Chapter 117 - 111: Solo Difficulty

Chapter 117: Chapter 111: Solo Difficulty

It was obvious that the Abyssal Octopus had long been aware of Rowan Rhodes’s existence, attempting to swallow her whole by devouring the Watchtower. After all, the most venomous part of its entire body was its maw.

As the Watchtower was being engulfed, a harsh SIZZLE began to echo through the air. It was the sound of metal corroding. As the corrosion spread, Rowan Rhodes could see a stream of messages popping up on her control panel.

[Your building: Watchtower is under attack. Durability is decreasing. Maintenance required. Do you wish to repair it using Metal Ingots and glass?]

[Your raft is under attack. Durability is decreasing. Maintenance required. Do you wish to repair it using Wooden Boards, Metal Ingots, glass, scrap iron, and iron nails?]

Every time a window popped up, Rowan Rhodes immediately selected "Yes."

While maintaining the repairs, she observed the Abyssal Octopus for any weaknesses. She could see the creature’s health bar, but it had only dropped by a minuscule amount. This was enough to prove that external attacks meant absolutely nothing to the Abyssal Octopus, thanks to its incredibly high defense.

If an external assault wouldn’t work, then she would have to break through from the inside. Originally, she hadn’t been able to find a good opening. But now that the Abyssal Octopus was trying to swallow her, wasn’t this the perfect opportunity?

Rowan Rhodes locked her gaze onto its pitch-black maw. She had heard that the Abyssal Octopus possessed exceptionally high intelligence. Her attack had to be a guaranteed one-hit kill.

Just as she was calculating her next move, she suddenly met the Abyssal Octopus’s eyes again. It was twisting its massive body around, clearly trying to confirm if she was still there. Upon confirming her presence, waves of venom began to spill from its mouthparts. The ink-like venom directly coated the Watchtower and the surrounding glass, completely blocking her line of sight.

That wasn’t all. Other mutated marine creatures had also begun to gather around her raft in droves. Fortunately, most of them were strictly aquatic and couldn’t leave the water, making the Fish Spear Guns more than enough to deal with them.

In the blink of an eye, the ocean around the raft surged with violent waves. Accompanying the chaos came the loot from killing the mutated marine creatures.

[Obtained Jellyfish Meat *1, Gel *1]

[Obtained Poisonous Sting *1, Soft Skin *1]

[Obtained Fish Meat *1, Fish Oil *1]

[Obtained Eel Meat *1, Fish Skin *1, Light Emitting Gland *1]

[...]

Looking at the haul, Rowan Rhodes knew these materials came from a variety of mutated sea fish. While they posed a danger to her raft, it was also a lucrative opportunity. Unconsciously, her gaze drifted to the world channel of District 122. What about the other players?

"Celia Lynch: My side is already under attack by sea fish. Everyone get ready. These fish seem pretty crazy."

"Boohoo, same here."

"My raft keeps getting attacked! Not only can I not see anything outside, but the fog is also toxic. This is too hard."

"We still have to go out and kill them directly. Most people’s rafts probably can’t withstand a prolonged war of attrition."

"Yeah! We have to wear Masks to go out and fight."

"I haven’t encountered them yet. Thanks for the heads-up, I’ll go prepare right away."

"What kind of marine creatures are out there?"

"I saw jellyfish and eels on my end."

"I’ve got large crabs over here."

"These marine creatures are way bigger than the ones in reality. They’re making my mouth water."

"Haha, you can actually eat them! I already cooked and ate some of the dropped Fish Meat."

"Some even dropped whole crabs! I’m getting ready to steam mine right now."

"A fellow foodie!"

"..."

Rowan Rhodes’s mouth twitched as she read the chat. She realized these players were much better at finding joy in hardship than she was. However, their reactions also proved one thing: she truly was the only one dealing with an Abyssal Octopus.

The Sea Survival Game really thought highly of her! This was a hellish difficulty level tailored exclusively for her.

Pulling her attention away, Rowan Rhodes slipped on her Mask. Although she had been constantly patching the damage, it was obvious that as the Abyssal Octopus continued its assault, it had figured out her repair pattern. It was rapidly increasing its attack Speed, intent on breaking through her defenses and swallowing her as quickly as possible.

The very next second after Rowan Rhodes braced herself, with a loud CRACK, a thick tentacle pierced into the room from the outside, lunging straight for her. Where there was one, a second and a third immediately followed. These tentacles quickly coiled tightly around Rowan Rhodes’s body, yanking her upwards toward the Abyssal Octopus’s massive maw.

In that moment, the Abyssal Octopus seemed to squirm with utter delight, savoring the feeling of its food finally arriving at its mouth.

Just then, Rowan Rhodes executed another rapid repair on the Watchtower. The sudden restoration caused the structural gaps to instantly seal shut, tightly wedging the Abyssal Octopus’s tentacles in place. Although the creature’s violent struggles threatened to shatter the glass once more, the maneuver effectively stopped it from swallowing her whole in a single breath.

Realizing just how tough its prey was, the monster shoved its remaining six tentacles directly into the room alongside the two main ones holding her. It wasn’t just trying to grab Rowan Rhodes anymore; it was trying to obliterate the entire Watchtower. The beast had discovered that destroying the Watchtower was a much faster way to secure its meal than directly attacking the raft.

Despite the Watchtower’s limited space, the tentacles aggressively squeezed their way inside, their thick, writhing tips completely stuffing the small room to the brim. The Abyssal Octopus was incredibly cunning, sending the six tentacles in from two opposing directions to pry open a large enough gap—a gap at least big enough to forcefully drag Rowan Rhodes out.

The situation turned critically dire. The Watchtower’s roof was fully engulfed by the Abyssal Octopus’s maw. At that moment, Rowan Rhodes noticed that the more ink the creature’s mouthparts spewed, the more violently it corroded the Watchtower’s structure. Following several horrifying CRACKs, the maw pressed in after the tentacles, forcibly destroying the vast majority of the Watchtower.

Throughout this chaotic process, Rowan Rhodes continued to fight fiercely, inflicting various degrees of damage to the restraining tentacles. But it all felt entirely futile. The Abyssal Octopus writhed with increasing glee, preparing to toss Rowan Rhodes straight into its waiting jaws.

As she was pulled terrifyingly close, a faint light flashed in Rowan Rhodes’s eyes. Struggling against her binds, she tossed burning bottles into the gaping maw one after another.

The Abyssal Octopus sensed the incoming projectiles and instinctively snapped its mouth shut after swallowing the first burning bottle. However, upon tasting it, the beast failed to realize the lethal danger of the object and reopened its mouth, attempting to consume the rest of her attacks. In its mind, Rowan Rhodes was merely putting up a desperate, dying struggle.

Just as it was about to bite down on Rowan Rhodes herself, a makeshift torch suddenly appeared in her hand. With lightning speed, she shoved the flaming torch deep into its mouth.

BOOM!

A violent explosion erupted from within the Abyssal Octopus’s mouth. Its massive body and eight thick tentacles instantly began to flail and thrash in frantic agony. Yet, despite its violent convulsions, the Abyssal Octopus refused to let go of Rowan Rhodes, tossing and rolling her entire body around as it thrashed.

Seizing this chaotic window of opportunity, Rowan Rhodes executed a massive, comprehensive repair on the Watchtower. This particular restoration cost an enormous amount of resources—almost enough to build a brand-new Watchtower from scratch.

As soon as the structure materialized, the Abyssal Octopus’s tentacles were once again firmly wedged and trapped in the walls, while its colossal main body was forcefully blocked outside. The small, confined interior of the Watchtower was now completely packed with the trapped segments of the Abyssal Octopus’s tentacles.

Rowan Rhodes’s body continuously slammed against the tight walls of the enclosed space, causing her to see stars.