The apocalypse struck, and I became a druid.

Page 218

Han Ning stood in the middle and recounted what he had seen and heard in the Iron Tiger gathering area, as well as the water corpse ghost's tracking methods.

"...That's the situation. The threat of the water ghosts is imminent. We must take immediate action to isolate ourselves from their aura and energy fluctuations. I will try to help everyone deal with the effects of the scent."

No one questioned it.

Under the arrangement of management.

Soon, the dark mass of people began to gather in an orderly fashion on the relatively open space in the center of the cave.

Han Ning once again activated the [Master's Will].

A thick, grayish-white spore mist surged from his body, splitting into several streams as he conceived them, gently brushing past rows of people.

Adults, children, the elderly, awakened beings, ordinary people... everyone felt that peculiar cool touch, and then discovered that the various body odors that had long existed on their bodies and the odors brought by their living environment gradually dissipated.

……

On the other side, above the ruins of the Iron Tiger settlement.

Several serpentine water ghosts with unusually long limbs and necks that could twist 360 degrees broke away from the main group and lay prostrate in the mud. Their gaping mouths opened and closed, and their forked tongues trembled rapidly as they sniffed repeatedly among the mud and gravel.

"Jie~"

Suddenly, one of them raised its head, its dark green eyes turning toward the side of the mountain, and emitted a rapid hissing sound.

The others also looked up, pointing in the same direction.

The army then changed course, abandoning their original search route and heading in the direction indicated by the water corpse demon.

Chapter 256 Discovery

However, after they reached the edge of the mushroom forest...

The serpentine water ghosts responsible for tracking became restless, frequently lowering their heads to sniff, but could no longer detect any clear scent trails.

The originally clear clues abruptly ended here, becoming vague and unclear, as if they had been completely erased by something.

They could only spin around in vain, looking quite confused.

"Jehovah, roar!"

In the end, they could only tell the water ghost leader, whose eyes were flashing with a cold light, about the situation.

The slender water ghost's eyes flashed for a moment, but it finally let out a low growl and gave up its plan to continue the pursuit.

With a swipe of its claws, it led the remaining water ghoul troops away from the forest, retreating in the direction they had come from, and returning to the water.

This eerie team moved silently underwater, passing over the collapsed building ruins.

The slender water ghost leading the group was exceptionally familiar with the path, avoiding several areas with turbulent undercurrents, and finally arrived at a strange group of buildings located in the deep water area, dozens of kilometers away from the ruins of a white egret city.

The buildings here are constructed entirely of massive skeletons, colorful shells, and corals, with a rugged and primitive style.

Numerous sea creatures of all sizes roamed around.

Many water ghosts were going in and out of these buildings.

The slender water ghost swam straight toward a strangely shaped building in the middle.

The building's exterior walls were inlaid with countless beads that emitted a faint green glow, and two rows of strong water ghouls stood guard in front of the door, wielding bone weapons.

Upon seeing the slender water ghosts, they lowered their heads slightly to make way.

The interior of the building was dimly lit, and the rippling water made the distorted murals on the walls appear bizarre and fantastical.

"Hiss... Oh~"

The slender water ghost arrived at the deepest room and respectfully prostrated itself before an old water ghost sitting on a giant giant clam shell, letting out a series of rapid and suppressed growls.

The scales of that old water ghost had lost their luster and turned grayish-white, but its eyes were exceptionally bright, reflecting the wisdom of time.

After listening to the report quietly, its eyes gleaming, it slowly stood up from the giant clam shell and picked up a bone staff inlaid with a dark green gemstone.

The two water ghosts arrived together at a relatively open underwater plaza.

The serpentine water goblins responsible for tracking quickly swam over, spitting out several pieces of human flesh that were not yet completely rotten.

The aged water ghost raised its bone staff, and the gem at the top of the staff suddenly burst forth with a sinister, eerie green light.

The dense black tide energy spread out like tentacles, wrapping around those pieces of flesh.

The surrounding water began to distort unnaturally, and the light refracted through the green light, creating fragmented images.

In the scene, the first thing we see is Deputy Chief Qian's astonished face flashing by in the green light.

The scene then shifts to show Feilong and his companions in a disheveled state, hiding in the mushroom forest.

Finally, the footage continued to move forward, revealing a dense forest where many extraordinary bees darted about.

In the forest, there is a hole covered by a wooden wall.

Just as the image was trying to focus further, attempting to peer into the cave in the center of the forest, the picture suddenly began to shake violently.

A faint, emerald-green glow seemed to emanate from nowhere.

The two forces clashed fiercely, causing the scene in the picture to break and distort, like a reflection in water being disturbed.

A faint, dark green liquid seeped from the forehead of the aged water ghoul, and his withered fingers, gripping the bone staff, trembled slightly.

It suddenly increased its energy output, and the eerie green light shone brightly, attempting to forcefully break through the barrier of that faint light.

However, at that moment, with a muffled "bang," the eerie green light suddenly exploded, turning into countless fragments that dissipated into the water.

"Jie?"

The aged water corpse staggered back two steps, a look of surprise and uncertainty appearing in its eyes for the first time.

"Hiss~ Heh heh!"

It turned to the slender water ghoul and let out a series of harsh roars, clearly puzzled, curious, and a little angry about the results of the investigation.

at the same time.

Han Ning, who had just returned to the Biyun settlement area, was walking through the cave entrance.

Suddenly, a chilling feeling of being watched, like a venomous snake, shot up my spine to the back of my head.

The life bud at the heart began to throb violently almost instinctively, and a surge of natural spiritual energy flowed out automatically, forming a faint emerald green halo around the body.

"what's the situation?!"

He abruptly stopped, his expression as one of surprise and uncertainty as the old water ghost.

The feeling came suddenly and went quickly, but Han Ning remained vigilant.

He looked around, his golden tiger eyes gleaming as he carefully scanned every corner of the gathering area, but found nothing unusual.

“What was that just now…” Han Ning frowned, his right hand unconsciously pressing against his chest.

The budding life was still slightly warm, but what exactly was this eerie feeling of being watched by a venomous snake...?

"We have a feeling of being watched. We can't rule out the possibility that the water ghost has locked onto our location through some means."

He looked up at the direction outside the cave, where the mushroom forest was shrouded, and his eyes became deep.

Although he had no evidence, he had a gut feeling that the strange feeling of being watched was definitely related to the water ghost.

Without any hesitation, he immediately called over Xu Ming, who was not far away: "Old Xu, notify all management to hold an emergency meeting immediately, and call back all members who are fighting outside. All of them must retreat into the forest."

"Yes!" Xu Ming sensed the seriousness in Han Ning's tone, and without wasting any words, he turned around and strode off to relay the order.

Soon, Chairman Wu, Zhao Kai, Professor Ye, Lin Qianqian, Yu Na, A Long, and other core members of the Biyun Gathering Area, as well as the captains of various combat teams, arrived at the conference hall.

Everyone's faces were tense, clearly sensing something unusual about this sudden emergency summons.

The atmosphere in the council chamber was somber.

Han Ning didn't beat around the bush and got straight to the point:

"When I first returned, I felt a strong sense of being watched. The source was unknown, but it was very likely related to the water ghouls. The Iron Tiger Gathering Area served as a warning, and we had to prepare for the worst. The water ghouls could attack at any time."

These words made everyone present feel uneasy.

Although they hadn't witnessed the horrific conditions in the Iron Tiger settlement firsthand, they knew of the ferocity of the water corpse demons.

"From this moment on, the assembly area is entering a state of highest combat readiness." Han Ning swept his gaze across the crowd.

"All combat personnel shall take turns on duty and shall not leave their weapons during rest. Non-combat personnel shall immediately begin to move necessary supplies to the interior area and make preparations for both holding the position and withdrawing."

"President Wu, how is your study group's research on the Origin Race rune technology progressing? What stage are you at now? What achievements can be immediately applied to actual combat?"

Chapter 257 The storm is coming

He paused briefly, then organized his thoughts to report back to his superior:

"Boss, the study group's technical analysis of the Origin Clan runes has been ongoing. The main progress is currently focused on several aspects: First, the diving suit, based on the improved Feather Pectin and Rune Leather Armor technology, has significantly improved its sealing and pressure resistance, and its oxygen supply efficiency has increased by about 15 percent compared to previous tests, enabling ordinary people to operate for longer periods under moderate water pressure."

"Secondly, regarding weapon enchanting, we have successfully replicated several basic 'sharp' and 'sturdy' runes, which can improve the destructive power and durability of melee weapons to a certain extent, but the effects are still unstable and the consumption is too high, making it impossible to apply on a large scale."

"The most important breakthrough is that we discovered an 'energy membrane' with a certain degree of defensive power in those fishman shell pages, which is suspected to be made using a plant that is a specialty of the fishmen."

"Because it involves plants, Professor Ye led the team to study it. Although it is far from the original version, after simplifying it and engraving it on the main passages and defensive fortifications in the gathering area, it may form a thin energy buffer layer, which should be able to slightly resist long-range energy impacts or weaken physical impacts."

"Yes, equip every Awakened with enchanted weapons as much as possible, and don't be stingy with energy stones."

"The other defensive fortifications were built by everyone working together."

“Okay.” Chairman Wu immediately wrote it down.

Han Ning turned to Zhao Kai: "Old Zhao, what is the current distribution of combat power in the gathering area? Especially for the Great Black Stone level, how many people are stuck at the bottleneck?"

Zhao Kai was prepared and said in a deep voice, "Including the few who broke through later, there are currently fifteen awakened individuals at the Great Black Stone level in our gathering area. Apart from you and me, the management team, such as Lao Wu, Qianqian, and Along, are almost all at the Great Black Stone level."

"How many monster crystals are left in the inventory?" Han Ning asked.

"The last exploration yielded great results. After deducting daily consumption and research and development costs, we currently have over 800 large black stone-grade crystals and over 2,000 black stone-grade crystals in stock," Zhao Kai reported.

"Very good." Han Ning gave the order decisively.

"Open up all stockpiled crystals and prioritize supplying them to your companions who are about to break through. Start absorbing them immediately and spare no effort to level up."

"Other Blackrock-level members were also allocated as needed to enhance their strength in every aspect as much as possible."

"Understood!" Zhao Kai replied.