Royd walked towards the sea as if he hadn't seen it.
Boom!
Splash!
His massive body slowly entered the water, kicking up waves ten meters high.
The seawater surged into the harbor, scattering the remaining mutated rats.
Boom!
Boom!
Royd continued to stride forward.
The water level only reached his ankle joints. The deep, terrifying sea before him was like wading through a puddle.
In the distance, large birds with wingspans of over ten meters soared over the sea, diving into the water to snatch strangely shaped fish before quickly flying away.
"There are fish in the sea. I wonder if there's anything even more terrifying!" Zhang Chen muttered softly.
Rumble!
Plop!
A large bulge suddenly appeared on the surface of the sea in the distance.
Then, a fish over a hundred meters long leaped out of the water, biting into the giant bird that had just caught a fish and dragging it into the sea with a scream.
It vanished instantly.
"Is this the sea in the third phase of the apocalypse..." Zhang Wenwen said, standing beside him with a look of horror.
"Yes. Last time we traveled by sea, there were no flying insects or birds, only starfish."
"There were some large crabs and clam meat by the shore..."
Speaking of clam meat, Zhang Chen thought of Katerina.
He wondered how she was doing and if his previous judgment had been accurate.
Zhang Chen opened the chat channel, found Katerina among his friends, and sent a message:
"Are you there?"
After waiting for over ten seconds, there was no reply.
Zhang Chen closed the chat interface and refocused his gaze on the horizon.
If Katerina was still alive, she would reply when she wasn't busy.
Royd wasn't traveling directly through the center of the sea.
It was closer to the shore, and this path was a straight line towards the Great Northern Icefield.
This would save a lot of time.
"Look, it's a Deep Sea Ripper!" Zhang Wenwen's eyes lit up as she pointed to the sea surface not far away.
Survivors who had traveled by boat from the bay would never forget the terror of the Deep Sea Ripper.
However, time had passed. Zhang Chen wondered about the Deep Sea Ripper's current strength.
"Let me test their strength!" Zhang Chen's childlike excitement surged as he leaped into the air.
He hovered over the sea surface above the Deep Sea Ripper.
"Divine Radiance!"
Zhang Chen raised his hand gently.
A golden light enveloped the Deep Sea Ripper.
Simultaneously, the Deep Sea Ripper began to writhe in pain, and the surrounding seawater churned under the golden energy.
In a short while, the sea surface returned to calm.
The Deep Sea Ripper transformed into a mist and dissipated.
Ding! You have killed a Deep Sea Ripper, successfully auto-looted, and obtained [Super Condensed Crystal Core] *5 + 5 (30% chance to trigger Light Blessing), [Condensed Crystal Core] *700, [Premium Seafood Meat] *20, [Soft Mesh Inner Skin] *10...
Hmm...
It seemed the difference in strength was indeed obvious.
What was once considered invincible and difficult to defeat, even forcing Zhang Chen to use a lucky card to instantly kill it...
Now seemed unremarkable.
This starfish-like creature could probably be easily eliminated by most survivors with burning abilities.
"Not very interesting..." Zhang Chen pouted and flew back onto Royd.
"True God, what are today's arrangements?"
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Zhang Wenwen asked respectfully, bowing her head slightly.
"No special arrangements. With Royd here, other sea creatures won't be foolish enough to come and seek death."
"I'm going to rest. Call me if anything comes up on your end!" Zhang Chen said.
"Understood, True God!" Zhang Wenwen said respectfully again.
Zhang Chen leaped lightly from the rooftop to the ground.
He then returned directly to the manor.
After taking a shower, he lay on the lounge chair by the floor-to-ceiling window, admiring the scenery outside.
Dozens of holy maidens were busy planting and harvesting crisp fruits in the fields.
Xiaobai, Moyan, and Er Pang were playing in the courtyard.
Fortunately, they were just playing; otherwise, the entire manor would have been demolished by them.
Xu Ruina was busy moving in and out of the warehouse, sometimes pulling a mutated rat by its tail from a crate and dragging it into the warehouse with a worried look.
The warehouse had now been converted into Xu Ruina's laboratory.
It was filled with experimental equipment that Xu Ruina had acquired for free from the progressive faction. Shirley was her assistant, helping to operate the machines.
Zuo Nan was not in the manor; he was likely busy with his technical team.
He probably felt much less pressure at the technical team than in the manor.
After a while, a team of cleaners walked by in neat formation.
Zhang Chen casually glanced at them and his eyes widened in surprise.
The cleaners, who had initially disguised themselves as a group of old, weak, sick, and disabled men and women, had somehow transformed.
They had all become slender, long-haired beauties.
Dressed in combat suits, they looked like models on a runway, marching in rows and lines through the courtyard and over the city walls.
"This... this..." Seeing this scene, Zhang Chen didn't know how to describe it.
The original group of old, weak, sick, and disabled people looked relatively normal.
Now they had transformed into a group of beauties. Some cleaners had even transformed into pairs, like twins or triplets...
This was too flashy!
Zhang Chen guessed that these cleaners had transformed based on the appearance of the holy maidens working at the manor.
Good heavens...
Forget it, let it be. He would be on Royd's back for the next few days anyway, so no one else would see. He'd leave it as it is for now.
Zhang Chen lazily lay down on the lounge chair.
He basked in the sun leisurely.
Since arriving in the apocalypse, he had been constantly busy fighting monsters, leveling up, searching for crates, people, and clues, and also guarding against survivors with ill intentions.
His days had been too full.
He could finally lie down lazily for a few days to rest properly.
"Ah... sigh~"
Zhang Chen stretched, and leisurely drifted off to sleep.
Meanwhile, Royd was already forging ahead through the waves.
Due to the resistance of the sea, its progress had slowed considerably.
Royd's body was also getting closer and closer to the sea surface.
Its entire legs were submerged, with only its massive body remaining above the water.
"Sect Leader, sentinels have discovered an anomaly!"
"Someone previously spotted a group of unknown creatures following us."
"But these creatures disappeared from our line of sight for just a few seconds, and then they never reappeared!"
"I suspect they have climbed onto the giant spider and could attack us at any moment!" Han Shuang reported with a serious expression.
"Hmm, I see..." Zhang Wenwen nodded.
Following her gaze, a tentacle over two meters long suddenly appeared on the ground at the edge of the city.
One, two, ten, a hundred...
Countless tentacles swarmed upwards...