Chapter 532: The Bond between Master and Familiar
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The Winged Mountain Ape seemed to have a longer lifespan than other monsters of the same grade. Gao Peng hadn’t expected much from Xiao Hua in terms of combat power. Longevity is as good a trait as any for it, I guess, he thought.
They continued on their journey for the next ten or so days. Even though they couldn’t see any sign of the sea in the distance, they could already smell the salt in the wind; they were getting closer to the sea.
Suddenly, an uneasy feeling welled up in him. Gao Peng had a feeling that something was about to happen. He looked around. Nothing stirred in the sky.
Am I imagining things? He shook his head. “Come on, let’s keep on moving.”
…
“Why are you chasing me? I only took one egg from you,” shouted Da Zi. Its wings were beating so quickly that they had all but disappeared from sight. Thunder filled the air as it tore through the skies in the form of a faint purple s.h.i.+mmer.
Suddenly, a huge wave rose up from the ocean beneath Da Zi. A silver dorsal fin cut through its surface like a blade, leaving a trail of disturbed water in its wake.
It was swimming just as fast as Da Zi. A slender shadow could be seen moving beneath the waves. Fierce undercurrents swirled around it. When it had swam far enough, a number of whirlpools appeared in its wake.
“Stop chasing me! Didn’t I already return your egg… yolk?” pleaded Da Zi.
The beast beneath the waves slowed down almost imperceptibly as if it couldn’t believe what it had just heard. The ocean itself seemed to seethe with rage at that moment. In the next second, the surface of the water exploded as a silver shark-like dorsal fin erupted from it.
Boom! The water began to roil. In mere seconds, towering waves rose into the air.
Amid the towering waves, a silver 300-foot-long serpent let out a resounding roar, its back lined with spindly wings. It was as if a thousand-year-old ocean deity had emerged from the ocean, threatening to exact its vengeance upon the surface world for its mistreatment of the ocean.
Water spikes of varying thickness shot out from the waves. Each of them at least 16 feet long, they were tipped with a hook on one end and connected to the ocean’s surface via a rope of water as thick as a human arm on the other.
Upon hitting their marks, these water spikes would latch on to them for as long as they remained in effect. Not even a dragon could pull them off. Despite being made of water, they were incredibly solid and resilient.
The water spikes crisscrossed the air, forming a nigh impenetrable mesh above the water. The silver-spined serpent continued its pursuit of Da Zi, propelled by the raging waves it had summoned around itself. Its rage was almost palpable.
Now fearing for its life, Da Zi began beating its wings faster than it ever had in its life, flashes of electricity growing more intense around its body. It was now flying a lot faster, narrowly dodging the incoming water spikes from behind.
Even a rabbit would bite someone when threatened, not to mention a centipede dragon.
As Da Zi beat its wings as hard as it could, it turned around to look at the silver serpent before delving into its mind through its Eye of the Heart ability.
A cold, deadly voice boomed in Da Zi’s head, saying, “Must eat it! Must eat it!”
Da Zi blinked, livid. I am not food! There is nothing in this world that frightens me, and nothing I can’t eat. I eat other people, not the other way around!
Through its Eye of the Heart ability, Da Zi could see that the silver serpent was swathed in crimson flames, which signified the rage it was currently feeling. To Da Zi, setting off the emotions of other monsters was as easy as taking candy from a baby.
It focused its attention on the serpent.
Boom!
The inferno raging around the serpent exploded. Its body shook violently and rolled around a few times before sinking back into the ocean alongside the towering waves it had surrounded itself with.
A calm fell over the water for a long while. Then, without warning, the serpent erupted from the depths and continued its pursuit with renewed vigor.
Da Zi had slowed down just a bit after landing an attack on its pursuer. It had no trouble flying forward at top speed; the only problem was that it was an extremely exhausting task. Just when it thought it could finally take a break, its tail suddenly stood on end. It turned around and saw that the silver serpent was on the chase once more.
Da Zi hastily turned back and propelled itself forward at top speed. Why is it getting closer?
Da Zi was now panicking. It let out a cry as it accelerated through the air, resuming its role of being hunted by the silver serpent. Da Zi had no intention of taking on its pursuer. The latter’s power had far exceeded its expectations. It had never encountered anything so vicious, so deadly.
I swear, on all my meals for the next three days; this giant snake is definitely the most powerful creature I’ve ever met! thought Da Zi.
For the next three days, it was chased by the silver serpent without a moment’s reprieve. It was forced to forgo all its meals during this time.
…
“Huh, I guess there’s really no difference between the seas of the Black Fog World and our world.” Standing on the beach, Gao Peng shook his head. He thought there would be at least a couple of mountains rising from the sea. He hadn’t expected the water to be just as clear as the sea back on Earth.
However, the sea before him seemed to be giving off a faint red glow beneath the hazy red sunlight, making it slightly different from the sea back on Earth.
The water bulged and fell on the horizon. A couple of crabs crawled out of the sand, snapping their pincers menacingly in the air. Their faint blue sh.e.l.ls were etched with white stripes. One of the nearest crabs dug up a handful of sand in its left pincer, then pulled it back and hurled the sand at Goldie.
Goldie glared at the crab.
Not at all intimidated by Goldie’s glare, the crab scuttled over to the duck’s feet and snapped one of its pincers at it!
Goldie was enraged. Now you’ve gone and done it! Grabbing the crab’s pincer, Goldie squeezed it in its hand, instantly reducing it to a pulp.
Suddenly, a pitiful moan sounded in Gao Peng’s head while he was taking in the scenery before him.
“Hungry… so hungry…”
Gao Peng hesitated for a moment. He began stroking the stubble that had covered his lower jaw. Am I missing Da Zi so much that I’m now hearing its voice wherever I go?
“Oh, where are you, Da Zi, you poor thing?” said Gao Peng, shaking his head and sighing.
“Don’t be sad, Gao Peng. Da Zi’s a lucky centipede. It should be all right,” consoled Flamy as it patted Gao Peng’s back with one wing.
“That’s right. Da Zi’s so stupi— Smart. It must be having the time of its life right now,” boomed Goldie.
His familiars had varying opinions on the matter. Even though they were all loyal to Gao Peng, the same couldn’t be said for Da Zi. After all, the latter was only an a.s.sociate of theirs, while Gao Peng was their master. Just because Gao Peng had a good relations.h.i.+p with Da Zi didn’t mean all of them had to have one, as well.
The only other people with whom Da Zi had close ties were Stripey and Silly. However, Silly, being the invertebrate that it was, never really cared for anything else other than its juice boxes.
“That d.a.m.n Gao Peng. Why hasn’t he come looking for me? The nerve of him to leave me out here all on my own…” said the voice in Gao Peng’s head.
Gao Peng frowned, unsure what to make of this.