Unconsciously, the trio and their lizard companion had ventured over a hundred meters deep into the Mist Zone.
Apart from the initial encounter with the Mirage Worm, they hadn't encountered any other monsters.
After all, it was only a hundred meters.
Lin Qianqian walked slightly behind Han Ning, her compound bow half-drawn with a faintly glowing special arrow nocked. Her alluring eyes continuously scanned the surroundings, not daring to let her guard down.
Suddenly, Snowflake stopped swimming ahead, half its body surfacing as it emitted a suppressed growl from its throat: "Grrroo..."
Almost simultaneously, both Han Ning and Lin Qianqian detected the anomaly.
"Watch out!" Lin Qianqian warned.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several arm-thick, condensed water arrows shot unexpectedly from the dense fog to their left front.
They moved with terrifying speed, carrying an icy killing intent, aimed directly at Snowflake and Han Ning at the front of the group.
The attack's origin point appeared completely empty in Han Ning's visual and spiritual perception—nothing but blank whiteness.
"Roar!"
Snowflake reacted swiftly, its powerful hind legs kicking through the water as its massive body displayed agility belying its size, narrowly dodging the shot aimed at its head.
But the water arrow still grazed its neck, shearing off a chunk of flesh—demonstrating its lethal power.
Han Ning moved just as quickly.
Sensing danger, he immediately crouched low.
A water arrow whistled past his scalp, leaving a trail of chilling air.
Before he could straighten up—
Another cunningly angled water arrow, as if predicting his dodge, silently shot from below toward his abdomen.
At the critical moment, dozens of thick vines burst forth around Han Ning, weaving into a solid Vine Shield.
Thud!
The water arrow slammed into the woven barrier.
The tremendous impact made the vines shudder violently, their dark green surfaces denting inward as water spray and wood splinters exploded outward.
Though it blocked the lethal strike, the overwhelming force transmitted through the vines sent Han Ning's blood churning, forcing him back a step with a splash.
Now Han Ning understood why Lin Qianqian insisted on bringing a mental Awakened.
His Nature's Blessing couldn't be maintained constantly—against such ambushes, defense was nearly impossible!
"There!" Yu Na's eyes flashed with an eerie light as she pointed toward an empty area.
A full meter off from the water arrows' origin point.
The mist swirled there, revealing nothing.
Hearing the warning, Lin Qianqian released her drawn bowstring.
Swish!
The arrow flew forth, its shaft wreathed in flowing white radiance, silently piercing the blank mist.
The arrow vanished into the fog.
Hummm!
The next instant, visible ripples of glowing white energy spread outward from the arrow's disappearance point.
Under these ripples' illumination, a monstrous outline emerged like a photograph developing—forced from absolute transparency into stark visibility, marked by glaring gray-white radiance.
Chapter
Though the mist was white and the markings were also white, there was still a discernible difference in hue that Han Ning could clearly see.
It was a monster the size of a large water vat.
Its body was encased in thick, spirally patterned armor, layered like overlapping scales.
At the front of its body, a pair of enormous pincers rose high, their tips not the usual clamping jaws but sharp, drill-like spiraled spikes that had just slowed their rotation, surrounded by dense water vapor.
Its tail was a thick, eel-like appendage covered in fine, bluish-black Scales.
The tip of the tail split into several slender tendrils crackling with dangerous blue-white electric sparks, writhing in the water as if alive.
Each twitch produced faint crackling sounds.
The entire creature exuded an overwhelming sense of brute force.
"Damn it, it's a Vortex Shell Crab! No wonder it's been so quiet for over a hundred meters."
Lin Qianqian quickly relayed the crucial information,
"This monster has astonishing physical defense—ordinary attacks can barely scratch it. Its drills can shoot high-speed water jets, its tail releases high-voltage currents, and it emits mental waves that disrupt thinking. Extremely dangerous. Weak spots are the joint gaps and its relatively fragile eyes."
Her compound bow hummed as an arrow infused with a glowing white light shot forth, striking precisely at the gap between the Vortex Shell Crab's tail and torso.
The arrow exploded upon impact, its internal Energy scattering amidst crackling electric sparks.
The force of the blast jolted the crab's body slightly, disrupting the electric tendrils on its eel-like tail for a brief moment.
"Growl!"
At that moment, Snowflake moved.
His gray-white body lunged like lightning, claws slashing toward one of the crab's rear limb joints.
"Screech!"
A harsh scraping sound rang out as sparks flew from the hard joint armor.
The faint green patterns on his claws suddenly flared, and a barely perceptible wisp of green energy seeped into the armor's crevices like a living thing.
"Rustle~"
Just as the crab was about to raise its pincers, its movements faltered again.
"Now…"
Han Ning focused, and fifteen Vines tore through the water, coiling into three thick, spear-tipped serpents mid-flight, striking the disrupted joint.
"Thud, squelch…"
The hard shell was finally pierced.
Foul-smelling fluid mixed with shell fragments sprayed out.
"Hiss!"
Under the combined assault, the Vortex Shell Crab let out a pained screech, its body convulsing violently.
A transparent wave, mingled with its cry, radiated outward.
The dense mist was pushed aside by an invisible force, creating a vacuum.
Snap~
The invisible ripple collided with the faint blue protective barrier surrounding the trio and the lizard.
"Ugh!" Yu Na grunted, her petite frame trembling as a trickle of blood escaped her nostrils.
"Crack…"
With Yu Na shielding them from the mental assault, Han Ning didn't need to divert his focus.
The three Vines shrank rapidly, burrowing like parasites into the crab's joint flesh, spreading, growing, and finally tearing outward in unison.
"Screeeech—"
A bone-chilling crunch accompanied the crab's distorted, agonized wail.
One of its thickly armored rear legs was ripped clean off at the joint by the Vines.
The Vortex Shell Crab's body lost all balance, collapsing heavily to one side.
The excruciating pain triggered the Vortex Shell Crab's ferocity.
It strained to raise its claw.
"Whoosh~"
A high-speed rotating water jet shot toward Han Ning's head.
Before the water even arrived, the low-pressure wind it generated sent Han Ning's hair flying wildly in all directions.
Just as Han Ning was about to dodge—
Lin Qianqian's Explosive Arrow shot out again, striking the oncoming water jet and causing it to pause for half a second.
Seizing this opportunity, Han Ning, like Spider-Man, flung out a Vine with his left hand, wrapping it around a nearby broken concrete pillar.
Then, controlling the Vine, he swung sharply to the right, quickly putting distance between himself and the water jet.
"Die!"
Simultaneously, he commanded the Vines inside the Vortex Shell Crab to continue burrowing deeper, twisting violently!
The branching Vines slithered like venomous snakes, frantically penetrating through the torn wounds toward the crab's relatively vulnerable thoracic cavity.
"Roar!"
A white flash—
Snowflake leaped with all her might, pinning the Vortex Shell Crab beneath her, relentlessly hammering its vulnerable joint between the chest and abdominal shell with her hard head.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The heavy impacts came in rapid succession, making it impossible for the toppled crab to move.
The deadly drill-like claw swung wildly across Snowflake's chest, sending large splashes of blood flying.
"Rapid Growth!"
Han Ning focused his will.
The Vines inside the Vortex Shell Crab seemed infused with a violent vitality, wildly expanding, twisting, and piercing.
They tore through muscles, crushed internal organs, and destroyed everything from within.
"Hiss... Gah..." The Vortex Shell Crab's agonized howl abruptly cut off, turning into a wheezing whimper.
Its massive body convulsed violently a few times before the spinning drill-claw went limp, and the electricity along its eel-like tail rapidly dimmed.
The thick, spiral-patterned shell could no longer protect it. The claw, still raised in its final stance, crashed heavily into the murky water.