Deep Sea Hunter, but Deep Sea Titan

The "Staff of Time" is a versatile item for tanky mages, providing a balance of mana, health, and spell power. Its passive even provides mana and health regeneration, and its stats are impressive when fully stacked.

"Heart of Steel" and "Mejai's Soul Stealer" are indeed tempting, but considering that the system currently recognizes very few hero units, we will not consider them for the time being. They are too early to be effectively utilized, so it is better to wait until the so-called "hero units" become more common before considering them.

Chapter Nine: The Colossus Shield

"So, we're heading all the way to Kazimir?"

Laurentina had awakened from a rare period of peaceful sleep. Although another personality still dominated her body, at least her mental state had temporarily stabilized. She had never objected to Lotin's proposal from the beginning.

"But why should we go to Kazimir?"

Skadi pointed to the Kingdom of Knights on the moldy map. This map was a version from decades ago, and the borders were inevitably inaccurate. It was found in the ruins of the fortress along with those cans of Iberian pasta.

Lotin knew, of course, that the key to the Great Lighthouse "Eye of Iberia" was buried in Casimir. Only by obtaining it could he unlock the Eye of Iberia, find the Fool again, and make his revenge more complete. In the process, he could also acquire more means to fight against the Sea Legion. Lotin, who was regarded as a natural threat by the Great Fools, could not possibly give up this opportunity.

In order to regroup and find a way to contact the silent Agor, the deep-sea hunters must rely on the Fool, a creation that makes full use of Agor's technology.

Is it strange that Nautilus knew the secret location of the treasure?

“But you’re a salvage worker, not a gold prospector. That place is land.”

As expected of Skadi, her reason for suspicion was that "Nautilus is a water ghost," rather than how lame Lotin's explanation was.

Lotin glanced instinctively at Laurentina, who had a mysterious smile on her face. He was terrified that the crazy nun would say something shocking again.

“I know your situation is just a coincidence. I am just a nun, not an omniscient and omnipotent God.”

Laurentina shook her head innocently; she was now so obedient that she seemed like a completely different person.

"Could it be related to Buoragan?"

Skadi was just an electrical engineer before, but she had heard of the name of the extraordinary Buoragan. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he was the most knowledgeable modern Ager Ager about the land. If she was looking for items related to that amazing engineer, then it would make sense to go deep inland.

“It is indeed related to him. I was on his ship once.”

The system's affairs cannot be exposed, so it would be troublesome to continue acting under the name of "Nautilus".

Anyway, Skadi didn't know that the ship Buoregan was building was called the "Fool," and the mad nun probably already knew everything she should and shouldn't know, so it didn't matter if this information was revealed.

"Buoregan likely left behind means of communication with Agor on land. If we could utilize his findings..."

After a moment's thought, Skadi accepted Lotin's suggestion. For her, rather than wandering aimlessly through Iberia, it was better to believe in the magical power of this legendary figure from the Agor legend one more time, after all, he was also someone who had devoted himself to fighting the Sea Siren—and maybe the person in the diving suit really was an Agor.

The desolate landscape gradually began to change, with vitality and life weakly returning to the scenery along the roadside; the feeble new green shoots were nothing more than a feeble last gasp. As Skadi continued deeper inland, she felt Isamara's vitality waning, and also felt increasingly dry and uncomfortable due to the distance from the coast—although the air here was still considered humid for land dwellers.

Originium bugs began to emerge from the cracks in the rocks and the pits in the bricks from time to time, and Loting naturally couldn't let them go.

The previous journey was too desolate, and Loting could hardly even find a chance to consume the layers of the "Relic Shield". But now it's different. Loting can crush these Originium bugs effortlessly and can also trigger the charging of the "Relic Shield".

The only pity is that a lot of the Iberian gold coins, which were too numerous and inconvenient to carry, were wasted. However, these coins were not very useful in the isolated settlements of the fallen and semi-fallen Iberia, where water and food were the hard currency.

The nun's arrival prompted the silent hunters and salvage workers to exchange a few more words. Laurentina, the audacious and mad nun, even handed Lotin an Iberian gold coin from the ground, hoping he would tell her more about the story of the ship.

In exchange, I can tell you quietly why I know about your past.

This was clearly a condition that Lotin could not refuse.

"Okay, after all, you paid taxes."

For Nautilus himself, paying taxes only protected his ships from attack, while for Lotin, it was nothing more than a random lottery.

Why wouldn't Lotin be happy to learn the information that was bothering him by telling a boring sea tale?

"They say my Iberian has a Yan accent, which is really baffling."

"I was really not convinced, so I went with that busybody sailor to find the linguistics professor in the ship's research team."

"The professor was quite comical; he immediately asked me in the most bureaucratic Iberian language, 'How are you?'"

"I reflexively replied, 'I'm fine, how about you?'"

"Then, a joyful atmosphere instantly filled the ship..."

Lotin said that since then, he has started to learn the Granfalo dialect accent and expression habits.

“Your Agor is also accented and the expression is not very authentic.”

This crazy nun is actually gloating and trying not to laugh! How utterly rude!

Even more outrageous, a barely perceptible smile flashed across Skadi's face.

After all, Lotin's Agorian language, like Iberian, appeared inexplicably in his mind when he came to this world.

"As agreed, I will give you coins."

Taking advantage of the opportunity to hand Loting the coin, Laurentina nimbly climbed onto Loting's shoulder and whispered:

"When I was soaked in that thing called 'high-concentration Originium concentrate solution,' I uncontrollably saw a part of your memories."

“You have so many interesting memories. I’m especially curious about your experiences before you boarded the ship, but unfortunately I won’t be able to see them now.”

"I'll keep it a secret for you, for the sake of those interesting stories."

Laurentina chuckled mischievously and gracefully hopped off his shoulder as if nothing had happened.

At this moment, the system issues a notification sound:

"From the moment this system begins operation, it insures the host's memories; any descriptions related to the system will be replaced by artistic representations."

“You won’t be interested, nun.”

Luo Ting breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed the most sensitive information hadn't been leaked. Chatting with people like this occasionally wasn't so bad, actually.

While checking his tithe rewards, he discovered that his "Relic Shield" had met the upgrade requirements and had been transformed into the "Mount Targon Round Shield".

Furthermore, the description of "killing too many minions reduces the amount of gold earned" has disappeared, and the rate of gold earned has increased from 2 gold per 10 hours to 3 gold per hour. It also adds the function of placing wards, and you can even periodically stockpile wards that can share vision without returning to the shop, just like your own "scout wards". The two can be combined to store a total of 5 wards.

As for the result of the tithe lottery, it was 10, 10 skin fragments?

"Deep Sea Titan skin [Light Knight] fragments, collect 60 to exchange for the skin."

Luo Ting sighed inwardly, "This skin is somewhat meaningless, and it doesn't add any attributes..."

Surely you can't gain some of the abilities from the skin's backstory, right?

That's probably unlikely.

"It's a settlement."

Should we go and resupply some supplies?

Skadi pointed to a small town in the distance, where a moldy road sign read "Tidestone Town" in Iberian.

Water and food are necessities for the two hunters, and in the current occupied and semi-occupied areas of Iberia, there are limited places to replenish these supplies.

"It's worth considering, but we must be very careful."

Tidestone Town was a place that left a slight impression on Lotin, but it wasn't a deep one, as the original story didn't focus much on it. Moreover, Skadi and Laurentina didn't feel any connection to their blood relatives there.

Even so, Luo Ting intended to enter this place with full suspicion, and if there was really a problem here, then it should be wiped out.

Chapter 10: Deep-Sea Titans Never Take Off Their Diving Suits

"Tide Stone Town," as its name suggests, is a town built of stone, with lush moss covering the stones that construct the low houses, and pomegranate trees miraculously keeping their canopies green in the town's central square.

The town also has a clock tower, but the place where the clock should be hanging is empty.

The townspeople showed no hostility toward outsiders, and the pedestrians on the brick road looked tired but did not show any obvious signs of malnutrition.

In front of the pomegranate tree stood a dilapidated little church. The icon in the church did not hold a lantern and sword, which were common after the Iberian religious reforms, but rather an older style, the same icon that Lotin had seen on the Fool, holding a gun.

Next to the main road is a shop that is still operating normally. The paint on the wooden sign is peeling off, and the name of the shop is difficult to identify. However, it can still be deduced from the contents of the shop that it is a hotel that also serves as a restaurant.

"Mr. Minor, we have a guest!"

With a smile, the waiter greeted the three of them warmly as they entered the store. He glanced somewhat awkwardly at Luo Ting.

"Sir, how are you supposed to enter the store like this?"

Wearing a heavy brass diving suit, the 4-meter-tall Lotin seemed impossible to fit through the hotel's small door.

"I don't need to go into the store."

Lotin doesn't need to eat or excrete, so there's no reason for him to rest at the hotel. Taking off his diving suit would only expose his vulnerable body, so there's absolutely no need for him to remove it. He could rest outdoors after setting up the guards.

"Are you really not going to consider it? Our stone-built hot spring is very famous, but things aren't going well lately. Apart from a few caravans that come here occasionally, we don't have many customers."

The waiter's feathers trembled slightly as he continued his enthusiastic promotion of the hotel's services.

"No need."

Loting responded firmly. He didn't argue with the waiter any further, but instead turned and walked to the other side of the hotel.

Laurentina and Skadi went into the first-floor restaurant, which was not crowded. Skadi took out a few Iberian gold coins, indicating that she needed food and water.

"Need accommodation? The only place nearby that can provide these repair services is Chaoshi Town."

Minor was a middle-aged Liberian woman wearing glasses, who seemed very confident in her shop and in the still-vibrant town of Tidestone.

"Two Iberian gold coins, that's no small sum."

She opened the drawer of the counter, glancing furtively at Skadi; ​​two Iberian gold coins were indeed a considerable sum.

Laurentina caught a glimpse of the opened drawer out of the corner of her eye, even though it was completely empty.

“Just give us water and food, Ms. Minor.”

Laurentina thoughtfully added,

"The best staple food is something like roasted potatoes or roasted sweet potatoes. It would be even better if they were roasted a little charred. As for the change, you don't need to keep it."

The shop owner, Minor, forced a stiff smile and instructed the kitchen to prepare boiling water and roasted potatoes. After all, potatoes are crops that can grow in barren land, so it's not surprising that they are grown in Chaoshi Town.

Skadi had to admit that the salvage crew's sandwich cookies were truly magical; Laurentina's mental state had become much more stable than she had imagined. When the steaming hot, salted roasted potatoes were served, Laurentina said she wanted to go see the church. She had already gotten enough nutrition from the cookies, so she only needed to drink more water.

After wrapping the potatoes in newspaper and filling the kettle with water, they left the hotel to meet up with Lotin.

"Skadi, don't you find this suspicious?"

Laurentina toyed with an Iberian gold coin with her slender fingers, a playful smile on her face.

"I didn't sense any taint of corruption from the potatoes."

Skadi sniffed the roasted potato wrapped in newspaper; apart from a slightly burnt smell, it seemed unremarkable.

“That’s not what I meant. I meant that the shopkeeper’s act of accepting the gold coins was very suspicious.”

"The waiter said he would trade with the caravan. If the caravan uses gold coins, then the inn that hosts the caravan must have some loose coins."

Laurentina tossed the gold coin into the air, and the Iberian coin flipped in mid-air, landing on the other side in her hand.

“If they traded with caravans through barter, they certainly wouldn’t accept gold coins that were useless.”

Lotin also noticed something amiss. According to Laurentina's description, the other party ultimately accepted the gold coins but had no way to give change. Something was wrong, and a big problem at that, especially since the waiter had repeatedly urged him to take off his wetsuit.

"The church, that old-fashioned icon is something that catches my eye."

Loting was certain that if the Punishing Army had provided shelter to the town, the statue wouldn't look like that.

When the state religion was reorganized into a court of judgment, the saint's gun should have been changed to a lantern and a sword, but this statue of the saint still retains the appearance it had 60 years ago, or even earlier.

Under the pomegranate tree in front of the church stood a burly middle-aged Liberian man. The townspeople's clothes were worn out due to the difficulty in obtaining supplies, but this gentleman's formal attire was brand new.

"Are you travelers?"

The middle-aged man saw someone walking towards the church and called out to the three of them with great interest.

"Yes."

"Just want to come and see the church."

Lotin briefly stated his purpose.

The middle-aged man looked up at the towering brass giant and said with a wry smile:

"The priest left a long time ago. What's so interesting about an empty church?"

When disaster struck, the first to flee were surprisingly the former state religious clergy—now renamed the Court of Judgment.

The Iberians are utterly ridiculous. The controller betrayed the salvage crew, and the priest betrayed the townspeople. How cowardly and selfish they are!

"The state church priest actually abandoned the townspeople and fled?"

Loting never hesitated to be sarcastic about such matters; he deliberately used the term "state religion," which was full of undisguised bitterness.