Deep Sea Hunter, but Deep Sea Titan

Chapter Seven: Deep Sea Titans Join the Hunt

The brief respite was enough for the hunters to regroup. The arrival of the bronze giant had intimidated Isamara within her, but Skadi could clearly sense that Isamara's fear had lessened. Furthermore, because Lotin had attacked the immobilized enemy, the rune "Fountain of Life" had been triggered, further restoring their stamina. The destructive energy from the [Aftershock] surged into the ground, causing a violent, small-scale earthquake.

The jet-black greatsword rose from below, the weapon used to slaughter behemoths transforming into a surging, unstoppable wave; even the powerful tentacles could not hinder Skadi. At the instant the greatsword made contact with flesh, it didn't slice, but pulverize; the exaggerated impact caused the struck mass of flesh to explode and scatter. The bell of flesh was blasted away by the impact; lacking the ability to move, it could only fly helplessly towards Lotin.

"Great swarm, overcome disaster... Great swarm, no longer fear you... Great swarm, shatter the reef... Great swarm, crush your anchor..."

The friction between the bone plates and the mucous membranes could only produce sounds similar to those of a human, but Lotin managed to make out their meaning. These beasts were remarkably adaptable, even though they had previously stirred up ocean currents and spent about 60 years trying to drive Lotin out of the sea.

It now seems that it is only a matter of time before they no longer instinctively fear themselves; they have already adapted over the past 60 years.

This also proves that the large group has been watching him all along. These cultists' desire to prevent him from leaving alive is not a whim, but a premeditated plan.

It's utterly ridiculous. While that cowardly controller was the mastermind, wasn't Hai Si, who triggered the tsunami, also an accomplice?

If it weren't for these scourges, the Fool wouldn't have become a cage destined to become a coffin, and the scene of triumphant return in the dream wouldn't have been impossible to come true.

These beasts want to kill Luo Ting, and he is more than willing to fight them to the end. He will not only live on tenaciously, but also make these beasts remember their fear of him again!

Since they arrogantly claim they are no longer afraid of me, I will kill them until they start avoiding me again!

Loting swung the giant anchor in his hand, striking the living, ominous bell like a tennis ball. The chitinous bone plates shattered instantly, and the monstrous creature that was adept at manipulating people's minds and dreams met its end.

"First blooded!"

"【Abyssal Dreamer】has been killed by 【Deep Sea Titan】! (Assist: 【Skadi】)"

The system emitted a notification sound that was extremely familiar to Luo Ting. His gold coins miraculously increased by 400 points, and his experience points also surged, almost reaching level three. This meant that the bell he had killed—the thing the system called "Abyssal Dream"—was the core of this flesh-and-blood monster.

A being powerful enough to be classified as a hero unit, although its physical strength is not particularly strong, its mental attack ability is terrifying enough to plunge an entire squad of Punishers into a nightmare, and even it almost failed to escape.

In short, Lotin now possesses a staggering sum of nearly 600 gold coins. Although he had, to some extent, done something akin to "stealing a kill," considering that the system's assessment of Skadi, aside from awarding her real-world currency, didn't actually have any significant impact on her, it would be a waste for Skadi to actually deliver the final blow.

If he had known beforehand that the strange bell was a hero unit, he would have done everything in his power to ensure that the final blow, which met the system's criteria, was delivered by him.

Sure enough, Skadi was looking around blankly, with as many as 200 Iberian gold coins scattered on the ground. However, her attention quickly shifted to the culture tank on Lotin's shoulder, where Laurentina was wearing a black nun's habit that covered her completely, but thankfully her expression had relaxed slightly.

"Salvage worker, why did you come back?"

Skadi put the greatsword back into its bag-like scabbard and looked at Lotin with a puzzled, even wary, expression, because her blood relative was still on the salvage worker's shoulder.

This greedy salvage worker, who had refused to continue providing assistance, happened to appear when Laurentina was being held hostage by the enemy, which is highly suspicious.

"Someone doesn't want me to leave alive."

"They even tried to insult me ​​in the most foolish way."

Lotin placed the culture tank containing Laurentina on the ground.

"After all, it was my own choice to come back, so this fee won't be charged separately. This is a one-time exception; there's no such thing as a free lunch."

“However, if you intend to continue our previous agreement, do not make similar moves again.”

Skadi rarely saw this taciturn salvage worker speak so much at once. She had to admit that the salvage worker's warning was absolutely correct. Hai Si would take advantage of her obsession and deliberately create a dilemma for her, leading her into one deadly trap after another.

"I'm sorry, salvage crew, I've put you in danger."

She paid the price for her stubbornness and recklessness; if the cultists of the Deep Sea Church hadn't ignorantly angered the salvage worker, she would probably have been replaced by Isamara.

"hunter."

"Precisely because she is your irreplaceable blood relative, you should be even more cautious in your actions, shouldn't you?"

From the bell's last words, Lotin already knew that even without Skadi's company, these beasts and their followers would continue to cause him trouble. Therefore, Lotin didn't dwell on the matter with Skadi.

"Also, the thing inside you is gradually adapting to me. You must learn to fight it alone, hunter."

Now that Haisi has clearly confronted Loting, he naturally cannot let these beasts succeed in their schemes; Isamara absolutely cannot return.

"who are you?"

Skadi felt a surge of fear; this unfathomable diver knew her so well. She was thankful that he wasn't her enemy.

"Hunter, you are very lucky."

"What those beasts just did has given me another reason to pursue my goal."

"While I survive, I will slaughter those pests and join your hunt."

Lotin hoisted the giant anchor onto his shoulder and cursed these blasphemous beings with the same vile language.

"that's enough."

Since the other party had already said this much, Skadi didn't press further about Lotin's true identity.

As soon as Skadi finished speaking, the cracks on the culture tank caused by the battle suddenly began to widen until the container finally succumbed to the pressure and burst open.

"You woke me up."

"Brass demon from the abyss, have you come to take my life?"

Dressed in a nun's habit, Laurentina slumped to the ground, making a praying gesture, and calmly looked at the brass giant before her.

"Did you do anything to her?"

"Obviously not. You should ask those lunatics what they did to her."

The salvage crew and the hunters looked at each other, their only consensus being that Laurentina's current mental state was not quite right.

"Isn't that so? You collect tithes on behalf of the boundless ocean, and those who are stingy with even a single gold coin are your targets. You will take them with you as you sink into the waves."

Laurentina described what she thought Lotin had done very naturally, as if she were telling a terrifying bedtime story about an Agor mother scaring her naughty child.

"Phew, it was just a bedtime story."

Hearing this, Skadi breathed a slight sigh of relief and went over to gently support Laurentina.

"The Nautilus character is a complete kid-bait, Laurentina. Kids in Agor these days don't believe in that stuff anymore."

Skadi recalled a story about a brass water ghost that she had heard countless times in her childhood—a vague yet warm memory.

Wait, a brass water ghost? Pay with gold coins?

Skadi slowly turned her head to look at the equally surprised salvage worker.

"what?"

The hunter and the salvage worker both gasped in surprise.

Chapter 8: The Three Top Lane Gods

Brass diving suit, giant anchor, unusually tall body, accepting a coin—every feature corresponds perfectly to the salvage worker before him.

Skadi checked her pulse, which was still beating normally, indicating that she was not dead and that what she saw was not the bronze water ghost from the abyss.

But how did it match up so perfectly? Could it be that I've actually met the real thing?

In Skadi's memory, the protagonists in those horror movies often got into danger because they stubbornly refused to believe that the horrors in front of them existed, so she decided to take precautions.

"Salvage worker, you can have all those gold coins. I can't go back to the sea right now."

Neither the torment of Isamara's poison within her nor the crazed Laurentina before her could allow her to return to the sea. What if this salvage worker really was the legendary "Nautilus," and things turned out just like the bedtime horror story that had haunted her...

Seeing that Lotin didn't react to the gold coins on the ground, Skadi instinctively shielded Laurentina behind her and asked again:

Are you Nautilus?

"I think I am."

The amount of information revealed by Laurentina was so overwhelming that even Lotin was temporarily rendered speechless.

Could it be that someone with low sanity saw or heard something they shouldn't have seen or heard? But judging from Skadi's reaction, it seems that the Agorians do have legends about "Nautilus." Not only is the name the same, but the story is also very similar to the background story of the deep-sea titan in League of Legends.

"I've already paid your taxes, so you won't cause me any trouble, right?"

The fear she felt upon first meeting Skadi resurfaced in her mind. Even though she had slain countless more horrific and deformed creatures, the oppressive feeling emanating from this brass giant was something she could not overcome.

"will not."

Surely he couldn't have been under system management for the 60 years he was advised to go into forced hibernation?

"Adjust your posture to reduce damage from ocean currents."

The system shows that the body care it received during its drifting was limited to this. It seems that some Agorian writer saw itself drifting and made some embellished literary creations. In addition, it is not exactly kind-looking to wear a brass diving suit, so it is not impossible to use it to scare Agorian children.

Even if you take off your diving suit, I still know you are that brass devil.

"Who would have thought that beneath your heavy diving suit lies a melancholy, dark-haired Agor sailor?"

“I know you are Locke from the Fool—”

Laurentina simply smiled and prayed, calmly watching Lotin, while Skadi couldn't help but lament that Laurentina had probably indeed gone mad.

Loting had finally regained his composure, but Laurentina's weighty remarks unsettled him. While the terrifying fairy tale he had just witnessed could still be explained by Loting, Laurentina's increasingly outrageous statements completely threw him into a panic.

He had only one thought in his mind right now—"I've got a box!"

Regardless of what else Laurentina knew, all Lotin knew was that he couldn't let this mad nun continue talking in front of Skadi. In this state, Laurentina seemed to be able to see things she shouldn't be able to see.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

Laurentina's mouth was stuffed with something extremely hard, something even her shark teeth couldn't break. A faint blush rose on her pale face from the difficulty in breathing.

"A rich aroma..."

It's a sandwich cookie; Lotin used the Eternal Will Sandwich Cookie!

After eating the sandwich cookie, Laurentina's face instantly regained some color. The cookie was incredibly hard for her, and chewing it took a lot of effort, but the mysterious energy contained in the sandwich cookie greatly reduced her pain, and her chaotic thoughts gradually calmed down.

Laurentina slept peacefully, her expression serene and her breathing steady.

"Hunter, you shouldn't be so dense as to believe such outrageous nonsense, right?"

For the first time, Skadi sensed undisguised murderous intent from Lotin, or rather, "enraged" would be a more accurate description. She shook her head blankly, and Lotin gradually calmed down.

After collecting several unopened, uncontaminated, and unexpired military cans from the fortress, Skadi suggested taking a short rest some distance from the coast, as she hadn't replenished her energy in far too long.

If you just want to fill your stomach, using sandwich cookies is far too extravagant.

"Searching aimlessly like this is not a solution."

"There's no way to go back to the sea. Is there anywhere on land where Laurentina can be treated?"

Skadi used a spoon she found in the fortress kitchen to scoop out a spoonful of something that looked like spaghetti bolognese. She had to admit that the land dwellers' preservation techniques were not as good as Agor's, but the canned noodles were still barely edible.

"Give her a cookie."

Lotin didn't need to eat, so he just rested on the side. In the original story, Rhodes Island only provided supportive treatment for Laurentina's Oripathy symptoms, and the opportunity to completely resolve the condition only arose when she returned to Miriam.

To achieve a complete cure, we must return to Agor; Rhodes Island is only providing supportive treatment. However, based on current observations, the same supportive treatment from Rhodes Island can be achieved with the Eternal Will Sandwich Cookie, and seemingly even better. Reusable potions should also have similar effects.

Lotin had a reason to treat Laurentina, even if it would consume his precious sandwich cookies. He had some questions he needed to confirm with Laurentina alone in her chaotic state, in which the effects on her seemed more due to Originium than to Hai Si.

"But to me it looks like an ordinary sandwich cookie. If there's anything special about it, it's just that it's very hard."

The scientific education the Agorians received did not allow Skadi to so readily believe that a mere cookie could alleviate such complex symptoms.

"Come on, you slow-witted hunter, the water ghost Nautilus is standing right in front of you, is it so strange that he pulls out some magical artifacts?"

Lotin simply went along with these Agorians' misunderstanding of his "beauty" and embarked on the path of playing the charlatan, never to turn back, since using this identity could avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Skadi frowned deeply in pain, sometimes feeling that the salvager's presence distorted her perception of reality more than Isamara's poisonous blood.

"Trust what you see before you, hunter."

A faint mist of steam began to rise around Skadi's head. Seeing this, Lotin once again took the opportunity to try and dissuade Skadi from thinking too much. In his opinion, if this continued, the silly orca's cups would probably burn out.

Skadi then abandoned her thinking; the therapeutic effects of the biscuits were indeed visible to the naked eye.

Lotin finally had time to think about which "big item" (high-value equipment) he should build first. After reaching level 4, the system would give him a chance to change his runes. The biscuit's healing function had substitutes, and at higher levels, the biscuit's healing amount was insufficient, so it would have to be replaced sooner or later.

Back in Season 7, there were three god-tier top laners: Poppy, Maokai, and Nautilus. Top lane Nautilus, as a top lane mage tank, had everything: mobility, crowd control, lock-on, and shields, and his damage was astonishing.

In Season 14, due to insufficient stats, the Deep Sea Titan could only dominate as a hard support in the bottom lane.

Not having enough stats in Summoner's Rift doesn't mean you won't have enough stats in Terra!

Lotin is currently playing a supporting role, but he is merely accumulating strength and probing the true capabilities of the Terrans.

Looking back now, I realize I was perhaps a little too cautious.

A true man is born between heaven and earth; how can he remain subservient to others for long!

Top lane Titan, today I'm going to fulfill my dream of playing Terran, so I'll buy a Ruby Crystal and a Lunchbox.