Chapter 880: Abyssal Spawns, The Mastermind Behind the Scenes

When the first clue was observed, with Fu Luo's information processing capability, under the condition of wearing his Straw Hat, he only needed a few minutes to sort out the truth of the matter.

Now, Fu Luo had completely seen through it.

These starfish were not the "Abyssal Spawns" that lived in the waters near the Sixth Island, nor had they even swum here on their own.

They had been "teleported" here by someone.

The reason Fu Luo made this judgment was also simple - because the direction of the waves and fog flow was far too uniform, and it didn't seem to be formed by ordinary sea breeze.

The form of these waves and the state of the fog flow were more like there being a "door" in a distant sea area, where the temperature and water quality differences between the two sides of the door created convection, which in turn produced this flow.

It was just that, because those starfish stirred up seawater and fog while swimming and crawling ashore, they effectively created many "interference factors," which was why ordinary people found it difficult to notice this.

But after Fu Luo observed carefully... he could still achieve a true sense of "Threading the Needle."

Extracting information, eliminating impurities - this process in Fu Luo's mind was like a quantified chemical reaction, precise and rigorous.

Those interference factors were eliminated one by one, and what remained at the end were clues that revealed the truth as directly as "written explanations."

"For something on the Misty Islands to have a means similar to a teleporter, sending large numbers of Abyssal Spawns here at fixed times and locations, and if we assume the other party must be targeting players and intentionally seeking to seize 'Freud's' inheritance... then, this guy should be someone related to the ancient civilization of the Misty Islands."

"It's known that there are only a few ancient survivors on the Misty Islands who retained their sanity and survived, so this guy is most likely one of the two assistants of the 'Misty Islands Master' back in the day..."

In the player-compiled materials publicly available on the forum, there were records of some of the Misty Islands' major figures and events.

After the fall of the Misty Islands Master, of his two most trusted assistants and right-hand men, one inherited all of his legacy, calling himself the "Sky Prophet," taking over and maintaining most of the rules established by the Misty Islands Master so that they could operate normally between the islands.

For example, the airship that players took to reach the Sixth Island was an enterprise operated by him.

The other, however, no longer lived on any island, but instead modified a seafaring vessel based on an "ancient submersible" prototype and lived year-round in the Abyssal Sea - compared to that "Sky Prophet," this mysterious fellow who seemed to be wandering around everywhere was actually more familiar to players.

Because he wasn't actually as mysterious as his current state sounded, he was instead frequently encountered by various players - many players, even ordinary newcomers who hadn't achieved Promotion, might encounter this round guy in a spherical submersible appearing from the shore in their Misty Islands [dungeon], offering to make some very simple trades with you.

Exchange your [items] for some convenient information to clear the dungeon, or other [items].

He even offered [item] blind boxes - you give him any [item], and he randomly gives you a blind box containing an [item].

Although the "blind box" format was quite unscrupulous, but... most players really didn't lose out with him!

His appearance was also that of a round, plump guy wearing a diving suit, who never took off his helmet.

In short, among the player community, he was a rare friendly native of the Misty Islands, existing like a "traveling merchant" or a "mobile trading post."

Many players even called him the "Diving Merchant."

However, in the non-public internal records of 'Order,' there were files documenting information unknown to the public.

Although Fu Luo wasn't an official member of 'Order,' he had also been granted access to view many classified files due to commissions, so he also knew some confidential information about this "Diving Merchant."

Players who traded with this guy would basically, in subsequent visits to the "Misty Islands" [dungeons], encounter Abyssal Spawns appearing inexplicably.

Usually they wouldn't appear in the next Misty Islands [dungeon], but basically after the third or fourth time visiting the "Misty Islands" after meeting the "Diving Merchant," they'd get hit with a wave.

Moreover, the sea monsters encountered were often highly targeted, precisely countering that player, so many players couldn't even survive.

But because the timing of those Abyssal Spawns' appearances was always very reasonable, and Abyssal Spawns were indeed a common component of the Misty Islands, there weren't yet many players who believed there was a strong correlation between the two.

Only 'Order,' with its large member base, vaguely sensed something wrong after aggregating reports from members one after another - although players suddenly dying could be considered normal, the mortality rate data within two months after encountering the "Diving Merchant" was clearly on the higher side.

Whether those who traded with him were tainted with "bad luck," or whether the "Diving Merchant" himself harbored ill intentions - this phenomenon even drew the 'Professor' to personally investigate it.

And after the Professor further expanded his investigation and had 'Order' members who encountered related phenomena pay special attention, he indeed discovered more and more clues.

First, those Abyssal Spawns weren't just "custom-made" for those fallen players, but they also all appeared "out of thin air."

This didn't mean they appeared directly in front of those players - on the contrary, the timing of these Abyssal Spawns' appearances was indeed very "normal" - emerging from the deep sea to land or attacking the vehicles players were riding, which conformed to the behavioral patterns of Abyssal Spawns.

But if one investigated deeper, they would discover...

There were often no traces of that Abyssal Spawn's activity in the nearby sea area.

Many of the "Abyssal Spawns" that attacked players weren't simple creatures, so their activities would often leave behind "traces."

This was where the 'Professor' found the flaw - because some of those Abyssal Spawns, one day they'd be on Island Ninety fighting with island residents, and the next day they'd suddenly traverse a large portion of the Misty Islands world, crossing the territories of many other Abyssal Spawn monsters, to arrive at Island Sixty-Three to attack a certain player!

Although the islands of the Misty Islands were constantly moving, and Abyssal Spawns would also "migrate" around following them, with no "fixed" territories and no map that could be compiled, ordinary players couldn't see anything unusual.

But when enough information was integrated, one could discover there were absolutely unreasonable parts to it.

Based on this... the Professor made conclusions that Fu Luo also agreed with.

First, that "Diving Merchant" appeared friendly to players, but in reality harbored malicious behavior targeting players "across dungeons." Which specific players would be targeted, for what purpose, and whether he'd continue targeting after a failure - all of this remained unknown for now.

Second, he had the ability to guide Abyssal Spawns to a certain extent, and possessed the means to transport Abyssal Spawns over long distances through spatial abilities.