C18 Snail Darter

Did that really make the host take off running?

I was convinced the host was a goner.

I never imagined the host would have the guts to cancel the Exploring Bubble. I've got to hand it to him for that move.

Shadow Vanishing can withstand the deep-sea pressure because it lacks energy-based attacks, but monster attacks can still reach the true body.

Shadow Vanishing seems pretty unbeatable in some ways.

The host's narrow escape earlier had me on the edge of my seat.

That ghost is just too brazen, so powerful yet resorting to sneak attacks!

We didn't even catch the ghost creeping up on us.

Exactly, even with our bird's-eye view, we missed it. No wonder the host didn't pick up on it.

...

Watching the constant stream of messages on the bullet screen, Xiao Hao let out a sigh.

Maybe it was time to start trying to rely less on the bullet screen.

The Alien Land netizens couldn't always be there to warn him in time.

The bullet screen is a tool, not a crutch.

Xiao Hao made a mental note of this lesson.

Opening the panel in the void, Xiao Hao turned his attention to his Spirit Bead count.

Over two hundred prawns down, and just over a thousand Spirit Beads to show for it.

The drop rate was disappointing.

Looks like there's a significant number of level 0 monsters in the swarm.

After spending 80 Spirit Beads to upgrade the Shellfish House, he was left with 1220 beads.

Xiao Hao upgraded seven seahorses to level 7 and the mantis shrimp to level 8, keeping a reserve of 100 Spirit Beads.

He was about to head back to the Shellfish House when an unexpected warning popped up on the bullet screen.

Don't go back! It's clawing at your window!

It's too dangerous! You won't make it back!

Calm down, everyone, the host can't see your bullet messages.

With the host's keen senses, he's bound to notice! Ladies, keep cool!

His serene face versus your frantic bullet messages is like the emperor being the calmest one in the room.

Xiao Hao read this and felt something was off.

The emperor is calm?

Did the netizens of Alien Land also experience a dynastic era?

Could it be that humans have already been a part of this game?

The fog coalesced into dense clusters.

Forget it, I'll delve into these mysteries later—if I survive to do so.

The ghost scratching at the Shellfish House didn't surprise Xiao Hao in the slightest.

Your greatest understanding comes from your adversary.

Xiao Hao figured the ghost couldn't let go of its rage and would go straight for the window, so he headed toward the Shellfish House, just to verify his hunch through the barrage of comments.

Since the ghost was fixated on the window...

Xiao Hao simply switched on his phone's flashlight.

This streamer's got a death wish!

Seriously, why not just quietly grind for Spirit Beads by fighting monsters? Why stir up trouble?

It's noticed him, run for it!

Without a moment's hesitation, Xiao Hao employed Shadow Vanishing to make his escape.

The pursuing ghost was so furious that its two rows of yellow teeth nearly cracked from the rage. Finding its target gone, it returned to its window-scratching obsession.

Guided by the comments, Xiao Hao repeated his previous tactic.

After several rounds of this, the ghost caught on that it was being played.

He was thwarting its window-scratching efforts!

So, the ghost decided to ignore Xiao Hao and concentrate on its task.

Once the comments indicated the ghost was no longer paying him any mind, Xiao Hao felt at ease to continue his monster hunt.

His only worry was the ghost making a sudden appearance mid-hunt.

Xiao Hao picked off a few minor monsters and hunted for a bit, reassured when the ghost continued to ignore him.

Sadly, luck wasn't on his side; all the wild monsters he defeated were level 0, yielding not a single Spirit Bead.

Xiao Hao resolved to venture farther out to take on the final small BOSS—the Snail Darter.

Having dispatched a seahorse, Xiao Hao had no interest in a drawn-out battle.

He was eager to finish off the ghost once and for all!

The disparity between the BOSS and the lesser monsters was stark: the latter were typically level 0-2, with level 2s being rare, while the BOSS ranged from level 8-10.

He couldn't fathom why there was a missing range of levels 3-7 among the creatures.

Perhaps the game was manipulating things from the shadows.

Mounted on his mantis shrimp, Xiao Hao swiftly reached the BOSS's lair.

A behemoth of a fish shimmered with blue fluorescence.

Spanning roughly eight or nine meters, the gelatinous fish resembled a blue crystal jelly, its entire form semi-transparent and aglow.

It possessed the ability to shrug off physical attacks.

A freakish ability, indeed, yet given the choice, Xiao Hao would still bet on the mantis shrimp.

With the mantis shrimp, there was a fighting chance to turn the tables on a ghost. Opting for the snail meant nothing but defense until the bitter end.

There's no foolproof defense that lasts forever.

With its immunity to physical attacks, the mantis shrimp was relegated to mere spectator for this encounter.

Xiao Hao unleashed all seven seahorses, binding them to the creature with the Shadow Ribbon.

The Snail Darter seemed hardly bothered.

Or perhaps, it was simply fearless.

As darkness corroded its form, the parts of the Snail Darter in contact with the Shadow Ribbon began to lose their luster.

But shortly thereafter, the glow was as vibrant as ever.

Xiao Hao's frown deepened as he eyed the chat feed.

It was futile. The Snail Darter might have lacked offensive prowess, but it healed far quicker than the seahorses could deplete its vitality.

Even if the seahorses could sap 1% of its health per second, it wouldn't suffice.

With a self-healing rate of at least 5% per second, a low-tier Snail Darter might succumb to the seahorses, but a high-tier one would never fall in such a manner.

Xiao Hao's strategy was rendered useless in an instant.

If the seahorses couldn't bleed it dry, then his only two offensive options were rendered moot!

Lack of offensive ability didn't equate to harmlessness, though.

Two gelatinous tentacles sprouted atop the Snail Darter's head.

They wobbled and lashed out at Xiao Hao, but the soft strikes were sliced into several segments by the mantis shrimp before they could even land.

The severed tentacles dropped to the ocean floor and, incredibly, began to inch their way back like worms.

This was the Snail Darter's most grotesque feature.

It was impervious to physical attacks.

Even the Deep Sea Phantom couldn't kill it.

The tentacles slithered over to the Snail Darter, seamlessly merging with it.

How on earth do you kill a monster that seems as indestructible as putty?

Xiao Hao was clueless.

The Snail Darter did have a vulnerability—it feared fire, which was its Achilles' heel.

Xiao Hao grumbled to himself.

But where would you find fire at the bottom of the ocean?

Its second fear was ice-type creatures. Freeze it, and its defenses would crumble.

That clue was no good to him either. Where was he supposed to find an ice-type monster?

And even if he did, he didn't have the slot to claim it.

When the jelly tentacles came at him again, Xiao Hao had the mantis shrimp chop them up, dismember the body, and scatter the pieces far and wide.

Yet, as Xiao Hao watched the ceaseless wriggling of the jelly, he questioned his sanity.

It was no use. Dismemberment couldn't kill it.

Staring at the gooey, gelatinous mass, Xiao Hao was stumped.

Maybe a closer look would reveal something.

No sooner had the gooey jelly been transferred into the Exploring Bubble than Xiao Hao prepared for a detailed examination—only for the jelly to dissolve!

What in the world?

Xiao Hao was completely baffled.

Hahaha, bet you didn't see that coming!

The most bizarre aspect of the Snail Darter was also its most vulnerable.

Here's the scoop: its body is composed of a gel-like substance that lets it withstand extreme pressure. Any physical attack is essentially just concentrated pressure, rendering it immune to such assaults.

But here lies its fatal flaw: without that extreme pressure, it rapidly melts away.

Thus, the Snail Darter is confined to the deep sea, where the crushing water pressure sustains its formidable defenses. In the deep, it's nearly invincible; outside of it, it's as good as dead.

Xiao Hao could never have imagined that the key to defeating the boss lay in using the Exploring Bubble!

It made sense now why the lower-level Snail Darters never approached him during his hunts—it was all thanks to the game system's built-in Exploring Bubble!

Xiao Hao suddenly recalled the game's hint that a plethora of features awaited the players' discovery. Yet, the method of uncovering these features, this particular style of combat, was entirely new to him. He had expected a heart-pounding hunt, but it had turned into an assembly line operation instead.

The mantis shrimp methodically delivered its body into the Exploring Bubble. When the last fragment dissolved, a game alert appeared:

Spirit Bead +550

The creature was surprisingly only level 10.

Xiao Hao felt as though fortune had unexpectedly smiled upon him. But on second thought, it made sense. Among the players, he was likely the only one capable of defeating it. Who else, besides the mantis shrimp and the Deep Sea Phantom, could dismember a wild monster like that?

The final mini-boss had been dispatched with surprising ease, a stark shift from hellish to ordinary difficulty that Xiao Hao was still adjusting to.

He promptly upgraded his seven seahorses to level 8, spending 560 Spirit Beads. The remaining 90 were just enough to upgrade the Shellfish House to level 9, which he reserved for later use.

Hours remained before nightfall. The Shellfish House's mana cap of 8,000 wouldn't withstand several hours of onslaught. Yet Xiao Hao was utterly unconcerned.

He wanted it to scratch away. If it scratched all day, Xiao Hao doubted it would have the stamina to continue through the night.

With this in mind, Xiao Hao set out to grind some minor wild monsters. Besides the 90 Spirit Beads he'd set aside, he used all the Spirit Beads dropped by the monsters to replenish the Shellfish House's mana.

Xiao Hao aimed to evoke in the ghost the sensation of a last-ditch struggle for life. To enhance the realism of this experience, he kept using the Delaying Card.

A strategy was taking shape in Xiao Hao's mind—a plan for a counter-kill.

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