Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 176 The Rewards Received by the Dwarves

Swept along by the swift current, the bubbles enveloping everyone drifted along the underground river at a frighteningly fast speed.

With each collision with the rock wall, everyone became increasingly grateful for Cheng Lang's vigilance.

If he hadn't used his whip to tie everyone up in time, they would probably have been scattered by now.

The more they thought about it, the more they gritted their teeth at Vanhart, who had used his octopus tentacles to entangle them. Although he had used his octopus tentacles to entangle them, the loose and sloppy way he looked clearly showed that he was slacking off!
Although this guy looked like he deserved a beating, there was no time to deal with him right now.

Driven by the water flow, the terrain and landforms along the way of the bubbles gradually show more traces of human intervention.

Those were tunnels, clearly dug out by burrowing beetles.

These tunnels are cut at a 45-degree angle towards the upstream direction of this underground river. Inside the tunnels, there are still thick, fine stone pillars that seem to be used to filter out debris.

"Attention, we're going to the right!"

As he spoke, Vanhart used his octopus tentacles to push against the rock wall, propelling them toward the right side of the underground river.

"Are we going in?" Cheng Lang asked loudly.

"That's right!"

Vanhart responded loudly, "Next up! Everyone get ready and give it your all. If we miss it, we'll have to find a way to go back up!"

"Which one? Which one are we going to?" Shenba asked anxiously.

"The one with the light!" Vanhart shouted, "The light emitted by the Vermilion Bird Stone!"

Upon hearing this, everyone quickly looked around, and soon, as the bubbles spun, they saw a faint red light shining inside a tunnel.

"Vanhart! Is that it?" Cheng Lang shouted.

"That's it! That's the place!"

Vanhart responded loudly, while also forcefully flicking out several octopus tentacles, trying to use everything along the way to propel the bubble in that direction.

The others were also busy, especially the thorns summoned by Yun Lan, which were of great help. The net formed by the interwoven thorns easily caused the bubbles they were hiding in to fall into the tunnel entrance that emitted a faint light.

It wasn't until they entered that they noticed the Vermilion Bird Stones, not particularly large but still emitting a faint red glow, embedded in the stone pillars of the tunnel. And judging from their luster and texture, these pillars seemed to be made of urn silver!

“We’ll encounter them anytime we go through these cage bars.”

Before Vanhart could finish speaking, a low roar came from the depths of the water-filled tunnel. Then, some strangely shaped monsters, which looked like they were randomly pieced together from various animals, walked over step by step and stared at Cheng Lang and the others through layers of silver railings.

“You could encounter monsters like that at any time,” Vanhart explained, not in a hurry to go inside, but instead using his tentacles to tighten around the railing. “There are countless monsters like that.”

"Must we kill him?"

As Cheng Lang asked the question, he also wrapped the whip around the railing a few more times and looked at Yafso.

"The water flow here is too strong, and the water temperature is too low."

Yavso clearly knew what Cheng Lang was planning to do: "The mushroom spores won't even have time to attach before they're washed away."

“These monsters are far more ferocious than those in the Dwarf Mountains, otherwise they wouldn’t have been sent here.”

Van Hart explained, "Even if Eleanor were still alive, she wouldn't be able to command these monsters with such severe defects."

"It seems we have no other choice," Cheng Lang said. "In that case, we..."

"hold on"

Vanhart said, "Don't worry, the water forge's energy storage tank will be full soon, and then the water will recede."

"What was this place used to be for?" Cheng Lang asked.

"Many important parts are manufactured here."

Vanhart answered without reservation, "For example, the horns of the digging beetle can only be produced here."

"The dwarves really know how to pick a location," Yun Lan couldn't help but remark.

“I’ll take this as a compliment,” Vanhart replied frankly.

"Captain, will the poison in your whip work on those monsters?" Yun Ji asked.

"We'll just have to wait and see."

Before Cheng Lang could finish speaking, the water flow suddenly slowed down and stopped in a very short time.

In just a few breaths, the once calm water began to flow again.

But this time, as the water flowed, the water level dropped rapidly.

Finally, as some of the cold groundwater flowed back out of the tunnel, only the terrifying, chaotic roars and piercing shrieks of the monsters remained in the dark underground river.

"Snapped!"

With a cracking sound, the whip tip, covered in fine scales, sliced ​​through the skin of several monsters.

However, with the injection of deadly venom, these hideous monsters were only slightly dazed!

In contrast, Cheng Lang, when he retrieved the venom amidst another round of cracking whips, was somewhat "overdone" with his drunkenness.

As he made his move, Yun Ji and the others had already slipped through the gaps between the fences, some slitting their throats with daggers, others thrusting out scythes to the left and right, and still others simply raising their hands to cover the monsters' bodies with long thorns.

With the help of the female captain, who was particularly skilled at group battles in such confined spaces, the group gradually advanced into the enclosure.

Finally, as the last monster was cleaved in two by Shenba's scythe, Vanhart immediately urged, "Run forward quickly! We don't have much time!"

"What time?" Cheng Lang asked, already the first to start running. He hadn't even killed as many monsters as Yafso had with her spider bow.

"Water, the second wave is coming! Run!" Vanhart said, already carrying a lit oil lamp and running ahead.

Under his guidance, the group sped along the slippery underground river tunnel, and finally, before the water rushed up behind them, they followed Vanhart to a dead end at a fork in the road.

As the water surged in, huge bubbles once again enveloped everyone.

This time, however, Vanhart did not wait any longer. Instead, he used one of his tentacles to drag the group, who had once again been tied up by Cheng Lang's whip, away from the fork in the road and began to move forward at high speed with the current.

“There’s an identical set of railings ahead,” Vanhart warned. “Everyone must hold on tight and not get swept away!”

This time, the fact that he remembered to give prior notice made everyone realize the seriousness of the problem, and everyone became tense.

Soon, the rushing water grew clearer and even deafening. Vanhart also began shouting as soon as Cheng Lang and the others saw what appeared to be something ahead.

"It's now!"

Before Vanhart could finish speaking, he had already extended all his tentacles, while Yunlan created numerous speed bumps woven from thorns behind her, and Shenba placed his large scythe horizontally at the forefront of everyone. "Thump!"

With a dull thud, everyone instinctively used Mr. Van Hart as a human cushion, narrowly avoiding being stopped by the railing at the drain.

"We can't go down now."

Vanhart grinned and replied, "You'll be shredded as raw material for making monsters. Hold on, hold on tight to the railing."

Everyone naturally held on tightly to the railing, and at the same time took the opportunity to loudly inquire about the situation below amidst the roaring sound of the water.

"I do not know either!"

Vanhart shouted back, "I can only be certain that there are a lot of monsters down there!"

"Where do you think Eleanor will be locked up?!" Cheng Lang shouted.

“The forging table in the water forging workshop! She must be there!” Vanhart replied with almost certainty.

"What do we do next?" Yun Ji asked a new question.

"We need to find a way to leave the energy storage facility later."

"If we fall into the reservoir and are swept into the deeper underground river, we probably won't be able to come back up," Van Hart said.

Faced with this real threat, everyone immediately tensed up and dared not let go of the railing.

Fortunately, not long after, with a noise like a lock closing coming from the direction they came from, they finally saw the underground world beyond the outlet.

It was a huge, perfectly round lake filled with water.

Outside the lake stood a tall, cylindrical tower. But between the tower and the lake, countless monsters swam back and forth.

"Boom!"

Just then, a tremendous crash came from inside the massive tower, the dull thud making one's heart skip a beat.

"Roar--!"

With the impact, the countless monsters, whose numbers seemed endless, cheered excitedly.

"Let's go inside that tower!"

Vanhart urged, "The rest is up to you. We need to get into that tower. There's a single switch at the top that controls the opening and closing of this waterway."

Before Vanhart could finish speaking, Yun Ji had already stepped out of the waterway, holding a feather-like pendant in her mouth, and spread her silent black wings on her back, flying towards the lighthouse-like building in the far distance.

"Come with me, everyone."

Yun Lan didn't delay either. She turned sideways around the railings and used thorns to create a winding boardwalk up the rock face.

Almost as soon as the last undead, Xiao Bao, climbed onto the walkway, Yun Ji had already flown to the top window of the tower.

"It looks like there's a battle going on in there!" Yafso exclaimed with her sharp eyes. "I just saw Sister Yunji fighting with something!"

"Believe in her"

At this moment, Cheng Lang asked, "Vanhart, what's our next step?"

"We absolutely cannot fall into the energy storage tank," Vanhart pointed to the ground, and the others subconsciously looked over as well.

In just a short time, the underground river water of such a large lake had completely leaked out from the bottom, revealing some seemingly nonsensical power-generating devices. At the same time, the rumbling sound of flowing water could be heard from the waterway they had just emerged from.

“Captain, look up.” Yavso pointed to the sky.

Following the direction the other person was pointing, they saw a wide corridor directly above the waterway entrance, where a monster was standing on the edge, peering at them.

"Come down you!"

Cheng Lang lashed out with his whip, wrapping it around the monster's ankle and pulling hard. The monster lost its footing and fell into the reservoir with a desperate roar.

Before the unfortunate fellow could even touch the ground, the icy underground river water gushing from the surrounding outlets and the splashing water completely blocked Cheng Lang's curious gaze.

"Let's go up too, and see if we can get around to help Yun Ji."

"impossible"

Vanhart said, "Whether it's the energy storage reservoir or the water forging tower, they are both located in the very center of the workshop. Even if we go around to the other side, we can't possibly get to the top of that tower."

"Let's go up first and then we'll talk."

Before Cheng Lang could finish speaking, Yun Lan continued to build the walkway, leading everyone carefully step by step up to the spacious corridor above.

There weren't many monsters in this corridor, but there was only one staircase on the other side that led back down.

At this point, Cheng Lang finally understood. Simply put, this was a dam built underground. They had only just climbed to the edge of the reservoir, and they still had a long way to go to reach the dam in the distance that seemed capable of instantly releasing all the water.

Not daring to delay, everyone quickened their pace, jogging along the wide corridor surrounding the reservoir, occasionally slaying the few monsters swimming on it.

"Boom!"

After an unknown amount of time, another dull thud came from the tower. Immediately afterward, the water in the reservoir began to decrease rapidly, and the waterways started releasing water again.

Fortunately, this time, before the reservoir was full, the water flow from the waterway gradually decreased with the screeching sound of gears turning, and eventually stopped completely.

They were getting closer and closer to the tower that was right next to the dam, and they could hear the dense roaring sounds coming from inside more and more clearly.

"Yafso! It's your turn!" Cheng Lang gave the order.

"Look at me!"

With unprecedented decisiveness, Yafso took off his backpack, took out all the glass bottles of various sizes, and called on everyone to throw them all into the monster dens below the dam.

With the barely perceptible sound of glass shattering, tiny spores gradually spread in the dim space. As these spores grew stronger, they also began to release various colors of light, gradually illuminating the almost pitch-black underground space.

"What is that?" Yun Lan asked blankly, pointing to something that was both conspicuous and frightening placed below the dam.

“That’s a piece of Poseidon’s arm,” Vanhart said. “It was also a reward the dwarves received after that war.”

"Use Poseidon's arm as a reward?" Yun Lan asked blankly.

"At least that's the information I've received."

Vanhart sighed, “These monsters around us were all made from that severed arm.”

"Why create so many monsters?" Yun Lan asked subconsciously, already having a bad feeling.

(End of this chapter)