Chapter 20: Leaving
Editor: Atlas Studios
Zhou Chen did not know if the ant monsters behind him were afraid of water, but he could only take a gamble. Otherwise, he would definitely be devoured by them.
The truth quickly proved that he had made the right bet. When he waved his hands and legs and floated to the surface, the red ant-like monsters stopped at the edge of the pool and did not attack him.
Just as Zhou Chen was feeling relieved, a sharp pain came from his leg.
"Damn it! What bit me!"
Zhou Chen immediately began to swing his leg with all his might. Then, he felt as if a small thing had fallen from his leg.
[Passive Plunderer triggered: You have plundered the Red Ant's passive skill, "Giant Strength I". Do you want to absorb it?]
"Absorb!"
Zhou Chen guessed that the red ant had been poisoned to death by the corpse poison in his body, allowing him to seize its passive skill.
After the absorption was completed, Zhou Chen felt that his strength had increased a little, and it was easier for him to move in the water.
"This passive skill is quite useful, but why aren't they retreating? Do I have to stay in this pool until the end?"
Zhou Chen was somewhat helpless as he looked at the cave filled with red ants at the edges of the pool.
These monsters clearly did not dare to enter the water and could not hunt him, but they still did not retreat. Were they waiting for him to voluntarily go ashore and throw himself at them?
"Maybe I should learn from the previous salamander monster and dive into the water to make these ant monsters leave?"
Zhou Chen took a deep breath and dived into the pool.
The water in the pool was quite clear, but he did not have swimming goggles, so it was a little uncomfortable to open his eyes.
However, he insisted on opening his eyes.
He knew what was in the water. Even if he deliberately stayed near the shore, he could not guarantee that he would not be targeted by any water monsters.
"God damn it, after escaping from the ants, I am now diving into the monster pool…"
After diving to a certain depth, Zhou Chen maintained a still state at the bottom of the lake to reduce the consumption of oxygen and allow him to last a little longer before floating up.
The time during which he had to hold his breath was especially unbearable. After dozens of seconds more, when Zhou Chen felt that he should swim up to take a look, he realized that two long shadows were moving towards him from afar.
"F*cking hell, what I was worried about came after all, and two at that."
Seeing the monsters, Zhou Chen decisively swam to the surface. The oxygen in his lungs could not hold out in the underwater battle.
Just as he swam to a shallower part of the pool and took a deep breath, the two monsters under the water arrived not far from him.
Zhou Chen did not panic at this moment. He quickly took out the iron rod from his inventory and swung it in the water, planning to use it to threaten the monsters.
The two sharp-toothed salamander monsters in the water saw that Zhou Chen had taken out a weapon. They hesitated for a moment, but soon, they charged towards him.
Zhou Chen's iron rod also attacked at the same time.
Boom! The iron rod hit empty air. The water monster playfully retreated after approaching him.
Just as it retreated, the other monster that had circled around Zhou Chen's back suddenly opened its mouth and bit his neck.
"Hehe, playing such tricks in front of me?"
Zhou Chen turned around and stabbed back. He used his iron rod to do a back thrust and directly stuffed the iron rod into the mouth of the charging salamander monster. This skill was included in Spear Arts.
After the attacking monster's mouth was pierced with the iron rod, it immediately began to struggle violently. But, at a visible speed, its body turned black and stiff.
Zhou Chen quickly pulled the iron rod out of its mouth and let it sink into the water.
[Passive Plunderer triggered: You have plundered the passive skill of the cave salamander, "Underwater Breathing I". Do you want to absorb it?]
"Absorb!"
When Zhou Chen made his choice, the second salamander monster had already attacked again. Zhou Chen struck out with his rod in the water, but this time as well, the other party showed a very cunning expression and did not let him hit it. After circling around him once, it quickly left and swam deep into the pool.
"This thing's intelligence is higher than other monsters. It might have gone to get help."
Zhou Chen felt that the situation was not good.
He turned his head to look at the shore of the pool and realized that the red ants were still everywhere.
"Are you guys counting on eating me because you have nothing to eat?"
Zhou Chen felt somewhat helpless. He really wanted to go ashore, but the things on the shore were probably more ferocious than those in the water.
With a thought, he put the iron rod in his inventory and dived into the water.
The moment he entered the water, he felt a difference from before. He realized that the issue of lack of oxygen was mostly gone, as if he could replenish oxygen in the water.
"It should be the effect of Underwater Breathing. Although it doesn't allow me to breathe as freely as in the air, I can stay underwater for a long time now."
The effect of the passive skill, Underwater Breathing, was immediate. This time, he was much more at ease when he dived into the water. He quickly found the corpse of the Salamander at the bottom of the lake. He took out the whip from his inventory and tied it around its body, then pulled it to the shore.
Zhou Chen did not dare to go straight to the shore because there were still many ants on the shore. He stood in the water and threw the Salamander's corpse to the shore.
This was not difficult for him, who had a high physique and obtained the Giant Strength passive skill.
The red ants that were originally on the shore of the pool immediately swarmed after the salamander monster's corpse was thrown up and quickly gathered around it.
Soon, Zhou Chen heard faint but grating biting sounds. The red ants crawled all over the salamander monster's corpse and quickly bit through its skin and entered its body.
More and more red ants gathered around the Salamander corpses, and soon, the area became a big red ball. Many of them crawled in, but few crawled out. Something seemed to have happened.
At this moment, Zhou Chen was observing the red ants' situation while looking into the depths of the pool, alert for possible enemies.
After a while, he realized that the red ants on the shore were becoming more and more abnormal. They were gathered at the corpse of the Salamander monster that had basically turned into bones. Their bodies were black, and their movements were slow. Some of them even rolled weakly to the ground.
"The corpse poison left on the corpse is not bad. Although it can't kill all the red ants, it has greatly weakened their condition."
Zhou Chen was delighted when he saw this. This situation allowed him to try and escape.
He glanced at the depths of the pool and found that there seemed to be many shadows wandering over. Zhou Chen stopped hesitating and charged to the shore to escape into the depths of the cave.
This time, few of the red ants could catch up to him. They were gathered together and were not in a good condition. They were no longer the terrifying group of monsters.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone