A Comprehensive Network: An Endless Adventure Begins as a Wanderer

Two eels were positioned on either side of the table, while the other three were spread out in a semi-circle directly in front of Cheng Yi.

The one to the left rear is moving towards the door, trying to block Cheng Yi's retreat.

Cheng Yi didn't retreat. He vanished from his spot, teleporting behind the eel-man to his left rear. His short sword spun, easily slicing through the eel-man's trachea. Then, before the eel-man's body exploded, Cheng Yi once again disappeared into the shadows.

An electric arc exploded behind him, a flash of blue-white light that made the shadows in the hall flicker.

As for the remaining eel-men, Cheng Yi smiled, sheathed his sword, and took out four throwing knives.

If you expose yourself, I'll just stay away from you.

Cheng Yi, hidden in the shadows, activated the Shadow Cloak technique attached to his Dark Scale Armor, becoming invisible and stealthily aiming, while the eel people searched for Cheng Yi's trail.

The Shadowmelt of the Shadow Cloak and the Shadow Fusion of the Darkscale Armor combined with the invisibility of Shadowmeld, causing Cheng Yi's Concealment check to reach an absurd number. The eel-man's darkvision was practically useless against this level of concealment.

He raised his right hand, his thumb against the spine of the knife.

The eel-man on the left side of the table was moving to the right, its footsteps light, the sound of its scales rubbing together clearly audible in the quiet hall.

It wanted to move closer to the one directly in front of it. Cheng Yi slightly adjusted the angle of his right hand, aiming it at its throat.

Four throwing knives were launched simultaneously.

Without any sequence, the four throwing knives left his fingers at the same instant, flying in four different directions.

Four beams of silver light shot out simultaneously from the darkness, as if someone had torn four openings in the void.

The four eel-men froze simultaneously, each with a throwing knife deeply embedded in its neck.

Their mouths opened, but no sound came out. Then their bodies began to glow, and blue-white arcs of electricity emerged from the gaps in their scales.

Cheng Yi vanished from his spot and teleported to the farthest corner of the hall, where he crouched behind a stone pillar.

Four electric arcs exploded almost simultaneously. Blue and white light flickered four times in the hall, and the smell of burning and ozone mingled together, so pungent that it made people want to cough.

Cheng Yi stood up and dusted himself off. He walked over, retrieved the throwing knives one by one, wiped the bloodstains on the torn cloth, and then put them back into their sheaths.

He walked to the door and opened it.

"Come in. The first floor has been cleaned thoroughly."

Ignaz peeked out from the stairwell, his golden vertical pupils sweeping across the hall.

The corpses of six eel-men were scattered around the table; some were lying face down on the table, some were lying on the ground, some were leaning against the wall, and some were slumped over at the bottom of the stairs.

The corpse's skin was still smoking, and the air was filled with the smell of burning and fish. He wrinkled his nose, covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve, and stepped in through the sawdust and broken glass.

"Are they all dead?"

"Hmm." Cheng Yi sheathed the short sword.

"Six of them. Their corpses explode, electrified ones. Don't get too close."

Alice walked into the hall, glanced down at the corpse on the ground, and her gaze lingered on the wound for a moment.

Throat, back of the head, chest, eye socket. Every cut was clean and precise.

She glanced at Cheng Yi and nodded.

Karen followed behind, holding the holy emblem in her hand, her brow slightly furrowed.

Walking to the wall, I touched the torn tapestry with my finger; the nautilus pattern gleamed with a dim gold in the lamplight.

"The emblem of a strange family," he said.

"However, this kind of pattern probably means that this family has been passing it down for a long time."

"Hmm," Cheng Yi replied casually, shifting his gaze from the tapestry.

He wasn't particularly interested in the crest of an unfamiliar family, but he remembered what the eel-man had said:

"Lord Calamity told me that the old fellow was a druid."

Lucian should be that druid; he's still alive, and he's right there.

The second floor was originally the lighthouse's living quarters. Dilapidated bunk beds, empty weapon racks, covered in a layer of dust.

The third floor was a storage room, filled with moldy food, wooden barrels scratched by claws, and a sour, foul smell permeated the air.

Alice found a heavy wooden barrel in the corner, with an iron ring at the bottom.

Cheng Yi squatted down, touched it with his hand, and the Trickster's Hand reached the iron ring. He lifted it up, and a crack appeared in the floor, revealing a dark hole.

A pipe runs from the third floor all the way down to the depths of the underground, and there is an old ladder at the entrance.

A cold wind rushed out of the cave, carrying the smell of the sea.

"A hidden door," Cheng Yi said.

"Find Lucian first," Alice said. "He might know what's going on down there."

Cheng Yi closed the cover of the hidden door and stood up.

At the top of the stairs was an iron door, which was bolted from the inside.

Karen raised the holy emblem and chanted softly.

"There's a faint magical glow on the door, but judging from its state, it's probably a warning sign," he said.

Alice walked to the door and knocked three times. The iron door made a dull thud that echoed in the stairwell.

"Lucian?"

There was silence for a few seconds behind the door. Then a hoarse, weary voice came from behind the door:

"Who?"

"We're here to help you. I found the message in a bottle you lost."

Cheng Yi explained from the side.

A brief silence followed. Then the latch was pulled open.

The iron gate opened a crack, revealing a gray eye. The eye scanned the four people up and down, then the gate was opened.

The lamproom was filled with the strong smell of burning oil. A huge lantern hung on a metal pillar, casting beams of light into the endless foggy sky and distant sea, the beams of light appearing murky in the mist.

Berry pits and empty water sacs were piled on the floor beneath the lantern.

An old man stood by the door, with disheveled hair, gray eyes, deep eye bags, and sunken cheeks, looking like he hadn't slept for several days.

He was wearing a faded guard's uniform with several holes, revealing a yellowed shirt underneath.

"Lucian Sky," the old man said, "lighthouse keepers. You've finally come."

He leaned against the wall, as if he couldn't stand up straight.

Karen walked over and placed her hand on his shoulder, a gentle light spreading from her palm. Lucian's breathing became steady.

"Berry magic," Lucian pointed to the berry cores on the ground and gave a wry smile.

"One a day, and I've made it this far. If I don't come soon, I'll be eating wood."

Cheng Yi didn't exchange many pleasantries.

"There were some eel-men on the first floor, but we've cleared them out. They said there's a water bowl downstairs, and their leader is probably summoning a water elemental."

Lucian sighed.

"They must have come in through the cave below the lighthouse."

"That secret door on the third floor?"

Lucian was silent for a few seconds, then nodded.

"The water bowl is in the cave. It's something my family has guarded for six generations. Now it's in the hands of those eel people. They've taken hostages and are summoning water elementals, but they don't dare touch the water bowl themselves—they're not smart enough, and the things they summon are out of control."

"Are the hostages still alive?" Alice asked.

"Live. They need hostages to work."

Lucian took out four vials of potion from his pocket and handed one to each person. The glass vials contained a pale blue liquid and were sealed with wax.

"Underwater breathing solution. Many parts of the cave are flooded, and without this, we can't go down."

Cheng Yi took the medicine and stuffed it into his backpack. Then he glanced at the weakened Lucian.

"You stay here and bolt the door. We'll go down through the secret door."

"Be careful of their leader," Lucian said. "I've had a run-in with it, and it's no pushover."

Everyone nodded.