Lobsterfolk

Mm, he was still spacing out.

What was there to think about? They definitely could not win in a head-on fight. They could only resort to ambushes, killing off some Murlocs first and gradually weakening this large Murloc tribe.

Once the large Murloc tribe had been weakened to a certain extent and his own Kinfolk had leveled up, the enemy would be weak while they were strong. When the balance had tipped far enough, they could wipe out the Murloc tribe in one decisive push.

The next day, Lin Xiao divided all his Kinfolk into two groups. One stayed behind to guard their home and fish, while he led the other out to carry out their mission.

A total of three hundred Naga and twelve hundred Murlocs finished praying before the central Altar of the temporary tribe. Then, under his leadership, they left the temporary tribe and entered the vast sea.

Based on the previous scouting reports, this large Murloc tribe sent no fewer than ten Murloc groups out into the sea to hunt every day. As soon as Lin Xiao led his subordinates out of the tribe, they headed straight in one direction. About ten kilometers from here was a small island. Near its edge lay a smaller Coral Reef, where huge schools of fish were active. Every day, one or two fishing parties from the large Murloc tribe came there to catch fish.

They did not bother concealing themselves and charged straight toward the island.

Lin Xiao swam beneath the surface, about a meter underwater. The Azure Sea Water was crystal clear, but looking down revealed only endless depths. The vast sea always inspired an instinctive fear of the unknown. It felt as though some Underwater Behemoth might be lurking somewhere unseen below, waiting to take a bite out of you.

Fortunately, the sheer size of the group gave him enough courage. Moreover, he was the leader of his people and, in the eyes of his kin, the Apostle chosen by their Deity. He absolutely could not show even the slightest fear.

As both their leader and Apostle, if he showed fear, it would be magnified tenfold when passed on to his kin. They would become even more frightened, and it could break them in minutes.

Nearly half an hour later, Lin Xiao surfaced and looked into the distance. He vaguely saw a dark shape far ahead. They were almost there.

According to what he had seen during the previous scouting, he led his subordinates in a detour, circling around from the other side to avoid running straight into the Murlocs' fishing party.

Not long after turning, a Murloc at the left edge suddenly began crying out. Lin Xiao immediately stopped, raising a hand to signal the main group to remain where they were. He took a dozen or so Naga over and spotted several enormous dark shadows prowling back and forth in the water ahead.

"Sharks?"

After a brief thought, he sent over a dozen Murlocs swimming toward them as bait.

The moment the Murlocs broke away from the group, the dark shadows rushed over. The Murlocs shrieked and fled back. Only then did Lin Xiao see clearly that the shadows really were several sharks of an unknown species, seven or nine meters long and extremely massive, already comparable to small whale sharks.

They had probably noticed the group earlier, but because the group was large and numerous, they had not dared act rashly.

Now that the Murlocs had left the group, they immediately attacked.

"Kill!"

Lin Xiao swept his Short Spear forward, and the Naga and Murlocs split into two great groups, one on the left and one on the right, charging toward them.

At that moment, the six sharks each seized a Murloc in their jaws and violently shook them. Their sharp teeth bit the small Murlocs cleanly in half, staining a patch of seawater red with blood.

If they had fled immediately, they might still have escaped. But greedily, they swallowed the remaining halves of the bodies they had bitten off. In that brief moment, the encirclement was completed. Lin Xiao snorted coldly and snapped his thick serpent tail, shooting through the water like a javelin and slamming hard into one shark.

"Bang!"

A ring of ripples spread through the water from the point of impact. The tremendous force knocked the huge shark aside, while two Short Spears pierced completely into its body.

The shark let out a silent cry of pain, its bloody maw opening as half a corpse and unconsumed flesh spilled out. Its body curved as it bit toward the Naga hanging beside its neck.

However, Lin Xiao had long been prepared. He nimbly twisted around onto the shark's back and yanked out the Short Spears. Blood erupted, forming two Blood Pillars two meters long in the seawater before rapidly dissolving into the sea.

His serpent tail hooked around the shark's dorsal fin to steady himself. Raising both spears high, he drove them down hard, one into each of the shark's eyes.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two inaudible soft pops. Both of the shark's eyes burst, and the spear tips pierced into its brain. It thrashed madly in its death throes.

Lin Xiao had already released his grip and sprang off the shark the moment he drove down the two spears, leaving it to struggle in death.

Compared to that shark's agony, the other five sharks died cleanly and swiftly. A group of Naga simultaneously used the Salted Fish Thrust skill, blasting through the water like torpedoes. Each shark endured the explosive strikes of twenty or thirty Naga lunging at it from every direction, and was instantly pierced full of holes.

After killing the sharks, Lin Xiao tossed all their corpses into the Divine Domain to give the fish inside an extra meal.

For now, the ecosystem within the Divine Domain was rather fragile. He did not dare throw live sharks in. Though the Divine Domain could sustain them, the fish in its sea could not endure a school of sharks hunting them every day.

The sharks were merely a minor interlude. Six Murlocs had died, and not a single Naga had gained enough experience from killing sharks to level up.

Normally, if one Naga killed a shark this large, it would be enough to advance into a Level 2 Naga Warrior. But now, each shark's experience had to be divided among twenty or thirty Naga, so there was not enough to go around.

However, since he had killed one shark by himself, his experience toward advancing from Level 2 to Level 3 had filled by one-fifth. Killing about four more sharks of this size would let him reach Level 3. Or, he could kill several hundred Murlocs instead.

More than ten minutes later, they arrived in the waters not far from the small island and stopped.

He sent ten Murlocs over to scout while the rest rested where they were.

About ten minutes later, only one of the ten Murlocs returned. As soon as it got back, it gestured wildly and chattered at him. Lin Xiao listened solemnly, then an expression of surprise appeared on his face.

The ones who had killed the other nine Murlocs were not from the Murloc tribe, but a group of Lobsterfolk. They had likely mistaken the ten Murlocs for members of the Murloc tribe. The Murlocs had barely approached before Lobsterfolk hidden in the seagrass ambushed and surrounded them. Fortunately, this one had swum slowly and lagged behind, so it had not been trapped and managed to escape.

A group of Lobsterfolk was lying in ambush at the Murloc tribe's hunting grounds.

That was interesting.

Clearly, these Lobsterfolk were enemies of the Murloc tribe. This seemed like something he could use.

But not for cooperation. He was leading a group of Murlocs; how could he possibly cooperate with Lobsterfolk? They would probably regard him as being with the Murlocs and attack the moment he approached.

Lin Xiao wondered whether he could use the Lobsterfolk as scapegoats. He could hunt the Murloc tribe, then pin the blame on the Lobsterfolk. The idea seemed highly feasible. His mind raced, and he quickly settled on a plan. With a wave of his hand, he had the Murloc that had escaped lead them toward the Murloc tribe's hunting grounds.

Before long, the Murloc stopped and pointed ahead at a patch of seagrass that looked like an Underwater Forest, crying out wildly.