Chapter 225: Fighting One’s Own People
Chapter 225: Chapter 225: Fighting One’s Own People
The group instinctively gathered together, standing back-to-back in a circle to ensure they could monitor movement from all directions.
Seeing their tight formation, Xu Qingsui suddenly felt a wave of unease. A bad premonition welled up in her heart, but for a moment, she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was wrong. She could only continue keeping a close eye on their surroundings.
Everyone’s attention was hyper-focused on the environment. No one dared to even breathe loudly. Yet, amid the tense silence, several people suddenly picked up on a faint sound.
BUZZ...
It sounded like a mosquito. Just as they were wondering if there were even mosquitoes in the deep sea, the noise began to change.
"Something’s wrong..."
The team member who first noticed the anomaly had barely shouted when his terrified gaze suddenly turned utterly vacant. Immediately after, several other members exhibited the exact same symptoms.
His unfinished warning had already drawn everyone’s attention. Seeing the change in his eyes, Xu Qingsui instantly cried out, "He’s been compromised! Everyone, be careful!"
The moment the words left her mouth, a figure dashed out from beside her. In a blur, Lu Jingyu reached the compromised team member and tackled him, pinning him directly to the ground. The man hit the floor with a loud THUD, but as if devoid of all sensation, his face remained completely expressionless. He immediately began to resist, trying to throw off the person pinning him down.
Lu Jingyu gave him no chance. With a swift, decisive chop of his hand, he knocked the man out cold.
But just as he dealt with that threat, a chorus of alarmed shouts erupted behind him.
"Zhang San has lost control too!"
"And Wang Wu!"
Lu Jingyu spun around, only to see that the few berserk men had already surrounded the rest of the squad. Although everyone on the team was relatively matched in skill, the ones who had lost control were acting as if they were unnaturally enhanced. Both their agility and their resistance to pain had skyrocketed compared to normal.
With this unnatural enhancement, it became far more difficult for the uninfected members to deal with them. As a result, they were quickly backed into a corner. If the frenzied men charged forward en masse, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Amidst the chaotic crowd, Lu Jingyu caught sight of Xu Qingsui. Two of the crazed members were charging directly toward her in unison. Their movements were ferociously fast and their expressions hideous, as if their sole intent was to eliminate her.
Lu Jingyu’s expression drastically changed. He wanted to rush over immediately, but at that moment, Shen Yan suddenly stepped in front of Xu Qingsui, shielding her.
"Leave these two to me. Find a place to hide," Shen Yan said.
"You..." Xu Qingsui looked at him nervously.
"Don’t worry, I’ll try my best to restrain myself. Even if I can’t hold it back, dealing with the two of them shouldn’t take too long. You can just channel your spiritual power for me right after. Nothing will go wrong."
Shen Yan knew exactly what she wanted to say, and a wave of bitterness washed over his heart. Wanting to protect the woman he liked, yet having to hold back out of fear of his own unstable condition—it was truly pathetic. But even so, he had to step up. He needed to prove he had the ability to protect Xu Qingsui; only then would he have the right to compete with Lu Jingyu for her affections.
Looking at Shen Yan’s back, Xu Qingsui could sense his palpable loneliness. Knowing that her hesitation had stung his pride, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of guilt. At that moment, she made up her mind: once they cleared this instance, she was going to have a serious talk with the Golden Octopus. As her ultimate cheat code, the Golden Octopus surely had a way to fix Shen Yan’s physical condition. Back in Wang Qiang’s Spiritual World, she had hesitated and missed the chance to ask. She wouldn’t dilly-dally next time.
"Be careful then. Just knocking them out is enough," Xu Qingsui reminded him, silently retreating behind his back.
Lu Jingyu’s original intention had been to rescue Xu Qingsui first. Noticing Shen Yan’s move, he initially wanted to charge over anyway—things were already chaotic enough, and he wasn’t prepared to gamble on Shen Yan’s condition. But before he could move, he heard Shen Yan’s words. Stirred by a moment of empathy, he turned and dashed toward the other frenzied team members instead.
Over this period of time, he had gladly accepted Shen Yan’s proposal for a fair competition. Xu Qingsui was naturally an exceptional person; it was only normal that others would want to pursue her. Since he wanted to be with her, he had to accept this reality and be prepared to fend off anyone who came after her.
Shen Yan was only the first. In the future, there might be a Wang Yan, a Li Yan, and so on. If he couldn’t even outcompete Shen Yan, how was he supposed to deal with the rest? Shen Yan was his first romantic rival, so he intended to have a proper contest with him. As long as he fought this first battle beautifully, he wouldn’t fear however many more came later. Thus, he didn’t mind stepping back right now. He wanted Shen Yan to be at his best so that his own victory would be absolute and undisputed.
With Lu Jingyu’s skills, rushing the frenzied members—who were completely distracted by the others—was effortless. With a few swift strikes, he brought them all down.
Afterward, he looked over at Shen Yan. Due to the physical exertion, the volatile factors within Shen Yan’s body were already reacting. Seeing the crimson veins rapidly surfacing on Shen Yan’s arms, Lu Jingyu gave a slight shake of his head. Shen Yan’s constitution was far too special. Claiming they were having a "fair competition" under these circumstances hardly seemed fair at all.
However, just as Shen Yan had predicted, taking down the two crazed team members was relatively easy for him. He darted toward them, executing a few quick dodges to maneuver behind one of the men. With a sharp chop to the back of the neck, the team member swayed and collapsed heavily to the floor. By the time the crimson veins had spread to his shoulders, both frenzied men had been dealt with.
Xu Qingsui, who had been watching him intently from the sidelines, rushed over immediately and placed her hand on his forehead. As her spiritual power flowed into him, a refreshing coolness enveloped his heart. The chilling sensation radiated outward, slowly suppressing the turbulent agitation within his body.
Lu Jingyu clicked his tongue. Catching sight of this scene, he turned his head away.
Though he had resolved to compete fairly with Shen Yan, the man’s unique constitution meant that Xu Qingsui frequently had to physically channel her power into him. Watching the two of them in such close physical contact was an eyesore Lu Jingyu couldn’t stomach. Helpless, he could only look elsewhere, telling himself: out of sight, out of mind.
The situation was brought under control in the blink of an eye. However, looking at the unconscious team members lined up on the floor, everyone’s hearts grew incredibly heavy.
How long had they even been in this instance? They hadn’t even entered the castle or caught sight of a Mermaid yet, and already half of their team was down. At this rate, the fate of the remaining members was looking grim.
But the hardest pill to swallow was that they still hadn’t seen a Mermaid. Even if they wanted to solve the root of the problem, they had no idea where to start.