57: What is the water monster?

Kajiya Itten did not directly approach the Artificial Lake.

If the monster was in this body of water, its attribute was very likely related to water.

There was nothing he could do; Kajiya Itten's Fire Finch was weak against water-attributed attacks.

“Let’s try this first.”

Kajiya Itten pulled out Torrential Rain E, held it between two fingers, and aimed it at the small Artificial Lake in front of him.

In an instant, the water in the lake surged violently, and the small yellow duck in the center of the lake immediately swayed with the surging water.

Even after the lake water calmed down, nothing unusual happened.

Incorrect judgment?

Kajiya Itten put away Torrential Rain E, still not approaching.

After the lessons from the previous few times, Kajiya Itten no longer underestimated monsters.

Many monsters' intelligence levels were not low; the opponent was very likely ambushing him.

For example, the opponent knew that the Summoner's armor had changed from Light to Fire Finch.

So, it deliberately endured and ambushed him under the water.

It wanted him to enter its home ground and then use attribute suppression against him.

“Cunning monster, do you think I'll fall for that?!”

Kajiya Itten pulled out his Summoner from his Pregnant, summoning the armor belt.

He then pressed the Summoner onto the belt, putting on the Summoner.

Next, he pulled out the firebird card, cautiously watching the water surface, ready to transform at any moment.

Before determining the monster's location and seeing the monster, transforming was not a wise move.

The armor consumed a lot of stamina; maintaining the armor form, he might not even see the monster before he had to cancel the transformation due to exhaustion.

“Torrential Rain E!”

Click!

Kajiya Itten inserted the Torrential Rain E in his hand into the card slot, and a powerful force surged from the belt, flowing throughout his body.

The Summoner could drive the power of all cards, so even without transforming, he could use the Summoner to drive the power of other cards.

It also allowed Jia Gu Yiyan to use the power of other cards more perfectly.

Feeling the power of Torrential Rain E, Kajiya Itten then carefully pushed aside the weeds in front of him and approached the Artificial Lake.

On the calm lake surface, a layer of emerald green water plants floated.

Kajiya Itten extended his hand and aimed it at the Artificial Lake.

Then, the lake water was pushed aside as if by an invisible large hand, revealing the mud beneath.

It was at this moment that a meter-long large fish suddenly darted out, pouncing towards Kajiya Itten.

The large fish resembled an ordinary grass carp, but it had rows of ferocious sharp teeth, like an enlarged piranha, viciously biting at Kajiya Itten.

“So fierce, does it want to be braised red?!”

Kajiya Itten reacted quickly, swinging his fist heavily, striking the large fish's head.

There was a dull thud.

The large fish was heavily sent flying onto the shore, flopping non-stop.

Kajiya Itten stomped heavily on the flopping fish's head.

With one stomp, the fish stopped flopping.

Neither its size nor its ferocious fangs resembled a normal freshwater fish.

“Was it modified by a monster?”

Kajiya Itten speculated, summarizing the monster's abilities.

It could control intelligent and non-intelligent life through water, and it could also modify aquatic creatures.

Considering these two points.

This monster very likely possessed the ability to influence and modify other creatures through water.

Because the stray dogs and beggars living there only drank a portion of the monster's water, they were not modified; they were only manipulated in certain actions by the water they drank.

However, fish that lived in the water were completely affected and modified.

That's why their appearance changed so much.

In that case…

The monster was most likely hidden beneath the Artificial Lake, influencing the entire lake's water flow.

But…

Through the power of Torrential Rain E, Kajiya Itten did not sense any powerful creature hidden beneath the water flow.

The monster's energy reaction was also very weak, not like a powerful monster was hiding.

“Damn it, I'll go get a water pump and drain this lake!”

Kajiya Itten decided to take drastic measures.

The Artificial Lake in this community was not large, and most of it was overgrown with weeds.

Draining this lake water would not take much time.

However, to prevent a sudden monster attack, he still needed to personally set it up…

Just as Kajiya Itten decided to drain the lake water, the dead fish on the ground suddenly stirred.

It suddenly opened its mouth, aiming at the unsuspecting Kajiya Itten.

A jet of water, like an arrow, shot towards Kajiya Itten!

Its speed was so fast that there was no time to block it.

Kajiya Itten did not panic; he quickly mobilized the power of Torrential Rain E, trying to control the incoming water jet.

But.

It had no effect!

How could this be!

Kajiya Itten quickly extended his hand, and the Basic Breathing Technique instantly operated to its limit; his lungs filled with air, expanding.

He brought his right hand together, using his hand as a blade, and heavily chopped towards the incoming water jet.

At the moment of impact, water splashed everywhere, and Kajiya Itten's palm was quickly cut open, blood flowing freely.

Looking at his broken palm, Kajiya Itten tightly gripped his right wrist with his other hand, pulling away from the dead fish, while also watching for movement on the water surface.

This monster could influence and manipulate others' bodies through water flow.

To prevent water flow from entering his body through the wound, Kajiya Itten tightened his wrist and quickly squeezed the blood from the wound.

“Always hiding in the dark, what a troublesome fellow!”

Kajiya Itten wiped the blood and water from his hand, quickly beginning to think.

Why was the water flow just now not controlled by Torrential Rain E?

It was clearly a dead fish, so why could it still spit out water and attack him?

…Manipulating other life through water flow.

Living in water.

Kajiya Itten thought of horsehair worms, parasitizing in mantises' bodies, manipulating the mantises' actions, causing the mantises to enter the water and drown, and then detaching from the host.

Parasitism.

Could it be… he had been thinking wrong all along?

Why must monsters be huge and strong?

“Is this monster a microscopic, invisible parasite?!”

That's why he couldn't control the water spat out by the dead fish.

Because the water flow had already been controlled by the parasite, becoming a part of the parasite.

At the same time, it might also have the ability to create clones, spreading its body throughout the entire water source.

Creatures that drank from the water source would naturally be controlled by this tiny parasitic monster.

Creatures like fish, which were immersed in the water source, had their bodies already filled with the parasitic monster.

From head to tail, they were modified by the monster.

How was he supposed to fight this?!

Perhaps realizing that Kajiya Itten had discovered it, or rather, the monster was impatient to remain hidden.

One by one, ferocious large fish leaped out of the Artificial Lake, large and small, all covered in grotesque oral organs, pouncing towards Kajiya Itten.

“Idiot, to actually manipulate fish to come ashore and fight me! It seems to be a monster with very low intelligence!”

Looking at the pouncing fish, Kajiya Itten was not surprised but rather delighted; he turned and ran, crossing the weeds, rushing towards the shore.