The bottom of the lake was pitch black, without a single living creature. Naturally, those that dared to approach were all devoured by the Ocean-freak of Moria who was guarding her eggs. Although Sheyan and Reef didn't have any experience in diving underwater, Melody could directly enter her 3D mode to detect plants. Under her guidance, they meandered through the labyrinth of underground water veins, before swimming back into the lake that the orcs called 'Carn Dûm'.
At this moment, Sheyan and Reef discovered that the temperature of the lake had clearly plummeted. Obviously, the Balrog's injuries had triggered a chain reaction, as it frantically absorbed the heat from the ground to heal its injuries. Naturally, the lake's temperature rapidly plummeted. Those strange fish started to cautiously and greedily swim over. A portion of the hungry fishes even started to attack Sheyan.
However, because of Melody's presence, those gigantic earthworms that posed the greatest threat merely swam around curiously. This saved Sheyan and Reef a lot of trouble.
Obviously, the Ocean-freak of Moria had fought with the Balrog more than once. Therefore, a portion of her eggs should've been washed into this lake by the flood. Moreover, during the process of decomposition, it contaminated the creatures in the lake, causing them to mutate into their current state. Moreover, these mutated creatures were also 'contaminated' by the Ocean-freak of Moria's genes. Thus, the giant octopus treated them as' one of its own ', and didn't hunt them down. That was why their attributes were so high.
Fortunately, although Sheyan and Reef's strength had declined, they still had a twilight elf to protect them. Melody didn't harm them, but with her every movement, large amounts of green algae would flow around her body like long hair. Once a strange fish neared, a clump of green algae would segregate their mouths, forcing them to flee in panic.
After the trio reached the shore, they were stupefied by the charred land of plague. Even Sheyan didn't expect that Saruman would actually resort to such a vicious scheme to safely pass through this damned place.
According to Sheyan's conjecture, the underground water veins of the Plaguelands were most likely connected to Ocean-freak Moria's long-term nest. The secretions secreted by this gigantic octopus possessed tremendous hallucinatory properties. After mixing with the water, the pine tree roots would continuously suck it up like a water pump and soak it into the soil. Hence, when the sun shone, it would induce a fatal hallucination.
The party continued to move forward. When they saw the scene of the previous avalanche, they couldn't help but sigh. It felt like a lifetime had passed. Because the Snow Valley had already been trampled by the beastmen tribe, the three of them didn't have the danger of leaving behind footprints and being discovered. After walking for another 10 kilometers or so, they could see the huge white beehive-like orc camp in front of them.
At this moment, the three of them had two choices. One was to turn left and return to the orc camp. The other was to turn right and leave this damned place. After pondering a little, Sheyan earnestly asked.
"Melody, do you really have the ability to preserve your life at a crucial moment?"
Melody nodded her head seriously. Sheyan handed over the beast skin bag he carried on his shoulder to Reef, within it were the looted eggs of Ocean-freak of Moria. Sheyan then turned to Reef and said.
"Looks like it's time for us to part ways here. This is a golden opportunity, this orc encampment is unprecedentedly empty. I reckon most of the people here have already been brought away by Saruman's clone. Because Saruman's clone has a grand scheme, he would definitely utilize every last bit of strength in his hands. Even the old and weak could be used as cannon fodder. Therefore, I reckon there's a huge possibility of reaping great benefits. "
Reef nodded and replied.
"Understood, I'm the remaining insurance right?"
"That's right. You possess the twilight elf's blessing, you are one with nature. As long as you enter a lush vegetation area, the chances of encountering danger would be greatly reduced. Furthermore, the twilight elf's blessing is still far away. "Sheyan calmly replied.
"Your existence is my trump card for daring to take risks."
Reef chuckled. He had always been a solemn person, but with a smile hanging on his face, there was a sense of calmness and straightforwardness.
"Take care Seaman. But I still have some concerns."
Sheyan earnestly replied.
"Speak."
Reef pondered a little before replying.
"This Saruman is only a clone, I can imagine that the collection of items in the wizard tower would be extremely limited. Furthermore, this time he is going to engage in a bitter battle with a formidable foe, he would definitely bring along all recovery items, battle props and even equipment. This will definitely cause the chances of obtaining good items to decrease. "
"Lastly, because of that damned rule, the items we can bring out will be restricted. After three rounds of weakening, the benefits we can obtain will be extremely limited. Therefore, your main goal in risking your life, can only be to replenish your rank 6 ability."
Sheyan nodded and replied.
"En, that's what I think too. But I still feel that this risk is worth it. "
Reef pondered a little before replying.
"Alright, then. Take care."
Sheyan had to make the best use of his time, because he didn't know when Saruman's clone would return. Thus, he turned around and strode towards the orc camp. A leather pouch dangled from his waist, as he waved his hand towards Reef.
Just as the two separated, the nightmare imprint once again resounded with a merciless voice.
"Scanning: Contestant no.1018 has reached the critical point of executing party mission: 'Survival'!"
"Congratulations: contestant no.1018, your party mission: 'Survival' has reached the critical point of the final phase!"
"Warning: The difficulty of your stay in this world will increase once again. From now on, all the attribute bonuses you obtained in the nightmare realm will disappear. Your physique will be reduced to that of an ordinary person when you first entered the realm!!"
"Details: You have reached the final phase of the party mission: 'Survival'. You can at most stay in this realm for another 8 hours. By then, you will reach the highest level of the party mission: 'Survival', and you will be forcefully transported back to the nightmare realm. If you can achieve this objective, then you will receive the relevant milestone and the mission's highest reward! "
Although Sheyan was already mentally prepared, he couldn't help but feel a burst of ecstasy. Apart from that, there was another matter that he had already deduced, but he couldn't help but ask out of caution.
"If I choose to return to the realm, and my comrade stays till the end, then how will the mission reward be calculated?"
"Searching for answer … …"
"Backup … …"
"Replying … …"
"Both of you chose to enter this world together, and started the party mission: 'Survival' at the same time. Therefore, as long as one of you survives till the end, the mission completion evaluation will only be calculated based on the most outstanding results. "
After receiving this reply, Sheyan felt relieved, and boldly slaughtered his way back to the orc city. However, his sudden recovery of an ordinary human's physique made him rather uncomfortable. Sheyan couldn't help but sigh inwardly. If this was the case, he would have to spend at least 5 minutes on the road!
And at this crucial moment of infiltrating Saruman's wizard tower to stir up havoc, 5 minutes could mean the difference between success and failure, life and death!!
During this period, Sheyan took a look at his own attributes. Indeed, he discovered that he had reverted back to his personal attributes when he first entered the realm. All his abilities, including his active and passive abilities, displayed the word 'sealed'. The only exception was his innate ability 'Endurance'!
Although 'Endurance' didn't take effect, but the word 'Unawakened' was displayed. This display method was no different from the present world's innate ability!
Although the orc city appeared to be completely deathly still, everything still appeared to be in order. Obviously, Saruman's doppelganger had prepared for this expedition for a long period of time.
Walking in this smelly and filthy town that appeared to be exceptionally sturdy and durable, Sheyan felt a vague fear of being in a ghost town as he read the chaotic and noisy memories of the past.
The wizard tower was right ahead.
Strictly speaking, this wizard tower was actually a sloppy knockoff. Only the top floor was constructed using mithril, krypton gold and other precious materials, following the standard wizard tower construction. Therefore, when entering the first 4 floors, one didn't need to worry about magic mechanisms.
Furthermore, based on the intellect of the orcs and uruk-hais, it wasn't hard for them to identify those crude yet powerful mechanisms. Furthermore, while transporting the materials, Sheyan had already familiarized himself with the environment inside, even if he wasn't completely familiar with it, he at least had a rough idea of it.
"This way." After entering the Wizard Tower, although Sheyan was an ordinary person, he was still nimble and agile. He led the way at the front. "Be careful of this flight of stairs, do you see it? Yes yes, it's this black wooden plank in the middle. If you step on it, a huge rock will roll down."
Melody silently walked behind Sheyan, her clear eyes suddenly filled with sorrow as she gazed at him.
"I can feel that you're getting weaker and weaker." If you like this work, you are welcome to come to qidian.com to vote for me. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
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