Prehistoric Spiny Shrimp

Xiao Hao forced down his fear and roared, "Shadow Transformation!"

The Thorn Shrimp charged into the Exploration Bubble, but even at over two meters in diameter, the bubble could only cover part of its body.

Its sharp teeth stabbed through, and the phone fell to the ground with its light shining upward. From within the shadows, Xiao Hao could clearly see its white belly.

The thrust was swift. Carried by its own momentum, the Thorn Shrimp shot out of the Exploration Bubble again. It chewed for a while, only to discover it had caught nothing.

The shadows coalesced into a human figure again. After the extreme terror came extreme rage!

That had been close!

So damned close!

A second before Shadow Transformation, he had even smelled the Prehistoric Spiny Shrimp's foul breath!

Xiao Hao turned, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the Thorn Shrimp.

"Little seahorses, kill it!"

The game panel materialized in midair like a 3D hologram, glowing scarlet. One Shadow Seahorse after another emerged from the guardian information page.

The eight Shadow Seahorses became eight streaks of Aurora Shadow. Their Shadow Transformation skill was worlds apart from Xiao Hao's version.

"Roar!"

The eight streaks of shadow became bands that bound the Thorn Shrimp tightly. Darkness Erosion activated!

By the phone's light, Xiao Hao could clearly see its white belly turning gray wherever the shadows wrapped around it, as though stained with dye. It was gradually rotting!

The Prehistoric Spiny Shrimp lashed an antenna straight at the shadows. A dark band instantly snapped. Xiao Hao hurriedly checked the game panel-one seahorse had lost half its health in a single blow!

Just one lash!

And half its health was gone!

"Don't wrap around it! Use Darkness Domain to wear down its health!"

The sea creatures attacked without any coordination. Xiao Hao decided to take command.

The seahorses immediately abandoned the Dark Ligaments formed by Shadow Transformation and instead created a ring of darkness around the Thorn Shrimp.

Stacking effects!

Eight times the health drain!

Even so, Xiao Hao could tell that the Thorn Shrimp's body was rotting more slowly.

Xiao Hao wasn't surprised.

After all, the binding attack had drained a single target's health, whereas Darkness Domain was an AoE skill. Its health-draining aura was bound to be weaker than a single-target skill.

AoE was far more effective than single-target health drain, though. Within Darkness Domain, the seahorses could use Shadow Transformation, preventing enemies from locating their true bodies.

That meant that by combining the domain, Shadow Transformation, and erosion skills, the Shadow Seahorses could wear down an enemy's health without taking damage.

Having lost its targets, the Prehistoric Spiny Shrimp turned its tentacle-monster-like eye toward Xiao Hao again.

A literal big eye staring down little eyes.

Xiao Hao had to buy the seahorses enough time.

He wanted to join them in wearing down its health, but his body wouldn't allow it.

His body was far weaker than his guardians'.

The Prehistoric Spiny Shrimp lunged at Xiao Hao again. He threw himself sideways, but one of its oarlike fins still smacked him in the back, making him grimace in pain.

The Thorn Shrimp's charge was noticeably slower than before. This time, he'd had enough time to react and dive aside!

A flicker of joy rose in Xiao Hao's heart, but when he turned his head, ice-cold terror suffocated him.

The Thorn Shrimp's eyeball was practically pressed against his face!

That meant it had just been right behind his head!

Its centipede-like antennae swept down over Xiao Hao's head like the Grim Reaper's scythe.

Two horrifying gouges remained in the ground, with a mass of pitch-black shadow between them.

Once the Shadow Seahorses merged into Darkness Domain, the monster could no longer sense them. Xiao Hao prepared to merge into it too.

This time, even his phone was transformed into shadow along with Xiao Hao.

The moment the phone's light went out, darkness enveloped the entire world.

The shadow slipped in like a fish returning to the sea. Just as Xiao Hao began to feel safe, the Thorn Shrimp's antenna stabbed at him again!

What was going on?!

Xiao Hao hurriedly used Shadow Transformation's movement-speed bonus to dodge the antenna.

How could it sense him?!

The antenna struck again. Xiao Hao scrambled desperately to dodge, but he didn't believe he could avoid every thrust!

He couldn't keep this up!

Xiao Hao's voice rang out in the darkness. "Single-target health drain! Bind it!"

Darkness Domain slowly faded, and bands of Dark Ligament bound the Prehistoric Spiny Shrimp.

While the Thorn Shrimp was restrained, Xiao Hao's gaze hardened. A spear suddenly appeared beneath its white belly and stabbed upward with all his strength!

It was the Coral Spear Xiao Hao had crafted!

"Just! Fucking! Die!"

Blood sprayed as the Thorn Shrimp struggled wildly, snapping even the Dark Ligament.

"If you can't hold it, keep eroding it with Darkness Domain!"

At his command, the shadow ribbons drifting through the sea spread out like black gauze, forming a ring of darkness.

The reek of blood filled his nose, and the surrounding seawater turned red.

But the Prehistoric Spiny Shrimp wasn't dead yet. It thrashed about in confusion.

It charged this way and that, driving the Coral Spear embedded in its body even deeper with its wild movements.

It churned the surrounding seawater, sending dark red sediment swirling over the seabed.

While the Thorn Shrimp rampaged, Xiao Hao hurriedly hid among a denser patch of aquatic plants, waiting for the seahorses to wear it down to death.

But Xiao Hao's hiding did him no good. The Prehistoric Spiny Shrimp could still sense him with ease.

The Thorn Shrimp charged at him like a mad thing. Xiao Hao desperately tried to stay calm, but with death right before his eyes, he couldn't control his panic.

His earlier Shadow Transformation had nearly drained all his stamina.

Against this desperate charge by the Thorn Shrimp, Xiao Hao could do nothing, no matter how much he wanted to.

He knew he wouldn't escape this time.

So this was a survival game?

So fucking cruel.

Xiao Hao lowered his gaze. Just as he thought he was about to die, every seahorse within Darkness Domain revealed its true body.

The seahorses lunged at the Prehistoric Spiny Shrimp, driving their conical snouts deep into the Thorn Shrimp's body.

The eight seahorses spread out around the Thorn Shrimp. Their barbed tails stabbed into the bloody wound left by the Coral Spear and burrowed viciously inside!

The Prehistoric Spiny Shrimp screeched in agony. The Coral Spear lodged in it had fallen who knew where. The Shadow Seahorses wedged their bodies between the oarlike fins on either side of the Thorn Shrimp, their tails digging fiercely into its belly and churning nonstop.

The Thorn Shrimp tried to attack the seahorses with its antennae, but they were wedged between its fins. It could neither see nor reach them there.

In desperation, it lashed its antennae toward the seahorses. It missed them and instead whipped its own oarlike fins into bloody ruin.

The barbs on its antennae tore at its own flesh.

The Thorn Shrimp crashed onto the seabed, its body twitching intermittently as blood gushed out.

But the seahorses showed no intention of stopping. Their sharp tails kept churning inside the Thorn Shrimp's body.

Only after a long wait did the game display a notification.

[Prehistoric Spiny Shrimp has died]

[Spirit Pearls +400]

[Bind Prehistoric Spiny Shrimp?]

Bind it?

Could he acquire the Prehistoric Spiny Shrimp as a guardian by binding it?

But Xiao Hao remembered that the number of binding slots was limited.

He looked away from the game's scarlet text and focused on the scrolling comments.

[The Prehistoric Spiny Shrimp is pretty average.]

[The streamer will probably bind it. Most players bind the first monster they encounter.]

[They don't have much choice. It improves their chances of survival.]

[And that's exactly why they regret it when they find better wild monsters.]

[This rip-off game only gives war generals one binding slot every ten levels. That's nowhere near enough.]

[But even if he binds the Prehistoric Spiny Shrimp, it'll still be too weak against the ghost.]

[A Thorn Shrimp in the beginner area definitely isn't above level ten. The deep-sea ghost is at least in its teens...]

[With that flimsy defense, the ghost could tear the Thorn Shrimp apart with a wave of its hand.]

Well, damn.

A monster this absurd wasn't even above level ten, and other wild monsters could kill it instantly.

Binding this thing would only waste a slot.

Xiao Hao pursed his lips and declined to bind it, offering the viewers from other worlds an explanation. "It's too ugly. I'm not binding that thing."

A string of question marks flooded the comments.

[Bro, are you serious?]

[Most monsters aren't exactly good-looking...]

[All the guardians I bound look bizarre too, but they're the reason I'm still alive...]

The viewers kept roasting him, but Xiao Hao didn't spot any useful information.

When watching game streamers like this, viewers would usually discuss which monster was best to bind.

Just like gamers discussing which hero had the highest win rate.

Xiao Hao had wanted to see their recommendations, but unfortunately, none of them had offered any.

Looking at the Thorn Shrimp's corpse, Xiao Hao had a bold idea.

He would wait until he returned to the Coral Shell Room to level up.

First, he needed to retrieve the Coral Spear.

The little seahorses were the MVPs of this fight, with the spear coming in second.

He would retrieve the spear and cut off some meat while he was at it.

The comments would tell him whether the meat was edible.

Sure enough, with a little prompting, Xiao Hao learned that he could feast on it.

He tossed all the meat he cut off into his Space Slots. He couldn't wait to level up.

Only after returning to the Coral Shell Room did Xiao Hao remember something.

Shit!

The Coral Shell Room had no kitchen!

How the hell was he supposed to eat that meat?!

Who knew whether it had parasites? He wouldn't dare eat it raw!

Whatever. He would set the food problem aside for now and upgrade the Coral Shell Room first.

A level field had appeared on his personal information page, with a plus sign in parentheses.

Level: 0 (+)

Xiao Hao tapped the plus sign. His level changed to 1, and parentheses appeared beside the Shadow Seahorses' level on the guardian page.

Previously, the guardians hadn't had parentheses or plus signs.

Apparently, the guardians' levels couldn't exceed the Coral Shell Room's level.

Xiao Hao's eyes lit up when he checked his Spirit Pearl count.

It had only cost ten Spirit Pearls.

He upgraded the seahorses.

Eighty Spirit Pearls spent.

Perfectly reasonable.

There were eight of them, so the cost was multiplied by eight.

Xiao Hao hadn't forgotten the mana gauge.

He checked the room's mana gauge. It was full.

So leveling up completely restored its mana...

Xiao Hao upgraded it again, spending twenty Spirit Pearls. The Coral Shell Room reached level two, and the mana gauge changed.

Mana: 2,000 L

Thirty Spirit Pearls.

Level three.

Mana: 3,000 L

It seemed he wouldn't have to worry about the room's mana for now.

Xiao Hao used his remaining Spirit Pearls to upgrade the seahorses, but he could only raise them to level two. Reaching level three required 240 Spirit Pearls.

After all those upgrades, he had a hundred Spirit Pearls left.

He could use them to upgrade the Coral Shell Room, but Xiao Hao had no intention of doing so.

His greatest priority was improving his combat strength. Saving the Spirit Pearls to upgrade his guardians was the better choice. He had wanted to upgrade the seahorses one at a time, but unfortunately, as a troop unit, they couldn't be upgraded individually.

After all those upgrades, the Coral Shell Room's safety rating was still one star.

But it had become considerably more spacious and gained a bathroom. Xiao Hao was deeply moved.

He hoped entering the bathroom wouldn't be livestreamed.

After entering the bathroom, Xiao Hao immediately opened the game panel.