​ The Demon Tooth Rock was a large rock jutting out of the sea and had a pointy tip facing the sky. It indeed resembled a lone tooth in this vast sea.

Joe anchored his ship nearby the protruding rock. “Now, that I have brought you here. What are you going to do here?” He asked.

“We are going to dive down there, but we will still be using this ship as a place to rest. Please keep this ship here until we are done,” John replied.

“Aye, aye, boss,” Joe said. Dolly echoed his words. He then went and laid down leisurely on the deck, enjoying sunbath and the sea wind.

“Life Runner, Hideout, come here!” John called. “You two know what to do. Go in and scout the place.”

Life Runner was the first orc player Jack encountered, while Hideout was a dwarf player from Jet’s gang. They both had one thing in common. Both of them had the Hide skill, which allowed them to move around with invisibility. John had tested their Hide skills in the guild’s lake. This skill had no problem working underwater. Though a skillful observer would see the water behave strangely in the place where they were passing through.

John had briefed the two on their way here. He had specifically brought them along because of this Hide skill they possessed.

Life Runner leaned on the ship’s railing and looked at the water below.

“I don’t know, man… Scouting the land is one thing, but going into unknown water… That’s a different beast altogether,” Life Runner said. Hideout who was beside him agreed with the sentiment.

“Jack told me that you are the first player to cross between countries all by yourself,” John said. “That took an incredible amount of guts. You are one who is not afraid to journey into uncharted territories. Down there, my friend, is the next uncharted territory. Let your adventurous spirit guide you. I believe you will do just fine. The guild is counting on the two of you. You two are the only ones who can do this scouting operation.”

Life Runner looked at John. He admitted he enjoyed this guild he was in and he had also received decent benefits as a member. He was even given a core member status and enjoyed privileges similar to the other big shots of the guild. But he knew he was not a competent fighter, nor was he someone who brought benefits to the guild in other ways. Maybe at first when he was acting as a liaison to the orc players in Verremor. But now, with more orc players joining, he was basically unneeded anymore. So, hearing John’s belief in him made him feel somewhat valued.

“All right, I’ll do it,” Life Runner said.

Hideout also agreed. If Life Runner wasn’t afraid. He also won’t chicken out.

“Good,” John said and gave each of them a bottle of potion. “Drink these. These are Underwater Vision Potions. They allow you to see clearly under the deep water even at the bottom where light can’t reach.”

Those potions were one of the things John instructed Bowler to shop the day before. Before departing, he had asked Peniel about all the common tools that were beneficial for an underwater adventurer. These common tools were usually purchasable at shops in coastal cities.

Life Runner and Hideout accepted and drank the potions.

“The effect lasts for one day,” John informed. “I don’t believe you want to spend more than one day under there. But no rush, take your time and prioritize safety. You can continue your scouting again tomorrow if needed. We have plenty of those potions to spare.”

The two nodded. Life Runner then stood on the ship’s railing and got ready to jump into the water. “Back away a bit, please. My Hide skill required space.”𝒩𝒐𝗏𝓮𝑳𝑵𝑬xt.𝕔𝒐𝓂

Everyone complied. Hideout also took a sufficient distance before climbing over the railing.

The two turned invisible. Afterward, the ones aboard the ship heard two splashes from the water where the two were facing before they turned invisible.

After the two were gone, John announced, “Okay, while we wait for their return, everyone is free to do as they wish. But I suggest you do something productive, like practicing your martial arts or training your game skills. But make sure not to hit the ship if you are training your game skills. You can also go into the water to grind the aquatic monsters for exp points. But take care not to wander too far or go too deep. Stay near the ship!”

Everyone then went and did their things. When some of the players practiced their martial arts, Will, Joe, Billy, and Rough Criminals watched in fascination.

“You people know kung-fu?” Will asked.

“Yes. If you join our guild, you have the opportunity to learn as well. We have several very competent martial art trainers. Our chief trainer is even one of the legends with ten years of undefeated championship titles under his belt. This merry fellow here is also one of our trainers,” John answered while clasping Jet’s shoulder.

“Really? He didn’t look like much,” Will said.

“How about I give you a demonstration by sparring with you, punk?” Jet challenged.

“Haha, just joking, old mate. No offense intended,” Will laughed.

Billy and Rough Criminal came close to John and said, “Boss, do you see any chance of us getting accepted into your guild?”

John smiled amusingly at them. He did need some sailors to recruit. After seeing the two help Joe controlled this ship during the trip, he did think of recruiting them. But since the two were interested in joining, he decided to play a little hard-to-get to increase the guild’s standing in their eyes.

“Sure. If you show that we can depend on you during this operation, I don’t mind accepting the two of you as members,” John replied.

“You won’t be disappointed, boss!” The two uttered excitedly.

*

Under the water, Life Runner and Hideout continued diving into the deep. With the effect of the Underwater Vision Potion, they had no trouble seeing nearby aquatic monsters. They also possessed basic mana sense from Domon and Jet’s training. With that awareness, they kept themselves a sufficient distance from those monsters so their Hide skill didn’t get deactivated.

The Demon Tooth Rock that was seen on the surface was just the tip of an underwater mountain. It took them quite some time to reach this mountain’s base. This gulf was apparently a pretty deep sea.

After arriving at the bottom, the two split. During John’s briefing, the two were given different tasks. Life Runner was to search around the Demon Tooth Rock because this place was supposed to be where the Dragon Turtle resided. While Hideout was to swim away from this location in direction of where Merfolk’s territory was located. Both of them were to map the area in detail before the others on top came down.

After Hideout left, Life Runner took out and equipped something that John had secretly given him. It was the God-eye monocle. Life Runner was among the core members whom Jack and the others trusted, so John didn’t worry about lending the monocle to him.

Once he equipped it, he could see the radar indicating hostiles around him. John had informed him that if the Dragon Turtle was nearby, he should be able to see it as a large dark red dot on the radar. There were only regular red dots on his radar at the moment.

But he could be certain that their target was inside this underwater mountain. This mountain was where the coordinates given by the fortune teller were located, after all. The mountain’s circumference was very wide, so it was not strange if the monocle hadn’t detected the Dragon Turtle yet. It just meant that their target was deep inside the mountain. Life Runner swam around the mountain. There should be a cave somewhere as the entry point to the inside of the mountain.

Though Life Runner was a good swimmer, he still couldn’t move as fast underwater as he was on land. He also had to take care to not let any monster come near him. So, it took him some time to search around. After a couple of hours, he finally found a cave, but he thought it to be too small. He still entered it, though.

He felt lucky he got the God-eye monocle. His radar told him that there was no monster in the direction he was heading, meaning the cave was clear. He wouldn’t dare go into such a cave otherwise. Monsters could jump on him in such a narrow tunnel.

After exploring for a bit, he was met with a dead end. This cave did not bring him to the Dragon Turtle’s lair.

He went out and continued to swim around the mountain. He found a few more caves. Some he entered, some he didn’t. The ones he didn’t were because his radar told him that there were hostiles inside. Most of the aquatic monsters he saw down here were around level 45 to 50 elite grades and a few special elites. Not something that he couldn’t handle as long as he didn’t get swarmed. But he still took caution. Billy had mentioned the chance of powerful monsters residing in the deep, he preferred to not bump into one.

After a long time searching, he finally found one cave that seemed prospective. The reason was that this cave had an opening of around one hundred meters in diameter.

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