Sea Creatures... Squid / Kelp Guards... The Family

"...That guy died?"

"Yes, boss. Wang Meng, that shield... died in this event. It's been confirmed."

The blond man fell silent for a second.

Then... he raised the hard liquor in his hand and poured it fiercely into his mouth, tilting his head back and draining it in one gulp.

The red wine... burned his throat. He let out a satisfied breath reeking of alcohol, the corners of his mouth slowly spreading as laughter rose from deep in his throat. It grew louder and louder, echoing through the empty bathhouse.

"Good riddance!!!"

"Hahaha~ Now no outsider knows where that batch of Ash Plants from the Ninth Federation is..."

The laughter bounced around beneath the bathhouse dome several times before gradually fading.

One of his subordinates stepped forward and eagerly chimed in. "Exactly, boss. I couldn't stand Wang Meng from the start. Working for our Golden City, and he still dared touch the goods. Who the hell did he think he was? Just an externally hired temp, and he thought he was qualified to touch our goods?"

The blond man set his glass on the edge of the pool and did not rush to pour himself another.

He narrowed his eyes slightly. Droplets clung to his golden lashes in the steam, making him look like a resting beast of prey.

"Still, it was thanks to... that idiot touching the goods." He spoke slowly, with a trace of mocking amusement in his voice. "He touched the goods, so he left traces."

"Those old dogs from the Ninth Federation were about to follow the trail to the warehouse. But once they traced it to Wang Meng, the lead went dead—a dead man. How were they supposed to investigate that?"

The subordinate nodded repeatedly. "Right, boss is right. Now all the information has been cut off, so this batch of goods—"

...He dragged out the last word, waiting for the blond man to speak.

The blond man did not answer immediately.

He rose from the bath, his muscles firm and defined. Water rolled down his body, sending tiny ripples across the surface.

"Keep the goods in the warehouse for now. Don't move them. The Ninth Federation may have lost the trail, but they still have their noses. Moving the goods at a time like this would be like delivering them straight to their door. We'll talk after things blow over."

The blond man... paused, and that unreadable smile returned to his lips.

"Anyway, the goods aren't going to grow legs and run away. Right?"

"I'm sick of eating Rice Dumplings! Kitty, go catch me a squid!"

"I'm sick of eating Rice Dumplings! Kitty, go catch me a squid!"

Lin Yue's voice echoed through the submarine. It was no longer a complaint—it was fury.

(Fury directed at squid!)

Today... was the third day of the event.

The entire Underwater World had come alive... all kinds of marine creatures could be seen everywhere, along with some not-so-wonderful marine creatures.

"This... damn squid." Lin Yue's voice carried resignation.

"Fine, I give up. When I leave this event, I'm eating two huge skewers... charcoal-grilled, cumin-flavored."

Cattail Cat gave him a look that said, Do I look like a fishing cat to you? ...then slammed his tail against the floor in refusal.

Kitty was here to fight Zombies, not fish for seafood... everyone had their specialty, and breeds had their differences. Please respect Kitty's career plan.

(Kitty: Squid spray ink... Kitty likes being clean.)

They had just finished clearing out a batch of Zombies—

A few scattered... Zombies and marine creatures began approaching the submarine again.

At first, Lin Yue was furious... but when they drew closer, he sighed instead.

"Those damn squid are back!!!"

Three squid slowly swam over from behind the Zombies.

The three squid were moving deliberately—they intentionally let the Zombies bump into them while approaching the submarine, then quickly moved toward the plants.

The first squid suddenly stopped directly above a Starfruit.

It leaned its body back slightly, tightened its ten tentacles, then suddenly sprayed—a huge mass of thick ink shot from its ink sac, pierced through the water, and splattered precisely onto the Starfruit.

The ink was as thick as oil, sticky and gleaming. In an instant, it completely covered the Starfruit's golden glow.

Starfruit: ?!!!

The ink-covered Starfruit instantly fell silent.

Its five-pointed body was still trembling slightly. It was clearly trying, but some substance in the ink directly suppressed its ability to attack.

"A silence effect."

Fortunately... Cattail Cat's three spikes viciously stabbed toward the distant Zombies, preventing them from approaching the submarine.

The second squid had already found its next target—Chomper.

Chomper had its mouth open, ready to deal with an approaching Zombie. Before its mouth had even opened halfway, a blob of ink shot accurately into it.

Chomper:!!!

Chomper's body suddenly stiffened, then its huge mouth went pop... and spat the ink in its mouth onto the goggles of the Underwater Diving Zombie in front of it.

Deep-Sea Zombie: ???

"Psssh—"

As the sound of leaking air rang out, Lin Yue looked toward the fifth row on the left side of the submarine. Aside from two Oxygen Algae, no other offensive plants had been planted in that row.

Originally, with Kitty and Starfruit attacking together, the Deep-Diving Zombie should not have been able to get close.

"Pfft~"

But... by sheer bad luck—the rapidly moving Deep-Diving Zombie ran into a squid.

"Pfft~"

Kitty's face was covered in black ink?

(Kitty: Meow... not clean anymore!)

[Submarine Durability: 98%]

When the system notification popped up, Lin Yue clenched his fists.

He had not expected... that even his impregnable submarine could be touched by Zombies because of the marine creatures' interference.

The culprits were those three squid.

"Didn't you say marine creatures were neutral?!" Lin Yue slapped the control panel, his voice full of disbelief. "Where's the neutrality? What kind of neutrality is this? They're clearly taking sides!"

Lin Yue took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

"Go, Starfruit!"

By the time the Deep-Diving Zombie struck the submarine for the third time... Starfruit had successfully taken it out.

(Lin Yue: I'm so mad!)

(Kitty: This is making Kitty furious!!!)

Mad as they were, the rules did make it clear—neutral creatures did not mean friendly creatures. Just like in games, they were truly annoying.

Neutral only meant they would not attack proactively. But if Zombies set the pace for them, or if they became interested in the submarine itself, there was no telling what they might do.

Fortunately, his own plants were not fools.

Once they understood how troublesome the marine creatures were... they began using attacks to drive them away whenever they came close.

A squid secretly approached Puff-shroom...

At some point, all five Puff-shrooms had turned toward it, their ten little black eyes staring at it in unison.

That look was neither curiosity nor fear. It was an unmistakable warning—take one more step and see what happens.

The squid hesitated for a second.

(Puff-shrooms: ...It actually still had ideas!)

All five Puff-shrooms opened fire at once.

Grayish-purple spore bullets sprayed out from beneath their caps, leaving five parallel trails through the water and striking the water less than ten centimeters in front of the squid.

The spores did not hit the squid—they had deliberately missed—but the impact exploded through the water and forcibly shoved the squid back half a meter.

Squid: (???;) Its tentacles curled up as it silently backed away. Fine, these mushrooms were not to be messed with.

I'll go... mess with other plants.

The squid... met Bok Choy's gaze head-on.

Bok Choy: ?(???‵‵)?

Bok Choy stood in the fourth row, fourth column, arms folded across his chest as he stared expressionlessly at the squid.

Yet that posture, that look, made the squid... freeze.

(That look... why was it scarier than a shark...?)

All ten of the squid's tentacles turned at once, and it fled in an extremely pathetic posture.

(Squid: Can't mess with them... I'll go find other submarines to play with...)

Lin Yue watched the brief confrontation, feeling both relieved and troubled.

He was relieved that, unlike in a game, they did not have to simply endure the marine creatures' attacks.

What troubled him was... there were still many strange undersea creatures that had yet to show themselves.

"Good thing this event only lasts seven days. Otherwise, I really don't dare imagine what it'll be like later."

Lin Yue sighed and began... taking stock of his resources.

His event Rice Dumplings... had accumulated to 180 again.

Mainly because!

The number of Zombies he encountered today had been unusually low—so low that it felt a little strange—

For the first two days, Zombies had come wave after wave like a tide. Today, there had only been a scattered few.

Was it because the appearance of marine creatures had diverted the Zombies' attention?

Or because the submarine had entered a relatively safe deep-sea region?

Lin Yue was not sure.

But he had no time to look into it. Fewer Zombies was a good thing anyway, and the plants needed rest too.

Aside from the Rice Dumplings he had eaten, he had accumulated 180 event Rice Dumplings again.

He opened the exchange screen, his finger hovering over a row of plant icons. After hesitating for a moment, he finally tapped the golden five-pointed star.

Starfruit.

The second Starfruit appeared in the submarine and was planted in the first row, third column.

The first row was now arranged from left to right as—Toadstool, Starfruit, Starfruit, Chomper.

Starfruit could deal with most Zombies... while Chomper and Toadstool could protect the two of them... perfect!

On the third day... Lin Yue had not expected the Zombies to really be so scarce.

"That's way too few."

Lin Yue was a little speechless now... his plants had rested enough and should have been working, but it turned out today was practically a national holiday.

Cattail Cat lazily flicked his tail, showing his agreement.

Kitty was so bored today that he could only occasionally launch eye attacks at passing krill outside the window... and sleep.

The Zombies seemed to have turned into an endangered species overnight.

For the first two days, they had surged in wave after wave like the tide. But since arriving in this area today... there had only been a few scattered Zombies.