Bone Ship

The Fourth Floor.

The Black Iron Squad, knowing nothing of what lay ahead, observed their surroundings. Their captain, Lucas, now wearing leather armor over chainmail, walked at the front of the group. The other members followed beside him, vaguely keeping the mage Vic protected in the center.

"The poisonous miasma is so thick. Exploring this level of the dungeon in this environment is practically an epic-level challenge."

The half-elf archer Sola irritably watched the billowing purple-black fog ahead. As an elven archer, he possessed eyesight comparable to that of an eagle, and during past adventures, he had always served as the team's eyes.

But here, his eyes had become useless. The dense fog, with visibility of less than a meter, completely obscured his vision.

Smack!

Suddenly, Lucas at the front of the group slapped his thigh. Looking down at the crushed corpse of a Purple Poison Giant Mosquito in his palm, he frowned. This monster felt completely different. The monsters on the fourth floor should not have been this weak.

He had blown it apart with nothing more than a slightly forceful slap. It was even more useless than goblins and slimes.

"Wait, something's wrong!"

At that moment, Sophia, the team's assassin, suddenly spoke up. She stopped and carefully listened to the sounds around them. As time passed, a buzzing sound drew closer and closer, its dense hum making everyone instinctively uneasy.

The next second, countless Purple Poison Giant Mosquitoes surged out of the rolling purple miasma like a tide, swooping toward them. Their numbers were so terrifying that they blotted out the sky, filling everyone's vision with their forms.

"Not good!"

Lucas, as the captain, reacted immediately. He pulled the Battle Axe from his back and swept it forward. Wrapped in dark-red battle aura, the axe erupted in blazing flames, blowing apart swathes of Purple Poison Giant Mosquitoes.

But before Lucas could rejoice, even more Purple Poison Giant Mosquitoes lunged at them.

"Damn it, what the hell are these things?!"

Sophia's twin daggers flashed in an impenetrable blur, yet the Purple Poison Giant Mosquitoes kept pouring in as if they could never be killed.

"Vic, get the ship ready!"

"Right away. Undead Summoning."

Vic, standing in the center of the group, waved his staff and drew upon the magic within his body. Dark-purple magic arrays unfolded around them one after another. Under the contamination of deathly energy from the Netherworld, swathes of Purple Poison Giant Mosquitoes died, and a Bone Lizard nearly ten meters long crawled out of the magic array.

Besides the largest Bone Lizard, there were also numerous Skeleton Soldiers with ghastly white bones.

Bone Reshaping.

As magic flowed, the undead creatures Vic had summoned did not attack the Purple Poison Giant Mosquitoes around them. Instead, the Skeleton Soldiers climbed onto the Bone Lizard's body. Amid the crackling sounds of twisting bones, a ten-meter-long Bone Ship made entirely of skeletons appeared before them several dozen seconds later.

"Board the ship!"

At Lucas's command, all five adventurers climbed into the Bone Ship. Vic, who had boarded first, waited until the last person entered, then waved his staff. The bones at the cabin entrance began to writhe, sealing it shut completely.

Inside the cabin, the Purple Poison Giant Mosquitoes that had followed them in were quickly cleared away.

"Everyone, check yourselves for injuries."

A magic lamp was lit. Lucas looked at his teammates inside the cabin. With the Bone Ship's protection, they no longer needed to worry about those disgusting things outside for the time being.

"Captain, I think I got bitten."

At that moment, Hake, the team's iron guard, raised his hand. With bull horns on his head, he wore an honest smile. As a beastman, he had not reacted as quickly as his teammates, and since he had also needed to protect Vic, the mage, a lapse in his defense had been unavoidable.

"Hake, come here. I'll examine you."

As Vic spoke, the beastman Hake removed his armor. More than a dozen swollen red welts covered his body, blood continuously flowing from the wounds.

"Does it hurt?"

Vic pressed on Hake's wounds, a thoughtful look flashing through his eyes.

"It doesn't hurt. I can't feel anything at all. It even feels kind of good." Hake scratched his head and spoke somewhat sheepishly.

"Captain, it seems those monsters can secrete a paralyzing toxin that leaves those they bite completely numb. It even has a certain hallucinogenic effect."

As a Necromancer, Vic had become a formal mage through more than just magical power; he also possessed knowledge far beyond that of ordinary people. Having dissected and analyzed the bodily structures of countless races, he had roughly guessed the abilities of those monsters outside in only a few seconds.

Then, under Hake's horrified gaze, Vic pulled out a small knife and sliced open his swollen wounds. Dense, wriggling larvae the length of little fingers flowed out through the cuts.

"It seems those monsters live by sucking blood, and during that process, they lay eggs in the wounds, turning their prey into breeding grounds for the next generation."

As he spoke, Vic had already cleaned every wound on Hake's body. After checking repeatedly to make sure nothing had been left behind, he took out a healing potion and handed it to him. Fortunately, they had examined him in time. Judging by how quickly the larvae had grown after entering Hake's body for only a few minutes,

at most, within an hour, Hake would have been completely drained dry by those larvae. Then countless newly matured monsters would crawl out of his dead body.

"What kind of monsters are these? I've never even heard of them."

Sola stared at the still-wriggling enemy larvae with open disgust, then crushed them all beneath his foot. He had never heard of such monsters. Even demons from hell were probably not this revolting.

At the thought of countless monster larvae writhing inside his body, tearing through his skin and crawling out, Sola could not help but shudder. He absolutely did not want to die like that.

"Interesting. There are actually monsters like this. If I study them properly, I might be able to develop a very interesting new spell."

Unlike the disgusted half-elf archer Sola, Vic, as a Necromancer, was quite interested. Before leaving the dungeon, he planned to catch several live specimens and take them out for study. As for feeling disgusted or anything like that,

Vic had never felt it from beginning to end. A mage's most basic trait was curiosity toward everything unknown.

"Enough. If you want to study them, wait until we get back. Right now, we need to leave this place and explore this brand-new dungeon."

Lucas, as the captain, had long known his teammate's personality. He forcibly stopped Vic from beginning his research right then and there. This was not a safe town outside; in a dungeon, even the slightest carelessness could bring danger.

"Got it, Captain."

Vic smiled and said nothing more. With a wave of his staff, the entire Bone Ship suddenly shuddered. Beneath the Bone Ship, which was being attacked by countless Purple Poison Giant Mosquitoes outside, pairs of hands suddenly emerged, paddling forcefully as they headed deeper into the fourth floor.

After an unknown amount of time, the Bone Ship passed through the outer region of the fourth floor. An eye embedded at the front of the Bone Ship observed the surrounding area.

"Captain, there seems to be a treasure chest over there!"