It was the fifth day of the swamp fishmen infestation.
There was no doubt about the Players' ability, especially after the fishmen event on Fishmen Island. Almost every Player had learned something about how to efficiently slay the fishmen.
Even if the swamp fishmen were a murloc subspecies similar to the relationship between drows and forest elves, their vitals were the same from an anatomical point of view.
Therefore, not only did the Players easily repel the swamp fishmen's ferocious assault in the sewers of Lancaster, they even destroyed the nests of the Hogwash Rats that had reappeared out of nowhere.
Be that as it may, while the swamp fishmen in the sewers were cleared out, there were still quite a number of them rampaging outside.
Naturally, the Players were tempted by the sight of hundreds of thousands of EXP being wasted outside.
The problem, however, was that the city watch organized by the mayor of Lancaster, as well as the sacred corps of the various churches he had forcibly conscripted were roaming outside as well, clearing out the swamp fishmen that were running amok with inefficiency that the Players could not match.
With the Church of Games yet to be exposed, they could deceive the city guards, but if they ran into a hostile holy army of the Church, this little battle to purge the fishmen would directly escalate into a religious war.
That was why both old Vanke and the wiser Players kept warning the Players to stop farming monsters in the wild.
Their intentions were good, but there would never be a lack of troublemakers among the Players.
"Since we can't farm monsters in the wild, why don't we just go to the place where the swamp fishmen spawn and kill the Final Boss there?"
Marni suggested, drooling over the generous EXP reward.
As an elite Player who held the titles of 'Martyr of the Seas' and 'Adventurer of the Seven Seas', Marni's reputation among the Players was not low. Naturally, there were many who responded to his suggestion.
Incidentally, Edward had accepted a quest from Lady Kinley the alchemist three days ago, but after failing to find the required potion near the town, he had shouted that 'no quest can stump me!' And led Joe, Eleena and the others to the Trinia Forests, which was why he did not join the swamp fishmen clearing mission.
When the players found something they were interested in, they would always burst into incredible enthusiasm and motivation.
Marni took out his precious merchant map, while some of the Rangers had marked the Wild Swamp Fishmen's whereabouts on the replica map. After some discussion and comparison, the Players soon determined that the Swamp Fishmen's rampage was most likely in the Seira Marshes.
"To prevent us from running into the city watch or the sacred corps on our way, we have to make a detour around Codo Bosra …" Marni therefore began to plan the Players' route of advance. "It would be best if we could bluff our way through if we run into the city watch or the sacred corps, but try not to fight if we can't. Escape is our priority."
"If the battle starts, we have to wipe them out in the shortest time possible. Don't pick up the dropped items because some of the Church's equipment has tracking abilities. It's best to put some of the Swamp Fishmen's dropped items where the battle happened and shift the blame to the Swamp Fishmen …"
At that, Marni noticed that one of the Players was raising his hand. "Do you have a question?"
"What does that circle near Codo Bosra mean?" The Player asked curiously, pointing at an oval on the map.
"That's the nobles' hunting grounds. There would usually be city watch patrolling around, so we'll be fine as long as we don't get close."
Marni answered nonchalantly.
"Those who can't recognize the way can follow me. The rest of you can go when you're ready. The Boss is first come, first served, and no kill-stealing! "
Sparsely, the Players were saying things like 'got it', 'hurry up', 'can't we just open the System map with a hand-drawn map', and so on.
After ascertaining basic guidelines, the Players divided themselves into parties and set off.
"Oh no." Mufasa turned off the minimap and said with a headache. "It seems that we've run into the nobles' hunting grounds that they told us not to go."
"What hunting grounds?" Zazu asked curiously. He had finally become a Player two days ago and was immediately dragged here by Mufasa to help kill the fish.
"Zazu, didn't you hear what Mister Wilf said just now?" Simba asked helplessly, carrying a longsword similar to Mufasa's but one size smaller.
"I was playing Tierra Cubes at the time and didn't finish listening to him …"
Zazu answered awkwardly, his wand hanging from his hip. "But my score is about to surpass Mister Wilf!"
"Didn't Mister Wilf say that there are city watch patrolling around? Wouldn't we be noticed if we swaggered in like this? "Nana whispered to the others, clutching her cross.
"Logically speaking, we should have been noticed since the border patrols wouldn't be so loose. But there's not a single patrol until now, "Mufasa said calmly. "According to my experience of being ganged up on by dungeon monsters, they're either hiding in the dark and plotting something to capture us, or something more troublesome has happened."
"Something more troublesome?" Simba did a double take.
Having been a thief in Lancaster for some time, Simba couldn't imagine anything more troublesome than being discovered and hunted by the city watch.
Still, he soon understood Mufasa's meaning.
As they continued forward, they began to see mutilated human corpses. Judging from the broken armor on the corpses, they were all city guards, and they were the elites of the city guards!
After all, not every city watch had the right to wear armor.
"Were these people attacked by monsters?" Nana, who had just become a Player and was still mentally weak almost fainted. "Did they say that there's something in the hunting grounds that attracted those monsters?" she asked, shuddering.
"I don't know. But wouldn't we know when we meet the culprit?"
As a veteran Player who was used to courting death, Mufasa didn't hesitate to keep advancing towards the center of the hunting grounds.
Soon, a massive figure appeared before them.
At first, Mufasa thought that it was a giant lizard without wings.
But he soon realized that he was wrong.
It was a fish over eight meters long with human limbs and teeth, and it appeared to be chewing on something at the moment.
A human's broken arm dropped out of the mutated fish's mouth, dragging long white strands of saliva as it hit the ground with a thud like mud.
Then, the fish saw Mufasa and the others.
"I see. It's not 'something' in the hunting grounds that attracted it …" Mufasa drew his longsword with a somber look.
Even as Simba and the others were startled by the unusual sight before them, they imitated Mufasa and drew their weapons.
The fish flashed an unusual smile, and then flailed its limbs unfamiliarly to prop itself up as it charged towards the quartet.
"What's attracting it is purely the existence of 'humans' as food!" Mufasa growled.
At the same time, a theory came to his mind.
Could it be that the swamp fishmen were running all over the place not because of lack of food due to their abnormal proliferation, but because they were chased out of the Seira Marshes by this monster?
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Chapter 168
Human-Faced Fish
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