Chapter 153
[You have entered the Tower's 47th Floor (EXTREME).]
The moment I entered the tower, I frowned slightly.
Because of the sudden bright light I felt.
That was strange. There shouldn't be any light in the deep sea, should there?
Hadn't we nearly ended up fish food because of the darkness last time, too?
“Why is it so bright....”
As I muttered, the light gradually began to fade.
It was still bright, but dim enough that I could keep my eyes open.
Teech's cheerful voice came from behind me.
"You've arrived, Captain!"
When I turned around, I saw him wearing eyepatches over both eyes, unlike usual.
He looked like he'd suddenly become a blind pirate.
“What's with that weird fashion?”
“This? Most of the time I can't see ahead because of the light.”
“Right. I was actually about to ask about that anyway... Why is it so bright here?”
“I'll dim it right away!”
“What?”
Teech was saying nothing but gibberish.
He strode forward and yanked something.
At the same time, the light dimmed to about the brightness of indoor lighting.
Only then did I figure out what this light was.
“A lantern?”
A huge lamp hanging from the bow.
It was an item I'd obtained by hunting a deep-sea anglerfish on the 46th floor.
It was definitely a hypnotic item....
“Gah!”
“Why are you pointing the staff this way...? What are you doing?”
“You didn't already hypnotize me, did you?”
“Huh? Hypnosis?”
“If not, then why did you make the light this strong? I can't even open my eyes.”
“No, seriously, that's absurd.”
Teech took off one of his eyepatches and burst out laughing.
“Does hypnosis even work on the captain? You listened to the siren's song last time and just ignored it.”
That was true, though.
But I still didn't let go of my suspicious look.
Teech looked like the kind of guy who'd have a hypnosis app on him.
At this rate, he might suddenly say, 'Since when did you start thinking I wasn't using hypnosis?'
“This is just for fishing. The stronger the light, the more they gather. If a big one comes along, it's easier to spot it in advance and run.”
“Really?”
“Should I put you under hypnosis right now?”
Teech waved the lantern in front of my eyes.
The strangely wavering light blurred my vision.
Just as I was about to drift into a daze.
Flash!
The World Tree pendant hanging around my neck burst into light.
“Phew.... That was close.”
“See? I told you it wouldn't work.”
Teech shrugged.
I was about to let out a sigh of relief, then hesitated.
“Wait. My common sense could already have been altered, and this situation might just look normal to me. What if I'm already under hypnosis, and it's hypnosis that makes me feel like I'm not?”
I've seen that pattern plenty of times, so I know it well.
Teech looked genuinely fed up.
“If it's that strong, just give in. That's not hypnosis; that's mind control.”
“......”
“You might as well just say this is all a dream.”
“S-sorry.”
Only then did I drop my suspicion and apologize.
Teech hung the lantern, now dimmed to a suitable brightness, back on the bow, then dragged over the treasure chest in the corner of the deck.
“Since we've cleared up your suspicions, let's settle accounts.”
“What's this?”
“The fish we caught thanks to the lantern. More precisely, what was inside their bellies.”
Teech opened the chest.
Inside, red gemstones were piled high.
Items that raise magical power when eaten.
“Oh.... That's quite a lot.”
“We worked this hard every day, and still get accused over nonsense. How am I supposed to keep being first mate if I'm this wronged?”
Teech said that, but obediently handed the entire chest over to me.
I thought for a moment with the gemstones in front of me, then picked out one-tenth of them and placed them in Teech's hand.
“Here, your cut.”
“Oh, you're quite generous.”
“When have I ever not taken care of you? Anyway, good work.”
Teech grinned and took the gemstones.
“You really do have the makings of a captain. How about staying on this ship for life?”
“Just get moving.”
“Aye!”
The ship kept moving forward, following the compass.
We now seemed to be almost at the bottom of the deep sea.
Before long, something unusual came into view.
“Why are there so many trees in the deep sea?”
Countless pillars rose up from the seabed. It felt like walking into a forest.
It looked like this was the stage for Floor 47.
I tilted my head and approached one of the trees.
“Seaweed or coral?”
It wasn't like an ordinary tree.
The gigantic pillars, translucent and jelly-like, were slowly swaying with the current.
“Huh?”
That was when I sensed something strange in that sight.
Whoosh!
The things I thought were trees all moved at once.
The trees whipped around like lashes.
“The trees are alive and attacking!”
“You idiots! Those aren't trees, they're tentacles!”
The instant I shouted, one of the tentacles slammed into the ship.
Crack!
The ship lurched violently.
I could feel the transparent shield around the ship cracking.
It was clear. The moment that shield broke, I might be fine, but all the other crew members would be crushed by the pressure of the deep sea.
Several tentacles wrapped around the ship and began squeezing.
It was just as I moved to cut the tentacles down.
Mouth-like openings appeared on the tentacles' surfaces and spat out purple particles.
Particles that spread naturally as they mixed into the water.
The particles clung to my skin and airways as well.
“Ugh, it burns....”
A stinging pain. At the same time, I started to struggle for breath.
My vision blurred and the strength left my limbs.
Could it be poison?
“Do you think poison would work on a body like this?”
I made my decision instantly.
My body crumbled in an instant, turning into sand.
I turned every part of my body except my heart into sand.
As I dispersed my body, I could see the poison flowing through my blood vessels scattering into the gaps in the sand.
Fortunately, it seemed it still hadn't reached my heart.
“I thought the same thing when you regenerated your head, but you're really not human, are you?”
“Hurry up and take cover inside. I don't have an antidote.”
“Then I'll provide support from inside with the cannons!”
Teech dragged several collapsed crew members into the cabin.
I was the only one left on deck.
There was no need to drag this out. I immediately fired a sand bullet to knock it away.
Thunk!
“It bounced it back?”
The tentacle twitched once and swatted my bullet away.
“Fire the cannons!”
The ghost ship's cannons fired at the right time, but the result was the same.
They sent the cannonballs right back at the ship.
“What kind of monsters are these?”
I hastily blocked the ricocheted attack and sent out a sand blade this time.
Fortunately, blades seemed to work. The tentacle's skin tore open in a long gash.
The problem was that once the skin burst, the poison spores inside poured out.
I cursed and quickly made a sand box to isolate the spores before they could spread.
They weren't strong, but in every sense they were a huge pain.
Even so, the ship was making creaking noises under the tentacles' strength.
“Is it time to use this?”
I temporarily made a sand stand to secure the World Tree root I'd been holding.
Then I opened the leather pouch.
A kind of subspace pouch made from a whale's stomach.
Like a magician performing a trick, a long staff was drawn from the tiny pouch.
The White Whale bone staff, a new weapon I'd acquired not long ago. This was my first time using it in real combat.
I gripped the staff with both hands like a spear.
“Switch to bone-dry mode.”
I thrust the tip of the staff down into the tentacle.
Of course, I set the dryness to maximum.
The moment the staff touched the tentacle, I could feel the moisture spread throughout its entire body. And its true nature, too.
“Holy crap, it was all one body?”
The thing I had thought was a forest of tentacles was actually a single giant lifeform.
We were actually sailing through a sea anemone.
“What kind of size is this....”
Ever since meeting the whale, I'd been a little dazed by how the scale kept growing.
That didn't mean I was scared. What I had to do was clear.
I sucked the sea anemone's moisture out with the staff.
The suction was powerful. In an instant, the tentacle's surface began to wrinkle.
Most of it was filled with water, so once I took that away, only the tough skin and poison particles remained.
I turned all of it into sand without hesitation.
It was the killer combo I'd already tested on a mole. It worked just as well on the sea anemone.
The problem was that this thing was far too huge.
After removing about three tentacles, absorption started to slow noticeably. The staff began to tremble.
“What? Already full?”
I remembered the dwarves saying this staff might have a capacity limit.
I hadn't expected it to fill up this quickly, though.
I hurriedly poured more mana into the staff.
“You're legendary, aren't you? Then show me some strength!”
The staff's vibration grew even stronger.
And then, the next moment.
Bang! Gush, gush.
With a cheerful sound, a cork-like plug shot out from the other end of the staff.
At the same time, a water cannon of tremendous pressure blasted out from the back end.
It felt like turning on a fire hose underwater.
A hole was punched through the deck wall where the water stream hit.
“Uh....”
At the unexpected change, I stared blankly at the staff.
The staff had suddenly evolved into a straw.
It didn't seem broken. If anything, its performance had gotten better.
I readjusted my grip and pointed the outlet toward the sea.
Whoosh! Splash!
One side sucked in, the other side spat out.
Rumble!
The huge sea anemone's main body began thrashing.
If those things hit the ship directly, we'd be done for.
But fortunately, all the aggro was focused on me.
I split my body in half.
Leaving only my lower half on the ship, I leapt out over the side.
I used the staff, still spewing water, like a jetpack, weaving through the tentacles.
I cut down a few with blades, quickly pulled away before the spores could spread, and dealt with the rest by using the staff to leave only the skin behind.
Before long, I reached the main body of the sea anemone, the bottom and center of this gigantic forest.
Without hesitation, I stabbed the staff into the ground.
Kwoooosh!
From the other end of the staff, a tremendous amount of water burst out, forming a gigantic whirlpool.
The sea anemone forest began to shrink in an instant.
Rumble-rumble-rumble!
The giant tentacles collapsed, kicking up clouds of dust. In an instant, only the skin and the contents inside were left.
“What is that?”
As the main body collapsed, I could see egg-like spheres clustered tightly together at its center.
I swam down toward them.