Chapter 39: Chapter 39: Water Ghost: "Got Business? If Not, Find a Cell to Sit In."
The six members of the team all turned to look at the one member with a psychic ability. The psychic slowly opened their eyes, scanning the group before asking, "So, what do we do? Do we keep following him?"
The team fell silent. After a moment, one member tentatively broke the silence, "Actually, what we should be asking is... should we still try to rob him?"
This question stripped away any pretense. The group had indeed been considering taking on Liam, just as Zhong Jing had predicted. However, after following Liam and witnessing two different battle sites, they were all feeling overwhelmed.
Their seven-person team had only managed to take down one monster so far, but following Liam's trail, they had already found evidence that he had single-handedly defeated two. And those were just the ones they had discovered; there could be others they hadn't found.
They knew Liam was strong, but they hadn't expected him to be this strong. They couldn't even imagine the kind of battles that had taken place here. The area was still littered with unmelted ice—like a battlefield left in ruins.
They didn't understand, but they were deeply shocked.
"Honestly, do you think even the seven of us together could be a match for him?"
"What are you saying? We can't just give up before we even try!"
"Come on, there's seven of us. We should be able to handle him, right?"
"Besides, maybe the monsters he fought were just weaker than the ones we've faced…"
The group muttered among themselves, but their lack of confidence was evident.
"We keep following!" the team leader finally decided. "It's fine. We'll just keep our distance and watch for now. Besides, I doubt we're the only ones tailing him."
...
After several hours of rest, Liam was once again moving at full speed. He now stood before a lake, which appeared out of place amidst the surrounding red soil. There was no grass or trees nearby—nothing to suggest a lake should be here. But here it was, a stark reminder that in this secret realm, what seems unreasonable is actually quite reasonable.
The Voices of All Things whispered in Liam's mind:
[Lake: I know you're not gonna listen, but seriously, it's best if you don't mess with this guy.]
[Wind: Yep, this is the place. Take him down—I'm rooting for you~]
Liam: ...
It seemed even the Voices were arguing amongst themselves. But now that he'd found his target, Liam didn't hesitate. He shut out the voices that had guided him here and began scanning his surroundings.
The lake was obviously suspicious. It was far too sudden and out of place to be a mere landscape feature. But would it, like the sand monster before it, turn into a giant water creature that would stand up and fight him?
If so, wouldn't that be a bit repetitive and dull? If this exam were written into a book, this setup would definitely be labeled as the "Big Water Monster" chapter.
As Liam's thoughts wandered, the water suddenly rippled, and a figure emerged from the lake, standing on the shore.
Liam's battle instincts, honed by his previous fights, kicked in immediately. Without a second thought, he leaped back and lashed out with his energy chains.
Whack! Whack! Whack!
Three distinct sounds echoed—Liam had lashed out with three chains at once.
Upon closer inspection, the figure was humanoid, made entirely of water, resembling a water ghost. It had barely stepped onto land before Liam's chains struck it, sending it staggering back.
Water Ghost: ???
It turned its featureless face toward Liam, and despite having no facial features, Liam could feel it staring at him. The creature even spread its arms wide, as if in a gesture of helplessness.
Liam: ...
For a moment, he was just as confused as the water ghost. Was this thing even a monster? It seemed weak and pitiful.
Just then, the Voices of All Things spoke directly to him:
[Water Ghost: Got business with me? If not, why don't you go find a cell to sit in?]
This was the first time a creature in the secret realm had initiated a conversation with him!
After a moment's thought, Liam responded, "Not my first time sitting in a cell. I play top lane, and whenever the enemy picks a marksman, it's pretty much a jail sentence for the first few minutes."
[Water Ghost: ???]
The water ghost clearly didn't understand Liam's words. It began limping away but suddenly turned back, its gaze fixating on the bracelet Liam wore. In the next instant, the ghost went berserk, its body exploding into countless droplets that rushed toward Liam from all directions, reforming into a single entity close to him, reaching out to snatch the bracelet from his wrist.
Shing!
With a sharp hiss, Liam's left hand pierced through the water ghost's body, instantly freezing it solid.
As he held the frozen sculpture, Liam calmly twisted his neck. "I figured as much… But given that you're made of water, it seems like I've got a natural advantage over you."
However, a single cold droplet slid off the frozen figure, bouncing along the ground before leaping back into the lake. The next moment, the lake erupted like a bomb had gone off. Thousands of water droplets soared into the air, each transforming into a water ghost.
It was as if the gates of hell had opened, and a flood of water ghosts descended upon Liam.
...
"Holy crap! Look at that!"
In the distance, a team tracking Liam stopped dead in their tracks. One member, whose eyes glowed with a golden light as he used his ability to monitor Liam, suddenly went wild, frantically calling out to his teammates.
One of them, annoyed, replied, "Calm down. We don't have your abilities, so there's no way we could see... see see see!!!"
He froze mid-sentence, his tongue tripping over his words as his brain tried to process what he was seeing.
Because he saw it too.
Countless blue, transparent water figures were spreading out in the distance, like an army descending from the heavens. The sight was enough to make anyone's skin crawl.
"Stop staring, let's go! This guy must've pissed off something terrifying! This isn't—"
But he couldn't finish his sentence.
In the distance, a massive wave of frost burst forth, as if the area had suddenly been plunged into an ancient winter. The entire landscape was covered in a layer of white frost, and all the water ghosts were frozen solid, shattering as they hit the ground.
The group: ...
?!?
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone