddenly grinned, revealing pearly white teeth. "Mark me then. This life of mine should have been traded for hers long ago."

Before his voice even faded, he shot out from the water curtain like an arrow from a bow.

His fist, wrapped in ghostly blue cold air, smashed toward the closing water curtain. The system prompt exploded almost simultaneously with the wind of his punch: [Critical Hit triggered (Frost Devour)].

Ice spread along the edge of his fist, and spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the water curtain. But in the next second, Chen Fan felt a fire erupt inside him—the veins under his skin glowed crimson-gold, like glass tubes filled with molten lava.

"9 seconds... 8 seconds..." The system countdown was a death knell in his ear.

Chen Fan gritted his teeth and charged into the Cold Pool. His scalding skin collided with the icy water, sending steam billowing high into the air, and the entire Water Palace trembled.

The Bewildering Bell vibrated and let out its first hum, the sound waves causing the ice on the water curtain to fall in flakes.

"You actually used your physical body to trigger the Tide Rhythm!" Lan Ji’s expression changed drastically as she spun the Tide Sound Bell in her palm. "Coral Ghosts, tear him apart!"

Several dark shadows crawled out from the cracks in the walls.

Chen Fan squinted at them. Those things had coral wrapped around their skeletons, and the fluorescent light at their joints looked exactly like bioluminescent fish from the deep sea. The currents they created while swimming perfectly matched the undercurrents of the Water Palace, even predicting his movements to some extent.

"Troublesome." Chen Fan wiped the steam from his face, catching a glimpse of the Bewildering Bell flickering in and out of sight through the mist.

Luo Yan’s voice suddenly rang in his mind: "The bell isn't a key; it's a seal... The Eye of Slumber is a 'Clearing Program' used by the system to eliminate those who lose control."

"Clearing?" Chen Fan curled his lip, dodging a Coral Ghost's claw. "Then I'll make it... clear the wrong person." He used the steam as cover to leap onto the bell tower, pressing his palm against the bronze body of the bell. The residual Flame Marrow in his body suddenly grew hot—it was a fire-attribute essence he had farmed with Critical Hits in a previous dungeon, and now it was resonating with the cold dew in the Cold Pool.

"Bong—"

The second toll of the bell was deeper than the first.

Lan Ji slammed her fishtail against the ground, causing coral to fall from the Water Palace ceiling. "Enough!" She shook the Tide Sound Bell three times in succession, and three Deep Sea Lamps lit up with an eerie green glow in the corners. "Light-Prison Array, lock him down!"

Chen Fan was covered by the green light as soon as he jumped onto the bell platform.

The system countdown jumped to "3 seconds." He could clearly hear his heartbeat drowning out the sound of the water.

Steam condensed into water droplets within the Light-Prison Array, trickling down his burning cheeks.

"Xiao Ma... Blue Ash..." he suddenly murmured.

That was the old coworker at the construction site who always brought him food, and the brother who had taken a blade for him during the first dungeon.

Memory was like a key, clicking open the lock within the system. Just as the prompt for [Critical Hit triggered (Frost Devour)] sounded, an ice explosion erupted along with the steam.

The three Deep Sea Lamps went out simultaneously.

The third toll of the bell made Chen Fan’s eardrums ache.

Staggering, he leaned against the bell and saw the Cold Dew Spring in the Cold Pool suddenly boil. A drop of ghostly blue liquid floated in the air, suspended by water elements like a star.

"You ruined the Pure Ritual!" Lan Ji’s eyes were bloodshot as she reached out to crush that drop of cold dew.

Chen Fan gritted his teeth and charged. The "Fate-breaking mark" on his fist suddenly flared—it was a special pattern stacked using Critical Hits, specifically designed to counter all kinds of seals.

"Bang!"

The Tide Sound Bell shattered into two halves.

The water curtain collapsed with a crash, and the cold dew landed steadily in Chen Fan’s palm.

He turned to look at Su Shuang in the Ice Cocoon, his throat tightening. "The fire is suppressed, and the medicine is obtained... Now, it's time to settle the score."

Before he finished, a faint "ka" sounded from the shadow of the Bewildering Bell.

Chen Fan looked toward the sound and saw the outline of a giant eye slowly emerging from the bronze bell's shadow. Its dark-gold pupil split open, like a beast just waking from slumber.

He gripped the cold dew tightly, his knuckles turning white.

The system’s red light finally began to recede, but the chill brought by that giant eye was even colder than the Cold Pool in the Water Palace.

Su Shuang coughed lightly from within the Ice Cocoon.

Chen Fan whipped his head around to see the fox tattoo at the corner of her eye flickering. Her eyelashes fluttered amidst the ice shards, and her fingertips slowly rose as if to touch the cold dew in his palm.