Notes

Bang! Bang!

Loud crashes rang out through the woods as the battle between Lin Yuan and the Undead Tree grew increasingly fierce.

On the surface, Lin Yuan held every advantage.

He cut down every incoming branch with his scythe. The occasional branch that slipped past his blade and struck him seemed to have little effect.

Yet Lin Yuan's expression grew increasingly grave.

Five minutes into the battle, the branches he had severed already covered the ground in a solid layer, but his opponent's regeneration showed no sign of slowing.

Of course, Lin Yuan did not believe this thing was a freak capable of regenerating endlessly like Lilia.

It most likely had a weak point. The evidence was the wound Lilia had cut into its trunk at the very beginning, which still had not healed.

But Lin Yuan had already tried charging in for a surprise attack, only to be blocked by countless incoming branches every time, leaving him unable to approach the Undead Tree's trunk.

"This can't go on!"

Lin Yuan glanced at his durability, which had already fallen to 8000/10000.

That seemed like plenty, but unless he changed the situation, he might as well be waiting to die.

Should he retreat for now and work out a plan, or stake everything on one attempt?

Both choices seemed to have their pros and cons. Normally, Lin Yuan might have thought it through carefully, perhaps making a chart to compare them.

But at that moment, he could not think about so much. Following his instincts, he made his decision:

"Run, my ass! Fuck it, I'm taking you on!"

Lin Yuan stomped his right foot. A powerful jet of water appeared out of thin air, propelling him over the blockade of countless branches before him and straight toward the Undead Tree itself!

Seashell Pump Propeller!

Lin Yuan had stored seawater in advance before coming ashore, and now it came in handy at this crucial moment!

The propeller could only store a limited amount of seawater, and he could not replenish it on land, making this a one-use tactic.

If he approached the Undead Tree now and failed to destroy it completely in a short time, he would also lose his means of escape.

It was victory or death!

The Undead Tree seemed to sense Lin Yuan's all-or-nothing resolve, and a sinister smile appeared on its human face.

Suddenly, Lin Yuan's forward momentum came to an abrupt halt!

He looked down and saw that a root had emerged from the ground at some point, catching his ankle and stopping him.

Countless roots immediately burst from the ground, vying with one another to form another blockade before Lin Yuan!

The branches he had just passed over curled back toward him as well.

With roots ahead and branches behind, Lin Yuan would most likely be entangled to death if he became trapped among them!

At that moment, the Seashell Pump Propeller also exhausted its seawater and lost its thrust.

As though it felt victory was assured, the smile on the Undead Tree's human face grew wider.

But Lin Yuan smiled.

"You held your roots back to stop me at the critical moment. You're not stupid."

"Too bad you shouldn't have let me get this close."

"Harpoon launch!"

Lin Yuan raised his right hand, and a phantom harpoon covered in vicious barbs materialized out of thin air and shot forward!

Thud!

The harpoon sank into the Undead Tree's trunk, then extended the barbs along its shaft, anchoring itself firmly inside.

This was a new ability gained by upgrading the harpoon with the Man-Eating Shark Tooth. He could set it to anchoring mode before firing, making it lodge firmly inside its prey.

Normally, this could keep prey from escaping. At a moment like this, it could serve as a grappling hook instead.

"Harpoon retract!"

Lin Yuan shouted, and the ethereal rope attached to the harpoon's tail suddenly pulled taut and began retracting.

The Undead Tree could not move, so the reaction force pulled Lin Yuan straight toward it!

The Undead Tree tried the same trick again, wrapping roots around Lin Yuan's ankles.

But Lin Yuan simply sliced through the roots with his scythe and continued rushing toward the Undead Tree along the harpoon's rope.

This time, nothing could stop him. Lin Yuan finally reached the Undead Tree's trunk.

He swung his scythe, hacking out a deep notch in just a few strokes.

"Hrrgh!!"

The soul fire in the Undead Tree's human face abruptly contracted and condensed. At the same time, all its branches and roots withdrew and wrapped around its trunk, no longer moving.

Thud.

Lin Yuan swung his scythe again, but this time it only cut a few centimeters deep before it could go no farther.

"You can harden yourself too? But it looks like you can't move like this either."

Lin Yuan sneered, knowing his opponent had lost its means of fighting back.

Still, the hardened Undead Tree was genuinely difficult to cut down. Brute force would probably take a great deal of time.

Lin Yuan was not sure he could last that long on land.

Fortunately, he did not need to worry about that.

"There was an old saying in a game I used to play. Here, it's yours now-stacking armor never ends well!"

With that, he took the bundle of high explosives from storage, lit it with the matches thoughtfully included when he drew the explosives, and tossed it into the mouth on the Undead Tree's human face!

Boom!

The high explosives were even more powerful than Lin Yuan had expected. The blast sent even him flying.

The Undead Tree was blown into scattered chunks of wood, utterly dead.

"Hahaha... That felt good!"

Lin Yuan stood up and laughed heartily.

The opponents he had encountered before had either been incapable of fighting back or far too powerful.

This was the first time he had fought with all his strength and won.

He simply felt refreshed.

So fighting could be this exhilarating!

"That really relieved some stress. Too bad I've used up both the seashell pump and the explosives. I wonder if I can keep exploring... What's that?"

Lin Yuan suddenly noticed several things lying intact among the wood fragments scattered across the ground.

They included a huge, thick core of wood, a dried fruit, and several old sheets of parchment.

These were the spoils of this battle.

Lin Yuan stepped forward and examined their details one by one.

[Undead Treant Core]

[Grade D extraordinary material]

[A special wood formed by chance within a treant eroded by the aura of death. Can be used to craft extraordinary items or as the keel of a level 4 ship.]

[When used as a keel, it will imbue the ship with an aura of death. Use with caution.]

It seemed that the system assigned detailed grades to anything related to the extraordinary, whether materials or items.

And this thing was a grade higher than the Seashell Pump Propeller. It truly was a high-grade find.

It could also serve as a ship's keel. The keel was the most important part of a ship, which made this the most important material for upgrading one.

This item alone made the battle worthwhile.

The only pity was that a level 4 ship was still far beyond Lin Yuan's reach, so he had no use for it yet.

He then turned his gaze to the fruit.

[Mutant Treant Fruit]

[Grade E extraordinary ingredient]

[A fruit that can increase maximum health. However, due to its mutation, it may have unknown additional effects. Consume with caution.]

This was of little use to Lin Yuan. His health was his hull durability, so the fruit probably would not work on him.

Better try trading it for something else.

Having made his judgment, Lin Yuan turned his gaze to the sheets of parchment.

The system provided no information about these sheets of parchment, so they apparently were neither items nor materials.

They were densely covered in writing and seemed to be something like a diary.

The writing was unlike any script Lin Yuan knew, yet he could understand its meaning.

Curious, Lin Yuan began reading the parchment.

Just one glance drew him into its contents, and he could no longer look away.

[Month X, day X]

[Damn it, I failed my main quest. I can't keep my player status. Where do I go from here?]

[I don't want to become an Island Dweller or one of the Sunken Folk. It looks like I'll have to find a way to advance.]