Chapter 130: The Closest To Success
The sinister malicious whispers surged into Drake’s body along with the green glow. Those voices seemed like beings themselves, invading Drake’s body and wreaking utmost destruction.
Drake felt a burst of intense pain, and the pain was still intensifying wave after wave like the sea. He couldn’t control his hand and dropped the Green Light Gemstone he had finally obtained, kneeling on the ground.
His stomach churned violently, his blood surged turbulently, his brain was constantly assaulted by malicious whispers. Drake watched as the green glow spread continuously across his body, his body becoming increasingly uncontrollable. He felt something trying to escape his body, and he vomited uncontrollably.
Li Nuowei saw Drake’s anomaly. He stood in place, continuously observing.
The first time he glimpsed the miraculous effect of the Green Light Gemstone on Mermaid Disease patients, he too felt heartbroken and deeply shocked. Though the process was utterly horrific and the subject in extreme pain, Drake had indeed, on a certain Reincarnation Line, due to the influence of the Green Light Gemstone, transformed back from the verge of becoming a merman into a human.
Li Nuowei only hoped Drake could persevere. As long as he could successfully transform back into a human, saving Drake would no longer be empty talk.
Muddy Swamp tried to pick up the fallen Green Light Gemstone, but the influence of the Sea God Ancient Texts was still taking effect. The undead wailing and roaring in the Muddy Swamp were all staring venomously at Drake.
Muddy Swamp had also considered targeting Li Nuowei, but while Drake was attracting fire, Li Nuowei had seized the opening to retrieve part of the Sea God of Anhai’s treasure from the mysterious treasure vault at the end of the hidden passage, applying those artifacts carrying the merman curse onto Muddy Swamp.
The mysterious power attached to those artifacts was merely a curse to humans, but to Muddy Swamp, it was more like a seal.
According to the history recorded in the Sea God Ancient Texts, the Saintess of the Anhai Divine Society had learned the sealing method from the Yellow Sand Truth School, which required the power of the Sea God of Anhai—and that power was the Sea God of Anhai’s curse on believers, the miraculous power that transformed humans into mermen.
Essentially, the “Sea God Ancient Texts” that Drake and Li Nuowei stole from the museum could also be considered treasure of the Sea God of Anhai, carrying the power of the Sea God of Anhai. Since the goldware and jewels could seal Muddy Swamp, the power carried by the “Sea God Ancient Texts” could naturally also exert some pressure and repulsion on Muddy Swamp. Moreover, that “Sea God Ancient Texts” might contain a curse stronger than those sealing jewels and goldware.
Li Nuowei knew the eerie nature of the “Sea God Ancient Texts”; the curse it contained was undoubtedly far stronger than those jewels and goldware. That was why he had insisted on not letting Drake, who was troubled by “Mermaid Disease,” take the book, only handing over the “Sea God Ancient Texts” to Drake at the last desperate moment.
“These things are really filthy.” Li Nuowei looked at the amorphous sludge that couldn’t approach him, his gaze then turning to the truth beneath his collar. Large patches of bluish-black scales were emerging from the layers of raised flesh and skin on his chest. He glanced disgustedly at the gold, silver, and jewels in his hand.
He wasn’t greedy for these things, but the existence of these cursed gold, silver, and jewels was indeed useful. At least they could help Drake deal with the swamp, making it worthwhile that he had smoothly stolen the Green Light Gemstone from the swamp.
However, these gold, silver, and jewels of the Sea God of Anhai weren’t entirely usable. Li Nuowei had only held these treasures of the Sea God of Anhai for a short time when the mysterious radiation hidden within the treasure—which could also be seen as the curse of the Sea God of Anhai—began to erode his body within half an hour, trying to turn him into one of the mermen as well.
For this, Li Nuowei could only hope that the Green Light Gemstone would be equally effective on others, just like on him.
Drake vomited wildly as if he were about to expel his entire stomach. The green glow finally began to slowly disappear from his body. His slightly bulging, increasingly bright and yellowing eyes finally returned to normal. The scales on his hands and body rapidly fell off, but those scales fell like diseased nail caps. The pain of losing even one nail cap was hard to endure, let alone the agony of large patches of scales falling off one after another.
Soon, Drake was bleeding profusely all over, his body twitching and shuddering. Scales and hair littered the ground around him. Yet in this extremely painful situation, Drake no longer wailed from the pain but let out unrestrained laughter, as if he felt no pain or as if possessed by something strange.
“Looks like it succeeded.” Li Nuowei was delighted in his heart. He immediately shouted loudly, “Drake, come back quick. Take the Green Light Gemstone. We should go.”
Hearing this, Drake’s laughter froze on his face. With a stiff smile, he looked at him: “Go? Why go? Isn’t staying here good?”
Li Nuowei sensed something odd about Drake’s consciousness. He immediately said, “Staying here is fine of course, but have you forgotten what you want to do?”
Drake’s eyes grew even more vacant. He only heard Li Nuowei continue, “Take the Green Light Gemstone, save the other patients afflicted by Mermaid Disease, and completely resolve this anomaly event.”
After hearing this, the lifeless light in Drake’s eyes restored slightly. He stood up and said, whether from weakness or fear, “Yeah… how could I forget…”
With his consciousness slightly restored, he gritted his teeth and picked up the Green Light Gemstone again, which desperately infused terrifying whispers into people’s brains, and ran toward the stairs. He was going to escape together with Li Nuowei.
Naturally, Muddy Swamp wouldn’t let Drake escape easily. Muddy Swamp seeped its body into the underground, then began surging the land desperately to block Drake’s escape.
Suddenly, something burrowing from underground broke through the ground. The entire nearby surface changed dramatically. Drake stumbled and fell due to a misstep, and the Sea God Ancient Texts in his hand accidentally slipped out, falling to the ground.
Drake tried to pick up the Sea God Ancient Texts, but the swamp underground seemed to sense his intent and plowed further. Muddy Swamp pushed the thing Drake needed almost to the clouds, quickly mixing it into the soil where it could no longer be found.
As the Sea God Ancient Texts grew farther from him, Drake’s panic intensified. Without the protection of the Sea God Ancient Texts, he was like a naked woman, vulnerable to assault by Muddy Swamp at any moment.
Helplessly, after several failed attempts to repel Muddy Swamp, Drake could only get up and sprint desperately.
Li Nuowei felt this was the closest they had come to success. After sensing Drake’s intent, he immediately tried to rendezvous with him.
Soon, Drake reached the boundary of the current protective range of the Sea God Ancient Texts. He leaped forward forcefully. With Li Nuowei there to catch him, he landed safely and easily.
