Chapter 142: Dodge, Mermaid?
Countless creatures emerged from the sea, their claws flailing as they surged toward the island. The sight was as overwhelming as a stampede of thousands of horses—grand and terrifying.
Faced with this sudden development, Lin Lele and the others were filled with tension and unease. They quickly entered battle mode, ready to defend themselves at any moment.
However, as the monsters drew closer, the group was surprised to find that these creatures didn’t appear intent on attacking them. Instead, they seemed to be fleeing from some terrifying presence.
Huang Zhenggang and Bao Song exchanged confused glances. They had been fully prepared to fight, but could only stand frozen as the monsters rushed past them and dashed toward the center of the island.
“What’s going on? Aren’t these monsters here to attack us?” Lin Lele asked in confusion.
Nan Sheng furrowed her brows and muttered thoughtfully, “It looks more like… they’re fleeing from something extremely terrifying…” Her gaze shifted to the stormy sea under the dark night sky, where a flicker of fear flashed in her eyes.
Everyone’s hearts sank upon hearing this. If even such a massive number of powerful monsters were frightened into retreat—what exactly were they about to face?
The thought chilled them to the core.
Lin Lele anxiously suggested, “Should we hide somewhere first?”
Gao Peng had been staring up at the sky. Due to the night, the sky was mostly shrouded in darkness.
Suddenly, a cold wind swept over them, sending a chill through the air.
A bolt of lightning slashed through the night, illuminating the entire island.
At that moment, fierce winds and monstrous waves rose from the sea—a violent storm was brewing.
In the blink of an eye, a gigantic storm formed, like a monstrous beast opening its bloody maw to devour everything.
“It’s a waterspout!” Gao Peng shouted, pointing toward the ocean.
Everyone turned and saw something utterly terrifying: multiple waterspouts forming and heading straight for the island.
Now it all made sense—why the monsters had rushed to the center of the island. Only there could they possibly survive.
“We need to run—now!” Huang Zhenggang made the call decisively.
Everyone quickly gathered their supplies and headed toward the island’s interior to seek shelter.
Lin Lele, using her food-gathering talent, tried to carry off as many coconuts as she could.
Nan Sheng reminded her sharply, “What’s more important—your life or the supplies? Take only a few. We can gather more later. If we don’t survive the storm, those coconuts won’t matter!”
Reluctantly, Lin Lele abandoned most of the coconuts she had picked.
Su Ning followed the group as they hurried toward the island center.
The storm intensified. Thunder cracked across the sky. Terrifying waves slammed the shore like siege weapons crashing into a city wall.
Su Ning and the others followed behind the massive crabs and other monsters, hoping to see where they were hiding.
Soon, they saw the tallest mountain peak on the island.
There were many cave dwellings along its slopes, and the monsters began rushing into them.
Su Ning was about to follow when Lin Lele stopped her.
“We can’t go in there! That’s where we ran into the snake monster earlier!” she said, visibly panicked.
Su Ning glanced toward the surrounding woods.
“But if those waves and tornadoes hit, we can’t stay out here. Only those caves can shield us.”
Everyone understood. The sky was already flashing with lightning and rumbling with thunder. The longer they stayed outside, the more danger they were in.
Suddenly—
BOOM!
A lightning bolt struck a tree branch right next to Lin Lele.
“Ahhhh!” she screamed in terror.
Seeing this, Huang Zhenggang realized they had no choice. Outside meant certain death—inside the caves, at least there was a chance of survival.
“Into the cave!” he commanded.
No one objected.
“Gao Peng, stay behind me!” Bao Song stepped forward, wielding his giant axe.
Gao Peng, injured and unable to fight, needed protection.
The group began moving cautiously into the cave.
Not long after they entered, the full force of the terrifying storm struck.
Inside the cave, they advanced with heightened vigilance. Huang Zhenggang, leading the way, was ready to activate his air barrier defense at a moment’s notice.
However, perhaps sensing the danger outside, no monsters appeared to attack them along the way.
They found a relatively safe area to rest.
“Let’s rest here. If anything happens, we can evacuate quickly,” Huang Zhenggang suggested.
Gao Peng lit a fire for warmth. As night fell, the temperature dropped sharply.
“Why is this happening? Does this instance just become so horrifying at night?” Nan Sheng asked in confusion, sitting down to think about their next steps.
Suddenly, Bao Song shouted, “Everyone! Check the communication channel! It looks like the real danger of this instance is tied to the night and the deep sea!”
Hearing this, everyone looked down to read the chat channel.
Su Ning also logged in, curious about what other players had encountered.
[Help! I finally thought this was a low-risk instance. Collected tons of supplies during the day. But now that it’s night, everything’s changed! Horrifying hurricanes have formed over the sea. I might not make it!]
[Night really is totally different from day. The danger level skyrockets! And based on everyone’s reports, we’re all encountering different threats.]
[Ahhh! You guys are only seeing natural disasters like hurricanes. I ran into something else—mermaids! Blonde hair, blue eyes—beautiful mermaids! But they’re terrifying! They lure people in and then devour them. My teammate was mesmerized by a mermaid and the next moment—he was dragged into the sea and skinned alive by those beautiful monsters!]
[There’s another civilization in the deep sea! FYI, my talent is called ‘Underwater Swimmer’—I can breathe underwater. I thought I’d dominate a water-based instance. But after a day’s exploration, I discovered there are incomprehensible civilizations beneath the waves. Forget the sea monsters—there are intelligent species underwater!]
[Oh my god! I thought I was hallucinating! I was dragged underwater by a sea monster and saw what looked like buildings down there!]
Reading these messages, the truth became clear:
Daytime safety wasn’t an illusion—but at night, the danger multiplied.
What truly alarmed Su Ning, however, was the emergence of intelligent life.
She thought of the Moko race from the [Farming Instance] and the power of the Colonial Company in the [Interstellar Mining Instance]. Those memories were still vivid.
If intelligent species had appeared in this instance too, it meant the difficulty level was about to spike dramatically.
Su Ning sighed. “All I wanted was to peacefully collect useless supplies in a low-risk instance… Why do these things keep showing up?”
“Mermaids, of all things…”
The atmosphere was tense and silent—until Gao Peng suddenly spoke up, shattering the tension.
“What? Are you saying… you want to go find the mermaids?” Lin Lele rolled her eyes.
But Gao Peng looked excited. “I wonder if they’re truly as stunning as the legends say. If I could have a mermaid—even if I died, it’d be worth it!”
Lin Lele facepalmed. “We’ve lost him.”
The others chuckled, the mood easing slightly.
But just as they began laughing and chatting about how to survive the night—
Su Ning’s tiger, You You, suddenly bared its teeth and growled at the depths of the cave.
It had sensed danger.
The group immediately went on alert.
Su Ning turned to look deeper into the cave.
A strange scraping sound echoed out.
Then, illuminated by the flickering firelight—several massive crabs appeared, blocking the path ahead.
“Watch out!” Su Ning warned.
Though the cave had seemed safe, the giant crabs had now turned their attention to Su Ning and her group.
