Chapter 470 Sea Fang's Underwater Hunting Ground

Ever since coming to Barracuda Bay, Xia Nan had always avoided fighting in the water.

This was entirely understandable. His highly mobile combat style, a synthesis of various combat techniques, truly did not suit an underwater environment. The viscous currents would severely hamper his physical speed and explosive power.

Out of caution and a sense of responsibility for his own safety, even when sailing the open ocean, he mostly attacked underwater enemies from the deck using the ship's ranged weapons.

But just like those internet jokes from his previous life about having "less combat power than a goose"—if anyone truly believed that grown adults chased around by flapping domestic white geese were actually weaker than the birds, they would be dead wrong.

Most of the time, human fear and avoidance of combat simply stemmed from an aversion to getting hurt—even just a scrape—or not wanting to get their clothes dirty.

When the necessity of combat overpowered everything else—whether driven by the survival instinct of starvation or the burning fury of being provoked—snapping a white goose's neck with bare hands would not take much more effort than unscrewing a bottle cap, even without the intelligent tools that placed humanity at the top of nature's pyramid.

The same was true for Xia Nan.

His reluctance to fight in the water did not mean he couldn't.

And unlike before, his current location was not some vast, boundless expanse of uninhabited ocean, but right next to the pier, a mere few dozen meters from land.

There were no towering, mountain-like waves, nor did he need to worry about giant, suction-cup tentacles thicker than a human body suddenly bursting from abyssal depths beneath his feet. In fact, given the internal width of Twin Canyon, giant monsters of even a slightly larger size simply could not squeeze inside.

He even had a rough estimate of the enemy's numbers thanks to his altitude advantage.

With this in mind, Xia Nan looked down at the Blade of Vengeance Ship, which was currently under siege by fishmen and in imminent peril. Aside from Alton, he was the only member of the team who could use [Gravity Control] to reduce his body weight enough to meet the load-bearing requirements of Hein's transformation. Upon hearing the signal, he had immediately leaped off the cliff and hurried over alongside the Druid. Analyzing the battlefield from the air for just a moment, he made a decisive choice.

He let go and plummeted.

It was because of this that the twin warriors and the crew on deck finally witnessed the black shooting star shaped like a Wolf Head—a rumor that had been circulating on the ship over the past few days, supposedly the result of some special coordination with Hein.

"Awooo—"

A deep, soaring wolf howl mixed with the shriek of tearing air. The sound grew from distant to near, the sharp whistle of its descent escalating from a low pitch to a high-frequency scream that became increasingly distinct.

In that moment, it was as if someone had pressed the mute button on the battlefield.

Even breathing seemed to halt. The strangely shrieking Sahuagin, the furiously roaring sailors...

Pair after pair of eyes stared at the pitch-black figure rapidly descending, its mane swaying as it dragged a long tail behind it.

"Boom!"

Water splashed violently.

The meteor crashed straight into the sea.

The massive impact kicked up a wave that washed over the hull of the Blade of Vengeance Ship, causing everyone on deck to stagger slightly.

"This..." Ryan opened his mouth, subconsciously glancing up at the Short-Tailed Albatross circling above the ship. For a moment, he had no idea what to do to coordinate with the teammate who had rushed down from the sky to reinforce them.

'Should I go into the water too?'

'Wouldn't that be too dangerous?'

'What about Xia Nan? Why is there no movement? Did he run into danger?'

'What should I do?'

The mature middle-aged man thought of many things in a split second.

Just as he gritted his teeth, preparing to risk leaping off the deck into the sea to support his teammate, a sudden surge in the current beneath the surface—accompanied by a wolf howl rendered slightly muffled yet even more profound by the water—interrupted his thoughts.

Unlike his initial coordination with Hein on Hare Island, Xia Nan flexibly adjusted his combat strategy to face this vastly different environment.

Mid-drop, he changed his intended landing spot from the deck to the sea. Knowing his physical attributes could easily withstand the impact against the water, he didn't slow down at all. Instead, he used [Fang Hunt] and [Gravity Control] to maximize his falling speed.

The exaggerated kinetic energy gathered around his body did not even require a deliberate strike; it simply tore an unlucky fishman swimming nearby into a bloody, mangled mess.

Splash—

From the air to underwater.

The previously clear sounds seemed to be covered by a layer of fog, becoming muffled and distant.

Water rushed against his eardrums. All he could hear was the rushing current and the dull, muted shrieks of the surrounding Sahuagin.

Sinking.

Sinking.

The extra velocity he had built up in the air meant that, despite the water's resistance, the momentum from [Fang Hunt] carried Xia Nan straight to the seafloor.

His soaked leather boots touched down lightly against the soft, sandy bed.

His half-closed eyes snapped open, pitch-black irises glaring upward at the surface.

Xia Nan had never fought underwater before.

He had to admit, it was a rather wondrous experience.

Visually, although it was close to the pier and not particularly deep, the towering cliffs on both sides blocked out most of the sunlight. This reduced underwater visibility to something akin to dusk, just before the sun completely vanished.

The soundscape, while not dead silent, blocked out seventy percent of the noise from the surface. Freezing seawater wrapped around his body, meaning that even the simplest act of raising an arm or taking a step required far more effort than on land.

Yet, exactly when his five physical senses were restricted, his acute Perception—far surpassing that of other Class Holders at his level—quietly kicked in.

For Xia Nan, if he relied solely on what he could see, the fishmen swimming in the surrounding waters might just be a series of rapidly flashing blurs.

But combined with their shrieks and the subtle shifts in the currents they caused, his hyper-acute sensory perception allowed him to accurately pinpoint the locations of those water rats.

Xia Nan hovered silently near the seafloor. The fishmen originally attacking the Blade of Vengeance Ship were drawn by an instinctual attraction to prey that had fallen into the water, gradually closing in from all directions.

Thanks to a Class Holder's robust physique, the amount of time he could hold his breath far exceeded the human limits of his past life. However, considering the heavy exertion of combat, that time would have to be reduced slightly.

The environment had changed, but he had no intention of changing his fighting style.

Because in that moment, as his feet rested on the sandy bed and he stared at the dim, expansive seawater around him, Xia Nan suddenly realized something. To a certain extent, underwater combat... might not be such a massive handicap that it would drop his combat prowess by several tiers.

In fact, to a degree, his highly mobile and agile fighting style could be brought to bear even better in the water.

Xia Nan did not know the origins of his [Meteor Blade Hunter] class, but judging solely by the name, he could deduce it was likely a highly offensive, highly flexible class meant for outer space, utilizing gravity for extreme mobility.

And underwater combat simulated the zero-gravity environment of outer space to a certain extent.

Perhaps using combat techniques would drain more of his stamina, and his movement speed and explosive power would drop slightly due to the water's resistance.

But the spatial freedom he had on the battlefield received an unprecedented upgrade compared to being on land.

[Fang Hunt], which could only move forward, backward, left, and right on the shore, suddenly gained a vertical "Z-axis" underwater!

"Vmmm..."

The dim seawater surrounding him trembled violently. Ink-black Qi surged and spread amid a muffled, deep wolf howl.

The heavy leather boots hovering over the sandy bed slammed down under the force of gravity.

His feet planted firmly.

He bent his knees and exploded with power.

"Boom!!!"

Like a bomb going off underwater, sand and gravel blasted outward. Churning white currents surged and spiraled, carrying countless tiny bubbles.

The pitch-black Winter Wolf from the Misty Forest, known as Sea Fang, claimed the ocean as his hunting ground for the very first time.

The seawater was torn open.

Spiral bubbles shattered and multiplied ring by ring under the sheer force. The water on both sides was compressed into two transparent walls, transforming the once-calm currents into thin white lines of wake.

The absurd burst of speed, powered by both combat techniques and sheer physical Strength, allowed Xia Nan to momentarily carve out a vacuum tunnel through the water.

One end connected to the seafloor where he had launched himself, sand still dancing in the water;

The other end led only to the headless corpse of a fishman, mangled and riddled with holes by his razor-sharp aura.

Neon-blue blood bloomed eerily in the sea, like a physical manifestation of the fear spreading outward under the effects of [Night Mother's Gaze].

Xia Nan could hear the terrified screams of the Sahuagin, as well as the trembling, falsely bravado-filled roars of those who barely managed to pass the Feat's fear check.

This familiar sense of déjà vu made him feel, for a fleeting moment, as if he had returned to those familiar Goblin Lairs.

Since leaving port, the twisted desires suppressed deep within him had begun to silently sprout like wild weeds.

And so, the wolf howl echoed once more.

...

Everyone on deck had seen the pitch-black meteor crash into the sea.

Thanks to the tales of Xia Nan's deeds on Hare Island, the crew of the Blade of Vengeance Ship knew clearly that this figure charging into the battlefield in such an unprecedented manner wasn't an enemy, but an ally who had rushed back to help.

However, they didn't understand this teammate's combat style, nor did they know if plunging into the water was intentional.

After all, given the load-bearing limits of Hein's Short-Tailed Albatross form, it was practically impossible for her to steadily carry a fully armed adult male human Adventurer in flight.

Missing the intended landing zone was perfectly normal.

If he had actually aimed for the pier or the deck but accidentally fell into the sea, did they need to go rescue him?

The battlefield was shifting by the second, and a teammate plunging into the sea only to fall utterly silent inevitably sparked a lot of thoughts.

But in the very next second, a sudden, explosive wolf howl from beneath the waves—followed by a continuous, high-frequency series of long, haunting cries—shattered all their worries and concerns.

Ryan and Gordon stood on the deck.

With the seawater blocking their sight, they couldn't see exactly what was happening beneath the surface.

All the crew could witness was the relatively calm water suddenly beginning to bulge in an incredibly unnatural, sporadic manner. The sound of rupturing currents mixed with wolf howls continually echoed from beneath the waves.

They could vaguely make out a pitch-black shadow, deeper than the sea itself, flashing through the rolling swells like some vicious, hyper-fast aquatic monster.

Circling the Blade of Vengeance Ship, lap after lap.

Spreading fishman blood dyed the surrounding waters a fluorescent blue. Staring, wide-eyed heads—mixed with grotesque chunks of meat and severed limbs—floated to the surface amidst rising bubbles.

It was as if a meat grinder had been activated underwater, humming and screaming as it churned every Sahuagin in sight into mutilated chunks of flesh.

Imperceptibly, the sailors struggling to repel the fishmen boarding the deck realized the pressure on them had quietly eased.

No more Sahuagin were able to leap onto the deck to fight the crew... or rather, any water rat that dared to approach the Blade of Vengeance Ship had already been torn apart by the black wolf prowling the depths, rising to the surface as dead meat.

Even the "clack-clack" sounds of fishmen chiseling with harpoons against the vine-and-kelp-covered hull had unknowingly vanished without a trace.

No one knew what was happening in the water, but the scene unfolding before them told everyone the truth.

This skirmish against the Sahuagin was swiftly drawing to a close amidst the wolf's howls.

"Bzz-pop."

The sound of magic particles fluctuating came from above.

As the team's core Spellcaster, the Druid Hein—who had chosen to circle above the ship to provide aerial superiority due to the shortage of personnel and protective forces on the field—chose to shift back into her human form.

Clutching her staff, she landed on the deck.

Her crystal-clear eyes stared at the sea, an incredibly strange expression on her face.

The situation had been urgent, and she hadn't had time to communicate a detailed battle plan with Xia Nan.

She had simply followed his commands, bringing along the only teammate in the entire squad—other than the Halfling—she could carry while flying. They had jumped straight through the hole in the cliff wall and rushed back to reinforce the ship.

She had originally thought he would land on the deck and use ranged weapons to relieve the pressure on the ship, just as he had done against the Helicoprion a few days ago during the storm.

She never expected... his ideas were far more radical than her own.

"Is he... going to be alright?" Ryan asked worriedly, stepping forward as the wolf howls in the sea gradually faded.

"He should be." Hein nodded uncertainly, her expression hesitant.

She walked to the gunwale, intending to use her exceptional Perception as a Druid to track Xia Nan's movements.

But then she heard the sudden sound of rupturing water below.

"Bang!"

The pitch-black figure suddenly breached the surface, wrapped in residual, rapidly dissipating Qi.

He flew high into the air. Upon reaching the apex, it was as if he had plunged back into water—his falling speed plummeted, and he finally touched down gently on the deck.

His black hair was wet, his clothes entirely soaked in seawater.

Yet, the expression on Xia Nan's face at this moment was more relaxed than the patrons strolling out of the Coral Courtyard.

Casually wiping the seawater dripping from his bangs, he looked at everyone on the deck.

"How is it? Any casualties?"