164: Chapter 164 Boarding the Ship and Slaying the Enemy, the Core Formation Emerges!

The entire ship was alive!

Lin Xiao crouched on the deck, his gaze sweeping across the surroundings like a hawk through his crystal mask.

To avoid being washed away by the high-speed water currents, he used the steel blade on his left hand to firmly anchor himself to the deck.

However, after careful observation, he discovered that the ship seemed to possess a strange biological force field.

Even though the ship was moving forward at an incredible speed, the water around the deck and even inside the cabin was as docile as a pool of dead water, without any of the expected turbulence.

Lin Xiao slowly stood up and felt his way toward the cabin entrance.

The deck beneath his feet was covered in a layer of grayish-white substance.

Stepping on it felt eerily elastic, like the flesh and blood tissue of some creature.

Looking through the [spirit realm lens], this flesh tissue was slowly wriggling, as if it were breathing.

Lin Xiao gripped his battle axe tightly and pushed open the half-closed cabin door.

The cabin walls on both sides of the corridor were also covered in the grayish-white substance, and sticky tentacles hung down from the ceiling.

He stepped inside.

As soon as his foot landed, a rustling sound came from deep within the corridor.

Lin Xiao stood still as more than a dozen twisted figures lunged out simultaneously from the end of the corridor, the cabins on both sides, and the cracks in the collapsed ceiling.

Everywhere he looked, twisted figures were springing forth.

They were fusions of humans and marine life.

Some retained a human silhouette in their upper bodies, with long-rotted military uniforms barely recognizable, while their lower bodies had turned into octopus-like tentacles.

Others had their entire torsos covered in shells, with only a pair of cloudy white eyes peering out from the gaps.

And some could no longer be recognized as human at all; they were just lumps of flesh covered in fish scales and twisted limbs, wriggling and crawling on the floor.

[Drowned Ones, Level 5 Ocean Kin]

[Crew members who Drowned Ones in the Black Tide, Calamity Creaturess forcibly fused with marine life. They still retain their obsessions from life and will defend this ship unto death.]

Lin Xiao closed the Bestiary interface, his gaze darkening slightly.

The [Wither Domain] expanded instantly, quickly enveloping the entire corridor.

The movements of the Drowned Ones noticeably slowed down.

Lin Xiao took this opportunity to close in, and the [calamity bane - debt collector] swept out with a crimson glow.

The axe blade cut through the first monster's torso, and sticky black blood immediately sprayed out, quickly dissolving into the seawater.

The thing let out a piercing screech as its upper body slid off its waist, yet its tentacles continued to flail wildly.

Soon after, a second one lunged forward.

He stepped aside to dodge and flipped his axe to sever its head.

Then came the third, the fourth...

Lin Xiao wiped away the bloodstains from his crystal mask and advanced with steady steps, treading over the wreckage on the floor.

The [Life Return] trait continued to trigger, and the red light emitted by the battle axe grew increasingly intense.

These monsters were not strong.

Though they were numerous, in the face of absolute power and skill, they were nothing more than lambs to the slaughter.

Lin Xiao fought his way through the corridor and arrived at a massive cabin.

This should be the core area of the warship, the Engine Room.

But now, its appearance had completely changed.

Grayish-white flesh tissue covered every inch of the steel walls, and the thick pipes on the ceiling pulsated like blood vessels.

A massive figure was perched in the center of the cabin.

Lin Xiao paused.

Almost instinctively, he raised his battle axe horizontally in front of him to block.

Because what stood before him was an elite monster.

[The Dweller, Level 5 Ocean Kin, Elite Calamity]

[It found a shell—a steel skeleton sunken into the Black Tide. Subsequently, pipes connected like nerves and its spine spread like roots until it transformed this steel husk into its own flesh. It has become the new heart of this ship.]

Just as the Bestiary described, the The Dweller's lower body was completely fused with the ship's operating and power systems. Countless cables extended from its spine, connecting to every area of the warship.

Its upper body still retained a human shape, but the skin had become completely keratinized, displaying the scale structure characteristic of deep-sea creatures.

Its head was originally bowed as if it were in a deep sleep.

But sensing Lin Xiao's presence, the monster suddenly snapped its head up and opened its eyes, which were fifty or sixty centimeters in diameter.

That pair of eyeballs had completely mutated; there were no pupils, only a field of eerie blue fluorescence.

It opened its mouth and let out a piercing shriek. The sound echoed within the enclosed cabin, making one's eardrums throb with pain.

The flesh on the cabin walls began to writhe, and several tentacles stabbed out from the ceiling and floor simultaneously, sweeping toward Lin Xiao at the cabin door.

Lin Xiao rolled to the side, his [calamity bane] drawing an arc around him to sever the nearest tentacles.

Black liquid sprayed from the severed ends, directly polluting the surrounding seawater.

Lin Xiao's vision was obstructed, but he could feel more tentacles surging from all directions.

With no time to dodge, he could only hold his battle axe horizontally in front of him to block.

Boom!

The massive impact sent him flying, his back slamming hard against the cabin wall.

The grayish-white flesh acted like a sponge, cushioning some of the force, but Lin Xiao still felt a surge of nausea in his chest.

He gritted his teeth and climbed to his feet.

At the same time, [Gentlemanly Demeanor] had reached maximum stacks during the previous dodging and blocking.

The The Dweller launched another attack.

This time, Lin Xiao gave it no chance.

His left hand made a grasping motion, and [Death Grip] accurately coiled around the elite monster's body as he gave it a violent yank.

He launched forward like an arrow from a bow, while the [calamity bane] drew a blood-red arc in mid-air.

With the equipment's enhancement, Lin Xiao's movement speed was too fast for the elite monster to defend itself.

The axe blade sliced into the elite monster's neck and shoulder.

[Rend] triggered, and the true damage from [Gentlemanly Demeanor] took effect simultaneously.

The The Dweller let out a pained roar and summoned all the Drowned Ones in the ship's cabin.

Unfortunately, those Calamity Creaturess fused with marine life had already been completely cleared out by Lin Xiao.

Unable to summon reinforcements, it continued to manipulate the surrounding tentacles to counterattack.

But Lin Xiao had already used the momentum to flip over, his heavy battle axe delivering continuous slashes.

Then, the three steel blades of the [Punch Dagger - Shadow Blade] pierced fiercely into the elite monster's head.

The weapon trait [Soul Extinguishing Slash] triggered.

The The Dweller's body suddenly stiffened, and the eerie blue light in its eyes rapidly dimmed.

Only after the stardust and light orbs had completely flowed into his body did Lin Xiao pull out the steel blades and jump down from the elite monster's shoulder.

Within just a few seconds, the massive body began to tremble violently.

The grayish-white flesh seemed to lose its support, peeling off in layers from the center of the cabin.

The The Dweller had been eliminated. Just as Lin Xiao turned to leave, his peripheral vision caught a flash of something pink.

He stopped and cast a scrutinizing gaze toward it.

It was a basketball-sized meat ball, its surface covered with blood vessels and nerves, looking like the heart of some creature.