Chapter 42

Regular Zombies could not even touch the submarine's edge.

The moment they entered Kitty's range, before they could take a second step, a hole had already been punched straight through their foreheads.

Kitty's sense of aim was incredible. Every spine struck a vital spot with pinpoint accuracy. Not one shot went wide, and not one was wasted.

But Lin Yue noticed that Kitty was deliberately letting some Zombies through.

Not every Zombie was killed immediately. In places defended by plants, some were allowed to pass.

That gave the other plants a chance to show off too.

These nearly dead Zombies staggered through Starfruit's barrage, with three or four spines and more than a dozen star-shot fragments lodged in their bodies. They looked like moving targets, inching toward the submarine one step at a time.

Then they entered Chomper and Toadstool's feeding range.

Chomper was having the time of its life today.

Chomper: (?????)?

Its enormous mouth had not closed once since the battle began—open, swallow one;

chew, gulp down;

open again, swallow another.

Its rhythm was steady, and its efficiency was astonishing.

Its cheeks stayed puffed out the entire time.

Every now and then... the sound of metal being crushed could be heard from inside its mouth. It was chewing on Buckethead Zombies, their iron buckets ground to scraps beneath its massive teeth like tin foil.

(Chomper: What a feast. Three days without a meal, then three days of eating.)

Toadstool was not to be outdone.

Toadstool: (???) ((Burp))~ Just the right amount.

Its tongue had not missed once today. It reeled one Zombie back and swallowed it, burped after finishing, and sent sunlight bursting out before shooting its tongue toward the next one.

Even the sunlight deficit had climbed to 450 units by now.

Lin Yue also spent 175 units of sunlight to summon Snow Pea in the fourth column of the second row to join the fight.

Snow Pea: You finally remembered me (*?????)

(Toadstool: What a satisfying meal. It would be even better if I could take another nap.)

(Snap Pea: I heard you guys are having an all-you-can-eat buffet underwater? What about me? I got disabled underwater—doesn't that count as discrimination?)

Lin Yue... counted the constantly rising number of Rice Dumplings on the panel while listening to the overlapping sounds of chewing and gunfire from inside the submarine. For once... he felt a rare sense of security.

In the deep sea, where Zombies were as numerous as hairs on an ox and danger lurked everywhere, Lin Yue... actually felt secure.

And at that moment, surrounded by two Seaweed Guards and protected by a group of plant companions, he truly felt it.

(Seaweed Guards—they're twins, so two of them means four of them (.- .o))

Moreover, at this rate... he would probably be able to obtain a Pea Helmet today. Once he equipped Peashooter with it, Peashooter could grow into a big brother in the future.

As he calmly farmed Rice Dumplings, the corner of his eye suddenly caught an unusual figure.

Sixth row on the left.

A Deep-Diving Zombie slowly emerged from the darkness. Compared with the Deep-Diving Zombies he had encountered before, it looked no different—an old diving suit, a rust-covered copper helmet, and an oxygen tank covered in barnacles strapped to its back.

But there was something extra on top of its head: a Hermit Crab.

The gray-white spiral shell had been turned upside down over the Zombie's copper helmet, its size just right to cover the top.

It looked as if the Zombie had found a shell on the seafloor and put it on as a hat. It was rather comical.

But comical as it was, neither Kitty nor Starfruit fired at it.

"A Hermit Crab? They've appeared too?"

Hermit Crabs... before entering the Underwater World, there had indeed been no good way to deal with them. But now, with... Kitty and Starfruit attacking at such a rapid rate,

a Hermit Crab was no longer a serious threat.

Cattail Kitty: (??????? )+?...?

Lin Yue glanced at Kitty. Kitty's tail tilted toward Magic-shroom.

The meaning was clear—Magic-shroom was in the sixth row, so this Zombie was for Magic-shroom to handle.

Kitty needed to focus its fire on the main horde in front. Even if Magic-shroom truly could not handle it, Kitty would come out in time to help.

Magic-shroom was in the sixth row, so it would be left to it.

(Lin Yue: When did I learn plant language?)

Magic-shroom had also noticed the Deep-Diving Zombie.

It tilted its cap, revealing a confident expression beneath the brim.

Just one Zombie, and it was even wearing a broken shell.

As a great magician, this mushroom... was about to draw some cards.

(Magic-shroom: While no one's looking... adjust the order a little. This mushroom... is not cheating!)

"Whoosh~ whoosh~ whoosh~ whoosh~"

"Whoosh~ whoosh~ whoosh~ whoosh~"

Four playing cards flew out, spinning through the water toward the conch shell atop the Deep-Diving Zombie's head.

The cards trembled slightly in the current, their edges slicing through the water with faint scraping sounds.

Magic-shroom's plan was simple—break the shell, then deal with the Zombie itself in the next round of cards.

All four cards... struck in succession.

The instant the card edges hit the conch shell, they produced four crisp impacts.

Then—

Magic-shroom: ∑(°口°?)... So hard!!!

The conch shell did not break.

The Hermit Crab... was still on the Zombie's head.

Even more unbelievable to Magic-shroom, the Hermit Crab actually extended its claws from the shell, gripped the Zombie's head tightly, and settled itself squarely back atop the Zombie's head, even straighter than before.

Hermit Crab: Zombie... (*О)σ Get it!

After seeing this scene clearly, Lin Yue froze for a second, then cursed.

Hermit Crabs... had an especially disgusting niche among marine creatures. They were not aggressive creatures, but their defense was ridiculously high.

They required a certain number of attacks before they would voluntarily fall off a Zombie's head. That was also why he had exchanged for Starfruit first—Starfruit's ultimate was a multi-hit attack.

All four of Magic-shroom's cards were deflected by the conch shell.

The cards scattered through the water. The golden gear patterns on their backs gradually dimmed as they spun, eventually dissolving into a few strands of golden light that faded away.

Magic-shroom stared blankly at the Hermit Crab, and the top hat on its cap tilted to one side.

Magic-shroom: Σ(OдO|||)ノノ

(So hard!!! What kind of shell is this? A T-1000? Has this mushroom's card damage gotten that low?!)

Magic-shroom: Luckily... this mushroom has a backup plan.

Passive triggered—

First card—Six of Clubs. Second card revealed—Six of Hearts. Third card revealed—Six of Diamonds.

Magic-shroom was not flustered in the slightest, because it knew what the final card would be.

Its cap lifted slightly, and a dangerous, excited light gleamed beneath the brim.

(...No way?)

The fourth card was revealed—Six of Spades.

Four sixes... a bomb!!!

(6+6+6+6=24. 24 is greater than 18, so the activation condition is met. Card combination determined—Bomb. Summoning Gargantuar Zombie.)

"Boom—"

A loud bang rang out directly in front of the Deep-Diving Zombie.

An outline gradually became clear—the shape of a top hat, with a black crown and unexpectedly enormous dimensions.

Deep-Diving Zombie: What... Where did this hat come from?

Hermit Crab: How rude!!!

Magic-shroom: ???... Are you still going to get it?

The Deep-Diving Zombie stared at the enormous top hat that had suddenly appeared in front of it, its brain clearly unable to process what was happening.

But... the Hermit Crab on its head understood.

The top hat dissipated in the seawater, revealing the figure inside.

Gargantuar.

The instant Lin Yue saw Gargantuar appear, his mouth fell open. "What luck!"

The Undersea Gargantuar was a full three times taller than an ordinary Zombie, like a moving mountain of flesh.

It wore a suit of heavy armor, each plate as large as a palm-leaf fan, its edges carved with rough but powerful patterns.

Its left hand carried a gigantic wooden shield at least three inches thick. Iron bars crisscrossed its surface, with fist-sized rivets hammered into both ends of every bar.

Its right hand dragged a giant stone pillar—a pillar ripped directly from an underwater ruin, still covered in uncleared sand and barnacles. It was practically... carrying a Lin Yue in its hand.

Its entire body... was covered in jellyfish, as if it relied on them to move freely along the seafloor.

The Gargantuar stopped in front of the Deep-Diving Zombie.

It looked down at the little Zombie, which did not even reach its knees. Its massive body blocked the submarine's light, casting a suffocating shadow over the Deep-Diving Zombie.

The Deep-Diving Zombie raised its head. The eye sockets in its helmet faced the figure blotting out the sky, and its entire body froze.

(Deep-Diving Zombie: Big brother, we're on the same side!!!)

(Gargantuar: I don't know who you are, and you look like you're on my side, but—why are you standing in front of me? Are you asking to get hit?)

The Gargantuar raised the stone pillar.

It swung the enormous pillar up with one hand. With the resistance of the seawater and a dull, heavy roar, it traced a semicircular arc overhead and smashed it down toward the Deep-Diving Zombie.

Hermit Crab:!!!

The Hermit Crab reacted much faster than the Deep-Diving Zombie.

The moment the stone pillar rose, it made its decision—leave this doomed "Zombie."

Its claws released the Zombie's helmet at the same time. Its body sprang out of the conch shell, all ten legs paddling at once, and the entire crab shot away from the Deep-Diving Zombie's head at standard light speed, fleeing far from the area.

And... the Deep-Diving Zombie.

Fear had not even had time to appear on the rotten face inside its helmet—or rather, it did not possess an emotion like fear in the first place—when the stone pillar came down.

"Boom—"

The impact was deep and thunderous, carrying far through the deep sea.

The instant the pillar struck, the seawater was pushed aside, forming a brief vacuum crater.

Under the stone pillar, the Deep-Diving Zombie's body was like a meat can crushed by a hammer. It was not sent flying, nor was it split in two. Instead, it was flattened completely.

From helmet to feet, from top to bottom, it was evenly crushed into a thin green, pancake-shaped layer. Its bones, flesh, and skin were compressed into an indistinguishable mass of mush.

The pancake was visibly no more than five centimeters thick. Carried by the current, it slowly sank toward the seafloor.

[Undersea Rice Dumplings +4]

Lin Yue watched the scene through the observation window and instinctively swallowed.

It was not as if he had never seen Gargantuars in the game. During backyard defense battles, he had watched Gargantuars smash things countless times.